Sound System and crowd interaction

[Jcart2443]

I know they fired the gentleman that was in charge of Jumbotron sound and crowd interaction about a month ago. They had an epic fail trying to piece together anything respectable. It was the worst I have seen anywhere. Indoor club had awful rifs before the plays. No consistancy and failing sound. How can this happen with so long to prep??

Biggest dissapointment was no fireworks as my kids look forward to that.

Was I the only one that noticed this? Anybody over 50 around me was extremely irritated.

[julie]

Heaven forbid anyone go merely to watch football.

[hogchic2001]

I thought it was terrible as well.

[alwaysnextyear]

Waddell wasn't fired. The coordination was definitely off. Our game day experience will always be a mess because our fans suck. The fireworks are lame anyway. The people over 50 who complained probably were mad they were piping in hip hop music.

[GolfnHog]

Heaven forbid anyone go merely to watch football.

I go to watch the game but I'll be dammed if I'm gonna be happy w/ my ear drums damaged by ineptness by sound folks. If they are going to preach "fan experience" they might want to get it right

[Jcart2443]

I watch FB Julie as I did not say during the plays...

It wasnt about the genre either as all the music had issues due to the technology.

What happened to Waddell?

If it wasnt for most of the 50+ you would not have a sound system, jumbo tron, or 50,000 plus stadium.

[aaronpjones21]

I'm 29 years old. The DJ piped in music between every play when we were on defense was awful. In fact, all the piped in music was awful. I'm not a fan of playing Enter Samdman before every 3rd down either. Half the time the music would be cut off abruptly--just poor presentation, quality and sound. The feedback in the stadium was terrible. It was the worst in-game music production I've seen at any level. I'm not exaggerating. The band played basically none. This DJ music kills the atmosphere and takes away from the game. I can't believe I'm saying this. But, really.

I miss the band playing. Student section appeared to be more into it when the band actually played than the piped in music.

The sound to the intro video also didn't work.

I'd fire the DJ yesterday and tell the band we'd actually like them to play something other than the fight song again.

[jkstock04]

Am I dreaming or wasn't there supposed to be some fancy intro this year? Stuff that was kept hush hush and was gonna just blow everyone's mind?? Lol there was no intro. Nothing...ZILCH. Such a big buildup and they literally deliver nothing. Typical.

Lol oh well at the end of day that stuff is of little consequence to me. Although those sound miscues were extremely annoying.

[julie]

I'm 29 years old. The DJ piped in music between every play when we were on defense was awful. In fact, all the piped in music was awful. I'm not a fan of playing Enter Samdman before every 3rd down either. Half the time the music would be cut off abruptly--just poor presentation, quality and sound. The feedback in the stadium was terrible. It was the worst in-game music production I've seen at any level. I'm not exaggerating. The band played basically none. This DJ music kills the atmosphere and takes away from the game. I can't believe I'm saying this. But, really.

I miss the band playing. Student section appeared to be more into it when the band actually played than the piped in music.

The sound to the intro video also didn't work.

I'd fire the DJ yesterday and tell the band we'd actually like them to play something other than the fight song again.

I remember going to Razorback games when all there was was football and the band.  No piped in music, no jumbo tron, no smoke, etc.  And it was INCREDIBLE!

[aaronpjones21]

Correct, Julie. I agree 100%.

[GolfnHog]

Apparently the whole audio/video presentation was very subpar yesterday. Along w/ the audio issues the video had moments of a black screen as well as times of some type of video issues w/ the quality overall.

That part of the stadium experience, for this fan, was not up to par for the money required to watch a game in person

[aaronpjones21]

Subpar.... Horrendous.

[twistitup]

Terrible speaker feedback on upper west side - I know these aren't top dollar seats- but dayyumm it was like nails on a chalkboard

Fan experience 3 out if 10

[GolfnHog]

I remember going to Razorback games when all there was was football and the band.  No piped in music, no jumbo tron, no smoke, etc.  And it was INCREDIBLE!

I totally agree however ticket prices were substantially less expensive & there was a stadium that only held between 45-52k people & technology of today was a pipe dream.

If you are going to make it available for the fans in attendance then at least make it right!

[Hogarusa]

I remember going to Razorback games when all there was was football and the band.  No piped in music, no jumbo tron, no smoke, etc.  And it was INCREDIBLE!

I get it but that's not the way it is anymore on any level of sport.  Tickets also probably cost $10 and parking was free.

The sound yesterday was awful.

[MCheisman]

Looked terrible on TV as well. No noise from the crowd just loud rifs. Watched the A&M game later on and it was night and day difference in crowd noise and they had a cupcake team as well.

[twistitup]

Why does any school still play cheesy songs from 20+ yrs ago? Who are they trying to connect to? We can do better than House of Pain

[popcornhog]

I go to watch the game but I'll be dammed if I'm gonna be happy w/ my ear drums damaged by ineptness by sound folks. If they are going to preach "fan experience" they might want to get it right

I'm in the outdoor club but I'm not over 50. I have no idea what you're talking about.

I wouldn't have noticed fireworks either way until you pointed it out.

My only complaint was that we couldn't take our drinks back to our seats (I know you could in the indoor club). What the heck? So if you want a drink you can't watch the game? What's the point?

It was expected and explained in the email but really stupid once it was truly implemented.

[popcornhog]

Why does any school still play cheesy songs from 20+ yrs ago? Who are they trying to connect to? We can do better than House of Pain

That's something of a sports staple.

[wupigsuey]

Why does any school still play cheesy songs from 20+ yrs ago? Who are they trying to connect to? We can do better than House of Pain

At one point I heard AC/DC playing Back in Black. I doubt many students even know who that is.

[popcornhog]

I totally agree however ticket prices were substantially less expensive & there was a stadium that only held between 45-52k people & technology of today was a pipe dream.

If you are going to make it available for the fans in attendance then at least make it right!

I believe the crowd was announced at 63,000 give or take.

Lower level was pretty much full but for the north corners. Upper deck was 75% full. Club was pretty close to full.

[ricepig]

I'm in the outdoor club but I'm not over 50. I have no idea what you're talking about.

I wouldn't have noticed fireworks either way until you pointed it out.

My only complaint was that we couldn't take our drinks back to our seats (I know you could in the indoor club). What the heck? So if you want a drink you can't watch the game? What's the point?

It was expected and explained in the email but really stupid once it was truly implemented.

It wasn't two weeks ago there were posters on here complaining because we did shoot fireworks after a score, haha. The sound feedback and game production was lacking, hopefully they get it corrected, or at least improved. I'm sure we suffered from Waddell leaving and the new guy coming in, he's still retweeting Miami stuff....

[OneTuskOverTheLine™]

Why does any school still play cheesy songs from 20+ yrs ago? Who are they trying to connect to? We can do better than House of Pain

House of pain > T-pain...   Sorry dude, but Jump around is 2nd only to "California Love" on the "Badass Hip Hop hook" list of all time...

[TX HOG]

Give me the keys to the lights, fireworks, tunes, etc...

[Hogarusa]

I don't have any issues with the song selections.  It's just the way they sounded, which was 1 on a scale of 1-10.

I didn't notice any cheesy song selections.  Jump Around is a great arena/stadium song

[hoglady]

Simple point is if you're going to do all this fancy stuff get it right.
If you can't get it right - just let the band play and be done with it.

[Hogfaniam]

Looked terrible on TV as well. No noise from the crowd just loud rifs. Watched the A&M game later on and it was night and day difference in crowd noise and they had a cupcake team as well.

And 40k more people, and a newly renovated stadium, and coming off a good year, and coming off pounding South Carolina, and they have a huge population base to pull from, and....(hand cramp)

[hoglady]

Seen complaints on other boards about not calling the Hogs before they enter the stadium. Said they just shot the smoke in the pen and the Hogs ran out. No build up to it.
Those who were there - how did ya'll think that part went?

[3kgthog]

It was all average, but that high pitched ringing in the SEZ speakers has got to stop. It didn't happen just once.

[Tyro3]

Let the band play!! earsplitting noise between EVERY play is way over the top.

[jkstock04]

Why does any school still play cheesy songs from 20+ yrs ago? Who are they trying to connect to? We can do better than House of Pain

I'm not a marketing guy but common sense tells me they should try and connect to whatever the majority of fan makeup is demographic/age wise.

I'm gonna guess the average season ticket holder is white...around 40 yrs old...upper middle class.

[Hogfan1660]

We were in a suite and between every song we would have a terrible high pitch sound coming out of the speakers! It was a terrible attempt at providing DJ music IMO!

[jkstock04]

Seen complaints on other boards about not calling the Hogs before they enter the stadium. Said they just shot the smoke in the pen and the Hogs ran out. No build up to it.
Those who were there - how did ya'll think that part went?

Anti-climatic comes to mind. I swear leading up to it I kept hearing about this awesome intro and to expect things we had never seen before and they did nothing. There was zero effort put into it.

If it wasn't for the build up of supposed great expected things I wouldn't have thought anything about it.

[online-with-swine]

It was all average, but that high pitched ringing in the SEZ speakers has got to stop. It didn't happen just once.

Those speakers should be placed directly behind the visitors bench at ground level.

[Ex-Trumpet]

One of the things that makes college football so much better than NFL is the game atmosphere.  Get rid of the Jumbotrons and the commercials and let the college atmosphere rule!

I guess it just speaks of our society in general.

Was at Sam's last week...they have their Christmas stuff up.

[The real Hogules]

Although the music that seemingly began, almost without fail, 3-4 seconds before the ball was snapped was an annoyance, the single thing that bothered me most was that the up to the minute stats were noticeably missing from the Jumbo-tron throughout the entire game.

[Hawg2afault]

It wasn't about which music was being played, it didn't matter what was played.  The sound was terrible!  Feedback in the second half was so bad you could see people covering their ears.  I kept waiting for the spontaneous combustion from Mars Attacks to hit the stadium!  The worst part was that there were NO stats during the game!  No rushing yards, no passing yards, NO NOTHING.  A person sitting next to me suggested that Jeff Long probably wants the fans to purchase an app for that.

[PorkRyan]

Entrance was the most laughable thing the UA has done since Hugo Bezdek.  The team was in a hog pen getting suffocated by smoke for about a minute.  There was no sound over the PA except Keith and Chuck talking in the booth.  Then the team just entered the field.  No music.  It was just awful.  How hard it is to show some highlights play a good rock song and enter the field? 

The new sound system was messed up even worse.  You couldn't hear very well on the East side of the stadium.  It sounded muffled.  Then it sounded like a fog horn in the second half numerous times.  We need to get a refund on the new system.

Even worse than all of that was the new DJ.  There was no flow to when he played music.  Numerous times he played loud music when we were in the huddle on OFFENSE.  Someone in the red seats in 112 yelled for him to shut the f up at one point.  The DJ is using a different sound system.  His sound system sucked worse than the PA system.  It was just noise filled bass.  There were times the band, DJ, and the PA were all blasting noise at the same time.

I've been going to game since 1981.  Today was the worst game atmosphere that I have ever seen at a Razorback game.  It had nothing to do with the fans, and everything to do with the UA trying too hard.  There were no game stats, no scores from other games, just pulsating noise coming from a ** speaker setup in the North endzone.  They are making it really easy to stay home and watch games on tv.

[Sonofahog]

The exciting team entrance was awesome.  Listening to Chuckles Barrett slowly describe the Nicholls passing game and how our safety's better be ready brought me to a frenzy.   

The whole in game experience was a train wreck.  It took about 10 tries before they actually had the music on the "off to never never land " graphic.

[BOAR_N2BWILD]

First of all I am 40 and do not need a lot of music, smoke, etc. for a game day experience. Having said that, today's performance was pitiful. Not only was the timing off, horrible feedback, and lame attempts at interaction. ALL of tradition is being taken away. We did not even Call The Hogs onto the field. Afterwords, about half of the team made their way over to sing the fight song. The band director has ruined the Odyssey 2000 4th quarter raising of the Arkansas flag to the point to where it is not even recognizable. Only had about 4- 5 hog calls during a game. Just a view observations. I can definitely go to just watch football, but for me the traditions are a part of Razorback football and are just not there.

[Locutus_of_Boar]

It was all average, but that high pitched ringing in the SEZ speakers has got to stop. It didn't happen just once.

That feedback was audible over the TV broadcast several time yesterday.

[popcornhog]

One of the things that makes college football so much better than NFL is the game atmosphere.  Get rid of the Jumbotrons and the commercials and let the college atmosphere rule!

I guess it just speaks of our society in general.

Was at Sam's last week...they have their Christmas stuff up.

You think that jumbo trons hurt the college atmosphere?

Just my opinion, I guess, but if I couldn't see a play very well or if I miss something -- it's aweful nice to be able to look up and clearly see the replay. It enhances the experience for me.

[PorkRyan]

They also changed the way the band enters the field. The band guys high stepping on to the field are in a different part of the presentation instead of the beginning.  It's not a big deal, but it goes back to tradition. Those guys were always the ones that started the band onto the field. As long as I can remember, that was the sign for me that it was game time. 

[LAHogfan123]

I'm in the outdoor club but I'm not over 50. I have no idea what you're talking about.

I wouldn't have noticed fireworks either way until you pointed it out.

My only complaint was that we couldn't take our drinks back to our seats (I know you could in the indoor club). What the heck? So if you want a drink you can't watch the game? What's the point?

It was expected and explained in the email but really stupid once it was truly implemented.

Do yourself a favor, bring your on drink of choice to the game, saves you money, hides itself in plain site, and mixes well with my Cola of choice, Coke.  Yeah, that's right, I have to bring Coke to, Jack & Coke is my favorite mixer.

[Ex-Trumpet]

You think that jumbo trons hurt the college atmosphere?

Just my opinion, I guess, but if I couldn't see a play very well or if I miss something -- it's aweful nice to be able to look up and clearly see the replay. It enhances the experience for me.

Jumbotrons used to be used for that purpose...now they are giant advertising platforms.  I'd rather have no replays.

[popcornhog]

Jumbotrons used to be used for that purpose...now they are giant advertising platforms.  I'd rather have no replays.

Every major play yesterday was replayed on the jumbo tron.

[PorkRyan]

Jumbotrons used to be used for that purpose...now they are giant advertising platforms.  I'd rather have no replays.

The in game advertising yesterday was very minimal. That was the one area that was a huge upgrade.

[Hogarusa]

No stats and no scores were bothersome.  I had to pull up my ESPN app and with an AT&T service, it was sometimes a "not responding" process.

It's a news worthy challenge that college and NFL teams are trying to figure out how to continue to get fans out of the comfort of their home and into the stadium. 

This wasn't their best effort.

[Hawgzinbowlz]

To grade the total production, from the perspective that we are in the SEC, and should have a high level and professional production... it would be generous to give it a D-.
Very noticeably amateurish and Jeff needs to get it cleaned up. Newly hired, and inexperienced assistants, comes to mind. This IS NOT BASHING, it's telling it like it was.
Jimmy Johnson's year of graduation was listed as 2013, the music volume and timing before Nicholls offensive plays was clearly not professional, the screeching of the volume could be interpreted as obnoxious, the lack of scores from other games was a conversation piece and the overall timing of display changes was not in sync...Chucks radio feed was coming through the sound system, at a low but discernible level, during one of the special performance pieces by the UofA band.
The Hog Pen entrance could be impactful and seemed flat.
Again, I had an enjoyable experience with the play on the field but the production was the worst I have ever seen...anywhere. Note to Jeff : Please fix it.
This is not meant to be bashing. We need a professional producer for our games and Saturday's production was an embarrassment to the UofA and was in no way professional.
If we have a production, let's get it right and present the UofA in a light that we can all be proud of. Pay the money for a professional production leader.

" GO HOGS "

[Ex-Trumpet]

The in game advertising yesterday was very minimal. That was the one area that was a huge upgrade.

That's good to hear...I just hate that most college games are becoming like Idiocracy/NFL.