Band Together

This past weekend, following Kansas State's defeat of Oklahoma at K-State's Bill Snyder Family Stadium, a unit from the Pride of Wildcat Land crossed the proverbial aisle to offer protection to their fellow bandsfolk in the Pride of Oklahoma and escort them from the stadium. It was a beautiful showing of bandsmanship.

It should also never have had to happen.

Ironically, there's a good chance the plan was formulated with a different outcome in mind. Oklahoma, then the #5 team in the country, was the favorite in that game, and it was foreseeable that Wildcats fans, upset with the outcome, may have set upon the visiting band. Instead, with K-State pulling the monumental upset, there was similar concern that overzealous fans may have been at careless or at worst hostile in their revelry.

Unfortunately, there's precedent from this year of fans taking things too far with the band. In Week Zero, as the University of Florida band attempted to depart their matchup with Miami in Orlando's Camping World Stadium, Florida's band director was attacked. Following the Cy-Hawk game between Iowa and Iowa State in Ames, both schools began an investigation into the reported verbal and physical harassment of the Hawkeye Marching Band.

Often, in opposing stadiums, the marching band is the largest contingent in the opposing teams colors, and as with everywhere they go, they are a representation of their school. Unfortunately, this also makes them a likely target for any classless jerk that would do them harm.

Penalties, whether through the student code of conduct or court of law, need to be swift and strong for those found responsible. In football parlance, the band is a defenseless receiver, even if a wallop with a trumpet or a mallet is what one's action warrants. In lieu of that, I'm glad bands are protecting one another - even if they shouldn't have to.

Brewgating

I might just have a new hobby.

I went to Wake Forest's home opener this year. Winston-Salem isn't far by any stretch of the imagination, but it's off the beaten path enough that I tend to make plans to do something else when I'm out there. I also found myself in a predicament of circumstance; My car had been idling hot, making parking in stadium lots and the subsequent wait to get out not only inconvenient, but hazardous. I hatched a plan: I'd check out one of Winston-Salem's newest breweries - Incendiary Brewing - and then Uber from there to the game, for not too much different from the cost to park on site, with a fraction of the headache.

It worked out exactly as planned. So when I had occasion to be back in Winston this past weekend - this time for a Sixers-Hornets preseason game - I figured I'd repeat the feat. It just so happened that they were urging folks to get to the arena prohibitively early because the game, coupled with the Dixie Classic Fair, would cause considerable traffic delays. And while I'm typically down for fairgating, I already had fair plans with my family the next day, so I figured I'd reprise the brewery plan. This time it was Fiddlin' Fish Brewing Company. Looking back, I followed the same blueprint during my Belk Kickoff and Belk Bowl trips to Charlotte last year with the short walk to Unknown.

I'll still always opt for a tailgate when it makes the most sense, but when it doesn't, brewgating is the move.

Amazing Happens Every Saturday (And Sometimes Friday)

But here's the thing: Amazing happens every Saturday on football fields throughout the country, and a lot of it happens when the game clock isn't running. Amazing happens in a variety of marching styles, with a variety of musical offerings, and it happens largely out of the view of television cameras, and sadly, also out of the view of live spectators who take the opportunity to grab a beer instead of watching what's going on on the field. October 11, 2011

I Got (8 to) 5 On It

The Pittsburg High School Marching Show Band from Pittsburg, CA in the Bay has gone viral for their rendition of "I Got Five On It." Admittedly, folk around my age are inclined to ask, "what y'all know about that?" as though no one's ever played music that predates them, but reportedly the Pirates have been playing this tune for quite a while. Of course, it also got a resurgence with the horror film Us released

Coming from a band that marched bells, I think the glockenspiel has reached self actualization with this song.

CMB150

This is the first of a series throughout the 2019 football season to commemorate the College Football 150^th Anniversary through the lens of the college marching band.

Perhaps I shouldn't start with a disclaimer, but I will. This isn't a celebration of the 150th anniversary of the marching band. Depending on how you do your math, that anniversary is either already beyond us, or yet to come.

Generally, "outdoor music" dates back to antiquity, with the American marching band being established at roughly the same time the United States was, with the Marine Band being denoted by the Continental Congress in 1775. In college, Notre Dame lays claim to the first college band, c. 1845. But even then, the activity's full potential was not yet realized.

In The Beginning

College football began in 1869 with a game between Rutgers and Princeton, though there's reasonable objection to the sport played on that November day being football as we know it. As the game continued to evolve over its first few decades, it also saw the addition of a symbiotic relationship in the collegiate marching band. The fight song was born in 1885, with Boston College's For Boston, and two years later, the Notre Dame band would first appear at a college football game, first marking the glorious pairing that endures to this day.

Two innovations came about in the first decade of the 20^th century that would change the face of football. One was the forward pass. The other was the marching band halftime show. If one were to pinpoint the true start of the college football marching band, it might be with the first letter formed on the field - Purdue's Block P - or the first halftime show by Illinois, both in 1907. Indeed, by the year 1900, the presence of bands had become more common at football games, and as the sport grew, so did that partnership.

Evolution
Much of the early history of college football can be attributed to that which we now know as the Big Ten. After leaving its northeastern roots, college football's next outpost was the midwest, and as the gridiron game took hold there, so too did the traditions that would shape marching bands as we know them. Through the first few decades of the 20^th century, football grew closer to the game as we know it today: 100 yard fields, end zones, 15 minute quarters and four downs. In 1920, a group of teams from Ohio would meet and form the first professional league, the American Professional Football Conference, now the NFL. The college game was more popular than ever - champions were crowned in all regions of the country, attendances topped 100,000 fans in new stadiums - modern day colosseums for the day's gladiators. These new stadiums increased the possibilities for marching bands: Taller grandstands allowed for more intricate field formations and the vantage points from which to view them. Illinois put the first word - ILLINI - on the field in 1923. The Marching Illini in particular would continue to innovate, from words to pictures and animation, colorful uniforms, and auxiliary groups. As coach salaries, stadiums, and salaries grew, universities had to wrestle with football's compatibility with the institution's mission.

Football, Band, America

Soon football, and the marching bands that accompanied it, would be inextricable from American identities. In the south, southern football prowess was linked with southern pride, and the Southeastern Conference was founded in 1932. In Louisiana, Governor Huey "Kingfish" Long linked pride in Louisiana with pride in LSU, and pride in LSU with the effectiveness of its marching band, which he quadrupled in size and even co-wrote songs for. Interest in the spectacle of marching bands extended beyond the stadium into articles in the likes of Popular Mechanics. Both football and marching would wrestle with questions of purpose that got at each activity's very soul. Football's often adversarial nature with academics would lead the University of Chicago and Sewanee: The University of the South to leave the Big Ten and SEC, respectively, to focus on academics. Marching bands, meanwhile, would have to reconcile showmanship with musicianship, as some directors and music departments decried the stunts that they felt defined the modern marching band. The College Band Directors National Association first met in 1941 as directors considered these challenges and their place within the college band landscape.

World War II had its effect on both football and marching bands. While some bands ceased their activities altogether, other allowed women into their ranks for the first time. Marching bands were already linked to war, as marching music began with military musicians; football, meanwhile was used as a proxy for war, with pre-flight military training schools excelling at the sport during the War. Navy athletic director Jonas H. Ingram would state, "The closest thing to war in times of peace is football."

In the decade and a half following World War II, showmanship continued to develop. Majorettes became common, as did dance routines; the longer strides that kept with the military tradition gave way to high stepping with shorter strides. The early 1950s brought the first mention of Eight to Five, the 22.5" marching step that covers five yards in eight steps that is now standard for most marching bands. The '50s would also see the use of field-specific instruments like mellophones as opposed to french horns, the removal of double reed instruments, arrangements tailored specifically to marching bands, and variety in uniforms. Bands began to observe an "early week" - yes, band camp - and specifically rehearse marching band fundamentals. Bill Moffit's Patterns in Motion in 1960 would set the scene for traditional style marching.

Meanwhile, bands' popular appeal would go beyond just the college game. Marching bands never caught on in a big way in the NFL, with the Redskins and Colts fielding notable exceptions. Still, when the professional game added the championship game that would become the Super Bowl following the 1966 season, they turned to college marching bands for halftime entertainment for eight of the first nine years.

Styles

Marching styles differentiate by region, conference, and institution type. Throughout the Big Ten, a traditional style was born and has largely endured. Elements which include high step marching and drum major strutting make their way into many programs, especially during pregame performances. 

The show style present at HBCUs maintains traditional style elements while adding more flair. Segregation sent many black music educators north, often to the midwest, for advanced degrees that they were barred from pursuing at predominantly white schools in the south. One such educator was William P. Foster, who served as director of Florida A&M University's Marching 100 for over a half century. Many of the innovations have become commonplace not just at HBCUs, but at all manners of institutions.

While the Ivy League was part of the founding of college football, their marching bands have taken a decidedly different tilt. Every Ivy League school but Cornell, and a host of other academically elite schools employ scramble bands. Their style incorporates nontraditional instrumentation; satirical, often irreverent shows; and drill that often set and resets not by marching into place but by scattering to their next place. The Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band is the most prominent of these, as the only such band in a Power 5 league.

The ongoing military influence on marching music evolved not only at the collegiate level, but also in the drum and bugle corps that would eventually form Drum Corps International. With these corps, the military stride morphed into the glide step that is a staple of corps style marching today. While it was described in 1957 as a special effect, it dominates the landscape today in both high school and college bands. 

The Modern Era

Marching band continues to influence many elements of pop culture outside of football to this day. Marching bands are featured in commercials, their style is incorporated into pop music, they add to live concerts and performances, and they are turned to by major corporations seeking to jazz up events.

In 2002, Drumline was released, the first and to date only major motion picture based entirely around marching band. The film's effect influenced pop culture and bands alike. Both Blast and Drumline Live have brought marching music into the theater, and the Honda Battle of the Bands has provided an annual pilgrimage to Atlanta for bandheads for the past decade and a half. The Big Ten Network centers bands in one of their commercials, and Beyonce based an entire Coachella performance and accompanying concert film around the black college band experience. 

The internet has played a large role in band culture, while media, social and otherwise, have as well. The 5th Quarter spent two decades as the internet's virtual HBCU band room before closing this past January. Halftime Magazine has been serving the marching arts in print form since 2007, and College Marching has had a huge presence, especially on social media, since its 2014 founding. Marching band content that was once handed off and mailed via video tape can now be found on YouTube, and podcasts such as the Marching Podcast and Marching Roundtable cover the activity as well. Marching bands themselves embrace all manners of media to get their message out and connect with their fans, members, and one another.

And much as the bands have evolved both in relation to and apart from college football these past 150 years, they will continue to push boundaries, thrill audiences, and enhance experiences for untold decades to come.

Several resources were consulted in this piece's creation. Citations can be found here. 

Band on the Road 2019

BAND ON THE ROAD 2019

Each year since 2011, Band on the Road has attempted to catalog each travel game throughout the season for bands in power conferences. The resource is fully editable by design. While a good deal of work goes into its initial creation, the very point is that those in the know can edit it accordingly, making it as robust a database as possible. Band on the Road features the Power Five leagues by scope, not slight, and includes HBCU classics and, new for 2019, Battles of the Bands. Feel free to use it to see where your favorite band may be headed, or to add to the body of work with information not yet gathered. Enjoy!

Shop 80mins!

Some of you have seen me tease this shirt. Now you can have it!

The 80 Minutes of Regulation Shop is now LIVE via CafePress. If you've been wondering what to get the discerning band nerd in your life, look no further. The shop currently features a handful of band- and site-centric pieces, with more to come in the future.

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Reasonable Doubt

Last week, it was announced that the Jay-Z, through Roc Nation, would enter into a partnership with the NFL through which he would become the entertainment strategist for the league, as well as partner on social justice initiatives. There's been significant reaction since the announcement, most of it unfavorable for Hov.

I've decided I'm going to go a route that's rare on these here internet streets: I'm going to reserve my right not to have an instant reaction. Yes, in a world that all but demands an immediate opinion and accompanying thinkpiece, I'm in no hurry.

I will say this: Jay looks real wack right now, as most pieces have pointed out. After backing Colin Kaepernick's protests of police brutality, and even quipping in a lyric, "I said no to the Super Bowl, you need me, I don't need you," he seems to have done a complete 180 in siding with the league, especially against the backdrop of Kaepernick's continued unemployment. Still, the possibility exists that Jay-Z is playing chess, not checkers, so we may have to wait to see how this all plays out.

Fresh to Death

From the moment I made the decision to go, I had a feeling Fresh Fest would be my Essence, my All Star Weekend, my Honda (ok, Honda is always going to be my Honda)

However lofty my expectations were, it exceeded them.

I spent last weekend in Pittsburgh for Fresh Fest, the nation's first and only black craft beer festival. I got into town Thursday night, after driving up from Greensboro. I stayed in an Airbnb on the North Shore, situated such that I parked my car once and didn't move it again until it was time to go. I got in right around 8 and, since this was a beer-fronted trip, headed to the closest brewery, which was Allegheny City, mere blocks from where I stayed. Dinner came via the taco truck onsite, and I enjoyed a couple of their brews before heading back to my apartment for the weekend.

I spent Friday checking out the fair city of Pittsburgh. I started touring PNC Park, home of the Pirates (in a Pittsburgh Crawfords shirt as I had mentioned before) and then headed across the Roberto Clemente Bridge for a Pittsburgh culinary institution: Primanti Bros. That evening, I headed back out to catch a Steelers preseason game, where I of course had to catch the Pittsburgh Steeline.

Strictly Fresh Fest focused behavior began on Friday night with a meetup at Voodoo Brewery over in Homestead. There, I caught up with quite a few folks from a Facebook group I'm in for Black craft beer lovers and set the tone for the day to come.

Saturday was the day. My early entry pass got me in at 3 - two hours before the 5pm regular entry - and I began to realize the full potential of the event's vision and reality. The event was diverse by design, and as such was the most black folks I've ever seen at a beer event at one time, while still having an incredibly diverse crowd. There were a few breweries I made it a point to catch, but other than that I was trying to try as much as I could - and was relatively successful. The vibe was amazing. The courtyard - amazing on an 80 degree Pittsburgh afternoon - featured live bands, with a DJ inside. The breweries were in both locations, with food options in both places as well. I got to catch up with some of my folk from the night before, and check out what all was going on from each of the breweries and vendors. The event was extremely well run and all love. I got to shout passing thank yous at the two primary organizers, Mike Potter of Black Brew Culture and Day Bracey of the Drinking Partners Podcast, and dap up Mike. Musically the headliner for the night was Nappy Roots, and they sent us all off right.

Lord and schedule willing, this will become an annual trip. Fresh Fest's existence is to serve as a foil to the overwhelmingly white, male, and bearded world of craft beer, and it served as evidence that the rest of us are out there. I have a not-at-all unfounded fear of chasing that high at every brewery and beer event I attend in the meantime, but Fresh Fest showed us all what can be possible. As to its organization: With all due respect to Pittsburgh, a city I expected to like and had that expectation confirmed, Fresh Fest was born out of the organizers' locale, not necessarily the city's features. If you're looking to gather a critical mass of blackfolk, they easily could have gone with DC and Atlanta. Fresh Fest didn't seek a city that was already lit; they took their city and made it lit. What's more, from what I could see, the craft beer industry in Pittsburgh fully embraced the festival, partnering with collaborations and supporting the event. This year was only its second year, and I can't wait to see what's to come. One thing's for sure - it will be fresh.

Early Look

It's football season, y'all.

With all due respect to baseball, the start of the NFL preseason, coupled with the end of drum corps season, puts an even more singular focus on the football to come. Preseason football has a strange way of being just what the doctor ordered. It's meaningless, sure, but after the six month drought since the end of the Super Bowl, there's something about the familiar cadence of an NFL broadcast that brings it all rushing back.

I had the opportunity to catch the Steelers' preseason game while I was up in Pittsburgh this past weekend. Steelers' QBs battled for the right to backup Big Ben, while across the field, Jameis Winston put in some reps for the visiting Buccaneers. And, of course, because of who I am as a person, I kept an eye on the Pittsburgh Steeline, who were plenty entertaining before and during the game.

Of course, marching percussion isn't the only sports adjacent back in play. Once the games are back... the games are back. Much as the preseason offers a chance to get a first look at your team in action, getting in early is key. If you're keeping it interesting with the weekly action, find a sportsbook that posts lines early. The earlier the lines are up, the longer you have to analyze the odds and find the best value. When regular season starts, compare a few of the books to see which one publishes the lines the earliest. It gives you the chance not only to do your homework, but to either be ready to strike as lines move, or to have your horse back in the stable while the week is still young. I'm sure you've yelled at your favorite team's sideline about their clock management; those early lines can help you keep your own in check.

Pint of Order

Beer is on brand.

I'm in Pittsburgh this weekend for Fresh Fest Beer Fest, and I'm taking in quite a few things that will likely become #content. I toured PNC Park and attended a Steelers game yesterday, and while it needs no justification, the festival (and my adjacent beers) will make it to a post and respective social media as well.

For many, myself included, beer is a part of the Cadence of Game Day, from the tailgate lot, to the pregame/postgame pub stop, to the bottle or can in front of you while you watch on TV. In the context of 80 Minutes, beer has made a few features over the years, both in the context in and beyond sports and marching/athletic music. Fresh Fest is also a fully cultural experience that I'm looking forward to experiencing - and, in fact, already have in the time that I've been here in Pittsburgh. So when you catch this beer content, just know that like loyalty and royalty, it's in our DNA.