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Super Bowl LII halftime show included WB grad
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · February 15, 2018
One of the trombone slides that peeked out behind Justin Timberlake during the Super Bowl halftime show had a 2014 West Branch graduate at the other end: Justin Roth.
Now performing with the University of Minnesota Marching Band, the senior found out in December at the band’s end-of-year formal banquet that they would step onto the field with, they later learned, the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots.
“It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” he said. “So we were pretty stoked about it.”
The news was a payoff in patience, Roth said, because they knew the NFL would bring the Feb. 4 game to Minneapolis to play under the Minnesota Vikings dome and might invite the university’s marching band.
“We’re all dressed up and everybody went crazy,” the son of Brian and Paige Roth said. “We were all shouting and jumping around.”
The band started a social media campaign with #UMNmarchwithJT, and band representatives did a TV interview as well.
About halfway into the 13-minute halftime performance, the field went dark and the pop star appeared in spotlights, heading for a small, illuminated stage surrounded by tuxedo-wearing marching band members while transitioning to the song, “Suit and Tie.” Roth said his family thought they saw him on TV, but that was not him.
“They were excited for a bit,” he said. “But I’m more excited for the big opportunity the whole band got. We worked hard and it was just amazing.”
Justin said he passed about 15 to 20 feet from the other Justin.
“I wouldn’t call myself a crazy fan, but he’s got good music,” Roth said. “I definitely listened to a lot leading up to the Super Bowl.”
Practices started two weeks in advance, with four-hour practices the first week, then four eight-hour rehearsals the second week, Roth said. However, the band recorded the music in advance because of the difficulty harnessing good sound even through microphones with so much other sound on the field and in the stadium.
“We would have to mic everybody, which would sound really weird,” he said.
Halftime show organizers barred cell phones from rehearsal and performances, so Roth could not bring back photographs from the field, but he still brought back good memories.
“Justin Timberlake was really a joy to work with,” Roth said. “He’s not one of those divas. He seems really down to earth.”
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