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Panther Marching Band

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  • Panther Marching Band

    Always a controversial topic around here and certainly within the athletic department, I think it finally deserves its own dedicated conversation thread. This thread is all about the Panther Marching Band.

    We all know that a great energetic band adds to the atmosphere of college football. The pomp, the circumstance, the tradition, the school pride. It's the most uniquely college football thing in existence and there is no doubt that a big, brassy band can add so much to your gameday atmosphere.

    The problem at UNI, and with the Panther Marching Band, is that they're not particularly good, not particularly memorable, not particularly cooperative and somehow manage to suck the energy out of the Dome with their pregame and halftime shows. This is the exact opposite of the other two bands in the state and other comparably sized bands across the Midwest.

    First the facts, the Panther Marching Band has about 310 members and meets for 6 hours per week, all in the Dome so no rehearsals are lost to weather. For comparison's sake, Iowa State has 240 members and meet for 5.5 hours per week. Iowa has 290 members and meets for 6 hours per week plus a two hour music only rehearsal every third Tuesday. Ohio State has 280 members and meets for 7.5 hours per week.


    PREGAME

    With college football timing rules, every band has 14-16 minutes to do a 'Pregame Show'

    Panther Marching Band



    Notice the slow marching, slow transitions and momentum killing Alma Mater. Notice how the music is dull and certainly doesn't have that brassy, exciting edge

    Iowa State Varsity Marching Band



    Not a ton of movement, but marching is crisp and together. Bright, brassy edge on the sound

    Hawkeye Marching Band



    Huge energetic steps, bright brassy sound. General excitement. Not much on YouTube for their pregame unfortunately.

    Ohio State Marching Band



    Admittedly, the gold standard of college marching bands. They use the Alma Mater in their pregame but not right at the end when it would kill momentum. Compare their script Ohio to our 'Traditional Pre-Game Cheer'

    Half Time Performance

    Panther Marching Band



    Slowly walk, stand in place, play dated slower songs, maybe dance in place or sway. Wonder why people are clamoring for re-entry?

    Iowa State Varsity Marching Band



    Not a ton of movement and not terribly quick. Noticeably brighter sound and more recognizable music.

    Hawkeye Marching Band



    More movement at the beginning and end. Brassier sound.

    Ohio State Marching Band



    Now, I don't think any of us expect this, but it is really cool and shows what a dynamite band can do.

    Couple all this with the fact the UNI Band has repeatedly refused to compromise with the Athletic Department and will not change and I think it's fairly easy to see they are part of the gameday atmosphere problem we have in the Dome. The instances where they are playing close to our snaps while cutting off way (too) early when the other team has the ball and you can make the argument that they are actually working against us from a football perspective.

    With our current atmosphere, EVERYTHING should be on the table. This includes the cooperation or involvement of a pretty underwhelming band that seems to place a much higher value on themselves than any outsider does.

    Fire away, y'all....


    #MACtion

  • #2
    That last Ohio State video...so cool.
    Give us a yell, HO! The purple and the gold
    Victory for U-N-I!

    Find out what the other team wants to do, then take it away from them.
    - George Halas

    Comment


    • #3
      Just talking with a friend this weekend about the Dome experience. They only come up to one game a year due to travel but said the dome "experience" hasn't changed in 20 years. It's the exact same songs, same slow "cheer", same everything. Now granted, we can't change the stuffy hallways during the game, but the on field performances sure can be. You didn't show Wisconsin who has turned the singing of Varsity into a tradition. We can't even put the words to the Alma Mater onto one of the little sections of the scoreboard. Lots of low hanging fruit for engaging the fans in the game.

      Heck we've been told it is too difficult to put stats on our scoreboard. Heaven forbid you would consider showing other scores... those should be running non-stop on one of the sections of scoreboard that is showing one of the 9 ads being shown on a continuous basis.

      The sing along might want to include some words if you actually want the crowd to participate. We really make things a lot harder than they need to be...



      I will give the band full credit, by the second half, they are the only section left making any kind of noise during our games. They are there to the end.
      If computers ruled college basketball the way they do football, we'd have skipped all this March Madness monotony and just waited a month for the Kansas-Kentucky title game. And watched Northern Iowa play Cornell in the Poulan Weedeater Bowl. ~ Dwight Perry The Seattle Times

      Comment


      • #4
        My complaint this year is that the National Anthem is played a bit too fast.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Neighbor View Post
          My complaint this year is that the National Anthem is played a bit too fast.
          I noticed that, too. If you are short on time and need to cut something down, that's probably not the best place to make cuts?
          "...the Northern Iowa men's basketball team reached the ultimate highs before hitting a devastating low. Unexpected success, followed by unimaginable failure. And they owned it -- all of it -- for the world to see. Like men. Like leaders. Like champions -- in a way no tournament bracket could ever define."

          Comment


          • #6
            The Alma Mater is waay too slow to be played right before kick off. Really drains the energy out of the crowd. I think many schools play it at the conclusion of the event.
            "My role is to lead, plain and simple. . . .I with the help of my staff and our administration, we will lead." --Ben Jacobson

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by UNIAlum95 View Post
              Heck we've been told it is too difficult to put stats on our scoreboard. Heaven forbid you would consider showing other scores... those should be running non-stop on one of the sections of scoreboard that is showing one of the 9 ads being shown on a continuous basis.
              I used to really wish they'd show scores and stats, but these days everyone can pull that stuff up on their phones, so no real crucial need for that.
              Would be nice to be able to see some stats for the actual game though, at least during quarter breaks.

              The sing along might want to include some words if you actually want the crowd to participate. We really make things a lot harder than they need to be...
              They've had the words on the screen in the past. Didn't really improve crowd participation all that much.

              I will give the band full credit, by the second half, they are the only section left making any kind of noise during our games. They are there to the end
              Unfortunately, they seem to make the most noise when UNI is on offense, when the home crowd should be quiet. They do play some during the visiting team's offense, but it always seems like they stop sooner, but they play longer when UNI offense is out there, which drives me crazy.
              But yeah, the UNI crowd in general is pitifully quiet when the UNI defense is out there. Sitting on the West side, I'll be cheering on the defense and it often seems like I'm the only one making noise.

              Originally posted by Neighbor View Post
              My complaint this year is that the National Anthem is played a bit too fast.
              I'd rather have a fast-tempo anthem than a slow tempo anthem. Same goes for the fight song. A few years ago, the band had a tendancy to play the fight song too slow and it was torture.


              Personally, I'm just not into marching band music, especially in the Dome with the metal and cement creating terrible accoustics. Even if the band was world-class, it would sound terrible in there and I'd ignore the performances just as much as I do now.

              Comment


              • #8
                I'm not sure what the situation is now, but at one time all of the freshman music majors were required to be in marching band, not all of them were particularly thrilled with that duty. Where at larger schools there are try-outs, presumably resulting in more motivated members. I've heard the Wisconsin band in particular is difficult to get on.

                Not related (except that today's college band members were yesterday's high school members), but my local high school band is usually terrible compared with what I remember in the past. They play their instruments as though they're afraid someone might hear them. Same with cheerleaders. It's a small school, could be that practice time/staff support has been cut way back over the years.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Neighbor View Post
                  My complaint this year is that the National Anthem is played a bit too fast.
                  The band started playing the National Anthem fast last year. It is a pet peeve of mine also.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    I like the faster tempo. At McLeod events some vocalists really drag it out. Not a fan.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      I disagree about the Anthem so hard, play that sucker at 280 bpm and let's get on with the game. It sounds better at a higher tempo, anyhow, because the original song was written at a faster tempo than what's usually played. Hearing the full band blare it out is so much better than listening to some tone deaf tenth grader stretching out "whose broad stripes and bright stars" out for 30 seconds.
                      Last edited by sevelev711; 10-15-2018, 09:39 PM.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Speaking of the Panther marching band, they're going to Ireland in March to play at the St. Patricks Day festival in Dublin along with some traveling around, and you can go with them. If you're really into the band, or really want to visit Ireland (more likely for most of us I'd guess).
                        GO PANTHERS!

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Probably an unpopular take: Why play the anthem at sporting events at all? I don't really understand the reason; we don't do it at school plays or other school events, in high school or college. It was originally instated because of patriotic fervor in support of World War I troops (before it was even made our national song in 1931).
                          Give us a yell, HO! The purple and the gold
                          Victory for U-N-I!

                          Find out what the other team wants to do, then take it away from them.
                          - George Halas

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by 95UNIGRAD View Post
                            Probably an unpopular take: Why play the anthem at sporting events at all? I don't really understand the reason; we don't do it at school plays or other school events, in high school or college. It was originally instated because of patriotic fervor in support of World War I troops (before it was even made our national song in 1931).
                            Tradition at this point. Plus, there's really been no point in the country's post-WWI history where you could suggest "let's not play the national anthem before a game" without being called a communist/unpatriotic/anti-American what have you.

                            For what it's worth, I agree, it almost feels like forced patriotism. Not to get into a political debate, but it feels like something your obliged/pressured to do, which isn't really what I would consider pride or patriotism.

                            GETTING back on subject, I think the band is fine, and not one of the issues with the garne experience. There are far more pressing matters when it comes to the fan experience. And I doubt most would care if the team was 6-0 instead of 3-3.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              I'll give UNI credit for having a strong band tradition. It may not be everything that I would want, but it is one of the good things associated with UNI athletics.

                              Comment

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