We’re going to settle which B1G Band is best as only the internet can... through arbitrary logic, easily rigged polls, and memes.

It’s that wonderful time of year again. Grills are being lit in parking lots. School colors are blooming on campus. Dreams are being shattered by “inferior” opponents (cough Duke cough). And… the sweet sound of 100-300 blaring instruments and banging drums are once again serenading B1G fans across the country.

By way of introduction for those who might be new, here, this is OTE’s place to celebrate B1G Bands. I, your humble (and non-paid) correspondent will usually cover a brief topic for the week, and then highlight videos for various Marching Band halftime shows that have been posted on YouTube.

Now, to explain the title. I’ve decided this year to semi-formalize a scoring system, because there is nothing that OTE (or the internet for that matter) embraces more than a chance to argue about numbers, lists, and rankings. Previously, I awarded the coveted Off Beat Empire “Win”, “Place”, or “Show” designation (plus “Honorable Mentions”) that was followed by dozens… literally dozens (OK, maybe more like 5-6 people). This year, I’m going to track performances over the year, and keep a running tally as to who is winning the Constructor Championship (total points – yes, I’ve been watching F-1) and Performance Average.

The totally scientific, objective, indisputable primary scoring system will be as follows:

Why award bands just because they publish online? Because letting the world see their performances is a good thing. Even if the Bands themselves don’t publish their performances, having passionate fans who do is good and gets rewarded.

Now, for the special Off Beat Empire modifiers / pet peeves. If there is one thing that I have come to not enjoy over the years of doing this, it would be reviewing the same exact show over… and over… and over again because all Marching Bands have the same basic formula each-and-every year.

So, point deductions are as follows (and keep in mind that I haven’t looked at the videos yet for the first few weeks):

Over the first few weeks, we have video from everyone except Iowa and Maryland

I mean, just listen to that opening of “Isn’t She Lovely” in the first 30 seconds. Full sound... bright trumpets... counter-melody from the horns coming through bright as day... rich low voices... clear, yet complex percussion support... color guard looks solid... This is everything that a world-class marching band should sound like, and more. The Spartans did not take it easy on the arrangement, either. That arrangement of “Sir Duke” sounds incredibly hard, and there are some fantastic trumpet and horn licks, especially around the three minute mark (maybe got a tiny bit off, but it ultimately held together). Drill was maybe a step below Ohio State’s this week, but it was plenty enough for the show and with that sound, you don’t need as much drill. I’ve got to find an excuse to get to East Lansing and hear one of these performances, live (I haven’t since 1993).

First off, Purdue now has a dedicated YouTube channel! Hooray! Thank you Purdue Bands & Orchestras. We get everything from Blondie to Madonna in this entertaining arrangement of ‘80’s pop hits. Purdue is so great when it comes to their big hit moments, and they show great dynamic range in lowering the volume (but still clearly delivering) the interludes between. The sound just blows me away. That said, as great as this performance is, it doesn’t quite have the same level of musical complexity that the Spartans brought to the field. The drill is also bit simpler with more than a fair amount of Park N’ Bark (no deduction for the dance squad... they earned their feature, as did the... sigh... Twirler squad). Still, a clear step above a lot of this weeks other shows and worthy of the silver.

Purdue’s got both kinds of music, Country, and Western! Purdue pours itself a cup of ambition with a fun show featuring everything from “East Bound and Down” to a variety of Dolly Parton hits (“9 to 5”, “Jolene”, and the duet with Kenny Rogers “Islands in the Stream”, to name a few). Just like above, that sound is just right there, in your face when it needs to be, but controlled and clear when the Band dials it back. A very entertaining show, but some points seemed to get a little sloppier than the ‘80’s show above and the drill seemed like it had more Park N’ Bark (it probably had just as many sets, but for some reason it just felt like less). Again, auxiliary squads earned their feature, so no deduction.

Well, we did end up with a 50 year anniversary show, but this is for Title IX. I wrote an article on it last year, but it’s still amazing to me that the B1G made it all the way to the 1970’s before some Marching Bands added women.

At first, I was just going to put this in other participants, but dang... that’s a really good, clear sound coming from the Marching Hundred. The show came close to penalties with “Featuring our Twirler” (I mean... seriously... even Indiana has a Twirler, now), but the band moved, so it’s all good (and the young lady has obvious talent... I must be softening in my old age).

First off, I made too many honorable mentions this week. I think it’s because my Northwestern experience and fandom (band arrives very late) conditions me to not expect much early in the season, and then I’m surprised when groups actually look pretty polished, because they don’t wait until October to start. This was actually one of the last videos I reviewed this week, and I spent a fair amount of time agonizing over whether it should be another honorable mention, or just appearance. The Wolverines gave us a variety of tunes built around a summer crush, and really more about the breakup (seriously Wolverines... did somebody hurt you this summer? You haven’t even lost to Duke, or Iowa State, or Georgia Southern...). Ultimately, the sound is really clear and the drill is decent, and I just can’t see marking the Wolverines lower than anybody else on the honorable mention list. That said, there just wasn’t much punch to the performance, either, and the Wolverines repeated the show. Ultimately, it’s clean enough to warrant the honorable mention, but not more.

The Spartans give us various Pop hits from the past 10 years, ranging from Taylor Swift to the Weekend. It’s Michigan State, so it sounds extremely good, but not quite good enough to my ear to earn one of the top spots. This didn’t seem to have the same punch as their show above. Still, the drill was decent and this is a quality show. I couldn’t quite see the dance squad on the opposite side, but I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt and not impose any “featuring our...” deductions during Park N’ Bark.

You did it! You beautiful blue bastards did it! Guns N’ Roses “Sweet Child O’ Mine” to open a collection of big hits and I finally have a legit metal hit brought to halftime (+2 points). Not shabby picking Santana’s “Corazon Espinado” and the theme from “Top Gun”, either.

Really good sound from Penn State, here. The arrangements in particular seemed to be well done, especially with some tricky sound to translate. Drill wasn’t exactly the hardest I’ve seen, but still decent, especially for a first home game.

Just one quick thing, first... when I think of Jazz, I think of what they kept on the Jukebox at the Ricky Bobby bar (in addition to Seal and the Pet Shop Boys for profiling purposes). I wish people would just call tunes like these swing, or Big Band (at least Big Band Jazz). We of course get the typically excellent Ohio State drill, but I have to say, the music just didn’t sound that impressive. It felt like they got off a bit throughout the rendition, and none of the big hits really seemed to come through. Of course, part of that might just be the microphone setup (I wonder sometimes just how many shows I overlook simply because the technology wasn’t right), but I don’t think so. I would be curious what anybody at the game thought about the sound. Still, that’s a lot of drill sets in comparison to the other honorable mentions, so the Buckeyes get some extra credit.

A bit of the same thing... nice drill and I think the sound was at least cleaner for this performance, but the big hits just really weren’t there. Again, it could just be a microphone issue, but I don’t think so. This just sounds like the Buckeyes are playing it safe.

Doesn’t count, but I like the idea of Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy” as an Arrangement. That could be another great stand song when on Defense.

No points for this show, but I did laugh at including “Never Gonna Give You Up”.

“Don’t Stop Believing” would also be a fantastic 4th quarter comeback stand song. “Living on a Prayer” is too, but not when Northwestern plays it in the first quarter (OK, maybe appropriate against Duke) or when we’re ahead (seriously ‘Cats... get with it). Great fan participation for the Gophers, though! Definitely lots of singing - a lot more so than what I can hear in Ohio State’s rendition.

Not the best angle for a recording (sounds a lot better in this pre-game concert: https://youtu.be/kc2wUS6tpUc), but this is still video on Nebraska, which is rare and good. I’ve had Stranger Things in my Netflix list for years, and just haven’t been able to bring myself to start watching it. Is it really good, or over-hyped?

Update: It was pointed out in the comments that the Cornhuskers did play Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” toward the end of the show. Because of the camera angle, I’m still having a hard time hearing it, but it is there. +2 metal bonus to Nebraska.

Not really much more than a glorified mini Band Day with a small Northwestern travel band exchanging Park N’ Bark songs with the Cornhuskers before joining forces, but hey... somebody recorded it and posted the whole show on YouTube, so two points. Also, I’m kind of impressed that the Universities sent an actual portion of the band. A nice trip to Ireland would have been cool as a student. Does not even come close to qualifying for joint show points.

Not taped, but from attendance, Sept. 10th was Band Day for the ‘Cats.

OK, this is clearly not a great recording. I’m pretty sure that we are looking through the lens of a proud parent / sibling / friend of a flag corp member... from the wrong side of the field to hear anything. The young lady seemed to do just fine. I normally wouldn’t post this, but we now have rules, points are at stake, and I feel the need to show my work. If I get a better recording in subsequent weeks, I’ll post it (but award no extra points).

Well, I didn’t say anything about 10 year anniversaries. Actually, kind of an original idea by the Badgers.

My nieces love “Shut Up and Dance”. They would have had fun with this one.

Nothing out there for the Hawkeye Marching Band or the Mighty Sound of Maryland, unfortunately.

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