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To celebrate the LSU football team's 2007-2008 exploits, band members made the dramatic trek down Victory Hill, strolled into Tiger Stadium and nestled in their familiar seats on the west side of the student section Saturday. Everything seemed like standard procedure for the Golden Band from Tigerland. But come August, standard procedure will be shaken up as the Tiger Marching Band shifts to the north end zone seats in the student section. And not everyone is pleased with the change. Among those upset with the move is band director Frank Wickes. Wickes said the power of the band will diminish if sound has to travel the length of the stadium as opposed to the width. "I'm not looking forward to [the move]," Wickes said. "I've resisted it ever since it's been proposed to me many, many years ago, even before Skip [Bertman] was the athletic director … When you sit in the end zone, you're blowing lengthwise in the stadium, and that's going to cause the sound of the band to dissipate." Wickes said he would prefer the band not move, but it has complied at the Athletic Department's request. "We're moving around there to satisfy requests the Athletic Department has had," Wickes said. "This is Skip Bertman's move." Bertman said Wickes and Chancellor Sean O'Keefe were integral in making the decision. The band, which has held seats in the west side of the student section (section 221), will pick up its instruments and move to the opposite end of the student section (section 217). The band has performed from the western spot since 1985. Wickes acknowledged the power that his 325-member band can produce, but he still thinks the band will face difficulty generating the similar results from the north end zone. "Our band's pretty powerful, and that's the good news here," Wickes said. "But when you're [playing instruments] across all that grass and all those bodies sitting in there going the length of the stadium, it's not the same as [performing] angularly across the stadium." Bertman disagrees with Wickes, saying fans in all sections will be able to identify the Tiger band's tunes. "Now everybody will be able to hear, and I don't see what the problem will be," Bertman said. Bertman said the move was made to improve sound in the stadium. He said the idea for the band to move originated from fans' constant complaints about acoustics in the west upper deck. "The move was made so that the people on the west upper deck could hear the band," Bertman said. "We tried every method by which to get [the band's music] there, but quite honestly, without a delay, it was impossible to get it there." Bertman said the move will enable all fans, including those in the west upper deck, to hear the Tiger band with ease. He also said the student section will not experience a reduction in seats as a result of the change. "The band had 600 or so seats, and now they're going to have to take 600 of the other seats [in the student section]," he said. But Bertman isn't the only one touting the benefits of the shift. Even with the complaints he has issued, Wickes cited a positive the move would create in terms of aesthetics. "[The band's move to the north end zone] is visually appealing to everybody in the stadium," he said. "People in the upper deck can now see the whole band." One of the people who will now be able to see the band is University alumnus Randy Cazenave. Cazenave, who has held season tickets in the west upper deck since the 2006 season, said he could neither see nor hear the band and felt "extremely detached" from the cheers and chants. "Basically, we do not hear the band in the west upper section," Cazenave said. "During the game, all we really heard was the student section responding to what the band was doing. We could not hear the band during the game." The band's switch should alleviate the concerns of Cazenave and other fans in the west upper deck. Cazenave was already beaming at the prospect of being able to hear the band this coming season. "If they surround the band with the students where you get that visible perspective, you hear the band, plus you watch the students responding to the band, it's going to be tremendous for the west upper deck," Cazenave said. "It'll make that whole part of the stadium that much louder because [before you] would respond to what you see the students doing, but you really couldn't hear the band, and the band just starts everything."
---- Contact Jonathan Finney at jfinney@lsureveille.com
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