[jacket3ree]

Speaking of aTm, which has a fabulous band in my opinion knowing many around here would disagree with that assessment, their university owns and funds the organization but daily execution is entirely student run. Their band is not an independent club like LSJUMB's social club, but belongs to a department of musical activities that is formally tied to A&M's Division of Student Affairs. The university employs professional, fulltime faculty to handle musical direction, charts, and administration and the A&M Corps of Cadets is overseen by a commandant, who is typically a retired military officer who has military advisors to oversee safety, discipline, and military parameters of the cadets. Oversee is the key word, student leaders run rehearsals, enforce discipline, maintain the good of the order etc. I'm sure that type of more organized structure has its issues too and I'm not remotely suggesting that Band ROTC is some sort of solution at Stanford. A&M is one of six senior military colleges in the U.S. and federal law dictates some of what they do. That's not the case at Stanford. Still, A&M is good. Really good.

There seem to be myriad problems with LSJUMB, the foremost to me as a former musician who spent two quarters in a P4 marching band before giving it up to get blackout drunk with my friends at games, is the music. It isn't good right now and I think the low numbers Goose references are a major contributing factor. Figure out how to get the numbers (of good musicians along with the tennis racket players) up and that goes a long way to solving issues.

Fine by me if they invite local rock bands and jazz combos to gig at halftime otherwise. Whatever you think about the shackles of overlords, LSJUMB represents LSJU so to think there can be limited retroactive oversight is a mistake. The Band first lost me at the '85 Big Game with a show titled '101 Things to Do with a Dead Cal Bandsman.' I mean WTF is this? Someone finds this entertaining? Whatever. But at least the charts were good and they played good music. The Band lost me for good by playing "She's Not There" in front of the LA courthouse where jury selection was taking place as OJ Simpson was on trial for the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson. I get it, only a couple dozen rogue students skipped practice and were "disciplined" by the University, whatever that means. That's not "fuckassery;" that is being shitty humans. You still represent the band, which represents the University, you morons. I hope they at least lost the right to represent.

LSJUMB revels in being 'notorious' (mistaking that for entertaining) having dropped trou and peed on fields a number of times, made fun of Patty Hearst's kidnapping, made fun of a famine that killed more than a million people, routinely mock religions, generally shit on fans from other teams, form human genitalia (yeah a lot of you are sophomores but I thought Stanford students/alumns/randos off the street allowed to play are supposed to be smart), completely effed up the ending to Big Game in '82, and has been banned from the Happiest Place on Earth. Good job guys...Hijinx!! Frankly I'm amazed they haven't met the fate of Virginia's scatter band,* which was scattered to the wind after making fun of West Virginia one too many times. A lot of restraint by the University over the decades if you ask me. 

I know no one asked me, and this is rehashed grievance. Still, LSJUMB could be good. If they really wanted to be good even under the umbrella of "wacky". I think their whole reason for being is to be not good and thus make fun of marching bands that are good. You don't have to take yourselves seriously, but please take entertaining people seriously. Otherwise, why are you there?  Hmmm....could be a master plan by the AD to drive concession sales to the 585 people who are at football games. I knew it. The falsest of false flag operations.



*Long before their demise, I was in attendance at Grant Field when UVA played Tech for the first time as ACC members in 1982. I was visiting the ticket booth to get a pair of really good ones for me and my dad, who was in town, furnished by a frat bro who was one of the team managers. A couple of Virginia band members came in to ask where the students sit. I told them and asked if weapons were involved and we needed to be scared or think about defensive maneuvers. "Nah, we just want to give you guys a good show." Anyway they spent halftime playing to the students and mocking the University of Georgia. I think we can all agree that is a good show. Massive standing ovation from the student section and the alumni dug it too. Can't say what subsequent material was like particularly as Tech and UVA were breaking each others' hearts in the '90s and early '00s.

[jacket3ree]

Speaking of aTm, which has a fabulous band in my opinion knowing many around here would disagree with that assessment, their university owns and funds the organization but daily execution is entirely student run. Their band is not an independent club like LSJUMB's social club, but belongs to a department of musical activities that is formally tied to A&M's Division of Student Affairs. The university employs professional, fulltime faculty to handle musical direction, charts, and administration and the A&M Corps of Cadets is overseen by a commandant, who is typically a retired military officer who has military advisors to oversee safety, discipline, and military parameters of the cadets. Oversee is the key word, student leaders run rehearsals, enforce discipline, maintain the good of the order etc. I'm sure that type of more organized structure has its issues too and I'm not remotely suggesting that Band ROTC is some sort of solution at Stanford. A&M is one of six senior military colleges in the U.S. and federal law dictates some of what they do. That's not the case at Stanford. Still, A&M is good. Really good.

There seem to be myriad problems with LSJUMB, the foremost to me as a former musician who spent two quarters in a P4 marching band before giving it up to get blackout drunk with my friends at games, is the music. It isn't good right now and I think the low numbers Goose references are a major contributing factor. Figure out how to get the numbers (of good musicians along with the tennis racket players) up and that goes a long way to solving issues.

Fine by me if they invite local rock bands and jazz combos to gig at halftime otherwise. Whatever you think about the shackles of overlords, LSJUMB represents LSJU so to think there can be limited retroactive oversight is a mistake. The Band first lost me at the '85 Big Game with a show titled '101 Things to Do with a Dead Cal Bandsman.' I mean WTF is this? Someone finds this entertaining? Whatever. But at least the charts were good and they played good music. The Band lost me for good by playing "She's Not There" in front of the LA courthouse where jury selection was taking place as OJ Simpson was on trial for the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson. I get it, only a couple dozen rogue students skipped practice and were "disciplined" by the University, whatever that means. That's not "fuckassery;" that is being shitty humans. You still represent the band, which represents the University, you morons. I hope they at least lost the right to represent.

LSJUMB revels in being 'notorious' (mistaking that for entertaining) having dropped trou and peed on fields a number of times, made fun of Patty Hearst's kidnapping, made fun of a famine that killed more than a million people, routinely mock religions, generally shit on fans from other teams, form human genitalia (yeah a lot of you are sophomores but I thought Stanford students/alumns/randos off the street allowed to play are supposed to be smart), completely effed up the ending to Big Game in '82, and has been banned from the Happiest Place on Earth. Good job guys...Hijinx!! Frankly I'm amazed they haven't met the fate of Virginia's scatter band,* which was scattered to the wind after making fun of West Virginia one too many times. A lot of restraint by the University over the decades if you ask me. 

I know no one asked me, and this is rehashed grievance. Still, LSJUMB could be good. If they really wanted to be good even under the umbrella of "wacky". I think their whole reason for being is to be not good and thus make fun of marching bands that are good. You don't have to take yourselves seriously, but please take entertaining people seriously. Otherwise, why are you there?  Hmmm....could be a master plan by the AD to drive concession sales to the 585 people who are at football games. I knew it. The falsest of false flag operations.



*Long before their demise, I was in attendance at Grant Field when UVA played Tech for the first time as ACC members in 1982. I was visiting the ticket booth to get a pair of really good ones for me and my dad, who was in town, furnished by a frat bro who was one of the team managers. A couple of Virginia band members came in to ask where the students sit. I told them and asked if weapons were involved and we needed to be scared or think about defensive maneuvers. "Nah, we just want to give you guys a good show." Anyway they spent halftime playing to the students and mocking the University of Georgia. I think we can all agree that is a good show. Massive standing ovation from the student section and the alumni dug it too. Can't say what subsequent material was like particularly as Tech and UVA were breaking each others' hearts in the '90s and early '00s.