|
Post by boahistorybuff on Dec 30, 2022 5:33:06 GMT -6
Returning to Their Identity - 2001 Lake Park
During the late 1980s and early 1990s as theme based shows began to really take hold and become the norm for high school marching bands, Lake Park took on themed based shows that were built around a specific nationality or geographic region (eastern Europe, Latin American, Spain, Italy/Rome, north Africa, etc). In fact their 1996 GN Championship winning show was built around Italian Opera. Lake Park began exploring other types of themes in the late 1990s and of course with their 2000 show based on the Oklahoma City bombing. In 2001, Lake Park went back to their early themed show style roots so to speak and presented us a themed based show called "Impressions of Japan". The music was actually composed by a local Chicago area composer named Don Hill (who I believe has worked with Phantom Regiment). The music was arranged by Lake Park's director at the time and BOA Hall of Fame member Ken Snoeck. A little bit of trivia here but in the early 1970s, Ken Snoeck (who was a student at my alma mater of Central Michigan University) did the arrangements for the CMU marching band. He then went on to direct and arrange the music for the Bridgeport HS MI marching band in the mid-late 1970s, and led that band to be finals at the first three MBA Grand Nationals in the 70s. Of course his biggest success began in the 1980s when he took over the direction of Lake Park HS from Roselle, IL. The rest is of course history. I would certainly credit Mr. Snoeck for developing the signature sound of the Lake Park marching band from their glory years. It was that of a symphonic wind ensemble on the field, very layered and nuanced. In this 2001 show, you can certainly tell that Mr Snoeck is a percussionist.
2001 turned out to be the most successful season of the 2000s for the Lake Park band. They won the BOA St Louis Regional this year, their first regional win since 1997. It marked their 8th and last regional win. They made GN Finals and finished 8th. This was their 17th GN Finals appearance at the time. Here is the 2001 Lake Park marching band with their show "Impressions of Japan".
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Jan 5, 2023 5:55:09 GMT -6
A Little Bit of Paris on the West Coast
From the late 1990s through the 2000s, one of the best bands in the US that did not participate in BOA was James Logan HS from Union City, CA. In fact, they won a WBA Championship title every year of the 2000s except 2003. Here is a video of their 2001 WBA performance titled "Paris Sketches". The video quality is rathe poor and it looks like it was foggy, which I guess would not be surprising if this competition took place in the bay area. I can only imagine how much better this would look and sound if it were professionally recorded. Anyway, here is the 2001 James Logan marching band. It may be a bit hard to tell from the video, but James Logan always had an amazingly good color guard.
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Jan 6, 2023 11:12:58 GMT -6
Sometimes Just One Judge Can Make a Big Difference
In 1992, Alan C Pope HS from Marietta, GA made their BOA debut at the Johnson City TN Regional. They won the regional becoming the first Georgia band to win a BOA regional in 12 years. That would end up being their first and only BOA regional title. They did however remain perennial regional finalists into the 2000s. In 2000, they made their first trip to Grand Nationals. They ended up in 16th place in Semi Finals. In 2001, they made their second appearance at Grand Nationals. Two weeks prior, at the BOA Atlanta regional, they placed 4th and were the highest placing Georgia band (Lassiter did not attend that regional). In fact, in 2001, ranking the best bands in Georgia that season, I would probably suspect most would have had Pope in 2nd behind Lassiter. Of course, in following years Kennesaw Mountain and then Harrison would rise to prominence. Anyway, at Grand Nationals, their Prelims performance was the 10th highest score overall. In Semi Finals however, they finished in the unlucky number 13 spot, just .1 point behind 12th place Irmo. What is more interesting about the scores is that all of Pope's ordinals ranged from as high as 4th to 13th, easily enough to have got then into finals. However, one of the music effect judges ranked them 23rd. That was the score that kept them out of finals. Now I have never seen their 2001 GN Semi Finals performance (if anybody has that I would love to see it). The only performance of theirs I found was their prelims performance at the BOA Atlanta regional which was two weeks prior to nationals. I have posted that video. Keep in mind that their nationals performance was probably much cleaner. My take on the regional performance, other than yes there were some spots that needed to be cleaned up, was that even in terms of 2001 standards, I thought their music needed to make a little a bigger impact. 13th place was the closest Pope ever got to making GN Finals.
|
|
|
Post by jmike16 on Jan 7, 2023 1:52:22 GMT -6
Sometimes Just One Judge Can Make a Big DifferenceIn 1992, Alan C Pope HS from Marietta, GA made their BOA debut at the Johnson City TN Regional. They won the regional becoming the first Georgia band to win a BOA regional in 12 years. That would end up being their first and only BOA regional title. They did however remain perennial regional finalists into the 2000s. In 2000, they made their first trip to Grand Nationals. They ended up in 16th place in Semi Finals. In 2001, they made their second appearance at Grand Nationals. Two weeks prior, at the BOA Atlanta regional, they placed 4th and were the highest placing Georgia band (Lassiter did not attend that regional). In fact, in 2001, ranking the best bands in Georgia that season, I would probably suspect most would have had Pope in 2nd behind Lassiter. Of course, in following years Kennesaw Mountain and then Harrison would rise to prominence. Anyway, at Grand Nationals, their Prelims performance was the 10th highest score overall. In Semi Finals however, they finished in the unlucky number 13 spot, just .1 point behind 12th place Irmo. What is more interesting about the scores is that all of Pope's ordinals ranged from as high as 4th to 13th, easily enough to have got then into finals. However, one of the music effect judges ranked them 23rd. That was the score that kept them out of finals. Now I have never seen their 2001 GN Semi Finals performance (if anybody has that I would love to see it). The only performance of theirs I found was their prelims performance at the BOA Atlanta regional which was two weeks prior to nationals. I have posted that video. Keep in mind that their nationals performance was probably much cleaner. My take on the regional performance, other than yes there were some spots that needed to be cleaned up, was that even in terms of 2001 standards, I thought their music needed to make a little a bigger impact. 13th place was the closest Pope ever got to making GN Finals. Did Alan C. Pope compete at Nationals after 2001?
|
|
|
Post by dbalash on Jan 7, 2023 12:05:55 GMT -6
Sometimes Just One Judge Can Make a Big DifferenceIn 1992, Alan C Pope HS from Marietta, GA made their BOA debut at the Johnson City TN Regional. They won the regional becoming the first Georgia band to win a BOA regional in 12 years. That would end up being their first and only BOA regional title. They did however remain perennial regional finalists into the 2000s. In 2000, they made their first trip to Grand Nationals. They ended up in 16th place in Semi Finals. In 2001, they made their second appearance at Grand Nationals. Two weeks prior, at the BOA Atlanta regional, they placed 4th and were the highest placing Georgia band (Lassiter did not attend that regional). In fact, in 2001, ranking the best bands in Georgia that season, I would probably suspect most would have had Pope in 2nd behind Lassiter. Of course, in following years Kennesaw Mountain and then Harrison would rise to prominence. Anyway, at Grand Nationals, their Prelims performance was the 10th highest score overall. In Semi Finals however, they finished in the unlucky number 13 spot, just .1 point behind 12th place Irmo. What is more interesting about the scores is that all of Pope's ordinals ranged from as high as 4th to 13th, easily enough to have got then into finals. However, one of the music effect judges ranked them 23rd. That was the score that kept them out of finals. Now I have never seen their 2001 GN Semi Finals performance (if anybody has that I would love to see it). The only performance of theirs I found was their prelims performance at the BOA Atlanta regional which was two weeks prior to nationals. I have posted that video. Keep in mind that their nationals performance was probably much cleaner. My take on the regional performance, other than yes there were some spots that needed to be cleaned up, was that even in terms of 2001 standards, I thought their music needed to make a little a bigger impact. 13th place was the closest Pope ever got to making GN Finals. Did Alan C. Pope compete at Nationals after 2001? I don't believe so, no.
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Jan 7, 2023 18:50:12 GMT -6
I dont believe so either. In fact I think they skipped BOA for a couple years after that.
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Jan 13, 2023 11:16:46 GMT -6
A Somewhat Underrated Band
There have been many strong marching bands over the years who have participated in BOA for many years and were quite successful but did not quite nab a regional title or never made BOA GN Finals. These bands tend to get left out of things when we go through the historic results. One of those bands that was really quite good but never had a regional title or Grand National Finals appearance under their belt was Haltom HS from Haltom City TX. Haltom began competing in BOA in the 1990s and actually finished runner up to the BOA Waco regional title in 1997. That would be the closest they would get to winning a BOA regional. In 2001, they finished a strong 3rd at BOA Arlington. 2002 was a very BOA heavy year for Haltom as they made their first and only trip to Grand Nationals. They took on a little more challenging show that year. They finished 8th at BOA Arlington but then improved to 6th at BOA San Antonio. Although nothing like today, BOA San Antonio had already become a highly competitive regional by then. So they were certainly considered a potential GN Finals that year. They fell a bit short in Semi Finals and landed in 16th place. They still had a good show. I actually thought that this band was going to be a future power. This would be their only trip to Grand Nationals. For several more years, they did however remain consistent finalists at both the Dallas area BOA regionals and BOA San Antonio. I really liked their 2004 show and felt that had they taken that show to Grand Nationals, they could have landed in finals with it. The post will feature five years (2001-2005) of the Pride of Haltom marching band. You will note a familiar name was one of their directors, Van Mathews. Enjoy!
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Jan 14, 2023 13:53:09 GMT -6
Always the Innovator, Tarpon Gives Us a Show Full of Ups and Downs With a Little Bit of Controversy
First off, the 2001 Tarpon Springs show is not online. I have access to the video in a shared directory. Since the video is not mine to post, I am not going to post it. If however anybody has a video of the 2001 Tarpon Springs Outdoor Performance Ensemble (preferably their Grand National Performance), please post.
After their highly successful 2000 season, Tarpon had another strong showing at BOA in 2001. The won two BOA Regionals and finished 6th in Grand National Finals. They also won the GN Class AA Title (they had a bit more competition for that title back then with Kiski). 2001 Tarpon Springs show was titled "Life is a Journey". The showed featured a lot of amplified vocal narration, which was common at that time. My take on the show was that it walked the audience through the ups and downs of life. Large props were rotated at times to reveal images to reflect the mood of the music. The images were of historical reference to several key events that had happened over the previous century. There were several show themes back then around the 1999 to 2001 time frame that gave us a look back at the 20th Century (Tarpon's show in 2000 also gave us a look back at the previous century). Still a very small band back in those days (years before Tarpon Springs HS became a performing arts magnate), Tarpon probably had a total of under 110 members in their band, which included the guard. They still had great drill sets. They really showcased that a small band could still prove effective on the visual front.
This season Tarpon created a little bit of controversy or perhaps call it bad judgement. The story goes that after the BOA Orlando Prelims (which was just a few weeks after the 911 tragedy), band members held up banners (during the "Adagio for Strings" part of the show) that had images of the World Trade Center's being attacked. While some at the stadium were grabbed by the emotional statement of the image, it didn't go over too well with the majority of the crowd. The story goes that there were people in the stands who were crying and angry. For those who were not alive or too young to remember the fall of 2001, attending band competitions for most was a way to take your mind off that tragedy and all of the fear and uncertainty that existed after that incident for the weeks/months that followed. Obviously that was the first and last time Tarpon used those banners. What they ended up doing during the Adagio section was bringing several chairs onto the field that were replicas of the chairs designed for the Oklahoma City Bombing memorial. So they kept that section of the show very somber, which I think was still a bit bold at the time considering the state of the current events at the time. Now someone can correct me if I am wrong, but I believe at one point in the show (I don't think it was at the Adagio section) there was a picture of the Pentagon with the American Flag draped over it.
So I hope someone has this video to post. It is certainly one of the old BOA shows that has a very interesting back story to it.
|
|
|
Post by statechamp1239 on Jan 14, 2023 16:01:39 GMT -6
Always the Innovator, Tarpon Gives Us a Show Full of Ups and Downs With a Little Bit of Controversy but I believe at one point in the show (I don't think it was at the Adagio section) there was a picture of the Pentagon with the American Flag draped over it. It was at the very end of the Adagio Section heading in the closer.
|
|
|
Post by Subito Fortissimo on Jan 14, 2023 19:47:23 GMT -6
Always the Innovator, Tarpon Gives Us a Show Full of Ups and Downs With a Little Bit of ControversyFirst off, the 2001 Tarpon Springs show is not online. I have access to the video in a shared directory. Since the video is not mine to post, I am not going to post it. If however anybody has a video of the 2001 Tarpon Springs Outdoor Performance Ensemble (preferably their Grand National Performance), please post. After their highly successful 2000 season, Tarpon had another strong showing at BOA in 2001. The won two BOA Regionals and finished 6th in Grand National Finals. They also won the GN Class AA Title (they had a bit more competition for that title back then with Kiski). 2001 Tarpon Springs show was titled "Life is a Journey". The showed featured a lot of amplified vocal narration, which was common at that time. My take on the show was that it walked the audience through the ups and downs of life. Large props were rotated at times to reveal images to reflect the mood of the music. The images were of historical reference to several key events that had happened over the previous century. There were several show themes back then around the 1999 to 2001 time frame that gave us a look back at the 20th Century (Tarpon's show in 2000 also gave us a look back at the previous century). Still a very small band back in those days (years before Tarpon Springs HS became a performing arts magnate), Tarpon probably had a total of under 110 members in their band, which included the guard. They still had great drill sets. They really showcased that a small band could still prove effective on the visual front. This season Tarpon created a little bit of controversy or perhaps call it bad judgement. The story goes that after the BOA Orlando Prelims (which was just a few weeks after the 911 tragedy), band members held up banners (during the "Adagio for Strings" part of the show) that had images of the World Trade Center's being attacked. While some at the stadium were grabbed by the emotional statement of the image, it didn't go over too well with the majority of the crowd. The story goes that there were people in the stands who were crying and angry. For those who were not alive or too young to remember the fall of 2001, attending band competitions for most was a way to take your mind off that tragedy and all of the fear and uncertainty that existed after that incident for the weeks/months that followed. Obviously that was the first and last time Tarpon used those banners. What they ended up doing during the Adagio section was bringing several chairs onto the field that were replicas of the chairs designed for the Oklahoma City Bombing memorial. So they kept that section of the show very somber, which I think was still a bit bold at the time considering the state of the current events at the time. Now someone can correct me if I am wrong, but I believe at one point in the show (I don't think it was at the Adagio section) there was a picture of the Pentagon with the American Flag draped over it. So I hope someone has this video to post. It is certainly one of the old BOA shows that has a very interesting back story to it. I was at that 2001 Orlando regional as a freshman and was in the stands for their prelims performance. It...did not go over well, at all. We had a band member who had an uncle who was a NY firefighter who was killed. So, at no fault of the Tarpon Springs band members of course, this being less than three weeks after the attacks it felt egregiously exploitative and left a sour taste in my mouth for that band that lasted for quite a few years afterwards.
|
|
|
Post by LeanderMomma on Jan 17, 2023 4:44:33 GMT -6
Always the Innovator, Tarpon Gives Us a Show Full of Ups and Downs With a Little Bit of ControversyFirst off, the 2001 Tarpon Springs show is not online. I have access to the video in a shared directory. Since the video is not mine to post, I am not going to post it. If however anybody has a video of the 2001 Tarpon Springs Outdoor Performance Ensemble (preferably their Grand National Performance), please post. After their highly successful 2000 season, Tarpon had another strong showing at BOA in 2001. The won two BOA Regionals and finished 6th in Grand National Finals. They also won the GN Class AA Title (they had a bit more competition for that title back then with Kiski). 2001 Tarpon Springs show was titled "Life is a Journey". The showed featured a lot of amplified vocal narration, which was common at that time. My take on the show was that it walked the audience through the ups and downs of life. Large props were rotated at times to reveal images to reflect the mood of the music. The images were of historical reference to several key events that had happened over the previous century. There were several show themes back then around the 1999 to 2001 time frame that gave us a look back at the 20th Century (Tarpon's show in 2000 also gave us a look back at the previous century). Still a very small band back in those days (years before Tarpon Springs HS became a performing arts magnate), Tarpon probably had a total of under 110 members in their band, which included the guard. They still had great drill sets. They really showcased that a small band could still prove effective on the visual front. This season Tarpon created a little bit of controversy or perhaps call it bad judgement. The story goes that after the BOA Orlando Prelims (which was just a few weeks after the 911 tragedy), band members held up banners (during the "Adagio for Strings" part of the show) that had images of the World Trade Center's being attacked. While some at the stadium were grabbed by the emotional statement of the image, it didn't go over too well with the majority of the crowd. The story goes that there were people in the stands who were crying and angry. For those who were not alive or too young to remember the fall of 2001, attending band competitions for most was a way to take your mind off that tragedy and all of the fear and uncertainty that existed after that incident for the weeks/months that followed. Obviously that was the first and last time Tarpon used those banners. What they ended up doing during the Adagio section was bringing several chairs onto the field that were replicas of the chairs designed for the Oklahoma City Bombing memorial. So they kept that section of the show very somber, which I think was still a bit bold at the time considering the state of the current events at the time. Now someone can correct me if I am wrong, but I believe at one point in the show (I don't think it was at the Adagio section) there was a picture of the Pentagon with the American Flag draped over it. So I hope someone has this video to post. It is certainly one of the old BOA shows that has a very interesting back story to it. I was at that 2001 Orlando regional as a freshman and was in the stands for their prelims performance. It...did not go over well, at all. We had a band member who had an uncle who was a NY firefighter who was killed. So, at no fault of the Tarpon Springs band members of course, this being less than three weeks after the attacks it felt egregiously exploitative and left a sour taste in my mouth for that band that lasted for quite a few years afterwards. 😢
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Jan 18, 2023 10:55:59 GMT -6
Still the King of Oklahoma
2000 was not the last year that Union HS would win the Oklahoma Class 6A State Title. They won again in 2001. That would be their last win until Broken Arrow took the reigns. After their GN Finals appearance in 2000, Union skipped Grand Nationals this year. They did attend BOA St Louis and finished 3rd in Finals, beating their in state rivals Broken Arrow and Owasso. The 2001 Union show was titled "Into the Unknown". I am not exactly sure what the theme was trying to portray as it seemed very abstract. The themes in the shows had already become much more abstract and sophisticated by the early 2000s. So for me as an audience member, I did not always pick up on all of the symbolism. I do not know too much about this show. I recently stumbled upon this video. It appears to be from a mid season (October) competition. The video quality is not the best, which is a bit unfortunate because I suspect they had an impressive color guard. Union had been a band that consistently had wonderful guard and percussion features (a trait that went back into the early 1980s). It looks to me that Wes Cartwright was still their designer. I will note that there were also a few Steve Brubaker inspired drill sets. So here is 2001 Union HS from Tulsa, OK with their show "Into the Unknown".
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Jan 23, 2023 11:36:02 GMT -6
Two Legendary Michigan Small Town Bands
I am going to give a nod to two of Michigan's best small town marching bands.
Chesaning Union HS from Chesaning
The Chesaning marching band was one of the first marching bands from Michigan to develop a competitive corps style program in the early 1970s. They gained much acclaim across the Midwest during the summer competitive season. At the inaugural MBA Marching Bands of America Grand National Championships in June of 1976, Chesaning Union was in attendance and made finals. They ended up finishing 3rd in Class A. This was their only appearance in Grand National Finals, although they did made finals at the 1980 MBA Summer Nationals. By the mid 1980s, Chesaning ceased to have a competitive marching band program. In the early 1990s, director Matt Taton brought the Chesaning marching band back into the competitive marching band scene. By the mid 1990s, they won two MCBA Flight IV State Titles and picked up a couple BOA Regional Class A titles. The band was actually at its best during the late 1990s and early 2000s. However, they typically finished runner-up to Durand HS in both MCBA Flight IV state championships and the BOA (NW Ohio/Se Mich) Class A titles. Durand never attended Grand Nationals during that time period. This likely helped Chesaning Union make Grand National Semi Finals twice (1998 and 2001) on Class. During the late 2000s, Chesaning faded from the competitive scene and from my understanding no longer have the necessary recourses to maintain a band that is competitive at BOA or MCBA.
The town of Chesaning is located in a rural area several miles south of Saginaw, Mi. The town has long been a farming community. One of its biggest summertime attractions was the Chesaning Showboat Amphitheater located on the Shiawassee River which runs through town. This brought a lot of people into downtown throughout the summer. The town also had a fine dining restaurant located in an old mansion downtown. About 8 years ago, the Showboat went bankrupt and was removed and with it came the loss of the summertime festivities and revenue. The fancy restaurant in the old mansion also closed and now sits empty in a state of disrepair. I am sure some of these financial strains impacted the school district to a degree. A few years ago a new industry did come to Chesaning, a huge medicinal marijuana dispensary. Who knows, maybe this industry will bring the town into a better financial situation and we can once again see a competitive Chesaning Union HS Marching Band.
Here is a video of the 2001 Chesaning Union Marching band at the Michigan State Championships. They would take this show to Grand Nationals a few weeks later and land in Semi Finals.
Durand Area HS from Durand
I do have a video of this band's performance at the 1989 Michigan State Championships earlier in this thread. Durand is the most successful small town marching band in the history of Michigan. This band also developed a competitive corps style marching program in the 1970s under longtime director Ed Turner. In 1979, Durand attended the MBA Toledo Regional and won the Class A Title. Between 1980 and 1982 they won the Flight I Michigan State Title (there was an Open Class back then which was won by Flushing who also took the state Grand Champion title). In 1983, Durand again won the Flight I state title and this time took the overall State Grand Champion Title. Through the rest of the 1980s, they were runner up to the Flight I state title every single year. Back then the Flights were determined by band size and not school size. Despite Durand being a very small school, they managed to field a band of 130 to 140 members back then. The only years that Durand attended BOA Grand Nationals were the two years that they were held in Pontiac, MI in 1987 and 1988. Despite their small school size, Durand competed in Class AA in BOA in 87 and 88 (all other years of their BOA participation they were a Class A band). Interesting to note, had Durand competed in Class A in 1988, they would have been in GN Finals over New Philadelphia HS OH (that was back when at least two bands from each class had to be in finals). During the early 1990s, Durand found it more difficult to compete with the larger bands in the MCBA circuit. They gradually dropped in Flight until landing in Flight IV by the end of the decade. As a Flight IV band, During won several state titles from the late 1990s through the 2000s and they won several BOA Regional Class A titles. Had they attended Grand Nationals some of those years, I suspect they likely would have made semi finals on class. Sometime around 2010, Durand had some pretty significant funding cuts to their music program which heavily impacted their marching band. This and the retirement of longtime director Ed Turner had adverse impacts on the band. While they still have a competitive marching band and compete in MCBA Flight IV, they have not been contenders for a title for many years now.
Durand, Mi is a small town several miles west of Flint, MI (and south of Chesaning). Several railroad lines cross through Durand and not only helped developed the town but formed the backbone of its economy. That is why the Durand marching band is known at the Railroaders. Today, Durand still has the rail lines crisscrossing town and they have numerous car dealerships in the area. The school district simply has had to cut back on expenditures in comparison to the glory years of the marching band. Here is a a video of the 2003 Durand Area Marching Band at the Michigan State Championships.
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Jan 25, 2023 14:27:53 GMT -6
A Show Not to be Forgotten
I gave this post this specific title because when I wrote the season review for 2001, I really could not remember what Center Grove HS IN did that year, and they were again in GN Finals (finishing 10th). Thankfully the video is now online to refresh my memory (and I have the video stored so I won't forget again). The 2001 Center Grove show was titled "Fragments of Red". This was the year after Thomas Dirks left the program (I believe) and Kevin Schuessler took the helm. As was typical for a Center Grove show in this era, they were progressive and good on the visual front. I always enjoyed their drill. In this show, the band had a few sections where they used a lot of various body movement to create a visual effect. This was certainly not new at the time. It was however marking the beginning of an era when designers really started increasing the usage of visual techniques that were not just marching from drill set to drill set to create visual effect. For me at the time, I felt this added much more variety and enhanced the visual interest (although I will admit that nowadays I wish there was more marching). Of course with Center Grove it was not just what the band was doing visually that created a lot of interest, that CG guard certainly helped the visual appeal of this band. So here is the 2001 Center Grove marching band with their show "Fragments of Red" at the 2001 BOA GN Finals.
|
|
|
Post by hawknate14 on Feb 1, 2023 10:32:11 GMT -6
The first post in this thread is of the 1960 Kermit High School marching band, I happen to have found a video of the same High school at 1957 UIL Region Marching Contest at The Mustang Bowl in Andrews TX. THe recording is of the quality to expect from 1957, but I figured I should post it here for those interested
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Feb 1, 2023 23:18:53 GMT -6
The first post in this thread is of the 1960 Kermit High School marching band, I happen to have found a video of the same High school at 1957 UIL Region Marching Contest at The Mustang Bowl in Andrews TX. THe recording is of the quality to expect from 1957, but I figured I should post it here for those interested AWESOME!
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Feb 3, 2023 5:01:57 GMT -6
The Power of Geometric Design
If you have been following these posts, it will come as no surprise that my favorite designer is the late Steve Brubaker, who sadly passed away at a young age in 1993. He was the designer for The Cavaliers from the early 1980s right up until his passing. He also was the visual designer for many high school marching bands, including Westfield TX, Spring TX (just prior to their 93 win), Prospect IL and the 1990 and 1991 Grand National Champion Plymouth-Canton (or Plymouth Centennial as it was known at that time). One of the characteristics of Brubaker's designs was his brilliant use of geometric shapes and the highly inventive ways in which the transitions into and out of those shapes were done. That was really showcased in his designs for the Cavaliers. Designers for the Cavaliers that followed Mr. Brubaker's passing maintained that geometric quality, which was very much apart of the Cavaliers identity for decades.
In 2001, Kiski Area HS (Vandergrift, PA) presented a show titled "The Shape of Things to Come". First off, musically, this show was very much in the jazz style that Kiski had become known for in those days. For me, what was really enjoyable about this show was the visual designs. Stylistically, this for me is among my favorite types of visual presentations. I just loved the visual designs for this show. I also think this was a difficult show to perfect from a visual standpoint for a high school marching band of this era. In 2001, Kiski attended two BOA Regionals. They were runner-up to Lassiter GA at the Morgantown, WV regional (but still scored very well). At the Massillon, OH regional, they won. This was actually their first regional win since 1997, ending a four year drought which to this day is the longest gap between regional wins since they won their first regional back in 1988. Kiski attended Grand Nationals this year too, their first trip since 1998. Often having to settle for runner-up to the Class AA Title due to Marian Catholic (with 1991 and 1994 being an exception), this year they were runner-up to the Class AA Title again, this time to Tarpon Springs (Marian was in Class AAA in this era). Kiski did make GN Finals and finished a respectable 7th place. Here is the 2001 Grand National Finals hi cam performance of Kiski Area with their show "The Shape of Things to Come".
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Feb 4, 2023 6:00:37 GMT -6
A Throwback to 1985 Summer Nationals
If you go to the 2023 Whitewater regional thread on the competitions page you can read more about the discussion of Wisconsin bands in BOA/MBA back in the day.
Here is an excerpt I put on there about Oregon HS from Oregon WI.
As for Grand Nationals, yes Oregon HS was a finalist in both 1978 and 1979 when the Grand Nationals were held in the summer in Whitewater WI. Finalist bands during the four years in which GN was held in the summer consisted of the top 6 bands from each of the two classes (Open and A). Oregon slid into finals by finishing 6th in Class A in Prelims both years. They ended up 12th overall in finals both years. The Class A competition was much stronger in 1979, so them making finals that year was a huge achievement. The Oregon HS marching band was a long time competitor in the summer circuits. In fact, they were a finalist multiple times at the Summer Nationals of the 1980s. As the summer high school competitive marching scene dwindled, the Oregon HS marching band transformed itself into Shadow Drum and Bugle Corps. They were the only drum corps supported by a high school. Sadly, in 2022, Shadow folded (perhaps from the financial impacts of the pandemic).
I stumbled across this video of Oregon HS at the 1985 MBA Summer National Finals.
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Feb 4, 2023 6:09:29 GMT -6
A Couple More Vintage Wisconsin Performances
To go along with my previous post and the discussion on the 2023 Whitewater Regional thread, I found a couple summer performances of the Sound of Sun Prairie marching band from the summers of 1987 and 1988. I am not sure what competitions these are from. Sun Prairie was a very successful band in the summer circuits back in the day and I believe were finalists multiple times at the BOA Summer Nationals of the late 1980s.
1987
1988
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Feb 7, 2023 9:44:30 GMT -6
Another Rare Find - From 1986
I have been looking for this video for many years and it is finally online. This video is the 1986 Grand National Finals performance of the Marlington HS 'Marching Dukes' from Alliance, OH. Marlington was a very successful small school band during the 1980s and 1990s, winning several BOA Regional Class A Titles and finishing among the top echelon of Class A bands whenever they attended Grand Nationals.
1986 was the most successful year for Marlington. They won two Regional Class A titles, beating the small school power of New Philadelphia OH in both competitions. At the 1986 Grand Nationals, Marlington made finals and not just on class. They were 11th overall in Prelims (the other Class A band in finals that year, Western IN, was the second highest finishing Class A band in Prelims but did not finish in the top 12, so they were advanced into finals on Class, leading to a top 13 in GN Finals for the first time). In Finals, Marlington again finished 11th and came away with the 1986 BOA Grand National Class A Title. This was Marlington's only appearance in GN Finals and their only GN Class A Title. While New Philadelphia did not attend Grand Nationals in 1986, Marlington's success over New Philly at the BOA regionals and their strong performance at Grand Nationals indicates they would still have made finals and likely have won the Class A Title even if New Philly had attended. Here is a little bit of trivia, from 1984 through 1989, Western IN and New Philadelphia OH were the only two Class A bands to be in Grand National Finals with the exception of 1986 Marlington.
Here is the 1986 BOA Grand National Finalist and Class A Champion Marlington HS:
|
|
|
Post by bigtrombone on Feb 12, 2023 20:48:17 GMT -6
There has to be somewhere around 400+ kids in that 2000 Lincoln video, right? I'm pretty sure I've only ever seen that many winds out of Allen, Arcadia, and Duncanville. I forgot to point out their size. Yes, when I first stumbled across the videos I thought "Was the whole state of South Dakota in this band?" LOL That may be why I also got a little bit of a corps style college band vibe, big band and big sound yet challenging to move that many kids around the field in drill formations. Took me awhile to see this but I'm glad I finally did. To give some context, Lincoln during the late 90s-early 2000s had around 300-325 members but the 2000 band had about 350-400 members as that was Lincoln's 2nd year going to Macy's.
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Feb 14, 2023 4:56:48 GMT -6
Trains, Always a Popular Theme
From around the mid 1990s onward, building a theme around a train was (and still is) a common practice in the marching arts. Bands found they could be really innovative with props. There is also something about mimicking the sounds of a moving train that has proven very effective in marching band shows over the years. In 2001, Bellbrook HS from Ohio performed a show titled "Ghost Train". They went all out with props and innovative staging to bring this show to life. Unlike 2000, they failed to make GN Finals. However, they did win the Grand National Class A Title quite handedly. In fact, at the time this was their 6th overall GN Class A Title and fourth consecutive. The following year, they would move up to Class AA (returning to Class A in the early 2010s). Here is the 2001 GN Class A Champ, Bellbrook in GN Finals exhibition, performing their Ghost Train show.
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Feb 18, 2023 10:15:00 GMT -6
Big, Loud and Just Plain Awesome
I know that I have told this story in previous posts, but here it goes again. My sophomore year in marching band (1989) we did not participate in BOA, the only year in my high school career that we did not go to BOA Regionals and Grand Nationals. Later that school year (spring of 1990) our high school wind ensemble did however take a trip to a concert band workshop/symposium in Atlanta, Georgia. At that event, we got to listen to an amazing high school symphonic band. At the time, it was the best high school concert band I had ever heard. That band was from the Atlanta suburb of Marietta and its name was Lassiter and it was under the direction of a Mr. Alfred Watkins. Then in the fall of my junior year (1990) at BOA Grand Nationals we got to see that high school's marching band. It too did not disappoint. It was their first trip to Grand Nationals. Not only did they make finals, they finished in 5th place. This was actually this bands second BOA appearance as they were runner-up at the 1988 Hattiesburg MS regional. From 1990 onward, Lassiter was on a four year rotation in Grand Nationals appearances. As spectators, we wished they would have attended more frequently. Mr. Watkins liked to give the marching band different experiences. They took other trips than just Grand Nationals, which I suppose is understandable. After a 3rd place finish at GN in 1994, they returned in 1998 and won the GN Title (and topped the BOA highest score at the time). In 2002, there was a lot of excitement because Lassiter would be making their return to Grand Nationals, their first appearance since their 1998 GN win. To say that they did not disappoint would be an understatement.
Back then Lassiter was a band that did not incorporate a lot of props and other frills into their shows. It was just fantastic music and complex and difficult drill designs. In 2002, they did however add a little bit more to their show design. The concept of stained glass (which was very fitting to their musical selections) featured prominently in their drill design and props. During the drum feature, the band members even did some choreographed moves with hand held props that looked like pieces of stained glass. These things are not what made this show. This was a loud and just wonderful musical performance. They had some pretty demanding drill routines to boot. While there were certainly some amazing woodwind features in this performance, the quality of the Lassiter brass really shined. Of course you have to mention that percussion. The percussion feature (I just love a good percussion feature) was just killer. The French horn feature at the end of this show was also epic. Yes, if you can't tell, I absolutely loved this performance. In my previous post I referred to Lassiter as a Texas band from Georgia. For those that have not seen this performance, perhaps that will become more clear as to why I describe this band in that manor. After Lassiter's semi finals performance, I don't think there was much doubt that they were going to take home the eagle, despite 2002 being a fairly competitive year. Not only did Lassiter walk away with the 2002 GN Title, they won music performance and general effect. While Lassiter's visual scores had typically been this band's Achilles heel, that was not so much the case with this performance. They were second in visual performance and had the highest visual effect score. As far as scores, I thought the 2002 GN Finals scores could have been a couple points higher for all of the finalist bands, including Lassiter. But scores are of course very relative, which is why I have never given too much attention to them. So this performance did not score as high as their 1998 GN win. Now, I think that for many, 1998 may have had more crowd appeal and it certainly had some high quality and difficult moments. I feel that Lassiter's 2002 win was however the strongest (and cleanest) show they ever put forth on the field. I think you can also tell that after that amazing ending, the audience and Chuck knew that they had just witnessed the 2002 GN Champion performance.
Sadly, this was the last performance that Lassiter would ever give at Grand Nationals. While they did attend frequent BOA regionals in subsequent years and won a few more regional titles, they have never returned to Grand Nationals. I heard there was some redistricting in the Marietta, GA school districts in the mid/late 2000s which may have had some impact on the program. However, it was the retirement of longtime director Alfred Watkins sometime around 2013 that had a very detrimental impact to the marching band program. While it was sad to see that happen, I will always be fond of some of the great Lassiter performances of the past (both on the football field and in the concert hall). Here is the 2002 Bands of America Grand National Champion performance of the Lassiter High School Marching Band.
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Feb 20, 2023 10:15:51 GMT -6
Not All Awesome and Iconic Shows Occur in BOA
Over the years, thanks to YouTube and other online video repositories, I have been able to witness some pretty amazing performances that never appeared in Bands of America. One of those shows is featured in this post.
To give a little backstory, back during the years of Grand Nationals in the Summer and the early years of the Summer Nationals in Whitewater, WI, Homestead HS from Fort Wayne, IN was a participant (in fact they may have been in a few Summer National Finals). After early 1980s, they did not participate in Bands of America for several years. That all changed in 1992 when Homestead attended and was a finalist at the BOA Indy regional. They also jumped up into Class A at ISSMA and ended up winning their first Class A state title, which I imagine was a big upset. Homestead attended BOA Indy in both 1993 and 1994, finishing near the top in Finals and winning the Class AA Title both years. 1994 marked their debut at fall Grand Nationals and they arrived having just won their second ISSMA Class A State Title. They easily made finals but finished a somewhat disappointing 10th place in finals (that performance is in an earlier post). I suspect Homestead decided that BOA was not for them and that they would focus on ISSMA going forward. It was actually a full 20 years before Homestead attended another BOA competition. During that time period, Homestead consistently remained among the top echelon of Indiana bands and actually won a few more ISSMA Class A state titles during that time period. They were certainly the best band in the Midwest that was not attended BOA through many of those years.
This post will focus on one Homestead performance in particular. This was their 2002 show titled "The Art of Insanity". While the video quality is better than some online videos of the 1980s and early 1990s, it is still not the best quality. Nonetheless, watching this show I found myself really enjoying it. They really played up the insanity through the music and some of the amplified vocal screams. There was also some intriguing percussion moments in this show and some pretty cool drill moves. Now it is hard to tell from this video how the BOA judging system would have handled this show. I can guarantee that the BOA audience would have loved it. While this show was only 21 years ago, I kind of wonder how this type of theme would play out today as the word insane or insanity has become a derogatory term for mental illness. Nonetheless, I think it was a really unique show for its time and I really liked how Homestead performed it. If anyone else knows a little more about this show, please chime in.
Here is 2002 Homestead at the ISSMA State Finals. Enjoy!
|
|
|
Post by kvgdc on Feb 20, 2023 17:49:42 GMT -6
Homestead nabbing state their first year in Class A was of no real surprise to me. I marched Class A in the late 80s and it was widely discussed that the top of the B bands could hold their own with even the top of the A bands, it was just a matter of time when the school enrollment popped that they'd be in the mix.
|
|
|
Post by OldSchoolTrumpet on Feb 21, 2023 9:54:08 GMT -6
Not All Awesome and Iconic Shows Occur in BOAI kind of wonder how this type of theme would play out today as the word insane or insanity has become a derogatory term for mental illness. Nonetheless, I think it was a really unique show for its time and I really liked how Homestead performed it. If anyone else knows a little more about this show, please chime in. As far as the word insanity and its association with mental illness...that was pretty much played up in the show. The actual show title was "Sybil, The Art of Insanity." Sybil of course being the girl who had been diagnosed with 16 different personalities. At one point in the show someone even screams, "I'm not crazy!" So yeah, the mental illness aspect was front and center. But then again this is the band that also did a show about Lizzie Borden.
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Feb 21, 2023 10:59:53 GMT -6
Not All Awesome and Iconic Shows Occur in BOAI kind of wonder how this type of theme would play out today as the word insane or insanity has become a derogatory term for mental illness. Nonetheless, I think it was a really unique show for its time and I really liked how Homestead performed it. If anyone else knows a little more about this show, please chime in. As far as the word insanity and its association with mental illness...that was pretty much played up in the show. The actual show title was "Sybil, The Art of Insanity." Sybil of course being the girl who had been diagnosed with 16 different personalities. At one point in the show someone even screams, "I'm not crazy!" So yeah, the mental illness aspect was front and center. But then again this is the band that also did a show about Lizzie Borden. Thanks for the clarification. I did not realize it was about Sybil. Definitely a bold choice to build a show around.
|
|
|
Post by OldSchoolTrumpet on Feb 21, 2023 11:13:22 GMT -6
As far as the word insanity and its association with mental illness...that was pretty much played up in the show. The actual show title was "Sybil, The Art of Insanity." Sybil of course being the girl who had been diagnosed with 16 different personalities. At one point in the show someone even screams, "I'm not crazy!" So yeah, the mental illness aspect was front and center. But then again this is the band that also did a show about Lizzie Borden. Thanks for the clarification. I did not realize it was about Sybil. Definitely a bold choice to build a show around. It was before my time (as a parent) of course. Marching Observer missed this one by a year, I think, though he may still have insights into it. People still talked about this show when I got to Homestead in 2011. It was definitely a favorite of those who were around in that era.
|
|
|
Post by statechamp1239 on Feb 21, 2023 11:23:40 GMT -6
Not All Awesome and Iconic Shows Occur in BOAI kind of wonder how this type of theme would play out today as the word insane or insanity has become a derogatory term for mental illness. Nonetheless, I think it was a really unique show for its time and I really liked how Homestead performed it. If anyone else knows a little more about this show, please chime in. But then again this is the band that also did a show about Lizzie Borden. What year was that?
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Feb 21, 2023 11:29:12 GMT -6
But then again this is the band that also did a show about Lizzie Borden. What year was that? That was their 1994 show, the one they took to Grand Nationals. The video of that performance is on this thread, several posts back.
|
|