Recently, I revisited the field and found it completely empty minus a few storage trucks and a trailer parked beside the band tower. Because of previous weather conditions, the field was a mess. The grid remained embedded in the dirt, but pieces of ice filled the holes. However, the air still smelled of Arby’s and memories of marching filled my mind. I recalled one day when it had rained for hours on end, which made band members hopeful that rehearsal would be cancelled. Sometimes, band members joke and say the “Butler Field overlords,” “marching gods,” or even Nick Saban himself would make sure the sun would come out just in time for the band to have its daily rehearsal. This day was no different. While it had rained all morning and most of the afternoon, at almost exactly 3:30 p.m., when it was time for band members to report for rehearsal, the rain ceased, and the sun came out.



After my recent visit, I spoke with Nicholas Caluda, a fellow band member and trombonist, about the field and asked for his thoughts. He chuckled and said he could not help but think of how much time he has spent on the field in his two years at the Capstone. “It’s almost mind-boggling just how many hours I’ve been on the field itself,” he said. “The field is essentially what I think of when I picture the Million Dollar Band in my head. It’s our central location, since we’re without a band room, so it’s the place I can connect to band the strongest, even more so than Bryant-Denny Stadium or the Moody Music Building.” Likewise, I associate the field as a place of focus when thinking about my time with the band.



Rain is not a friend to Butler Field, though it rarely stops the band from practicing. Caluda described Butler Field as a field that, over time, breaks up into “two distinct biomes – Butler Lake and Butler Desert.  Butler Lake (back half of field) is usually where the clarinet players can be found splashing about after a rainstorm. Butler Desert (front half of field), named for its sand-filled ruts, is usually reserved for trumpet and trombone players.” The drill of a given show often puts the trombone and trumpet players on the front half of the field while students who play woodwind instruments are often in the back.  Once in a while, the drill will differ from the norm and trombone players, like me, find themselves tripping over one another in the mud that woodwind players are used to marching through.