Nearly every major college band in the country presents some kind of post-game performance to entertain fans exiting the stadium, but nowhere except Camp Randall Stadium can you find 30,000 - 40,000 die-hards who will stay and stay and stay for as long as 45 - 50 minutes after the game. Fans stay to watch, sing, dance and enjoy the excitement of a latter-day Wisconsin tradition ... the Fifth Quarter.
It was around 1977 that
the Badger Band began to attract the attention of both students
and the media with a unique approach to the "post-game show." In
addition to presenting "highlights" of the day's pre-game and
half-time shows, the Band would include an occasional arrangement
that would "involve" the student section (initially it was little
more than some hand clapping to
You've Said It All or the arm waving to
Varsity. Nevertheless, it
was evident early on that everyone was having fun being part of
the show. As the repertoire of post-game specialties grew, so did
the "choreography." The Band members added to the festivities by
adding their own bit of craziness: rolling vigorously on the
ground, playing while standing on their heads or kicking their
legs in the air while playing on their backs. Then, in 1978, it
was announced that the Band would delay playing
You've Said It All until 10
minutes after the game had ended (to enable the weak-of-heart
spectators to exit the upper deck before the "swaying" began),
interest in the post-game grew by leaps and bounds. It was about
that time that the press began referring to the post-game antics
as "the Fifth Quarter."
The program for the Fifth Quarter is continually evolving there are many staples ... namely, On Wisconsin, You've Said It All and Varsity. You will also hear (and participate in) the Beer Barrel Polka, Dance Little Bird (Chicken Dance), Tequila, Space Badgers and many, many more.
From Tampa to New York to Seattle to Pasadena ... the Fifth Quarter has been performed in all corners of the United States and many places in between. It has even been performed in the dark ... twice (remember Minnesota and Las Vegas?). Everywhere the Band goes people are amazed, even stunned, by what they see after a game against Wisconsin. Win or lose, thousands of fans stay after to celebrate with the Band making The Fifth Quarter the Wisconsin Band's most beloved tradition.