Posted by Doug Whitten on September 10, 2002 at 09:25:50:
In Reply to: Military bands on the wrong track posted by Volker on September 10, 2002 at 02:47:39:
I was in one of the offending bands for 3 years. In the Berlin Brigade Band around the time of the "Fall of the Berlin Wall" we performed extensively for military events as well as for the German public. Indeed, we mixed many pop, rock , and jazz tunes in with the traditional military ceremonial music. We did draw some criticism for pandering to the audience, but we also drew much praise.
In terms of crowd reaction, Stars and Stripes Forever would always get a standing ovation...as would playing Glenn Miller tunes. We also recieved a lot of applause when we would play traditional German music such as Berliner Luft or In Munchen Staat Ein Hofbrau hous. From my experience, the variety was much appreciated by the Germans.
More important than the musical variety, for my band in Berlin, was the social message being sent. We were trying not to look like the Army of Occupation that we were. We were trying to put a human face on the US Military. We wanted them to think of us as neighbors and friends. Surely there are purists who think military bands should only play marches, and that is a big part of being in a military band, but I think playing Glenn Miller and Elvis won the respect of far more Berliners than would have concerts of straight military music.