|
Post by boahistorybuff on Jul 19, 2023 10:28:18 GMT -6
The Most Iconic BOA Show of 2003
I am sure everyone has their own idea of what makes a BOA show iconic. Perhaps it is a show that is just so good, perhaps one that is extremely innovative for the time, perhaps one that has an enormous crowd appeal. I tend to think it is a combination (to some extent) of all of these. I am also sure that people have varying opinions on what constitutes an iconic show. In 2003, Ronald Reagan HS performed a show titled "Beyond Perimeters". The show design was absolutely amazing, both the drill moves and some of the other visual frills (like the changing plume colors). The music was quite good too, notable for some amazing solo performances. For me, 2003 had a lot of shows that did not seem to stand out too much. Reagan was a notable exception.
To recap, from the high school just opening in 1999, Reagan rocketed to the top of the BOA circuit. By 2003 they had already won 4 BOA Texas regionals and had finished 11th in 2002 Grand Nationals Finals, their first appearance at GN. It was rumored that in 2003, Reagan had passed over a year of UIL participation to perfect their 2003 show (similar to what Westfield had done). This season, Reagan beat LD Bell quite handedly to win the BOA Arlington regional. At BOA San Antonio, they came in a bit of a surprising 4th place. They cleaned up by Grand Nationals and entered Grand National Finals having finished 2nd behind Westfield. In Finals, they again finished in 2nd place (just 0.05 point behind Westfield when factoring Westfield's .2 point penalty). There were many who actually thought Reagan should have won. Anyway, here is my pick for the most iconic show of the 2003 season, and still one of my personal favorites; Ronald Reagan and Beyond Perimeters.
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Jul 28, 2023 3:51:51 GMT -6
Will the Blue Team Win or Will the Red Team Win
In 2003, Center Grove presented a show titled "A Futuristic Game of Capture the Flag". The show had us all wondering who would win, the red team or the blue team. As typical of CG back then, this show was very interesting from a visual standpoint. In looking back now, I think this show was reflective of some of the trends in the 2000s, namely more professional looking props. Yes back in my era many of the props that were used had a definite 'home made' look to them. I think another thing that stood out with this show is how the props and the tarps really changed the look of the field. Going back to the 90s, Center Grove really proved innovators in tarp use and design in enhancing the visual look of the field. Center Grove took 9th place in Grand National Finals with this show. Aside from the props and tarps, I have to say the guard was very good in this show. Here is the 2003 GN Finals performance of Center Grove (the video quality is not the best), looks like the blue team won.
|
|
|
Post by aiden on Jul 30, 2023 22:44:45 GMT -6
Here's an old video of Beavercreek in the early 80s
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Aug 2, 2023 5:24:54 GMT -6
Here's an old video of Beavercreek in the early 80s For many high school band circuits, 1982 was the first year that not every percussion instrument had to be marched. This closely followed that rule change in DCI. In 1982, you saw a lot of bands stage the keyboards and tympany up front, the beginning of the pit. In subsequent years, more instrumentation was added to the pit. This included larger keyboards/marimbas that provided a deeper and richer sound. As early as 1983, bands began putting electronics in the pit (that would not be allowed in DCI for a long time). One of the earliest bands to use electronics in the pit was Northrop IN. You will also note the military attire worn by the color guard. In 1982, most high school marching band color guards were dressed in a military style. In 1986, just four years later, the majority of color guards in competitive marching bands were dressing in more artistically and/or feminine style attire.
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Aug 3, 2023 4:33:07 GMT -6
A New Era in Arrangements
In 2003, Kennesaw Mountain HS performed a show titled "Four". The main theme was about how the number four factored into nature, focused mainly on the four seasons. Now themes built around the four seasons had begun as soon as theme based shows started becoming the norm back in the late 1980s/early 1990s. In most of those early 'four seasons' themed shows, one song was performed for each of the four seasons. In this show, Kennesaw Mountain performed multiple songs for each season, brilliantly interwoven and layered on top of each other. Packing more songs into a compact 9 to 11 or so minute show had really become popular during the 2000s. Obviously it required very talented music arrangers. The downside may have been that it became increasingly more difficult/time consuming to get licensing agreements. This eventually ended the tradition of selling videos/DVDs of Grand National performances. By the late 2000s, you could watch them live and/or watch the recorded versions on line only. Eventually, licensing restrictions ended BOA/MFA putting the recorded versions on line. This leads us to today when we can only (or should I say only supposed to be able to) watch the live versions.
Still a relative newcomer in 2003, Kennesaw Mountain picked up two regional wins this season. This was their second trip to Grand Nationals and they ended up in 4th place in Finals. It might be hard to see from the video, but the snow globe props in this show gained a lot of attention as there were performers inside the snow globe. Back then, that was a really neat/innovative feature. Fun fact, this was the only year that Kennesaw Mountain attended Grand Nationals in an odd numbered year.
Here is the 2003 Grand National Finals performance of Kennesaw Mountain, Enjoy!
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Aug 11, 2023 9:18:03 GMT -6
They Could Have Made the 2003 Grand Nationals Even More Interesting
In an earlier post I highlighted the 2002 Grand National debut of Stephen F Austin marching band with their 5th place performance in Grand National Finals. I really liked their performance. In 2003, SFA did not attend Grand Nationals but they were every bit as good if not better than they were in 2002. They edged out Westfield for the early season BOA Houston Regional Title (the second year in a row they won that title). They went on to place 3rd at the BOA San Antonio Super Regional, right up there with Westfield, LD Bell and Ronald Reagan. That competition was two weeks before Grand Nationals. It is worth wondering how this band would have performed with an additional two weeks of practice. Could they have delivered a show that would have topped Westfield and Ronald Reagan? Of course we will never know the answer to that question, but I think it is entirely possible.
As I pointed out in my earlier post. SFA did not have a traditional color guard, instead they had the Angels Dance Team. By their bright colored attire, they way they moved and they way they were staged throughout the show, you kind of forget they never once picked up flags or rifles/sabers. Here is the 2003 SFA marching band at BOA San Antonio.
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Aug 16, 2023 9:48:02 GMT -6
A Triumphant Return to Finals
In 2001, perennial GN Finalist Centerville had a bit of a rough last half of the season and failed to make GN Finals for the first time in 10 years. Although they were stronger in 2002 and picked up two BOA Regional Titles, they finished in 13th place in GN Semi Finals, just missing Finals. Well, in 2003, they again won two BOA Regional titles but this time landed back in GN Finals. This marked their 15th appearance in Finals, which at the time tied PCEP for the third most GN Finals appearances. This year, Centerville's show was called "Outside the Box". Although the concept in this show was a little more in the literal sense, the whole Outside of the Box idea seemed fitting for how show themes were trending in the 2000s. Here is the 2003 GN Finals performance of the Centerville Jazz Band, note one of the songs was composed by the director's son Andrew, who if you can not tell is a percussionist.
|
|
|
Post by dbalash on Aug 16, 2023 10:08:47 GMT -6
Here is the 2003 GN Finals performance of the Centerville Jazz Band, note one of the songs was composed by the director's son Andrew, who if you can not tell is a percussionist. In addition, he eventually took over as director of Centerville after his dad retired. He was there from 2005-2008.
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Aug 22, 2023 9:45:08 GMT -6
It's All Relative
During the 2000s, the lowest placement that Lawrence Central IN had in Grand National Finals was in 2003 when they finished in 11th place. They edged into Finals by finishing 12th in Semi Finals, largely due to a brutal score by the visual ensemble judge. It seems that many did not particularly care for the Spirit of Central's 2003 show titled "Breakthrough". I would certainly say that in comparison to most of their shows they had performed that decade, especially their 2001 and 2002 shows, I don't think it quite matched up. However, if this show was performed by a band that typically placed around 20th in Semi Finals every year, except delivered a show like this, it probably would have been looked upon quite highly. I think given Lawrence Central's track record, particularly following such amazing shows as 01 and 02, the expectation may have been a little higher for this band. Looking back on this show now, there were several moments that offered quite a bit of visual interest, although they did have the Reagan band saying "Hey they stole our move" when they did the plume change. LOL Aside from the closer, for me the music/arrangement combined with the vocal narration was not quite my cup of tea. I do not know all of the history with how this show progressed for this band through the season, but I wonder if there had been some changes in the show during the course of the season (maybe some sections were just not working out well???) as it was not as clean/polished as what Central had delivered in past seasons. Also, I did not feel the show had very good cohesion. What do you (y'all for our Texas friends) feel of this show? Did you like it?, think maybe some of the visual routines were ahead of their time?
Anyway, here is 2003 Lawrence Central at Grand National Finals.
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Sept 1, 2023 4:37:04 GMT -6
What a Way to Go Out
In 2003, Kiski Area HS made their 8th and last appearance in Grand National Finals. Now please note, this is a band that had they attended Grand Nationals every year would likely have had 17 or 18 appearances in Finals. Although not all of Kiski's shows during the peak of their glory years featured Jazz and/or Broadway Classics, those that did were among my most favorite. That includes their 2003 show titled "Head, Hands and Feet". Their use of visuals to convey that theme would be what I would call subtle but effective. I loved it. They ended up tying Avon for 7th place in Finals. Although this was their last appearance in Finals, they would go on to win many more Regional titles at the BOA Mid Atlantic and Ohio regionals, which continues to this day. Here is a BOA Legend in their last Grand National Finals appearance.
|
|
|
Post by datbandman01482 on Sept 6, 2023 18:26:35 GMT -6
Anyone know if there is a link (Google Drive, Dropbox, Youtube playlist, etc) with shows from like every season? Would definitely be interested in checking that out
Asking because I have a drive link to every drum corps show and thought it'd be cool if there was one like that for BOA
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Sept 7, 2023 3:14:43 GMT -6
Anyone know if there is a link (Google Drive, Dropbox, Youtube playlist, etc) with shows from like every season? Would definitely be interested in checking that out Asking because I have a drive link to every drum corps show and thought it'd be cool if there was one like that for BOA There was a member of the old forums years ago who did. Not sure if this person is still a member of these forums. I wish I did. The first three Grand Nationals, 76, 77 and 78 were not video taped (audio only). The only videos I have found of those were from people who had their own video recorder, which was not that common in the 70s.
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Sept 18, 2023 11:27:58 GMT -6
The Beginning of a Legacy
We are going to take things back 35 years. This video was lurking on line for a while and I finally just stumbled upon it.
This was the very first Grand National Finals performance by Plymouth-Canton Educational Park (known as Plymouth Centennial Educational Park back in those days). It was 1988 and PCEP's show was music from the Music Man. First I will give a little background info. In the early 1970s, to accommodate what would be an exploding suburban population boom in the Plymouth and Canton area west of Detroit, two high schools were built on a track of old farm land (Canton and Salem High Schools), replacing the small Plymouth High School. That land was converted into a park like setting (a high school campus so to speak). It was called Centennial Park. Note that in the 92-93 school year the whole campus was renamed Plymouth-Canton Educational Park and in 2002 a third high school, Plymouth High School was added. To save on district costs, the performing arts department, including the marching band, was combined from all high schools. So began the birth of the PCEP marching band. James Griffiths, the father of the PCEP marching band, was the first director of the marching band in the early to mid 1970s. The program grew slowly but steadily into the 1980s. PCEP won their first Flight I State title in 1984. It was the first of three consecutive Flight I State Titles. PCEP made their BOA debut at the 1985 Grand Nationals. They placed just outside of the top 30. They improved during the 1986 season and this time came close (but just missed making Grand National Finals). It would seem that 1987 would be their year. However, that would not be the case. At the 1987 BOA Midwest Regional (where it poured rain all day), PCEP just missed Finals. Later in the season at the Michigan State Championships, a rain soaked and muddy field proved too much for them, they ended up finishing third behind Flushing and Durand, much smaller schools. In fact, the winner Flushing had a band half the size of PCEP. Then at the 1987 BOA Grand Nationals (held right in metro Detroit), PCEP broke the top 20 at Grand Nationals but again missed finals.
In 1988, PCEP made some changes to their program. James Griffiths was still the director (this was his last season with the marching band) with Glen Adsit (who would take the helm the next season) as assistant director. Famous drill designer Steve Brubaker was hired as visual designer and a top level music arranger was brought on along with some other talented staff. PCEP dominated state competition all season (they went undefeated). As much as Durand and my band tried, we could not catch them. PCEP easily won the Flight I state title. Although they did not attend a BOA Regional this season, they finally made Grand National Finals. They also surprised a lot of people by finishing 5th place in Finals. Their show "The Music Man" would also be the first of several years in which they did an entirely Broadway inspired show, leading many to affectionately call them the Broadway Band. As it turned out 1988 was just the start as PCEP kept getting better, eventually winning their first of three GN Titles just two years after their GN Finals debut.
Here is 1988 Plymouth in their first Grand Nationals Finals in their home state at the Pontiac Silverdome.
|
|
|
Post by bandirectorman on Sept 18, 2023 16:05:55 GMT -6
The Beginning of a LegacyWe are going to take things back 35 years. This video was lurking on line for a while and I finally just stumbled upon it. This was the very first Grand National Finals performance by Plymouth-Canton Educational Park (known as Plymouth Centennial Educational Park back in those days). It was 1988 and PCEP's show was music from the Music Man. First I will give a little background info. In the early 1970s, to accommodate what would be an exploding suburban population boom in the Plymouth and Canton area west of Detroit, two high schools were built on a track of old farm land (Canton and Salem High Schools), replacing the small Plymouth High School. That land was converted into a park like setting (a high school campus so to speak). It was called Centennial Park. Note that in the 92-93 school year the whole campus was renamed Plymouth-Canton Educational Park and in 2002 a third high school, Plymouth High School was added. To save on district costs, the performing arts department, including the marching band, was combined from all high schools. So began the birth of the PCEP marching band. James Griffiths, the father of the PCEP marching band, was the first director of the marching band in the early to mid 1970s. The program grew slowly but steadily into the 1980s. PCEP won their first Flight I State title in 1984. It was the first of three consecutive Flight I State Titles. PCEP made their BOA debut at the 1985 Grand Nationals. They placed just outside of the top 30. They improved during the 1986 season and this time came close (but just missed making Grand National Finals). It would seem that 1987 would be their year. However, that would not be the case. At the 1987 BOA Midwest Regional (where it poured rain all day), PCEP just missed Finals. Later in the season at the Michigan State Championships, a rain soaked and muddy field proved too much for them, they ended up finishing third behind Flushing and Durand, much smaller schools. In fact, the winner Flushing had a band half the size of PCEP. Then at the 1987 BOA Grand Nationals (held right in metro Detroit), PCEP broke the top 20 at Grand Nationals but again missed finals. In 1988, PCEP made some changes to their program. James Griffiths was still the director (this was his last season with the marching band) with Glen Adsit (who would take the helm the next season) as assistant director. Famous drill designer Steve Brubaker was hired as visual designer and a top level music arranger was brought on along with some other talented staff. PCEP dominated state competition all season (they went undefeated). As much as Durand and my band tried, we could not catch them. PCEP easily won the Flight I state title. Although they did not attend a BOA Regional this season, they finally made Grand National Finals. They also surprised a lot of people by finishing 5th place in Finals. Their show "The Music Man" would also be the first of several years in which they did an entirely Broadway inspired show, leading many to affectionately call them the Broadway Band. As it turned out 1988 was just the start as PCEP kept getting better, eventually winning their first of three GN Titles just two years after their GN Finals debut. Here is 1988 Plymouth in their first Grand Nationals Finals in their home state at the Pontiac Silverdome. The only thing missing is an actual trial & a working train. I still can't believe PCEP won with Sunday in the Park with George in 1991. I remember how controversial that win was along with their 1990 win over Westfield. That program's best days were in the 1998-2002 era, IMO. Thanks for sharing.
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Sept 18, 2023 18:55:32 GMT -6
Yes PCEP was awesome in the late 90s/early 2000s, with David McGrath as director and Alan Spaeth as designer.
I have mixed feelings about PCEP in the late 80s/early 90s. There were aspects of their shows I really liked and some aspects I thought could have been better. I thought they could had more visual difficulty and their percussion could have been much stronger. What they did well is they sold a show, very strong on the GE front.
In 1990, I thought PCEP was cleaner visually than Westfield. PCEP also had wonderful musical phrasing. However, Westfield had a difficult music book and an amazing percussion section. Many felt PCEP should have scored lower in music performance and Westfield even higher in music performance, which would have tipped the scale in Westfields favor.
In 1991, ordinals for the top tier bands were all over the place. Yes PCEPs win was controversial, with the overall GE scores giving them the win. PCEP actually struggled a bit with that show through the season. We actually beat them at the first MCBA competition of the season. I was happy that they did well at Grand Nationals and it was an entertaining show (it grew on me over time because I did not care for it in 1991). My thoughts on the 1991 Grand Nationals is that Duncanville was the clear winner musically and George Rogers Clark the winner visually. I thought overall, looking at music and visual combined, Marian Catholic should have won. That show was done very well for its level of difficulty.
From a music ensemble and percussion standpoint, I think 1992 PCEP was the strongest. They were just not as clean visually and ended up 3rd in GN Finals. That Sweeny Todd show was actually my favorite of their Broadway years.
|
|
|
Post by bandirectorman on Sept 19, 2023 16:36:16 GMT -6
Yes PCEP was awesome in the late 90s/early 2000s, with David McGrath as director and Alan Spaeth as designer. I have mixed feelings about PCEP in the late 80s/early 90s. There were aspects of their shows I really liked and some aspects I thought could have been better. I thought they could had more visual difficulty and their percussion could have been much stronger. What they did well is they sold a show, very strong on the GE front. In 1990, I thought PCEP was cleaner visually than Westfield. PCEP also had wonderful musical phrasing. However, Westfield had a difficult music book and an amazing percussion section. Many felt PCEP should have scored lower in music performance and Westfield even higher in music performance, which would have tipped the scale in Westfields favor. In 1991, ordinals for the top tier bands were all over the place. Yes PCEPs win was controversial, with the overall GE scores giving them the win. PCEP actually struggled a bit with that show through the season. We actually beat them at the first MCBA competition of the season. I was happy that they did well at Grand Nationals and it was an entertaining show (it grew on me over time because I did not care for it in 1991). My thoughts on the 1991 Grand Nationals is that Duncanville was the clear winner musically and George Rogers Clark the winner visually. I thought overall, looking at music and visual combined, Marian Catholic should have won. That show was done very well for its level of difficulty. From a music ensemble and percussion standpoint, I think 1992 PCEP was the strongest. They were just not as clean visually and ended up 3rd in GN Finals. That Sweeny Todd show was actually my favorite of their Broadway years. I believe that Plymouth should have repeated in the late 90s, so I am not a hater. As stated earlier, I think that Marian Catholic should have won in 1991 and for 1992 I would have simply moved Marian and Plymouth up a spot and dropped Centerville down to at least third. Nice crowd-pleasing show (and I personally like Wayne Markworth productions), but THAT was not a championship caliber show. Their 1998 program was miles better than 1992. Thought that Plymouth was much better than Lassiter in finals in 1998 and they ran away with the title in 1999. When they bested a surging Marian Catholic in semifinals that year by nearly three points, we all knew that it was over. A great run under McGrath in the Y2K era. The program kind of went through a bit of a lull in the mid-90s, but came back very strong. I have a lot of respect for this program. It's one of the Top 10 in BOA history.
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Sept 19, 2023 18:43:57 GMT -6
That lull in the mid 1990s was largely due to Glen Adsit leaving and their principal visual designer Steve Brubaker passing away. I think some of the staff may have also been focused on trying to one up the level of theatrics and electronics/vocalizations from the year before too. The combination of David McGrath as director and Alan Spaeth as designer allowed the band to produce higher quality shows that still managed to be very innovative and seemed to hold onto some level of continuity with the identity that PCEP had established in the early 90s.
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Oct 6, 2023 4:48:07 GMT -6
A New Era for the Blue Raider Band Begins
In 2003, LD Bell HS TX made their second appearance at Grand Nationals. There were also some changes that had occurred with Bell since their first appearance in 2001. Jeremy Earnhardt was now the director and one of the staff members was Wes Cartwright. While the 2003 Bell show certainly had a lot of similarities to their late 90s/early 2000s style, there were subtle signs of the stylistic changes that would occur over the next few seasons with Earnhardt as director and Cartwright as principal designer. These changes would not only make Bell one of the more innovative bands of the late 2000s, they would also garner the band 6 consecutive top three finishes in Grand National Finals and one Grand National Title.
The 2003 Bell show was titled "Convergence" and featured the music of Samuel Barber. Yes, their musical selections were some of the most played music in BOA history (particularly during 90s and 2000s). While from a long time BOA fans perspective, hearing the same song selections from multiple bands over multiple years can get overly repetitive (thinking Appalachian Spring here). From a music educator and performer perspective, I imagine that it is considered an educational opportunity to give multiple students (from different bands and even different eras) the opportunity to perform such challenging music that works so well on the field. That is always how I look at these musical selections and composers that have been frequently performed over the course of several years/decades.
In Semi Finals, LD Bell finished in third which made the top three Class AAA bands all from the lone star state in Semi Finals. In Finals, LD Bell finished in 5th place (just one tenth away from third place). I tend to look at this show as being a little bit underrated. This was a demanding show and it was done well. Here is the 2003 LD Bell marching band in their second Grand National Finals appearance.
|
|
|
Post by macwinlin on Oct 6, 2023 10:55:15 GMT -6
A New Era for the Blue Raider Band BeginsIn 2003, LD Bell HS TX made their second appearance at Grand Nationals. There were also some changes that had occurred with Bell since their first appearance in 2001. Jeremy Earnhardt was now the director and one of the staff members was Wes Cartwright. While the 2003 Bell show certainly had a lot of similarities to their late 90s/early 2000s style, there were subtle signs of the stylistic changes that would occur over the next few seasons with Earnhardt as director and Cartwright as principal designer. These changes would not only make Bell one of the more innovative bands of the late 2000s, they would also garner the band 6 consecutive top three finishes in Grand National Finals and one Grand National Title. The 2003 Bell show was titled "Convergence" and featured the music of Samuel Barber. Yes, their musical selections were some of the most played music in BOA history (particularly during 90s and 2000s). While from a long time BOA fans perspective, hearing the same song selections from multiple bands over multiple years can get overly repetitive (thinking Appalachian Spring here). From a music educator and performer perspective, I imagine that it is considered an educational opportunity to give multiple students (from different bands and even different eras) the opportunity to perform such challenging music that works so well on the field. That is always how I look at these musical selections and composers that have been frequently performed over the course of several years/decades. In Semi Finals, LD Bell finished in third which made the top three Class AAA bands all from the lone star state in Semi Finals. In Finals, LD Bell finished in 5th place (just one tenth away from third place). I tend to look at this show as being a little bit underrated. This was a demanding show and it was done well. Here is the 2003 LD Bell marching band in their second Grand National Finals appearance. This is actually one of my favorite Bell shows because of how simple it was from a design standpoint. Like you mentioned, they were beginning the transition from their late 90s/early 2000s style to the more refined productions from Wes Cartwright, but their old style was still very much present. Wes Cartwright's designs were also just starting to evolve around that time. I think 2002 and 2003 were at or near the top of the list of shows Bell took to BOA in terms of physical demand.
|
|
|
Post by oldarmybandguy on Oct 11, 2023 20:43:31 GMT -6
Im taking this opportunity to once again ask if anyone out there has access to the 1993 BoA western regional champion, Fred C Beyer high school. This show came out of nowhere to beat several Southern California powerhouses including San Diego's Poway High school. Beyer marched something like 120 kids. Poway marched 420.
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Oct 12, 2023 3:55:56 GMT -6
Im taking this opportunity to once again ask if anyone out there has access to the 1993 BoA western regional champion, Fred C Beyer high school. This show came out of nowhere to beat several Southern California powerhouses including San Diego's Poway High school. Beyer marched something like 120 kids. Poway marched 420. I have searched. The closest I have been able to find is 1992 and 1995 (although the video for that one is marked 94). I have not searched the band's Facebook page. That may be something to check out. You could also DM the band's social media sites to see if anyone has a video if you have not already done that. Beyer actually won that regional by 4 points, with every judge having them in first.
|
|
|
Post by bandirectorman on Oct 14, 2023 20:56:36 GMT -6
Im taking this opportunity to once again ask if anyone out there has access to the 1993 BoA western regional champion, Fred C Beyer high school. This show came out of nowhere to beat several Southern California powerhouses including San Diego's Poway High school. Beyer marched something like 120 kids. Poway marched 420. I have searched. The closest I have been able to find is 1992 and 1995 (although the video for that one is marked 94). I have not searched the band's Facebook page. That may be something to check out. You could also DM the band's social media sites to see if anyone has a video if you have not already done that. Beyer actually won that regional by 4 points, with every judge having them in first. There’s so much of a disadvantage to being located on the west coast in both college sports and high school band, in this case, due to lack of access to these programs due to distance. Beyer was always a good program and doesn’t get the recognition that they deserve. James Logan is talked about (from that era) and Etiwanda (Don J. was a legend), but they were just as good, if not better than many of the lower-tier Midwest-based finalists from that era.
|
|
|
Post by floridaman on Oct 15, 2023 18:11:03 GMT -6
Im taking this opportunity to once again ask if anyone out there has access to the 1993 BoA western regional champion, Fred C Beyer high school. This show came out of nowhere to beat several Southern California powerhouses including San Diego's Poway High school. Beyer marched something like 120 kids. Poway marched 420. Searched around but I only found an ancient post from 2007 that has that show linked. Whoever posted it had their YouTube account terminated though. Here's the link to that post: www.worldofpageantry.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12241
|
|
|
Post by srv1084 on Oct 15, 2023 20:04:46 GMT -6
Im taking this opportunity to once again ask if anyone out there has access to the 1993 BoA western regional champion, Fred C Beyer high school. This show came out of nowhere to beat several Southern California powerhouses including San Diego's Poway High school. Beyer marched something like 120 kids. Poway marched 420. Searched around but I only found an ancient post from 2007 that has that show linked. Whoever posted it had their YouTube account terminated though. Here's the link to that post: www.worldofpageantry.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12241I remember the username and person, but I don't feel comfortable saying someone's name publicly on these forums. He was a member of the BOA forums back in the day, from CA, and marched with the Seattle Cascades 2003-2005 on baritone. I unfortunately don't have him on any of my social media, but posting some of those facts in case anybody here remembers him and may have his contact info.
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Oct 25, 2023 10:17:38 GMT -6
A Show Many of Us Outside of Indiana Did Not Get to See...Until Now!
The Lawrence Central "Spirit of Central" Marching Band was a BOA Grand National Finalist every year between 1996 and 2013 (the last year before the merger with North) with the exception of 1998. Lawrence Central did not participate in BOA at all during the 1998 season. I do not know why. That does not mean that they had an off year, quite the contrary. Lawrence North won the ISSMA Class A State Title in 1998 with their show "Impressions of Debussy". Some of the things that I always loved about LC was their brilliant marching technique and wonderful color guard. I will have to note that during the late 1990s and early 2000s in particular, I did quite enjoy their musical performances, especially the way they could express themselves through the music.
A video of 1998 Lawrence Central has now made it to the web. The video is of their state championship performance (both hi cam and multi cam) and has some behind the scenes footage. Here is that video, enjoy!
|
|
|
Post by OldSchoolTrumpet on Oct 25, 2023 12:03:44 GMT -6
A Show Many of Us Outside of Indiana Did Not Get to See...Until Now!The Lawrence Central "Spirit of Central" Marching Band was a BOA Grand National Finalist every year between 1996 and 2013 (the last year before the merger with North) with the exception of 1998. Lawrence Central did not participate in BOA at all during the 1998 season. I do not know why. That does not mean that they had an off year, quite the contrary. Lawrence North won the ISSMA Class A State Title in 1998 with their show "Impressions of Debussy". Some of the things that I always loved about LC was their brilliant marching technique and wonderful color guard. I will have to note that during the late 1990s and early 2000s in particular, I did quite enjoy their musical performances, especially the way they could express themselves through the music. A video of 1998 Lawrence Central has now made it to the web. The video is of their state championship performance (both hi cam and multi cam) and has some behind the scenes footage. Here is that video, enjoy! I despise that announcer. I just needed to say that.
|
|
|
Post by kvgdc on Oct 26, 2023 16:01:07 GMT -6
That's in the old Hoosier Dome. I could tell right away when the on field warmups came in and the drums sounded like that. Also that the guard member actualy had legit 'wind' on the field from the air system that holds the dome up.
It was a super challeging enviroment to play in because you couldn't hear more than 15 yards or so away from you let alone across the field to try and balance.
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Oct 26, 2023 20:19:36 GMT -6
That's in the old Hoosier Dome. I could tell right away when the on field warmups came in and the drums sounded like that. Also that the guard member actualy had legit 'wind' on the field from the air system that holds the dome up. It was a super challeging enviroment to play in because you couldn't hear more than 15 yards or so away from you let alone across the field to try and balance. That gave my band a problem at the 1990 GN as it had been two years since we had last performed in a dome. We were not pleased with our performance. The next year, we rented a dome the Saturday before GN, which led to a much better outcome for us.
|
|
|
Post by kvgdc on Oct 27, 2023 5:12:59 GMT -6
You had to enter through an airlock in the tunnel and when they opened it there was this big whoosh of wind. We had to explain this and prep the freshmen every year because it was sort of startling and intimidating to enter the first time.
|
|
|
Post by redpants on Oct 27, 2023 8:46:26 GMT -6
You had to enter through an airlock in the tunnel and when they opened it there was this big whoosh of wind. We had to explain this and prep the freshmen every year because it was sort of startling and intimidating to enter the first time. Oh the memories of the Dome. I recall that warning from the upperclassmen-“you’ll feel like you’re alone out there from the sound”. Warming up in a parking lot, entering through the airlock, and that awful PA announcer. It was also one of our only performances on turf, so there was always the reminder to pick up your heels more when marching backward or you’ll snag on the turf and fall. I’ve never performed at LOS of course, but my memory is that the Dome always felt like there were more spectators than LOS, if that makes any sense. I also remember the state contest was televised at some wacky time like 10:00 pm on New Year’s Eve, probably on channel 4 or channel 20.
|
|