The Band

[BigT3x]

Is it too late for us to cancel the checks on their new band hall? They played Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

Somewhere over the rainbow.

At a football game.

I was a big SMU band supporter until tonight. Get rid of them. Disband it, let's go a season without one, then start from scratch next season.

[malonish]

...

[smumustang1980]

Is it too late for us to cancel the checks on their new band hall? They played Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

Somewhere over the rainbow.

At a football game.

I was a big SMU band supporter until tonight. Get rid of them. Disband it, let's go a season without one, then start from scratch next season.

There is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, didn't anyone tell you?

[BigT3x]

I know this board is overflowing with band defenders, I'd just really like someone to walk me through the thought process that lead to Somewhere Over the Rainbow being played at our halftime show. It's such a colossal display of bad judgement that it is mind boggling to me. How could this decision possibly have made it all the way through the hierarchy of the band leadership? This must be studied.

[smumustang1980]

I know this board is overflowing with band defenders, I'd just really like someone to walk me through the thought process that lead to Somewhere Over the Rainbow being played at our halftime show. It's such a colossal display of bad judgement that it is mind boggling to me. How could this decision possibly have made it all the way through the hierarchy of the band leadership? This must be studied.

Because there is no leadership. We may be illustrious allumni when MEN were the Mustang Band, but that does not mean we have the time or energy to make any impact. I have to run a business and waste my time on this damn board.

[malonish]

http://people.smu.edu/band/contact.html

Use this if you truly have a problem and don't just want to project the football team's incompetence on the #1 spirit group.

[bubba pony]

and they also play "Varsity" another sappy song.

[SMUer]

And is it getting smaller? Kindergarten classes have more kids than our band!

[RE Tycoon]

Seriously, never been a huge fan of our band and they seem to me going down hill. It's to the point where there aren't enough of them, so either step up and beef them up or get rid of the band. It's embarrassing when they take up 1/8th of one seating block the student section.

The song selection during halftime was horrible and is a contributor to driving people out of the stadium.

[CalallenStang]

Tough to recruit more members when their scholarship budget has been largely unchanged over the past 30 years.

FWIW, they played Over the Rainbow at games in the 80s and it got huge cheers. You can see one such performance on YouTube if you look it up.

[SMUer]

If we only had a time-machine...we'd have a current offense and a trendy band program...

[DiamondM]

It's to the point...

Newsflash. It has ALWAYS been a band of around 100 or less, hence the very old moniker 96 guys and a doll. This is not a change, and it is not some self-imposed limit after which the band turns away eager would-be band members. In fact, this year's 90-something membership is actually the largest it's been since, I believe, at least 1989.

so either step up and beef them up or get rid of the band.

What exactly is your proposal to "beef them up"? Keep telling everyone how much the band sucks? That sounds like an excellent plan to get more people to join. I see you have the word "Tycoon" in your name, so may I suggest a nice healthy endowment that will ensure full scholarships for a band of at least 200 people.

It's embarrassing when they take up 1/8th of one seating block the student section.

Now here you have a point. I think they need to fill in the seats in the band section with more students so it doesn't look empty. The alumni band doesn't need 1/3 of the section to lounge about.

The song selection during halftime was horrible and is a contributor to driving people out of the stadium.

I'll be honest, I was not all that thrilled with the set, especially for an opener. I don't think a swinging version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow was the problem though (although, with all due respect to the horn soloist, it works better with a louder trumpet solo). No cohesive theme to the 3 selections. But really, you're going to maintain that there were a bunch of people all stoked and ready for the halftime performance, stayed for halftime instead of heading for concessions or the john, and then when they played Over the Rainbow, said "Whelp, I'm outta here, game is a close one, but the band sucks so I'm not sticking around?" Seriously though, since you are an expert band music critic, I'm curious about your thoughts on the trend to making amoeba formations to the tune of symphonic pieces you may or may not have ever heard, with lots of xylophone and marimba from a pit standing on the sidelines, because that is what a lot of the larger bands do these days (including, just for example, TCU).

[Rebel10]

DiamondM do you think the band music between plays or during timeouts were good?

[SMUer]

Where were the 90 band members in the stands!?! No freaking way there were more than 50 sitting up there. It looked sad. Like an away DII team's band. Buy mannequins or something.

[Pony ^]

It seems like it gets smaller every year..