WANT TO SEE A REAL FOOTBALL BAND?

SilverEagle · September 6, 2016

And BTW, I really like Ohio U's Uni's. They look very much like the Uni's of the North Texas Marching band of my youth.

Ibleedgreen · September 6, 2016

I cannot believe all the complaints about the Green Brigade. Last Saturday should have shown you that our band is something to be really proud of. Not sure I agree we have the best marching band in the country, but they're pretty damn good.

THOR · September 6, 2016

6 minutes ago, Ibleedgreen said:

I cannot believe all the complaints about the Green Brigade. Last Saturday should have shown you that our band is something to be really proud of. Not sure I agree we have the best marching band in the country, but they're pretty damn good.

What did you like about the band and can you counter point any of the complaints?

Christopher Walker · September 6, 2016

5 hours ago, Hunter Green said:

Most exciting band in the country? I would imagine Grambling might have something to say about that.

Speaking of suggestions, a few years ago, I sent a letter to the then band Director (don't remember his name) and seriously suggested that the band change from the "traditional" band uni, to a more "contemporary" if you will, uniform consisting of a dark green sports coat, with white shirt, green tie, black pants and topped off with a black fedora, ala the Blues Brothers. Include sun glasses, of course. I'm sure it was not taken seriously, but I think it would be very cool and would be a tribute to our jazz heritage.

Just one man's opinion.

GO MEAN GREEN!

Our Jazz History looks nothing like that cartoonish caricature.

4 hours ago, Mike Jackson said:

I can see the band being reduce by 1/3 to have smaller more energetic band happier to perform and get the crowd hyped. That is one of the problems with our FCS scheduling they usually don't bring a good band with them.

3 hours ago, SilverEagle said:

Now, there would be a good place to start. A 400 member band is entirely too bloated and unwieldy.

Keep in mind that two years of marching band is a required class ensemble for those on the Band MUED subplan. About 2/3 of the GB has to be there, though they certainly want to be as well.

UNT 90 Grad · September 6, 2016

I wouldn't complain if we got rid of the flag people. Just sayin'. Also, I wouldn't complain if the misc xylophone players and whatnot stood still and patiently waited for their next part rather than attempting choreographed dance moves. Sometimes less is more.

GreenBacker · September 6, 2016

I've been mostly an observer of this board for a few years and am always amazed that there is an annual bashing of the Green Brigade. Everyone does realize that our music program is one of the few programs at UNT that is actually better than the Ohio State's, OU's, and UT's of he world? That is because we attract the best musicians in the country because our music department knows what they are doing. Does anyone think trying to be like Grambling or Ohio State for that matter would continue to draw the best musicians in the country to UNT?

For those wishing that we become a real "football band" would you really suggest we abandon what we know works for one of our best departments to appease those who think they know what will put butts in the seats. Winning is the answer for that. See Houston. Their bands perform very similarly to ours and have a very solid music program...although probably not at as good as UNT. Not too long ago, they weren't very far ahead of us in the football world. Magically, now they aren't having problems filling their seats or providing a fun game-day experience and probably aren't wasting time complaining about their marching band this week.

Quoner · September 6, 2016

That's what I like about these college band threads, man. I get older, they stay the same age.

UNT 90 Grad · September 6, 2016

27 minutes ago, GreenBacker said:

I've been mostly an observer of this board for a few years and am always amazed that there is an annual bashing of the Green Brigade. Everyone does realize that our music program is one of the few programs at UNT that is actually better than the Ohio State's, OU's, and UT's of he world? That is because we attract the best musicians in the country because our music department knows what they are doing. Does anyone think trying to be like Grambling or Ohio State for that matter would continue to draw the best musicians in the country to UNT?

For those wishing that we become a real "football band" would you really suggest we abandon what we know works for one of our best departments to appease those who think they know what will put butts in the seats. Winning is the answer for that. See Houston. Their bands perform very similarly to ours and have a very solid music program...although probably not at as good as UNT. Not too long ago, they weren't very far ahead of us in the football world. Magically, now they aren't having problems filling their seats or providing a fun game-day experience and probably aren't wasting time complaining about their marching band this week.

I like the Green Brigade, but realize that it is open to any student, not just those getting music degrees. Actually, of the acquaintances I have that are alums of the Green Brigade, none of them were getting degrees in music. My point is that though we have an outstanding College of Music, that's not necessarily what attracted all of the Green Brigade members to UNT. It's only required curriculum for Music Education majors.

Oh, and we don't just waste our time complaining about the marching band. There is plenty of room on gomeangreen.com to waste time complaining about all sorts of things. Not like a fan board is a wealth of productivity...unless you're raising money for banners or something like that.

GreenBacker · September 6, 2016

8 minutes ago, UNT 90 Grad said:

I like the Green Brigade, but realize that it is open to any student, not just those getting music degrees. Actually, of the acquaintances I have that are alums of the Green Brigade, none of them were getting degrees in music. My point is that though we have an outstanding College of Music, that's not necessarily what attracted all of the Green Brigade members to UNT. It's only required curriculum for Music Education majors.

Oh, and we don't just waste our time complaining about the marching band. There is plenty of room on gomeangreen.com to waste time complaining about all sorts of things. Not like a fan board is a wealth of productivity...unless you're raising money for banners or something like that.

Certainly recognize there are many who are not music majors, but I think at a large music school with a traditionally bad football team that the overwhelming majority would be. The more we win, the more we will see a larger influx of students who are there for enjoyment. Not saying we shouldn't find ways to tweak things along the way for game day experience, but that group serves as a respresentation of the music school and I think will/should always be able to focus on quality music.

In terms of productivity, isn't this board and the banner the only reason we now have a new FB Coach, AD, and hope for the future? So keep up the good work!

mgfan · September 6, 2016

I must be in the minority. I enjoyed the marching band/half time show this past week. Guess I'm not old enough to find the negative in everything.

Edited September 6, 2016 by mgfan

UNTLifer · September 6, 2016

I have never had an issue with our halftime shows. I enjoy the quality of our music over some fancy dancing crqp like Texas Southern, Grambling, etc... What I would like to see is the march into the stadium at the beginning of the game that gets the crowd going. If they are not capable or do not want to, then use the sound system like Va Tech lr Wisconsin. I also dislike "Hey Baby." What does that have to do with the game? This makes me feel like they have disengaged from the game and are trying to make people pay attention to them and not the game.

I also wish they would wear their uniforms, love Ohio U's, to all games. It was not too hot Saturday, plus I have seen UT's and FSU's in full uniform and they are in hot environments.

Outside of this, I am a big fan of our band.

Shuke-D · September 6, 2016

1 hour ago, mgfan said:

I must be in the minority. I enjoyed the marching band/half time show this past week. Guess I'm not old enough to find the negative in everything.

Let me tell you this, the older you do get the more rules they're gonna try to get you to follow. You just gotta keep livin' man, L-I-V-I-N.

DeepGreen · September 6, 2016

The band is great but just needs to be tweaked a bit. Would it be too much to ask to bring back the block NT as they leave the field after halftime? Playing the fight song? And the khakis and black shoe look have to go. Looks like crap. Surely they can find better clothes combos to wear during the early/hot part of the season. And I'd like a better entrance at the beginning of the game/march onto the field.

Edited September 6, 2016 by DeepGreen

Maduro · September 6, 2016

This might sound "business'y" coming from me, but I want to get it off my chest. Pageantry is what differentiates the NCAA from the pro's, and we CAN and NEED to do a better job in order to obtain sustainability. It's hard to justify spending my entertainment dollars based on the football product that is played at Apogee when there is plenty of better options in the area on Friday night or occasionally on Sunday's. I go because I like to be excited, motivated, impressed, and reminded of how proud I should be of my school. Too many of our alums are investing in the gear/apparel/tickets of schools they didn't even graduate from and I see this far too often where I work here in Denton. We don't just need a better win/loss record to succeed, but a better overall experience that includes some sort of pre-game ritual that can help generate some pride.

I grew up attending SWC/Big12 games in Texas and have since traveled to several stadiums across the country and witnessed the importance of pageantry. In no way could I possibly compare the Green Brigade's performance as being better than any other school of our size. In my opinion, the "superior concert quality of sound" that our band is apparently capable of producing isn't any more noticeable or purer than smaller bands in stadiums with 100K screaming fans. Not every power 5 school has a championship history or a consistent winning record, but the pageantry is what keeps the alums coming back and spending money where they are supposed to be spending it.

I'm not against reducing the size of the band if it meant an improved budget that would allow performance upgrades to be made. The "concert quality of sound" or "integrity of the music department" doesn't mean a lot when it comes to the football gameday experience since most of the sounds of the stadium consist of worn out AC/DC & Rolling Stones, overplayed club songs, or commercials being forced on us through the loud speakers. I'm more concerned about the music majors playing flawlessly when they are putting on a show at the Murchison. Currently, our band's march through the parking lot along with the team's march into the stadium are great idea's... but how about we go the extra mile and do better than khaki's and a t-shirt. The "tacky" band concept was officially overdone many years ago.

The stadium is setup up incredibly for a pre-game show featuring the band doing a march onto the field, It's absurd to see them having to stand and stare at each other for 5-10 minutes while they wait for the football team to exit the locker room. Has Tennessee ever opened the T with no team waiting to run through it? Dotting the I, Football Time in Tennesssee, the Seminole War Chant, March Grandioso... these (seemingly) simple rituals mean as much to those fans as the game that's being played. I pay money to get an NCAA experience from my school and I'm not concerned with how many heisman's are in our trophy case, or how many grammy's our musicians have earned. I would love to have a reason to be in my seat before kickoff, and I've seen how important these rituals are at enough venues to realize why people care about the ncaa experience at all.

GrayEagle · September 6, 2016

By the way, if anyone knows...

Why is our band still called the Green Brigade? I don't think that they've done military style marching in many years.

FirefightnRick · September 6, 2016

6 hours ago, GreenBacker said:

See Houston. Their bands perform very similarly to ours

Nope, they actually March into the stadium....not similarly to ours.

Rick

GrandGreen · September 6, 2016

10 hours ago, GreenBacker said:

Certainly recognize there are many who are not music majors, but I think at a large music school with a traditionally bad football team that the overwhelming majority would be. The more we win, the more we will see a larger influx of students who are there for enjoyment. Not saying we shouldn't find ways to tweak things along the way for game day experience, but that group serves as a respresentation of the music school and I think will/should always be able to focus on quality music.

In terms of productivity, isn't this board and the banner the only reason we now have a new FB Coach, AD, and hope for the future? So keep up the good work!

I doubt the board had much to do with athletic decisions made by NT. Extremely poor performance by RV and McCarney led to those changes.

As far as the band, my major complaint is the continued playing of "Seventeen Nation Army". A great song, but constantly played by seemingly every college band in the land at every football game. I look forward to the day that NT's football team is as good as the band.

Stix · September 6, 2016

8 hours ago, GrayEagle said:

By the way, if anyone knows...

Why is our band still called the Green Brigade? I don't think that they've done military style marching in many years.

The name has nothing to do with marching style; actually the name was chosen long after Maurice McAdoo retired(?) and the band was changed to a drum corps style by Robert Winslow, who came from UCLA. The band didn't have a name until Winslow retired and Dennis Fischer took over (it was just after I graduated, so 1984, I believe). Fischer had the band come up with a name, and vote on it. The choice was "The Green Brigade", and it has stuck.

UNT90 · September 6, 2016

12 hours ago, Quoner said:

That's what I like about these (insert any topic here) threads, man. I get older, they stay the same age.

Fixed.

5 hours ago, FirefightnRick said:

Nope, they actually March into the stadium....not similarly to ours.

Rick

Not enough time to choreograph an entrance like that? Bulsh.

The UNT administration has appeared to change their attitude about UNT athletics. The band's casual approach to the gameday experience mimicks the old "meh" attitude at UNT. This has nothing to do with the kids. This is a leadership problem with the adults that direct the band.

And it needs to change.

GreenGonzo · September 6, 2016

UNT90 is correct. The "meh" attitude at UNT needs to change. Hopefully, we now have leadership that recognizes this problem and will influence the needed change.

letsgiveacheer · September 6, 2016

1 hour ago, Stix said:

The name has nothing to do with marching style; actually the name was chosen long after Maurice McAdoo retired(?) and the band was changed to a drum corps style by Robert Winslow, who came from UCLA. The band didn't have a name until Winslow retired and Dennis Fischer took over (it was just after I graduated, so 1984, I believe). Fischer had the band come up with a name, and vote on it. The choice was "The Green Brigade", and it has stuck.

The band never has marched in a military style. When Mr.McAdow had it, marching was done in what is called an "8 to 5" style. i.e. 8 steps to every 5 yards.

UNTcrazy727 · September 6, 2016

1 hour ago, UNT90 said:

Fixed.

Not enough time to choreograph an entrance like that? Bulsh.

The UNT administration has appeared to change their attitude about UNT athletics. The band's casual approach to the gameday experience mimicks the old "meh" attitude at UNT. This has nothing to do with the kids. This is a leadership problem with the adults that direct the band.

And it needs to change.

Since the band, cheerleads, Scrappy and dancers got their own section in the AD's game day experience survey, I expect we'll start to see subtle changes this year and hopefully some big ones next season. Gone are the days of RV throwing up his hands and saying he has no control over anything outside of the athletic department. Wren seems to be committed to getting all parties on the same page.

SilverEagle · September 6, 2016

16 minutes ago, letsgiveacheer said:

The band never has marched in a military style. When Mr.McAdow had it, marching was done in what is called an "8 to 5" style. i.e. 8 steps to every 5 yards.

Also known as the "high steppin" style of march. My first Band director in HS was a North Texas graduate and 8 to 5 was the first style that I learned. One of my last directors was not and preferred the military 6 to 5 style.

In military terms, Brigade refers to a large group of soldiers.....sometimes as high as 3000. So "Green Brigade" isn't talking about a large group of soldiers(bandspersons). So I guess "Green Brigade" falls somewhere in the other meanings of the word.

2. an organization with a specific purpose, typically with a military or quasi-military structure.

"the local fire brigade"

or

3.

a group of people with a common characteristic or dedicated to a common cause.

"the anti-smoking brigade"

synonyms:

squad, team, group, band, party, crew, force, outfit

"the volunteer ambulance brigade"

So I'm assuming that our Green Brigade's common cause is "promoting school spirit?"

11 hours ago, Maduro said:

This might sound "business'y" coming from me, but I want to get it off my chest. Pageantry is what differentiates the NCAA from the pro's, and we CAN and NEED to do a better job in order to obtain sustainability. It's hard to justify spending my entertainment dollars based on the football product that is played at Apogee when there is plenty of better options in the area on Friday night or occasionally on Sunday's. I go because I like to be excited, motivated, impressed, and reminded of how proud I should be of my school. Too many of our alums are investing in the gear/apparel/tickets of schools they didn't even graduate from and I see this far too often where I work here in Denton. We don't just need a better win/loss record to succeed, but a better overall experience that includes some sort of pre-game ritual that can help generate some pride.

I grew up attending SWC/Big12 games in Texas and have since traveled to several stadiums across the country and witnessed the importance of pageantry. In no way could I possibly compare the Green Brigade's performance as being better than any other school of our size. In my opinion, the "superior concert quality of sound" that our band is apparently capable of producing isn't any more noticeable or purer than smaller bands in stadiums with 100K screaming fans. Not every power 5 school has a championship history or a consistent winning record, but the pageantry is what keeps the alums coming back and spending money where they are supposed to be spending it.

I'm not against reducing the size of the band if it meant an improved budget that would allow performance upgrades to be made. The "concert quality of sound" or "integrity of the music department" doesn't mean a lot when it comes to the football gameday experience since most of the sounds of the stadium consist of worn out AC/DC & Rolling Stones, overplayed club songs, or commercials being forced on us through the loud speakers. I'm more concerned about the music majors playing flawlessly when they are putting on a show at the Murchison. Currently, our band's march through the parking lot along with the team's march into the stadium are great idea's... but how about we go the extra mile and do better than khaki's and a t-shirt. The "tacky" band concept was officially overdone many years ago.

The stadium is setup up incredibly for a pre-game show featuring the band doing a march onto the field, It's absurd to see them having to stand and stare at each other for 5-10 minutes while they wait for the football team to exit the locker room. Has Tennessee ever opened the T with no team waiting to run through it? Dotting the I, Football Time in Tennesssee, the Seminole War Chant, March Grandioso... these (seemingly) simple rituals mean as much to those fans as the game that's being played. I pay money to get an NCAA experience from my school and I'm not concerned with how many heisman's are in our trophy case, or how many grammy's our musicians have earned. I would love to have a reason to be in my seat before kickoff, and I've seen how important these rituals are at enough venues to realize why people care about the ncaa experience at all.

Good post and summary.

2 hours ago, UNT90 said:

Fixed.

Not enough time to choreograph an entrance like that? Bulsh.

The UNT administration has appeared to change their attitude about UNT athletics. The band's casual approach to the gameday experience mimicks the old "meh" attitude at UNT. This has nothing to do with the kids. This is a leadership problem with the adults that direct the band.

And it needs to change.

totally agree!

letsgiveacheer · September 6, 2016

27 minutes ago, UNTcrazy727 said:

Since the band, cheerleads, Scrappy and dancers got their own section in the AD's game day experience survey, I expect we'll start to see subtle changes this year and hopefully some big ones next season. Gone are the days of RV throwing up his hands and saying he has no control over anything outside of the athletic department. Wren seems to be committed to getting all parties on the same page.

There may be suggestions but the athletic department will not have any control over the band. Williams is a tenured professor not a staff member.

UNT90 · September 6, 2016

15 minutes ago, letsgiveacheer said:

There may be suggestions but the athletic department will not have any control over the band. Williams is a tenured professor not a staff member.

Oh, there are ways, my friend. If Williams takes a hard line stance, the AD can just say "No thanks" to having the Green Brigade at the games. They could invite and rotate high school bands.

That would leave Williams as the band director that ended Green Brigade presence at Football games. Is that where he wants his legacy? Even if his bosses can't impose consequences, the public heat in Denton would be immeasurable.

This would obviously be a last resort, and one the AD would be hesitant to take, but AT THE END OF THE DAY, the AD is in charge of everything gameday. You don't want to up your game? Welp, see ya.