the new Oski Village tailgate on Memorial Glade was okay. Lots of jumpers/etc for kids, and a better overall atmosphere than Maxwell field. Only a couple tailgate tents rented, and only 2 vendor booths. Overall it was a little disappointing but has some promise.

Cal AthleticFund tailgate on Maxwell field had good food (BB chicken and beef ribs), but now it's the only thing on Maxwell field. They should move this to either Goldman plaza or to Oski Village, although space maybe tight in both areas

Great Sproul rally ... entire plaza was full

Cool two jet flyover

Speakers much better (clearer for announcers and music, although some echo in section TT)

Students showed out!

Blue lei's was a big hit... students loved them

Wifi was upgraded!

Didn't see any new food which was disappointing

Chancellor Lyons was at Sproul rally and walked up the isle next to the student section. I got a high five.

New Black Bear seats looked pretty full

highlight was the battle of the bands ... was shocked how much louder the Texas Southern band was. Much more brass than our band (but we knew that)

Another plus: when you went to get concessions under the east side stands, they were actually playing the game on the TVs!

No, this was not the case in many games the last few years.

Speakers are too loud and play too frequently. Both seem worse than ever right now.

The Cal Band looks much larger. Did they expand? Still need more heavy brass to complete with Texas Southern, Ohio State, etc.

We were shocked how much louder/ deeper the Texas Southern band was. They are constructed differently than our band

Absolutely agree we need more heavy brass. We were trying to figure out the specific instruments that created such loud, deep music

elbearo2 said:

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The Cal Band looks much larger. Did they expand? Still need more heavy brass to complete with Texas Southern, Ohio State, etc.

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HoopDreams said:

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We were shocked how much louder/ deeper the Texas Southern band was. They are constructed differently than our band

Absolutely agree we need more heavy brass. We were trying to figure out the specific instruments that created such loud, deep music

elbearo2 said:

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The Cal Band looks much larger. Did they expand? Still need more heavy brass to complete with Texas Southern, Ohio State, etc.

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Pretty sure this has been discussed on this board before, but yes . . . the bands that sound very loud put heavy emphasis on brass. Traditionally the Cal Band has not done this, they prefer a variety of instruments.

Overall a fun day

• Unless Cal Team has requested it, DJ needs to shut it down when Cal is on offense.
• DJ is too loud, not why we came to the game. My Apple Watch kept giving me sound warnings from the DJ (it's okay if it's from natural crowd noise, not from an amp).

• DJ needs to coordinate with Cal Band; there were times the DJ was playing over the band and the yell leaders.
• I loved the new videos, which focus on Cal with "Fun Facts", past plays and players, etc.
• Glad to see the Black Bear filling up.
• I saw whole school groups that came to the game, nice work by Cal.
• The sound system sounded cleaner and less distorted which was great.

Go Bears

salbear1984 said:

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Overall a fun day

• Unless Cal Team has requested it, DJ needs to shut it down when Cal is on offense.
• DJ is too loud, not why we came to the game. My Apple Watch kept giving me sound warnings from the DJ (it's okay if it's from natural crowd noise, not from an amp).

• DJ needs to coordinate with Cal Band; there were times the DJ was playing over the band and the yell leaders.
• I loved the new videos, which focus on Cal with "Fun Facts", past plays and players, etc.
• Glad to see the Black Bear filling up.
• I saw whole school groups that came to the game, nice work by Cal.
• The sound system sounded cleaner and less distorted which was great.

Go Bears

---

The DJ needs to read the room*. It feels like he's in a sound proof booth watching the game on a monitor. 2nd down? Time to blast some beats. If the students are cheering ..don't care, drown 'em out. Cal Band is playing? Don't care, drown 'em out. Texas Southern Band is playing? Don't care...dr -- oops. Nobody drowns out the Ocean of Soul. They were *blasting*.

*Better yet: fire the DJ.

I had no idea which section was the Black Bear. Couldn't tell.

I loved the new videos.

Surprisingly, I didn't hate the sing-along. Kinda fun.

The problem with all the piped in music on defensive 3rd downs is that when they turn it off before the play is snapped, the rest of the stadium is quiet because nobody is going to bother making noise when the sound from the speakers are already turned up to 11.

I hope someone who has the ADs ear makes this known because the lack of noise on 3rd downs takes away a big aspect of home field advantage.

pingpong2 said:

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The problem with all the piped in music on defensive 3rd downs is that when they turn it off before the play is snapped, the rest of the stadium is quiet because nobody is going to bother making noise when the sound from the speakers are already turned up to 11.

I hope someone who has the ADs ear makes this known because the lack of noise on 3rd downs takes away a big aspect of home field advantage.

---

Basically, the piped in music has taken the students and the band out of the game. We've been complaining about that for years and it's been banging our heads against the wall.

Speaking of the Band: for 50 years that I've been a fan (plus untold decades before that) the Band ended every home game by going onto the field, playing a few songs (always including an alma mater) and ending with Lights Out, California Marching Song, and as they exit the tunnel, One More River. For many games, lining up in the tunnel while the band marched through was the highlight of the day.

Fans haven't been allowed in the tunnel since the remodel (no idea why), and the band stopped going onto the field for a postgame show last year. Haven't heard "One More River" since 2023. I'm going to write the band director and demand an explanation.

New sound system was amazing, loud and clear.
However, agree with many posters that it was so loud we seldom cheered and faintly heard the bands at half time. Some of the NFL games we've been at have been like this. Hopefully make some adjustments by next week.

How does one get under the East Side stands?

JSC 76 said:

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salbear1984 said:

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Overall a fun day

• Unless Cal Team has requested it, DJ needs to shut it down when Cal is on offense.
• DJ is too loud, not why we came to the game. My Apple Watch kept giving me sound warnings from the DJ (it's okay if it's from natural crowd noise, not from an amp).

• DJ needs to coordinate with Cal Band; there were times the DJ was playing over the band and the yell leaders.
• I loved the new videos, which focus on Cal with "Fun Facts", past plays and players, etc.
• Glad to see the Black Bear filling up.
• I saw whole school groups that came to the game, nice work by Cal.
• The sound system sounded cleaner and less distorted which was great.

Go Bears

---

The DJ needs to read the room*. It feels like he's in a sound proof booth watching the game on a monitor. 2nd down? Time to blast some beats. If the students are cheering ..don't care, drown 'em out. Cal Band is playing? Don't care, drown 'em out. Texas Southern Band is playing? Don't care...dr -- oops. Nobody drowns out the Ocean of Soul. They were *blasting*.

*Better yet: fire the DJ.

I had no idea which section was the Black Bear. Couldn't tell.

I loved the new videos.

Surprisingly, I didn't hate the sing-along. Kinda fun.

---

The DJ should NEVER be louder than the crowd can be.

A crowd should be able to drown out all of the stadium sound system except for the public announcements, which should be aligned with the game or emergency.

sycasey said:

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salbear1984 said:

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Overall a fun day

• Unless Cal Team has requested it, DJ needs to shut it down when Cal is on offense.

---

Agreed with that.

I didn't mind the volume. Suck it up, old dudes. This is how stadiums are now.

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Strange attitude, like the department has no choice except to blast this noise for half the game because others do even though it's not clear that it provides any benefit to the team and it ruins the atmosphere not to mention what it's doing to our ears. It's out of our control because this apparently is just how stadiums intrinsically are now.

sycasey said:

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salbear1984 said:

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Overall a fun day

• Unless Cal Team has requested it, DJ needs to shut it down when Cal is on offense.

---

Agreed with that.

I didn't mind the volume. Suck it up, old dudes. This is how stadiums are now.

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I have been to a dozen stadiums recently. Absolutely none were even close to this. Not a single one.

sycasey said:

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I didn't mind the volume. Suck it up, old dudes. This is how stadiums are now.

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This is why stadiums are worse now. And maybe this is why we have problems drawing fans.

sycasey said:

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LunchTime said:

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sycasey said:

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salbear1984 said:

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Overall a fun day

• Unless Cal Team has requested it, DJ needs to shut it down when Cal is on offense.

---

Agreed with that.

I didn't mind the volume. Suck it up, old dudes. This is how stadiums are now.

---

I have been to a dozen stadiums recently. Absolutely none were even close to this. Not a single one.

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I think NFL and NBA games definitely are like this.

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The NFL and NBA don't have traditional cheers, student sections and marching bands.

sycasey said:

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LunchTime said:

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sycasey said:

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salbear1984 said:

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Overall a fun day

• Unless Cal Team has requested it, DJ needs to shut it down when Cal is on offense.

---

Agreed with that.

I didn't mind the volume. Suck it up, old dudes. This is how stadiums are now.

---

I have been to a dozen stadiums recently. Absolutely none were even close to this. Not a single one.

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I think NFL and NBA games definitely are like this.

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NBA games can be like this, but they still adjust volume so crowd participation isn't drowned out when it happens.

NFL games are also better tuned to the crowd.

5-10bd under crowd noise for music, 5-10db higher for voice. That's pretty standard.

I didn't make noise once yesterday because what was the point? I couldn't even hear myself. It was literally like yelling orders in a firefight. Hand signals or nothing.

Richmondbear2 said:

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How does one get under the East Side stands?

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You have to be a mole or a gopher.

Speaking of new videos, the one that was something like "Save Us San Francisco" or such was, at least in my opinion, absolutely fantastic. Does anyone know anymore about that or if it is available on YouTube (I couldn't find it) or somewhere? I'd love to see it again. We need more stuff like that, entertainment to fill the seemingly interminable time during media breaks.

oskidunker said:

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Big C said:

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HoopDreams said:

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Yes we have, but we were trying to figure what exact instruments and what mix

sycasey said:

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HoopDreams said:

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We were shocked how much louder/ deeper the Texas Southern band was. They are constructed differently than our band

Absolutely agree we need more heavy brass. We were trying to figure out the specific instruments that created such loud, deep music

elbearo2 said:

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The Cal Band looks much larger. Did they expand? Still need more heavy brass to complete with Texas Southern, Ohio State, etc.

---

---

Pretty sure this has been discussed on this board before, but yes . . . the bands that sound very loud put heavy emphasis on brass. Traditionally the Cal Band has not done this, they prefer a variety of instruments.

---

---

From top to bottom:

trumpets
mellophoniums (marching version of Frech horn)
baritones
trombones
sousaphones ("marching tuba")

The Cal Band needs, minimum, two dozen more of the above (total of all instruments). Ohio State Band (all brass) probably has 5-6 dozen more, with better average playing ability.

The Cal Band is aware of its shortcomings. They have tried to recruit more brass players for decades and decades. It is problematic for a number of reasons. Especially the following:

- lack of Cal students that play these instruments well (Cal music major does not have a performance emphasis)
- reluctance of hyper-focused Cal students (academics and finances) to take on a time commitment like this

There are possible solutions, but some would take some significant changes on Cal's part.

---

The marching routines never have the whole band playing to the alumni side. That is part of why texas sounded so loud. They never faced the student section. The band should try this, at least some of the time.

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Indeed. One thing I learned from my Physics 21 class 40+ yrs ago ("Physics of Music") is that upper brass is especially directional.

sycasey said:

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salbear1984 said:

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Overall a fun day

• Unless Cal Team has requested it, DJ needs to shut it down when Cal is on offense.

---

Agreed with that.

I didn't mind the volume. Suck it up, old dudes. This is how stadiums are now.

---

Old dudes foot the bill, and have paid to rebuild the stadium.

Golden One said:

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Richmondbear2 said:

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How does one get under the East Side stands?

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You have to be a mole or a gopher.

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Doesn't bode well for our upcoming game against Minnesota.

oskidunker said:

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.

Big C said:

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HoopDreams said:

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Yes we have, but we were trying to figure what exact instruments and what mix

sycasey said:

---

HoopDreams said:

---

We were shocked how much louder/ deeper the Texas Southern band was. They are constructed differently than our band

Absolutely agree we need more heavy brass. We were trying to figure out the specific instruments that created such loud, deep music

elbearo2 said:

---

The Cal Band looks much larger. Did they expand? Still need more heavy brass to complete with Texas Southern, Ohio State, etc.

---

---

Pretty sure this has been discussed on this board before, but yes . . . the bands that sound very loud put heavy emphasis on brass. Traditionally the Cal Band has not done this, they prefer a variety of instruments.

---

---

From top to bottom:

trumpets
mellophoniums (marching version of Frech horn)
baritones
trombones
sousaphones ("marching tuba")

The Cal Band needs, minimum, two dozen more of the above (total of all instruments). Ohio State Band (all brass) probably has 5-6 dozen more, with better average playing ability

The Cal Band is aware of its shortcomings. They have tried to recruit more brass players for decades and decades. It is problematic for a number of reasons. Especially the following:

- lack of Cal students that play these instruments well (Cal music major does not have a performance emphasis)
- reluctance of hyper-focused Cal students (academics and finances) to take on a time commitment like this

There are possible solutions, but some would take some significant changes on Cal's part.

---

The marching routines never have the whole band playing to the alumni side. That is part of why texas sounded so loud. They never faced the student section. The band should try this, at least some of the time.

---

The Cal Band used to have at least 1 or 2 shows per season that primarily faced the Alumni/west side, but they haven't done that for the last couple seasons. It seems odd that they only face the student side now, especially when they're doing a show with older music tgat Alumni might appreciate more than the students.

JSC 76 said:

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sycasey said:

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I didn't mind the volume. Suck it up, old dudes. This is how stadiums are now.

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This is why stadiums are worse now. And maybe this is why we have problems drawing fans.

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I've said it before....
I'll keep saying it.....
One huge reason they aren't drawing fans is that local kids, kids that may never attend Cal (I only attended Cal for a quarter) are not welcome to come as kids. Sure, some kids get dragged to the game by their parents, but gone are the days a group of junior high through high school kids come in groups of their own. I know over a dozen classmates from Elementary school through High school that never went to Cal but are avid season ticket holders today because of the great times we had going to the game through the Blind/Deaf School, getting chinstraps, knee pads and autographs and playing catch on the field after the game..Kid2th was one that tried to convince classmates to come, but alas she didn't want to come alone and in high school she only came with me for UCLA/USC/Big Game. She's still Kid2th but.......Majoring in International Politics and Spanish at NYU.

Cal Band Great!!
Go Bears!!
Cheers!!