From: plucky@ais.org (Chris Adamson)
Subject: Re: Best marching band
Organization: UMCC
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 04:17:43 GMT

BIAS ALERT:  Member, (truly incomparable) Leland Stanford Junior
			Marching Band, 1986-90


In article <1ao4ufINN8j8@girtab.usc.edu> swain@girtab.usc.edu (Ronnie Swain) writes:
>
>I know many people who hate USC, but love the band.  We have taken our entire
>band to Notre Dame and played a halftime show that got more applause than
>their own band.  We've had the fans at Cal throw fruit at us, and still nailed
>the drill.  We may be arrogant assholes, but when we are out on the field, I
>challenge you to find a band that marches as hard as we do, and yes, we do
>not take music onto the field at any time. I challenge you to find a band that
>starts practice at 7am and goes for 5 hours on non-game days, and much longer
>when we have games.  I challenge you to find a band that NEVER sits down, at
>any time during the game.  I challenge you to find a band that after spending
>3 hour of almost continuos playing, still has the energy to play a 45 minute 
>post game concert which attracts many fans from the opposing school as well as
>our fans.

	Yes, yes, and I'm sure you lay on your backs and pile hundreds
of pounds of boulders on your chest JUST FOR FUN.

	No, seriously, I know some friends in the Michigan band who
loudly extol the agony and pain they go through in their practices and
the sheer hell they live through having to defend their positions in
band against challenges from younger would-be members and how they can
never drink, smoke, swear, etc. in uniform and their incredible
commitment and...

	...and all I can say is "who really gives a rat's ass?"

	I mean, as a potential viewer/listener, I really don't care
about what the band members choose to put themselves through.  If they
sound good and do cool stuff, I enjoy their performance.  If they play
shit or play shittily, I don't.  The effort required to attain this
level of proficiency is utterly irrelevant -- if a band could raise me
to a state of absolute ecstasy with just 5 seconds of practice time,
all I can say is:  "great!"

	Why do so many members of "traditional" marching bands seem to
need so badly to express their toil and effort?  Just a hypothesis,
but I think they feel unappreciated.  People GO to the football game
and may ENJOY the band, but don't GO TO ENJOY TO THE BAND.  Too many
bands I've heard play boring period pieces:  Sousa marches, Broadway
musicals from 30 years ago, yet another tribute to Andrew Lloyd Webber
and "West Side Story", and tunes from this year's Disney movie.
Excuse me, but just how many people are really interested in this
music?  And as for formations and other things that bands do:  are
straight lines and disappearing diamonds THAT interesting?  C'mon, the
crowd can do the wave and that's more interesting to see than most
things I've seen traditional bands do.

	I wouldn't put in 20-40 hours a week to perform something
nobody gives a shit about -- that's why I did not and will not
audition for the MSU band.  I've got better things to do than be a
period piece.

	When I was in the Stanford Band, I don't think anyone there
saw their mission as offense or irritation (well, okay, except for
Joel Parker).  We set out to entertain, through rock music and
satirical field-shows.  Sometimes it worked, and that was great.
Sometimes it sucked, and those shows are cited in a "well, let's be
sure not to do THAT again!"

	As for my part, I wrote a half-time show called "Bo Knows
Open-Heart Surgery" in 1989, which we performed at USC.  The following
Monday night (or so I was told by several people at Wednesday
practice), the "Arsenio" show opened with the host in surgical garb,
looking over a patient and saying "whoa man... this is too much... I'm
just a talk show host", after which #32 of the Los Angeles Raiders
burst through the doors of the O.R. and said "I can handle it...
because Bo knows open-heart surgery!"

	Either this is an example of one hell of a coincidence, or at
least one LA-area fan was really entertained by our show.  Either way,
I'd take it as a sign that the LSJUMB's attempt to entertain was, on
that Saturday, a real success.

	...until Tom got pukey in the bus, that is!  ;-)

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