Best dang halftime show by a band, EVER!!!

[MetryCajun]

_ Simply put.
Give out more schlorships, get more members, and get more brass. Problem solved. _

When I was playing for a certain college band, we had similar problems to what UL was facing. Increasing members was not an option. The director canned the rifle section, decreased the number of flags and woodwinds, and put all the "new" positions in the brass section. Problem solved.

[AstroCajun]

_ When I was playing for a certain college band, we had similar problems to what UL was facing. Increasing members was not an option. The director canned the rifle section, decreased the number of flags and woodwinds, and put all the "new" positions in the brass section. Problem solved. _

Do flag twirlers get scholarships?

Serious question.

[HoustonCajun]

_ Again, you can not compare the two bands. Southern is louder simply because of the instruments they have. 10 trumpets will be louder than 5 trumpets and 5 flutes anyday. _

And why does a marching band at a football stadium have flutes anyway? I can understand for a concert, but why wouldn't the band want to have more trumpets like the Southern band does for a game?

[ManAboutTown]

_ Southern is a "show" band. They are entertainers. The "Pride of Acadiana" are awesome also. We have a bunch of very talented musicians. Its like trying to compare a rock band and an orchestra. You just cant do it. _

You can call it what ever you want. I don't think "awesome" is the correct superlative to describe the POA. Awesome is what you saw Saturday night. That band was electrifying. Goes to show you what a good band can do for the atmosphere of a college football game. There are certain places and times for all music. Comparing a rock band to an orchestra is a fair explanation; But classical music isn't getting anyone out of their seat during a war. Football is exciting, and so should the music be.
Maybe if we made the music fun and incorporated it into the football game, people would WANT to join the dang band. Comparing them to southern is not fair, but if they could be half as good, I'd take that. When SU did ANYTHING on the field, that band fired up! Our GD band played only a handful of times, were not in their seats when the team came out onto the field, and when they did play, I could barely hear them (not that I wanted to because all they play is "dunn a nuh, dunn a nuh" and "hey baby" once). Its extremely frustrating.

[HoustonCajun]

_ 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. _

With the complexity of the show that Southern put on and the music they play, don't you think they put in as much if not more into preparation than UL's band, yet their performance was exceptional. Last time I checked, the weather in Baton Rouge is the same as Lafayette. The simple fact is, our band has no clue how to operate in a game situation. A current band member said in another thread a week or so ago that the band doesn't care about what goes on in the game, they are only worried about the pre-game and half-time shows. That is why during a game, the band doesn't know when to play anything and music has to be piped in. That is pathetic for a college band and for game day atmosphere. As someone also pointed out, at LSU the band only has to play 4 simple notes to get the entire stadium in a frenzy. That is a great part of what makes their games among the best in the country. That is sorely lacking at UL's games and desperately needs to be addressed and corrected.

[ManAboutTown]

_ With the complexity of the show that Southern put on and the music they play, don't you think they put in as much if not more into preparation than UL's band, yet their performance was exceptional. Last time I checked, the weather in Baton Rouge is the same as Lafayette. The simple fact is, our band has no clue how to operate in a game situation. A current band member said in another thread a week or so ago that the band doesn't care about what goes on in the game, they are only worried about the pre-game and half-time shows. That is why during a game, the band doesn't know when to play anything and music has to be piped in. That is pathetic for a college band and for game day atmosphere. As someone also pointed out, at LSU the band only has to play 4 simple notes to get the entire stadium in a frenzy. That is a great part of what makes their games among the best in the country. That is sorely lacking at UL's games and desperately needs to be addressed and corrected. _

Yes! Thank You! Bravesio! 100% agree.

[HoustonCajun]

_ But the numbers are different. My buddy works with the "Human Jukebox" and if you look at the instrumentation, Southern would have 40 trumpets to UL's 22, 30 trombones to UL's 12. Even the tubas are double what UL has. UL's band has more woodwinds, so they might have numbers, but not the exact same instrumentation . They put more brass on the field and that makes them louder...thats just the way it is.

BTW if you dont like the ESPN song the band plays...quit complaining about it and shoot an email to Brian Taylor, the director of bands. They arent going to stop playing it just because you complain about it on a forum. Convince him and they will stop playin it. _

I still don't think most people here "get it". It is not about playing a few ne tunes during a game. It is about playing the Right Songs at the Right Time. Go to an LSU game. I can't tell you what songs they play during the game. But what they do is play "Hold that Tiger" over and over and when they play those 4 notes alone, the stadium goes nuts. Their pre-game show has the band doing that very thing and turning and playing it to all parts of the stadium. And, they are out there when the team hits the field playing the Tiger Rag. The same for Texas. The UT band plays the Eyes of Texas and the Championship March or whatever the proper name is for that. Think of Michigan's, or Oklahoma's or USC's fight songs. That is all you hear from the band the entire game. I'm sure they play other "songs", but not after first downs or great plays or touchdowns, etc. That is what we don't get. That is what changes the entire atmosphere and experience at a game.

I don't think the LSU band does any better marching than our band, even though they are twice the size. They simply play the right songs at the right time and it is recogizable everywhere. And, they are louder because the have not only a larger band, but more horns and fewer woodwinds.

Let's get creative and focus on that and less on what new tunes to play. A few new tunes do NOTHING for the game. Develop a song to play just for great defensive stops, play the Fight Song, over and over, find something to play that when you hit the first few notes, everyone knows what it is and sings along and spells C-A-J-U-N-S. This is not rocket science. Every great school follows the same formula, they just have their own unique way of doing it. Our problem is we have no formula, we don't know what to do and our games are sorely lacking that key ingredient.

When the band played the Macy's Parade in New York and was featured on the Today show, didn't we have over 250 members then? What happened to all of them? Why can't we field a band of 250 or more members? Has anyone approached Dr. S about solving this problem? Has anyone addressed all of this with Scott Farmer? Can we get combined funds from Dr. S and athletics to make this work? Can the band get more direction from athletics for football games?

I am going to write to Scott Farmer and Gerald Hebert about this and, if I get the chance on Saturday, discuss it with them as well. Was additional funding for the band not recently approved as someone posted? The band needs help and guidance, not just criticism. It is time to make construction changes. Maybe more of us should provide suggestions to Farmer and Hebert.

[CajunCanaille]

_ With the complexity of the show that Southern put on and the music they play, don't you think they put in as much if not more into preparation than UL's band, yet their performance was exceptional. Last time I checked, the weather in Baton Rouge is the same as Lafayette. The simple fact is, our band has no clue how to operate in a game situation. A current band member said in another thread a week or so ago that the band doesn't care about what goes on in the game, they are only worried about the pre-game and half-time shows. That is why during a game, the band doesn't know when to play anything and music has to be piped in. That is pathetic for a college band and for game day atmosphere. As someone also pointed out, at LSU the band only has to play 4 simple notes to get the entire stadium in a frenzy. That is a great part of what makes their games among the best in the country. That is sorely lacking at UL's games and desperately needs to be addressed and corrected. _

Well said.....The director should be embarrased that music actually has to be piped in during the game. Our band is not very energetic or entertaining and I think that falls back on the director.

He and Julie Dronet are at the top of my Sh@t List.

[biged05]

_ Do flag twirlers get scholarships?

Serious question. _

Yes they do. At least they did when my wife (color guard/flag twirler) and I were in the POA. Don't know why that would be different.

There are so many good points made on the is topic, and here's my two cents.

They are two different styles that can be very entertaining in their own ways. I prefer Southern's style a little more, but that's probably b/c I was in a band in high school that got most of their music and ideas from Southern.

POA's style can be entertaining also. At this time I just find them lackingfor whatever reason. BrockMeaux mentioned that it's about the director's vision. I think that statement hits the nail on the head. I had a great time the first two years I was in the POA, and the director focused more on doing less sets clean, and adding more if we could do what we knew almost flawlessly. He also tried to do what he could to put music in where we could have sets where we did nothing but PB&J (park, Blow and Jam) as he liked to call it. No it wasn't like Southern or Troy, but it added a little bit extra to just playing and marching sets.

The trird year there was a different director, and it just wasn't the same, and that with me needing to get out of school was the reason I decided not to return.

Southern's band adds a great deal to the game atmosphere, and at this time I find that ours doesn't. I wish they would, but I don't think that's what this director has in mind. It's more about performing DCI type perfomances while playing the type of music that goes along with those performances

[CajunCanaille]

_ Do flag twirlers get scholarships?

Serious question. _

I was wondering the same thing. They are pretty bad too. Seems that we could simply put the dance team out there.