Road Trip!
I took my first road trip with the band this past weekend. I want to say it was fun, but...that doesn't seem to do it justice.
The bus ride, of course, was fun. We watched "The Office" Season Two...<3 <3 The romantic tension between Pam and Jim was RIDICULOUS even then - the next season starts tomorrow night, so I'm afraid I'll be dipping out of Crusade a bit early. Our busmates, the hooahs, weren't too crazy about it, but I think they had their own stuff...and they were singing! Of note: "Don't Stop Me Now" <3 and "Shout." (I have a new opinion of them now, too - I was scared, since they're nuts, but they were very well-behaved. Go them.)
Oh, and I hope the Notre Dame band never ever sees Dem, because - don't get me wrong, I love the place - but Notre Dame's band building is BEAUTIFUL. And they have a little publication called "The Fifing Irish" - very entertaining, especially the list of the "Top 100 Songs We Wish We Were Playing," among them: "Death of Season" AFI, "Thnks fr th Mmrs" Fall Out Boy, "Better Days" Bruce Springsteen, "Another One Bites The Dust" Queen, "Three Time Loser" Bonnie Raitt, "I'll Cover You" from Rent (still trying to figure that one out, actually), and #1: "Wake Me Up When September Ends" Green Day (hahahahahahaha).
Doing Series, both to the stadium and back, was AMAZING. The weather was perfect, and people actually sang the fight song! They never do that here! We also got to march through the tunnel. Going there, we continued Series onto the field; coming out, we were looking straight at Touchdown Jesus.
The stadium itself, however, is not all that amazing - I was expecting something really beautiful and majestic, but I was severely let down. It's just a smaller version of the Big House. Our stadium is much cooler. And we have seats there, not just folding chairs in the endzone (that's all ND's band gets, too...that actually sucks). Consequently, we couldn't see much of the game unless it was right in front of us (I was in the back row anyways, so I could barely see anything...but I'll be a senior next time we go so I'll be up front!) And Sparty hung out with us, too - he took a Big Ten's hat (and everyone freaked out at him...he should have known better) and danced with Katie Broz. I want to marry him, dammit! At least we're Facebook friends.
Pregame went really well for us, and Ian didn't fall so everyone was happy for that, too. ND's band's pregame looked OK from where we were, but it just sounded wrong when they played our fight song...clarinets and piccoloes do not belong!
I wish halftime had gone better. It was mostly the drill that was off, for both the guard and band. We also had sun in our eyes and could barely hear the whistles. But, from what we heard afterward, everyone else was really impressed - Katie's parents were there and said that the Irish fans around them thought we did really well and said that "the color guard just demands your attention!" YES! I mean, it's prolly just because they don't have a color guard, but still...ND's band actually wasn't that great. Not to bash, but they aren't as strong visually as us (regardless of lack of guard), the music sounded a bit off, and they are nowhere near as disciplined (one of their Irish Guardsmen was arrested that morning after showing up drunk. Nice.)(And someone kicked Hil. Jerks.) We did get to hang out with them after the game, that was pretty fun - met some cool people (hopefully not the jerk though).
At least the game was exciting - I got really nervous when the Irish scored first, but then we got two in a row and a field goal so I was pretty comfortable. It was 17-14 at the half, so they could have still taken it...but they didn't score at all in the second and we did...Final: 31-14!!!! YESSSS!!!!! 4-0!!! (they're 0-4...) And now we're 23rd in the USA Today poll, 25th in Harrison Interactive, and recieving 60 votes in the AP. BOO YA!!!
So we had quite a fun time after that - KFC for dinner, yum, and then the ride home, which was pretty much just a brief dance party, the entire bus singing "Bohemian Rhapsody" along with the movie (Wayne's World), and then sleeeeeping until we got to Lansing. And eating Mindi's cookies.
Basically, this reinforces why I'm so glad I'm in band - to be able to do cool stuff like this; to represent the school I love so much in such a prominent way and have it be appreciated; and to be with people I love. It's like our own little family within the school (though not quite as close-knit as TBS - that's going to be getting fun, what with membership ed starting soon). <3 <3 <3 <3
I know this didn't seem to have a point, but I wanted to post it. It felt necessary. I can't wait for next weekend, too - game vs. Northwestern. First off - shouldn't be too hard a game, unless they want revenge for last year. And our halftime show feels like high school/DCI - classical music (Carmen, Pagliacci, and 1812 Overture). I keep writing work to it, but it's stuff that would be impossible to clean by next week, let alone for Grand Ledge.
Oh, and a video is on the NBC site of halftime: http://video.nbcsports.com/player/?id=159552 Not the greatest, but the publicity is nice!
YAY BAND
The bus ride, of course, was fun. We watched "The Office" Season Two...<3 <3 The romantic tension between Pam and Jim was RIDICULOUS even then - the next season starts tomorrow night, so I'm afraid I'll be dipping out of Crusade a bit early. Our busmates, the hooahs, weren't too crazy about it, but I think they had their own stuff...and they were singing! Of note: "Don't Stop Me Now" <3 and "Shout." (I have a new opinion of them now, too - I was scared, since they're nuts, but they were very well-behaved. Go them.)
Oh, and I hope the Notre Dame band never ever sees Dem, because - don't get me wrong, I love the place - but Notre Dame's band building is BEAUTIFUL. And they have a little publication called "The Fifing Irish" - very entertaining, especially the list of the "Top 100 Songs We Wish We Were Playing," among them: "Death of Season" AFI, "Thnks fr th Mmrs" Fall Out Boy, "Better Days" Bruce Springsteen, "Another One Bites The Dust" Queen, "Three Time Loser" Bonnie Raitt, "I'll Cover You" from Rent (still trying to figure that one out, actually), and #1: "Wake Me Up When September Ends" Green Day (hahahahahahaha).
Doing Series, both to the stadium and back, was AMAZING. The weather was perfect, and people actually sang the fight song! They never do that here! We also got to march through the tunnel. Going there, we continued Series onto the field; coming out, we were looking straight at Touchdown Jesus.
The stadium itself, however, is not all that amazing - I was expecting something really beautiful and majestic, but I was severely let down. It's just a smaller version of the Big House. Our stadium is much cooler. And we have seats there, not just folding chairs in the endzone (that's all ND's band gets, too...that actually sucks). Consequently, we couldn't see much of the game unless it was right in front of us (I was in the back row anyways, so I could barely see anything...but I'll be a senior next time we go so I'll be up front!) And Sparty hung out with us, too - he took a Big Ten's hat (and everyone freaked out at him...he should have known better) and danced with Katie Broz. I want to marry him, dammit! At least we're Facebook friends.
Pregame went really well for us, and Ian didn't fall so everyone was happy for that, too. ND's band's pregame looked OK from where we were, but it just sounded wrong when they played our fight song...clarinets and piccoloes do not belong!
I wish halftime had gone better. It was mostly the drill that was off, for both the guard and band. We also had sun in our eyes and could barely hear the whistles. But, from what we heard afterward, everyone else was really impressed - Katie's parents were there and said that the Irish fans around them thought we did really well and said that "the color guard just demands your attention!" YES! I mean, it's prolly just because they don't have a color guard, but still...ND's band actually wasn't that great. Not to bash, but they aren't as strong visually as us (regardless of lack of guard), the music sounded a bit off, and they are nowhere near as disciplined (one of their Irish Guardsmen was arrested that morning after showing up drunk. Nice.)(And someone kicked Hil. Jerks.) We did get to hang out with them after the game, that was pretty fun - met some cool people (hopefully not the jerk though).
At least the game was exciting - I got really nervous when the Irish scored first, but then we got two in a row and a field goal so I was pretty comfortable. It was 17-14 at the half, so they could have still taken it...but they didn't score at all in the second and we did...Final: 31-14!!!! YESSSS!!!!! 4-0!!! (they're 0-4...) And now we're 23rd in the USA Today poll, 25th in Harrison Interactive, and recieving 60 votes in the AP. BOO YA!!!
So we had quite a fun time after that - KFC for dinner, yum, and then the ride home, which was pretty much just a brief dance party, the entire bus singing "Bohemian Rhapsody" along with the movie (Wayne's World), and then sleeeeeping until we got to Lansing. And eating Mindi's cookies.
Basically, this reinforces why I'm so glad I'm in band - to be able to do cool stuff like this; to represent the school I love so much in such a prominent way and have it be appreciated; and to be with people I love. It's like our own little family within the school (though not quite as close-knit as TBS - that's going to be getting fun, what with membership ed starting soon). <3 <3 <3 <3
I know this didn't seem to have a point, but I wanted to post it. It felt necessary. I can't wait for next weekend, too - game vs. Northwestern. First off - shouldn't be too hard a game, unless they want revenge for last year. And our halftime show feels like high school/DCI - classical music (Carmen, Pagliacci, and 1812 Overture). I keep writing work to it, but it's stuff that would be impossible to clean by next week, let alone for Grand Ledge.
Oh, and a video is on the NBC site of halftime: http://video.nbcsports.com/player/?id=159552 Not the greatest, but the publicity is nice!
YAY BAND