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It’s more than the game.

When Albany State and Kentucky State take to the gridiron Saturday for the annual Chicago Football Classic at Soldier Field, the real contest will be in the stands after the final whistle.

That’s when the Battle of the Bands, with the two nationally known marching bands, begins.

The Sun-Times caught up with Albany State’s drum major, senior music education major James Worthy of Albany, Ga.:

Q. What are you looking forward to this weekend?

A. I’m actually looking forward to coming to Chicago because I’ve never been that far north before. I’m also looking forward to how Chicago responds to our type of music.

Q. How would you describe that type of music?

A. What we try to do is make a concert band. We try to have a really nice, symphonic band and try to put that type of sound on the field so we sound like a marching symphonic band.

Q. What can fans expect?

A. They can expect a band that tries to hype the football team as well as one that tries entertain the crowd.

Q. What separates Albany State from other band?

A. A lot of bands say that being louder is better. But being louder is not always better. We’d always rather have better quality over our opponent. We try to do a lot more musicianship and have a lot more musicality in what we do. Jake Krzeczowski is a local free-lance writer.