I think I'm officially an old fogie. I find myself saying things like "you call that music?" and "back in my day."
Let me give you a recent example. Last Friday night (Aug. 30), I was taking pictures at Concordia University's soccer games. So you know, when I cover soccer I usually go to the second half of the first game and the first half of the second game. I figure if I can't get one good soccer picture in 40 minutes of play (that would be one half), I should find a new job.
So I was at Concordia for soccer. The women finished their game, and we entered the 30-minute between-game period, I usually take a book along and spend the time reading, which is better for me than sitting and doing nothing. The CU staff put on a CD, I think, and we were subjected to something that I'm assuming was called music.
It had an electronic sound, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it was the same two notes over and over and over ad infinitum. The notes were about a fourth apart, I think, and the "song" started with the "musician" going from low to high in some sort of skipping rhythm. Then it switched and went from high to low. Still not music. Sorry, "composer."
Had I been scanning radio stations and come across this, I wouldn't have listened any longer than the time it takes to press the "scan" button again.
So I started wondering how this "music" got the players psyched for the game. Back in my day, our pregame music had melody, drums, sometimes words and could be played loud. Very loud. You could feel the rhythm pulsing through your body and you couldn't help getting pumped up.
I was in pep band in high school, and that was one of the most fun things about my high school experience. I loved the music that we played and the fact that you could jam to it. We in the low brass section always had a good time with the bass lines. I loved thinking that we in the band were helping our team get ready to crush whoever we were playing.
That's what pregame music should do - help get the team in the right mindset to play whatever the sport may be. It should help get the blood pumping and the mind focused on the upcoming contest. That's why schools have fight songs and why they're called fight songs. They're not called "maybe consider going onto the field of play and giving it the old college try and whatever happens it's all good" songs. They're fight songs. Fight! Go squadron! Do good! Beat the opponent soundly! In the skirmish! (Thanks to Brian Regan for that.)
This "music," however, had absolutely nothing jam-worthy or fight-ish to it. It was annoying, stultifying, irritating and tweedly, and I wanted nothing more than to shut it off. I found myself wishing that the soccer game would just start already. And since I don't really care for soccer, that's quite a feat.
I just hope they never play that, er, collection of sounds again.
