IN THE midst of the immense praise following its Jan. 20 debut, the Cavalier HOOps Band must have seemed like a resounding success. Aside from my roommate's complaint that the brass section obstructed his once-scenic view of the VA Dance Team, the new band generated nearly unanimous accolades. Local newspapers were quick to announce its triumphant arrival, and many fans in the stands at University Hall gave the ensemble an ovation after its opening numbers. Such reactions, however, are not indicative of the band's actual merits. To seasoned Wahoo fans like myself, the arrangements surrounding HOOps' introduction were far from harmonious.
Gone are the days in which the Pep Band unobtrusively filled a small portion of the student section behind one of the baskets. HOOps enjoys much more luxurious accommodations. Its 45-50 members, approximately as many as were in the original Pep Band, take up two entire sections in the lower tier of the arena near the visiting bench -- 120 floor and low-level seats once available to the general student population. The University administration has apparently surrendered a fair portion of its students' seats in order to showcase its new musical act.
A survey of the directors of other basketball bands in the ACC reveals that seating situations such as this are not the norm. Across the conference, band seating is designed with the rest of the student body in mind. N.C. State, whose large basketball complex seats its students on all sides of the court, fits its band behind the basket. At future ACC member Virginia Tech, the band sits above a section of student seats. Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium, a facility almost as small as University Hall, manages to fit its 100-member band into only 120 backboard-area seats.
One could argue that students at the University haven't earned the right to the best seats in the house. Since the basketball team's fall from the top 25 last season, student attendance at games has been lackluster. However, the designation of several quality seats for the HOOps Band only punishes those students who continue to attend games in light of the team's recent woes. As long as the current seating situation continues, these loyal fans will lose the option of sitting in some of U-Hall's most popular seats.
The most anticipated aspect of bringing a band back to University athletic events was that the Good Ole Song could once again be sung with the accompaniment of an audible live band. While the HOOps band did play a fine rendition of the song at the Clemson game, its timing for doing so was questionable. Instead of playing it right as the game ended, as is traditional, the band elected to play another song first, waiting to bring out the Good Ole Song only after most people had left for the exits.
The return of a basketball band should have also marked the return of "The Cav Song," the University's fight song, which had been absent ever since the demise of the Pep Band. Its tune stood up to some of college sports' best, and its concluding "Go Wahoos" cheer was an excellent way to welcome the players to the court. Unfortunately, the HOOps arrangement of "The Cav Song" lacked any recognizable melody, as well as the trademark ending chant. If the new band truly wishes to generate crowd participation, it would be wise to utilize the established musical traditions it neglected in its first outing.
None of this is meant to deride any of the individual efforts of the members of the HOOps Band. Despite some poor decisions made by the faculty in charge, the students in the band did an excellent job showing enthusiasm for the team during the game. In addition, the presence of live musicians was infinitely better than the canned music that had been played over U-Hall's subpar sound system during the first half of the season. With any luck, no one will ever try to pump up the University crowd by playing Weezer's mellow "Island in the Sun" over the loudspeakers again.
When the administration decided to ax the Pep Band, it put an end to years of tradition and students' hard work. To justify the forcefulness of that decision, the University should at least present a band superior to the old one. While the Cavalier Marching Band may turn out to be magnificent, its precursor, the HOOps Band, has not yet proven to meet those qualifications. Until it does, I won't be hopping aboard this band's wagon.
(Chris Kiser's column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at ckiser@cavalierdaily.com.)
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