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SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Purdue’s famous giant bass drum sparked quite a bit of controversy ahead of Saturday’s road game at Notre Dame Stadium.
After learning that the world’s largest drum would not be allowed to enter the playing field through the entrance to Notre Dame Stadium, Purdue’s All-American Band will perform their halftime performance without a drum for the first time since 1979. Purdue spokesman Aaron Yoder said on Friday the group still planned to bring the massive drum and keep it outside the stadium “for fans to enjoy before the match”.
But a Notre Dame official told ESPN on Friday that the university had not been contacted by Purdue to request permission to bring the drum to campus and was confident it would not be there.
The disagreement between instate schools is the result of Notre Dame’s stadium renovation in 2017, which added a tunnel for visitors from opposing teams and marching bands. Before that, the Fighting Irish and their opponents entered through a single tunnel, creating a logistical nightmare.
The biggest drum in the world is too big to pass through the tunnel of the smallest visitor.
“We were told that visiting teams and groups should use a separate tunnel which is much smaller,” said Yoder, spokesperson for groups and orchestras at the university. “Our drum is about 10 feet tall on its cart and 565 pounds, so it doesn’t even come close to fitting in that other tunnel.”
The Notre Dame official said the Irish provided more than 400 tickets for the Purdue Marching Band, which is more than double what they provided for the Toledo Marching Band last week. The Boilermakers last performed at South Bend in 2012.
The largest drum in the world, first built in 1921, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. The last time the band didn’t have it was in 1979, when it vanished from storage the night before Purdue played Northwestern. It was later found behind an air conditioner in an area accessible only by a ladder, leading to speculation that it had been stolen and moved.
According to Purdue, during the era of train travel, group manager Paul Spotts Emrick, who had the drum built, worked with the New York Central Railway to find wagons that could accommodate it. It now usually travels in the back of a pickup truck.
Dave Wilson of ESPN contributed to this report.
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