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On Saturday, the Michigan Marching Band did one of the best band shows I have ever seen! Check this out:



I mean, seriously, have you ever seen a band show like that, where the band does a fantastic musical performance but also caters to the fans of the school, plus some in-good-fun ripping on rival schools. Awesome!

Current FMB-ers ... when you get to suggest shows for next year, give this video some thought. Is there a way that the FMB could do a great musical show based on music that everybody knows but also allows for some BG fun and/or anti-UT / anti-Miami / anti-other MAC schools fun? Just a thought ...

Hahahahaha, wow... that was pretty awesome. I would love to see the FMB do something like that.

Ugh! I hate Big Ten bands. March, stop, play for 2 min, march, stop, play for 2 min. I thought BG blew away UM when we were there. Cute show, but every BG show this year has been better IMHO.

OrangeSocksFalcon wrote:Ugh! I hate Big Ten bands. March, stop, play for 2 min, march, stop, play for 2 min. I thought BG blew away UM when we were there. Cute show, but every BG show this year has been better IMHO.

Regardless of what you think about Big Ten bands, you can't argue against the fact that they know how to get the fans into it.

The Bobcat tackling Brutus was hilarious!

I freakin' hate the weasels (mostly because of hockey), but I thought that show was awesome and funny as hell!!!

I actually didn't like this show very much at all. It was basically a park n' blow with a lot of insulting of other teams. Most of it didn't even involve the actual band. Not very classy and not really that funny either. It could have been an awesome show too, the music from The Wizard of Oz is wonderful.

I'm not a band person, have zero musical back ground or ability. I saw the show purely from a non-musical fan point of view. I thought it was an entertaining show....at least until they started playing that gawd-awful weasel fight song....

I have to agree with Shakeatailfeather - the whole "park-n'-blow" was really bad. You could have made a fantastic show out of The Wizard of Oz. One or two stabs at other schools would have been ok, but the entire show being based around how they could insult the entire Big10 took it too far. Even the times when the band played weren't great.

Although, I will agree that the Bobcat tackling Brutus was hilarious.

Hey, I am a musician and I was in the FMB for three years and I loved this! It is different from an ordinary show and is something to truly entertain the crowd. That is the goal of the band's halftime show - to entertain the crowd. I wouldn't want to see a show like this every week, but somethning different and fun like this once in a while is great. And besides, I bet all members of the band loved it! I invite anyone to ask as many members of the band as possible to try and fine anyone who did not enjoy putting this show together and performing it.

As for the park and play - seven Michigan home games = seven unique halftime shows. No repeats. No common ground, outsude of Hail to the Victors at the end. Entire shows get put together in a few days. Often the band is practicing and perfecting two or more shows at a time for five days in a class week. Having one show out of seven that does not have so many sets is not really that bad if you think about it ...

Michigan also only marches 235 out of their 350 band members at any given time, so they can pool players in and out, and actually have concurrent rehearsals for that week's show and the reserves. And a huge graduate staff, paid arrangers and drill designers. Hence 7 unique shows each season.

jg4242 wrote:Michigan also only marches 235 out of their 350 band members at any given time, so they can pool players in and out, and actually have concurrent rehearsals for that week's show and the reserves. And a huge graduate staff, paid arrangers and drill designers. Hence 7 unique shows each season.

That's not exactly how it works ...
Yes, they have a ton of reserves, but the reserves aren't used to learn the next show. The majority of the band that marches the show one week marches the next show the next week. There will be some switching show to show, as some reserves will earn a spot therefore some in the previous show don't march the next. According to my older bro who was in the band for quite a while, when you are a reserve, you spend a lot of practice time that week working on marching fundamentals and practicing and memorizing music with the goal being to earn a spot for the next week. And I'm pretty sure that's how other bands with tons of reserves, like Ohio State, Florida State, etc. work. But they do have a larger paid staff and more grad assistants, so that definitely helps to prepare more shows.

Anyway, the point of this thread was to display a fun, unique show that both brings in some school fun and entertains the crowd using some light-hearted fun poking at other schools. Nothing too insulting. If any Ohio State, MSU, Penn State, etc fan was actually offended by that show, I'm not sure what to say. It entertained a Michigan crowd that loves its football, its marching band, and its Big Ten rivalries. I do believe a well-performed show with the always good music and marching of the FMB that includes some BG-themed fun would be a huge hit at the Doyt. I didn't want this thread to be a bash-the-Michigan-marching-band thread or a my-band-is-better-than-your-band thread.

MarkL wrote:I didn't want this thread to be a bash-the-Michigan-marching-band thread or a my-band-is-better-than-your-band thread.

Mark, I got it the way you meant it. I found it entertaining and funny as hell when the Bobcat tackled Brutus! I frickin' HATE the big ten, but thought this show was fun to watch. Thanks for posting it!

GO FALCONS!!!
BEAT THE REDSKINHAWKS LIKE A DRUM!!!
(hey, it's a BAND thread, gotta stay with the theme! )

MarkL wrote:Hey, I am a musician and I was in the FMB for three years and I loved this! It is different from an ordinary show and is something to truly entertain the crowd. That is the goal of the band's halftime show - to entertain the crowd. I wouldn't want to see a show like this every week, but somethning different and fun like this once in a while is great. And besides, I bet all members of the band loved it! I invite anyone to ask as many members of the band as possible to try and fine anyone who did not enjoy putting this show together and performing it.

As for the park and play - seven Michigan home games = seven unique halftime shows. No repeats. No common ground, outsude of Hail to the Victors at the end. Entire shows get put together in a few days. Often the band is practicing and perfecting two or more shows at a time for five days in a class week. Having one show out of seven that does not have so many sets is not really that bad if you think about it ...