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The FMB will be performing in exhibition at a Bands of America competition in November at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. There are two BOA events in Indianapolis, so I'm not sure if we are playing at the super regional or at Grand Nationals. Either way, it is sure to be a fun time and a great recruiting opportunity!

that is pretty cool... i'm looking forward to that! how did you hear that??

my high school band was going to go to BOA my freshman year of high school... (9 years ago, WOW!) but something happened and we didn't go

It's on the schedule on the band board, and Dr. Hayward sent an e-mail out to leadership letting us know. Should be pretty flippin' sweet!

Maybe we'll actually be able to pull some people out of states other than Ohio and Michigan this year.

The Niz wrote:Maybe we'll actually be able to pull some people out of states other than Ohio and Michigan this year.

Hey, I'm from IL... but I can assure you I didn't come to BG because of the FMB.

Well, I guess it's official.........BOA no longer has standards when choosing their exhibition bands.........I'm so disappointed right now, that it's hard to even think about it. I've seen Riverside Community College, UMASS, and this past year was Murray State from KY, and they are all awesome. From a percussion standpoint alone, RCC has staff from the Blue Devils, UMASS has Thom Hannum from Blast!, the Cadets (when they had the only perfect drum score ever), and the Crossmen. And now the FMB........

I think the FMB is honestly one of the better collegiate bands in Ohio, with UC, and occasionally MU being better, but still, Ohio's standards are rather low. It was bad enough watching them at an OMEA competition last fall. As hard as it may be to believe, the FMB was grossly out-played and out-marched by several of the high school bands there that night, especially Hillard Davidson. I sat in the audience and watched the reaction of the crowd and they were anything but glued to their seats, and now the FMB's going to BOA!!!!???????? There will be at least 50 high school bands there that are clearly a superior product. I'm not talking about their shows entirely either. Yes, the FMB has less time to put shows together, BUT, explain to me how RCC made the entire dome stand on their feet with their Queen show, if in fact the time really matters? It doesn't, and I'm just flat out disappointed. Now, I'm going to end this post and send an e-mail to BOA and express my disgust with this situation. Someone must not be telling the truth about the quality of this band, or someone must know somebody, because I just cannot believe that after seeing videos or hearing recordings, the BOA board would even give the FMB a second look.

jg4242 wrote:The FMB will be performing in exhibition at a Bands of America competition in November at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. There are two BOA events in Indianapolis, so I'm not sure if we are playing at the super regional or at Grand Nationals. Either way, it is sure to be a fun time and a great recruiting opportunity!

On the schedule that's on the band board i says Regionals, so i am assuming its Super Regionals.

I'd much rather see the band take the travel money and go to a game. What happened to the FMB being the football team's biggest fans?????

are we not going to a road game then this year?? i though this might just be another trip?

MarkL wrote:I'd much rather see the band take the travel money and go to a game. What happened to the FMB being the football team's biggest fans?????

MarkL, remind me because I forget: Are/Were you in the FMB? I'll save the rest of my post until I can jog my memory.

04, 05, 06 saxes.

Drummerfuj wrote:Well, I guess it's official.........BOA no longer has standards when choosing their exhibition bands.........I'm so disappointed right now, that it's hard to even think about it. I've seen Riverside Community College, UMASS, and this past year was Murray State from KY, and they are all awesome. From a percussion standpoint alone, RCC has staff from the Blue Devils, UMASS has Thom Hannum from Blast!, the Cadets (when they had the only perfect drum score ever), and the Crossmen. And now the FMB........

I think the FMB is honestly one of the better collegiate bands in Ohio, with UC, and occasionally MU being better, but still, Ohio's standards are rather low. It was bad enough watching them at an OMEA competition last fall. As hard as it may be to believe, the FMB was grossly out-played and out-marched by several of the high school bands there that night, especially Hillard Davidson. I sat in the audience and watched the reaction of the crowd and they were anything but glued to their seats, and now the FMB's going to BOA!!!!???????? There will be at least 50 high school bands there that are clearly a superior product. I'm not talking about their shows entirely either. Yes, the FMB has less time to put shows together, BUT, explain to me how RCC made the entire dome stand on their feet with their Queen show, if in fact the time really matters? It doesn't, and I'm just flat out disappointed. Now, I'm going to end this post and send an e-mail to BOA and express my disgust with this situation. Someone must not be telling the truth about the quality of this band, or someone must know somebody, because I just cannot believe that after seeing videos or hearing recordings, the BOA board would even give the FMB a second look.

What show are you talking about? The only competition we played at last year was right after the game in Columbus. While I was thoroughly dissatisfied with our performance there, there is no way the FMB was shown up by anyone.

I understand not being satisfied with certain parts of life, but there's no reason for shooting to crap the work and efforts of others. I have an extreme passion for BG, and especially the FMB. You won't find me here attacking what you hold dear, so don't attack mine.

The Niz,

It was this past year, after the OSU/BG game. I think it was an OMEA competition at a Westerville or Thomas Worthington High School, and Hilliard Davidson definitely was the premier performance of the night. I don't think that most of you members of the ensemble understand what I'm saying. I'm not saying each and every one of you are terrible and that's why the band sounds bad. What I am saying is that you are fools to be satisfied with what the band is right now. I worked really hard when I was in the FMB as well, and it didn't matter. The shows were not good. The band didn't spend nearly enough time working on the fundamentals that make a college band good, and we, the students in the band at the time, made our feelings about this very evident, and on account of that, and I'm sure a few other things, Dr. Toney was removed from the position and Dr. Hayward was hired, which was a step in the right direction, however, over the last three years, the quality of the band has digressed again. The numbers are up, but the quality is way down, and it has nothing to do with the students. This isn't high school band anymore where you just keep quiet and agree with your director. For you future educators, it's time to start developing your opinions, methods, and educational ideology. It's also time to look around and see what other people are doing, and realize that it can be much better. And I know someone's thinking right now about how you shouldn't compare yourself to others, and blah, blah, blah, but just take a look at some other collegiate programs. Most of them only rehearse 3 days per week and are way better. This is a problem, and if the directors won't do anything about it, then the students need to speak up. It's all about the constant growth of the ensemble and the FMB is stagnant right now. So Niz, I highly urge you to spend some time watching the top 12 bands at BOA finals, and find me just ONE of those bands that doesn't outplay, outmarch, and outperform the FMB. Good luck.

@ Drummerfuj:

Yes, there are ways in which the FMB can improve itself. But I can tell you that the biggest improvements that need to be made are in the minds and attitudes of the students, not the directors. Students still talk in rehearsal, students show up with bad attitudes, students slack off during rehearsal, and students find ways to blame others for their own problems. This is college, and we are all big enough to control our attitudes and our actions. I guarantee you that if the entire membership of the FMB would show up ready to work with good attitudes and with their mouths shut during rehearsal, the quality of the band would skyrocket. The quality of the band is directly related to the efficiency of the rehearsal. Try watching a rehearsal of one of the top collegiate marching bands out there, or a top drum corps. The first thing you'll notice is the incredible efficiency with which they rehearse. There is no talking on the field, the members are all doing what they are told to do, and there is little to no wasted time. They work to improve themselves with every single rep.

I also have a bone to pick with your definition of top collegiate marching bands. UMass is good. I don't like amplification (esp. amplified singers) in a marching band, but they still play and move cleanly and with a good sound. Same goes for RCC, although their wind sound has been pretty thin in the recordings I've seen. Bands like Michigan, Illinois, Jacksonville State, JMU, and Michigan State all have fabulous sounds, and they all march very well and do a great job of firing up their audience. I would argue that any one of those bands is better than UMass and RCC, and I would rather look at them as a way to compare ourselves to the best. Also, if your're going to claim that MU and UC are better than the FMB, please do back up your statements with some explanation and/or links to media that backs up your claim. I have seen a lot of both of those bands, and I have seen/heard nothing to substantiate your claim. What specifically is better about them? Show design? Marching? Wind sound? Percussion? Please, do tell. I know what the strengths and weaknesses of the FMB are, but I also know that we're much better than you seem to think we are.

jg4242 wrote:@ Drummerfuj:

Yes, there are ways in which the FMB can improve itself. But I can tell you that the biggest improvements that need to be made are in the minds and attitudes of the students, not the directors. Students still talk in rehearsal, students show up with bad attitudes, students slack off during rehearsal, and students find ways to blame others for their own problems. This is college, and we are all big enough to control our attitudes and our actions. I guarantee you that if the entire membership of the FMB would show up ready to work with good attitudes and with their mouths shut during rehearsal, the quality of the band would skyrocket. The quality of the band is directly related to the efficiency of the rehearsal.

Amen to that. The good work ethic/attitude has just not been on the field in the past couple of years in many. There are some that are really good about work ethic, though, and those are the role models of the band that everyone should look up to.