I don't give a damn about marching or skipping or doing back flips. Just play loud and play often during the game like they do.

An overlooked component of the current MRDs. They play in the stands A LOT. It used to be much, much, MUCH less. They've become a very good in-game football band.

(08-16-2013 03:27 PM)JMUDukeDawg Wrote:  

(08-16-2013 03:14 PM)All Dukes_All Day Wrote:  

(08-16-2013 02:33 PM)JMaddy Wrote:  Well being #1 in the MAC would be like being the tallest midget. But I do have to say this about our band, although they are the largest band and generally play well until they can learn to march in a formation that looks something more than a blob most of the time (e.g. the spelling out JMU and Dukes is a good step away from that, as was the last game where they actually cris-crossed each other) and stop playing god damned show tunes all the time, they will never be in the upper echelon of marching bands.

I wasn't in the MRD and have no skin in this game, but I'm pretty sure you're gonna get chewed out by some posters on here. To quote Yeager, there is a mob of them out there.

So I was in the MRDs and my first reaction was to blast the guy (or girl...I only hear annoying sorority girls yell "JMaddy" at football games), but to an extent he's right.

For the record, the band has won the Sudler Trophy as the best college marching band in America (that was in '94 - first I-AA band to win it). You can't win it more than once.

Nevertheless, the point is valid. I got REALLY tired of hearing and seeing the same show last year. We used to almost do a new show every game. When you do that you can do a Broadway show, a pop-ish show, a Latin show and then mix and match. It doesn't seem like that variety is there anymore. I have to admit that even as a former MRD, I've been disappointed with the band for a couple of years.

Thank you for taking the long view. I knew it would be unpopular to say the emperor has no clothes, but the truth is the truth. I went here when the band truly was great in the 1990s, back when UMass' band came to town all heralded and our guys blew them out of the water, and made them look like high schoolers. Those days sadly are past.

As for the poster who disagreed with my upper echelon comment, to each his own...but you're drinking Kool-Aid if you think we're still in the same category as bands like USC, Ohio St., Florida St., Pittsburgh, Texas and Texas A&M, Wisconsin, Cal...etc. I said we're big and play well, but marching and looking like a real band is a big component of being considered one of the big boys. Only Stanford gets away with looking like **** ups, and to be honest I think they're sub par as a band but get away with it because of their shtick.

You're mad about the MRDs not playing pop tunes & you hold up Ohio State's corny crap as upper-echelon? I think you're confusing football teams & bands. A&M's band is the furthest thing from upper-echelon. It's become clear to me that you're only comparing the visual elements & have become numb to the unmatched MRD sound.

FSU's band is nothing to write home about compared to JMU & I say this having had beers with Plack recently. He's great. His band is not as good as the MRDs.

For many of the MRD complainers, I'd offer that maybe you're a little out of your element.

Pittsburgh?!?!!?? I may have to ignore this thread so I don't get upset about the absolutely absurd ignorance...

Ha....I knew this thread was going to be a problem. Even as a former MRD, I have to admit, I'm not a huge fan of the music selection.....that being said, MRD's rock it hard--better than Anyone. Also, I love to see them play when there is another band in the stadium. They'll beat anyone head to head. Motivation is key.

As a side note....what percentage of the MRD's do you think is drunk for that pregame show? The answer is definitely not zero.

A little OT: I really, really liked our combining with Tech's band on that day of overwhelming bliss.

(08-17-2013 06:49 AM)brizzock Wrote:  As a side note....what percentage of the MRD's do you think is drunk for that pregame show? The answer is definitely not zero.

I've actually been told they've tamed that down a good bit. You're very right though. They're college kids on a Saturday!

(08-16-2013 11:23 PM)HyperDuke Wrote:  For many of the MRD complainers, I'd offer that maybe you're a little out of your element.

To say the least.

(08-16-2013 10:26 PM)JMaddy Wrote:  As for the poster who disagreed with my upper echelon comment, to each his own...but you're drinking Kool-Aid if you think we're still in the same category as bands like USC, Ohio St., Florida St., Pittsburgh, Texas and Texas A&M, Wisconsin, Cal...etc. I said we're big and play well, but marching and looking like a real band is a big component of being considered one of the big boys. Only Stanford gets away with looking like **** ups, and to be honest I think they're sub par as a band but get away with it because of their shtick.

Hype is spot on. You're clueless. Seriously.

(08-16-2013 08:08 PM)BSKB 24 Wrote:  When you are great or the best of the best, sometimes one of a few things happens. 1. You get taken for granted. You create a monster. The fans are used to the greatness and expect even more. Hard to live up to the expectations. 2. You get complacent. You forget what it took to get to the top. You change things just a little and begin a slow regression. Unintended consequences of changes are failed to be recognized and the product slips. 3. You build on your successes and create and even better model.

I love the MRDs and look forward to hearing them every opportunity I can get. But, I must admit that in my opinion, they have slipped a bit. I get tired of the same halftime show for 5 straight home games. I don't like it when they act all crazy jumping around and all that stuff. Give me a rafter raising, blowout the brass, tune and I am a happy camper. Precision marching instead of silly stuff. I still love them, but really do think they aren't quite at the level they were a few years ago.

If this is what is now going on, then those would be criticisms I would agree with. (I have only been able to see them live once in the last 10 years.) The MRDs should be doing a minimum of 3-5 different shows per year. Anything less than that is very disappointing. And I think the semi-organized scatter drill that we used to have to get on the field worked great. If their just rushing the field, that would look stupid, too. (All of the jumping around should be saved for the HS shows like POC, etc.)

(08-17-2013 12:50 PM)NH/JMU Saxkow Wrote:  

(08-16-2013 08:08 PM)BSKB 24 Wrote:  When you are great or the best of the best, sometimes one of a few things happens. 1. You get taken for granted. You create a monster. The fans are used to the greatness and expect even more. Hard to live up to the expectations. 2. You get complacent. You forget what it took to get to the top. You change things just a little and begin a slow regression. Unintended consequences of changes are failed to be recognized and the product slips. 3. You build on your successes and create and even better model.

I love the MRDs and look forward to hearing them every opportunity I can get. But, I must admit that in my opinion, they have slipped a bit. I get tired of the same halftime show for 5 straight home games. I don't like it when they act all crazy jumping around and all that stuff. Give me a rafter raising, blowout the brass, tune and I am a happy camper. Precision marching instead of silly stuff. I still love them, but really do think they aren't quite at the level they were a few years ago.

If this is what is now going on, then those would be criticisms I would agree with. (I have only been able to see them live once in the last 10 years.) The MRDs should be doing a minimum of 3-5 different shows per year. Anything less than that is very disappointing. And I think the semi-organized scatter drill that we used to have to get on the field worked great. If their just rushing the field, that would look stupid, too. (All of the jumping around should be saved for the HS shows like POC, etc.)

From as far as I can tell (from the CD's and trips to Alumni Band Weekend) they are now doing about 2 shows a year. There may be slight changes, but since I don't see every game I can't say. Definitely a change from when I was there when 3-5 shows per year was standard.

They are definitely rushing the field for pre-game as they come running out of the tunnel, which is what the Athletic Department wants. Halftime, not so far as I can tell, it's a bit more like a scatter drill.

Most of the jumping around is during "Get It On" which replaced "Proud Mary" as the standard pre-game piece a number of years ago.

I didn't notice any more jumping around than there was when I was in the band ('88-'91).

Just to be clear, I love the MRDS. My comments are meant to be constructive criticisms. The MRDS hold a very special place in my heart. In the early 90s I brought them to play in the King George Fall Festival. That was a special thing. It cost $5,000 to bring them and that was cheap because it was cost sharing as they were playing at RFK the next day. They put on one hell of a show on our High School Football field after leading off the Parade.

And then, 3 years ago they played Happy Birthday to my brother Marc (OJF) at the Godwin Tent for his 60th Birthday, when he was suffering with cancer. It brought tears to all of our eyes. Indeed, the MRDs are special to us.

I didn't take your comments as overly critical. Some of the others are quite clueless.

I, like many football fans, just want something peppy and upbeat. The music is a sidebar for me and as long as it isn't a sedative I'm okay with whatever songs are played. It is a bonus if the music is loud enough to hear through the bathroom walls during halftime.
I honestly can't tell much difference between most college marching bands except their energy level. I'm not saying there isn't a difference in the music quality, but I'm not observant enough to notice it.

I don't think it's remotely realistic for the MRDs to do 4 or 5 new shows a season. Did they actually do that at some point? We did 2 full shows when I marched (a long time ago.) Did they march with flip folders when they did this? Keep in mind also that there have been many seasons with only 5 home games and plenty of long breaks They have 7 home games this season, plus the big high school competition, plus learning a new thing for the Macy's Parade, plus some other stuff I don't know about, probably. It's not intended to be a full time job for these students.

(08-17-2013 08:16 PM)POTUS#4 Wrote:  I don't think it's remotely realistic for the MRDs to do 4 or 5 new shows a season. Did they actually do that at some point? We did 2 full shows when I marched (a long time ago.) Did they march with flip folders when they did this? Keep in mind also that there have been many seasons with only 5 home games and plenty of long breaks They have 7 home games this season, plus the big high school competition, plus learning a new thing for the Macy's Parade, plus some other stuff I don't know about, probably. It's not intended to be a full time job for these students.

We NEVER used flip folders - for shows or stand tunes. Everything was memorized. In fact, the music was "normal" sized paper, so you couldn't use lyres even if you wanted (even in practices). We made fun of Delaware when we saw them with their folders. I still have my binders of music for each year and yes, we would do somewhere between 3-5 new shows per year. For the 1996 Oakton Classic (I think in September?) we did the Sound of Music show to the visitor side and then turned around to the home side to do our Star Wars show.

When I went back a couple of years ago (for the W&M "no pass" game), the band was playing Robin Hood for one of their songs and I played along in rehearsal (getting it 95% right a decade after last playing it).

Love the MRD's and have no complaints. Yeah, for those of us that go to every game in a perfect world there'd be a different show every time, but be realistic.

One of the main reasons for the fewer shows is the difficulty in the drill. They have gotten far more challenging shows and the need to practice them takes a bit longer, which is why they usually only have the first two pieces finished by the first game. Also keep in mind they not only have to learn a halftime show, they also have to learn pregame.
Back when I marched (96-02), the first song was generally around 10 pages of drill, sometimes a little more. Second song, the concert tune, was always the same two pages, and then the last piece was about the same as the first.
Now, their first piece is about double what we used to learn and the complexity of drill is much higher. They do a lot of pass-through moves that require each member to be exactly where they need to be or else people can get hurt. Another reason they do less shows is they are taking more time to clean the show (make it look and sound better). While they are doing far less shows, they are doing them far better than we used to do mostly due to spending more time learning them.
Like it or not, but part of the MRD's is being a HUGE ambassador to the University to high school students. I believe they are trying to field a better, cleaner band in sacrifice for more numerous shows. Many colleges don't get anywhere close to the 4-5 shows we used to learn in the 90s. Now, they are just trying to deliver a much better product, and I think they're doing that.
I will definitely agree that to a casual fan they are not as appealing due to doing the same show far more than they used to. I definitely think they could do some things differently to keep fans interested game by game, like throwing in standstill pieces if show isn't finished or including a few more moments to get the crowd on their feet.
One last thing- a marching band doesn't have to play current songs to be entertaining. Give the songs they play a chance- you may actually like it. Nothing wrong with learning about a new piece you may have never heard of... even at a sporting event. Sometimes its good to hear something you don't know.