November 16, 2009

CLASH OF THE MARCHING BANDS

Yesterday was a significant day for me, because I watched the world’s largest, finest and most famous military marching band here in Norman. We went to Oklahoma University (OU) vs. Texas A&M University football game last night. TX A&M university has a nationally/world-famous marching band called Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band. They perform pre-game and during halftime whenever their football team has a game, home and away. Yesterday they were here in Norman, OK-Home of the Sooners and again performed flawlessly. I had heard their reputation through some friends and football fans but for the first time I had a chance to witness their great skill marching across the field without hitting each other, at the same time playing their musical instruments during their famous halftime show and even their rehearsal before the game.

As we approached the OU Memorial Stadium (that has a capacity of 85.000, 14th largest in the nation), I heard familiar sound of the military drums and as soon as I heard them, I realized the Aggies were rehearsing! I ran to watch them for a few minutes and shocked to see that there are so many of them marching so closely without hitting each other and missing a step! And then I learned that they have 400 members in the band and they are the world’s largest military band, well-known for the precision in their formations and maneuvers in the field! I took a 3-minute video on my camera as a bonus! I couldn’t wait to see their halftime show for real!
This is the link to my video that I had taken during their practice:


And what a show it was! They created very intricate patterns weaving them so precisely; turning, doubling back; marching across the field. As the end of their 7-minute show approaches, they formed their signature “Block-T” for Texas and then ran off the field.
After them, it was our own 300-member OU Marching Band –‘The Pride of Oklahoma’s turn. They performed their usual show with their usual O-U formation. As an extra addition, they formed the letters U-S-A, maybe as an attempt not to be overshadowed by the Aggies and University Theatre’s Chorus joined them during this show. If you ask me The Aggies made OU’s band look a little cheap with all their discipline, artistry and military songs and marches they played.
The game finished with a score of 65-10 with the victory of OU as expected. Please note that OU never lost a game at home in 5 years! This is a national record! OU may have won the game but as the Aggie fans say “The Aggie Band never loses a halftime”, they definitely won the halftime!
For more information on Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band, you can check the below links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fightin'_Texas_Aggie_Band
http://www.vimeo.com/6802932
http://www.vimeo.com/6720765
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVTAGsm5hds&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-xpeFOpuZg&feature=related

If you want to watch the halftime show of the Aggie Band last night at OU Memorial Stadium, click the below link: Texas A & M University's Fightin' Texas Aggie Band's Halftime Show in Norman on Nov.14, 2009!


9 comments:

  1. So good to see that you participated in the parade, Inci:) I think the Aggie Band is the largest precision military marching band in the nation because I haven't heard this band upto now in my life.

    -> excerpt from your article: the world’s largest, finest and most famous military marching band... the world's?

    Anyway I enjoyed reading the post with nice shots, thanks for sharing this very entertaining style of marching:)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ben nette okuduklarimin yalancisiyim, Nihal. Ve sahada gorduklerimden onlarin gercekten de turlerinde tek olduklarini anladim.

    Askerlikle ilgili olmayanlar duymamis olabilirler. Ama askeri bando yarismalarinda bir cok odul sahibiymisler. Ben de duymamistim onlari son gunlere kadar. Baskalari uyarmasaydi onlar hakkinda beni, onlari gormek icin bu maca gitmeye boyle istekli olmazdim. Onlardan boyle etkilenmeseydim bu postu yapmazdim. Bir haftadir onlarin butun gosteri videolarini izliyorum nette. Bu hafta kendi sahalarinda nasil bir gosteri yapacaklarini da gormek icin oluyorum!!
    Pazar gununden itibaren nette dalip o videoyu bulucam!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Guzel Incisan, cok guzel:) Yeni birseyler ogrenmek cok hos tabiki. Dunyanin en buyugu derken askerlikle ilgisi olsun olmasin herkesin duymus olabilecegi kanisinda olaraktan dikkatim cekildi. Laf aramizda PR'lari zayif bence:)
    Tesekkurler sana, sayende bu dunyanin eglenceli takimindan bugun haberim oldu:)
    Devamini da bekliyorum, hani video klip bile olsa bizimle paylasirsan burda sevinirim.
    Sevgiler~

    ReplyDelete
  4. Onlarin video klipleri postumda var. Benim cektigim onlarin provalarinin videosunun linki ve o aksam sahada izledigim gosterinin videosu da orda. Ama YouTube linklerini bazi trickler olmadan TR'de izleyemeyebilirsin.
    Ama posttaki wikipedia linkinin altindaki video linkleri calisabilir, bir denemen lazim. Ilgilenirsen tabii.
    Son gosterilerinin linki kesin YouTube'a konacaktir diye umut ediyorum. Cunku onlarin da fanatikleri varmis. Bazilari eski bando elemanlari! :)

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  5. The A&M band does an excellent job each week-marching. They also sound very good. It should be noted that the A&M band opens and closes every halftime show with the same music-every week. They do a different marching drill each week. They learn one song each week along with a new drill.
    The Pride of Oklahoma plays 3 songs at most halftime shows. They play different songs at each halftime-none are repeated and the songs are memorized as are A&M's. The marching drill is different for each game. So the OU band is learning new music and new drill for every performance. The A&M band learns new drill for each performance and only one new songs or 2 short songs; the rest of the music is repeated all season.
    You commented that OU did their usual show. Not true-every show is unique. They performed their usual pregame show which is decades of tradition but halftime was not their "usual" show. And the OU band did not form U-S-A in an attempt to "show up A&M"; they formed USA late in the drill to celebrate Veterans Day. The Veterans Day show is done every November. It is a unique show of new drill and patriotic music and this year included an OU choir and massive fireworks display. Both bands are outstanding. OU needs to pay more attention to marching discipline to get better. OU's band was the 5th in the nation to win the Sudler Trophy; A&M won the Sudler more recently.

    ReplyDelete
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    ReplyDelete