Southwest tour of the USMC Band Fall, 2010 (moderator feel free to MOVE...)

[Griff Murphey]

The USMC Band is coming to the Southwest!
Oct 15 Pineville LA, Guinn Auditorium, Louisiana College 7:30 PM
Oct 16 Ruston LA, Howard Center for the Performing Arts, LA Tech Univ. 7:30 PM
Oct 17 Pine Bluff AR, HYPR Gymnasium, U of Ark. at Pine Bluff 3 PM
Oct 18 Little Rock AR, Robinson Center Music Hall 7:30 PM
Oct 19 Alma, AR, Alma Performing Arts Center 7:30 PM
Oct 20 Tulsa OK, Chapman Hall, Tulsa Perf. Arts Center 7:30 PM
Oct 21 Norman OK, Paul F. Sharp Concert Hall, Catlett Music Ctr., Univ. of Okla. 8 PM
Oct 23 Elk City, OK, Pioneer Center Arena Elk City High School 7:30 PM
Oct. 24 Lawton, OK, McMahon Memorial Auditorium 3 PM
Oct. 25 FORT WORTH, TX Bass Perfomance Hall 7 PM
Oct. 26 Richardson, TX Charles W. Eisemann Center 7:30 PM
Oct. 27 Abilene, TX Behrens Chapel Auditorium, Hardin-Simmons Univ. 7:30 PM
Oct. 28 Midland, TX Robert E. Lee H.S. Auditorium 7:30
Oct. 29 Lubbock, TX Lubbock Memorial Civic Ctr. Theater 7:30 PM

Not sure if this is the best place for this on the forum but I think a lot of people would want to enjoy these performances.

[Jeff L]

You might want to post this on Gun Talk as well (more traffic there).

-Jeff L

[Griff Murphey]

As of today (9-15-10) all of the Fort Worth tickets are GONE. I was told the tickets mostly go to schools and that only a few are available to the public. I would assume that the primary goal of such a tour is recruiting, rather than just public relations for vets.

[Griff Murphey]

Went to the concert last night with my wife and another couple, Army veteran, both wives ex-Army brats. Fort Worth's Bass Hall was filled with high school kids. Busses from Rural towns such as Durham bore witness to broad support in the community, and the Marine Corps' determination to exploit the occasion for recruiting. The kids were polite and respectful (amazingly). All of the old folks were put on the front row so that we did not have to sit with the kids. The program was 2/3 classical, and 1/3 march. Unlike past military band concerts I have seen, there was no attempt made to offer pop music or TV theme/movie music. One offbeat offering was "A Tribute to Mario Lanza" with a gunny baritone knocking those classics such as "O Solo Mio" out with gusto. I have never been that close to a symphony orchestra (which this was, just without the strings) and of course the brass was all up front. I was amazed at the "draining" of the saliva/condensate from the brass instruments, which was kind of obvious, and just dumped out on stage. I'm sure civilian symphonies do this, but it's hidden by the strings. A Jay Leno "Jaywalking" moment was when the gunny (also the moderator) was explaining that as the service songs were played, "......stand up to represent your service or the service of your family members..." and a large number of people began standing up. So the gunny had to re-explain the concept as he was laughing. A few things I missed, in contrast to the British military bands that come through every 2-4 years: there was no mingling with the crowd over intermission, no complete program with details on band members and the band in general. One guy behind me was a recent retiree from the band and he was having a ball "UUURAH"ing and heckling his friends. One friend of mine remarked there was not a single African American in the unit; I guess classically-trained black musicians are in short supply. They pointed out the large number of these men and women who have bachelors' degrees in music, and one guy is working on his doctoral. All in all a great night; I sympathize with the need to bring in the kids but I think there should have been more tickets available for TAXPAYERS and vets.