^ovnoo
Now for something
completely different
By SCOT K. MEYER
Battalion Staff
Question: Were you told to hold
back at all, in order to avoid offend
ing the Aggie audience?
Well, they did tell us not to do
any goose-stepping ...
The buses were late. The itiner
ary called for the MOB to be rolling
into the parking lot of Luby’s by
11:30, and it was already 12:30.
It was a pretty day for a football
game, and presumably also for
half-time activities. But the Rice
band was still not in town.
The Rice band had not been in
town in a number of years, of
course, so it is conceivable that it
got lost somewhere along the way.
Or maybe they got waylaid ...
Relations between the Texas
A&M University student body and
the Marching Owl Band, or MOB,
have not been excellent. As every
one knows, in 1973 the MOB was
attacked by indignant Aggies after
making fun of our sacred traditions.
That was in Rice stadium, so com
ing up to College Station the next
year might have seemed near
suicidal. The MOB stayed home.
But past is past, and this year
the MOB was coming up.
Two patrol cars cruised shark
like into the parking lot. One was
light blue — College Station police
— while the other was University-
police white. They circled the park
ing lot once, and then the four little
yellow school buses arrived, carry
ing the MOB.
The police cars hovered around
the buses like mother hens. Rice
Band Director Ken Dye said the
police escort was not for security
purposes, although he admitted
that “they did seem to be on their
toes.”
But Dye said he did not expect
any trouble. “Both athletic depart
ments would like to see better rela
tions between the universities,”
Dye said. He said the athletic de
partments worked to make the trip
work out as smoothly as possible.
Dye said this was his first year
as band director, and that he had
decided to “try it” with a Texas
A&M band trip. “The main reason
we’re going there is so we can
support our team,” he said. “One
of the main reasons we haven’t
been going the last couple of years
is that we haven’t had the money.
This year we got the money for the
trip.”
After the program, Drum major
David Zumwalt said the program
went very well. "We wanted to do a
show that was entertaining to both
A&M and Rice, and I think we suc
ceeded,” Zumwalt said.
The show was not tailored espe
cially to please the Texas A&M
crowd, Zumwalt said, although it
was tailored a little to fit the
stadium.
“Kyle field is a taller stadium, so
we could do more spell-outs than
we might do somewhere else. The
PA system at Kyle is also pretty
good, so we could rely more on the
script for humor,” Zumwalt said.
Kevin Lind, the personnel mana
ger — “sort of a fancy title for a den
mother” — for the band, said he
thought the show went very well.
“The whole trip was a success,” he
said. “It reaHy brought the band
together.”
Lind, a senior with a double ma
jor in physics and mathematics, is
responsible for taking role at re
hearsals.
Although the idea of rehearsals
might seem contrary to the very
spirit of chaos which seemed to be
the MOB ideal, Lind said they have
been effective in improving the
band’s sound.
The band is still casual, Lind
said, but it is reversing the trend of
the last few years toward total dis
order. “It’s not our style to be or
ganized,” he said, “but chaos is
not a lot of fun either.”
But performing in the MOB still
has it’s surprises. For example, the
members of the band do not hear
the script until the day of the game.
Dye said the script is kept secret
because “at a small school like
Rice, if the band members know
the jokes, everyone will.”
So how does the band re
hearse?
“We practice the music, and we
get in formation,” one band mem
ber said. “Then we just kind of
stand around until the whistle
blows. When the whistle blows we
do something else.”
Zumwalt said he and Dye write
the script, and they often make last
minute revisions. He agreed that it
is better to keep the final script
secret until the last minute, in order
to keep the jokes from getting
stale.
“The people in the MOB get
more out of the show if they think it
is funnier or more provocative,” he
said.
Although the band is becoming
less chaotic, it’s basic orientation
will remain towards thought-
provoking material and satire.
The Marching Owl Band performs its ‘in
ternational show.’ Above, the band gives
tribute to Mexico with the dancing coc
kroach. Recognizing that the world is not
festi e all over, the MOB gives its imper-
sons ion of Mideast tension, below.
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