He's With The Band

http://www.upenn.edu/gazette/0109/window.html



He’s With the Band

Greer Cheeseman EAS’77 (surrounded, with whistle) has been involved with the Penn Band for 35 years as a student, assistant director upon graduation, and director since 1994. Among many other distinctions, according to a band press release, Greer started the tradition of throwing toast during the playing of “Drink a Highball.” This fall the band celebrated his three-and-a-half decades of service at its 111th Anniversary Gala event, with more than 200 alumni and students in attendance. This photo is from Alumni Weekend 2008.

LIVE BLOG: PENN BAND ELECTIONS

And I am live from high atop the Cheeseman Labaratory for Atonal Polyphony for another year of live-bloggin' at 5:56 PM.

The intrigue this year remains high as 3 of the 4 board spots were held by seniors so with all 4 positions wide open it's time to begin thinking about the FUTURE OF THE PENN BAND.

Candidates for the positions tonight include:

President
Joe Coyne (2010, Trumpet)

Vice President
Zach Klitzman (2010, Baritone)

Secretary
Jaci Rifkin (2011, Drums)
Joe Catania (2010, Drums)

Treasurer
Gordon Watkins (2011, Bells)
Jeremy Gurwicz (2012, Drums)

The Candidates arrive slowly, as is the band. The turnout this year appears to be much lower than last year's. In a major surprise, Joe Catania decided to show up, eschewing the Governor's class for an opportunity to be the glorified attendance taker. A quick look at the fashions as we count down the minutes to the beginning.

Joe Coyne: Dressed sloppily, I actually believe he's wearing the same sweatshirt he wore to victory last year.

Zach Klitzman: Wearing a much sloppier outfit than last year, no polo in sight. Just a sweatshirt and jeans for him as well. Could this be the most poorly dressed executive administration in the history of the Penn Band? Probably.

The secretary candidates both look sharp with Jaci in a ruffled blouse and grey jeans, Joe Catania appears formal in a button down down shirt the color of a Barolo and jeans buttoned to the top button.

The treasurer candidate who was clearly gunning for best dressed is Gordon with his understated tie though Jeremy also dressed up for the occasion in a black polo.

I'll be back with some short analysis and predictions soon. Keep checking back for updates as the election progresses.

President
Joe Coyne gives a long speech the ends in a proclamation because no one ran against him.

Speech and Questions (sorry technical difficulties):
Says he wants to include the people on the bottom and listen to people's ideas. Wants people to want to come to band. Got his pants from his ethnic slurring grandfather.

Vice President
Main responsibilities according to Kettler include being in charge of show-writing, encouraging people's creative ferment, having people killed, going to meetings, really crappy meetings

Speech
Again a candidate runs unopposed as Zach Klitzman slinks his way to the front of the band room. He looks less smelly than usual, doesn't smell. He's the Fanfare Vice Chair, helped clean up for parties, plugs semi, says his really tough accomplishment is being travel manager. Went to the Ivy Band Conference last year. Greer makes him nervous, wants to talk to Band Oversight Committee about the band. Thinks the VP is cheerleader of the band. Plus one of the duties is take criticism and he's very good at that.

Questions
He thinks he's funny enough because he's hung out with lots of funny people and he's more magical. A-Tone asks why he's VP rather than Sports editor. It's because he knows this is his favorite group on campus and he's 100% committed to it. Doesn't have any show ideas of his own, very open to writing any show that anyone submits an idea for, it's a collaborative effort. Ben asks about the loudest members of the band got the movies put on as travel manager, are you going to try to get everyone to get their vote in as VP? He says that putting on movies aren't as important as writing shows, realizes he's not the decider and says he'll listen to people on the show-writing committee. He's trying really hard to meet with the Band Oversight committee because he wants to have less oversight. Erik asks if he's learned any lessons from the Hey Song incident. We can't say "you suck" also, it's neat that the tradition is dependent on the band. Koosh asks about the currently suspended Yale Band. Klitzman says he doesn't know how Yale props work, says that if the director approved the prop and didn't catch it, it's his fault.


Treasurer
Eamonn tells people that he goes to SAC meeting and making sure dues are collected. He is wearing a smart outfit and goatee.

Speeches
Gordon says he's a sophomore in the college and that hopefully we all know him. He's currently the equipment manager, and those repsonsibilities overlap. Parka managing can be difficult cause people don't like to return them. Works in the Dean's office with the school of medicine and does some of their expense reports. Has nothing further to add other than I really want to be your treasurer.

Jeremy says plays the misshapen abominations called quints. Who would want to be treasurer because no one cares about them until stuff's in the toilet. Thinks the band needs a new stimulus package, suggests bulk instruments, stretch limos, space heaters. Can we trust him not to skim off the top, because he wants to spend every cent that we have. Has handled large budgets before, dealt with the creation and implementation of budget in Student Council and charity drives. Investment and AIG and Citibank are his two main, quotes DMX in his speech.

Questions
Campisi asks about the Penn Band's finances and how they work. Gordon can't right now but he talked to some board members and they said they'd walk him through them; in fact neither of them can tell you in detail and then attempts to tell us in detail. Eammonn asks do you know what SAC stands for Jeremy gets 1/3 and Gordon gets 3/3. Hickman asks if he's in Wharton and Jeremy isn't. Joe has a question about how they're going to make themselves more available to people who don't know them; Jeremy says he's going to participate in events outside of band, Gordon admits that he's a little shy. Kettler asks what their favorite thing about money, Jeremy says cause it's not his; Gordon likes the old five dollar bills better. Mayuko was a treasurer and says sometimes you have to talk in front of a lot of people and that sometimes we're not taken seriously and that you have to be persistent and professional asks what kind of qualities they have that would make them a good treasurer. Gordon says he likes to prepare himself and that he'd be very prepared. Mayuko recommends tenacity. Jeremy was captain of his basketball and football teams in high school, must not have been very good programs. Koosh asks 9*13 they both get it at nearly the same time. Palusci asks what they're going to be bring as far as decision making. Jeremy says he's good at listening to people and at making decisions. Gordon tends not to have very strong opinions. Pips with a haircut asks how do you reconcile your drummer names with being good members of the Penn Band. Gordon says he doesn't think it's informing. Robert says that Eamonn is fussing around with Microsoft Money and Gordon knows how to use it and Jeremy doesn't. Klitzman asks how are you going to raise money from alums? Jeremy says he's going to schmooze (great knowledge of Yiddush not a pre-requisite for Penn Band treasurer). What do you want to spend the money on? Gordon wants new lyres and drum stands, flip folders, lots of stuff. Jeremy wants more drum pork.

Closing Statement
Jeremy said a lot of jokes, but he's not a terrible person, takes his jobs seriously. Thinks this is the best organization at Penn. Gordon is really committed to band, is always here and wants to get more involved.

I have gained a better understanding, the drummers aren't canabilizing, they're forcing others out. I suspect by next semester we'll have all new drums with fancy sterling silver sticks. Finally a vote, a break and an interview. Coming up next.

Interview with Vice President Zach Klitzman
Noah Becker: So Zach, it seems to me that you got a lot of questions that were related to the band "Culture Wars." What did you make of these questions and why do you think you got them rather than Joe?
Zach Klitzman: Not as much as last year. (Mouth full of crackers) Well, part of it...to be honest is that I guess the Vice Presidency is more connected to the band culture, the show writing, the more visible...at the same time I was surprised I got more than Joe. Also I feel my section affiliation had something to do with it.
Stunna: Who's your favorite Vice President who did not either run or serve as president?
ZK: That's tough, does Aaron Burr count as running. Calhoun.
Noah Becker: Do you have a vested interest in who wins the other two elections?
ZK: What? Theoretically, I don't.

Gordon wins the election.

The Secretary race is on:
Joe says you're the band's bitch and you learn everyone's name, you're the only person in the band who knows everyone's name, also you take minutes at meetings and send out schedules.

Speeches
Jaci is a sophomore, psych majoring drummer, band is her only extra curricular. She tries to come to everything. Has been in band since fall of her freshman year, we're all her best friends. She's been drum line section leader for the last year, she thinks that going from Drum Line section leader is the best transition to secretary because she sends out schedules and has to plan for what sort of instruments are going to be there. She's a girl so she was born with secretarial abilities. She and Joe both have curly hair.

Catania he's Joe also a drummer and he's a junior but a band sophomore. Freshman year he had a class so he didn't join the band, but he was friends with Joe Coyne. Joined sophomore year, has been to 7 of 9 football games. Rearranged his school schedule last semester. Didn't this semester because he was taking a class with Governor Rendell. Band is his far and away number one activity, he is an officer in two other clubs. But says this just gives him experience. Systems Engineering gives him an advantage on doing schedules. Thinks he's pretty approachable. But thinks he could name 50 of us in the room, maybe more! Vot for him, says he.

Questions
Joe says being secretary means you have to do the worst job in the Penn Band other than Greer, do you have the time to take 20 hours out of your life each semester and just type numbers into a spreadsheet? Jaci is used to it, thinks it's awesome to know everyone and punching numbers is her fetish; Joe considers excel spreadsheets to be a hobby doesn't care about the reward, cares about helping the band. Becca asks what do you add to the team that's been elected; Joe attempts to be chivalrous and doesn't pay off, says he has a good working relationship with Joe and Klitzman and Gordon is, apparently, the man; Jaci says she has an X chromosome and likes anime like Joe and Zach and Jaci AIM alot and Gordon is on her section also, remember she's a girl! John says we had a very successful all male board, how are you going to make it better? Jaci won't promise that they won't embezzle drum money but promises that her numbers won't lie. Joe also agrees, but says he'll keep Gordon in check. Name that bando time both successfully get the names. Mayuko says that they'll be the first person that new bandos will talk to, so how will you reconcile not scaring them with not being flat and lifeless? Joe says he'll try to coax those who are scared off back. Jaci says she's a womyn and they're not scary at all. How will you deal with interpersonal situations in a big group asks former secretary Allwine. Joe says he's all about people, will be open to anyone who wants to talk to him, make people feel comfortable, about fun not being all uptight. Joe uses the verb to lure, he's also building a gingerbread house if you're interested! Jaci says we should be loud and full of boister. Robert says the secretary works with the music manager, how will you? Joe says he'll come early to rehearsal, but he has a class till 6, so, no he won't says he'll stay late. Jaci says she'll come early. Matt asks, beyond your abilities as a secretary what other stereotypical abilities do you bring? Also, Joe, as this has become a battle of the sexes, how does she stand up to Billie Jean King and could you beat Jaci in a tennis match. Jaci says she can bake, get cranky and nag, showers, will yell at you to do laundry (Joe says he'll actually do it.) Joe can make baked ziti, says he can't beat Jaci at tennis cause of a knee injury but can win Wii tennis. Becca Aaberg asks if you're not elected to this position how are you going to continue to exist in the band. Jaci will apply to be section leader again. Joe will also apply for section leader if he loses, so, drummers, it's pretty much a win-win for you guys.

Closing Statement
Joe: vote for me. Jaci: vote for me.

Jaci is the victor.

A shorter live blog than last year. Happy Greek Ladying!

Bustin' makes me feel good!

Since my usual source of band videos actually participated in the formation, I do not have videos for our Homecoming Game performances. However, everything went amazingly so there really isn't any need.

On to Princeton...

Pregame




I think Penn had just as many if not more fans than Pton for this football game. Always good to perform for a crowd. However, they didn't seem to be the most responsive...

Entrance

This looks a little concave in the middle, maybe people afraid to bump into me. Who knows. Still, it looks like more and more people are learning to march in step. Good work!

PENN
Looks more like P6NN according to my Dad and I agree. I was under the impression that the E was the easiest formation...

HighBall
Drummers, SYMMETRY!! AGAIN! A little nit picky, but we talk about this EVERY week.

Big P
Awesome, Tom. Excellent formation. Trumpets are a little whiny here, not entirely appropriate.

Halftime



III
Whoa! Major difference between the whistle tempo and what people actually played. Eventually evened out, but still. Formation is solid. oooh, closing notes chops, most important. Don't give up!

Ghostbusters 1
Looks a little footballish, something I thought we fixed on Wednesday. Look at Brian go! He got some shoutouts from fans on the way home. Tried to get the crowd to clap along to no avail.

Ghostbusters 2
Oh no they didn't! Yes, we did Ghostbusters again. Oh look, and it's lopsided again. Oh well. Sounds awesome. Bustin makes me feel good

R+B
Looks and sounds fine. Good to see the drunk seniors don't know which way to salute.

Overall a fine job by the Penn Band. Props to our Assistant Drum Major for an insane costume and a successful halftime performance.

All Hail Lord Glozion!

Greetings, Bandos!

Sorry for the late post, been a busy week for DM John

Here's the pregame for last week's roadtrip to Yale. I highly recommend watching these in high quality



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CyKe6uchTQ

The Yale Bowl is sweet! Save for the intense wind, it felt good to play in a Little-Big House

Entrance= always good to see that this is always awesome

UP
Called an audible on this one early in the morning. Looks good. Took it a little fast, sorry guys. I was uh...still recovering from all the fun last night.

Highball
Glad that joke got some cheers. Formation was a little weird and took a while to put together. This continued due to the strange fact that Yale's numbers are closer to the Hash than ALL OTHER FIELDS (as far as I know) so the forms may seem a little compressed. Looks more like a Holy Grail, which is fine.

Not enough time to due Alma Mater due to the complications during Highball

on to Half Time!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrSuW26yHRc

A little light on the voice there, Tom.

$ - Big Spender
Surprisingly only the 2nd time we've played this chart. Dollar sign looks okay. People seem happy to hear this. O'Callahan always surprises me with how loud he is. Oh, and I'm wearing a sweet cape.

Flying Saucer - Imperial March
Passable. Playing Star Wars in anything other than a London Philharmonic setting is always a little risky. It's a good thing this was a metashow.

Block - Intergalactic Battle Anthem
It was really hard not to lose it. This is my favorite part of the show. Good hustle guys! Salutes always hilarious. Trumpets, still a little shaky on the transition back into the chorus the last time through, will work on that.

R+B
Actually looks like P-A, which isn't the worst thing in the world, but still isn't R+B.

Considering how early we had to wake up after having so much fun, I really couldn't ask for anything more for this show.

On to homecoming...

Damn good Ipod...

This past weekend was the Penn v Columbia Football Game. As usual, the band was out in full swing along with some extras who tagged along for the ride. Since Penn was wise enough to put Parents' Weekend over an away game, the band hosted its own Parents' Weekend so the progenitors of the band could get a first hand glimpse of why their kids aren't doing their homework.


To start off was pregame. Something that we rehearsed many times before, even an extra time at field rehearse to much chagrin. Well, let's see what happened...



Entrance
BEAUTIFUL! God I love doing this. A really good contrast to Columbia's "Take the Field then take a musical dump" entrance. Though, they did have some sweet herald trumpets.

PENN
To start off with, the P was half a yardline too in-field. The E was dead on, thanks drummers.
The big problem was the two N's; quite the interesting evolution. It's a good thing we sounded good, cause we looked kinda funny doing this formation. There needs to be more than 10 people who actually know where to go. In fact, it needs to be EVERYONE. We will work on this on Monday and Wednesday

Highball
Great! Good symmetry drummers, but try to get both ends on a yardline. The phasing wasn't even too bad.

Big P
Once again great. Drummers, 10 yard lines please. Look at that, we have flags! Some nice flavor, though could use a little more coordination.

Banner
Looks great. Can't hear the flutes/clarinets at all, not even on their part in the trio. Rip that part out guys!

Halftime


Our show was a perfect response to Columbia's "Philly's the ugliest/suckiest city in the nation" show. The crowd especially caught on to this as heard in their cheers after our jokes. Don't quite know why the Columbia Band stays on the field after they play.

Bagel
Props to Noah for making his family run to the sideline, too bad there wasn't enough time for Pushups. This looked more like a football than a bagel, but that's not our fault. Also, I had to yell Halt way too many times. Drummers need to be listening for that. Yeah horns!

Ipod
Probably one of our more complicated formations and it turned out great! Hey, and people actually figured out it was an Ipod. Slow Ride was....slow i guess. It got better though. Awesome job on the guitar solo guys, if anything that was the one thing to get right no matter what.

PBR
P was 5 yards too far out-field and this proved bad for the proceeding R that was built off of it. Eeeeeeh, chops! need some more tunage! I know it was a long day of playing, but still. Woodwinds, good to hear you! Bones, do NOT gliss those last 4 measures; very cheesey. I hate cutting this song, it's just not meant to be.

R+B
There's that stray R with the interesting extension thanks to our auxillary; should've played Viva las Vegas instead. Went a little fast, but fine. Nice touch bells, what a hilarious part.

SUBG

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc0POzeuLvw

(Note, I recommend watching this one in high quality. To do so, visit the link under the vid and click "Watch in High Quality')

As requested, we played Since U've Been Gone for the student section. One of the best responses we've ever gotten from a crowd. Keep an eye on 80s guy, he's fun to watch. We sounded great on this even though we were extremely tired. Well done! Endurance props!

Overall, an interesting gameday. We clearly need some refreshers in the pregame department. Nothing a little wrote memorization can't fix. We had some snafus in the stands: some my fault, some not. I'll chalk it up to parents for now. It seems we're at a point that most of us are very comfortable doing our shows, which is fantastic! However, we can't just be on autopilot and expect someone to tell us where to go all the time, especially on the field or even worse from me on the podium. Freshmen, don't let this become a habit like it is for some upper classmen. Veteran Bandos, don't expect anything less from your peers or the freshmen. In a band of our size, everyone is accountable and even one clueless person can scar a formation.

Don't take this as too negative. It's good to be at this point so early on in the season so we have time to fix it quickly. I'm still having an awesome time leading you guys so don't change too much. Looking forward to actually doing the Lord Glozion show on Saturday. Let's make Yale bend to his will.

Quality finally meets quantity

My Dad, continuing the tradition of videotaping anything musical I do he can attend of course taped the Penn Band's performance at last Saturday's Penn vs. Villabrova game. I posted pregame and halftime on the YouTube so bandos could actually see what we look like.

I've heard from multiple sources that we sound way better live than on tape. I very much agree with this. Since I think we sound pretty decent on tape as well, you should have a good idea of what being in the stands and listening to the Penn Band is really like.

I thought this would be a good place for general comments on how I, and you guys, feel this went/looks. Enjoy.

Pregame



Pregame Entrace=AWESOME!! (Note, since this was my dad taping, there will obviously be some visual emphasis on me, but I edited out all the pure John moments). However, you can really see how well this worked. Worlds better than our original attempt to march in two straight lines from the sidelines (The Sand People travel single file to hide their numbers).

PENN: The E looked a little sparse in this formation. Need to fill out the top and bottom lines. Sounds great.

Highball: Except for the asymmetry in the drumline in front, looks great. Forgot to explain to the drummers the importance of this, my bad. Just a minor point. I guess our little drummer girls don't like being too close together.

Big P: same issue drummers. Will fix for Dartmouth. Maybe face the sideline for this one.

Banner: Whoa, front line! Looks like we were missing someone. You can hear the woodwinds! Sweet!

Except for these few minor things, a very commendable job. Pregame is usually the most complicated drill we do and we looked and sounded great. Hope we don't lose it waiting for Dartmouth.


Halftime




I look really....interesting cuing in the flying v...
1+1= : Wow, looks really clear except for the = sign. Listen to my parents try to figure it out... Yeah mellophones and saxes! It's great finally to hear those counter melodies.

Jay Wright's Hair: good hustle to this formation. Not much to say. Sounded great and I think the Nova fans eventually liked it.

NJ: again, wow! Having this many bandos on the field really makes these letter formations clear! Some nice singing by my dad and the crowd.

R+B: this formation took a little long to form, but ended up great. The B looks a little blobbish, but I adjusted the drill so this should look fantastic for Lafayette.

Again, awesome job for our first show! Keep it up!

I also decided to post our performance of SUBG, since the crowd really seemed to like it. Also, physical evidence of the crowd enjoying the Penn Band is good to have around. I hope we can do more playing for the student section in the future.



All HAIL LORD GLOZION!

A quiz on scramble band shennanigans

Clearly the biggest story in the last week in Ivy Band-related news was Princeton's melee with the Citadel. Noah's done a beautiful job describing this, so I'm not going to add anything specific about this. Instead, I thought I'd post a team round from a quizo I did last year for one of the band roadtrips that focuses on 10 different scramble bands, and their antics through the years.

What Scramble band:

1. Calls itself the “Cleverest Band in the World.” Antics: Against Fordham, one joke about an altar-boy joke (tuition going down faster than...) drew the ire of Catholics.

2. Insists that there’s a “pause” in its name. Antics: they’ve been disciplined for a polygamy show at BYU and a Catholic nun show at Notre Dame.

3. Has as its full name: The Award-Winning ________________ Indoor/Outdoor Precision(?) Marching Pep Band, & Chowder Society Review, Unlimited!!! Antic: Currently not recognized by its school’s athletic department, and is banned from all official sporting events.

4. Uses “Louie, Louie” as its signature song. Antic: trapped inside a stadium by an angry mob of Texas A&M fans in 1973?

5. For the last game of its season, builds an “enormous three-dimensional prop” called an “Überprop.” Antic: banned from West Point after a halftime show in which band members formed "USA" on the field, then dropped their pants and marched off, leaving the letters spelled out in clothing.

6. Antic: Claims to be the oldest Ivy League marching band. Antic: banned from Holy Cross for a show that involved a Ted Kennedy Triathlon which included the "Ted Kennedy drive and swim," while Kennedy family members were in attendance?

7. Gives out a yearly award for “the most outrageous antic during a public band performance” that has the inscription "The Pen is Mightier than the Sword" but with no space between the second and third word? Antic: During the 1967 Harvard game, nationally televised on ABC, this band intentionally spelled out the letters NBC.

8. Claims to have started the scrambling tradition, as it was scrambling as early as 1941? Antic: At the 75th Reunion, the 1812 Overture was performed on the field with the explosion of hydrogen balloons serving as cannon fire.

9. Claims to be “the world’s best and only ice skating band.” Antic: Every year they play for the people waiting in line for Ben and Jerry's Free Cone Day.

10. Played for William McKinley twice in one year. Antic: “suggested that [they] not come back” to the New Jersey Turnpike Vince Lombardi rest stop by a police officer for bowing to a model of the Superbowl trophy.

1. Columbia

2. Stanford

3. UVA

4. Rice

5. Yale

6. Dartmouth

7. Princeton

8. Harvard

9. Brown

10. Penn