"The President's Own" U.S. Marine Band

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

We saw the United States Marine Band in concert last night. They tour a portion of the country every fall, and happened to be hitting the upper midwest this year.

 

The concert was great. They performed with [ahem] military precision and great skill. There were of course a number of pieces by Sousa, but not as many as I expected. Had a Sousa song I hadn't heard of before, "The Pride of The Wolverines." The concert moderator said they were excited to finally be performing that song in Michigan, because it hadn't been received so well in other places they had played it - Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Ohio...

 

Before the concert started, we looked around and suddenly felt very...young. There were a lot of gray-haired folk in the auditorum. First guess was that older people are more inlined to be interested in this sort of music, but another factor surfaced at the end. The band's final piece was a medley of all the armed service's official songs, with active/retired members of each service (Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard) requested to stand as their song was played. A LOT of people stood up for each song, with really a lot of Marines standing up - some of them a little teary-eyed as their branch's song was played. I don't know what percentage of the general US is active/retired military, but they sure seemed overrepresented in the concert audience, a result of retired military folks who were happy/proud to attend such a display.

 

Check their tour schedule; I recommend seeing them if they play near you. Strange, it was absolutely free/general admission, but we were able to get tickets that allowed us to get in and get seated before the unticketed masses were allowed entry. Glad we did that, because it was a full house by the time the concert started, and we were able to get great seats.

[Semper_Fi]

Was the silent drill team there?

 

If you have not seen them - you should - incredible and breath-taking

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

Was the silent drill team there?

 

Sounds like that would have been cool, but no - just the stage band.

[Les is more]

The precision and bright sound of that music can be so stirring.

 

By the way Domo-kun--I hope, for the sake of those around you, that you weren't unduly upset or nervous during the concert.

[Firefight911]

By the way Domo-kun--I hope, for the sake of those around you, that you weren't unduly upset or nervous during the concert.

 

Now that right there is funny! Phhhhffffffttttttttttttt!

 

The Marine Corps Band is amazing. They are worth every sacrifice to go see.

 

Of course, being a former Marine they are also the best out there!

[Tony_K]

Lori was almost a member of that band 10 years ago.

 

She had passed all the musical requirements and was basically "in" but since the band is part of the US military she was denied because she has asthma!

 

Her friend who placed with her took the seat! Gunnery Sergeant Tracey Paddock. Once you're in you're IN!

They both attended Florida State.

 

 

[russell_bynum]

I heard them back in '93 and yeah...they're awesome.

 

It doesn't get much better than the Marine Band playing Sousa Marches and the Armed Forces Medley.