Jump to content

Alabama A&M


Recommended Posts

Just because it's the offseason, I wanted to say that Alabama A&M played at Vandy this past weekend, and their band got a long, very long, standing ovation after halftime. They flat out blew the paint off the walls of that stadium. And it struck me how few of those truly stellar marching members will ever darken the door of a DCI audition.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 minutes ago, MikeRapp said:

Just because it's the offseason, I wanted to say that Alabama A&M played at Vandy this past weekend, and their band got a long, very long, standing ovation after halftime. They flat out blew the paint off the walls of that stadium. And it struck me how few of those truly stellar marching members will ever darken the door of a DCI audition.

You got my attention so I looked them up.  Here is a good YouTube video of that show.  Those tubas!  A total entity all by themselves!  Thanks for posting this. 

 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Still love the old school high step marching style. And their high brass sound, wow.

Btw, this is one of the bands that Drumline was based on. They compete annually for the Big Southern Classic in Atlanta, in front of 50,000 fans. 

One of the things that blows me a way with this genre of band is that they play in the stands with the same power and authority all game long as they do at halftime. I had the privilege of seeing Tennessee State at Vandy a few years ago, and it was incredible how much energy and commitment those traditional black college bands put into performances all game long.

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, RetiredMusTeach said:

You got my attention so I looked them up.  Here is a good YouTube video of that show.  Those tubas!  A total entity all by themselves!  Thanks for posting this. 

 

Those drum majors!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, MikeRapp said:

Still love the old school high step marching style. And their high brass sound, wow.

Btw, this is one of the bands that Drumline was based on. They compete annually for the Big Southern Classic in Atlanta, in front of 50,000 fans. 

One of the things that blows me a way with this genre of band is that they play in the stands with the same power and authority all game long as they do at halftime. I had the privilege of seeing Tennessee State at Vandy a few years ago, and it was incredible how much energy and commitment those traditional black college bands put into performances all game long.

Mike - how did the Vanderbilt band do?  I have never seen one of their shows. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, RetiredMusTeach said:

Mike - how did the Vanderbilt band do?  I have never seen one of their shows. 

I haven't seem them either. But, I am guessing, not well in comparison.
I watched a minute of this video and saw a Vandy kid carrying a marching euphonium.
So they probably played some lame BS with tone quality and time and stuff.

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, RetiredMusTeach said:

Mike - how did the Vanderbilt band do?  I have never seen one of their shows. 

Vanderbilt does not offer tuition credit hours for band, despite having a world class music department. Therefore, the school recruits kids from nearby schools, in addition to motivated vandy students, to field their band. Though they work hard and mean well, it's by no means a competitive collegiate marching band.

Which is a nice way of saying, they got smoked by AA&M. Thus the standing ovation, which no doubt included the Vandy band.

Edited by MikeRapp
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It turns out that the increased use of narration in drum corps is really an attempt to emulate the announcers at HBCU shows.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...