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Today, I was checking out the TalkGwinnett! forums for the first time in quite a while. I came across a post entitled “Unpatriotic Display by the Grayson Marching Band.” Intrigued what Grayson’s band could have done that was so unpatriotic and being a former high school band member and current marching arts fan, I clicked on the post. I was dismayed at what I found. The poster had taken exception to a set in the Grayson show which was part of a show featuring the music of Russian composers. The set in question? A hammer and sickle from Soviet era Russia.
This situation with the Grayson band is not that dissimilar to a controversy that arose after the first Georgia Tech football game this season against Jacksonville State Univeristy. The Jacksonville State’s band, the Marching Southerners, 2008 halftime show is entitled “From Russia with Love” and also features the music of Russian composers. You can see where this is going. The Southerners’ color guard used red flags with a hammer and sickle insignia as a similar logo on the guard uniforms.
At this point allow me to step back and provide a provide a little context for my thoughts on these two controversies. I was in the Central Gwinnett band about two decades ago and I have been an avid fan of drum and bugle corps for over twenty years. I completely grasp the use of visual imagery as part of a marching show that aspires to be a production rather than a random collection of musical pieces. In fact, drum corps have used similar imagery Soviet imagery in their shows. In 1991 the Santa Clara Vanguard drum and bugle corps ended a show based on the musical Miss Saigon with a massive red communist flag covering the field accompanied by percussion mimicing the sound of helicopters, all in order to symbolize the fall of Saigon. In 2005, the same corps, this time doing a Russian themed show, spelled “CCCP” on the field. I saw both of these shows in person and, despite being a strong conservative and completely opposed to communism, I took no offense. Similarly I took no offense to the Marching Southerners’ show nor do I find the Grayson High school show unpatriotic.
The Jacksonville State University Marching Southerners is probably the finest college marching band in America and, unlike most college bands, they draw directly from the drum corps style so I completely “got it.” I was shocked when I began to read reactions similar to that about Grayson High on the Tech message board. At the time, I was offended at the suggestion that there was something inappropriate about the Southerners’ show. I have the same position on the criticism of the Grayson band. I am sure there was no political statement involved in either of these shows. These bands were simply employing a commonly known symbol of Russia/Soviet Union to convey a visual context to the music. If there were there a political message in support of communism, I would be first with my criticism as well! To those who might take offense, I ask what Russian image would be more readily identifiable as Russian (technically Soviet) than the hammer and sickle? I have yet to hear a better suggestion either for Grayson or for JSU. Some might suggest the current Russian flag but poster seemed to even take issue with that.
Unfortunately, after much criticism, JSU changed their flags and uniforms. I saw them in exhibition this week and the flags were new and they had placed some symbol over the guard uniforms’ hammer and sickle. I was very disappointed that the Southerners caved into the thin-skinned nature of so many Americans, especially those who don’t seem to “get” the marching arts. I hope that Grayson sticks to their guns on this. There is no reason to believe they had any intent to promote any anti-American or pro-Communist sentiment. Thus, I fail to see how this makes the Grayson band’s performance unpatriotic. I would like to wish the Grayson Marching Band luck in any further competitions this season and hope that audiences appreciate the show for the artistic, musical, and non-political production that it is.
Here are links to YouTube clips for the Marching Southerners performing “From Russian with Love” and the Grayson High School Marching Band performing “A Portrait of Russia.” (Unfortunately, the camera position for the Grayson show is too low to clearly see the sets the band forms on-field.)
