[76lsjumb]

The biggest sin of the LSJUMB is few musicians they have now.

They need to be 3x the size to do a decent field show.

At this size they should stick to basketball.

Absolutely, totally, completely, (albeit unfortunately) correct.

This is Correct, but please remember that Stanford has only 6400 undergraduates, versus 18,000 for Oregon and SC and 30,000+ for almost all of the others.   Because of an issue with another student music group (not LSJUMB), the university has heavily cracked down on alumni participation, which helped bolster their numbers in the past.  We are not going to get the number of students needed, but I still want them playing "All Right Now" at our games.  It adds to the student experience, and we want students at the games.  The low numbers is why the band has taken anyone and everyone they can get to practice.  With a smaller population, I'm not surprised that a rebellious scatter band was the student sanctioned approach.

I can tell you for certain that back in the late 60's the band was not composed mostly of alumni and was much larger than the one we have now. I can also tell you they were by and large better musicians with a larger repertoire. They were often irreverent and did irritate people at times, but they were also pretty funny, even to people who were irritated. The problem with this band is that they aren't funny, just irritating. They are trying to carry on a tradition that obviously just doesn't resonate with them. That is probably one of the reasons they have trouble attracting members. All acts get old. This one has.

I can also assure you that the trumpet solo did not require the PA system in order to be heard.

Wow. Two absolutely, totally, completely correct posts in very short order. 

One additional item: the narration in the old halftime shows - for many years done by the incomparable Hal Mickelson - was just long enough between songs to let you scatter to the next formation before the music began again. Now, and for the past several seasons, the narration seems to go on interminably, with only brief (and often barely audible, at least on the sunny side) snippets of “music.” This is the exact opposite of the way it should be.

As one of the members of the Band alumni board who spent a not inconsiderable amount of time a few years back to get the Band reinstated, it pains me to say this, but I believe that the current Band has pretty much squandered the legacy left it by those who went before. Otherwise put, I respectfully disagree with those who say that “the LSJUMB has always done this…”

[76lsjumb]

The biggest sin of the LSJUMB is few musicians they have now.

They need to be 3x the size to do a decent field show.

At this size they should stick to basketball.

Absolutely, totally, completely, (albeit unfortunately) correct.

This is Correct, but please remember that Stanford has only 6400 undergraduates, versus 18,000 for Oregon and SC and 30,000+ for almost all of the others.   Because of an issue with another student music group (not LSJUMB), the university has heavily cracked down on alumni participation, which helped bolster their numbers in the past.  We are not going to get the number of students needed, but I still want them playing "All Right Now" at our games.  It adds to the student experience, and we want students at the games.  The low numbers is why the band has taken anyone and everyone they can get to practice.  With a smaller population, I'm not surprised that a rebellious scatter band was the student sanctioned approach.

I can tell you for certain that back in the late 60's the band was not composed mostly of alumni and was much larger than the one we have now. I can also tell you they were by and large better musicians with a larger repertoire. They were often irreverent and did irritate people at times, but they were also pretty funny, even to people who were irritated. The problem with this band is that they aren't funny, just irritating. They are trying to carry on a tradition that obviously just doesn't resonate with them. That is probably one of the reasons they have trouble attracting members. All acts get old. This one has.

I can also assure you that the trumpet solo did not require the PA system in order to be heard.

Wow. Two absolutely, totally, completely correct posts in very short order. 

One additional item: the narration in the old halftime shows - for many years done by the incomparable Hal Mickelson - was just long enough between songs to let you scatter to the next formation before the music began again. Now, and for the past several seasons, the narration seems to go on interminably, with only brief (and often barely audible, at least on the sunny side) snippets of “music.” This is the exact opposite of the way it should be.

As one of the members of the Band alumni board who spent a not inconsiderable amount of time a few years back to get the Band reinstated, it pains me to say this, but I believe that the current Band has pretty much squandered the legacy left it by those who went before. Otherwise put, I respectfully disagree with those who say that “the LSJUMB has always done this…”