[cctop]

Would one of you who is still a member of the Band's mailing list forward this to it?

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Let me preface this by saying that I was in the Band all four years, and I was a section leader for three years. I wrote three shows that got on the field. I am sympathetic to how hard it is to make something funny and entertaining.

At Big Game, the Band put on a performance that was worthy of the football team.

The charitable word for it is "ill-conceived".

The word I want to use is "pathetic".

That show should have been about Covid, and Aaron Rodgers coming in to save the day with increasingly ridiculous treatments.

Instead, we watched an unintelligible video on the scoreboard for several minutes while the Band stood on the field listlessly.

One friend, a Wisconsin grad who comes to Big Game every year and generally enjoys the Band, turned to me irritated and asked, "What the f*** is going on?"

The sad thing is, I know how much effort it took to make that video. It used to be a tenet that we should never rely on the audience being able to hear the announcers. Let that show go down in legend and lore as things not to do.

While I'm on the topic, what the hell happened this year with recruiting? The Band is sadly small. It's time to seriously discuss giving up field shows until you get back above 120 performers.

There was one game this year where you played nearly continuously, at every time out and after every important down. That was great. It made a noticeable difference to the gameday atmosphere. Do that again, each and every game. That's your best role now.

[cctop]

Would one of you who is still a member of the Band's mailing list forward this to it?

-----

Let me preface this by saying that I was in the Band all four years, and I was a section leader for three years. I wrote three shows that got on the field. I am sympathetic to how hard it is to make something funny and entertaining.

At Big Game, the Band put on a performance that was worthy of the football team.

The charitable word for it is "ill-conceived".

The word I want to use is "pathetic".

That show should have been about Covid, and Aaron Rodgers coming in to save the day with increasingly ridiculous treatments.

Instead, we watched an unintelligible video on the scoreboard for several minutes while the Band stood on the field listlessly.

One friend, a Wisconsin grad who comes to Big Game every year and generally enjoys the Band, turned to me irritated and asked, "What the f*** is going on?"

The sad thing is, I know how much effort it took to make that video. It used to be a tenet that we should never rely on the audience being able to hear the announcers. Let that show go down in legend and lore as things not to do.

While I'm on the topic, what the hell happened this year with recruiting? The Band is sadly small. It's time to seriously discuss giving up field shows until you get back above 120 performers.

There was one game this year where you played nearly continuously, at every time out and after every important down. That was great. It made a noticeable difference to the gameday atmosphere. Do that again, each and every game. That's your best role now.

[Phogge]

It’s hard to keep an act going for over 50 years. There was a member in the early days of scatter that led the “LSJU organized...” cheer who did it batshit crazy on the top of the small wall in front of the stands. There were clever stunts and halftime shows that actually were funny. Instead of the old school songs there were Stones, Creedence and The Dead. The Old Guard didn’t like it but you couldn’t argue with the energy.

Now what’s dead is the energy.

Yellow River.

[Phogge]

It’s hard to keep an act going for over 50 years. There was a member in the early days of scatter that led the “LSJU organized...” cheer who did it batshit crazy on the top of the small wall in front of the stands. There were clever stunts and halftime shows that actually were funny. Instead of the old school songs there were Stones, Creedence and The Dead. The Old Guard didn’t like it but you couldn’t argue with the energy.

Now what’s dead is the energy.

Yellow River.

[martyup]

They have lost the funk.  In the words of George Clinton (Not Just Knee Deep):

She did the jerk.
It didn't work, no.
She did the monkey.
It wasn't funky, no more.
Chicken wasn't pickin'.

[martyup]

They have lost the funk.  In the words of George Clinton (Not Just Knee Deep):

She did the jerk.
It didn't work, no.
She did the monkey.
It wasn't funky, no more.
Chicken wasn't pickin'.

[French Rage]

I would have preferred the sound mixing be done much much better, but I liked it.  They found a way to work in a number of Rodgers jabs.  In a weird way, I liked the way the length of videos interrupted the routine, as that just pissed off the visiting fans even more, and I partly view the band as an Andy-Kaufman-esque way of getting under their skin.

[French Rage]

I would have preferred the sound mixing be done much much better, but I liked it.  They found a way to work in a number of Rodgers jabs.  In a weird way, I liked the way the length of videos interrupted the routine, as that just pissed off the visiting fans even more, and I partly view the band as an Andy-Kaufman-esque way of getting under their skin.

[Maple Leaf]

It’s hard to keep an act going for over 50 years. There was a member in the early days of scatter that led the “LSJU organized...” cheer who did it batshit crazy on the top of the small wall in front of the stands. There were clever stunts and halftime shows that actually were funny. Instead of the old school songs there were Stones, Creedence and The Dead. The Old Guard didn’t like it but you couldn’t argue with the energy.

Now what’s dead is the energy.

Yellow River.

That guy was also at MBB, Track and Field, Baseball and M-Swimming events and did the same cheer, he was the base drummer (the big drum); he was short and stocky with good muscle definition and sported a "DutchBoy" hair cut.  His best performance was at a dual swim meet between Stanford and #1 usc.  Stanford's swim program was getting stronger to the point to challenging for NC.  At a break during the meet this kid from the band does the cheer, getting all the Stanford fans jacked up and at the completion of the cheer he does a back flip into the pool (this was the old pool), some usc swimmers who were warming up in the pool were a bit shaken!  The place went bonkers!

[Maple Leaf]

It’s hard to keep an act going for over 50 years. There was a member in the early days of scatter that led the “LSJU organized...” cheer who did it batshit crazy on the top of the small wall in front of the stands. There were clever stunts and halftime shows that actually were funny. Instead of the old school songs there were Stones, Creedence and The Dead. The Old Guard didn’t like it but you couldn’t argue with the energy.

Now what’s dead is the energy.

Yellow River.

That guy was also at MBB, Track and Field, Baseball and M-Swimming events and did the same cheer, he was the base drummer (the big drum); he was short and stocky with good muscle definition and sported a "DutchBoy" hair cut.  His best performance was at a dual swim meet between Stanford and #1 usc.  Stanford's swim program was getting stronger to the point to challenging for NC.  At a break during the meet this kid from the band does the cheer, getting all the Stanford fans jacked up and at the completion of the cheer he does a back flip into the pool (this was the old pool), some usc swimmers who were warming up in the pool were a bit shaken!  The place went bonkers!

[TreeWeird]

Are all shows written by current band members?  If so, has the band ever reached outside their ranks for writing talent?  I have to believe the student body has some talented writers who would love to write *for* the band but don't want to be *in* the band.

[TreeWeird]

Are all shows written by current band members?  If so, has the band ever reached outside their ranks for writing talent?  I have to believe the student body has some talented writers who would love to write *for* the band but don't want to be *in* the band.