I am still in awe and somehow knew I would be! No one left for concessions during the Southern Band performance but everyone was standing, awesome.
I do not remember our band on the field as we were all talking about the performance we had just witnessed.
My hopes are that some of the Acadiana wealthy witnessed the size and sound atleast of Southern's band and will contribute for not only instruments for the UL band but also fund MORE band scholarships! There is NO reason with all the great high school band from Acadiana that UL does not have 250 members with more brass, bass and drums.
I agree. I sit here and read posts on how "imperfect" their execution was in tone and synchronization by those who were previous band members but I thought they sounded pretty damned good and synchronized. I was very impressed with what I perceived as precision in their play and the entertainment dollar was unmatched. They were fantastic. I'm not saying we need to be them either, but something that excites the crowd is certainly on the wish list.
I enjoyed the hell out of the Southern band's halftime show. They blew the POA out of the water. I was sitting on the hill opposite of SU and right next to our band. They would play over our band and I couldn't even hear the POA. Watching them in the stands was something else too. Everytime they sat down, stood up, or did any sort of movement it looked good. When our band played the girls in the front looked all out of sync. Some of them dancing and some of them sitting. None of them danced together. You look at our band as they were getting ready to play and some of them were dancing and some of them were getting ready to play.
The SU band was always doing something to get their fans up and on their feet for the game. There is a reason that UL has to pipe in music during the game. I know there are rules as to when you can play music during the game but when they weren't able to play music the SU band was doing some sort of chant. They were unbelievable!!!
Bottom line is our band is just not that interesting....sorry.
They're totally different styles, yes, and in that aspect can't really be compared.
However, Southern is simply put one of the best bands in the world at their brand of show band, whereas UL just isn't at that level of military style marching. And that's not a slight at UL...it's just incredibly difficult to capture the right amount of motion, sound, and energy needed to grab somebody's attention with the type of marching that UL does in comparison to Southern.
Drum Corps have shows that could be on par, but again, those guys are professional marching bands. I'd watch any Cavaliers show any day of the week and it would be as exciting and twice as skillful as a Southern show...but groups like the Cavaliers are few and far between. It's all in the director's vision for UL. If it were me there would be less emphasis on drill - or at least reduce the sheer number of sets while cleaning what they do have - and increasing emphasis on sound output big time. The excuse isn't that UL doesn't have numbers or instrumentation or talented individuals, they have all that. There just needs to be a big shift in what's played and the amount of time put into the sound of it all. I know from several member testimonies hat very little time was spent practicing stands tunes by the UL band thusfar this semester.
That'll get corrected and new songs will be added and things will get better. But between practices 3-5 days a week at 2+ hours a pop plus all day Saturday AND performances on game day, it's tough for the band to keep a solid level of energy, and that was the biggest difference between UL and Southern's bands last night: energy. And again, no fault of the POA's members, or even the director. That's just what's necessary to get ready for a home game. UL put on a good performance last night, the music they played just wasn't something that most people can hum along to. Depending on your view that could be a flaw. But keep in mind that they had been marching and playing all day in 95 degree sun, whereas Southern got on a charter bus and showed up at the game; likely, the first time Southern played yesterday was inside Cajun Field. There's going to be a difference in energy in those situations.
Bottom line.
People go to football games to have fun.
Southern's band allows you to do that. Ours doesn't.
Oh, if I hear that stupid ESPN theme music again, I'll puke.
Why are we talking about the band? Yes, it was a great show and they are a great band. BUT......I bought tickets to a football game not a concert. Cajuns dominated the game (besides the turnovers) and that's all that matters.
igeaux.mobi
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