Agreed, i absolutely enjoyed their presence. Made it feel like a college football game….unlike POA.
Probably fully able body leadership
Here’s the thing about McNeese’s band. Last year, LMEA had a marching band competition that was held at McNeese’s Stadium. However, Showcase (another high school state marching competition) was not held at Cajun Field last year. I’m not sure if District 3 assessment happened last year either. Those were two competitions that POA has done exhibition performances at. Those performances served as recruiting opportunities and we had none last year. High kids were exposed to McNeese’s band instead. So naturally, some kids that participated in the LMEA competition showed interest in McNeese, which shouldn’t be happening honestly because I think UL has more to offer in scholarships/free housing/stipends. And the thing is I’m not sure if Showcase is ever coming back, which concerns me because POA loses major recruiting from that. Case in point: 2018, we did the Queen show we had for Showcase. All the kids went wild when we did Bohemian Rhapsody did the guitar formation. 2019 had the biggest membership I was apart of. High school outreach is important more than ever, especially with some parishes cutting music programs
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Totally forgot about not having showcase and got that hurt numbers. I know this for sure played a part. Seeing the POA do an exhibition at one of the compitions I was at was why I chose to go to UL.
Also the students at UL loved performing at showcase.
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I think just a change in direction is needed for the program. Ever since the whole SA scandal a few years back they haven’t recovered.
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The band has been bad and regressing for years. They were totally embarrassed by McNeese State’s band for 3.5 hours. That isn’t really controversial to say at this point.
The band director needs to be fired yesterday and a commitment to the POA needs to be a top priority if we ever expect to have any real gameday atmosphere in our new digs.
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The current director doesn’t not help the students buying in to how important the band is to the game day experience and if you wanna be big time you gotta act it. That’s how Melley always taught us to be. He first year here Melley said, we are taking things from Auburn (mostly), TSAB, and a few other programs, all big time programs and we are going to copy what they do, how they practice and act. That just isn’t there anymore.
I don’t have kids right now nor do my wife and I plan to, but if there’s any money left when we die, I legit am hoping to donate it to the band program. I want them to have a turf, fenced off field and a brick tower named after me. If that won’t boost numbers, nothing will. Lol where are they? Practice is a literal shit hole right now.
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I gave the current director a pass for the 2023 season since it was his first year there and served as a transition period. But, after all that went down Spring 2024, I’ve wanted him gone. UL should’ve at least asked him to resign, not sure why they didn’t. He has caused near permanent damage to the program. And it looks like he doesn’t take his job seriously. I’ll be heading down to Lafayette for at least one game this year, I’m not ready to see what the program has become
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Is the current director Popp?
For the record… I LOVED McNeese’s band antics after penalty flags…. “You can’t do that”….. “that’s illegal”…..
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Yes.
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I think he has already cause permanent damage
Every year, you can see the band shrinking. That’s all I need to know.
I was surprised to see him at the first football game last year after that public ugliness. I was hoping he had moved on.
I’m not a band kid. Never have been. I can half-ass play the piano, which impresses my wife, but that’s about it.
Growing up, it was VERY cool seeing the POA performing around the world, in parades and on morning TV shows. The POA was a FORCE in this state, and was very recognizable, even to kids who weren’t in the band. They were a game day staple at Cajun Field, playing loud and proud, rivaling the best of bands in this state and region.
To see what it has been reduced to over the years is a CRIME OF NEGLECT. Like most things at this school, we have a nasty habit of letting great things go to sh!t overnight.
He thought the whole situation would be pushed under the rug for good. Nope. Several students quit after he was reinstated, and his name will forever be associated with the incident.
Wait, that band director that was alleged to have SA’d a student, is still the band director?
I was thinking this exact thing. And didn’t the suicide directly name Popp as part of the reason for this?
Yep. The student that took their own life posted a suicide note on instagram claiming Dr. Popp and two others committed SA against them. He should’ve resigned for that alone.
Whether you’re guilty or not. You gotta quit bro. Your name is not just tarnished but will now effect the university’s brand.