Ok, as a former band member, here is my take. Our pregame is awesome. Tons of energy, great high-stepping with flashy 270 degree turns, great music, great formations, tons of pageantry (the Fanfare-Pageant before the Rouser gets my blood pumping every time), tons of history (swinging gates tradition, etc). I'd say it is one of the better pregames in the country (having watched many either on youtube or in person). One big problem is the dome - drowned out the sounds making them sound less exciting, not outdoors (believe me a band looks less drab and boring when in the sunlight).
Our halftimes need to improve. Period. Sometimes it is the music selection, sometimes it is the formations, almost always the low-step marching style - they all contribute to it. Even last year, off the top of my head we had shows like Armed Forces, Jackson 5 (with Thriller), Blues Brothers, Paul Simon, and a show with Tear the Roof and Movin' on Up to kick out the dome. On the surface those seem like they should be ok, but some of them were lackluster (either in sound or formations bored me).
I don't think the band is all about gimmicks - you ask for real formations or pictures, so the band does the plane/train/steamboat show, but that's a gimmick. Ask for exciting, fun things and the Thriller thing is a gimmick. Ask for more tradition, and the band does a show with William Tell and 1812 complete with arrow piercing an apple and a canon firing (the band used to do the Wm Tell thing every year for Dad's day). I personally think shows like Queen (with a real bicycle race during the song), movie tunes (Incredibles, Robin Hood, Superman), Video Game show (Tetris, Zelda, Mario), superheroes (Superman, Batman, Spiderman - all with pictures), the Mound of Sound (band collapses in to center then back out again) and many more are big hits with decent originality, great excitement, some history, and good formations. It is the ones in between that stink.
As for originality - I watched a ton of Youtube videos, only saw 2-3 (if you cound some PSU after-game fun as one) college bands performing it, and we were the first to do it with nearly the whole band. I would say many or all bands would be hard pressed to be completely original, all the time. Most shows (the music) cost quite a bit of money - more than you'd think. There aren't tons of arrangements out there so most shows will have been done either by us before or another band. If you want the band to have a larger selection of music break out your pocket books. The band has very little money since it isn't funded by the athletic dept (to my knowledge).
Does this mean our band is perfect? No. I say start high stepping more often during halftimes and do simple (but exciting) drills in more blocky formations. But that's just me. Our pregame beats the crap out of Wisc's though.
