Will MMB be at Illinois or Wisconsin?
Doesn't the MMB usually travel to 2 road games a season? Obviously they were at MSU (and I don't believe they went to Iowa, right?), so that leaves Illinois and Wisconsin. I am going to the Illinois game, so naturally I hope that the MMB is also present.
Anyone out there in the know? Thanks.
October 26th, 2009 at 12:36 PM ^
I'm not sure, but I don't think that the MMB will be at either one. After budget problems in the early part of the decade, they switched to only traveling to MSU, ND, and OSU, and are still on that schedule as far as I know.
October 26th, 2009 at 1:39 PM ^
what is it that I am hearing? Or do I not hear the fight song on the road? A recording? Can't be.
October 26th, 2009 at 12:39 PM ^
The Dept. of Music's Bandorama concert is Saturday night, and the MMB is the featured attraction.
Also, the Band has not traveled to Wisconsin in about 30 years, due to some terrible treatment of visiting bands by the UW partisans. Don't know that the MMB will ever return to Madison.
October 26th, 2009 at 1:38 PM ^
the MMB went to wisky in either the late 90's or early 2000's???
October 26th, 2009 at 12:48 PM ^
The MMB will be traveling to Indianapolis for the Bands of America championships the weekend of the Wisconsin game. It's some kind of recruiting performance, I guess.
Additionally, Wisconsin hasn't had a visiting band since the 1980's. The MMB hasn't been there since the early 80's.
Incidentally, the MMB has had a pretty strong tradition of travel to away games. They traveled as far as Minnesota and Illinois as early as the 1930's. It's only in the last 5 to 10 years that it's been severely cut back to Ohio State, Michigan State, and Notre Dame. The last away trip other than those three schools, as far as I know, was a pep band to Penn State in 2001 and a full band trip to Illinois in 2000.
There was serious consideration made for a trip to Penn State in 2006, but PSU couldn't find anywhere to put the MMB in Beaver Stadium, so the trip was scrapped.
October 26th, 2009 at 12:52 PM ^
I hadn't heard the "find anywhere to put the MMB in Beaver Stadium" reasoning. Pretty sheisty, maybe next time PSU is in town we should return the favor and not have space.
Oh and move those uniformed dancing idiots out of the front row every damn year.
October 26th, 2009 at 1:06 PM ^
The problem with the PSU thing was a lack of time to get it all together. LLoyd asked if the band could come, and they were certainly willing but JoePa was the problem. He doesn't like having bands on the field in chairs/bleachers and there wasn't enough notice to get room in the stands for the band.
October 26th, 2009 at 1:10 PM ^
I think part of the impetus for the band's move to the student section was that very issue of bands on the field. Nix told us that the staff didn't want to risk players running into the band (silly considering opponents are still put on the field).
October 26th, 2009 at 1:32 PM ^
I think it also stemmed from not being able to invite the Notre Dame band to play, which got construed nationally as a knock on ND. As you know, the MMB was up near 400 members, and the ND band doesn't make cuts, so the math went up above the allowance on the field.
I am pretty sure this--combined with the fact that the band wasn't with the student section and annoyed non-standing alumni--did not sit well with higher-ups.
October 26th, 2009 at 4:21 PM ^
Stated reason: Safety
Real reason: $$$
Think about it. That entire section of band seating was approximately 400 season tickets with an accompanying couple hundred dollars per seat in seat licenses.
Eating 400 seats in the student section translates into a seat license loss of, oh, $0. And those tickets are less than half the price of a regular game ticket anyway, so really it's like losing about 150ish regular seats. Win-win for Barnacle Bill.
October 26th, 2009 at 2:53 PM ^
I know this is not the exact topic of this thread, but y'all seem pretty well informed about the MMB. I should disclaim, however, that i may still be slightly depressed, wet, and cold form this weekends game... and i will not be asking the most positive question.
Was it me, or did it seem that even our band got out played this past weekend. I was in section 26 directly behind the MMB and, honestly, i think i could hear Penn state more clearly and they were on the complete opposite side of the stadium. We seem to be doing all sorts of pointing of the instruments but it does not help.
And during half time it was just worse. PSU was 200% louder than our band (tho we have sicker marching moves) but really, really, really, WTF? If were not better then dont let the other band in!
Footballers... band people... PLEASE... start earning your F-in scholarships! You embarrassed us all!
October 26th, 2009 at 3:07 PM ^
While watching the game on TV, it was almost impossible to hear the MMB at all. Meanwhile, I could clearly hear PSU's band. Something is NOT RIGHT.
October 26th, 2009 at 3:22 PM ^
Since you mentioned that your frame of reference was the TV broadcast, the TV crews generally mic the bands. So there could be some differences in volume levels on the production level as well.
October 26th, 2009 at 5:25 PM ^
If you could hear the PSU band better it is probably b/c they were on the visiting sideline pointing toward the press box and the MMB is always on the Michigan side pointing AWAY from the press box.
October 26th, 2009 at 3:19 PM ^
1) It's very tough to put a show on the field with only 3 days of rehearsal. There's a reason most bands wouldn't even attempt it.
2) So you were sitting directly behind the band and couldn't hear us. And you're suprised? Brass instruments, which provide most of the volume, are EXTREMELY directional. Not sure what else I can say here.
3) MMB members do not get scholarships for being in the band. There is some merit and need-based money available, but the majority of members are paying their own way, doing it simply because it's we enjoy it.
I'm getting really, really tired of everyone taking their shots at the band this year, so pardon me. But when you start anonymously shouting and cussing out a marching band, maybe you should reconsider who is embarassing who here.
October 26th, 2009 at 6:42 PM ^
FWIW, I sit in a section opposite you guys and I can always hear you. I rarely can hear the visiting team's band, though, so it seems like it's more an architectural issue than anything.
October 26th, 2009 at 3:24 PM ^
but band people do NOT get scholarships, as a rule. There are people in band that get scholarships, but they are generally private scholarships that happen to have membership in the MMB as a criteria. I'm not saying they get a bad deal, $125 fee for all home games, a couple free t-shirts and the possibility of up to 3 away trips is great. But it's not a scholarship.
As to the post...
MMB members are human too. They're supposed to always be 100% in support of the team with full enthusiasm, but the tougher the game gets, the tougher it is to blast anything full volume. Vice versa when you're winning by a lot (over a team that isn't Delaware State). We keep insisting the MMB should play louder, but there really isn't all THAT much that can be done. It's partly a numbers game and numbers are WAY down. Directionality has a huge impact as well. If you were right behind the MMB, they were facing directly away from you and PSU's band was facing directly towards you pretty much. It's not a stretch you heard PSU's band better despite the distance. Endurance is also part of it. Those kids play quite bit during the week. Especially with hockey and basketball starting to get underway, they can play a couple games in a week and that gets very tiring. It's easy to tell that Prof. Boerma (as well as many band members) is getting a little/very frustrated by the lack of ability to produce enough sound to satisfy the fan base.
Now time for A Modest Proposal by NotJonathanSwift:
We should just get rid of the MMB, they don't play loud enough and they're embarrassing us. They're taking up space that could be used by paying spectators. Think of all the money the AD could save/make if we dissolved the band! The opposing band is generally better/more entertaining/louder anyways, so we can just invite them and have them do an extended pre-game and half-time for everybody's enjoyment! Or replace them with RAWK music, including but not limited RAWK Victors, RAWK Let's Go Blue, RAWK Temptation and other such favorites. I believe this would solve all of our problems.
October 26th, 2009 at 1:04 PM ^
I was in the band 1989-92, and the only road trips were ND, MSU, OSU, and bowl games. Because of budget concerns, the 92 ND game was a last-minute go, as I recall. Starting in the mid-90s they started adding an extra road game or two, but that hasn't always been the norm.
Just fyi.
October 26th, 2009 at 12:55 PM ^
Hoover and Bando are right. According to the people I know in the band, it's just ND, OSU, and MSU. So two games in even years, and only one in the odd years. Plus bowl games (well usually...).
Hopefully there will be some push to expand that soon. Every other team has brought their band to our stadium, so why can't we go there? Especially Penn State and Minnesota, IME the next two rivals after the aforementioned big 3.
Do you think the band will go to UConn whenever we go? It's in an odd year (2013?) and they're our only BCS road game not in South Bend in a while.
October 26th, 2009 at 4:37 PM ^
Very unlikely, I'd think. That's an odd-numbered year, so we have a trip to MSU. That will probably be the only trip.
Other teams bring their bands to Michigan Stadium because Michigan is a big game for everyone else. The reverse isn't always true.
October 26th, 2009 at 1:38 PM ^
I wasn't aware that the MMB only traveled to OSU, MSU, and ND.
In the back of my mind I suspected that Band-O-Rama might conflict with one of those games.
October 26th, 2009 at 1:55 PM ^
This has been mentioned already, but it's mostly a budget issue. Taking the band anywhere is expensive due to the cost of gas, food, and hotels; the farther away the destination is, the more expensive the trip becomes. A major reason that the MMB travels to ND and MSU beyond the obvious rivalry game implications is that South Bend and East Lansing are close enough to make it a day trip and thus avoid having to get a hotel somewhere. Plus, you only have to feed 300 people twice on a day trip rather than 4 times on a trip to Columbus. The performance in Indianapolis also falls in this category: two meals, no hotels. Bowl games are more expensive due to the obvious travel expenses and the length of the trip (3-4 days) and are partially funded by the Athletic Department because the band can't pay for a bowl trip by themselves. It costs around $250,000 to send the band on a bowl trip. I think back in the '60s the band used to travel to more away games (in 1969 they were the first Big Ten band to fly to an away game when the team played Minnesota) but oil was very cheap back then so bus and airplane travel was much less expensive.
October 26th, 2009 at 2:23 PM ^
I'm not surprised no one plays at Wisconsin anymore. Their band has been involved in more underhanded things than one could fathom.
This, in addition to the treatment of the visiting band by opposing fans.
October 26th, 2009 at 4:38 PM ^
I was in the band 4 seasons in the late 70's / early 80's. Our trips during that time were to MSU, OSU, ND and, at the last minute, once to Purdue (plus Bowl games.) No trip to Wisconsin in the years immediately before or after.
#15 re: your tongue in cheek suggestion of getting rid of the Marching Band:
I just attended the Michigan hockey game at Boston Univ. over the Weekend. They no longer have a Football team, and yet they still have a Marching Band! Amazingly, they actually marched right onto the ice in between periods and formed "BU" to the stands.
October 26th, 2009 at 6:36 PM ^
I've seen old Leaky Bugle articles about the MMB going to Wisconsin sometime in the 1980's. I'll look around to see if I can find the correct date.