BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — The USS Constitution held a special concert with the US Army Band on Monday.
The 228-year-old ship is usually closed on Mondays for maintenance, but a special exception was made for Revolution, the 215th Army Band’s eight-piece fife and drum unit. The concert was open to the public, so anyone could board for this first come, first serve event.
Chief Warrant Officer 4 Stephen Martins is the commander of the band, and he said that this was part of training for the group and that this location was the perfect backdrop.
“The last time we were here, I was thinking of it.” Martins said. “We were playing for a ceremony, and I said ‘Man, it would be fantastic to just play along the Freedom Trail while on one of our days on annual training.’”
The ensemble played a set of songs ranging from classic revolutionary war pieces to more modern songs such as ‘I’m Shipping Up to Boston’ by Dropkick Murphys.
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Monday was one of the hottest days of the summer, which is not the most ideal for those wearing fatigues and playing instruments from the Revolutionary War. Martins and the band, however, took it in stride.
“Hot weather and thunderstorms, right? We won’t do the thunderstorms, but we’ll do the hot weather,” he said.
The performance seemed to leave a great impression on the audience. Martins chalks that up to perfect timing.
“It’s the Fourth of July holiday and the timing of the army’s 250th birthday,” Martins said. “You put those together and it was just a really good year to do that.”
More information on the USS Constitution and its museum can be found here.
WBZ NewsRadio's Jeromey Russ (@JeromeyRuss) reports.