MDB Feedback.

[Hawk324]

The white banners on the trombone slides are hideous. They have to go.

Way too many marimbas, xylophones and glockenspiels. Lose them. Replace with more brass and real drums.

I agree. I didnt like the white banners on the trombones either.

But I do love the Million Dollar Band!!! I always wanted to play drums with them but I was never good enough. :biggrin2: They always sound great and I always get chills when I hear Yeah Alabama!

(Nice buncha folks too!)


:smile:

 

[rkwilkerson]

I'm not sure how long they've had a guitar ensemble, but I really liked the sound. It was different and not something you hear everyday.

I heard the guitar with other instruments playing on the quad. I don't know if the guitarist ended up in the stadium, I forgot to look.

 

[Chucky94]

I thought the band did really well. I was particularly impressed by one of the flag girls out there. WOW! She was a hottie and put ALL of our majorettes and cheerleaders to shame.

 

[Big_Fan]

Electric instruments have no place in a marching band. There are two things that will get you made fun of when you play opposite of a really good college band.

(1) playing the "go team go" cheer.
(2) electric instruments.

Electric bass guitars are generally used to cover deficiencies in the tuba section.

Not being mean...that is just how it is.

 

[Roll_Tide_Gal]

it was played, same time, same place, between the 3rd and 4th quarters...as per usual...

time for a change, although I like the song a lot...or at least alternate it with another cool, peppy, modern song or two...

I need to sit in the funeral section more often, then. Perfect place to avoid that stinker of a song.

 

[T Town Tank]

I"ll turn 50 in a week and when I heard the MDB crank up Yea Alabama on the Quad before the game Saturday, I still got goose bumps. :BigA:

 

[Giant Squid]

I didn't hear Basket Case, so I'm very pleased.

I did hear it and I was pleased.

 

[RollTide007]

The band entered from the sidelines because we weren't allowed to practice the tunnel entrance the previous week due to some mix-up with the stadium crew. I'm not sure if this will ever happen, but we'll see...oh, and this is my first post!!! Woo!!

 

[1LoudTideFan]

A few years ago at the UGA game the band stunned me by playing Tower of Power's "What is Hip" I would love to hear that played again/more frequently. great song! i havent heard the mdb play it since then.

 

[Jaco]

music was boring, I miss kathryns shows.

roll tide

 

[dabaxter]

I thought the tuba players were off key.

 

[RT3413]

I'll apologize in advance for the lengthy post, but this is a suject that I am highly passionate about. I am an MDB alumni and have not been bashful about my complaints about the leadership of Ken Ozello since he took over from Kathryn. However, I must give credit where credit is due and say that the halftime performance Saturday was the best performance by the MDB since Kathryn left.

The band itself has always been a better marching and more in-tune band under Dr O than under Kathryn but the shows have lacked pizzaz and volume. The show this week had the same sharp accuracy and musical quality with - FINALLY - volume worthy of the MDB and decent song selection. I would, however, attribute the volume increase to the shocking 25% increase in membership (from 280 to 350) more than anything else, and that increase is most likely due to the fact that we went 10-2 last year than anything else.

I would actually argue that this show was as good as many of the KS shows in terms of design and content - especially for a first show of the season - but may have been performed better than any band under KS.

Pre-game was a different matter all together - I agree with the previous poster who mentioned we are outdone by LSU, UT and even the Barn in terms of our pre-game program. Yes, this week's was a bit different with Gomer Pyle and all, but still it lacked umph. I was really hoping to see a complete redesign of the show and there wasn't anything different to it at all.

And inbetween, where was the band AT ALL? I heard Low Rider, Basketcase and a couple of Yea Alabama's, but very little else. Especially in the 4th Q, where was the band in keeping the crowd into it? Thank God we heard a (again, loud) Rammer Jammer at the end of it all. I know O wants it to be a student organization, but before if the band needed to really respond, there was always a director to drive that to happen. I've personally seen O on the sidelines watching the team, in the stands away from the band watching the team or otherwise not actively leading the band, which I would call irresponsible.

So halftime was as good as KS but the rest of the time, it was the same old Ozello plan as before which leaves the MDB falling behind in the SEC.

 

[lowend]

On the radio, I heard the MDB as much as one would normally expect from them.

 

[Liberty Bell 7]

RT3413:

I wasn't at the game, but based on my experience in the last couple of years marching under Dr. O, I offer my $.02 to some of your comments.

Dr. Ozzello typically makes his way to the pressbox before halftime so that he can record the halftime show, and he remains there for the third quarter so that he can listen to the band from that distance. I may be mistaken, but I think he may also do this for pregame, but I don't remember how much (if any) time he spends up there in the first quarter. Many threads right now deal with adjustments for the football teams, i.e., what will our coaches analyze to improve our team play, etc., and I think Dr. O being in the press box for a little bit is fine so he can improve the sound of the band. Trust me, (and this is true of any ensemble) it is good to get away from the group to hear what your audience hears. The drum majors run the band during the game anyways, plus the assistant directors are right there. And, Dr. O is always one walkie-talkie call away.

You mentioned the lack of playing in the stands. This is a guess, but I bet the band wasn't as prepared as they should be. Like I wrote earlier, I wasn't there, but that is my guess. I remember Ms. Scott handing out a huge packet of stand tunes, half of which we never used. At the time, I thought it a bit excessive, but given the two extremes, I would rather have too many tunes than too little. I think in 2004 Dr. O told the band that he really wanted to improve the "stand tune" aspect of the band. That function of the band (so far) has been disappointing because the MDB could do more in this area. But I will state this, I am glad that we have always had a huge cheer repertoire, so that we don't have to play the same tune over and over and over again (cough cough Rocky Top cough). I don't know if you were referring to stand tunes or cheers specifically.

Hopefully, I can make it to a game and can offer a better opinion.

 

[CHATTBRIT]

I thought the sound of the MDB was great but song selection poor. What idiot came up with that theme? Something more like Chariots of Fire would have been appropriate to christen the walk of champions. Also need to get more interesting patterns and teach them to walk in straight lines, not wavy!

 

[SCrammerjammer]

If any of the MDB ever read this, I just wanted to say that gameday does not start for me until I hear the sections gearing up on the Quad. You make the atmosphere there great.

 

[bamarodd]

Band??? I was watching the majorettes in the cute little Dorothy outfits!!

Just kidding. Kind of.

 

[jthomas666]

Anybody pleased?

Could someone post some pics of the girls in the low-cut Dorothy outfits?

 

[JessN]

Either the increase in tubas, the new design of the stadium, or both, resulted in better bass note transfer high up in the stadium. While I was ambivalent about the program itself, the sound was much, much better than we've heard in a few years. As a contrast, my wife loved the program and song choices.

I think UA's band still trails LSU's band in augmenting the cheerleaders and playing during the game. LSU is the class of the conference as a "stands band" and a lot of it is due simply to playing more. I don't know if this is an issue rising out of band members wanting to see the game, but when you've got the uniform on, you're basically at work. Same as the press box guys that are fans and can't cheer during the game -- it's a trade-off that you agree to when you sign up.

I think we're better at it on the road, and when we're behind, than when we're at home and leading, but LSU does it all the time. I don't really care which cheers or songs they play, I just think more of it is needed.

Pregame was good last year with the "march in" and hopefully that will return soon.

I'd also be agreeable to more "fireworks" as someone put it, but not quite as many as Kathryn Scott (or Kathryn Scott-Hyphen as we used to call her when I was at UA, since her name changed so much (g)) was fond of using. There is an overboard point.

I would like to see more jazz/funk choices for both sideline and halftime programs, but that's my own musical tastes talking.

 

[TurningTide]

I don't think more 'fireworks' are necessarily needed, just more intersting movement on the field by the band and maybe a little more flare from the flag girls and such. (when Scott was there, they always had HUGE flags that added a great visual aspect to the shows)

What happend to circle drills? Shrinking and interlinking squares? Movement just seemed to be very minimal and that's when people stop watching. (not to mention the lines looked more like S-shapes, but I'm sure that will improve).