skyIdub
Memorial Stadium Game Day Experience
- Status
Another former member here. I'll just say that the MI has not lived up to its "Nation's Premier College Marching Band" tagline since Gary Smith retired. Not even close to being the premier BIG marching band, unfortunately.
GrayGhost77
- Centennial, CO
Likewise. I'm 45 years old and have honestly never even heard that song. Shocking.
That said, after listening to it I definitely think it could work!
Mr. Tibbs
- southeast DuPage
thats too bad and many of us have noticed it isnt nearly the same as it was in the 1970's - 2000's.Another former member here. I'll just say that the MI has not lived up to its "Nation's Premier College Marching Band" tagline since Gary Smith retired. Not even close to being the premier BIG marching band, unfortunately.
its basically average now. Middle of the road for the B1G
INI. Wearing Illini gear nearly every day in Tulsa, OK. In fact, my wardrobe (outside of work) is nearly limited to Illinois gear, to which my lovely wife has alluded to the need for wardrobe expansion. I disagree.
Wife and I attended the St Jude's Fed PGA golf tournament a few weeks ago wearing Illini shirts. Got two separate ILL hellos. Both people appeared to be in the 25-35 year age range. Nice.
How about Unbelievable by EMF. I know it was 1991 but it's a great song.
Ransom Stoddard
Ordained Dudeist Priest
- Bloomington, IL
Agree, but it's been used to death in the last 30+ years. Us old guys gotta face reality at some point--the songs from our yout aren't (for the most part) what gets the younger generations on their feet.
redwingillini11
White and Sixth
- North Aurora
Losing the War Chant. I know some people think the War Chant wasn't great at getting people loud on a third down, but I think there is no doubt that that was the signature sound of the Marching Illini. Some random college football fan could have their back turned to the TV and know that Illinois is playing solely from the sound of the War Chant. It really stood out. Pretty much every other thing the Marching Illini does other than OWW and IL are just generic songs. Fine, but nothing screams "Illinois." I'm not really sure how you fix this. I think it was pretty silly and unnecessary to drop the War Chant. Its not like Illinois fans were doing tomahawk chops or doing insensitive dances. If they play the Three in One, they should play the War Chant.
I think a marching band's reputation is helped when it travels well to road games. I cannot tell you the last time I noticed that the Marching Illini travelled to a road game. Back when I was in school I realized the Marching Illini were playing some at some marching band showcase at Benedictine University in Lisle on a Friday night instead of playing the road games that year, and Barry Houser clapped back at a tweet that I had criticizing the move saying its expensive to go to road games. Yes the Marching Illini go up and play a Bears game. Yes they march in some parades. Call me wrong, but I think the marching band's priority should be supporting the football team, and pretty much every other serious marching band makes it out to a road game. I think this lack of exposure to other fans has hurt their reputation. Now, I was THRILLED to see that they are making the trip to the Michigan game this year. I'll give them kudos, and hopefully this is the new standard so we get more and more exposure.
Finally, I think they need to start cycling in some new music and switching things up a bit. The non-Illinois specific, generic marching band songs have gotten a bit stale. I think there needs to be some innovative ideas for what could be the next great marching band song, instead of rolling out the same ones you have been doing for so long.
If Barry ends up seeing this, I'm sorry. I love watching and listening to the Marching Illini and I know he is a great director for them. I just have to be honest with what I have observed.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
No shade at anybody, but am I wrong feeling like a wildly disproportionate share of college football message board sickos (for Illinois and elsewhere) were in the marching band?
People really get in their feelings about this stuff in a way that's not really legible to me as someone who doesn't know anything about marching bands.
People really get in their feelings about this stuff in a way that's not really legible to me as someone who doesn't know anything about marching bands.
GrayGhost77
- Centennial, CO
Maybe, though I don't really feel like that's the case too much here. I do have a younger cousin who's in MI. That' said, it makes sense they'd be passionate about the sports teams given their affiliation and the fact that they get to attend so many of the games and are a big part of the atmosphere.
bdutts
- Houston, Texas
I got an ILL when in Prague in 2015 when someone saw my Illini toque/stocking hat. Chatted with a few young alumni for a bit.
Shane Walsh
aka "Captain Oblivious"
- Cynthiana, Kentucky
Seems Coach has no marching band complaints.
First, what else can he say? He could say nothing, so it's awesome that he's publicly acknowledging the part the band plays for the atmosphere. Second, the main complaints about the MI as they currently exist are mostly about the halftime shows, which Bret will never even see. From a self avowed band nerd perspective, their shows have gone down hill quite a bit since Gary Smith retired. Houser gets edgy with his loud chords when the opposing team is in the north endzone, which is awesome. Hope they keep doing it and get a warning every Saturday.
Losing War Chant was indeed a stupid thing to get rid of. We could easily have quit using it on third downs, but continued to use it for the team entrance and other key moments of the game. It literally has no words, so it is hard to see why it was offensive, if it indeed it was.
The really cool part is that we're spending time talking about the marching band, because the product on the field appears to finally be relevant, so there are other things that can ben critiqued!
Illinir1
- Camdenton, MO
Couldn't agree with you more as a 42 year east main stands season ticket holder. I share my feedback that the band should return to facing east, or at least face east a much larger percentage of the halftime show. When this program takes off and the east stands are completely full, the band will still be facing west and playing to 20% of the stadium. Also, I've been in the west side suites and the field sound is piped into the suites. Just bad, especially when the band is playing.
You need to get her some.
Illini gear, that is.
And wardrobe expansion? That means more Illini stuff, right?
KrushCow31
Former Krush Cow
- Chicago, IL
I've said this before in these types of threads and I think it's still relevant. We really just have no continued cultural traditions at Illinois other than our main 2 songs. My dad and my brother and me all went to ND in 1978, 2005, and 2019. They have basically the same traditions then and now. Even the student section songs and cheers are the same. The University just keeps killing things and changing things to the point that someone there now probably has little similar experiences to me from 2013. Idk what the way to fix that is.
Also, Ayo threw out the first pitch at the Sox game a few months ago and he came out to the war chant blasting through the stadium and I hadn't heard it in years obviously. Really brought back memories of how awesome that song is. Also had no idea how the Sox got away with playing it lol.
Also, Ayo threw out the first pitch at the Sox game a few months ago and he came out to the war chant blasting through the stadium and I hadn't heard it in years obviously. Really brought back memories of how awesome that song is. Also had no idea how the Sox got away with playing it lol.
Can the wife and i stroll on in to Grange Grove or do we need to buy tickets specifically for GG entrance? Bringing plenty of beverages.
God when did i get so old.
God when did i get so old.
blackdog
- Champaign
Grange Grove is open to everyone and you can certainly bring your own drinks there. Plenty of people that set up a whole tailgate operation inside but you probably have to claim a spot the night before.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
As a non-alumni fan ... I will agree with this. My first experience in Champaign was this 11:00 am football game on a beautiful fall day during our 2-10 campaign in 2005:
Score: #15 Wisconsin 41, Illinois 24
Attendance: 52,158
Fighter's Age: 14 (fall of eighth grade)
I was mesmerized. Listening to the Marching Illini, looking at the columns/considering their meaning and walking around campus/thinking about going to school there were experiences I still hold dear.
Well, I ended up living in another state by the time I was 18 and was not a good enough student (or disadvantaged enough) to earn meaningful scholarship money when I finally got into the U of I ... so I went to an instate (for me) school and saved roughly 30-35k for my family. So, that "emotional factor" is out for me!
That leaves the following, which all come up short:Marching Illini: I'm not a marching band expert, but I'll admit that seeing the two main songs I loved the most wither away has sucked. The Three in One has lost its zest (though I also hope it never goes away!), and the War Chant has been retired. So, hearing "Go Fight Win!" and stuff like that ... sorry, it's neither cool nor unique to us.
Columns/History of Memorial: While this remains cool and a source of pride for me as a fan ... can anyone honestly say we promote this heritage of ours in any meaningful way through our school pride? There is literally nothing through the course of being an Illini fan - besides the name "Memorial Stadium" - that reminds us of this or promotes it as a unique thing about us. Forget the Doughboy mascot or whatever, we can still make this a tradition. I think we missed a golden opportunity in 2018 (100-year anniversary of WWI ending) to start a new sacred tradition where we do some type of "ceremonial" or "ritual"-like activity that engages the whole crowd and honors Illinoisans who've served - maybe a song played by the MI or a moment of silence with some uniqueness before or after each game? At the very least, we could place WAY more iconography around the stadium and in the concourse areas to give the place a historical feel and remind us all WHY it's called Memorial Stadium. I just visited the fallen soldiers memorials in Edinburgh Castle in Scotland, and it's breathtaking ... you could literally (and RESPECTFULLY) make Memorial Stadium a living, breathing monument to these heroes in a much more "in your face" way. I doubt many visiting fans even know that's why it's called Memorial Stadium, and I'd argue that's a huge PR issue!!
I, like many, am spinning my wheels here ... but it's a fantastic and important point we need to address. When you remove the pride many/most of you rightfully have in attending a world-class institution like the U of I, what SPORTS-related thing do we all take pride in besides wins and losses?? I mean, the closest thing we have to that is being the only team that wears orange, lol. Even when Purdue or Wisconsin or whomever is bad, their fans (where I am in Chicago) walk around with this sort of pride ... Illinois fans kind of hide like they're too embarrassed to associate with their own team unless the team "gives them something to cheer for" ... and that's a problem, because we need more fans than our own alumni and (East) Central IL residents, and more importantly we need them to be fans (at least in an emotional sense, even if they aren't going to games!) even when we aren't an exciting team ... our rivals all do, believe me.
Bringing this all the way back to the topic at hand, if people don't want to go down some of the roads mentioned above, there is still one thing that we could lean into that would be easy ... Champaign's newly earned reputation as a fun party town. Make Grange Grove a frickin' zoo, baby! I don't mean lawless and not family-friendly, of course, but rather a vibe more like a weekly festival than a patch of grass where individuals can hang out next to each other. Have a "Breweries of Illinois" week, a farmer's market week, whatever you want ... make it fun, and let's lean into that! Separate "Grange Grove" from "Illini Football," honestly ... make it a staple of Champaign.
Because, at the end of the day, we need to give fans a reason to come to Memorial Stadium even when we're bad ... because it makes it 100 times easier to fill the place when we're not!
Sorry for the rambling, it's my first day back in the States after our honeymoon, and I'm (not) working from home ... lol. I-L-L!
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All of the traditions once were new. The MI needs to try a lot more new things that are creative and entertaining. Hopefully, some will resonate with the audience, stick and become new traditions.
As for the halftime shows, the themes, arrangements and drill lack creativity, relevance and innovation. “Broadway,” Blood Sweat and Tears and other 70s/80s classic rock are as tired, generic and frankly lazy as one can get — but those are the three shows I’ve seen this year. Yuck. I won’t get into critiquing the musical execution, because I’m sure I’m already boring most readers (but in short, it’s mediocre).
BTW, it really pains me to write this, but it’s what I see and hear.
As for the halftime shows, the themes, arrangements and drill lack creativity, relevance and innovation. “Broadway,” Blood Sweat and Tears and other 70s/80s classic rock are as tired, generic and frankly lazy as one can get — but those are the three shows I’ve seen this year. Yuck. I won’t get into critiquing the musical execution, because I’m sure I’m already boring most readers (but in short, it’s mediocre).
BTW, it really pains me to write this, but it’s what I see and hear.
I think Gritty might like whats coming around 2:30 today.
redwingillini11
White and Sixth
- North Aurora
blackdog
- Champaign
redwingillini11
White and Sixth
- North Aurora
Aggressive refreshing Twitter is currently happening over here.Its 2:30
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