The Worst HBCU Band of 2021 - (LC) Livingstone College in North Carolina Reaction 

Thank you sir! I appreciate your kind words on this platform. It’s very hard to keep these programs moving. We should always have a certain level of excellence no matter what our size or circumstances. Fayesha Cousins, Director of Bands, Virginia Union University

He's not lying. Nothing about this is good. The basic marching fundamentals aren't even there...band, we can't even tuck shirts in and look the same... we have to add insult to an already injured injury...stop playing and do better.

People gonna say you are hating, and tearing the band down, but you are just speaking truth.

This should've never been seen in public. I know kids in high school that sound better during summer camp. Who's the Director they should've been terminated. Take pride in your program people. Ive read comments and it seems some won't call a spade a spade. I marched with the Juke and I be dam if we'd ever look like this. Size isn't the issue but preparation isn't existant.

I always agree with your "worst band" segments.

They sacrificed musicianship for entertainment.

Constructive criticism is still ok even though society cant handle it anymore.. Lies dont help.. They need an overhaul of the entire program.

Yoooooo to erybody in these comments bashing @Buck5ThatBandGuy for stating the obvious. I dare you to send this footage to any other critique platform. 100% sure they will say the same thing.

Please! Never delete this video! 😂

They still on a high school leave

Stop talking so much and just show the video please

If you can't play, you don't deserve to dance. End of story.

As a member of Allen university Band Of Gold thank you for the compliments. We work really hard because we are a small band. Glad our hard work is being noticed

Go help out Mr big stuff

LIVING-STONE brotha....

I’m a band enthusiast and this saddens me to see an HBCU band like this.

They do not practice most of the girls are jealous of other girls because they are better so they end up breaking down the other young lady and the young lady end up quitting the team so there's no confidence going on and it's a lot of jealousy going on in between the girls on the team a lot of the band members of people that have pulled that came to the school and they just put them out there just to have a spot filled that's it

There's a reason most bands in the SWAC don't have to recruit. Of course those are larger schools with larger programs, and Livingstone is a private university, with limited funds, but NO ONE can be okay with this. And we need to stop making excuses and defending this mediocrity. The poster didn't lie. IT"S ALL ON VIDEO! If this is the best the band director can do, then maybe it's time to replace him with someone who's going to take pride, and have some discipline, in his/her organization. I remember when Edward Waters came to Baton Rouge in 2019 with maybe 30 band members. They showed up and didn't back down to that beast of a band across the field. They put up a good fight and weren't bad either. Kentucky State has also made a resurgence. (Check out KSU vs Tenn State) They're not a big band but they hired a new director who started recruiting and is turning the program around. As someone said, ""Size doesn't dictate quality."

What college did you March at?

3:19 I had to log tf off Lmfaooooo didn’t even need to hear the rest of it 🤣🤣🤣🤣

This is when Tau Beta Sigma and Kappa Kappa Psi alumni should be contacted. Maybe they could go offer their assistance. I'm sure there may be members in the area.

How as a band director do you let this slide?

😂😂😂

Take notes from Edward waters college band they're small and nice

Corrective Criticism is Good. Someone needs to breath life into the Livingstone College Band Program.

As a student of this school I’ll be the first to say our band may need a little work. But I’m not sure who deemed you qualified to be the judge of that. We don’t know you and I don’t see your talent going down in the “musician hall of fame”so unless you about to come and be of some sort of help you and this struggling ass RU-vid channel can kick 🪨😁😁

I'm a graduate of LC (🖤💙🏀) but this isn't good at all 🤦🏾‍♀️🥴...lawwd.

When you said college I was like wtf I’m thinking it’s a high school

Is the band director TRYING to get fired, because...

Lil do yu knw Salisbury high school is walking distance from Livingstone so why he hasn’t done it idk

What’s up man I went to livingstone when were actually progressing as a band . Check out 2010- 2014, and up . It’s more then that’s meets the eye .

I was thinking you were probably about to be to hard on this band. Then I heard the band! Dude, you were kind to them! They are AWFUL! There are many high school bands that are better than this!!! 😒🙄🤦🏽‍♂️🤦🏽‍♂️

YIKES!!!!!!! 😳😳 My bestfriend went here, let me show her this video!! 😑

As a HBCU band alumni, I can honestly say that I’ve never been so bewildered by a performance in my life! I’m convinced that they were playing 2 songs, simultaneously . Could have at least given it their all on the breakdown. Your commentary was hilarious 😂 though.

Can you do LC week 2 vs BSU to see improvement

That band director needs to be fired for this. I can only imagine seeing this performance in person. 🤦🏾‍♂️🤦🏾‍♂️

What is the Kazoo is this?😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

They don't even recruit in their city. I was one of the best percussionist in Salisbury in 2005 and got nothing from LC and took my talents to ECSU.

😂 aye man chill out on my undergrad - BTones and Euphonium has always been the best section. We lost steam as a band entirely somewhere around 2009 though. I remember when we had to audition for the field. It’s not like that anymore. I remember before i left i was trying to unify the brass section. The mellophones and trumpets have no harmony. The lower brass was always a B rating to me. But it’s just not in the band’s direction.

Its LIVINGSTONE NOT LIVINGSTON

Get the name right.

This video just made me mad, lift them up, not tear em down. Everyone makes mistakes

I feel bad for the kids. This was embarrassing.

Maybe the band needs to see and hear this then ask, “what is the measuring stick for good?”

That don't have enough flags

We have high school bands here in Louisiana specifically Baton Rouge and New Orleans will definitely show them musicianship

If I had been there, when the announcer yelled “Let’s go! Yeah!” during the band’s performance, I would’ve taken that as a cue to leave.

Sounds like a high school band

My director before him was that very entity for the recruitment and they canned him for allegedly moving shady with that. We had no funds to do that. I served under him from 05 to 2010. Graduated 09 and did an extra year for music intern credit. I will share a link from those years...the music caliber is a huge difference but could have been better...no excuse but u can tell a hella difference. New director he is all show. Very cocky and does not want any help from anyone. I will show the year I went...and I am deeply saddened for the kids. And lastly, this is Livingstone college Marching Blue Thunder.....I was apart of Livingstone College Marching Quiet Storm.#thetraditiondiedwhenhewashired Another few links shortly

At least they performed , instead of not doing it at all

I love the to see our HBCUs, being a graduate from one myself and a dancer, these girls are really trying but definitely need some practice

I blame it on the director

I stumbled here and folks say that bcu and famu shows boring hmmmm continue

Hope they can get it together but that skip after the dance routine got me dead 💀, 8:43 mark look like base drummer talking with the cymbal player

Horrible

Pls react to allen university in this video

I AM a student of this band. I would like to speak with you personally.

LC 2012-2013 💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾We We’re The Best ‼️

That arrangement sounds VERY..VERY FAMILIAR....coming from Norfolk..👀

Soooo, he makes all of these suggestions that "sound good". HOWEVER, the band director does his part recruiting but the school ain't paying. Case and point, he may get kids from the Midwest or even locally. The school itself is not awarding these kids enough to cover tuition continously... so after a year or 2, those kids end up back at home.... whoever left over whether they can play or not makes up the program...

Whewwwwww....what can i do to help cause Oh My

Agree, I've heard High School perform better than this. I was a booster for a middle school that when people heard them they thought it was a High School.

Hmmm…This isn’t cool.

🤣

After being around livingstone for 8 years ur pretty much bashing the band u haven’t said anything good abt the band at all in the video

Band just need more sectionals to tighten up on these simple arrangements

The arrangements are not supporting that ensemble. Also the formation doesnt allow for the students to listen to one another. Simply reorganizing the sections and moving them in closer would result in a total different sound

U wrong though, cause they already pushing, to perform, it might have not been the best. But u just out flat bashed them. They tried !!

I will have to agree, when we were in High School we came in on the FIRST note, I wish you would miss it.

Get the name right please

Noooooooooo sound like Dudley High In gboro N.c

Let's build them up. Not tear them down. Support our HBCU bands

I believe it is important to take many things into consideration when critiquing any band performing in 2021-2022 and probably the next 5 years. The COVID response has completely devastated some band programs while hardly affecting others. In an example of extremes, some high school bands of 120 resumed with almost no decline in number, while others collapsed and no longer exist. I believe critiquing any band in this era requires a mandatory investigation into their situation. Some marching bands were allowed to resume, but only outside, with limited numbers, and only in shifts for larger programs. Some bands were only allowed to combine on the day of a performance. Some bands lost most or all of their staff due to either COVID restrictions or staff hesitancy to return to the setting. Was any of this true for Livingstone? They may be lucky to have a band, much less one of the quality they would desire. I do know one aspect of their situation. I recently ran into one of LC's traditional HS feeders. The director informed me that membership dropped by more than 50%. I was also informed that of the 4 middle schools with feed that HS, 2 no longer have band programs. When it is suggested that LC should go out and mentor (which was undoubtedly restricted due to COVID precautions), this suggestion fails to take into consideration that there may be no one or very few people to mentor. I doubt any "lacking" in this band's program in 2021 is due to a failure to "reach out". Even thinking of the freshmen in this video...these are students who may not have touched a horn in almost 2 years. The story behind the performance has always been important, but it is 100% necessary to know the story before critiquing these days. In my area, several middle schools have 6th, 7th, and 8th grade bands that are all beginner bands due to closure, inability to recruit, and performance restrictions due to COVID precautions. Those programs will feed (or not feed, in some cases) university programs who will have to go through serious adjustments as those classes work their way through. Some high schools are having to offer beginning band classes to rebuild. The universities they feed will be receiving "8th graders", not HS seniors. If I may critique a critique. The comment made about not being able to hear the melody in Boogie Wonderland is accurate...because Boogie Wonderland is about 90% groove and 10% melody at most. It was probably intentional... programming a song that is more groove than melody. If you are lacking melody instruments or if your typical melody sections are weak, avoid melody-heavy music.

And this is the worst quality video of 2021

I graduated from Livingstone College in the eighties. Have you considered mentoring this band.? Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

More emphasis should be placed on the quality of your videos before critiquing the band. You said your purpose wasn’t to bash, but throughout the video, you bashed them. Maybe you should volunteer or mentor some of them since you have a lot of input.

And what instrument do you play? What’s the purpose? Have you talked to the band director instead of publicly embarrassing these kids with your negativity? Grow up. I can’t stand a bully

Almost as bad as the Spartan Legion.