How to make a GRAND ENTRANCE

SilverEagle · January 3, 2012

And once again (I just know that current and recent Green Brigade members hate this) I present to you examples of what college pageantry and showmanship look like.

Apogee and North Texas fans deserve something like this. And BTW, if you just add a little cape on the back, these unis were just like the GB uni's of the 60's....

Wisconsin doesn't do a bad job either.....

...not to be outdone or out-pageantried(?), the Michigan Band...

Pageantry, it's what gets the fans into the stadium early and pumped for the game.

SHOSS · January 3, 2012

And once again (I just know that current and recent Green Brigade members hate this) I present to you examples of what college pageantry and showmanship look like.

Apogee and North Texas fans deserve something like this. And BTW, if you just add a little cape on the back, these unis were just like the GB uni's of the 60's....

Wisconsin doesn't do a bad job either.....

...not to be outdone or out-pageantried(?), the Michigan Band...

Pageantry, it's what gets the fans into the stadium early and pumped for the game.

A truly top notch football team will get people in the stadium. What the band is wearing doesn't matter one bit. I think they should just be comfortable. If they are "uniform" with kaki shorts and a t-shirt in the heat or have matching jackets...whatever. who cares?

If the football team is destroying everybody, nobody will notice what the band is wearing cause nobody will take their eyes off the field or the scoreboard...and then during half time when the band is on the field, everybody will NEED to take a restroom break and get refreshment cause they didn't leave their seats during actual game action.

DeepGreen · January 3, 2012

Silver, you open up old wounds with these video clips. I would love for UNT to have a similar entrance to get the crowd fired up. To me, college game day is all about the pageantry that a great band can provide, along with the tailgating, and a festive atmosphere. And god knows we do have a great band. We're just not utilizing them to their fullest potential.

Green P1 · January 3, 2012

What we need is a hot shot freshman snare drummer to come in and shake things up while also convincing Dr. Williams to start playing more hip hop jams and less classics.

/drumlined

Mean Green 93-98 · January 3, 2012

A truly top notch football team will get people in the stadium. What the band is wearing doesn't matter one bit. I think they should just be comfortable. If they are "uniform" with kaki shorts and a t-shirt in the heat or have matching jackets...whatever. who cares?

If the football team is destroying everybody, nobody will notice what the band is wearing cause nobody will take their eyes off the field or the scoreboard...and then during half time when the band is on the field, everybody will NEED to take a restroom break and get refreshment cause they didn't leave their seats during actual game action.

Shoss, your point is pretty well correct. Good football will draw a whole lot more folks to a game than a good band will. But Ohio State and Wisconsin have top notch football teams, and bands that get the crowd excited to boot. I don't see why a good football team and a professional level marching band are mutually exclusive.

adman · January 3, 2012

Do we even have a drum major?

After watching those clips I'm certain of two things - 1. we need spats. 2. if we wish to be anything like those bands we're going to need a dedicated strength and conditioning coach for the band.

NorthTexan95 · January 3, 2012

I love it! Anything we can do to improve the atmosphere will help.

KRAM1 · January 3, 2012

Silver, I do think you are on to something here. One reason I love college ball so much more than pro ball is the pageantry aspect of college ball. This sort of thing certainly helps and would, in fact, help attendance. I know of people who make sure they are in their seats at Ohio State games just for the band's entrance....

Pageantry folks...pagentry...Silver has a valid point, folks.

cdizzle86 · January 3, 2012

What we need is a hot shot freshman snare drummer to come in and shake things up while also convincing Dr. Williams to start playing more hip hop jams and less classics.

/drumlined

Hit em up with the bumble bee.

SHOSS · January 3, 2012

Shoss, your point is pretty well correct. Good football will draw a whole lot more folks to a game than a good band will. But Ohio State and Wisconsin have top notch football teams, and bands that get the crowd excited to boot. I don't see why a good football team and a professional level marching band are mutually exclusive.

My entire family is from Columbus, OH. Both my uncles have degrees from Ohio State. My father still makes fun of them cause he was "too smart" to go to Ohio State, but he still took me to countless games at the shoe growing up.

When you look at what they are wearing and what they are doing, it just looks silly. What makes their "pageantry" cool is that it is attached to an awesome football program with millions of passionate fanatics.

All I'm saying is that we should pave a different "pageantry" path. Our band already could play circles around the "best damn band in the land". To me, the traditional pageantry represents the era of us not being successful and/or being shunned when we were successful. We just need to go a different pageantry path. Lets be different than the traditional powers to try and pave our way to the big time with different, more up to date type of traditions. I think this old version of "pageantry" is just silly looking when you just look at it out of the context of a hundred years of success and huge fan followings... we don't have that success, so lets just see how things end up without having to try and mimic those that already have the success that we want.

SilverEagle · January 3, 2012

A truly top notch football team will get people in the stadium. What the band is wearing doesn't matter one bit.

If that were true, then why does Ohio State wear these same uni's year after year. Why does the Texas band wear the same uni's?

I think they should just be comfortable. If they are "uniform" with kaki shorts and a t-shirt in the heat or have matching jackets...whatever. who cares?

I think that caps (minus the enron logo) and shorts early in our season are just fine. I only mentioned the similarity to the Ohio St. uni's because it would have been nice if we had kept our uni's of that era for TRADITIONS SAKE.....which North Texas is very challenged at.

If the football team is destroying everybody, nobody will notice what the band is wearing cause nobody will take their eyes off the field or the scoreboard...and then during half time when the band is on the field, everybody will NEED to take a restroom break and get refreshment cause they didn't leave their seats during actual game action.

If this were true, then why do all these big time programs go to the trouble of having such big time bands? Do you know something that they don't?

kalebschumann · January 3, 2012

I hate threads like this.

I start typing arguements, then I get frustrated and have to stop.

I think I'm just going to say this:

The band is loud, and they sound awesome. You're welcome.

People should stop complaining about the good things that are here, and start realizing that complaining about the best marching band in the nation makes you look silly.

I loved my time in the GB. Though we don't have all the pomp and circumstance that other bands have, other bands don't play as awesome as we do.

All About UNT · January 3, 2012

the season ticket holders next to me (with chairbacks) would leave after halftime every year. I quickly realized that they only came to see the band and to make a contribution (monetarily). Just sayin.

Green P1 · January 3, 2012

How are Rice's attendance numbers?

GMoney · January 3, 2012

What we need is a hot shot freshman snare drummer to come in and shake things up while also convincing Dr. Williams to start playing more hip hop jams and less classics.

Hahaha, nicely played my friend. Very underrated.

DeepGreen · January 3, 2012

I hate threads like this.

I start typing arguements, then I get frustrated and have to stop.

I think I'm just going to say this:

The band is loud, and they sound awesome. You're welcome.

People should stop complaining about the good things that are here, and start realizing that complaining about the best marching band in the nation makes you look silly.

I loved my time in the GB. Though we don't have all the pomp and circumstance that other bands have, other bands don't play as awesome as we do.

So what you are saying is, the band is the best band in the U.S. and they are loud, and that's the best we can ever be?? No reason to try and improve on what we already have? First of all, I'm not complaining about the GB. They are very good. But we need to always strive for continuous improvement; maybe satisfy the young "hip hop" crowd, as well as the older alumni. For me personally, I like the sound of our band, they're hard to beat. What I don't like is the "high schoolish, band contest" marching routines. They can do better. Continuous improvement, gentlemen.

meangreendork · January 3, 2012

I hate threads like this.

I start typing arguements, then I get frustrated and have to stop.

I think I'm just going to say this:

The band is loud, and they sound awesome. You're welcome.

People should stop complaining about the good things that are here, and start realizing that complaining about the best marching band in the nation makes you look silly.

I loved my time in the GB. Though we don't have all the pomp and circumstance that other bands have, other bands don't play as awesome as we do.

All the fancy uniforms in the world don't mean jack if the band sounds like ass. I'd rather have a great sounding band playing in shorts in 100 degree heat than a band that would sound okay if they weren't sweltering to death, and didn't sound that good in good weather to begin with.

Coffee and TV · January 3, 2012

The only thing I'd change about the Green Brigade is what I saw Penn State's do at halftime: they were finishing as the football team came out from the tunnel. The team ran in between them and the sideline. Don't know if it was planned or just because halftime was almost over, but it looked cool as hell.

kalebschumann · January 3, 2012

So what you are saying is, the band is the best band in the U.S. and they are loud, and that's the best we can ever be?? No reason to try and improve on what we already have? First of all, I'm not complaining about the GB. They are very good. But we need to always strive for continuous improvement; maybe satisfy the young "hip hop" crowd, as well as the older alumni. For me personally, I like the sound of our band, they're hard to beat. What I don't like is the "high schoolish, band contest" marching routines. They can do better. Continuous improvement, gentlemen.

It's part of getting the Music Education students ready to have their own high school bands one day.

So band directors like me can have a Top 10 Marching Band in the area. Sorry, you're 'college entertainment' isn't worth me losing educational time at my GB rehearsal. I never felt like I was settling in the GB, and niether does anybody in the ensemble.

Eagle1855 · January 3, 2012

How are Rice's attendance numbers?

Yeah, but how would they be *without* the MOB?

SilverEagle · January 3, 2012

I hate threads like this.

Threads? I think I'm the only person who starts these threads....thank you very much.

I start typing arguements, then I get frustrated and have to stop.

I think I'm just going to say this:

The band is loud, and they sound awesome. You're welcome.

Wow!, we can finally make a bigger sound than visiting pep bands?

People should stop complaining about the good things that are here, and start realizing that complaining about the best marching band in the nation makes you look silly.

When the GB finally gets set into their formation to play (after sauntering around the field for a while) and put their instruments to their mouths, they are without peer in the college band world. BUT THEY ARE NOT THE BEST MARCHING BAND IN THE NATION. All three of the examples that I supplied are (pageantry wise and showmanship wise) much better marching/performing bands....make that much much better.

I loved my time in the GB. Though we don't have all the pomp and circumstance that other bands have, other bands don't play as awesome as we do.

Pomp and circumstance is what College Football PAGENTRY is all about. It's a celebration of the school and it's fans and alumni. What the Green Brigade does is celebrate THEMSELVES. It's not about the GB and the music education department....it's about glorifying North Texas and giving the fans something to participate in....and with.

Playing awesome is not the same as providing a great show.

AND providing pageantry along with great music is not a mutually exclusive thing. The Green Brigade of my youth could easily do both.

Edited January 3, 2012 by SilverEagle

kalebschumann · January 3, 2012

Pomp and circumstance is what College Football PAGENTRY is all about. It's a celebration of the school and it's fans and alumni. What the Green Brigade does is celebrate THEMSELVES. It's not about the GB and the music education department....it's about glorifying North Texas and giving the fans something to participate in....and with.

Playing awesome is not the same as providing a great show.

AND providing pageantry along with great music is not a mutually exclusive thing. The Green Brigade of my youth could easily do both.

I don't know what they do to celebrate themselves.

The Green Brigade is a class, an ensemble credit hour. I learned a lot about marching band, and how to run one. The GB will never be what you want it to be, because that's not what it was designed to be. It's not designed to do that. Our 'thing' is playing really loudly, and with musical precision, not use marching styles that are literally 100 year old. We're set up and run like a high school band so that the future band directors of Texas know how to run one.

TheTastyGreek · January 3, 2012

The only thing I'd change about the Green Brigade is what I saw Penn State's do at halftime: they were finishing as the football team came out from the tunnel. The team ran in between them and the sideline. Don't know if it was planned or just because halftime was almost over, but it looked cool as hell.

Court ordered.

Human wall between the coaching staff and the crowd.

DeepGreen · January 3, 2012

I don't know what they do to celebrate themselves.

The Green Brigade is a class, an ensemble credit hour. I learned a lot about marching band, and how to run one. The GB will never be what you want it to be, because that's not what it was designed to be. It's not designed to do that. Our 'thing' is playing really loudly, and with musical precision, not use marching styles that are literally 100 year old. We're set up and run like a high school band so that the future band directors of Texas know how to run one.

There in lies the problem. The Green Brigade was designed as an OJT training/laboratory class for future high school band directors. That's the type of marching high schools perform. And that's great for future band directors.

And this is the reason I've always been a proponent of and all volunteer marching band for UNT athletic events like football games. Not sure how other universities run their band operations or who is responsible for overseeing them, but that's what we need. Fire away!

Mean Green 93-98 · January 3, 2012

I don't know what they do to celebrate themselves.

The Green Brigade is a class, an ensemble credit hour. I learned a lot about marching band, and how to run one. The GB will never be what you want it to be, because that's not what it was designed to be. It's not designed to do that. Our 'thing' is playing really loudly, and with musical precision, not use marching styles that are literally 100 year old. We're set up and run like a high school band so that the future band directors of Texas know how to run one.

I remember watching games with my girlfriend back in the 90s. I was generally happy with how the band performed, but she would get irate at the sloppy way they went onto and left the field. Why? Because the high school band she had been in had put forth effort to make good entrances and exits. That school put a premium on having a good MARCHING band. So if you are saying the way the G.B. is set up is to prepare future H.S. band directors, it may not be making its alumni as highly sought after as they could be.