The Rose Parade. What are we missing.

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The Rose Parade. What are we missing.

Post by JLGORMAN » Wed Jan 01, 2014 12:59 pm

This morning I watched the Rose Parade and to be honest was very disappointed with many of the Bands. I think the worst HS Band was in my opinion Carmel, IN. They may be a great field Band, but they were not great on the street.

The contrast between Stanford and Michigan State was as figured due to the style(or lack of it) by the LSJRMB performance. I could take all the strange things they did a lot better if they played well.

This also brings up the contrast between the Glendora and Liberty Bands. This must have been the first time that two Bands came from the same style with Bagpipes and British Music appeared in the Parade. Some thoughts on each one.

Glendora. They have a much more polished street performance and their spacing was excellent. However their style of marching was patterned after the US Marines and not the Brigade of Guards. The British Bands do not glide step.

Liberty. Their street performance was better than in 2009. They march much more true to the British Style than Glendora. For example:
In British Military Bands the Bagpipes are included in the Band Block, not out in front like Glendora used them. Drum Major. In the British Armed Forces, the Drum Major does not throw their Baton in the air and catch it as part of the performance. Arm Swing. The British Armed forces have a very exaggerated arm swing which Liberty does, which Glendora does not do. Their spacing was not great, and they seemed crowded together, more than I would like.

However if folks liked Bagpipes they got them this year.
One thing I do not understand, both Glendora and Liberty keep using the same numbers, Scotland the Brave, Rule Britannia and There will Always be An England. With all the numbers that are symbolic of the British Isles, could we have some musical variety.

Claudia Taylor Johnson, They played well, however we Texans just do not do Parade very well.

Bennett from TN. They were better than I thought they would be. However like most of the rest of Bands street performance was foreign to them.

However the USMC Band still showed why you can look outstanding on the street. They were enjoyable to watch. None of the other Bands would have finished in the top 10 at All Western back in Old Days. It is a shame that things have gone sort of backward.
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Re: The Rose Parade. What are we missing.

Post by Bandmaster » Wed Jan 01, 2014 4:25 pm

I really enjoyed the new format where they allowed some of the bands to turn and reset to perform to the stands and the cameras. It's about time they featured the bands more. Now if the broadcasters would just up the gain on their street microphones just a little... :wink:

I attended the Rose Parade watching and taking photos from way up on top of the press tower on the corner of Orangegrove and Colorado for over 25 years. The best band performance I saw using what would be the new format was the Calgary Stetson Show Band back in 2003. The parade happen to halt for a broken down float and the Show Band was stopped right in front of me, before they could turn the corner onto Colorado. So they turned to the stands and the cameras and put on an entire show for us. Not only did they sound great on every song, they really knew HOW to sell their show. A great performance and VERY entertaining! They came prepared for anything and it paid off for them big time!!!! I believe it was picked and broadcast by a couple networks that had cameras before the turn.
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Re: The Rose Parade. What are we missing.

Post by JCYS » Wed Jan 01, 2014 6:14 pm

I have known of Liberty HS for years, and was honestly distressed at how poorly they marched and played.

Does any one else also find it really ironic that a school called LIBERTY from one of the original 13 colonies (PENN) is so invested in their British style band? It has nothing whatsoever to do with their mascot. Just kinda weird.

Also thought the "off center" shakos that Carmel used were odd. Both the emblem and the plume were off center to the left. At first I thought some kid had their had on sideways.

Noted that pretty much no one anymore knows how to properly hold/wear a sousaphone except the US Marines. If I see another kid wearing their sousaphone like a wreath of holly on the front door I'm going to take their mouthpiece away from them and give them a flute.

Mostly, I kind of find it just depressing to watch the Rose Parade anymore, particularly since they stopped having 2-4 CA bands in it.

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Re: The Rose Parade. What are we missing.

Post by JLGORMAN » Wed Jan 01, 2014 7:56 pm

JCYS wrote:I have known of Liberty HS for years, and was honestly distressed at how poorly they marched and played.

Does any one else also find it really ironic that a school called LIBERTY from one of the original 13 colonies (PENN) is so invested in their British style band? It has nothing whatsoever to do with their mascot. Just kinda weird.
JCYS wrote:also
The other HS in the city is call "Freedom HS School" and wears colonial outfits. I guess the folks in the city were covering all bets.

I did judge them over 35 years ago when they marched in the festival of States in FL. They were directed by Ron Cherry at the time and were very good. One other thing of interest, they only have 80 bearskin hats for the entire Band, so they go to the Seniors and Section leaders. Basically it cost over $1500 to have one hat made, if they are lucky enough to get ahold of Bearskin in the UK. It prohibits fielding an entire Band with Bearskins(which also would smell in the Rain and Snow of PA).

Also thought the "off center" shakos that Carmel used were odd. Both the emblem and the plume were off center to the left. At first I thought some kid had their had on sideways.

Noted that pretty much no one anymore knows how to properly hold/wear a sousaphone except the US Marines. If I see another kid wearing their sousaphone like a wreath of holly on the front door I'm going to take their mouthpiece away from them and give them a flute.

Mostly, I kind of find it just depressing to watch the Rose Parade anymore, particularly since they stopped having 2-4 CA bands in it.

JS
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Re: The Rose Parade. What are we missing.

Post by Cardinal Regime » Wed Jan 01, 2014 9:59 pm

Well.......of the high school bands, I thought Glendora was by far the best looking of the group. (As they should be as the only competitive street band in the parade) Was I correct in noticing no drill team for Glendora?

I thought the Virginia band looked pretty unorganized and way out of its element on the street. Outside of Glenora, I thought that the Minnesota band looked decent, aside from placing their flags between the ranks of the parade block.

I too liked the opportunity for the bands to showcase themselves in front of the tv cameras. However, this opportunity also gave me, my wife, my son and my daughter the chance to notice something, simultaneously, about the Homewood band from Alabama. Did anyone else notice this?

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Re: The Rose Parade. What are we missing.

Post by JLGORMAN » Thu Jan 02, 2014 9:10 am

Actually Glendora was not the only Band that had competed in Parade competition that Marched in the Rose Parade. However none marched or competed under standards set by either SCSBOA or NCBA.

The Band from Alabama that stopped and performed did exactly what was expected from Bands that competed in the Great Bands of Dixie contest during Mardi Gras in New Orleans. To win that event it is expected you will do a mini show. Not what we would expect but that is how they do it back there.

Liberty marches in two or three competitive parades each fall in Eastern PA. They are judged by the Eastern States Judges Association, which again is not how we do things here.

Rosemount HS marches and competes in several parades in the upper Midwest during the summer period. They are judged in these events by the Central States Judging Association.

If you look at their judging standards they are much different and looser than what we expect in music criteria and style of performance.

In 2012, Benecia competed at the St. Patricks Day Parade in New York City. I would be interested in their experience being judged by the Eastern States Judges Association.

Only CA Bands compete at the level set by the high standards of the SCSBOA and NCBA. Unless more of our Bands compete outside of CA, it is impossible to expect the rest of the Country to model the style we have made so popular.

By the way the comments about the Rosemount Bands placing their Flags between the Parade Block Ranks is allowed under the Central States Judging Association. It is dilfferent but what they do.

Glendora marches their Bagpipes in Front of the Band. No British military Bands do it. The Bagpipes march with the Block Band. Glendora does it their way because Bagpipers have a tendency to be out of alignment in a Block Band. The same applies to Drum Majors throwing their Batons in the Air. It meets the Standards for SCSBOA, but is not correct or original by British Military Drill Standards
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Re: The Rose Parade. What are we missing.

Post by Hostrauser » Thu Jan 02, 2014 10:02 am

JLGORMAN wrote:Rosemount HS marches and competes in several parades in the upper Midwest during the summer period.
While it is true that southern Minnesota, SE South Dakota, and NW Iowa has one of the most active parade environments in the country outside of California (involving both Summer and Fall parade competitions), Rosemount has been a field-only band for many years now (ever since they started becoming very competitive at BOA events).

The best parade bands in Minnesota are the 728 Cadets (representing Minnesota school district 728, and the schools in the towns of Elk River, Rogers, Zimmerman and Otsego), the Mankato 77 Lancers (again, all Mankato area schools), Park Center H.S., and Waconia H.S.

The parade bands in that region of the country tend towards being parade "show bands" like the Calgary Stampede Showband, not the military style we see in California.

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Re: The Rose Parade. What are we missing.

Post by Luis » Fri Jan 03, 2014 11:06 am

Bandmaster wrote: I attended the Rose Parade watching and taking photos from way up on top of the press tower on the corner of Orangegrove and Colorado for over 25 years.
So what does one have to do to score a spot on that corner? It's a great vantage point for shooting pictures and video.

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Re: The Rose Parade. What are we missing.

Post by fieldshowqueen » Fri Jan 03, 2014 12:52 pm

Luis wrote:
Bandmaster wrote: I attended the Rose Parade watching and taking photos from way up on top of the press tower on the corner of Orange Grove and Colorado for over 25 years.
So what does one have to do to score a spot on that corner? It's a great vantage point for shooting pictures and video.
http://www.tournamentofroses.com/Genera ... uests.aspx
... you can also order grandstand tickets from Sharp but that corner sells out quickly each year.
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Re: The Rose Parade. What are we missing.

Post by tao707 » Fri Jan 03, 2014 2:01 pm

my friends one of the guard instructor at westfield hs in chantilly, va, his name is kyle. he said they really enjoyed the experience of marching in the parade. i hope they come back again in the future to the parade

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Re: The Rose Parade. What are we missing.

Post by Luis » Fri Jan 03, 2014 2:43 pm

fieldshowqueen wrote:
Luis wrote:
Bandmaster wrote: I attended the Rose Parade watching and taking photos from way up on top of the press tower on the corner of Orange Grove and Colorado for over 25 years.
So what does one have to do to score a spot on that corner? It's a great vantage point for shooting pictures and video.
http://www.tournamentofroses.com/Genera ... uests.aspx
... you can also order grandstand tickets from Sharp but that corner sells out quickly each year.
Thank you FSQ. 2014 was my 4th year getting a grandstand seat and it's totally worth it. I have picked different spots those four years and I've yet to find the perfect location for filming. I'll look into the credentials for next year and see how it goes.

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Re: The Rose Parade. What are we missing.

Post by Oldmaceguy » Fri Jan 03, 2014 3:36 pm

I have to comment here.......Glendora is actually 2 separate bands; the marching band is an award-winning SCSBOA parade band that is doing what got them into the Rose Parade, which is playing and marching excellence. They aren't trying to emulate one of Her Majesty's regimental bands.
The pipers are a highly regarded competitive grade 4 Western US Pipe Band Assn. pipe band that competes independently from the marching band, so in parades they are actually adjudicated as Auxiliary. That's why they march in front of the band.
The drum major: That young man is named Gaurav Parvi and he went to the RSPBA World Championships in Scotland last summer to compete in Juvenile Drum Major for the first time. Most first-timers from the USA don't usually place and he took SECOND. In a full-dress uniform, live TV, looking into the sun and on asphalt he executed a picture-perfect high toss. It was all about the SHOW.
JLGORMAN wrote:This morning I watched the Rose Parade and to be honest was very disappointed with many of the Bands. I think the worst HS Band was in my opinion Carmel, IN. They may be a great field Band, but they were not great on the street.

The contrast between Stanford and Michigan State was as figured due to the style(or lack of it) by the LSJRMB performance. I could take all the strange things they did a lot better if they played well.

This also brings up the contrast between the Glendora and Liberty Bands. This must have been the first time that two Bands came from the same style with Bagpipes and British Music appeared in the Parade. Some thoughts on each one.

Glendora. They have a much more polished street performance and their spacing was excellent. However their style of marching was patterned after the US Marines and not the Brigade of Guards. The British Bands do not glide step.

Liberty. Their street performance was better than in 2009. They march much more true to the British Style than Glendora. For example:
In British Military Bands the Bagpipes are included in the Band Block, not out in front like Glendora used them. Drum Major. In the British Armed Forces, the Drum Major does not throw their Baton in the air and catch it as part of the performance. Arm Swing. The British Armed forces have a very exaggerated arm swing which Liberty does, which Glendora does not do. Their spacing was not great, and they seemed crowded together, more than I would like.

However if folks liked Bagpipes they got them this year.
One thing I do not understand, both Glendora and Liberty keep using the same numbers, Scotland the Brave, Rule Britannia and There will Always be An England. With all the numbers that are symbolic of the British Isles, could we have some musical variety.

Claudia Taylor Johnson, They played well, however we Texans just do not do Parade very well.

Bennett from TN. They were better than I thought they would be. However like most of the rest of Bands street performance was foreign to them.

However the USMC Band still showed why you can look outstanding on the street. They were enjoyable to watch. None of the other Bands would have finished in the top 10 at All Western back in Old Days. It is a shame that things have gone sort of backward.

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Re: The Rose Parade. What are we missing.

Post by Bandmaster » Fri Jan 03, 2014 4:25 pm

Luis wrote:
Bandmaster wrote: I attended the Rose Parade watching and taking photos from way up on top of the press tower on the corner of Orangegrove and Colorado for over 25 years.
So what does one have to do to score a spot on that corner? It's a great vantage point for shooting pictures and video.
It is reserved for the press and the official photographers of the units in the parade. Harvey applied for that press pass for me for all those years, but his health problems have stopped him from being able to do it anymore. These press passes don't cost anything, but you have to be "connected" to apply for them.
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Re: The Rose Parade. What are we missing.

Post by Brich » Sun Jan 05, 2014 10:11 am

Viewing the parade from back here in the suburbs of Philly, I have to agree that Carmel was really shocking...the kids can play well but you would think that they could fall out of bed and march a simple block in step and somewhat in phase!

Liberty was also really mediocre in sound quality and marching precision. It was great to see Glendora come close, at least, to a decent level of precision; and when I watched the mace drum major execute his high toss...well, that was very cool...kind of brought back the ancient memories of Gene Corporon commanding the street at Helix.

I enjoyed the Rosemount, MN band..excellent group of young musicians. If they were able to spend a month under Ron Hoar, Benton Minor or Larry Curtis (or their spiritual successors), they would be SCSBOA parade championship contenders for sure.

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Re: The Rose Parade. What are we missing.

Post by mattthebandkid » Sun Jan 05, 2014 9:39 pm

I think it's disappointing how all of these "amazing" marching bands do so poorly on the street. A parade is supposed to show cleanliness and beauty and a regal formality of the band. When you're swinging back and forth and jumping around it takes all the seriousness out of the bands who take pride out of the fact how clean they look on the street. And honestly it just looks silly. But I guess in the world today, things like diagonals are optional. That it looks cool just to jumble the band together that kinda looks like a rectangle and push 'em down the street. It's even gone as far as ignoring how well rows look.
As a member of a band that competes in parade competitions I know the sacrifice and determination it takes to look good on the street. Although it is difficult, I don't think it's nearly as difficult as a field show. I feel if these huge field bands take a few weeks they can do beautiful things on the street.

And as far as music goes, I feel different instrumentation gives different flavours to music. But there's a point when you can have too many drums, especially snare. They are there to help keep tempo and add a little pizzazz, not to be the melody of the march and the only thing you can hear 100 yards down the street in both directions.

Another thing that kinda irks me about a lot of these bands is their drum majors. Now having more than one drum major is kind of unnecessary but it's even worse when they don't do anything except march there and look pretty. A drum major is supposed to lead the band, and when you're at attention it's kinda hard to be a leader, no matter how pretty your uniform is.

There is SOOOO much potential, but a lot of these bands have lost what it means to march in a parade. I think it would be an honor to be in a parade like the Rose Bowl parade, or the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. That's why this bothers me so much.

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