Swac Band Review 2017-2018


Who had the best year in the swac this season?

  • Total voters
    49
  • Poll closed .
@LuvTheBoom16 Great summary and I agree with most of what was stated. Every year, I place the bands in three tiers ....

Top Tier. These are the bands I can watch YouTube videos of all day of the 2017 fall season. SWAC rockstars!
-Human Jukebox
-Sonic Boom of the South
-Ocean of Soul

Middle Tier. These are the bands that had some great moments I enjoyed but are still lacking that rockstar quality
-Mighty Marching Hornets
-Marching Storm
-World Famed
-Marching Maroon & White
-Sounds of Dyn-O-mite

Bottom Tier: These are the bands that didn't impress me whatsoever and really have no identity in my opinion
-M4
-Mean Green Marching Machine
 

LuvTheBoom16 said:
Grambling State

Summary: the sound is getting there gram. Trumpets were colorful this year and could be heard and “some” arrangements worked for me this season. My only question though gram is do your students enjoy playing those arrangements? Sometimes I hear energy in some songs that are not in others. I feel like gram needs to play tunes that the students can buy into because while their directors are dancing and smiling body language wise on some songs the students look like they want to play the last note before the song begins. Yeah gram halftime wise y’all’s ceiling has been reached. I need to see more next year or something different because it’s starting to become redundant.... “mama there go that band” , similar mid field drill, whole band dancing with dance team while playing(signature but mix it up), big ass base drum, gs...gs....gs...gs..... u u I thought... you get the picture gram. Good step up this year guys.

Expectations for 2018-2019

⁃ continue to focus on sound
⁃ Mix it up more with halftimes
⁃ Keep playing them zeros... they’re helping y’all with battling and song writing for bayou now





Overall Grade B-
Click to expand...
Nothing was wrong with gsu shows they pleased the crowd and did new shows all season. Why should gsu change anything when no other band is the swac is??? Same predicable drills and standing still for 3 mins then dance routine at least with gsu you never know what you will get during halftime. Btw they haven't danced with the danceline they rock side to side. And the base drum come on...all band have them gsu just has a bigger one. No band in the swac shows are wow omg and most are predicable. I'll take gsu shows on alot others because many do not change stuff. GSU even added back the slow songs on the field. While most bands do drill danceline dance routine bye. And if gsu chant is no different than JSU DOING ROCK THE HOUSE
 
LuvTheBoom16 said:
Expectations for 2018-2019 season
⁃ update that halftime drill book.... disses can’t save a mediocre halftime... I get on the boom about the same thing before biasness is passed.
⁃ Get adjusted to those instruments and tubas start hitting those lows and focus air and pitch on the higher octaves so you don’t sound like ducks
⁃ Consistent arrangements., Southern has a lot of good arrangements but the downfall for them is when they market like nobody else on YouTube, you can’t still be turning to playing wild thoughts and drowning near the end of the season because people have heard it too much. Call other songs or keep writing new ones.
⁃ I’d like to see more lower brass next year the 60 trumpets were awesome but it put a lot of pressure on the lower brass including tubas who couldn’t keep up at times and it really showed in some arrangements
⁃ Marketing and branding is good but if it takes away from consistency in discipline and your field shows it’s time to get back to fundamentals before you become all hype.





Overall Grade: A-
Click to expand...
I agree about the halftime shows. Execution of the drills for the most part are on point, just need to continue to push the envelope with newer designs like when we did the simultaneous step 2 and step 1 or when we made the different pictures. I think our best show in terms of energy and execution from the beginning to the end was the Bruno Mars show at the beginning of the season. It was high energy, excellent execution, and got the crowd involved.

I disagree with the arrangements, because everyone I know still enjoyed hearing some of those tunes that were in the book at the beginning of the season and mid-season. Folks had time to research some of the tunes (Druglord Couture, Family Feud, etc...) and started enjoying the songs. Drowning, The Weekend, and some other tunes were still favorites even at the end of the season. I always thought that in the past we buried some excellent older tunes in the book to play newer stuff too much, especially for the classic BOTB. They did a much better of job of holding on to those hits while mixing in new stuff so folks could hear their favorites while also hearing some new stuff. Plus it gives the band a chance to gel more and perfect those older tunes. Too much new stuff could lead to some unpolished performances.
 
Last edited:
JR said:
WTF. Please don't insult the 128 member SU bands I marched in. No where near that. Have you talked to TxSU Ocean Alums from the 80s and early 90s? Ben Butler?
Click to expand...
The only thing he could be referencing is them marching 128. Definitely not drilling and sound quality. lol
 
number1 said:
I agree about the halftime shows. Execution of the drills for the most part are on point, just need to continue to push the envelope with newer designs like when we did the simultaneous step 2 and step 1 or when we made the different pictures. I think our best show in terms of energy and execution from the beginning to the end was the Bruno Mars show at the beginning of the season. It was high energy, excellent execution, and got the crowd involved.


The shows they did for the South Carolina State, Southern Mississippi, and Texas-San Antonio games (the same show incidentally) were off the chain. They were absolutely spectacular! They were one of a kind! They were the kind of shows you don't forget. I watch those shows over and over and over again!
Click to expand...
 
Best band in the Swac: the Boom
Prairie View, honorable mention, is doing things...needs a book, some type of drilling and tone quality exercises. Best band period by sound was not in the swac...it was TnSU on that Christmas special. All facets of marching band were done better than everyone else.
TnSU and JSU are IT for what black bands do right now. My hat is off to War and Thunder. Normally I hate quads, quints, tritoms...period, unless they are very clean at all times. But War and Thunder has done everything complimentary to the Boom on all levels.
 
lilC said:
Best band in the Swac: the Boom
Prairie View, honorable mention, is doing things...needs a book, some type of drilling and tone quality exercises. Best band period by sound was not in the swac...it was TnSU on that Christmas special. All facets of marching band were done better than everyone else.
TnSU and JSU are IT for what black bands do right now. My hat is off to War and Thunder. Normally I hate quads, quints, tritoms...period, unless they are very clean at all times. But War and Thunder has done everything complimentary to the Boom on all levels.
Click to expand...

This post requires more than a Like, so I'm giving it my stamp of approval, APPROVED!
 
Last edited:

Prairie View is not a middle tier band. I think their tone quality needs work, but not to the point where they are middle tier compared with the rest of the conference. They are top tier. And no...the Macy's parade didnt make it so. Theyve been up there for at least 2 years now. TL:DR- "I just don't like their style of doing things", that doesnt make them not good...it makes them- not YOU. *eyeroll
 
lilC said:
Prairie View is not a middle tier band. I think their tone quality needs work, but not to the point where they are middle tier compared with the rest of the conference. They are top tier. And no...the Macy's parade didnt make it so. Theyve been up there for at least 2 years now. TL:DR- "I just don't like their style of doing things", that doesnt make them not good...it makes them- not YOU. *eyeroll
Click to expand...
They have their own style and they stick to it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top