Power Sound of the South vs. Herd of Thunder

[USF03]

nope... Veit isnt in charge of marketing anymore

[usfbullgirl30]

pride of the southland (UT) > all

unless HOT has come A LONG way since I saw them last season, they still have A LONG way to go to be on the same level as the top bands in the country.  

they've come far this year...

[usfbullgirl30]

do both bands do pregame and half time??? how is this going to work??

[80mins]

a few points of criticism for the HOT, but first a few disclaimers--I was here 2003-2005, so I only have the '03 and '04 football seasons to go off of. Also, I marched traditional style, so while I'm also a DCI fan and have come to appreciate alot of what corps style bands have to offer, I will always lean traditional, so some of my statements might just be difference in style. And keep in mind this is all constructive criticism, because I genuinely did enjoy y'all, but hey, you asked for details. :-)

-Sound output. I realize part of this had to do with numbers, but I felt that there were often times on the field where I was straining to hear, and the passages weren't necessarily piano. Obviously I'm not saying to overblow and distort the sound, but I know there can be more output at times.

-I'm not a fan of the use of guitar/bas/drumset (particularly not drumset) in the pit. Any effects that can be made with them should be able to be emulated by the wind and percussion themselves. If songs absolutely require the above, then maybe they weren't meant for a field show.

-Use of cymbalists as marching cymbal stands should be kept to a minimum. use rims, cowbells, gock blocks, or the cymbalists themselves with hi-hat/ride effects, but don't let them stand there and hold if at all avoidable. And speaking of cymbals...

-No crash should be plain. A pop, a fan, anything on cymbal crashes to avoid "mechanical monkey" effect. A good plate squad should be nearly as much auxiliary as they are percussion.

-1-2 songs do NOT a field show make. I remember it having been done, it may have been Bohemian Rhapsody.

-More pageantry/presence from the drum majors.

-The horn swing during the 2nd half of the fight song seems lethargic and uninspired. Either double time it, change to an up/down swing, or horn pop to a high bleacher position and stay there, but all the current horn swing says to me is ho-hum. that being said, I LOVE the Wooly Bully horn swing and the (former?) Bulls on Parade nod.

-Why the alternating cymbal crashes during the fight song?

-And finally, all in all, remember that as a college marching band, far above high school or even DCI, you are playing for the FANS. There are no judges more important. Your goal should be to please an audience. The average football fan is highly passionate and drunk on school and other spirits, so plan your playlists accordingly.

But like I said, I do enjoy y'all. Keep up the good work, and I look forward to missing part of the football game to grab another beer--I do NOT miss halftime!

[USF03]

Now you see... thats DETAILS!  Thanks man.. I agree with much of what was said, and of course some of it was opinion... but thats constructive criticsm at it's finest!

I wish more students/fans expressed their feelings in a more... constructive way.

Thats all for now... I'll add later, I'm sure

[DawgPound]

Rockytop, Ohio State beats UT's band hands down.

Being a fellow musician, I've seen the HOT from another angle.  While they are young and their on the field style is more like UCF's(which isn't a surprise seeing how the directors there help start up USF's), it's generally an uncommon style and get's the crowd moving.  Most fans are used to more military style bands.

[USF03]

Yeah, I enjoy military style bands... but who listens to me...

[HOTMello2005]

Having marched Drum Corps (Sr./DCA, Reading Buccaneers) for five years and in the marching activity since high school (90-94), I've enjoyed my time with H.O.T. this year.  I've definately learned all about the genre of college marching band.

Having read some of the feedback (since I think constructive criticism is too harsh for my vocab.), I thank everyone, especially LittleDrummerBoy, so that H.O.T. may get better and build its own traditions for the future.

Our Director said it best in our last rehearsal, "When you hear tailgaters play the CD, you can say that's literally you playing.  When new H.O.T. members talk about going to another bowl game, you can say you were the first to go."  This is the start of somthing H.O.T. (pardon the pun....LOL!)

I look forward to the Power Sound of the South's performance as I hope they look forward to ours.  If there's one observation I've noticed in college sports, football to be more specific, fans hate the other school's football team, but all fans love the bands, no matter what school they're from!

FINISH STRONG!

Sincerely,

Herd of Thunder Marching Band 2005, Mellophone

[USF03]

It's consturctive... and it is critizing... therefore... constructive critizism... or someones opinion.  

Something thats meant to insert ones opinion to help better something.

I hope that isnt a harsh term... since it isnt!

[the_bull_monty]

Power Sound of The South will destroy us!

Our football team is not favored yet we are all hoping for and expecting a win.

Maybe our band is not favored, but let's all fall in step and pull for them too.  They all work very hard and I think they do a great job.  I was never in band, but I was the band photographer my HS senior year, so I practically marched for 8 years as I see it.   (joke)

There is only one shortcoming I see with the HOT.  You gotta' have MORE COWBELL!!!