• The KillerFrogs

Disappointed in the Band

asleep003

Active Member
You are not the first person to complain about the band. I have sent off a couple of complaints about this throughout the years with no results being seen.
I've heard the band is under a different budget other than the athletic department which is where it should be. Tight purse strings is why we will never see any band changes. Yes. Sad and pathetic for years to come I'm afraid.
Just adding spats alone would be something. Practically all those great B10 bands wear spats... maybe we could fake a few people out that we were good, by wearing spats... lol !
 

vicarfrog

Active Member
I’ve held off for years but today took the cake.

I don’t like our band. I like their spirit and enthusiasm but not their sound or size or uniforms or performances.

There is no place for an “orchestral” band in college football. The brass section needs to be 50% larger, at least. Keep the flute section if you want. But actually hearing the flute section is ridiculous.

The uniforms are awful. Burn them. Go with a western style uniform.

Our marching isn’t great. Wear white shoes and march well enough to earn the right to wear white shoes.

The straw that broke this camel’s back was the performance today. Blase. Pedestrian. Apathetic. And NOT PATRIOTIC.

What is the matter here? It’s the 20th anniversary of 9/11, our flags are at half mast, there is no other band there. The band could’ve done an extended performance, a moving patriotic tribute to our country, but no, they played some garbage routine to the student section and walked off.

Our band is embarrassing. We need to start over. New leadership, philosophy, uniforms, and sense of purpose.

I really try hard not to complain, but I will say that I noticed it for the first time watching the game on TV. My reaction was, "Wow, we really sound heavy on the tenor...like a pep band."

IMO, small potatoes, but I did notice it.
 

mwe2187

Member
TCU Band - The Worst Band in the Land.

Not taking a shot at anyone in band, or people a part of it, but people typically aren't there to watch the band (obviously). There is zero draw from the TCU band, they sound absolutely awful, and are too small to really have any effect on the crowd without being pumped through the speakers (which sounds even worse when you hear it slightly in the distance, and blasted at you again a second later.

My bro in law attended the game Saturday with his 2 daughters as a "pre go to college station" try out for them going to a college game. They were excited for the band as they love music. they were planning to leave after halftime. He stayed for the first song and texted that this is the worst thing he's heard from a band.

He ain't lyin
 

Putt4Purple

Active Member
TCU Band - The Worst Band in the Land.

Not taking a shot at anyone in band, or people a part of it, but people typically aren't there to watch the band (obviously). There is zero draw from the TCU band, they sound absolutely awful, and are too small to really have any effect on the crowd without being pumped through the speakers (which sounds even worse when you hear it slightly in the distance, and blasted at you again a second later.

My bro in law attended the game Saturday with his 2 daughters as a "pre go to college station" try out for them going to a college game. They were excited for the band as they love music. they were planning to leave after halftime. He stayed for the first song and texted that this is the worst thing he's heard from a band.

He ain't lyin

This!! I don't blame him at all for those feeling and thoughts. That is a sad reality as a TCU backer and fan. I know some people could care less about the band but it is a true reflection on the school. Not everyone attending a football game is a sports lover but they go for the atmosphere and the band is part of that good or bad! Frustrating!!
 

TCUdirtbag

Active Member
ok, I can put up with criticism of our band. But to say SMU’s band is better is ridiculous. You totally negated anything you said before as valid. The SMU band is the worst.

I still have nightmares about those candy striped nerds playing “she’ll be coming ‘round the mountain” on repeat in 2005. If (when?) I go to hell, that will be the soundtrack.
 

mc1502

Full Member
How dare you criticize the Pride of TCU

If you can’t appreciate Deep in the Heart of Texas jazzy style or God Bless Texas then you have no clue what a good college band performance is. The only complaint I have is that we need more hand bells…..we are a church school after all.

More cow bell?
 

FrogCop19

Active Member
As a former band member from '92-'96 (and a member of Kappa Kappa Psi), this makes me sad to hear. Some of my greatest memories in college are road trips, performing in stadiums all over the state (and beyond), and making music with some of the best friends I've ever had. We rehearsed 10-12 hours a week, gave up entire Saturdays (sometimes entire weekends on the longer road trips), and worked our asses off to bring a sense of pride in my school. I want to jump to their defense, but not having been to a game in almost a decade doesn't give me a leg to stand on.

But to hear that they get PAID now? That just flat-out pisses me off. :p
 

PurplFrawg

Administrator
As a former band member from '92-'96 (and a member of Kappa Kappa Psi), this makes me sad to hear. Some of my greatest memories in college are road trips, performing in stadiums all over the state (and beyond), and making music with some of the best friends I've ever had. We rehearsed 10-12 hours a week, gave up entire Saturdays (sometimes entire weekends on the longer road trips), and worked our asses off to bring a sense of pride in my school. I want to jump to their defense, but not having been to a game in almost a decade doesn't give me a leg to stand on.

But to hear that they get PAID now? That just flat-out pisses me off. :p

FWIW, I was in the same mindset. I loved playing in the band, and we worked our asses off to give a good show as representatives of our university. We were truly the "Show Window of TCU." When Prof Jacobsen started in the late 50s, he told us that his band budget was less than the football program spent on adhesive tape. He got around the poor budget by networking with high school directors, finding us places to stay when we were playing away games. So we spent Friday and sometimes Saturday nights in small town Texas households, being ambassadors for TCU. It was fun, and an honor. But like you say, now they have to pay college kids to show up.
 

Chieves

Active Member
TCU Band - The Worst Band in the Land.

Not taking a shot at anyone in band, or people a part of it, but people typically aren't there to watch the band (obviously). There is zero draw from the TCU band, they sound absolutely awful, and are too small to really have any effect on the crowd without being pumped through the speakers (which sounds even worse when you hear it slightly in the distance, and blasted at you again a second later.

My bro in law attended the game Saturday with his 2 daughters as a "pre go to college station" try out for them going to a college game. They were excited for the band as they love music. they were planning to leave after halftime. He stayed for the first song and texted that this is the worst thing he's heard from a band.

He ain't lyin

"Hey, no offense to anyone"

"THE BAND IS THE WORST AND SUCKS AND IF YOU ARE INVOLVED YOU SHOULD DIE"
 

TubaFrog

Member
I was in the band.

If you're disappointed in how the band sounds now, and how they've played the same tunes for 20 years, wait til you find out how long-tenured the directors are, and how high their salaries are.

The directors when I was there were very talented and competent men, but seemingly had no interest at all in making the band fun to listen to. That tradition has continued.

On a somewhat lighter note, I suspect the band being so small is not only a result of low overall TCU enrollment. Tuition has increased by about 400% since my freshman year. I suspect, but can't prove, that band is not really a rich kid activity. As someone else mentioned, scholarships are a tiny fraction of the overall stratospheric tuition bill. Those $5000 scholarships were also offered to the best musicians in 1998! That was a significant portion of tuition at that time, and pulled in a lot of middle-class prospective music majors, myself included.

$5000 now is only 5 payments on an Audi Q7. Nothing to ruin every fall weekend for.
 

Brevity Frog

Active Member
I was in the band.

If you're disappointed in how the band sounds now, and how they've played the same tunes for 20 years, wait til you find out how long-tenured the directors are, and how high their salaries are.

The directors when I was there were very talented and competent men, but seemingly had no interest at all in making the band fun to listen to. That tradition has continued.

On a somewhat lighter note, I suspect the band being so small is not only a result of low overall TCU enrollment. Tuition has increased by about 400% since my freshman year. I suspect, but can't prove, that band is not really a rich kid activity. As someone else mentioned, scholarships are a tiny fraction of the overall stratospheric tuition bill. Those $5000 scholarships were also offered to the best musicians in 1998! That was a significant portion of tuition at that time, and pulled in a lot of middle-class prospective music majors, myself included.

$5000 now is only 5 payments on an Audi Q7. Nothing to ruin every fall weekend for.

great post. Thanks. I suspect your suspicion is correct!
 

PurplFrawg

Administrator
I was in the band.

Those $5000 scholarships were also offered to the best musicians in 1998! That was a significant portion of tuition at that time, and pulled in a lot of middle-class prospective music majors, myself included.

$5000 now is only 5 payments on an Audi Q7. Nothing to ruin every fall weekend for.

I also had a band scholarship. It paid 50% of my $40/hr tuition, or $300 for a 15 hour academic load. I'd do it all again, although I wouldn't have been a music major, since that degree wasn't very marketable.
 

Brog

Full Member
I was in the band.

If you're disappointed in how the band sounds now, and how they've played the same tunes for 20 years, wait til you find out how long-tenured the directors are, and how high their salaries are.

The directors when I was there were very talented and competent men, but seemingly had no interest at all in making the band fun to listen to. That tradition has continued.

On a somewhat lighter note, I suspect the band being so small is not only a result of low overall TCU enrollment. Tuition has increased by about 400% since my freshman year. I suspect, but can't prove, that band is not really a rich kid activity. As someone else mentioned, scholarships are a tiny fraction of the overall stratospheric tuition bill. Those $5000 scholarships were also offered to the best musicians in 1998! That was a significant portion of tuition at that time, and pulled in a lot of middle-class prospective music majors, myself included.

$5000 now is only 5 payments on an Audi Q7. Nothing to ruin every fall weekend for.

OK, so are you going to tell us how long tenured the directors are, and how high their salaries are? If not, why bring it up?
 

ShadowFrog

Moderators
Wow, they pay the band members? I was in band 1971-75 and it was a .5 hr class, so Dad had to pay $25 a semester. :rolleyes:
We had a sharp uniform. Purple blazer with a white ascot, white trousers and shoes. Wheel cap (à la Ralph Kramden). Very hip.
Our precision halftime shows were great - Prof Jacobsen made sure of that.
And we had an amazing graduate assistant whose arrangements and cadences were awesome. As you know, our football team was terrible during those years and we were often the most entertaining thing in the stadium. We could get the folks on their feet and boogying! I can still tap out the drum parts to "Hush", "Tommy", "Joy to the World", "Spinning Wheel", "Get It On", and several cadences.
I didn't have to be in band, I wanted to be.
You & my brother marched together 2 years. Were you around when someone backed their car over his saxophone?
 
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