Besides The Band Looking Like Crap.

[greenminer]

The problem is that we don't care how difficult the music is or how much time was put into the marching. It comes back to tradition and entertainment. Every big time school has something about there band that makes everyone get pumped up (UT's big drum, OU's drum major, A&M's stupid lines crossing). At halftime no one wants to leave because that's part of the experience. Everyone stands and cheers as the band takes the field not because it's a new show they've never seen before but because it's a tradition that always happens. I think our band gets too wrapped up in trying to impress rather than trying to entertain. When Paul McCartney goes on tour I'm sure he gets sick of playing all those old Beatles songs over and over again and I'm sure he would love to play his new stuff for an entire set. But he knows what his audience wants to hear and he plans his set accordingly. I know I will get blasted by everyone who argues how hard and difficult our bands shows are but I would ask why they are performing. Is it to receive praise (none coming from me) or is it to entertain?

BRD

A little of both. You can thank the competitive nature of Texas football and entertainment for that. UNT Music Ed majors, when I was enrolled '99 - '03 were required to take 3 years of marching band. It's an education that is valuable and necessary because it is there at the high school level...not just at football games but also at UIL competitions. Over here in the Southwest there is a pretty esteemed competition hosted by NMSU (NMSU Tournament of Bands) every year. IIRC, the first 24 years were absolutely dominated by El Paso Coronado, a recipient of the prestigious Sudler Shield and Sudler Flag of Honor awards from the John Philip Sousa Foundation. If my memory serves me correctly, this is the 27th year of the competition, and Coronado has won it about 18 times. Playing Sousa marches? in block formations? nope...they won it doing Tchaikovsky, Debussy, etc...in extremely "amoeba" - or curvilinear - formations. The block formations got the cheers, but those at Coronado and the rest of us in Texas have to take it a step further! We have to prove that Tchaikovsky can be done on the field! Playing the same music every year and spelling out North Texas at every game all year isn't worth a dime when going on to teach high-level Texas competitive marching band.

***added in an edit: If you want to see what the highest level of competitors are doing, watch some DCI season DVDs. HINT: It doesn't spell out CAVALIERS between the 20s.***

It's really a trade-off, much like there are different schools of thought for offensive philosophies. Do you want to run the spread? the Wing-T? Well, do you want to high-step, do curves? Or write out the script for the fans year after year, and parade around in blocks? From a performer's perspective, asking them to learn the same old block formations and play the same tunes because it gives the fan a rise in your jorts is a catch-22. Rehearsals are flat out boring. The music gets old.

So what do we do in this situation? The Green Brigade is supported by the athletic department and a fundamental aspect of college gameday, so we have to balance between what we owe to everyone involved at the games and its traditions, and also a priority to those that are being educated to handle everything that will be asked of them in the Texas educational system. The Mean Green Brigade has some great activities that are already wonderful traditions in the game day atmosphere: the march to Fouts being one of them. Fly Like an Eagle (which I know seems overplayed to some of you...but it's not as bad as it used to be). The march around the track. Those are great traditions! But we've just had the worst smacking in UNT history, following two straight disappointing seasons. So everything after this weekend is going to be wrong.

Will this mean all of you that bitch endlessly about more posters and ads and t-shirts and free stuff will finally shut the hell up and realize it is winning that makes the machine go in this town?

I would encourage you to at least try to appreciate that our band does something different from anybody else, that that isn't necessarily a bad thing, and also realize after such a craptacular loss it's easy to find things to whine about. I, for one, am glad we don't conform to those boring traditionalist and play fantastic, unique music on the field. But again...that's just, like, my opinion man.

I wish we could go back to the game, watch the summer unis, and then miraculously blast OU 79-0. Then we'd be brilliant for trying to stay cool, and the OU band would be going, "Why didn't we do that? The band remains cool in all this heat!"

...some of you would still complain about the style, but I'd bet my Pony Up T-shirt that someone would be so upbeat about everything after a huge win that they'd say that about the band.

winning cures all.

I want this marching band bickering to die on the open forums. And I think it's a reasonable request of Mr. Williams that all Green Brigade current members and alumni stop speaking for the band in these frigid waters that are gmg.com right now. If you have any suggestions or questions, I'm sure he would be happy to answer some emails. I'll be happy to, also.

Edited September 5, 2007 by greenminer