After a good night's rest, here's my take on the bands I saw.
BrownsburgNew Pal: There's really not enough content in the show to get an accurate read on them, but there's a solid concept underneath it all that I think will see at its full strength done the road around Week 4-5 or so. I think there's potential as a state finalist, though. I think there's just barely enough for them to jump ahead of most bands for the last few spots in B. They got sank pretty badly at Brownsburg (42.85, behind Franklin Community's 45.35), which I honestly think it's largely because of where New Pal is show design-wise right now.
Greenfield-Central: I was expecting to be impressed by GC, and my expectations are met. This isn't a case of blowing out the field (as with Greenwood 2018- I called the Class B season for them at that contest in 2018), but GC is greatly improved. GC did not look this good until week 5 in 2018. There's also a lot still to build on and to grow into. 2019 state champion contenders for sure.
Jasper: My eyes were impressed, my ears were disappointed. I think the GE content (music arrangements and drill) overall was sorely lacking and is definitely going to hold them back (especially looking at the scores now). I'm always going to be a huge fan of Gayso going to Jasper, but it's clear that Jasper going to have adjust a little in trying absorb Gayso's style into their band. All those sticking points aside, I'm loving the new look Jasper in general. New uniforms and an extremely modern show is going to serve really well them in the future.
Northview: What. the. hell. This wasn't the generic Northview from last year. I don't know what Dominic Thompson did, but this is pretty reminiscent of the older late '00s-early '10s shows. Unfortunately, I don't think there's enough in their tank to keep pace with GC/Greenwood throughout the year, but ultimately, they'll be a solid 3rd. There's a decent amount of the show fleshed out and still more to go. Just not quite as much as GC and Greenwood.
Greenwood: I don't think anyone would be able to tell when John Morse left and Werne took over in a few years time. Greenwood absolutely has a solid show on its hand that's gunning for the state championship. The big catch, though, is that this isn't 2018. The show is still pretty good, but it has nowhere the strength of 2018 whatsoever- I can't see this show making Indy Super Regional Finals at this point. Greenwood's still gunning, but GC's breathing down their necks. Like you know in Alien when the alien is breathing down Sigourney Weaver's neck? Yep. (Not that Greenwood is Weaver and GC is the alien, I'm just saying that's how close they'll be).
Scores:
1. Greenwood had much, much more on the field over GC. GC had the first 2(?) movements well-performed but with the barest of bones. I thought GC was going to sink down to 3rd or so, but the fact that they are already ahead of Northview and Jasper is a big deal. 100% with absolute confidence that GC will catch Greenwood in a few weeks.
2. Jasper was generally the most complete to me, albeit barely over Greenwood. With them behind everyone like this, though... yikes. Them and Munster might be in a tier together.
3. I know the overreaction on New Pal is write them off at this point, but I would urge to wait until a few weeks later when they get most of the show on the field.
Lawrence CentralFloyd Central: I didn't see them perform, sorry. Sounded pretty good though.
Columbus North: I was quite pleasantly surprised by CN. This may be another 2016, where they remain consistent throughout the season to the point where they were a solid state finals pick (even they were 9th that year). Those props must be magic or something- they're the same as the ones used in 2016
(but they have a significantly reduced role in this year's show). Down the road, I could see either them fading a bit or still remaining strong. I would lean slightly towards the latter, as they have a lot of the field but still some more room to grow.
Franklin Central: Marginally improved, but not that much. I'd say for two things: 1. Other bands had improved to a similar or higher capability (see Whiteland) and 2. Show content isn't that strong. I thought they would be still be moderately in state finals conversation, but I'm not too sure after the scores.
Center Grove: And yet again, they improved from last year. And this time...
they finally improved where they had to improve all this time! Namely, it was Music GE and Brass holding them back in 2018 (it did, just not enough to the point of being considered a factor in the show). I think Center Grove is (once again) solidly in hunt for GN Finals as 11-15 band. Question is whether they have enough in this deep field or not. Notice I put down 11-15, not something like 9-13.....
Whiteland: So close to being a Class A darling this year. So close. I think the show is fantastic and all, but there's just too many minor mistakes here and there to get them into the talks as a state finalist band. It's such a great concept with the
LED (<---- spoiler, highlight at your risk) lamps, but the music choice and arrangements aren't really quite in sync with the show overall- there's odd pauses, abrupt endings, etc., enough to kill whatever momentum they have building at the moment. It is a terrific show that I recommend catching at least once this year if you can; it's worth the surprise.
Ben Davis:
WHAT. THE. HELL. I expecting something like this last night, especially when the scores showed Ben Davis trailing Plainfield a week ago, but I'm just totally blown away. This is Plainfield 2018- total sleeper, out-of-the-blue show. I was expecting Ben Davis to be within the 9-12-ish range at state finals this year, but the show and the way they performed last night? 6-8, no question at all.
Centerville: It's no 2017, but it's mounds better than 2018. I feel like there's props that essential to understanding the show missing from the field (understandable... it's only week 2). Clearly, there's things judges like in this show, but it's also a little too early to get a good read on Centerville over say, Avon, BD, Plainfield, CG, etc.
Plainfield: I was surprised by how much Plainfield improved. The only thing that held Plainfield 2018 back from surpassing Castle/Center Grove was music GE- the arrangements were awesome, but wasn't quite as complex as those two and I thought it was because Plainfield wasn't quite ready for that level of difficulty yet. I knew they were going to improve on that front, but holy cow, that was far more than I expected out of them. Admittedly, I'm not quite a fan of this year's show in general because I'm used to far more superior arrangements/performances of Barber Symphony No. 1 and I think Plainfield falls short of that legendary status. However... it's a difficult piece to cover in general, and Plainfield deserves commendations for performing it very well.
Avon: Full disclosure: I have found I dislike Avon shows early in the season generally, mostly because I feel the Avon's whole package in the end really frames the opening parts a lot differently than now. Remember me complaining about them early last year? Well, I learned my lesson.... I'll to wait until Indy Super. Musically, it's as strong as it was last year.... that's all I can say at this point.
Also........ I forgot until now that Avon also had sound system issues that they were trying to work through for about 5 minutes. It was bad enough to the point where an Avon field guy called Jay Webb in the stands to figure out what to do. From the gist of their talk, I don't believe it impacted the show too much (so the score is fairly accurate, if not a bit lower than it could've been), but it certainly did take away from their show a little.
Lawrence Township: Yikes. This might be a bit of a polarizing show, similar to last years; you either like or hate it... no in-between. Unfortunately, it really doesn't have the GE strength of last year's show to keep it aloft. I have 50-50 odds of Lawrence Township making it. That's not great in a field like this year's when most of the bottom half of semi-state (16-20) made significant improvements this year.
Scores:
1. While the extraneous captions (percussion - Avon/CG - Center Grove) were awarded properly in A, I found it funny historically it would've been reversed.
2. It's a fantastic sign that Plainfield managed to tie with Center Grove. I think ultimately Center Grove will push forward as they have more of their show to fill in in comparison to Plainfield having more content on the field, but it's not out of question Plainfield could potentially hang with Castle and Center Grove by the time state finals rolls around.
3. I don't know if Ben Davis will be in state finals, but they're playing like they should. I would highly recommend anyone with a list to bump them pretty far up- right below the Plainfield/Castle/Center Grove group.
4. Columbus North is getting a bit of a distance between them and the rest of the field fighting for state finals.
5. Class A was
insane. Lawrence Central has to be easily the best invitational I've ever attended. If you want perspective on the level of competitiveness, Whiteland (lowest scoring band in A) would've made state finals in 6 years ago. My god.
(but they have a significantly reduced role in this year's show). Down the road, I could see either them fading a bit or still remaining strong. I would lean slightly towards the latter, as they have a lot of the field but still some more room to grow.
