While the Super Bowl may be over, there are some San José State students still reliving the excitement of the past week. Members of the San José State marching and pep bands were invited to perform in two major events in the lead-up to Sunday’s football game: Shaq’s Fun House, a part-circus, part-carnival, part-festival experience held on Friday, February 6; and Guy Fieri’s Flavortown Tailgate, a foodie extravaganza held on Sunday, February 8. Both events were hosted by Medium Rare Live, LLC, and took place at the Cow Palace in Daly City.
Keira Lieb, ’27 Music Education, and Vinayak Sharath, ’26 MS Mechanical Engineering, were among the 20 Spartan musicians selected to perform — Lieb at the Fun House event and Sharath at the tailgate. Both Spartans play multiple instruments, and though these were not their first gigs played off campus, the energy at each event was distinct. Former professional basketball player Shaquille O’Neal performed as his deejay persona, DJ Diesel.
Lieb, who plays the clarinet and the mellophone (a large brass horn instrument), describes how the band accompanied circus performers, including jugglers, stilt walkers and unicyclists.
SJSU Marching Band performers at Shaq’s Fun House. Photo: Joseph Khalifa, ’19 Industrial Engineering.
Keira Lieb (center) and fellow marching band performers at Shaq’s Fun House. Photo: Joseph Khalifa, ’19 Industrial Engineering.
“The biggest part was performing on stage,” she says. “There was a big crowd of people, and because we were inside the Cow Palace, we sounded a lot louder than we normally do. In that environment, people were hyped up and really receptive to us. We had a good relationship with the circus performers in such a vibrant environment.”
Lieb has played in the SJSU Marching Band and the SJSU Pep Band for four years, and plans to become a band teacher at the high school or collegiate level.
“I do a mix of pep band, marching band and concert band because I like playing the different levels and genres of music,” she says. “The differences in music really give me a very diverse learning experience. This will come in handy later on when I’m a teacher.”
As a graduate student, Sharath is newer to the SJSU band program, but has spent many years performing percussion and saxophone. He spent five years playing in the Mustang Band at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo as an undergraduate, taking a break only when he moved to San José to start his master’s program. After a semester with no music extracurriculars, he realized how much he missed the camaraderie and excitement of playing in bands.
“I am motivated to continue my musical journey, even though it’s not my professional focus, because playing music is how I made all my friends in high school and undergrad,” he says. “These organizations and events connect us all.”
On Super Bowl Sunday, Sharath donned a harness to carry a bass drum and carried two mallets as he and his fellow musicians paraded through the Flavortown Tailgate. A self-described foodie, he was thrilled to perform in such close proximity to Food Network star Guy Fieri, and surrounded by so many different kinds of food.
“We went around to different crowds playing pep tunes like ‘Crazy Train’ by Ozzy Osborne, as well as ‘Blow the Whistle,’ a hyphy song very local to the Bay Area,” Sharath says. “It was so fun. I never thought I’d get an experience like this because I’m almost done with school. I’m really glad I got this collegiate marching experience before I leave [SJSU].”
All in all, Lieb and Sharath agree: their Super Bowl weekend was a smashing success.
Learn more about the SJSU Bands.