Thanks Band!!

[Splendid]

A big hearty thanks to the best band in the land for another great year. As a 30 year season ticket holder, many of which the band was better than the football team, it was a pleasure to hear the band playing from the north end zone (thanks JP) as they celebrated DMac and his team for their win over Missiouri.

Prevailing north winds amplify the brass section as the tunes blow through the stadium like a rock concert. Those watching on tv or listening on radio don't get the vibes we enjoy in the stadium. The band creates a carma we are all proud of.

The team and fans flooded the field after the Missiouri win to form a tunnel for Mac to be carried off on the shoulders of his players and the band played on. What a joy to be on the field to hear and see this sight.

 

[ornryactor]

And thank YOU. You and others like you are a big reason that we put in so much time and effort. We aren't glory-seekers, but it really is nice to know that we are appreciated by the football fans, especially when we're all tired at the end of a long season. We enjoy what we do, and we're glad that you all do too.

If you really do like us, I would encourage you to send a quick email to our director and/or Jamie Pollard, saying the same thing. JP has worked with us on a number of things this year, so who knows what could happen if fans and ticketholders start emailing him with comments like that? Just an idea.:wink0st:

 

[CYTIME]

I was on the field after the game and was down by the band for "The Bells of Iowa State." You guys sounded great! I agree, you do add a lot to gameday and your efforts are appreciated. And to you Splendid, thanks for buying those tix for 30 years. You're right, a lot of lean times. But, what a great place to be on Saturday's in the Fall.

 

[Warder60]

I'll second ornry and say Thank you too! It's just awesome when there's fans in the stands early enough to see our pregame and staying around to see our halftime.
While I wish I coulda been there with the students and fans on the field - providing the background music was just as good.

and definately send JP or our director comments or suggestions!
Hey, even halftime show suggestions, I'd love to see what you guys want to see us play... and our end-of-season evaluations (and suggestions for next season) meeting is coming up after break, help me get more idea of what to put down :sweet:

 

[Angie]

Loved the "South Park" medley. Hilarious. No "Uncle F*****", though?

 

[Blandboy]

Prevailing north winds amplify the brass section as the tunes blow through the stadium like a rock concert. Those watching on tv or listening on radio don't get the vibes we enjoy in the stadium. The band creates a carma we are all proud of...

Holy cow...a band nerd who can't spell!!!! It's Karma with a "K"...and what the heck are you doing talking about the band on this site?

:wink0st:

 

[Splendid]

Holy cow...a band nerd who can't spell!!!! It's Karma with a "K"...and what the heck are you doing talking about the band on this site?

:wink0st:

Perfect name Blandboy, why are you dissing the band, did the tuba player beat up on you in high school? By the way, I'll spell qarma any way I want. And for the record, I played O line and D line in my day.

 

[cycloneworld]

Did you guys get a new director (or whatever you call them)? It seems that the halftime shows were totally different than years past...in a great, great way. I have never been a big band fan but this year's halftime shows were great!

 

[ornryactor]

Holy cow...a band nerd who can't spell!!!! It's Karma with a "K"...and what the heck are you doing talking about the band on this site?

Holy cow, a sports fan who doesn't know how to properly use an ellipsis!

But seriously, tiger, there are a lot more current and former marching band members on this site than you apparently think. Most of us are regulars here, to boot. I'm not going to be presumptuous and start putting words in peoples' mouths, but if you had spent more than 8 seconds on this site before shooting off your reply, you would notice that the band is discussed in many contexts here. Believe it or not, we are not just icing on the cake- we DO make a difference in the stadium. Ask people. We help get the crowd fired up and get loud, we help keep spirits up when things aren't going our way, we provide some great traditions that the crowd joins in on (just ask the student section what they think of first downs!), we can play so loudly and distractingly that the opposing team cannot effectively communicate in their huddle. Hell, as evidenced early this season, we can even commit penalties! For better or for worse, we ARE an integral part of the gameday experience.

Now on to a more serious question:

Did you guys get a new director (or whatever you call them)? It seems that the halftime shows were totally different than years past...in a great, great way. I have never been a big band fan but this year's halftime shows were great!

Nope, Matthew Smith is still our director. He's in his fifth year here. But I- and most of the band- have noticed the same thing, and I agree with you. While I enjoyed a lot of our shows last year, I didn't expect that many of them would be very memorable for the audience. They would be enjoyed at the moment, but forgotten the next day. This year... yeah, they're different. The only show where I didn't recognize either the music or its source was our show for the Kansas game- themes from "Silverado" and "The Cowboys". We didn't recognize them, but apparently lots of older folks did, and enjoyed hearing them.

I couldn't tell you why the shows this year are so much better than even in the past. Some of them are longer, and I get the feeling that JP is a lot more flexible as to halftime scheduling than BVD was. The music for the entire season's shows is basically decided almost before the season even begins, which last year was before Pollard was hired. That could be a reason that we're just now seeing more creative stuff, even though JP's been here over a year. This is, of course, total speculation, but I think it's not too far off.

 

[uthaman]

I do like and appreciate the band, but.... can we PLEASE stop the "traveling" band thing? Sitting in the upper deck by the aisle when the band is playing is not fun. Sorry, but this is one tradition I would like to see stop.

 

[CYdTracked]

I don't mind the band and for the most part (minus a few annoyances) they do a good job but to refer to them as the "best damn band in the land" is going a tad too far. First off, that is Ohio State's motto and if you have ever seen the OSU marching band perform you'd know why because they are head over heels better than any marching band in the country. They have to try out for the marching band there where as anyone can just walk onto the marching band at ISU (see http://tbdbitl.osu.edu/) The dotting of the "i" in script Ohio is also one of the most pretegious traditions as well.

This is not a knock on the ISU marching band, again they do a good job but I also have some allegiance to Ohio State (my dad's side of the family) so you can see why the best damn band in the land comment I think is going a little overboard.

 

[cstrunk]

Suggestion time!

Ok, at the KU game at the end of your halftime performance, you came over in front of the student section and played for the students. That was awesome! I think you should do it at every game to get the students ready for the second half, whether we are up by 10 or down by 20. I think most students would love it too!

Thanks band!

 

[alarson]

I don't mind the band and for the most part (minus a few annoyances) they do a good job but to refer to them as the "best damn band in the land" is going a tad too far. First off, that is Ohio State's motto and if you have ever seen the OSU marching band perform you'd know why because they are head over heels better than any marching band in the country. They have to try out for the marching band there where as anyone can just walk onto the marching band at ISU (see http://tbdbitl.osu.edu/) The dotting of the "i" in script Ohio is also one of the most pretegious traditions as well.

This is not a knock on the ISU marching band, again they do a good job but I also have some allegiance to Ohio State (my dad's side of the family) so you can see why the best damn band in the land comment I think is going a little overboard.

yeah.. while i wont give it to you that theyre the best in the country... (ive got a few others in mind) i will give it to you that they'd probably take 80% of them, even us probably. id give these guys an edge over both: http://www.marchingsoutherners.org/media

as for the roving band tradition, most fans seem to love it, and its a tradition that will not be stopping anytime soon.

The music selections.. werent bad this year... ill give Smith that... drill wise.. i could go for hours on that, but i wont do that on this site. AFAIK though pollard hasnt had much to do with our show selections, Smith decides them based on his own ideas and input from band members at the end of the season, and the last couple seasons has run a lot of 'finalist' ideas by band members in the spring. (we talked a lot about possible shows while in Dallas last year). I think that worked out pretty well. The best years still had to be the 02/03 seasons though. There were some sweet shows in there (Gladiator anyone?)

Oh well.. ill be watching from the stands next year, as ive done my 4 years of band..

 

[alarson]

Suggestion time!

Ok, at the KU game at the end of your halftime performance, you came over in front of the student section and played for the students. That was awesome! I think you should do it at every game to get the students ready for the second half, whether we are up by 10 or down by 20. I think most students would love it too!

Thanks band!

not a bad idea, that was fun to do, but time considerations often come into play. even doing it that day was 50%, we were told that after our halftime show to look for either a signal to go play for the student section or to go off the west side of the field.

 

[ornryactor]

The best years still had to be the 02/03 seasons though. There were some sweet shows in there (Gladiator anyone?)

Holy crap. I don't remember who the Cyclones were playing that day, but I visited Iowa State on Friday afternoon and stayed with a friend and went to that football game on Saturday, and got to see that show from the 40-yard line. I still remember it. That was freaking awesome...

I agree about playing in front of the student section. I hope that we can do that more often next year. I'm not under the illusion that we'll have time to do that at every game, but even at 3 or 4 would be pretty cool.

And calm down about the "best damn band in the land" comment, travman. I'm sure Splendid wasn't thinking of Ohio State when he wrote that, not that he had "damn" in there anyway. There are a million marching bands in this country that all call themselves the "best band in the land" because it rhymes nicely, not because they think it's true. Collegiate marching band is strictly non-competitive, and I'm fine with keeping it that way. Nobody's insulting the Buckeyes' pride and honor here.

 

[Blandboy]

Perfect name Blandboy, why are you dissing the band, did the tuba player beat up on you in high school? By the way, I'll spell qarma any way I want. And for the record, I played O line and D line in my day.

HA! You fell for it. I wasn't dissing the band, just having some fun with you. I just wanted to get a response and I did. Heck, I played a trombone in high school and still play. And for the record, I played center and was the deep snapper, on kick-off and kick-off receive treams in my day (for whatever that's worth).

And no, the tuba player was my friend...I think it was an oboe player who opened up a can of whoop A** on me!

 

[Blandboy]

Holy cow, a sports fan who doesn't know how to properly use an ellipsis!

"but if you had spent more than 8 seconds on this site before shooting off your reply ... "

Actually, I'm a slow reader so I had to have been on the site for at least 15 seconds.

Yeah, I'm a sports fan but I'm also a fellow band nerd. Played a T-bone in high school and still play (never been a big marching band fan, though). I'm just bitter that most every time you guys played this year we had your back ... literally. I had season tickets in section L. Why don't you ever face the east stands when you play?

 

[ornryactor]

I had season tickets in section L. Why don't you ever face the east stands when you play?

We do occasionally, although it was mostly in the first half of the season this year. Why? You know, I'm not sure. I've always vaguely wondered why marching bands always play to the pressbox side. I can't imagine that too many people up in the pressbox care about the marching band, although I suppose it could be a tip of the hat to the university president or something. In high school marching band, the pressbox side is home fans, and the other side is the visitors; maybe it's an old holdover from that? At any rate, for whatever reason, the pressbox side is the "front" of the stadium and that's where we play most of our stuff. I imagine that will start changing more often in the next couple years, what with the huge response we got from the east stands on a few numbers. And hey, maybe when they build the new pressbox-ish suites along the east wall, we'll face both sides equally!

I'll put down facing the east side/student section more as an end-of-the-year suggestion.