The ensemble performs at all home football games and periodically makes appearances at events in the Chicago area.

The band's first director, Glenn Cliffe Bainum, took the helm in 1926 and introduced diverse halftime drill formations.

Among the accomplishments during his tenure were NUMB's incorporation of women in the 1970s, and the band's innovative use of drill charts to develop marching shows.

In the years that followed, several others held the position, including Cliff Colnot, William Hochkeppel, Donald Casey and Don Owens.

NUMB played a halftime show consisting of popular opera compositions, including the Overture to William Tell, and Paynter led the band during its performances of the Northwestern Alma Mater.

His Northwestern life was bookended by the school's only two Rose Bowl appearances (he was an NU marching band member in 1949).

[2] In 1996, Mallory Thompson was hired to fill the Director of Bands position left vacant by Paynter's passing.

That season the team went to the Florida Citrus Bowl, and NUMB featured the Northwestern Percussion Ensemble in its performance of Malagueña.

[1] The band is an all-volunteer ensemble with placement auditions only for the drum line, and students receive academic credit for participation.

The drill is written by the Director of Athletic Bands and graduate conducting students in the Bienen School of Music.

Upon hearing that he was impressed by performances of the Joliet High School Band in 1935 in New York City, Belsterling was invited to provide a composition.

Later, Glenn Cliffe Bainum adapted the music to match a drill called the "Old Plus-Four," which has been performed at the close of every home football season since 1928.

[1] The 2017 season marks the first time that the Wildcat Band has fielded all of the Big Ten colors since the conference expanded to include fourteen member universities.

[4][5][6] Beginning in 1956, John Paynter began the tradition of inviting high school marching bands from the Chicago area to join NUMB on the field for halftime at one game each year.

The NUMBALUMS were created by John Paynter in 1972, formally chartered as an organization in 1999, and officially recognized by the Northwestern Alumni Association in 2002.

The NUMBALUMS are an active organization that not only provides opportunities for the Alums to get together and perform, but also has raised funds for the purchase of new uniforms and equipment for NUMB.

During weekly Spirit Sessions, The Grynder performs an often loud and exclamatory work of slam poetry focused on the upcoming game.