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Post by 70sguardchick on Jul 15, 2019 14:59:42 GMT -6
Now that the fall season is upon us (school starts here in what, two weeks?) I thought I'd try to revive the epic Indiana thread that we all knew and loved from MFA forums. The INBands site seems to be struggling, so we might have a better chance of a good conversation here.
Any predictions, thoughts, info, random gossip, etc. ? Which bands are you looking forward to seeing this year?
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Post by paddy on Jul 16, 2019 7:13:11 GMT -6
General thoughts:
Who will fill spots 3-10 in class A, particularly those 6-10 spots that seem to be in flux each year?
Will Greenfield break the odd year curse? (Though they should have been at State and 2017 and broken the curse that year)
How Beech Grove (and Boonville) moving to Class C change that State Finals?
How will Noblesville handle their large jump from Track Band to Open A?
Snarky thoughts:
Who will be the historically good band that gets over-scored because of who they are?
Will Center Grove find a new way to put a Winter Winds show on a football field?
Who will hideout in Scholastic when they really should be in Open?
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Post by Marching Observer on Jul 16, 2019 7:18:56 GMT -6
There have been a LOT of director changes this year in several of the upper echelon of Class B bands so it will be interesting if some groups can take advantage of the changing of the guard as new directors settle into their positions.
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Post by thewho on Jul 16, 2019 8:21:40 GMT -6
General thoughts: Who will fill spots 3-10 in class A, particularly those 6-10 spots that seem to be in flux each year? Will Greenfield break the odd year curse? (Though they should have been at State and 2017 and broken the curse that year) How Beech Grove (and Boonville) moving to Class C change that State Finals? How will Noblesville handle their large jump from Track Band to Open A? Snarky thoughts: Who will be the historically good band that gets over-scored because of who they are? Will Center Grove find a new way to put a Winter Winds show on a football field? Who will hideout in Scholastic when they really should be in Open? I'm skipping over those snarky thoughts except for the 3rd, but I'm chuckling. I would be incredibly disappointed to see Westfield in Scholastic this year. Anyway: 1. I don't think 3-10 is really in flux, more like 7-10 for me. I see it as: Carmel Avon ------------ Homestead Fishers Castle Center Grove ------------- Everyone else (7-10) 2. I think they will. It's a matter of putting it all together, which I feel like GC hasn't done yet. Last year was certainly a good start. 3. Beech Grove is absolutely 100% in contention for Class C championship. They'll be pushing Western and Edgewood extremely hard, as especially with an expected small recession from Lewis Cass. 4. I've got Noblesville on watch this season. There have been a LOT of director changes this year in several of the upper echelon of Class B bands so it will be interesting if some groups can take advantage of the changing of the guard as new directors settle into their positions. For elaboration, here's a few of them: Greenwood: Head director John Morse is leaving for Muncie Schools as assistant principal, with Ben Werne from Paoli taking over. Northview: Dominic Thompson from Owen Valley is taking over for Josh Miller. Not sure why he's leaving. Ruth Ann Medworth is retiring, it seems (?). Jasper: Chad Gayso from Forest Park is taking over from James Goodhue, who is retiring. North Side: Nothing. I just like faking out you all. Ed King II 47 years strong! Greenwood is going to be a big question mark this fall. I've always enjoyed Paoli, but I'm not quite sure if Werne can match Morse's pedigree (which is no insult- Morse did a lot in his 9 years there). Cautiously optimistic for Northview as it seems a bit of a lateral move. Northview didn't have the strongest show, but performed exceptionally well to clearly mark themselves as 3rd. Potential for a state championship was there last year, I just wonder if a director change would stall the momentum. I'm very excited for Jasper. Gayso's work with Forest Park has always been terrific despite being Class D. I've always wondered what his shows would be like if a bigger band made work out of it. North Side... hah. Lastly..... I'm intrigued by Westfield. Andrew Muth is a very, very strong name and he brings a lot of connections to a school that should be doing well already given their location in northern Indianapolis. I'm expecting a fairly large improvement for this year. Maybe not enough to get into state contention (cause you know, Class A....), but enough to position them well for the future. |
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Post by OldSchoolTrumpet on Jul 16, 2019 9:41:45 GMT -6
Will Center Grove find a new way to put a Winter Winds show on a football field?
-------------------------- I hope they don't bring that "stage" back again. Yes they made effective use of it but I still have to throw my penalty flag at having your winds/brass spending half the show hiding behind curtains while you have small features and guard work. Sorry CG, but I'm not a fan. Put your whole ensemble on the field like everyone else. |
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Post by thewho on Jul 16, 2019 10:13:55 GMT -6
Will Center Grove find a new way to put a Winter Winds show on a football field?
-------------------------- I hope they don't bring that "stage" back again. Yes they made effective use of it but I still have to throw my penalty flag at having your winds/brass spending half the show hiding behind curtains while you have small features and guard work. Sorry CG, but I'm not a fan. Put your whole ensemble on the field like everyone else. To be fair, I think one of the biggest reasons why did they did that was because of how small they were the last 2 years. Hopefully, this year was strong enough for them to garner some numbers to get them out of the WGI Winds setup. I don't think judges would take kindly to repeating the same setup/premise/uniform for 3 straight years. |
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Post by paddy on Jul 16, 2019 10:18:36 GMT -6
There have been a LOT of director changes this year in several of the upper echelon of Class B bands so it will be interesting if some groups can take advantage of the changing of the guard as new directors settle into their positions. For elaboration, here's a few of them: Greenwood: Head director John Morse is leaving for Muncie Schools as assistant principal, with Ben Werne from Paoli taking over. Northview: Dominic Thompson from Owen Valley is taking over for Josh Miller. Not sure why he's leaving. Ruth Ann Medworth is retiring, it seems (?). Jasper: Chad Gayso from Forest Park is taking over from James Goodhue, who is retiring. North Side: Nothing. I just like faking out you all. Ed King II 47 years strong! Greenwood is going to be a big question mark this fall. I've always enjoyed Paoli, but I'm not quite sure if Werne can match Morse's pedigree (which is no insult- Morse did a lot in his 9 years there). Cautiously optimistic for Northview as it seems a bit of a lateral move. Northview didn't have the strongest show, but performed exceptionally well to clearly mark themselves as 3rd. Potential for a state championship was there last year, I just wonder if a director change would stall the momentum. I'm very excited for Jasper. Gayso's work with Forest Park has always been terrific despite being Class D. I've always wondered what his shows would be like if a bigger band made work out of it. North Side... hah. Lastly..... I'm intrigued by Westfield. Andrew Muth is a very, very strong name and he brings a lot of connections to a school that should be doing well already given their location in northern Indianapolis. I'm expecting a fairly large improvement for this year. Maybe not enough to get into state contention (cause you know, Class A....), but enough to position them well for the future. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Maybe Josh Miller was tired of being the Band Director in title only. I've heard a couple of unflattering things about how stuff was handled especially as Miller left. I think there will be a learning curve coming to B for any of those directors. Just the nature of the beast. |
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Post by OldSchoolTrumpet on Jul 16, 2019 10:45:19 GMT -6
To be fair, I think one of the biggest reasons why did they did that was because of how small they were the last 2 years. Hopefully, this year was strong enough for them to garner some numbers to get them out of the WGI Winds setup. I don't think judges would take kindly to repeating the same setup/premise/uniform for 3 straight years.------------------------I understand shrinking the field. I don't understand hiding the ensemble for extended periods in favor of small groups while 40% of the (already small) band stands behind a curtain. |
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Post by thewho on Jul 16, 2019 11:52:05 GMT -6
Maybe Josh Miller was tired of being the Band Director in title only. I've heard a couple of unflattering things about how stuff was handled especially as Miller left. I think there will be a learning curve coming to B for any of those directors. Just the nature of the beast. Yikes. Hopefully any senior advisors/consultants aren't being too overbearing. Northview and Greenwood would definitely have a learning curve to them, especially with them coming from schools outside the system. However, Gayso had worked with Jasper for a good amount of years that he's familiar with how the program is being ran. The learning curve at Jasper would be significantly far less difficult in my opinion. With the loss of John Morse, I don't think Greenwood getting back to the level they were at in 2018 is impossible, but it's going to be a lot harder now. I actually have Greenfield-Central, Greenwood, and Jasper on equal level as far as the Class B championship goes now. It's wide open. To be fair, I think one of the biggest reasons why did they did that was because of how small they were the last 2 years. Hopefully, this year was strong enough for them to garner some numbers to get them out of the WGI Winds setup. I don't think judges would take kindly to repeating the same setup/premise/uniform for 3 straight years.------------------------I understand shrinking the field. I don't understand hiding the ensemble for extended periods in favor of small groups while 40% of the (already small) band stands behind a curtain. Center Grove was a bit better with it the past year, but I get that sentiment. If CG wants to keep up this year, they gotta show their stuff some more. |
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Post by paddy on Jul 16, 2019 13:30:06 GMT -6
However, Gayso had worked with Jasper for a good amount of years that he's familiar with how the program is being ran. The learning curve at Jasper would be significantly far less difficult in my opinion. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ He does have a leg up, but being the arranger for Jasper is different than being the director of Jasper. Especially when he was running his own band at Forest Park. Goodhue has been there since 1990 and there is long time staff around; when he retired people wrote letters to the newspaper comparing him to Zeus; kids talked about quitting; the parents started an endowment in the name of Goodhue. That can be tricky coming in as a semi-outsider. Just for comparison: The arranger for our band never stepped foot on our campus, much less attended a practice. And he only lived the same distance from us as Gayso lives from Jasper. Admittedly, this was a number of years ago. |
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Post by LeanderMomma on Aug 2, 2019 6:32:33 GMT -6
Can someone shed some light on what the Indiana State Fair band competition today is all about? Is it a standstill competition? Parade? Concert style? I’m so curious after seeing something about it on Instagram. And when do the bands get together and practice for it?
Thanks!
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Post by paddy on Aug 2, 2019 7:08:18 GMT -6
Can someone shed some light on what the Indiana State Fair band competition today is all about? Is it a standstill competition? Parade? Concert style? I’m so curious after seeing something about it on Instagram. And when do the bands get together and practice for it? Thanks! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It is a track band competition. Different scale due to being on a track, but the basics are the same. www.indianatrackmarchingbands.com/Bands practice during the summer and this is the last competition of the year. There are some bands in the competition that were good in the standard ISSMA field competitions recently (Kokomo, Blue River Valley) and one of the best Track Bands of the last couple years, Noblesville, is making the jump to ISSMA Open Class A and BOA AAAA competition this year. The State Fair Band Day used to be a really big deal and dates back to 1947. |
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Post by paddy on Aug 2, 2019 7:12:52 GMT -6
Here is Noblesville from last year. They won in 2017 and 2018.
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Post by paddy on Aug 2, 2019 7:14:31 GMT -6
Here is another example
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Post by 70sguardchick on Aug 2, 2019 8:02:54 GMT -6
I haven't seen Band Day since my marching days - back then (1978...) it was a true track show. Set up behind the start line, march in and play parade style to set up for the middle "concert style" guard and solo feature, then march and play off. No props back then. I remember one band (maybe Anderson? They were always the track show powerhouse) flashed flash cubes as a special effect, and we more lowly band mortals were in awe.
Nothing like marching a dirt track in wool uniforms in August....
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Post by paddy on Aug 2, 2019 8:09:06 GMT -6
I haven't seen Band Day since my marching days - back then (1978...) it was a true track show. Set up behind the start line, march in and play parade style to set up for the middle "concert style" guard and solo feature, then march and play off. No props back then. I remember one band (maybe Anderson? They were always the track show powerhouse) flashed flash cubes as a special effect, and we more lowly band mortals were in awe. Nothing like marching a dirt track in wool uniforms in August.... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Yeah, it definitely has evolved. |
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Post by Marching Observer on Aug 9, 2019 14:25:33 GMT -6
Much of the time it is used for schools that do not compete in the fall and do this as a strictly summer activity before schools start. A lot of small schools will do it as many of their performers are other school sports. Plus, the Indiana State Fair gives cash to all bands that attend and the higher band places, the more money they get. So it can be a good fund raising method too depending on the group. I affectionately refer to it as dirt band since the final show is on the dirt track.
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Post by OldSchoolTrumpet on Aug 16, 2019 9:18:31 GMT -6
I find it very interesting that Homestead is attending the Fishers Invitational on September 28, rather than the Penn Invitational on that weekend. Not only has Homestead not gone down to meet Indy competition this early for years, they've been a fixture at Penn. I'll suggest that they're starting to see the value of getting judged against who they see as their competition, rather than just getting the certain win against groups not in their sphere.
I consider this move a positive sign that some of their past strategies are being re-thought. Or maybe I'm just over-thinking it myself.
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Post by TeamIndiana on Aug 16, 2019 12:30:29 GMT -6
I find it very interesting that Homestead is attending the Fishers Invitational on September 28, rather than the Penn Invitational on that weekend. Not only has Homestead not gone down to meet Indy competition this early for years, they've been a fixture at Penn. I'll suggest that they're starting to see the value of getting judged against who they see as their competition, rather than just getting the certain win against groups not in their sphere.
I consider this move a positive sign that some of their past strategies are being re-thought. Or maybe I'm just over-thinking it myself. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ I agree with that assessment. I was pretty excited when I saw that listed under the 2019 season schedule on their band website. With it being BOA sheets at that contest, I think they see it as a better opportunity compared to the Penn contest (which uses ISSMA sheets). |
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Post by OldSchoolTrumpet on Aug 16, 2019 12:36:39 GMT -6
I find it very interesting that Homestead is attending the Fishers Invitational on September 28, rather than the Penn Invitational on that weekend. Not only has Homestead not gone down to meet Indy competition this early for years, they've been a fixture at Penn. I'll suggest that they're starting to see the value of getting judged against who they see as their competition, rather than just getting the certain win against groups not in their sphere.
I consider this move a positive sign that some of their past strategies are being re-thought. Or maybe I'm just over-thinking it myself. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ I agree with that assessment. I was pretty excited when I saw that listed under the 2019 season schedule on their band website. With it being BOA sheets at that contest, I think they see it as a better opportunity compared to the Penn contest (which uses ISSMA sheets). ---------------------------------- Yeah, the BOA sheets. That's probably more the catalyst than the specific competition. Good call. Regardless, I see that as a positive move for them. My only quibble with them over the years is their stubbornness (seemingly) to keep doing what they do because it's what has always worked. But times change. I like seeing signs that they might be rethinking their approach in small ways.. |
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Post by tubamom on Aug 28, 2019 12:30:09 GMT -6
_______________________________________________________________________________________________ I agree with that assessment. I was pretty excited when I saw that listed under the 2019 season schedule on their band website. With it being BOA sheets at that contest, I think they see it as a better opportunity compared to the Penn contest (which uses ISSMA sheets). ---------------------------------- Yeah, the BOA sheets. That's probably more the catalyst than the specific competition. Good call. Regardless, I see that as a positive move for them. My only quibble with them over the years is their stubbornness (seemingly) to keep doing what they do because it's what has always worked. But times change. I like seeing signs that they might be rethinking their approach in small ways.. If a school is performing predominantly in the ISSMA circuit.....wouldn't it be more beneficial for them to attend an ISSMA scored contest? On the other hand, they may see some other schools that they may not generally see until later in the season? Just a thought.... |
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Post by thewho on Sept 2, 2019 10:11:27 GMT -6
If a school is performing predominantly in the ISSMA circuit.....wouldn't it be more beneficial for them to attend an ISSMA scored contest? On the other hand, they may see some other schools that they may not generally see until later in the season? Just a thought.... It wouldn't be a bad idea per se, but the sheets between ISSMA and BOA are similar enough that bands can very easily find success in both circuits at the same time. So.... why not? And yes, on meeting other schools. A lot of schools usually stay within their regions until the state qualifiers (regionals/Scholastic prelims) begin. However, BOA events have that distinguished title that many schools are willing to travel out too. In that sense, most schools can find at least a good footing of where they are in relative the field when they compete against schools they don't see that often. E.g., Carroll traveling out to BOA Muncie where they can face off Ben Davis, Franklin Central, etc. |
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Post by paddy on Sept 2, 2019 10:45:10 GMT -6
Speaking of competing agains schools as a reason to travel, Brownsburg is going to be a real humdinger for Class B. I’m hearing that Greenwood, Jasper, Greenfield and Northview will all be there.
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Post by 70sguardchick on Sept 2, 2019 11:58:26 GMT -6
Speaking of competing agains schools as a reason to travel, Brownsburg is going to be a real humdinger for Class B. I’m hearing that Greenwood, Jasper, Greenfield and Northview will all be there. Class A should be decent, too - I know Carmel and Center Grove are on the schedule. |
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Post by paddy on Sept 2, 2019 14:22:20 GMT -6
Speaking of competing agains schools as a reason to travel, Brownsburg is going to be a real humdinger for Class B. I’m hearing that Greenwood, Jasper, Greenfield and Northview will all be there. Class A should be decent, too - I know Carmel and Center Grove are on the schedule. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Class A doesn’t move the needle for me until someone consistently pushes Carmel and Avon. The only thing I would be anticipating with Carmel and Center Grove will be what ridiculous thing will Carmel do with their available funding and how will Center Grove reuse their walls. |
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Post by thewho on Sept 2, 2019 14:26:54 GMT -6
Class A should be decent, too - I know Carmel and Center Grove are on the schedule. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Class A doesn’t move the needle for me until someone consistently pushes Carmel and Avon. The only thing I would be anticipating with Carmel and Center Grove will be what ridiculous thing will Carmel do with their available funding and how will Center Grove reuse their walls. And? I'll probably still go to Brownsburg regardless. Center Grove won't be hiding, I can tell you that. |
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Post by paddy on Sept 4, 2019 11:05:35 GMT -6
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Class A doesn’t move the needle for me until someone consistently pushes Carmel and Avon. The only thing I would be anticipating with Carmel and Center Grove will be what ridiculous thing will Carmel do with their available funding and how will Center Grove reuse their walls. And? I'll probably still go to Brownsburg regardless. Center Grove won't be hiding, I can tell you that. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I will be there as well. I look forward to your biased fan boi takes. |
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Post by 70sguardchick on Sept 5, 2019 13:32:23 GMT -6
Looks like Center Grove is off the list for the Brownsburg competition - Carmel, Lake Central, Portage, Pike, and Lafayette Jeff are the A bands on the list (reverse order of competition).
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Post by thewho on Sept 6, 2019 23:11:31 GMT -6
Some general chatter/musings for first weekend:
1. Greenfield-Central didn't really hit their stride in 2018 until week 5 at Center Grove. Already, they're as good this early in the season. We'll have to wait on Greenwood and Jasper, but GC is solidly a state champion contender. Trust me, I called Greenwood in 2018 as soon as they performed- GC is solidly at a similar level.
2. Carroll looks like they'll be able to hold onto their state finalist spot. However, this year seems to be more of a lateral move- not worse, but nothing at this point to indicate they can peak higher.
3. One can usually tell early on whether Western will dominate (just about every year...) or not (2015/2017*). This isn't one of those years.
4. Fishers has some GN Finals-quality drill. Question is whether they have the music to match, which unfortunately we're not finding out for a while (hopefully not Homestead music... heh).
5. Different staging tactics for Center Grove this year. Promising.
6. There's two ways the season goes for Franklin Central: they improved enough to be considered as a heavy contender for state final, or everyone improved as much as Franklin did to the point of nullifying Franklin's improvement. I see the potential for the former, but a little more than the latter.
7. Plainfield looks sharp as last year. We'll see if they can jump out beyond 7th into the top 6 (Avon, Carmel, Homestead, Fishers, Castle, Center Grove). Certainly not out of question.
8. I wouldn't be surprised if Ev. North climbs a few spots in B. There's always the possibility of them getting knocked out, but so does the bottom 6 in B- makes no difference in this case.
*Western didn't win, but they dominated most of season before Edgewood surged right before state finals. That's still dominance for me in this context, especially when the championship could've gone either way at state finals, so take as you will.
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Post by TeamIndiana on Sept 8, 2019 13:42:50 GMT -6
Anyone have placements / scores from last nights comps?
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