User reviews

What kind of award winning band doesn't have baton twirlers??? And they made the wrong decisions with the dancer cuts on the second episode! Cra cra

The amount of backstory is helpful for that true experience of the dance team and guard, but these girls are maybe 10-15% of the band's numbers. They really should have clarified in the preview and in the description.

It's cool to see the backstories of a few but this would really be better if they focused a little more on the process and the reasoning behind the dedication needed to perform to these high standards. "The director is a perfectionist" is not an accurate assessment, nor is it the reason he demands such excellence from these students.

Enjoyed this series to a good degree, but it did leave several things to be desired. First, I need to acknowledge all the things the show does well: it shows an important cross-section of the field performance community, and why elements of HBCU community stand apart from other field performance ensembles. The passion that Black colleges and bands bring is stellar, and lifts to the crowd over other college marching bands, especially with concern to the dance by the overall band, and dance squadron (14K dancers). I most enjoyed some of the side narratives concerning relationships and weight/fitness... as these are real elements that present among the band community.

Now for the trade-offs: As others have mentioned, the series primarily focuses on the 14K dance team and their struggles - I would say 40% of the show focuses here. To a lesser extend it then focuses the flag team (20%) and then approaches the overall band, with peppered human interest stories, for the remaining 40%. While I understand that making programming can be difficult, the 12 minute segments were not merely silly, they were lazy. By limiting to 12 minutes, the producer/director was able to reuse footage and rehash previous moments at the beginning of each segment.

While others may be unaware, there is a robust competitive field performance industry known as "Drum and Bugle Corps" (D&BC). That community is less defined by pageantry and entertainment, per se, but is arguably more precision-performance oriented. Accordingly, hearing the BCU members bemoan a 'long bus drive' to North Carolina (from Florida) juxtapose the reality of D&BC members who routinely criss-cross the country on 48-hour drives. This being the comparative reality - I much would have rather learned more about the real-life struggles of these kids leading up to university, why being in the Bethune-Cookman band meant so much to them, and when the first saw them, previous family members involved, etc.

As mentioned, there truly could have been better attention giving to (any) musician sections, from battery (drums) to other brass and woodwind instrument sections. While the program did show a brief interlude with the mellophone section - the growth of the band was not made clear through the course of this show. By comparison, the Dwayne Johnson produced "Clash of the Corps", available on Amazon, is more engaging, appreciative of performer backstories, and better produced. I greatly hope that if they make a second season of Marching Orders, their gaps might be better bridged.

But they spend so much time on the back story that the actual marching band activities take a back seat. There are even episodes that are nothing but back story. Or the ep devotes at least half the time to the back story. And these eps are only 12 minutes long! But having lived through my daughter's four years of high school marching band, this show brings back a lot of memories. It's just too bad that out of the 12 eps, barely half the series shows the band actually marching.

And by the way, what really stands out for me, and is not obvious to people that have never heard one indoors, is that these bands are loud!

More episodes to the series please !!! I loved it.

Firstoff, they should combine the episodes to 24 minutes each. 12 minutes is silly.

Second, this show is at LEAST 50% about the dance squad. Then maybe 25% on the color guard/flags and drum majors. The last 25% is about backstory and other minutiae. They give some pieces on the drumline and the mellophone sections, but I just felt they really skimped on the BAND part marching band. There's little coverage of the music, or the drill book, or the marching technique.

All that to say, I was pretty disappointed with this show, although I will admit my expectations were relatively high having just finished other "docu-drama" shows like Last Chance U and being a marching band alum.

They nailed the hard work, and community that is a big part of collegiate marching band. Loved the series! Want to see way more of it! And I'm tempted to travel to Charlotte next summer!

I hard giving this a low rating because there were some really stand out moments. If cut differently to focus on the discipline and work ethic of these young people, this show could have been something truly inspiring.

Instead, there's too much focus on back story and drama, far too much time spent on the dance team, and very little time spent showcasing the young people's talent. Would have loved to have seen more performance of the band and drumline.

I'll keep it short by echoing the sentiments of others. The series spent a baffling amount of time with the dancers and flag core and barely (not an exaggeration) with the instrumentalists. However I did give 4 stars because the show does have some heart. At the end of the day though when I go to watch a series about a marching band, I'd like to watch a show about a marching band.

Love the show but we need longer episodes to include more of everything. I loved what they have but they only touch on the band. The dance and flags were interesting to watch.

I was in Marching Band from 7th to 12th grade. I play percussion. I was never in a competition of this level. But I understand marching band competition.

If you are going to make a show about a marching band, then show us the band. I watched several episodes thinking

"Where's the BAND?!?!???"

I'd like to see more episodes. If you insist on showing all of the non band drama and insecurities, then show twice as much about the entire group. These young men and women have worked their collective butts off, you OWE it to them ALL to give proper attention.

I raised 3 daughters. I don't need to see the drama between the flag team members and the dance team members. I saw that everyday in my house and in my car.

Who thought that a 12 minute episode was a good idea? Fire them, and don't let the near this industry again. Just about the time a person settles into an episode, it ends.

There are some good things in here. But those gems are overwhelmingly forgetten because of the awful things in here.

Think about this. You go to a football game so you can wait for halftime to see the band. Your band performance is exponentially superior to your football team. The series is okay at best. It not difference than watching other do or die team selection process. This is truly for the band camp junkies. It's does explain why HBCU's can't win a division 1 championship.

I'm from Australia and came across this doco. I didn't realise it was real. I thought it was a Satirical documentary of the absurdity of the situation. A black only university that's main focus is enter an arena and perform for the crowds. This is not something I'm comfortable with.