Our crowd's identity
Raise the buzz
Charlotte never got a three-count chant that fits. It has a hive. Bring a kazoo, and the building can sound like one.
Imagine the hive coming alive!
The ritual
Three cues.
Learn these and you can teach your row before tip.
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01
Their free throws
Drone
The other team steps to the line. The Hive holds one low note. Start when the ball is in the shooter's hands. End it when the shot is done. Same pitch every time, so the building learns it.
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02
The songs
Hum
The PA is already playing. Hum into the plastic and you're in the song. "This City" is the homework. If you know the hook, you're in the band.
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03
When the place has a reason
Swell
A run. A block. Something rude at the rim. Buzz with it, then quit. "BOO"s sound incredible through a kazoo.
How to kazoo
You hum into it.
- Hum a note into the fat end. Same pitch you'd use to bug someone on a long drive. If there's no buzz, you're only moving air.
- On their free throws, hold that one note. Hands on the ball, then the shot, then silence.
- On the music, play the hook. On a Hornets run, swell and get out. Save the drone for the line.
- Buy more than one. Hand them down the row before tip-off, and show the free-throw note once.
A kazoo is a small piece of plastic. Pocket it like anything else that fits in a pocket. If the gate says no, the gate says no.
A modest proposal
A few nights a year, the door could do this.
Hand a branded kazoo out at the door on a few nights a season. Teal, cheap, and miserable for a visiting free throw. Every other date, the seats can bring their own.
Where it came from
The section was audible.
In 2014, the year the name came back, a box of kazoos went down one section at Spectrum Center. Free throws got a drone. The loud minutes got a swell. The person who brought them still ties the night to a game-winning Lance Stephenson three.
Count me in
I'll do it if you do it.
Leave your name, and say if you're bringing extras. It goes to the people organizing the buzz, so a section can find out it isn't the only one.