Meet the New Michigan Marching Band Drum Major

M-Live introduces MMB Drum Major 53, McKenna Thayer 

They finally did it! Michigan Marching Band on Ice!

The Michigan Hockey Pep Band normally sits in the stands. For the first time the band made it down to the ICE. (But not on skates - how to do that is not yet worked out.)

This group is billed as the Michigan Marching Band and they do march and the drum major is there and even did the backbend. 

MMB drummer hanging upside down

Getty images has an amazing photo of an MMB drum line guy playing his quad drums while hanging upside down! I put it in my "Hurrah for the Yellow and Blue" blog and you should go there to see the MMB photographs.

Also, don't miss  Maize and Blue donuts and the Birth of "The Yellow and Blue".

"In Concert" doesn't even begin to describe the Michigan Marching Band at Crisler Center!

Sunday Nov 17, 2013 at 5pm will "Take the Floor" at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor.The MMB Newsletter said that the band will play highlights from the 2013 season and Michigan favorites. Yes, they will certainly do that. HOWEVER if you look at photos from last year's show you will see MUCH more than that. For one thing,  there are photos of the band staff dancing to the Bulwinkle song. PLUS the drum line, flag line and dance team all there, adding to the action!

But don't run off and look at photos now. It's only 2 days away, so it's time to tell everyone you know to take a carload of young people to the MMB Crisler Concert. Kids LOVE the band (admission for under 11 years old is only $3.) 

Here is the poster - pass it on!

Beyoncé & Rolling Stone & the Michigan Marching Band

Perhaps we have transported to an alternate universe. Everyone including Rolling Stone had something to say about the Michigan Marching Band's Sept 7 show: Beyoncé.   Performed at halftime for U-M vs Notre Dame "Under the Lights II," the second ever U-M football night game. AND the first time in history that the lights were turned OFF for halftime. 

A description of the show and links were featured on beyonce.com

This Michigan Daily story has a lot of behind the scenes details:  "Marching Band members say Beyoncé show was one-of-a-kind".
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Here is Beyoncé's intro video that played on the big screen;




The MMB video crew put this together. It's the full show starting with the press box view with closeups of Beyonce, the Michigan Dance Team and MMB dancing.



Here's another video from the crowd.




Has Rolling Stone ever mentioned marching bands before? I don't know, but even they something to say about the MMB and the Beyoncé show as the the grand finale of "10 Best College Marching Band Cover Songs"

The famous Drum Major photo returns to it's origin in LIFE magazine.

The famous MMB drum major photo popped up in May and it's not even time for football. It was part of a slide show of classic photos in Time magazine on-line.

A couple of years ago MICHIGAN TODAY had an interesting article about it.

I thought it would be interesting to see what else I could find out about it.

Digitaljournalist.org has a quote from the photographer, Alfred Eisenstaedt, about the events leading up the the moment of the photo.

This photo first appeared in LIFE magazine in 1950. And I FOUND IT!  In Google Books, Life Magazine Oct 30, 1950  It is on page 108. You can go directly there, or scroll though 107 pages of  1950 news and some very vintage 1950 advertising.

There was also a famous photo exhibition and book called The Family of Man. I have a copy of the book and need to dig it out, so I will save that for another day.

Happy International Tuba Day!

Today is International Tuba Day (happens every year on that first Friday in May.)

My contribution to this year's celebration is my favorite sousaphone photo.

Sousaphone Siesta by Jane Namenye

I took this at break time during a Rose Bowl rehearsal, probably in 1978.  In those days the Michigan Marching Band stayed in a dorm on the UCLA campus and rehearsed on the IM sports field.

More info about International Tuba Day on the Tuba Day web site.