Before mid-January when Joe Piasecki applied to be a bush in Bad Bunny’s 2026 Super Bowl halftime show, the Iowa alumni never expected to be performing on such a large stage.

He also never expected to run into his good friend and fellow Hawkeye Marching Band alumni Benjamin Nadler during the lengthy rehearsal days. 

By showtime, both surprises had materialized, and the two took to the field hundreds of miles away from Kinnick Stadium, with Piasecki playing one of Bad Bunny’s bushes and Nadler assisting him and the hundreds of others in grass costumes as a production coordinator. 

Piasecki said his wife came across the application in the middle of January and was originally looking to apply but didn’t meet the height requirements for the role, so she recommended Piasecki apply.

Piasecki landed the role, and on one day of rehearsals, coming down the stairs from a break, found himself face-to-face with one of his closest college friends from his time in marching band from 2007 to 2011. 

Nearly 14 years later after playing together for the Hawkeye Marching Band, the two made sure to have each other’s back during the Bad Bunny halftime show, which averaged 128.2 million viewers in the U.S., according to Fox Sports.

The game marked Super Bowl LX, in which the Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots in a 29-13 victory. The game was played Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, nearly 2,000 miles away from Kinnick Stadium

“We were both like, ‘What are you doing here?’” Piasecki said. “I knew Ben was involved in production for the longest time. I kind of was in the back of my head like, ‘I wonder if he’ll be doing something with the Niners drumline while we’re here?’ It was hysterical.”

Piasecki said his days in the Hawkeye Marching Band came in handy during the Super Bowl rehearsals. 

“We’re used to an early morning practice,” he said. “As far as the costume and everything I wore, to be honest, it really didn’t bother me at all. I’ve worn a wool uniform on a 100-degree Iowa August day.”

Piasecki performed with the Hawkeye Marching Band for five seasons, playing the saxophone for two seasons and serving as the drum major for three. He now works as the San Francisco Environment Department’s public affairs and policy coordinator. 

Nadler performed with the Hawkeye Marching Band from 2009 to 2013, beginning as a tenor drummer before working his way up to section leader and co-captain, as well as the conductor for Iowa’s beer band. 

Nadler works in the entertainment department for a Concord, California-based nonprofit called Blue Devils Performing Arts, which produces professional paid performing ensembles for pro sports teams, TV and film, and private events across the country. 

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Nadler’s work includes running the drumlines for the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers and building ensembles for teams such as the Golden State Warriors, creating paid opportunities for elite marching musicians. Nadler had previously performed in the drumline of the 2014 Super Bowl in the stands of MetLife Stadium. 

Despite his countless run-ins with professional sports stadiums, Nadler said he was still taken back to his Iowa marching band days as Bad Bunny’s halftime show began, thinking back to the 2009 season, when the band performed a “Thriller” themed routine on Halloween at Kinnick. 

Nadler’s first season with the marching band was 2009. He would play on and see Iowa end the season with an 11-2 record and a 24-12 win over Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl. It was also the year he would spark a friendship with Piasecki.

“We became closer and closer friends,” Nadler said. “We stayed close both on and off the field throughout our time together and made a lot of great memories being at those bowl games and just throughout the year.”

Nearly 17 years later from the 2009 season, Piasecki said he was reassured to once again have a friend on the football field. 

 “Those costumes really didn’t have a lot of visibility. And to know that there was somebody there that I 100 percent trusted made me feel great,” Piasecki said. 

Both said the performance was electric and unifying in its message, saying they could feel the roar of nearly 70,000 fans that filled the stadium from the first note of Bad Bunny’s performance. 

While the artist didn’t speak with the two directly, Nadler said the star’s addresses to the entire halftime performing crew were enough for him to see the grace Bad Bunny gives out to his cast and production crew.

“He spoke with such gratitude towards everybody involved from every moment,and did not take it lightly and made sure that everybody was recognized, which not all celebrities or music artists take that time to do,” Nadler said. 

Danielle Paulsen, a UI alum who played trumpet alongside Nadler and Piasecki in the Hawkeye Marching Band, said she and her friends had only found out about Nadler’s involvement in the show after the game.

Paulsen now works as a physician assistant in the Twin Cities. She said during the game, she and her friends were on the lookout to find Piasecki among the bushes. 

“We were excited to go back and find his bush,” she said. “It was really cool to see both of them kind of utilize their marching band experience for such a cool experience that people across the world got to see. I was really excited with that.”

Eric Bush, the director of the Hawkeye Marching Band, wrote in a statement to The Daily Iowan that it was fun to see the two alums contribute to the Super Bowl halftime show. 

“It’s always great to see how our students and alumni take what they learn and gain from their experiences in the Hawkeye Marching Band and apply them in unexpected and exciting ways once they graduate,” he wrote. 

Nadler said the production team was allowed to capture content leading up to being on the field, allowing the two to take Bad Bunny’s song “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” or “I Should Have Taken More Photos,” to heart. 

“We did get más fotos,” Nadler said. “We were able to get some great moments.”

Piasecki said he was glad to have the photos to remind him of his second chance to perform with his friend on the field, long after the costumes were packed away.

“We definitely got to take the words of the song literally and have those memories together,” he said.