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

[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.

[ManAboutTown]

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

Or take away those scholarships and give them to BAND MEMBERS

[Frenchie35]

With all of these negetive post I would think that the band members would request a town hall meeting and protest. Not the posters but the band director. I am curious to know exactly what the members think of this. It seemes to me back in the sixties and seventies we had more excitement. I can remember the reble flag days before political correctness. That was banded by the pressure of minority persuasion. But they had a better presentation on the field then.

[HelmutVII]

_ 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. _

Where do I start.

The beginning of every halftime show the Southern band performs is the same thing they have done for years. The so called precision marching drill is basically "follow the leader" whether that leader is ahead of you or to your right or left it's still follow the leader. It is very simple to execute and very easy to learn. How do I know this, because I performed similar shows to this WHEN I WAS A FRESHMAN IN HIGH SCHOOL IN 1968!!!.

If you were there and you knew what to look for and listen to, you will notice that when they marched up and down the field their sound greatly reduced. Most bands today will not do that and if they have to march up and down the field turn their horns 90 degrees to face the audience. The only time modern bands do not face the audience with their horns is of they want to make a musical effect.

The Southern Band gets their sound from the large number of low and mid brass. The UL band has more woodwinds that do not project as much as brass instruments. Also, members of the flag corps are considered a marching band member. With the Southern band having more brass and no flag corps naturally they will be louder marching the same number of people because all of their people are playing instruments.

A band in the mold of Southern today is very rare. Most all bands follow the drum corps model. This is a you tube video of the LHS band at the Atlanta Bands of America regional in Atlanta.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRl6zuc91vg

They went to Nationals and came in 12th in the country with the same performance.

Warning you will NOT like this performance if you have a football mind set!!! However, this is the trend of high level, cutting edge bands today. They do play at the football games too. LHS freshman Football parents have the same complaints about the LHS band that you do. However, they have 240 band members that have parents that buy almost 500 football season tickets so the coach can't complain. The only reason they go to the game is to watch the band. Most of the band members really don't care about the football game at all. (this is typical at many high schools today)

While you are on You Tube do a search for "Carolina Crown", "Phantom Regiment", "Glassmen" or "Santa Clara Vanguard" these are cutting edge DCI groups that are what most bands in America strive to be.

To say the least, I was unimpressed by the performance the Southern Band had Saturday evening. It was dated and unoriginal and had very little to offer form a technical marching and musical performance stand point. The only reason it appeared so different and new is because it's so old nobody does it anymore.

[CajunAmos]

Band smack. Yep, it's football season.

[Cajun Monkee]

_ Where do I start.

The beginning of every halftime show the Southern band performs is the same thing they have done for years. The so called precision marching drill is basically "follow the leader" weather that leader is ahead of you or to your right or left it's still follow the leader. It is very simple to execute and very easy to learn. How do I know this, because I performed similar shows to this WHEN I WAS A FRESHMAN IN HIGH SCHOOL IN 1968!!!.

If you were there and you knew what to look for and listen to, you will notice that when they marched up and down the field their sound greatly reduced. Most bands today will not do that and if they have to march up and down the field turn their horns 90 degrees to face the audience. The only time modern bands do not face the audience with their horns is of they want to make a musical effect.

The Southern Band gets their sound from the large number of low and mid brass. The UL band has more woodwinds that do not project as much as brass instruments. Also, members of the flag corps are considered a marching band member. With the Southern band having more brass and no flag corps naturally they will be louder marching the same number of people because all of their people are playing instruments.

A band in the mold of Southern today is very rare. Most all bands follow the drum corps model. This is a you tube video of the LHS band at the Atlanta Bands of America regional in Atlanta.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRl6zuc91vg

They went to Nationals and came in 12th in the country with the same performance.

Warning you will NOT like this performance if you have a football mind set!!! However, this is the trend of high level, cutting edge bands today. They do play at the football games too. LHS freshman Football parents have the same complaints about the LHS band that you do. However, they have 240 band members that have parents that buy almost 500 football season tickets so the coach can't complain. The only reason they go to the game is to watch the band. Most of the band members really don't care about the football game at all. (this is typical at many high schools today)

While you are on You Tube do a search for "Carolina Crown", "Phantom Regiment", "Glassmen" or "Santa Clara Vanguard" these are cutting edge DCI groups that are what most bands in America strive to be.

To say the least, I was unimpressed by the performance the Southern Band had Saturday evening. It was dated and unoriginal and had very little to offer form a technical marching and musical performance stand point. The only reason it appeared so different and new is because it's so old nobody does it anymore. _

It's hard not to sound offensive when you say weren't impressed by Southern's band, but it boils down to the absolute different styles. And the style just doesn't work for me.

While I didn't get to go to the game, I did go back and watch the show and all they did was march back and forth across the field in staight lines. The only diagonals (or arcs or curves) that might have occured were accidental.

Color guards give much to the presentation of the show. How much of a role does ULs drum line play in their show? Again, Southern's didn't particularly spark my interest.

[zephyr]

_ Where do I start.

The beginning of every halftime show the Southern band performs is the same thing they have done for years. The so called precision marching drill is basically "follow the leader" whether that leader is ahead of you or to your right or left it's still follow the leader. It is very simple to execute and very easy to learn. How do I know this, because I performed similar shows to this WHEN I WAS A FRESHMAN IN HIGH SCHOOL IN 1968!!!.

If you were there and you knew what to look for and listen to, you will notice that when they marched up and down the field their sound greatly reduced. Most bands today will not do that and if they have to march up and down the field turn their horns 90 degrees to face the audience. The only time modern bands do not face the audience with their horns is of they want to make a musical effect.

The Southern Band gets their sound from the large number of low and mid brass. The UL band has more woodwinds that do not project as much as brass instruments. Also, members of the flag corps are considered a marching band member. With the Southern band having more brass and no flag corps naturally they will be louder marching the same number of people because all of their people are playing instruments.

A band in the mold of Southern today is very rare. Most all bands follow the drum corps model. This is a you tube video of the LHS band at the Atlanta Bands of America regional in Atlanta.


They went to Nationals and came in 12th in the country with the same performance.

Warning you will NOT like this performance if you have a football mind set!!! However, this is the trend of high level, cutting edge bands today. They do play at the football games too. LHS freshman Football parents have the same complaints about the LHS band that you do. However, they have 240 band members that have parents that buy almost 500 football season tickets so the coach can't complain. The only reason they go to the game is to watch the band. Most of the band members really don't care about the football game at all. (this is typical at many high schools today)

While you are on You Tube do a search for "Carolina Crown", "Phantom Regiment", "Glassmen" or "Santa Clara Vanguard" these are cutting edge DCI groups that are what most bands in America strive to be.

To say the least, I was unimpressed by the performance the Southern Band had Saturday evening. It was dated and unoriginal and had very little to offer form a technical marching and musical performance stand point. The only reason it appeared so different and new is because it's so old nobody does it anymore. _

Then you were the only one. I found the SU band performance to be ANYTHING other than unoriginal as their routine was a direct tribute to Michael Jackson so i assume that its not something they've done very often. Regardless, if you would rather a more "technical" band setup for a football game, that is your opinion. However, I will assume that I speak for the masses of football fans out there that a band even similar to SU would do more for a collegiate football atmosphere than what you describe. Not to mention, I thought their overall sound was great. I'm not a band person nor will I pretend to be a critic of particular styles but to me, they sounded awesome. I'd take that any day of the week. The energy they gave the crowd was priceless and to add something like that to a football program would give its games a huge boost.

[HelmutVII]

_ It's hard not to sound offensive when you say weren't impressed by Southern's band, but it boils down to the absolute different styles. And the style just doesn't work for me.

_

While I did not mean to be offensive it's just how I saw it. It's hard to be impressed by a style of band performance that I have seen hundreds of times before.

[HelmutVII]

_ Then you were the only one. I found the SU band performance to be ANYTHING other than unoriginal as their routine was a direct tribute to Michael Jackson so i assume that its not something they've done very often. Regardless, if you would rather a more "technical" band setup for a football game, that is your opinion. However, I will assume that I speak for the masses of football fans out there that a band even similar to SU would do more for a collegiate football atmosphere than what you describe. Not to mention, I thought their overall sound was great. I'm not a band person nor will I pretend to be a critic of particular styles but to me, they sounded awesome. I'd take that any day of the week. The energy they gave the crowd was priceless and to add something like that to a football program would give its games a huge boost. _

Let me see now, how many band performances I have seen that have been titled "A tribute to fill in the blank". It's unoriginal, it's easy to learn the music (because most of it can be played by ear), and in the case of the SU band the marching is so easy you can learn the show in two hours.

The SU band sound was OK, but if you really want to hear a better sound then hope the Troy band makes the trip at the end of the season. This is what the POA should be shooting for.

To take it up several notches to hear excellent sound and musicianship along with seeing an almost flawless marching exhibition by a ticket to the "Drums Across Cajun Field" DCI event next July. It will be the third year here and suffice to say the performances that have happened at the previous two DCI events were the best dang show by a band at Cajun Field.

Or better yet, go to the Louisiana Showcase of Marching Bands this November. It's an all day event but if you show up after 3:00 P.M. you will see outstanding high school marching bands from around the State. For some of these band members, to go to a college marching band is a step down. Lafayette Music sponsors the event and donates much of the proceeds from the ticket sales to the Pride of Acadiana for scholarships and other things that just might help our band get bigger and better.

Finally, whether you like it or not, to the average band member, it's not about the football game, it's about the pregame and halftime show.