Whenever the Red Sox host the Yankees, it's nearly impossible to find a seat in Fenway Park - and the evening of Tuesday, May 23 was no exception. But Justin Revelle '07 had the best seat in the stadium.
Revelle was probably the only person in the stadium whose chief worry was not which team would win. He had other things on his mind: namely, would he start on the right note?
On the Saturday before the game, Revelle received a phone call from a member of Brown's Department of Music asking if he was interested in singing the national anthem at Fenway Park. The opportunity to perform the national anthem on such a large stage came as a shock to Revelle.
"I had already gone home for the semester," he said. "I'd finished my finals." But after receiving the invitation, he was "surprised and ecstatic. I told them I would absolutely sing."
According to Revelle, it's common for college students to sing the national anthem at Red Sox games, and when the music department was contacted about the opportunity, it extended the offer to Revelle because he has a strong background in singing. Revelle began singing when he was seven or eight years old at a summer music camp held by the American Boychoir School. Since then, he has traveled around the country performing with numerous choirs and is now the vocalist for Brown's Jazz Band.
But singing at Fenway Park would pose a challenge none of Revelle's previous experiences could prepare him for: the sound delay caused by a large stadium. When singing in a large stadium, there is a delay between the time that the performer sings into the microphone and the time that he or she hears the note. It can be disorienting and distracting, especially at Fenway Park.
Even worse, Revelle was not given a chance to practice inside the stadium before his performance. So on the morning before the game, Revelle headed back to Brown, where he used a studio at the music department to record himself singing the national anthem. He then practiced singing while the track was simultaneously played on a one- to two-second delay.
Once he mastered this, Revelle traveled to Boston, where he continued practicing to a CD he had made of the recorded track. He spent the afternoon trying "to relax and not talk too much."
In this way, Revelle managed to control his nerves - until about an hour before his performance.
"I was fully dressed and walking out the door, when a button popped off my shirt," he said. "I had thread, but no needle."
After a frenzied search for a needle yielded no results, Revelle put on a jacket to cover his shirt and walked to the stadium. Despite the unexpected setback, Revelle said, "I wasn't as nervous when I got down to the field."
He was scheduled to sing at exactly 7:56 p.m., and he spent the moments beforehand trying to remember which note to start on.
"If you start too high, you're in trouble when you get to 'the rockets' red glare'," Revelle said. "As long as I can start on a good note, I'm usually okay."
But before Revelle began singing, there was yet another surprise in store - for members of the football team, of which Revelle is also a member. "Eight to 10 guys from the football team were there," Revelle said. "I didn't know they were there, and they didn't know I was there." The other players recognized their teammate when they heard his introduction.
During his performance, Revelle said he remembers thinking, "Thank goodness I practiced at Brown," because the sound delay ended up lasting about one and a half seconds. "It was hard to sing," he said. "I tried to block it out."
Afterwards, Revelle said, "The crowd was very receptive." When he was walking around during the game, a group of fans even recognized him and started clapping. "They wouldn't have done that if I'd worn navy blue," joked Revelle, who was rooting for the Red Sox.
Revelle also sang the national anthem at this year's convocation, and he hopes to sing at one of his football games. But his Fenway Park performance will always stand out as an "unbelievable" experience.
