LONGHORN BAND LHB "this group really needs new uniforms"

[monarch]

i have loved the TEXAS LONGHORN BAND LHB every since i was a small boy.  therefore, please do not even think of "choke holding" the messenger!​

 ​

music, has always played a major role upon my childhood school days.  "trumpets vs percussion, percussion vs trumpets" it went back and forth, just like that, every since my musical aspirations began as per elementary, junior high, and then on to the "hamshire fannett sr. high school marching band".  were we any good?  you better believe it!  i have been involved as per "texas state UIL" music competitions every since my eighth grade year.  therefore, anyone can best believe, that not only am i quite disciplined vs musically inclined, but in lieu of my numerous awards / certificates...  i had become a proven source upon music, as well as field marching projection.

therefore, these factor's are the primary reasons, that i feel that i have the background vs discipline, to judge and critique the LHB.  

THE SHOWBAND OF THE SOUTHWEST has always been a major force upon all things "university of texas".  upon the year 1986, the LHB was hereby awarded the "louis sudler intercollegiate trophy" hereby marking them, as the best collegiate band in the nation.  therefore, the "texas" brand of music, yields a highly regarded culture.  the band's western themed, burnt orange and white uniforms, have become an iconic feature whenever they are hereby presented.  whether they are upon the field of play during anyone of the "texas longhorn" gridiron matches, as well as being highlighted as per the opening marching band upon the "houston livestock show and rodeo parade"...  this highly regarded marching band, seems to always be in demand!

the LHB, requires updated vs newly designed uniforms...  urgently!  how upon this earth, is it at all humanly possible, for a university as rich as "texas" to allow for it's prized marching band, to just tag along, all the while showcasing such worn out, tired, and completely outdated uniforms, is simply a testament to complete failure.  before i had to fly back to my job in afghanistan upon last football season, i had the wonderful opportunity, to be able to attend a couple of "home" gridiron matches.  i followed the "tradition" of standing outside of "dkr" and awaiting the LHB to march down the street, and then proceed toward the stadium which is customary.  as the band began to approach upon where i was standing...  my heart sank to my knees.  although, the band members were indeed highly spirited, i immediately noticed that their uniforms were a disgrace.  many members, wore ill fitting attire...  as in way too big vs way too small.  many uniforms, seemed outright dirty, faded, as well as plainly worn out.  i was shocked that the student's were even wearing them.  upon my extremely experienced eye...  their outward appearance, just seemed to take away from their performance as a whole.  as i continued to stand there watching...  i felt really bad for the band.  therefore, this most unfortunate experience, presented to me, a whole new perspective as per the "texas school of music".

 

[Tulsahorn]

Wow.

My sense of urgency is finding a QB for this fall.

That's just me though.

Carry on.

 

[streettopeschel]

wait...are you telling me we haven't won the louis sudler intercollegiate trophy since 1986 ?

 

[MikeV73]

wait...are you telling me we haven't won the louis sudler intercollegiate trophy since 1986 ?

You mean the band has won as many NC as the football team over the last 40 years?!

 

[BudreauReye]

I love  the Longhorn experience ... games and all.  But, I gotta tell ya, the cowboy hat fringe sleeved Longhorn band image leaves much to be desired.  When I was in high school, the Longhorn band stopped at my high school on the way to a game at Tech.  I gotta say that the spectacle when they practiced on our high school field, big drum and all, was memorable for a small town in West Texas, but it just reinforced the fact that what we revered most was the football team.  Bands are great, cheerleaders are great, dance squads are great, but they are peripheral to sports.  Let the parents pay for the band uniforms!  Hey!  I am an athletic purist!  Whaddaya want?  Actually, I think it is a discussion I think is worth having.   Whaddaya think? 

 

[BudreauReye]

Not meaning to reign on your thread, monarch! 

 

[SFlonghorngirl]

I think a burnt orange polo and khakis shorts should suffice.

 

[BudreauReye]

I think a burnt orange polo and khakis shorts should suffice.

 I have heard you say something like that before, SFlonghorngirl ... maybe khaki slacks instead? 

 

[java]

I was a member of the LHB. I was a twirler. The uniforms are iconic, unique. They may need to be replaced, but I don't want to see them changed to look like every other band. In fact, I don't even want them replaced until they get the color orange correct again.

The uniforms were probably neglected when the LHB was funded by the Department of Music. When DiNino directed the band it was funded by the athletic department. That was why we were able to travel to all games. We flew to Lubbock and other distant venues, traveling 100+. Royal once said he wouldn't take the team without the band.

I may be mistaken, but I think the band is being funded by the athletic department again.

With all due respect, leave the band uniforms alone! I am glad you enjoy it, though. When DiNino directs The Eyes, it is something else. Everyone else rushes it. He is quite the showman.

Hook 'em!

 

[SFlonghorngirl]

I have heard you say something like that before, SFlonghorngirl ... maybe khaki slacks instead?

Hell, let's wing it and go Stanford band.

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

Hell, let's wing it and go Stanford band.

Let's not.  Agree that the Showband's gear is old-school, but I'm not a fan of the Stanford's look...or the MOB's.

 

[BudreauReye]

Hell, let's wing it and go Stanford band.

I am all for irreverance ... maybe as a tip of the hat to the traditionalists, the band could switch personas each home game.  One game, they could be their own traditional selves ... the next game they could be their own irreverant selves, making fun of their traditional selves.  And instead of a tree, we could have our own "Tumbleweed"!  As an "unofficial" band mascot, of course, so as not to be confused with the real mascot.

 

[java]

Perhaps when the Alumni Band performs they could wear the traditional uniforms, and the LHB could go Tumbleweed. I love our traditional uniforms, they say 'We Are Texas', and they are a part of the Texas culture. Much of that culture still exists in the State today.

I don't want to throw out that culture and tradition, just as I do not want to throw out our National Championships, Heisman Trophies, or other awards. My feet are permanently scarred from the heat that radiated from the AstroTurf during our Freshmen workouts and the workouts with the 'Old Men'. I even lost some feeling in some of the tissue. It might not have happened had I said something to someone in charge, but I didn't want to.

I feel very strongly about the contributions the LHB makes to the football, basketball, and university experience. If they ever try to put our band in some idiotic band uniform that any high school can buy, I will probably go nuclear.

Edit: The Showband already wears khakis and polos for at least 3 to 4 games. That should be enough for the agents for change. We only play 11ish games. My line in the sand. Otherwise it won't stop until the Showband is no longer the Showband.

For Pete's sake, what is wrong with a little tradition in a world of change. Y'all afraid we won't get the top trumpet players? Sheesh.

Hook 'em!

 

[BudreauReye]

Perhaps when the Alumni Band performs they could wear the traditional uniforms, and the LHB could go Tumbleweed. I love our traditional uniforms, they say 'We Are Texas', and they are a part of the Texas culture. Much of that culture still exists in the State today.

I don't want to throw out that culture and tradition, just as I do not want to throw out our National Championships, Heisman Trophies, or other awards. My feet are permanently scarred from the heat that radiated from the AstroTurf during our Freshmen workouts and the workouts with the 'Old Men'. I even lost some feeling in some of the tissue. It might not have happened had I said something to someone in charge, but I didn't want to.

I feel very strongly about the contributions the LHB makes to the football, basketball, and university experience. If they ever try to put our band in some idiotic band uniform that any high school can buy, I will probably go nuclear.

Edit: The Showband already wears khakis and polos for at least 3 to 4 games. That should be enough for the agents for change. We only play 11ish games. My line in the sand. Otherwise it won't stop until the Showband is no longer the Showband.

For Pete's sake, what is wrong with a little tradition in a world of change. Y'all afraid we won't get the top trumpet players? Sheesh.

Hook 'em!

Actually, I agree with you.  Hopefully you understand that it is the very nature of an old football player to make fun of Band.  But, Hell!  Let me tell you, that my senior year in high school, I dated the head  majorette/twirler.  How, I do no know, she choose me, I would not have had the audacity to have even thought about choosing her!  That year I came to a full appreciation of her ability to toss that thing into the Stratosphere and catch in coming back down to earth at an incredible speed without jamming her thumbs or breaking her fingers.  I surely jammed mine trying the same, but I could not even get the gol darned thing to go straight enough up to come down within the same general vicinity so I could even try to catch it, much less with twirling activity commencing within any reasonable time span afterward - did I mention the jammed thumbs?  Now on her weekends she took lessons with some super ninja twirler from Texas Tech who warmed up with his bullwhip routine!  Needless to say, only one of those workouts was enough for me, as the boyfriend of the high school twirler, you see!

I like your idea of having the Longhorn Band going "Tumbleweed" and the Alumni Band going Traditional when the Alumni Band plays.  Sounds like you could have separate and combined routines with maybe some mayhem of the "MOB" variety thrown in.  UT has a wide reach and varied alumni base.  A little respect for tradition, and a little creativity could go a long way toward entertaining everybody.

While I have you, I gotta tell you that it was a lot of fun taking my mother to games in the seventies before she died. 

She was a child of the Great Depression.  She graduated in 1936 as valedictorian of her graduating class.  As was customary in those days, as valedictorian of her class, she received a full scholarship to UT for four years.  It paid for books, tuition, fees, room, and board in a girls dormitory.  Being the daughter of sharecroppers who were much like frontier people living sometimes in sod dug outs in West Texas, neither she nor her parents saw how she could take advantage of this.  You see, she had to pick cotton in the fall to put food on the table for her brothers and sisters, and, besides, she only had one dress to her name.

Well, even in the seventies, she had a place in her heart for the University of Texas.  She was so proud of her son getting not one but two degrees from :"Her University".  We brought her down to Austin for at least one football game each year before she died.  We always bought tickets at the top of the west side of the stadium.  She said that she wanted to be able to take it all in.  We would get there very early so we could see it all, the warm ups, the people meandering in, and the Band.  You would hear the drums rhythm in the distance.  We could look back over the campus and at first follow the sound as it came across campus.  Then you could look down and see the people walking toward the stadium hesitate and separate as The Longhorn Band came marching through.  When they came under the stadium and before they emerged on the north side of the field, the sound became muffled but reverberated and somehow seemed to vibrate up through our feet.  Then, The Longhorn Band emerged from under the north stands with March Grandioso erupting from them.  I do not remember how many wide but it seemed at least six of eight across, and they proceeded to march along the west side of the track and all of the players seemed to not be yet in the stadium when the first of them arrived at the south end of the stadium. 

You see, she wanted to see the spectacle, and she always wanted to see it without having to turn her head.  You see, there were always ten times as many people in that stadium as there were in her home town.  And The Longhorn Band always seemed to knit it all together in her eyes.  And then there were those boys and girls who threw their batons towards the stars, and they were able to catch them, too, coming back down.

You see, some of us like to play the fool and poke fun in the moment, but I think that most of us really appreciate everybody's contribution.  Thank you for yours, and thank you for making it possible for me to share my story.

 

[monarch]

Perhaps when the Alumni Band performs they could wear the traditional uniforms, and the LHB could go Tumbleweed. I love our traditional uniforms, they say 'We Are Texas', and they are a part of the Texas culture. Much of that culture still exists in the State today.

I don't want to throw out that culture and tradition, just as I do not want to throw out our National Championships, Heisman Trophies, or other awards. My feet are permanently scarred from the heat that radiated from the AstroTurf during our Freshmen workouts and the workouts with the 'Old Men'. I even lost some feeling in some of the tissue. It might not have happened had I said something to someone in charge, but I didn't want to.

I feel very strongly about the contributions the LHB makes to the football, basketball, and university experience. If they ever try to put our band in some idiotic band uniform that any high school can buy, I will probably go nuclear.

Edit: The Showband already wears khakis and polos for at least 3 to 4 games. That should be enough for the agents for change. We only play 11ish games. My line in the sand. Otherwise it won't stop until the Showband is no longer the Showband.

For Pete's sake, what is wrong with a little tradition in a world of change. Y'all afraid we won't get the top trumpet players? Sheesh.

Hook 'em!

java, trust me, for i hear you my friend.  there is just something about "nostalgia" vs "texas culture / tradition" vs the iconic "texas brand"...  i get it!   but there is an all important element, that i'm somewhat surprised that you are not speaking of...  and this is "standards". 

please recall, that i stated upon my initial posting that "i have loved the LHB every since i was a boy".  and part of this "love" stemmed from the standpoint of the very high standards that the LHB so very often seemd to embody.  (one could focus upon anyone of this bands performances just for only 5 minutes, and come across completely impressed, as well as in "awe" of texas)  

you also mentioned "vincent dinino".  well, as a former band member, can you only just imagine the look upon mr. dinino's face, should he focus upon the state of today's LHB...   i think that mr. dinino would be appalled at what he would see of today's band appearance.  i would never advocate that the "powers that be"...  alter the culture vs traditons, as per the uniform styles of the LHB...  all that i am asking, is that they "update" the look, with a few "tweaks" here and there, to make the old style fit in with today's trends.  trust me java, if this is performed correctly...   the new LHB could be a beautiful group to watch perform.  and i am most certain that mr. dinino, would be honored as well as proud. 

 

[java]

If Mr Di were in charge I wouldn't be concerned, but he isn't. I detest that they replaced the flags we used to fly with the dinky ones they fly now. More than that, I miss not seeing them step off goal line to goal line, marching 385, with absolutely straight lines. The lines have improved a bit with the new director, but the performance is still not to the standard that Mr. Di set.

He did not tolerate fools or laziness, and he set very high standards. I respected him more than I can express.

I don't think you can 'update' the uniforms without completely changing them, and then we would look like everyone else. Why would we want to do that? What is wrong with being Texas? I happen to love being a part of The University.

Did I mention that I hate the offseason? Hey, how about those Cowboys? Who is Jerry gonna' draft?

 

[java]

Actually, I agree with you.  Hopefully you understand that it is the very nature of an old football player to make fun of Band.  But, Hell!  Let me tell you, that my senior year in high school, I dated the head  majorette/twirler.  How, I do no know, she choose me, I would not have had the audacity to have even thought about choosing her!  That year I came to a full appreciation of her ability to toss that thing into the Stratosphere and catch in coming back down to earth at an incredible speed without jamming her thumbs or breaking her fingers.  I surely jammed mine trying the same, but I could not even get the gol darned thing to go straight enough up to come down within the same general vicinity so I could even try to catch it, much less with twirling activity commencing within any reasonable time span afterward - did I mention the jammed thumbs?  Now on her weekends she took lessons with some super ninja twirler from Texas Tech who warmed up with his bullwhip routine!  Needless to say, only one of those workouts was enough for me, as the boyfriend of the high school twirler, you see!

I like your idea of having the Longhorn Band going "Tumbleweed" and the Alumni Band going Traditional when the Alumni Band plays.  Sounds like you could have separate and combined routines with maybe some mayhem of the "MOB" variety thrown in.  UT has a wide reach and varied alumni base.  A little respect for tradition, and a little creativity could go a long way toward entertaining everybody.

While I have you, I gotta tell you that it was a lot of fun taking my mother to games in the seventies before she died. 

She was a child of the Great Depression.  She graduated in 1936 as valedictorian of her graduating class.  As was customary in those days, as valedictorian of her class, she received a full scholarship to UT for four years.  It paid for books, tuition, fees, room, and board in a girls dormitory.  Being the daughter of sharecroppers who were much like frontier people living sometimes in sod dug outs in West Texas, neither she nor her parents saw how she could take advantage of this.  You see, she had to pick cotton in the fall to put food on the table for her brothers and sisters, and, besides, she only had one dress to her name.

Well, even in the seventies, she had a place in her heart for the University of Texas.  She was so proud of her son getting not one but two degrees from :"Her University".  We brought her down to Austin for at least one football game each year before she died.  We always bought tickets at the top of the west side of the stadium.  She said that she wanted to be able to take it all in.  We would get there very early so we could see it all, the warm ups, the people meandering in, and the Band.  You would hear the drums rhythm in the distance.  We could look back over the campus and at first follow the sound as it came across campus.  Then you could look down and see the people walking toward the stadium hesitate and separate as The Longhorn Band came marching through.  When they came under the stadium and before they emerged on the north side of the field, the sound became muffled but reverberated and somehow seemed to vibrate up through our feet.  Then, The Longhorn Band emerged from under the north stands with March Grandioso erupting from them.  I do not remember how many wide but it seemed at least six of eight across, and they proceeded to march along the west side of the track and all of the players seemed to not be yet in the stadium when the first of them arrived at the south end of the stadium. 

You see, she wanted to see the spectacle, and she always wanted to see it without having to turn her head.  You see, there were always ten times as many people in that stadium as there were in her home town.  And The Longhorn Band always seemed to knit it all together in her eyes.  And then there were those boys and girls who threw their batons towards the stars, and they were able to catch them, too, coming back down.

You see, some of us like to play the fool and poke fun in the moment, but I think that most of us really appreciate everybody's contribution.  Thank you for yours, and thank you for making it possible for me to share my story.

Thank you for understanding my point of view. When I was part of the LHB, we knew our role was to support the team, and support them we did. There was no edict to respect ads on Godzillatron, so the band played, and rang cowbells. We fired it up when we were on defense, and we were quiet at appropriate times on offense.

We also knew that we were always to represent The University with class. I believe we did that.

I completely understand a former football player's outlook. Quite a few of the guys on the team were friends of mine when I was in school, and I dated one of them. Once, we were finishing the halftime show, and someone told the team to come out of the locker room about 5 minutes too early. They came running out, shocked that we were still on the field. One of the more animated players was only about 2 yards from me screaming, "Get the &$!&@$ off of the @@&$$$?() field!" He was ready to kick some butt.

We laughed about it for months afterward, but at the time, it was a little awkward!

I admit that I'm a bit sensitive about changing uniforms, both for the team and the band. I looked through all of the pictures of all of the teams that changed uni's last year, and not one of the traditional powers made a noticeable change. The changes were made by the traditional 2nd tier programs-not the major players. The traditional powers had, at most, a one game special uni, just as we did for the OU game.

I guess I just don't understand why our fans think we should fall in line with programs without the tradition that we have. We have a proud, distinguished history, and I don't think we need to fall in line with anyone.

Hook 'em!

 

[BudreauReye]

... Hey, how about those Cowboys? Who is Jerry gonna' draft?

Java, you completely lost me on this one!  You are going to have a lot of ground to make up, I am afraid! 

 

[java]

Java, you completely lost me on this one!  You are going to have a lot of ground to make up, I am afraid! 

The comment followed, "I hate the off-season." And it was a clumsy attempt to say, 'let's not talk about changing our uniforms, please".

You are probably right that I have catching up to do. With my trusty laptop crashed, a close member of my family hospitalized and quite ill, and peak time at work all happening simultaneously, I am significantly behind. This board, and the people here are a welcome respite.

btw, when the LHB came through the tunnel the burst of sight and sound was absolutely overwhelming. I am so glad your mother enjoyed it. The march from Clark Field to the stadium was glorious. I have often wondered how the players feel when the entire stadium really gets in to 'Texas. Fight.' I hope they experience the same sensory overload. If not, I suspect they do coming through the tunnel at the Cotton Bowl.

I will excuse myself from this conversation from here on out because I'm afraid that I am too emotionally invested in the outcome. I understand what monarch is saying, but others vision is much different and would turn our band into a group that no longer resembles what we worked so hard to create and maintain.

I cannot be objective about it.

Hook em!