Hi guys,
I’m the director of the SUMB, and I wanted to chime in here; you guys are the biggest SU fans I can find on the Internet!
The SUMB does shows like this a lot. The WVU show linked here is an Armed Forces salute; we did the same thing in 2003 and again in 2007. We don’t have enough personnel to do as much as they did (I personally love the boat turning into a sub and the water rising to cover it) but we spelled the names of all the branches (“Army”, “Navy”, etc.) and made tanks, ships and planes and moved them around the field. For perspective, WVU has over 400 members, ad we have around 200. The SUMB has grown by about 50 members in the last 5-7 years, and we are always working to increase the size of it but without scholarships for any band members it can be difficult.
Last season, in 2010, we did a mash-up of the best pop music from 2000-2010 and spelled bands’ names and made their logos on the field. This year, we made stars, flags, and other patriotic images in our salute to 9/11. At the Pinstripe Bowl, our New York-themed show had us making the Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty.
These are just some of the examples I can think of off-hand of the specific shapes we made on the field recently, and they don’t include our pregame show which features a giant “S” going down the field to the fight song and an entire routine in the shape of New York. When you see us making abstract shapes (some of them do look like amoebas, we see that too!) it’s because we’re concerned with staging our players: that is, we need the right sections in the right place at the right time so you can hear them. This can result is shapes/forms that look like abstract art.
I don’t think we move more than most FBS college bands (if we do, it’s only by a bit); every school moves about as much we do, and makes abstract shapes when there isn’t a special show theme like this. Don’t forget that we recruit most of our students in the northeast and they are accustomed and versed in a certain marching style and we can’t move too far away from that or it will be even more difficult to get them to join.
We are always looking for ways to innovate to give you fans something exciting, too. This year’s mash-up of Karaoke classics with singers and lyrics on the scoreboard was a big hit, as was last year’s decade show. We also dance too; we did the “Single Ladies” dance last year and made a huge splash with “Thriller” a few years ago right after Michael Jackson’s passing.
In any case, thank for being interested in college bands and I promise that as an SU alum, my staff and I are working tirelessly to grow and improve the SUMB to help give our team the best home field advantage in college football and to provide our fans with a fun and memorable gameday experience. There is nothing more important to us than those two goals. Go Orange!
