Marching Band moved down on depth chart?

[LadderCrew17]

I recently asked this in the thread about the removal of sections in the uperdeck. Seeing that a few others are also asking the same thing, as mentioned in the thread about the Funky Four, I figured I'd start a separate thread and not derail those other threads.

I noticed something during Sunday’s home opener that I was disappointed with. It’s not how the team performed, as they played well and made me optimistic about the rest of the season. However, I am concerned about the lack of musical performance by another team. It appears as if the marching band has been demoted and replaced by a recording.

After three of the four Graham Gano PAT's on Sunday a recording of “Hail to the Redskins” was played instead of the band performing it. The marching band did play HTTR after each touchdown, but it was only the first chorus.

We have a Hall of Fame marching band that lives to play the oldest and most well known NFL fight song and instead the band sits idol while someone plays a recording. You know who else plays a recording of their fight song? The freakin' Eagles! (Plus a number of other teams, like Chicago, Green Bay, and Minnesota; but I figured the Eagles reference would resonate a bit more.) Listening to that recording, even though it was HTTR, gave me the vibe of being at another team’s stadium. It’s not the same without the band.

Frequent ES poster SonnyandSam made a valid point that sometimes it's hard to hear the band, so folks' timing is off when it comes to singing. I agree with him on that, and I beleive the video is a good idea. But the band has to play the song. It's not the same when its a recording. If rock bands can sync video to their live concert performance, I'm sure they can do the same with the band and that video. Some sort of communication link (which I believe they already have) should be used so that the band director and video operator can start both at the same time. The video would have to be sped up just a bit as the tempo of that old recording is slow, compared to the tempo of the marching band.

I have sent an e-mail to the team, though I don't expect them to change it based on just one person's comments. And the season won't be ruined for me if they keep it this way. What happens on the field is most important. But the marching band is one of many things that make the Washington Redskins unique. Let’s keep this tradition.

[RFKFedEx]

Snyder should beef up the band to a college level. Yes, he would have to pay people, but it would drastically improve the gameday experience. The atmosphere would be way better w/ natural music rather than the tired DJ crap you hear in every other pro sporting venue. The band also needs to move back down to the lower level where they matter. I can't even see the band in the club party decks these days bc their unis camo into the burgundy walls behind them.

Sadly, the band doesn't matter right now and that needs to change. I understand we have a volunteer corp and I have utmost respect for what they do, but the days a free game ticket being an incentive to be in the band are long over.

Watching the LSU game on tv right now makes me long for the potential an awesome band could have in the pros. We'd be the only team w/ a killer band, Screw the marching Colts/Ravens, we were first.

[Hubbs]

Snyder should beef up the band to a college level. Yes, he would have to pay people, but it would drastically improve the gameday experience. The atmosphere would be way better w/ natural music rather than the tired DJ crap you here in every other pro sporting venue. The band also needs to move back down to the lower level where they matter. I can't even see the band in the club party decks these days bc their unis camo into the burgundy walls.

Sadly, the band doesn't matter right now and that needs to change. I understand we have a volunteer corp and I have utmost respect for what they do, but the days a free game ticket being an incentive to be in the band are long over.

Watching the LSU game on tv right now makes me long for the potential an awesome band could have in the pros. We'd be the only team w/ a killer band, Screw the marching Colts/Ravens, we were first.

I actually think that this is a fantastic idea. It would definitely be a way to stand out.

[Bang]

I love the band. I love the fact we even have a band.
It's old school football. It should be preserved.
We have a tradition. Lets keep it.

~Bang

[PerryMason]

It is hard to hear them huh.....ya know a while back they invented this thing called a microphone. I'm not sure why they don't just have the band mic'd up and feed into the stadium's sound system. Wouldn't that make things easier?

[Stophovr6]

It is hard to hear them huh.....ya know a while back they invented this thing called a microphone. I'm not sure why they don't just have the band mic'd up and feed into the stadium's sound system. Wouldn't that make things easier?

Doesn;t sound as good as a large band. I'm all for the large band. Lets start a petition.

[Monk4thaHALL]

I noticed it too during the game. I thought to myself, "what happened to the band?'

Then I posed myself another question, 'Do you see the light?'

[No_Pressure]

I noticed it too during the game. I thought to myself, "what happened to the band?'

Then I posed myself another question, 'Do you see the light?'

Uhh...?

My video won't work

.........The band, Elwood. The band.

[s0crates]

.........The band, Elwood. The band.

[hail2skins]

Sadly, the band doesn't matter right now and that needs to change. I understand we have a volunteer corp and I have utmost respect for what they do, but the days a free game ticket being an incentive to be in the band are long over.

I didn't get to many games in the RFK days but the band was awesome in the early days of FedEx when they were on the sideline and seemed to participate in the game more. Seems since 2000 (the first year where Snyder was relevant, since he either couldn't or didn't screw around much with the stadium operations in 1999) the band has become less and less relevant.

It is weird how they gave the band their token "HTTR" after the one TD (of course, they'll always play it before the game on the field) while using the recording the other three times.

[RFKFedEx]

Even with the band mic'd up, they still sound weak today. They were definitely louder in the old days, back in 09 when they were still in the 200 level.

Our band doesn't have enough pieces to produce that powerful organic sound you get from the good college bands.

If I had my way, I'd fill the first 15 rows of section 111 with band personnel. Just the way they do with the big time college games at FedEx. The STHs in 111 today could be relocated quite easily given the number of endzone vacancies the TO has had to fill over the past few off seasons.

The band needs to become a paid position. There are not enough perks for our volunteer core to put forth the time and effort needed these days, and I don't blame them for their weakness.

The Marching Ravens are now better than the Redskins band and it pisses me off. I'm reminded of their prominence every time I watch a home Ravens game and I see them down in the front rows of the endzone at M&T Bank Stadium.

[SwampEm]

How many people are in a big time college band?

[aspkikn]

yea but putting a larger band in seats that can be sold would lower revenue ... unless I missed something, that's not gonna happen regardless of the complaining with this owner

[pez]

I have talked to a couple members of the band, and they all felt like they would not be around much longer...

I hope this is not the case, as this is absolutely one of the greatest features of our team and should be held in high regard.

Last year when the Redskins asked Huly and I to help put on the pep rally (for the Dallas game at the beginning of the season) one of the things they did was to create really nice rings to recognize long time members (some of which have been in the band 40-50 years)...

I just don't know what is going to happen... I prefer the band playing HTTR over the thing they play on the jumbotron, but I do have to admit, more people participate with it on the jumbotron. What throws me off is the speed of the song on the jumbotron is slower than what I am used to with the band, so I always get thrown off.

[RFKFedEx]

How many people are in a big time college band?

The big boys in the SEC, along w/ USC, MI, OSU, etc. appear to have easily 75-100 pieces. But I don't know the exact numbers.

If you think about the money wasted free agents over the past decade, a million dollar a year band seems like a better long term investment from a karma standpoint.