So, How did the Pride do last Saturday? [Archive]

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TheHumanAlphabet

9/5/2006, 04:03 PM

With trepidation that this will be closed by the mods...:texan:

JordlePrideTuba

9/5/2006, 05:58 PM

As one of the tuba section leaders, I'd like to say we were pretty decent. This was the first year I've ever heard anybody come up to me and say that the tuba section was heard loud and clear, especially for the first game, and several people told me that the past couple days. Our marching in my opinion wasn't up to snuff, but the playing was pretty clean. Yeah, it wasn't perfect, but we can only use the "c'mon, first game jitters" excuse once. I don't think the show selection was very good, but I enjoyed playing loud, so whatever. :pop:

mrowl

9/5/2006, 06:28 PM

I thought the opening was good.

halftime was the suck.

And I still can't hear them during the game anymore.

Vaevictis

9/5/2006, 07:05 PM

Whoever sets up the halftime show needs to be hooked up to a remote-electric-shock collar, with all of the fans being able to vote on whether s/he is shocked.

I mean, cmon, some songs just should NEVER be played by a marching band. Unfortunately, it seems as if the person in charge of selecting what the Pride plays picks primarily from those songs.

JordlePrideTuba

9/5/2006, 07:16 PM

I mean, cmon, some songs just should NEVER be played by a marching band. Unfortunately, it seems as if the person in charge of selecting what the Pride plays picks primarily from those songs.

Don't be hatin' on my girl Sheryl Crow!

Also, kill me.

oumoney23

9/5/2006, 08:03 PM

The halftime show reminded me of watching a 1st grade teacher encourage her students to line up for recess. I'm sure the Pride enjoyed being treated as such in front of 85,000 people.

mrowl

9/5/2006, 08:12 PM

I forgot about the race.

I now change my suck, to SUCKED HARD.

Soonrboy

9/5/2006, 08:15 PM

Doesn't the race represent a land run type of thing?

proud gonzo

9/5/2006, 08:16 PM

marching sucked. playing sucked. volume sucked. music choice sucked. announcing sucked. running band sucked.

the strut, however, was pretty dang good. :D kudos to the new drum major

OUstudent4life

9/5/2006, 09:00 PM

first two songs of halftime = bad.

last song = decent.

the only cool thing the band has done at halftime in the past coupla' years was the batman symbol. that was pretty decent music, too.

proud gonzo

9/5/2006, 10:25 PM

yep... that was about the last good show

GottaHavePride

9/5/2006, 10:48 PM

I'm only posting in here once, so I'll try not to say anything that will get me sucked back in here. I still give the Pride members tons of credit for getting out there and working their butts off to do what they do. It ain't easy.

First, the Good:

Pregame was pretty solid. Coulda been louder, lines coulda been straighter, but overall a solid job for the first game of the season. I also liked seeing, just once, a return o the scramble-band crowd-pleaser mentality they showed by running to play to unusual sections of the stadium. Again, tune selection probably could have been a bit more "crowd-pleasing" oriented for that stunt, but nice effort.

Next, the Not So Good:

1. Marching fundamentals. Does the Pride even work on these anymore? I saw a lot of walking in time to the music, and very little roll-stepping. Also, mark-times are downright Texas mushy (I know it's NLT, but that's the only description I have for that - it's technical, dammit!) Where the heck did the snap in the mark-time go? I can remember spending twenty minutes at the beginning of each and every rehearsal working on marking time and roll-stepping with Coach shouting "Squeeze those grapes!"

2. Musical interpretation. I realize the current staff has a different take on musical style than the Coach/Roland staff. The problem is Roland's still writing the music, and if his music isn't played with his style you get, well, that Bohemian Rhapsody that was on the field Saturday. Kind of lame. Basically, the staff needs to realize that they either HAVE to perform Roland's style the way he intended it, or go with an arranger that's less demanding of his ensembles where they can get away with a watered-down style. I was left thinking "Wow, that could have been really cool" a lot Saturday. i could detail exactly what the staff is teaching incorrectly, but that's a lot of technical music business no one here wants to read. Wait, apply that last bit to this entire post. ;)

3. Drill Writing. Sucked hard. This was actually probably my biggest disappointment. I realize it was the first game, but bejeezus. No one on the field was even moving at an 8 to 5 clip for any extended period of time. Slow moving combined with slowly changing (and boring) shapes makes for incredibly dull drill. The Pride needs to find a much more adventurous drill writer that isn't afraid to run the risk of having a fast-moving wall of tubas flatten a few flutes.

OK, that's it. I think that covers everything.

apusooner

9/6/2006, 12:03 AM

Strike up the band was pretty square. ok, really square. during the pregame concert, my buddy and i stood about 10 feet in front of the band and carried a conversation normally. no yelling, just talking like nobody was playing. that was lame. song choice of course was suspect. and "that's the way i like it" needs to be dropped, it sounds goofy. i also hope the announcer is fired for actually having a race to get set up. i almost vomited. i would fire myself if i had thrown that into public. whoever was in charge of that, well, sucks.

SoonerJack

9/6/2006, 08:12 AM

Although I haven't gotten to attend a game in forever, I still get chills when I hear the Pride version of Oklahoma.

TheHumanAlphabet

9/6/2006, 09:17 AM

Recommend they drop the race to get on their marks thing, tho.

I hate the scatter drill to formation. We used it sparingly while I was in The Pride. It may be the best way to get to formation every once in a while and it may look good given the context of the show, but IMO, it does not look good or polished to use it all the time...

TheHumanAlphabet

9/6/2006, 09:21 AM

Also, mark-times are downright Texas mushy (I know it's NLT, but that's the only description I have for that - it's technical, dammit!) Where the heck did the snap in the mark-time go? I can remember spending twenty minutes at the beginning of each and every rehearsal working on marking time and roll-stepping with Coach shouting "Squeeze those grapes!".

We called that the Texas Marktime when I was in...

Its not fun when Coach singles you out to "Pinch that Grape - THA" to the whole band...Then, you know he at least knew who you were...:eek:

cofCtuba

9/7/2006, 08:57 PM

Me and another old tuba alum were at the pregame concert standing next to each other right in front of the band. 20 feet from the drum major, right there in front of Jacobson. We were talking the whole time, carrying on a conversation, all while the Pride was playing. My buddy pointed something out, he said that we shouldn't be able to carry on a conversation in our normal speaking voices while the Pride is playing, Boomer Sooner for that matter. And, we were right in front of them! With there horns pointed right at us! The Pride was so quiet, when I was a youngster they hurt my ears. And, there's a lot more than then, even my freshman year at OU, we only had 288 in the Pride, and we were a lot louder. So sad.

PrideTrombone

9/7/2006, 10:15 PM

yep... that was about the last good show

Gee, I can't remember who came up with that show.... hmm.... I know it's someone I know. :D

NormanPride

9/7/2006, 10:25 PM

Gee, I can't remember who came up with that show.... hmm.... I know it's someone I know. :D

Steve Collins?

:D

PrideTrombone

9/7/2006, 10:40 PM

Steve Collins?

:D

Nah, he was just starting college when Batman came out though. :D

mynameisjoe

9/8/2006, 01:21 AM

1st time poster!

I'm a member of the Pride and was very embarrassed with the stupid side games by our announcer during halftime between songs. "Great job clarinets!" *sigh* Unfortunately from what I've heard, we're gonna do it again this weekend.

TheHumanAlphabet

9/8/2006, 09:19 AM

Uhmm, the clarinets should never be heard from in The Pride. The Brass should blow their doors off...

OklahomaTuba

9/8/2006, 10:09 AM

Don't get me started on our color guard this year. Those girls couldn't twirl their flags together if their lives depended on it. Sad to say somethings never change, no matter how good or bad the pride is.

OklahomaTuba

9/8/2006, 10:11 AM

TheHumanAlphabet

9/8/2006, 12:06 PM

cofCtuba

9/8/2006, 01:16 PM

You know you're not "The Pride" anymore if you have to have the announcer tout any section of the band and help the audience feel good about the performance. :(

Only gay bands like aggielite U and KU Band have the announcer give props after the performance. A couple more bands did that when I was in years ago, As Pride members we laughed real hard when we heard it...

Be #1, blow doors off and march off the field like you own it. Let the people know they witnessed a fantastic show by your attitude. Oh wait, you can't be #1 anymore, you must be one in spirit with the University ideals...LG!! Good this sounds so frickin' PC!!

Amen. At the OU/osu game in 2000 up at Stillwater their band did an Austin Powers show and I wanted to kill their announcer, he was bein so gay, trying to talk like Austin Powers! The show was horrid, but they were louder than the Pride is now. That's sick. Yeah, used to, the show spoke enough for itself. And I won't go into political correctness. I wrote a 6 page paper over it in freshman comp, I'll spare yall. But I hate it.

Dio

9/8/2006, 04:34 PM

The Pride needs to find a much more adventurous drill writer that isn't afraid to run the risk of having a fast-moving wall of tubas flatten a few flutes.

That would almost make it worth having so damn many woodwinds out there.

mrowl

9/8/2006, 04:37 PM

I think all of the problems could be fixed with more yazz flute.

cofCtuba

9/9/2006, 11:10 PM

I thought I might should start a new thread since this is about this weeks Pride show, but it was the exact same show to day, so oh well. But I think this was the most people I've ever seen leave the stadium at halftime for a co-cola and a weiner. :pop:

PrideTrombone

9/9/2006, 11:18 PM

They didn't do the "Race to the Spot" part of the show for this week, thank goodness.

proud gonzo

9/9/2006, 11:32 PM

well that's good. I wouldn't know--I left before they got to that part.

PrideTuba

9/10/2006, 12:26 AM

I couldnt tell you how pregame is, because I simply cannot hear it. The halftime shows are awful, and I cannot hear those either. I cant hear the band in the stands, and I was sick of listening to crazy train. I think crazy train is the new st. elmos fire.

www.FireBrianBritt.com

colleyvillesooner

9/10/2006, 12:28 AM

Crazy train is awesome.

Carzy train by a marching band :succs;

OUAndy1807

9/10/2006, 08:19 AM

it's better than "that's the way I like it", but you're right it sucks.

Also, scrambling to a different set for the song from Cars doesn't make it a different show.