August 26th, 2019 at 10:19 PM ^
No. It is Monday.
EDIT: Is there something I am missing? It looks and sounds almost identical to what they do today, which is, of course, awesome.
August 26th, 2019 at 10:49 PM ^
Some similarities, but a lot of differences vs. what they do today... up and down the field to the Victors, Go Blue, Varsity, not that last song / formation from the video...
I think the modern version is superior, but I'm sure folks more familiar with this version may prefer it.
Thanks for sharing, WD.
August 27th, 2019 at 7:33 AM ^
Considering it’s been over 30 years, I would say it’s changed remarkably little. While tradition is strongest in College Football, I bet you’d have trouble finding one that’s as similar as this one. From the very beginning to the point where they reach midfield it is identical. From my recollection, the band only started playing “let’s go blue” when they return to midfield very recently. Certainly within the last 10 years, maybe only 5.
August 27th, 2019 at 8:54 AM ^
Just a mild correction... 'Let's Go Blue' in pregame has been played since at least 2004, when I started with the band. I believe it predates that. Some earlier bando can probably clarify...
Those early morning band practices on game days were pretty magical. Thanks for the nostalgia!
August 27th, 2019 at 10:36 AM ^
I want to say it got added in as a time-filler after the team entrance moved to before the anthem? I can't remember it being there before the early 2000s.
August 27th, 2019 at 10:58 PM ^
The team entrances coming earlier--thus enabling the teams to be on the field for the national anthem--was changed in September 2001--just after 9/11.
August 27th, 2019 at 3:20 PM ^
WRONG... it's completely different.
Back then Becker was running the show, and had the band pushing people back in their seats with the power of the brass section. Though Bones did rush the temp (and still do, CHILL BONERS).
Anyways, this is the best version, it's been watered down since then...
August 26th, 2019 at 10:25 PM ^
Can any band experts tell me if they changed anything because there is no way they are that loud nowadays, unless this video just has super good microphones.
August 26th, 2019 at 10:38 PM ^
Things that changed:
in recent years, when the center of the band hits the 50, they continue marching to the south and continue into the second verse of the Victors instead of stopping changing formation and playing the vistors' fight song.
August 27th, 2019 at 12:03 AM ^
The band has now (and had back then) a video crew with several cameras and microphones on the field, so they can mix as needed to get the final cut.
Band members and alums will endlessly debate whether things were better in the "old days" or currently.
Some changes:
- Equipment - most if not all instruments today are school-issued (gives consistent color and good quality). Back in 1986, most of us brought our own instruments, and I have to say, many of them were crap as we saved our good horns for indoor use.
- Music - in the old days, we always had the lyres attached to our instruments and carried the music folders around (you can see one fall off in the video). Restricted mobility somewhat. Today's band memorizes everything!
- Marching - the '86 band did more consistent high-step marching (with leg lock) while playing then the current band. It's easier to play well when you're not trying to snap your legs. But it doesn't look as cool as this video.
1986 was my first full year on the field for the band, and I have countless fond memories!
August 27th, 2019 at 3:12 AM ^
I loved the high step because it required significant athleticism. To do it correctly, you thrust your left hip forward as quickly as possible, lock your left thigh into the perpendicular position to your torso and make your calf perpendicular to your thigh without bending your right knee, freeze it for about a half second then repeat the action with the right hip, thigh and calf. It was grueling, and few people could do it for more than 50 yards when they first started. I lost 15 pounds during Band Week and had to run the steps of Michigan Stadium to prepare for auditions (only about half the band marched for pregame and halftime shows).
We transitioned to the 3/4 step my sophomore year in 1995 and only high-stepped for 16 beats. The band had mixed reactions to the change. We definitely had a cleaner sound, for what that's worth.
One more change from this video: in the early 90s, Matt Pickus, the drum major at the time, started performing the drum major back bend without the use of the tall Busby hat that is seen in this video, and that tradition has generally continued.
Thanks for posting! Go Blue!
August 27th, 2019 at 5:13 PM ^
A couple more differences, some significant, some very minor:
- As has been mentioned, there is much less high-step (also known as "lock step"). Again, as mentioned, this is a huge change, because pregame went from entries, to the fold-out, to M-Fanfare, to pregame Victors (a modified form of the song as written by Elbel) all in high step. Now, for the portion of pregame that is lock step, it is marched at half-time (one step for every two beats). This is important because marching lock-step at this pace allows the band to really highlight the "pop" and "lock" of each step. You're basically falling forward, holding your thigh parallel to the ground as long as possible, and then switching legs at the last moment possible. With the old style, the tempo of pregame was so fast that it was hard to highlight this aspect of the lock step because the transition from one step to the next happens so fast. If you watch the lock step portion of the Victors now, you truly get to observe this tradition.
- The uniforms are different. Through the Elbel club (fundraising arm of the band), uniforms are now endowed and replaced on a regular schedule. Also, you can't really see the reserves, but now there are uniforms for all reserves and those on the field. Back in 1986, there weren't enough uniforms for all the reserves, so some wore band jackets.
- The instruments are different. Again through the Elbel club, now all instruments are owned by the MMB and are repaired and replaced on a planned schedule through endowments. Back then, the school owned many (most) of the brass instruments, but none of the woodwinds (alto saxophones, tenor saxophones, clarinets, and piccolos).
- One subtlety that I love is the positioning of the point of the M during M-Fanfare. In this 1986 video, you can see a gap at the point of the M on the 50 yard line after the fold out. Now, after the fold-out, the block-M has a point at the tip. M-Fanfare begins and just before the twirlers run into them, the snare drummer and horn at the tip of the M take a step sideways allowing the twirlers (and ultimately drum major) to pass through.
My first year in the band was 1989. (First game was two TDs by Rocket Ismail of f-ing Notre Dame, in the cold rain.) From my very first game until now, my most favorite part of being a member of the Marching Band is being in the tunnel waiting for warm-ups to finish. The feeling is electric, standing at attention in silence as the visiting team leaves the field and then screaming your fool head off as Michigan heads to the locker room. You know you are about to perform for over 100,000 people and there is nothing like it in the world.
Go Blue.
August 27th, 2019 at 11:00 PM ^
It might just be that the microphones for this recording were placed in an optimal position. Unless your seats are on the 50, halfway up...
November 3rd, 2021 at 5:36 PM ^
The reason that old band recordings at the Big House are louder than recent is because of the following (in my estimation).
- The field was lowered by 3.5 feet for the 1991 season. So instead of playing over the wall (the old wall was only about 3 feet high), a lot of that sound is going into the wall.
- When the above architectural change was made, the old concrete+one-inch-pad Tartan Turf that you would see in a recording like the 1986 version was removed. It was replaced by grass, then subsequently by the current field turf. That old turf from the Bo Era reflected sound much more than does the current turf.
- The current location of the microphone for a video recording is higher up now in the new press box than it was in the old.
I think the combination of all of these factors lead to newer recordings not sounding as loud as the old. And the first two of those would make the on-field band not sound as loud to a listener in the stadium.
All that being said, I'm not a fan of a lot of current musical arrangements -- they often don't seem to be written with a huge stadium in mind, and there are fewer in-your-face moments. Yes, I know you can't play full bore continuously, but these arrangements break into too many softer sections.
My $0.02 from an old band guy (89-92 seasons).
August 26th, 2019 at 10:28 PM ^
I can hear them clearly from my bed this evening. Love living close to Elbel. Love going to the practices. LOVE the pomp and circumstance of college football.
August 26th, 2019 at 10:46 PM ^
My senior year I lived on Hill st. a block east of Elbel. It was cool getting to hear the band practice during the week.
August 27th, 2019 at 8:27 AM ^
I lived on Division across from Elbel (same building as Tripp Wellborne's girlfriend). It was great - except for Saturday mornings. Band started a bit too early for me some Saturday mornings.
August 26th, 2019 at 10:30 PM ^
Fuck yeah
August 26th, 2019 at 10:33 PM ^
Love the Michigan Marching Band! Gets us going for Saturday!
August 26th, 2019 at 10:34 PM ^
WD, you discovered my preseason, tear-to-your-eye amp-up ritual. Thanks for posting!
August 26th, 2019 at 10:39 PM ^
As an aside, I see there are only male cheerleaders. I've been away from Ann Arbor for many years, when did they start adding young ladies to the cheerleading squad?
August 27th, 2019 at 12:04 AM ^
August 27th, 2019 at 12:48 AM ^
Technically, those first females were the Pom-pon girls--separate from the cheerleaders. It was many years later that the cheerleading squads became male and female--and the dance team was created.
August 27th, 2019 at 12:21 AM ^
Those guys were tumblers. They used to entertain the crowd with tricks jumping on a trampoline. And it was common for them to do backflips off the big house wall on to the field for every point we scored. (With the field lowered, that would be a death sentence if you tried that today.)
The cheerleaders, both male and female were usually on the other side of the stadium.
August 27th, 2019 at 1:29 AM ^
Weren't the tumblers traditionally guys from the gymnastics team?
August 27th, 2019 at 8:19 AM ^
I'm not sure. But it wouldn't surprise me if they were. When the 80's ended, the tumblers stopped performing at games. Eventually, they were replaced by the dance team.
August 27th, 2019 at 11:03 PM ^
The "tumblers" WERE the cheerleaders. Or...the cheerleaders were mostly tumblers. Often trampoline competitors or divers.
There has never been a separate "tumbling" group.
August 26th, 2019 at 10:40 PM ^
One of the things that I love about the later into the season games / Big Ten rivalry games is when the trumpet players stream onto the field and they are pumping their right hands in the air, as opposed to the non-conference games when there is less exuberance.
It's trivial, but its part of the lead up where you know this is a game that means more.
August 26th, 2019 at 10:49 PM ^
One of the hottest games ever at Michigan.
August 26th, 2019 at 10:53 PM ^
Definitely goose bumps and hype!
August 26th, 2019 at 11:04 PM ^
I do believe I know some of these people; might even have a relative in the band...Go Blue!
August 27th, 2019 at 12:25 AM ^
My youngest sister was out there, didn't see her though. :(
August 26th, 2019 at 11:42 PM ^
Nice - thanks for posting! That was my third year with the band - definitely some familiar faces in that group. Still get goosebumps with the tunnel entries (and that cadence will never leave my head)!
August 27th, 2019 at 12:05 AM ^
August 27th, 2019 at 12:24 AM ^
Hell yes! [goblue]
August 27th, 2019 at 12:44 AM ^
I noticed the drum major did not take off his hat when bending over backward to touch his head to the ground.
Also, back in the day, the band used to sit in the seats of the stadium's southeast corner.
(My tickets are on the goal line of the southwest corner.)
I was pissed when they moved to the northeast corner, and eventually to their current location, with the students.
August 27th, 2019 at 12:55 AM ^
Matt Pickus was the first Drum Major to remove his hat in the 1990s. Some subsequent ones did not. But now it's expected. The MMB has never sat in the southeast corner. (Unless it was before 1960!) They were always on the west side until the late 1990s/early 2000s when they were moved to the east side for a few years...then back. Visiting bands and the alumni band have always been seated in the southeast corner.
August 27th, 2019 at 1:56 AM ^
Can't wait to hear your voice again this Saturday! Thanks for all you do.
August 27th, 2019 at 11:04 PM ^
Thanks!
August 27th, 2019 at 8:24 AM ^
The voice...the legend! Always a pleasure to have you drop by, Carl.
August 27th, 2019 at 11:04 PM ^
And another thanks!
August 27th, 2019 at 1:22 AM ^
Great way to get even more pumped for this season -- I love all things MMB!
August 27th, 2019 at 2:41 AM ^
Let me just add that my user name checks out!
August 27th, 2019 at 6:44 AM ^
Great video. Damn, I did get goosebumps. Love the glimpse of Carl Grapentine.
August 27th, 2019 at 6:58 AM ^
Memories of my youth!
August 27th, 2019 at 8:09 AM ^
4 seconds in and my heart is racing... WTF am I gonna do until Saturday freaking night??? Ahhhh!!!!
August 27th, 2019 at 9:14 AM ^
This is its own hype video. Love it!
Go Blue!
August 27th, 2019 at 12:59 PM ^
I don't just get goosebumps, I get all choked up and emotional. Jesus WTF. I'm a wreck.