Daily Brews: DJ’s are here to stay at the Big House

“You got to pump it up. Don’t you know? Pump it up. You got to pump it up.”

If you attended a Michigan football game at the Big House in 2021, these words were inescapable. Endor’s club anthem “Pump It Up” became a celebratory rallying cry at home games for Wolverines that played almost as much as “The Victors.”

When Michigan welcomed arch rival Ohio State to Ann Arbor on Nov. 27, the university recognized it needed to maximize its home-field advantage. Instead of traditional music being played by an underpaid member of the events team, and to guarantee a raucous atmosphere for the biggest game of the season, U-M turned to DJ Skee to provide live entertainment and control the music throughout the game.

Needless to say, it was a master stroke in entertainment management and the atmosphere for Michigan’s first win over the Buckeyes in 10 years was four hours of electricity. U-M is taking it a step further this season to ensure a consistent home field advantage and hiring a live DJ for all eight home games in 2022:

• DJ Array will perform at the Colorado State, UConn, Maryland, Nebraska and Illinois games.
• DJ Myint will perform at the Hawaii game, which also happens to be the first night game of the season on Sept. 10.
• DJ Truth will perform at arguably the most important home game of the season as the Wolverines look for revenge against Michigan State on Oct. 29.
• DJ Skee will return to the Big House for the Maize Out on Oct. 15 against Penn State.

After several years of back-handed compliments or flat-out insults regarding the state of Michigan Stadium crowds, 2021 saw fans rewrite the narrative, most pointedly with the crowd at the Washington night game and the aforementioned game against the Buckeyes.

The university is doing everything in its power to guarantee the Wolverines have an advantage every time they take the field in 2022.

Are you ready to pump it up?