yea, this is certified badass

dothedrewtoo

That is the greatest geek halftime show I have ever seen. Of course, the funnies half time shows are done by that band in Palo Alto, but they also tend to get into some trouble, too.

By the way...

GO DUCKS!!

Monty

Too bad they didn't video tape that from the other side of the field. Everything was upside down! But still cool!

ttran97

@UpIrons:
Well, given that football players are typically in the locker room at halftime getting ready to play the second half, I'd say you're right. I wouldn't generalize, however, and assume that none of the football players understand anything about video games.

Binkles

I liked the samsung sponsored one better. Still can't get that good in the USA.

qbrad

That was awesome! Ninty, old skool games, classic "choones"... just... plain... geeky awesome!

Jawdy

Great idea and great performance. As a weekly N64 Mario Kart player my favorite part was the castle sequence towards the end.

senator133

Wonder how many of the people actually got it. Sure, the band geeks and their friends, but certainly not any of the actual football players.

UpIrons

Man thats just so awesome

leetgeek

Good job on cross posting something that was already posted on Kotaku.

Still cool like yesterday though.

kahi

Upside down FTL.

highfloydelity

Can we get someone one the correct side of the stadium to film it next time?

bueller929

Go Cougs! Even though we lost that game 17-20, thats probably one of the coolest Marching Band Halftime Shows I've ever seen.

tbartley

i have to admit that that's really cool..........but at the end of the day, they're still band freaks

jschulman1591

Cal Band Great!

Go Bears!

superdave

wow pokemon. thats officially the coolest thing today. Calling berkeley friend now.

mettleh3d

Cal lost to f*king USC =(

xenobread

i dont mean to be a downer as that was a great show, but their trumpets were weak on some pretty key parts. (i played trumpet in marching band) Anybody know what it was supposed to be when they were all just standing around randomly and playing the waterworld music from mario 1?

mwalker05

Sofa king awesome.

Synik103

It would have been funnier if a trombone player got creamed by a player running the ball into the endzone. Oh wait, that was a Cal player creaming a Stanford band geek wasn't it?

CruJones

The ending was completely awesome, kudos to these guys.
As a certified band nerd I can say that I give it 5 gold stars ;)

med

But can they play Doom?

itchytooth

@jschulman1591: ...from someone commenting on a gadget blog, heh.
Nice job, Cal! Their drumline is pretty sick as well.

fussball

GO BEARS!!! Let's not forget our football team was also number 1 in the nation (for about 20 minutes, but hey, that counts!). Our band rocks too!

OldSchoolGadgetLover

.backwards was video the Unfortunately

scarbrtj

I just spent 5 minutes wondering how i'm so retarded that I don't get it...only to realize at the very end that it's upside-down.

Does anyone have this right-side up?

bpatten

Mortal Kombat dragon FTW.

themightykorean

OMG , this totally made my day, congrats to the people who worked for months and months, so i could be stupidly laughing alone at my office for 10 min.BTW the Mario Bros 1 ending totally owned the other stuff.

great work.

Cheve

I just emailed the band's public relations director. Hopefully they have an official video recording from the other side of the field. It would be great if they could share the it online.

blommer

...but will it blend?

peterlarson233

@jschulman1591: And at the end of the day, you're still posting on Gizmodo.

goo2

NERDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

/ok, that's pretty cool though..

smitty1123

It's ok, guys, most people are bitching just to bitch, it's not like giz said this is "gizmodo exclusive"!!!

But oh god I'm so utterly and incredibly happy right now I think I'll just go ahead and pee myself.

UncleBenny

cool idea, poor execution....or bad videographer...cant tell from angle provided. Cal band should focus more on rushing the field during last second plays.

Eldookie

nothing compared to kim jong il(l)'s children-performances with thousand of kids....

Bodypainter

@Terranova: Please refer me to the section where there are kids running. This drill is actually pretty simple. They spend most of the time standing still.

stonefry

The North Koreans have nothing to fear...

sfokevin

@kahi:

Yes Gizmodo good job!

Not all of us care to read Kotaku (and I know it's blocked at work for some,) so I've got no problems with Giz cross posting some of the good stuff. If they didn't cross post, then I would never have seen this masterpiece of geekery.

When you start paying to read Giz per article, then you get to complain about repeats. Until then, may I suggest scrolling down?

Bender

marching bands almost always sound pretty awful. when you go to games or competitions, the temperature tends to fluctuate wildly - which can wreak havoc on the tuning of many instruments.

So until we have a marching band made up entirely of Barbra-Streisand-types who are in touch with their mythical (but actually pretty common) perfect pitch capabilities, marching bands will continue to sound kind of detuned and haunted.

plus it's not easy to run around like that and also be a good musician. many marching routines involve slow movements that let you concentrate on playing once your routine is in physical memory. But those kids were RUNNING around on that field in order to make that magic happen.

Terranova

@mwalker05: As you can see (hear) by this clip [www.youtube.com] where they play without marching, the trumpets are not bad. The problem is that this is recorded from the backfield and the high pitched instruments are more directional.

stonefry

that audience did not scream ANYwhere near loud enough. That was an amazing performance that must have taken months and months to design and practice. That crowd should have been losing their minds with cheering.

Band geeks rule.

Terranova

...that was still really awesome, though...

jimb213

I can't say I was ever in marching band, but the trumpets did sound pretty weak to me. Maybe some of it was just turning away from the camera at the wrong time, but they weren't hitting the high notes very well.

jimb213

That was the first half-time show I have seen in my life that was worth watching.

Hey band nerds, ease up on the showtunes and start putting on performances more appealing than an overpriced hotdog.

DaveExile

wow, and i wrote up the Tetris theme for Horn, Trumpet, Alto Sax, and Tuba over the summer for the hell of it. i want to put it on the field, but that will never happen

this trounces it.

glaeven

That is the most amazing marching formation I have ever seen. I used to be in marching band and I can imaging the patience and discipline it must have take. The director is wonderfully creative.

bdkennedy1

do the math, its 2007, most of those kids were probably just born or not even alive when the NES was current (released in '85).
I'm surpised there werent any more recent video game references like GTA, Doom, Quake (Rott?) etc.
still, good show guys.

calaverasgrandes

@bueller929: the 50 yard aristocrats have no need to record some pop culture references they have no clue about. Most of them likely thought this was some cirque du soleil bit.

SeattleTed

doood!

chevronexxon

So from being in a marching band in highschool, all be it a small less than 50 member size, We did some complex shows, and this really wasn't that complex, alot of straight movements, big deal, and they were just standing for a ton of time. theme great, execution a little weak.

mrbiggs

@Terranova: "So until we have a marching band made up entirely of Barbra-Streisand-types who are in touch with their mythical (but actually pretty common) perfect pitch capabilities, marching bands will continue to sound kind of detuned and haunted"

We do, its called drum corps.

homerjay

Needs more Metroid

Chiper

They sure could've used that guy to trip up the trojans last weekend. In the end, Tedford needs to stop calling so conservative and use Jackson and Hawkins to the best of their ability. Fight On!

Silenthillnight

@peterlarson233:

That stopped being funny last year. Try a little relevance in your comments. I thought I was a game geek, but I only knew a few of these games. Seems clever though...

beneditor

@Silenthillnight: Also, Longshore needs to stop throwing interceptions (and generally choking) in the 4th quarter. (This is from a Cal fan/alum who had been to every game in California since 2001 until moving out of the Bay this summer.)

Lenz

Ahh...marching band and vidya gaems.

My 2 greatest, and geekiest passions.

ScotSax17

well i thought it was awesome ...


i swear some of you are like herpes on fun.

Paradise

That really is the coolest thing ever.

Lettermaniac

If its that big of a deal, just go into your graphics properties and flip the screen. Maryland did a show with Tetris, Tron, and Medal of Honor a couple years back and a couple other bands have done video game halftimes, but this one does seem to bring in a lot more games than what you usually see. Its usually only 3 songs that you hear in the shows. I didnt like the arrangement for some of the songs at certain parts of the show but overall it was pretty good.

ceilingFANBOY

Lol I have to bookmark this.

jomi294

they actually did it facing the student section for this one, so it was upside down in the video since it was taped from the alumni section. somebody in the student section must've taped it and have it posted somewhere..? some parts you can't really see clearly in the video sadly. (and ya longshore's been throwing an incredible number of interceptions since his injury and is still not mobile enough :( we won this game though at least...)

etai

It was kinda cool but they kind of suck... sorry. I think they need to practice more on fundamentals before they disrespect these games for the next show.

theharlotfelon

Go Band!

Singlespeed

@yertle:
no offense but I think Pong was the easiest one to spot, besides the fact that it was the first demo.

bueller929

I saw no pong.

yertle

@beneditor: Don't feed the trolls...

Actually I'm thinking right now that "don't feed the trolls" could be the new "will it blend?".

hanswurst0815

I never thought I'd say this outside Memorial Stadium:
CAL BAND GREAT!

Need2Ski