|
Post by kvgdc on Jul 14, 2021 20:03:42 GMT -6
[Ball State Alumnus of that era gives you some side eye wondering just how parallel our lives are.]
Although I didn’t do band in college.
I probably threw marshmallows in your general direction at a football game or two though.
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Jul 15, 2021 6:46:00 GMT -6
[Ball State Alumnus of that era gives you some side eye wondering just how parallel our lives are.] Although I didn’t do band in college. I probably threw marshmallows in your general direction at a football game or two though. So that was you! LOL
|
|
|
Post by hewhowaits on Jul 15, 2021 7:31:37 GMT -6
[Ball State Alumnus of that era gives you some side eye wondering just how parallel our lives are.] Although I didn’t do band in college. I probably threw marshmallows in your general direction at a football game or two though. From the student section at the University of Delaware, we used to try to get the marshmallows thrown into the bell of the sousaphones.
|
|
|
Post by kvgdc on Jul 15, 2021 16:19:42 GMT -6
[Ball State Alumnus of that era gives you some side eye wondering just how parallel our lives are.] Although I didn’t do band in college. I probably threw marshmallows in your general direction at a football game or two though. So that was you! LOL That could have well been any number of thousands of us. The marshmallow tossing got REALLY out of hand in my time. They were starting to beg students not to do it because the amount of work it took to clean the marshmallow after it had melted down in the sun and body heat of the crowd then frozen as we left was...a lot.
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Jul 23, 2021 3:21:17 GMT -6
Before They Were a BOA Power, Before They Were Even The Woodlands
The Woodlands HS opened in 1996. The opening of The Woodlands followed the closure of nearby McCullough HS. Essentially, the entire band program at McCullough moved to The Woodlands. A few years prior to this move, 1992, McCullough got a new band director named Brett Johnson. Mr. Johnson would be the director that would build The Woodlands marching band into a national power during the 2000s (Mr. Johnson then passed the torch to Joni Perez who led the band to their 2013 national title). 1992 marked not only Mr. Johnson's first year at McCullough, it marked their first year in BOA participation. They attended one of the BOA Southwest (Texas) regionals that year. After two attempts, they made their first appearance in BOA regional finals in 1994. They then made it again in 1995, the last year of McCullough's existence. This band obviously laid a good foundation as in 1996 as The Woodlands, they again made regional finals. It was then a steady rise from that point forward. Here is a 1992 performance of the McCullough high school marching band; the first year with director Brett Johnson. I wonder if any of these kids performing realized at the time that were helping to lay the foundation for one of BOA's most successful marching bands.
|
|
|
Post by WoodlandsMom4ever on Jul 23, 2021 19:47:58 GMT -6
That was really neat! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a video from the Mccullough high school days.
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Jul 24, 2021 2:43:14 GMT -6
Here is McCullough's 1995 BOA regional prelims performance. They did make finals with this performance. You can see how the band improved since 1992. This was the last year of McCullough as the following fall this band would be competing in their new school The Woodlands.
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Jul 25, 2021 4:00:15 GMT -6
More Then Just a Comeback - Centerville 92
By the end of the 1989 season, the Centerville Jazz Band from Centerville OH had been in Grand National Finals 5 of the previous 6 years and had earned the reputation as one BOA's fan favorites. At Grand Nationals in 1990 it was both surprising and disappointing that Centerville failed to make Grand National Finals. They ended up 14th in Prelims. The show was just not quite as clean as it needed to be. At Grand Nationals in 1991, Centerville again failed to make finals as they were 15th overall in Prelims. This however was rather controversial. This was the first year of the Class Championship format where each of the three classes had their own separate judging panel in prelims. What was so controversial is that a couple of the GE judges for the Class AA bands were a little more generous with the scores, while the Class AAA bands judging panel was a bit more stringent in those GE captions (especially visual effect). Now 1991 had the biggest depth of top level Class AA bands in attendance of any Grand Nationals. So there was going to be a lot of AA bands in finals (there ended up being 6 that year). The one AAA band that I think the scoring discrepancies affected most was Centerville. I think they should have been in finals. That said, even if they were in finals, I kind of think their performance would probably be an 11th or 12th place performance. In my opinion, they just did not have that spark they had had in the late 1980s. So after those disappointments, enter 1992. Centerville had obviously made some changes with their show "The Tower of Power", better drill design and more energetic music. I suspect that that they had a new level of determination this season, wanting to prove to the judges that they deserved to be in finals. This show managed to bring back the spark they had in the late 80s, but was so much cleaner and powerful than those days. It was a new Centerville, managing to bring back the crowd appeal while delivering a much stronger performance, including a top notch color guard. Heading into Grand Nationals in 1992, Centerville was runner-up at the two BOA regionals they attended that fall. So it was assumed they would easily make finals, which they did. At the end of Prelims, Centerville was runner-up to the Class AAA Title, tying for music performance and winning visual performance in Class AAA. They actually tied Plymouth in raw score but had a two tenth point penalty. In Finals, Centerville brought the house down. At that point in time, they had delivered the best show they had ever done in Finals (heard that from some Centerville parents). We knew it was going to be interesting when Centerville was announced as having won General Effect. The Centerville parents and kids then went nuts when they were crowned Grand National Champions. Seeing the reaction from the students and parents (lots of tears) was pretty heartwarming. It was also a big lesson in determination. I mean they had failed to make GN finals the previous two years, then turned around and won the Grand National title by beating both Marian and Plymouth, the two bands who collectively had won the GN Title the previous five seasons. Despite getting a very low score in finals from the music individual judge, Centerville was able to edge out Marian by three tenths of a point. There were of course some who felt Plymouth should have won and a fairly large group who felt Marian should have won; and yes there was a large group who felt Centerville was the rightful winners. I am not going to rehash the debate. I do however feel that Centerville's 1993, 1998 and 2004 Grand National Finals performances were stronger. It was however really neat to see the shock and pure joy on Centerville's faces in the 1992 GN Finals award ceremony.
This would be legendary director Wayne Markworth and Centerville's first and only Grand National Title. To this day, this remains the only Grand National Title for an Ohio band (although I still have my eyes on William Mason). Below are both the multi cam and hi cam version of 1992 Centerville's Grand National winning performance.
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Jul 26, 2021 4:07:29 GMT -6
They Blew the Roof off the Hoosier Dome
This video was a rare find. It is of the James Madison University "Marching Royal Dukes" at the 1991 Bands of America Grand Nationals. I remember this well. To think that we are coming up on 30 years since this event is shocking to me and makes me feel really old. The video posted on YouTube is from the complete recording of JMU's performances that were sold on VHS. The opening is the opening that was included on the Finals video set. Then the video cuts to JMU's performance in the marching percussion festival. There were two divisions in the marching percussion festival (held next door in the convention center), one for high schools and the other for colleges. JMU obviously competed in the college division. I am not sure where they placed. Then the video cuts to the full JMU marching band's short performance at the start of Grand National Finals. Then it concludes with their exhibition performance at the end of finals. This was where the band really cut loose. They gave a fantastic performance. This was my senior year in high school and watching/listening to this band perform is what solidified my decision to be in college marching band (although my college band was not this spectacular). I am sure there were a lot of us seniors who watched this band that thought "hmmm, maybe I should move to Virginia and attend JMU next year". Here is the video.
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Jul 27, 2021 4:03:02 GMT -6
A Little Bit of Golden Age Hollywood, Some Beatles and Lots of Jazz - Kiski in the Early 90sJust like my Kiski post covering the late 1980s, I am going to reference Kiski's website that has videos of one performance per season going back to 1985. The videos can be viewed on the link but are no longer viewable on YouTube. By the early 1990s, Kiski Area HS from Vandegrift, PA (the Kiski Cavaliers) were among the nations top high school marching bands. One of the things I always loved about Kiski was how clean their performances were; just solid. They also had exquisite marching technique. One of the things that started to gain in popularity during the early-mid 1990s was for bands to start coming up with a more clever name for their show. You can see that occurred with Kiski on that website. As the level of competitiveness increased during the course of the decade and many new powerful programs from large suburban schools emerged, a lot of mid sized school band programs (Class AA in BOA) found it every more challenging to remain among the top echelon of high school bands. Kiski was an exception to this. They remained a Class AA powerhouse. In 1990, we were all disappointed that Kiski did not attend Grand Nationals. In fact, they only attended Grand Nationals four times during the entire decade, even though they had the goods to do quite well each and every year of the decade. They were one of those bands who chose to take more variety of trips, to give their kids different experiences. I am sure there was also a cost factor involved with having the band travel/stay overnight in Indy. Kiski did attend the BOA Eastern (Morgantown, WV) regional and won for the third consecutive year. Much like the 1980s, in the early 1990s these eastern regionals were among the most competitive of the BOA regionals. Their show was notable for its use of props that were carried around at different times and functioned as performance platforms throughout the show, one of the earliest uses of props in this manor. The performance on the website is from the BOA Eastern Regional. In 1991, Kiski ended up finishing second at the BOA Eastern Regional behind George Rogers Clark KY. It was their first loss at this regional since 1987, so I am sure it was a little disappointing. Kiski did attend Grand Nationals this year and they obviously made some big improvements since their appearance at the Eastern Regional. This was the first year of the Class Championships format. At the conclusion on the Class Championships/Prelims, Kiski was crowned GN Class AA Champion. Turns out they tied Marian, but Kiski had a higher GE score which was the tie breaker. This was their first of two GN Class AA titles. Kiski and Marian actually had the highest score of all competing prelim bands. In Finals, Kiski ended up in third place. Their show was centered on the music of the Beatles. It was a big hit with the crowd, especially our baby boomer generation parents who had grown up listening to the Beatles. The video on the website is their Class Championship/Prelims performance. In 1992, Kiski reclaimed their title at the BOA Eastern Regional. In fact, they beat Centerville who went on later that season to win the Grand National title. Kiski did not attend Grand Nationals this year. Now that does not mean that if they had attended they would have won the GN title. The Eastern Regional was much earlier in the season. So who knows how that would have played out. Kiski's show that season was titled "City of Angels" and paid homage to Hollywood's Golden Age. The video is of their regional performance. Even though the quality of the video is not the best, I can tell that I would have loved this show at Grand Nationals. In 1993, Kiski took on an ambitious music performance with their show "A Tribute to Dizzy", honoring Dizzy Gillespie. As you would expect, they had a really good trumpet soloist. They won the Eastern Regional again, their fifth win over the previous six seasons. This was another show that would have been a hit at Grand Nationals had they attended. The video is of their BOA regional performance. In 1994, Kiski sported stylish brand new light blue uniforms (making them look more like the award winning band that they were). George Wozniak was now the director, although Scott Koter who was responsible for Kiski's rise to the top still worked with the band. I suspect that since they were attending Grand Nationals this season they took on a little more ambitious show. This was especially true from a visual standpoint. In what I am sure was a shock, they finished 4th in finals at the BOA Eastern Regional. They were however only three tenths away from second place. Yes this was still a very competitive regional. That fourth place finish proved to do nothing but ignite a fire under them as their performances at Grand Nationals were spectacular. After the Class Championships/Prelims, Kiski won their second Grand National Class AA Title by a razor thin margin over Marian. In fact, they had the highest score of all participating bands. In Finals, they delivered a very strong performance. Now I am not saying that Marian should not have won, but before the finals awards, I had placed my bets that Kiski was going to win the GN Title. They ended up coming in 2nd place by 0.15 points (they actually got a tenth point penalty so their raw score was only 0.05 points behind Marian). This was their highest ever finish at Grand Nationals and the closest they would ever get to the GN Title. They did win the Visual Performance award in finals (and rightfully so). Their show was titled "Come Rain or Shine". It is probably my favorite Kiski show. It was an early example of a type of theme based show where the musical selections were chosen to fit the show concept, something that was becoming a more popular way of presenting these themed shows. Kiski proved that Centerville was not the only band that could do jazz. They also had an amazing saxophone solo at the end of the show, still one of the best sax solos at Grand Nationals in my opinion (yes I said one of the best as I know some Texas bands have recently had some amazing sax solos). The performance on the video is from GN Class Championships/Prelims. I will showcase Kiski's 95-99 performances in another post. www.kiskiareabands.org/marching-band-videos.html
|
|
|
Post by Allohak on Jul 29, 2021 4:28:28 GMT -6
Kiski from Vandergrift, PA Not to be confused with reigning GN champ Vandegrift H.S. from Austin, TX Hey Subito Fortissimo maybe this is why people add the extra r
|
|
|
Post by Marching Observer on Jul 29, 2021 6:41:31 GMT -6
I know my auto-correct wants to keep changing it to Vandergrift as well lol. Or Vanderbilt. Does not like it without the R.
|
|
|
Post by Subito Fortissimo on Jul 29, 2021 18:59:07 GMT -6
Kiski from Vandergrift, PA Not to be confused with reigning GN champ Vandegrift H.S. from Austin, TX Hey Subito Fortissimo maybe this is why people add the extra r NO EXCUSES.
|
|
|
Post by kvgdc on Jul 30, 2021 6:58:31 GMT -6
So we should go with Vande[no r]grift?
|
|
|
Post by hewhowaits on Jul 30, 2021 7:28:36 GMT -6
So we should go with Vande[no r]grift? When referencing the Texas High School, yes. When referring to the town where Kiski High School is located, no.
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Jul 30, 2021 14:23:34 GMT -6
So looked this up on wiki.
Vandegrift High School, in Austin TX - The school is named for United States Marine Corps First Lieutenant Matthew Ryan Vandegrift. who was killed in action.
Vandergrift, Pennsylvania - In the 1890s the Apollo Iron and Steel Company ended a bitterly contested labor dispute by hiring replacement workers from the surrounding countryside. To avoid future unrest, however, the company sought to gain tighter control over its workers not only at the factory but also in their homes. Drawing upon a philosophy of reform movements in Europe and the United States, the firm decided that providing workers with good housing and a good urban environment would make them more loyal and productive. In 1895, Apollo Iron and Steel built a new, integrated, non-unionized steelworks and hired the nation's preeminent landscape architectural firm, Olmsted, Olmsted and Eliot, to design the model industrial town: Vandergrift. (named for Capt. J.J. Vandergrift, a director of the steel company).
Upon research of both surnames, turns out they are of Dutch origin. They are two variants of essentially the same surname (Van de Grift) and (Van der Grift).
Luckily they did not name the school Vandergrift HS, PA. That would have been really confusing to the BOA world. Kiski Area has a Vandergrift address but serves several different communities in that area outside of Pittsburgh.
|
|
|
Post by LeanderMomma on Jul 30, 2021 16:31:56 GMT -6
So looked this up on wiki. Vandegrift High School, in Austin TX - The school is named for United States Marine Corps First Lieutenant Matthew Ryan Vandegrift. who was killed in action. Yep. He was a Leander HS graduate.
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Aug 3, 2021 9:14:09 GMT -6
Acknowledging Your Competitors Greatness
We all have them; those bands that you strive to beat; that one band that stood between you and a championship title; that one band that you think 'we should have beaten them'. In looking at competitive marching band in retrospect, those competitors are what made us work harder and perform better. It is this competitive drive that has taken competitive high school marching band to levels unthinkable just 20 or 30 years ago. Of course it does not just have to be competitive bands at the top. Competition has led to improvements at all levels, even down to the very small school classes/divisions. In this post I am going to give kudos to two bands that my band (Flushing MI) was highly competitive with during my time in the program; late 80s/early 90s. Both of these bands went on to do great things after I graduated high school. Even though my band began to fall in the rankings after I graduated, I was pleased to see the success of two of my bands biggest rivals. One band was in state and the other was an Ohio band (Michigan and Ohio have a bit of a rivalry on many different fronts).
The first band I am going to highlight is Jenison HS from Jenison MI (outside of Grand Rapids). First off, in the 1980s, there were many competitive high school bands from the west side of Michigan that did not compete in MCB(D)A, the main Michigan Competitive Circuit. They did not like that MCBDA organized the Flights based on band size and not school size. So they essentially had their own competitive circuit. There were of course a few notable exceptions, like Wyoming Park HS, who did come over to the east side of the state to compete in MCBDA. Most, however, did not. In 1988, my band went over to Grand Rapids for a competition and competed against Grandville HS, who was considered the best band on the west side. We easily beat them so we did not really consider west bands much of a threat. In both 1987 and 1988, Bands of America held the Grand National Championships in Pontiac, MI. This brought a whole bunch of bands from across Michigan to BOA competition for the first time. One of those bands was Jenison. In 1987 Jenison placed 34th in GN Prelims and in 1988 they placed 29th in GN Prelims. These were their first two BOA competitions. While I am sure they gave respectable performances, my band was still not really looking at this band as a threat. But Jenison directors Ted Bazaany and Tom Weidner were amassing a team of strong instructors and were building a much stronger band program. In 1989, Jenison made the trip to the MCBDA state championships (their first trip to the state championships) and beat my band, finishing 3rd in Flight I. They then took the trip to Indy and placed 17th in BOA GN Prelims. Yes they made a very big statement that year. We now had to look out for those west side bands. I somewhat credit Jenison for convincing MCBDA to change the rules and organize the Flights based on school size and not band size (I can't remember if that happened in 1990 or 1991; I think was 1990). I also give some credit to Jenison for the meteoric rise of two other bands from the west side of the state in early 1990s; Mona Shores and Reeths-Puffer. In 1990 my band was hoping to beat Jenison at the state championships and finish 2nd to Plymouth (no one was going to beat Plymouth). But we had to settle for third. We all expected Jenison would make GN finals (we were actually hoping that there would be three Michigan bands in finals; us and Jenison in addition to Plymouth). That did not happen as Jenison was 15th in GN Prelims and we were 19th. In 1991, the Michigan State Championships was practically rained out. All day rain and a very muddy field (and several band members falling in state finals) made the judges deem the field conditions too slick and unsafe for the field competition to continue. The Flight 1 bands had to do a music only judged performance standing on the track in the pouring rain. In that format, Jenison won the state title (largely because their percussion score was much higher than Plymouths). We kind of expected that they would be in Grand National Finals. They ended up finishing in the unlucky 13th spot in GN Prelims. It was also a huge disappointment for them that both us and Plymouth made GN Finals. I kind of think that it came down to the weekend before Grand Nationals. It was really cold (and snowy in Jenison) and they lost some outdoor practice time. Plymouth and my band had both rented indoor stadiums to practice in the weekend before Grand Nationals. I know for my band that made a huge difference. We did however wish Jenison had been in finals to put three Michigan bands in GN Finals.
In 1992, Jenison convinced their school to allow them to attend two out of state competitions in a season rather than just one. It was this rule by the school that prevented them from attending the BOA Toledo Regionals in 1990 and 1991. They felt they would stand a better chance making Grand National Finals if they had appeared at a BOA regional. I think most of this was to take the BOA judges comments into consideration; helping them prep for Nationals better. At the early season 1992 BOA Toledo regional (dominated by Michigan bands) Jenison placed 3rd, with Plymouth on top and a surprise second place finish by Lakeland MI. A strong performance at the state championships landed them in 2nd place in Flight I behind Plymouth. At the 1992 Grand National championships, their dreams finally came true and the edged into Finals by finishing 12th overall in Prelims. In Finals they finished 12th. Their show was more of a collection of songs rather than a theme based show which they did in 90 and 91. The drill designs and music were still on par with early 90 trends. Like many guard outfits in the late 80s/early 90s, their guard attire in this show probably did not stand the test of time. It was a good show and I cheered for them in finals. In 1993, they took a break from Grand Nationals. I am sure they felt that was needed after having busted their you know what the previous three years trying to make GN Finals. They did attend the BOA Toledo regional and finished 3rd, the highest placing Michigan band at that competition. At state finals, after Plymouth got a huge penalty and landed in 3rd place, Jenison ended up finishing 2nd in Flight I to Mona Shores. That win by Mona Shores was a huge surprise. In 1994, at the BOA Toledo regional, Jenison finished 5th. This was a highly competitive regional. At the State Championships, Jenison finished 2nd behind Plymouth for the Flight I state title by a razor thin margin. I was there and I really felt Jenison should have won. Jenison returned to Grand Nationals in 1994. Making GN Finals this year was significantly more difficult than their last trip in 1992 (a much deeper competitive field). In Prelims/Class Championships, Jenison gave in my opinion their best performance ever. They actually placed 8th overall in Prelims and finished just ahead of Plymouth. I don't think their finals performance was as strong, but still quite good. They ended up finishing 12th in GN Finals. I quite enjoyed the music in their show, music of Africa (great percussion features). This would be the second and last time Jenison would be in Grand National Finals. They have however remained one of the best bands in Michigan ever since. After dropping to Flight II in the early 2000s, they have won several state titles in Flight II. They have also remained a frequent regional finalist, regional Class AA champion and have had many appearances in Grand National Semi Finals over the years.
Here are Jenison's Grand National Finals Performances from 1992 and 1994.
The next band I am going to feature in this post is the Marietta HS Marching band from Marietta, OH under the direction of Marshall Kimball, "The Marietta Wall of Sound". From the mid 1980s into the late 1990s, Marietta was a frequent BOA regional finalist and often placed in the top 20 at Grand Nationals. My band came head to head with this band at the BOA Mideast Regionals in 1987, 1988 and 1990. We were both in Class AA at those regionals and were considered the top contenders for the Class AA Title. We took that title in 87 and 90 and Marietta took it in 1988. For several years during this period at Grand Nationals, we knew that Marietta was a band that we would have to beat in order to have a better chance at making GN finals. Of course I do not know as much of the details of this band like I do Jenison. I do know that this band had a tremendous amount of support from their band booster organization and community fundraising. That and having a very good director certainly contributed to the success of this band. In 1987, after finishing a disappointing 9th at the BOA Toledo Regional, they had a very strong showing at Grand Nationals (just two weeks later). They ended up making GN finals and finished in 11th place. While my band beat them at BOA Toledo, they beat us in Grand National Finals. At the 1988 BOA Mideast (Akron OH) regional, Marietta won the Class AA Title and finished 4th in Finals. I thought for sure they would be in GN Finals. They did not quite make finals, finishing 16th in Prelims. In 1989 through 1991, Marietta continued to be a regional finalist and landed in the top 20 at Grand Nationals each year. However, they were just not strong enough to make GN Finals. To be honest, after the 1991 season, I thought Marietta was going to be a one and done band when it came to Grand National Finals. Then came the 1992 season. This was Marietta's strongest season in BOA. At the BOA Eastern (Morgantown, WV) regional they finished 5th in finals. However, this was a very competitive regional and their score was right up there with the big name BOA Powerhouse bands. At Grand Nationals, with their show 'John Rutters Gloria', Marietta easily made Grand National Finals. They ended up finishing 9th in Finals. They were very surprised by that placement. Marietta was the first band up in finals. I made the trip to Indy after my college bands Saturday afternoon half time performance in Mt Pleasant MI (something my much younger self apparently felt was no big deal) , so I did not get to the Hoosier Dome in time to see Marietta perform. I did watch their video many times. You will see that one of the drum majors (obviously a senior) could not stop smiling. She was also all smiles during the award ceremony too. You could see how much she was enjoying that moment, something that came with years of work for this band. This would be Marietta's second and last appearance in Grand National Finals. After having a rough season in 1993, Marietta continued making numerous appearances at regional finals and Grand National Semi Finals through the end of the decade. With the retirement of Marshall Kimball and what I am sure have been some financial constraints, this band has not had the level of success the last two decades compared to its glory years.
Here are Marietta's two Grand National Finals Performances; 1987 and 1992
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Aug 9, 2021 6:00:52 GMT -6
A Little Bit of Modern and Lots of Ol'School - The Pride of the Bluegrass
The Lafayette HS 'Pride of the Bluegrass' from Lexington, KY has been a state and regional power for nearly 50 years. I highlighted some of their performances in earlier posts. To recap, in the 1970s they were among the top bands in Kentucky and won several of the coveted Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) Contest of Champions titles. Although throughout much of the 1980s they did not place as high at state/regional competitions as they had done in the 1970s, they were still one of the best bands in Kentucky. They made their first trip to MBA Grand Nationals in 1983. Not only did they make finals, they finished 6th and won the award for best percussion. Although bands like North Hardin and George Rogers Clark dominated the headlines in the late 1980s, Lafayette won their first Kentucky State Title in the large school class in 1990. They ended up winning that title every year until Paul Laurence Dunbar defeated them for the first time in 2003. Between 1990 and 1994, Lafayette won five consecutive MTSU Contest of Champions Titles. While this band was on par with current trends during this era in terms of building their shows around a centralized theme, their visual designs were more reminiscent of a much earlier time. Most of their drill sets were symmetrical. In fact, in many of the segments of their shows, had it not been for the color guard attire and large pit, I would have thought these were shows from the early 1980s. In terms of BOA, Lafayette did not participate in the circuit from 1990 through the 1994 season. I suspect if they had, their show designs may have held them back a bit. Even though Lafayette beat George Rogers Clark locally, I suspect that from 1990 to 1992, GRC would have beaten them at BOA events had Lafayette attended as GRC had visual designs much more on par with the top level BOA bands of the era. Now that is not to say Lafayette was bad at visual, quite the contrary. They were very clean, had exceptionally strait lines and a wonderful marching technique. I actually love their visual designs that are showcased in this post. Another trademark of Lafayette from back then was that near the end of their shows, they would spell out Lafayette (a little touch of a traditional style marching band design). In Lafayette's 1994 show "Les Misérables", Lafayette did debut a design that was much more on par with trends; more asymmetrical. The very next year, 1995, they returned to Bands of America competition. They attended Grand Nationals for the second time, 12 years after their Grand National debut. Their show "Treasures of the Czar" was well received at Grand Nationals and landed them 11th place in Grand National Finals. This show still had large sections of what I consider Ol'School symmetrical drill designs. Some of the spectators at Grand Nationals who participated in marching band in the 1970s and early 1980s really appreciated their 1995 show as a bit of a throwback to 'The Good Ol' Days". Although we had to wait until 2004 for Lafayette to return to Grand Nationals, they became frequent BOA regional competitors after the 95 season (and won a regional title in both 1996 and 1997).
This post will showcase one performance from each season between 1990 and 1995 from the Lafayette HS Marching band. I believe these performances are from the Kentucky State Championships and the MTSU Contest of Champions. Some of the online videos have poor audio, so I choose the ones with the better audio even though the visuals are a bit grainy.
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Aug 10, 2021 10:05:45 GMT -6
What a Year For the Warhawks
The year I am talking about is 1993 and the band is the Seminole HS 'Warhawk' Marching Band from Seminole, FL.
First, let me go back in time a bit to 1980. Seminole HS participated in the very first fall Grand Nationals in Jacksonville, FL. Not only did they make finals, they finished in 8th place. There was also an MBA regional that fall in Pensacola, FL. It is possible that Seminole attended that regional but the recap sheets have been lost to history, so who knows. I do know that JM Tate won that regional. Seminole likely made the trip to Grand Nationals in 1980 because it was so close to them. There were many bands who participated in that 1980 Grand National that did not participate in MBA/BOA for the rest of the decade (or ever again in some instances). Seminole was one of those bands that did not attend an MBA/BOA event for the remainder of the 1980s. I am sure they had some degree of success in state level competitions.
In 1991, after 11 years, Seminole made the trip up to Indy for their second trip to Grand Nationals. However, they came far from making finals as they were 26th overall. They again came up to Grand Nationals in 1992 and this time came much closer to making Finals with a 14th place finish. Then came 1993 and let's just say that this band had a major improvement over the previous seasons. They attended the BOA Atlanta Regional. Not only did they win the regional title, they beat Centerville the reigning Grand National Champion. Then it was off to Indy for another stab at making Grand National Finals. This time they easily made finals. In fact, they had the third highest score overall in Prelims. In Finals, they delivered a strong performance and finished in 7th place. This was their second GN Finals appearance coming 13 years after their first. Their show was Copland's Appalachian Spring. So I am going to go off on a bit of tangent here. Don't get me wrong, I love the music of Appalachian Spring and it works very well on the field. I have however heard many many different variations/arrangements of this piece of music over the years. In fact, it has been a hugely popular piece for marching band going back at least 45 years. Although I have never done the research (and I have no intention of doing so), I would say that Appalachian Spring has been played by more bands at BOA events throughout its long history than any other piece of music. So even though I have kind of grown tired of hearing this piece of music, it has been interesting to see how bands have interpreted this piece of music on the field, especially since the days of theme based shows. I will say that Seminole had a very good interpretation of this piece of music in its 1993 performance.
When I saw this performance in 1993, I said to myself, this is going to be the new powerhouse band program from Florida for many years to come. In 1993, no one predicted that it would be a band named Tarpon Springs that would soon be the band to take Florida and BOA in general by storm. In 1994, Seminole did win the BOA Atlanta Regional for the second time and they again went to Indy and made Grand National Finals, finishing in 11th place. That was their third and unfortunately last appearance in Grand National Finals. They have however remained very active in BOA every since. Even though they did not win another BOA regional title, they went on to make dozens of appearances in BOA Regional Finals. They were also runner-up to several of the Florida regionals of the late 1990s and 2000s (Tarpon Springs got in their way). They also made several appearances in Grand National Semi Finals and actually just missed making another Grand National Finals appearance in 2003 as they finished 13th.
So here are the 1993 Grand Nationals performances by the Seminole Warhawk Marching Band:
Prelims Performance (Mulitcam)
Finals Performance (High Cam)
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Aug 11, 2021 7:52:58 GMT -6
More California Dreamin
This post will showcase old videos from three California bands from the early/mid 1990s
The first is Etiwanda HS from Rancho Cucamonga, CA (you tell Chuck liked saying Rancho Cucamonga in the announcements). When Grand Nationals was held in the summer in the 1970s in Whitewater WI, two California bands (Live Oak and Independence) had enormous success. After the Grand Nationals moved to the fall in 1980, those Whitewater nationals in June continued as the Summer Nationals. There were several California bands that attended those and did quite well. I suspect because California still had active summer competitive circuits and the long distance trip in the summer meant less school missed was a big reason that the California bands chose to attend the Summer Nationals. As far as I know, Clovis HS was the only band to attend the fall Grand Nationals in the 1980s. They did so in 1984. Of course the Summer Nationals ended after the 1989 season. In 1992, Etiwanda HS made the trip to Indy to attend their first Grand National Championships. It was the first time a California band made the trip since 1984. They had a solid show and made finals. In Finals, they finished 11th and took the highest achievement award for Best Coordinated Auxiliary (that award was given out through 1994). As it turned out, Etiwanda was still very much a band on the rise at the time. By the end of the 1990s, they would be the most successful California band in BOA of the decade.
Here is their 1992 Grand National Finals Performance:
In 1993, BOA Regionals returned to the western US. At the 93 California regional, Etiwanda made finals and finished 7th. This I am sure was a bit of a disappointment. A likely much more improved Etiwanda then won that California regional in 1994 and then won it again in 1995. In 1995, Etiwanda returned to Grand Nationals. They easily made finals and placed 10th in finals. Their performance featured a couple things that gained in popularity in the mid 1990. The first was placing the pit onto the field (in Etiwanda's case it was moved to the back of the field). The other was that band member were allowed to march over the front sideline between the 35 yard lines. Several bands did this at the 95 Grand Nationals. I remember thinking that during my time in the program that would have racked up a ton of penalties. Etiwanda's 1995 Grand Nationals performance is not on line. What is on line is a performance from the Tournament of Champions (I am guessing it was held in southern California). Here is that performance (I will showcase Etiwanda's late 90s show in another post).
Following 1988, a BOA regional was not held in the western US until it returned to California in 1993. The winner of that regional was Fred C Beyer HS from Modesto, CA (their first and only BOA regional title). My understanding is that this band was among the best in the state from the mid 1980s through the 1990s. I could not find a video of 93 Beyer. I did however find the video of Beyer at the 1994 BOA Western Regional held in California. While they did not win that regional, they did come in 2nd place behind Etiwanda. Here is that performance.
The next band I am going to showcase is James Logan HS from Union City, CA. There will be a few more posts down the road from this band. James Logan has been a highly successful band in California for a long time. Some of their biggest success occurred from the late 90s through the early 2010s. Logan did attend the 93 BOA Western regional and finished in 8th place in finals. They would not participate in other BOA events through the rest of the decade. From what I can tell, James Logan was a very popular band in the state, often giving very crowd pleasing shows. You of course can't talk about James Logan without mentioning their guard. Even though they did not compete in many BOA events, there is no doubt that Logan's guard is historically among the best high school color guards in the country. Here is a performance by the band from 1995. They did West Side Story, which was a very common show theme from the late 1980s throughout the 1990s, first made popular by The (Garfield) Cadets in 1984.
Speaking of guard, here is a video of the James Logan HS winter guard from 1995. Just a few years later (1998) this winter guard would begin their streak of 10 consecutive (11 overall) WGI Scholastic World Titles, more than any other high school winter guard.
|
|
|
Post by hostrauser on Aug 11, 2021 9:41:41 GMT -6
Etiwanda was under the direction of Don Jaramillo during their legendary run. He retired about a decade ago, but they're still a very good band. The old Tournament of Champions competition was held in Santa Ana the first Saturday in... DECEMBER!! To this day there are only one or two competitions in the state in September, and most bands don't have their first competition until the second Saturday in October. All of the circuit championships are (usually) the Saturday before Thanksgiving, or the week AFTER Grand Nationals. Ah, that Southern California weather.
Fred C. Beyer was one of the juggernauts of northern California during the late 80s and early 90s. Another name you'll probably recognize: Dr. Gary Gilroy. He was their director during that fantastic run. The Modesto area as a whole has fallen off over the past 20 years; all of the bands in that area are very small, now.
In 1997(ish), James Logan (already a pretty good band) got a new band director in Ramiro Barrera. He came from Clovis West H.S. in Fresno, which was also a juggernaut band of the 80s and 90s. Along with Ramiro Barrera came about 90% of the instructional staff of the Blue Devils, and James Logan was basically Blue Devils H.S. for about 20 years. They were unstoppable in WGI and mostly unstoppable in marching band competitions throughout the 90s and 00s. Barrera has since retired, but James Logan remains one of the biggest and best bands in the state of California. They usually duel it out with Ayala for the WBA Championship every November, but before Ayala rose up Logan won the unofficial state championship in 11 of 12 years from 1999-2010. The WBA is the only marching band circuit (of about six) that covers both northern and southern California.
Unofficial California State Champions 1989 Clovis West 1990 Clovis West 1991 Clovis West 1992 Clovis West 1993 Clovis West 1994 Fred C. Beyer 1995 Clovis West 1996 Clovis West 1997 James Logan 1998 Mission Viejo 1999 James Logan 2000 James Logan 2001 James Logan 2002 James Logan 2003 Mission Viejo 2004 James Logan 2005 James Logan 2006 James Logan 2007 James Logan 2008 James Logan 2009 James Logan 2010 James Logan 2011 Ruben S. Ayala 2012 Ruben S. Ayala 2013 Upland 2014 James Logan 2015 Ruben S. Ayala 2016 James Logan 2017 James Logan 2018 canceled (smoke from fires) 2019 Chino Hills 2020 canceled (COVID-19)
One last note: in 2004 after traveling to Grand Nationals and making a shock Finals appearance, Ayala went to the WBA Championships the next week and placed 5th in both Prelims and Finals.
2004 WBA Finals 97.24 James Logan 95.68 Mission Viejo 95.05 Upland 94.21 Clovis West 93.20 Ayala
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Aug 11, 2021 10:01:16 GMT -6
Etiwanda was under the direction of Don Jaramillo during their legendary run. He retired about a decade ago, but they're still a very good band. The old Tournament of Champions competition was held in Santa Ana the first Saturday in... DECEMBER!! To this day there are only one or two competitions in the state in September, and most bands don't have their first competition until the second Saturday in October. All of the circuit championships are (usually) the Saturday before Thanksgiving, or the week AFTER Grand Nationals. Ah, that Southern California weather. Fred C. Beyer was one of the juggernauts of northern California during the late 80s and early 90s. Another name you'll probably recognize: Dr. Gary Gilroy. He was their director during that fantastic run. The Modesto area as a whole has fallen off over the past 20 years; all of the bands in that area are very small, now. In 1997(ish), James Logan (already a pretty good band) got a new band director in Ramiro Barrera. He came from Clovis West H.S. in Fresno, which was also a juggernaut band of the 80s and 90s. Along with Ramiro Barrera came about 90% of the instructional staff of the Blue Devils, and James Logan was basically Blue Devils H.S. for about 20 years. They were unstoppable in WGI and mostly unstoppable in marching band competitions throughout the 90s and 00s. Barrera has since retired, but James Logan remains one of the biggest and best bands in the state of California. They usually duel it out with Ayala for the WBA Championship every November, but before Ayala rose up Logan won the unofficial state championship in 11 of 12 years from 1999-2010. The WBA is the only marching band circuit (of about six) that covers both northern and southern California. Unofficial California State Champions 1989 Clovis West 1990 Clovis West 1991 Clovis West 1992 Clovis West 1993 Clovis West 1994 Fred C. Beyer 1995 Clovis West 1996 Clovis West 1997 James Logan 1998 Mission Viejo 1999 James Logan 2000 James Logan 2001 James Logan 2002 James Logan 2003 Mission Viejo 2004 James Logan 2005 James Logan 2006 James Logan 2007 James Logan 2008 James Logan 2009 James Logan 2010 James Logan 2011 Ruben S. Ayala 2012 Ruben S. Ayala 2013 Upland 2014 James Logan 2015 Ruben S. Ayala 2016 James Logan 2017 James Logan 2018 canceled (smoke from fires) 2019 Chino Hills 2020 canceled (COVID-19) One last note: in 2004 after traveling to Grand Nationals and making a shock Finals appearance, Ayala went to the WBA Championships the next week and placed 5th in both Prelims and Finals. 2004 WBA Finals 97.24 James Logan 95.68 Mission Viejo 95.05 Upland 94.21 Clovis West 93.20 Ayala This is great information. Thank you for posting. You are our California Bands History Buff.
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Aug 13, 2021 11:48:33 GMT -6
Leander RisingThis one's for you LeanderMomma This will be a two part post. The first video sequence will showcase Leander performances from 1990, 1991 and 1992. Note how by 1992, the level of sophistication in the music and show design really increased. This was also the year that Leander made their BOA debut. They attended the BOA Denton TX regional that year. Not only did they make finals, they finished 4th and won the Class AA Title (they would not be in Class AA for long as their school district would undergo a population boom). 1990 1991 1992 This next part will focus on Leander's concert band. In the Just Missed thread, it was pointed out that during Leander's first trip to Grand Nationals in 1999, someone had heard Greg Bimm pay a compliment to Leander's band program, specifically their symphonic band. I have seen/heard some of Marian Catholic's concert bands over the years. To say that is a compliment would be an understatement. So I did some digging. It turns out that Leander participated in the 1992 BOA Concert Band Festival which was held at Northwestern University in Illinois. Greg Bimm was most likely a clinician at that event, which is likely where he would have encountered Leander's Symphonic Band. The video of their performance happens to be on line. Yes, indeed, they were impressive. Aside from the incredible Clarinet soloist in the third song, I want to address the second song they played. It was Bernstein's Profanation. I imagine that to be a difficult song for a high school concert/symphonic band to perform. Leander did an amazing job with that song. What I find interesting is that in 1993 Marian Catholic's marching band based their show on the works of Bernstein and they included Profanation. That 93 show in my opinion should have scored/placed higher and was a show that I consider to be highly underrated. Many were amazed that Marian put Profanation onto the field (most high school bands would struggle with that in concert band let along trying to play that in marching band). Is it possible that Leander's performance of that song at the 1992 Concert Band Festival inspired Mr. Bimm to put it in Marian's 1993 marching show? I don't know the answer to that question. It would be interesting to point out if in fact that was the case. So here is the video of Leander at the 1992 BOA Concert Band Festival.
|
|
|
Post by LeanderMomma on Aug 13, 2021 13:39:24 GMT -6
Fascinating stuff! Thank you so much for your research Buff!!!
|
|
|
Post by LeanderMomma on Aug 13, 2021 13:40:54 GMT -6
Fascinating stuff! Thank you so much for your research Buff!!! Have I mentioned yet how badly I wish I could get a ticket to the Midwest Clinic this year? Leander’s top winds will be there. 😩
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Aug 14, 2021 11:25:09 GMT -6
The Spring Legacy - So Much More Than 1993
This post will focus on the Spring HS Marching Band From Spring, TX during the early 1990s. Late 90s will appear in a later post.
During the 1980s, despite being the newer school in the Spring ISD, it was Westfield that became the UIL and BOA power during the latter half of the decade. From what I have read, despite the Spring ISD having a very strong music education program (I believe one of the best in Texas in the 80s and 90s) the Spring Marching Band was not nearly as successful as their counterpart and many other marching programs in the state. One of the things I read is that the Spring marching band in the 1980s lacked a bit of discipline, with the band being notorious for having students skip practice. I believe it was in 1989 that Bill Watson moved from being assistant director at Westfield to head marching band director at Spring. He assembled a staff of talented instructors/designers (including legendary drill writer Steve Brubaker) and instilled a more disciplined approach to the band. The result was a complete transformation of the marching band over the next few seasons, allowing many to say that Spring was finally living up to their potential. Spring attended the 1989 BOA Southwest (Houston) Regional and finished 6th in finals. In 1990, at the BOA Southwest (Houston) Regional, they jumped up to 4th place in finals. Then came the 1991 season. This time at the BOA Southwest (Fort Worth) Regional, they finished 3rd behind Duncanville and Westfield, considered the two best bands in Texas at the time. They also made their first trip to Indy and the Grand National Championships. They performed music from a Russian Ballet. They easily made GN Finals and finished 8th in finals, with a score just over 90 points. I have been unable to find an online video of this performance. I will say that they had a well balanced and strong music performance and relatively difficult and visually pleasing drill design. At the 1991 Grand Nationals both Spring and Duncanville made finals in their first GN appearance. Both bands were new to those of us outside of Texas (remember no internet back then). I think Duncanville may have taken the spotlight because of their massive size and powerful music performance. Although Spring was not quite at the level of the top placing bands in 1991, they proved to still be very much on the rise. I had no idea just how strong this band would be at their next appearance at Grand Nationals just two years later.
In 1992, Spring came in second place to Westfield at the BOA Houston Regional. Later that season, at the Texas UIL State Championships, Spring edged out Westfield for their first UIL State Title. It was not until many years later that I saw this performance. Thankfully it made it online. They played New World Symphony and man did they play it well. I must also say that the Steve Brubaker drill design was fantastic. Of all of his designs for high school bands back then, this may have been the closest that came to the difficulty of his drill designs for the Cavaliers. This is my favorite drill design of any high school marching band I have seen from the 1990s. There looked to be a couple guard members out, which given their relatively small guard was pretty noticeable. That was the only big flaw that I saw in this brilliantly designed show. Had this show been taken to Grand Nationals this year, it would have been a contender for the Grand National title. Here is the 1992 Spring Marching Band at the Texas UIL State Championships.
Then of course came the 1993 season and the season that those of us in the BOA World really look at as a pivotal moment in BOA. This year at the BOA Houston Regional, despite losing to Westfield in Prelims, Spring came back strong in finals and won, this being their first BOA regional title. The following week they made their second trip up to Indy for the Grand National Championships. I got to finals a bit late (made a trip from a half time performance in Mt Pleasant Mi in the afternoon down to Indy by evening). I found out that Spring had won the Class AAA Title in prelims (no semi finals yet). I had heard that Spring was really strong. When they began performing I was like "Oh My God This Is Amazing". Now for those of you who have grown up with the activity in more recent years, you may look at this performance and think, "Well Yes they are really good, but what is the big deal?". You have to keep in mind that back in 1993 high school marching bands (even the top bands in the country) did not play like that. Spring's performance was just way above what any of us had seen from a high school marching band at the time. The music was just astounding. It was very well balanced and each section from the brass to the woodwinds to the percussion was amazing. It was fast and powerful at times and soft and subtle at times. In my opinion, they had one of the best flute soloists ever to perform at Grand Nationals. What also made this performance even more impressive is that the band had some of the most difficult visual moves of any high school band at the time. They playing amazingly well while doing fast paced drill maneuvers full of blind passes and complex transitions. Although their drill designer Steve Brubaker had sadly passed away in January of 1993, their current drill designer was obviously one of his protégés as there were a lot of Brubaker-esqe elements. The color guard, although relatively small, was also very clean. I think most of us watching this performance had our jaws on the ground. In fact, for many years afterword it was considered the best or one of the best high school marching band performances ever. They ended up becoming the first band to score over 96 points and the first band from Texas to be crowned Grand National Champion. They also won the award for music performance and overall general effect. They were second in visual performance and visual effect, I think they just needed to be just a touch cleaner to take the visual performance award. They obviously got points for the level of visual difficulty. I actually think that given their music performance/effect in terms of how bands performed during that era, their music scores should have been higher across the board (just my opinion). I personally think this show should have broke 97 points, again looking at it in the context of the scores/performances being done during that time period.
Thankfully, the post written by Alan Irons on the Texas Forums is still online. He wrote a very lengthy piece in 2003 on Spring's 1993 Grand National Championship performance (and the 93 Grand Nationals in general). Here is the Spring portion in its entirety.
"The Greatest High School Marching Band of All-time
Bands of America 1993: A Ten Year Retrospect
By Alan R. Irons
It was ten years ago that a band from Spring, Texas won the 1993 Bands of America Grand National Championships. From then on this band has become somewhat of a legend in the high school marching band community. The 1993 Spring High School band is considered by many as "the best high school marching band of all time."
You may have seen pictures of Spring '93. In 1993, Bands of America used a picture of a mellophone player from the band for the cover of their BOA Grand National Championships video, and in 1995 (BOA's 20th Anniversary) BOA used a picture of three trumpet players from the band for their BOA Regional Championships program book and for their cover of the BOA Regional Championships videos. The pictures from both years show perfect posture in regards to straightness (head-to-toe), with perfect horn angles, perfect elbow angles, and PRESENCE. The 1995 picture shows three trumpet players that look exactly the same, as if one had copied a picture of one of the trumpet players and placed it next to the picture. The photographs of the band make them look like perfect robots. You could say they were a model for all bands that aim high. Indeed, Spring High School looked great on paper, but how did they look in the flesh? I admit this is my setback, that I did not see them live in 1993. Nevertheless, videotape is the next best thing. I have watched the Spring '93 show over and over again, and have yet to see a better performance live or recorded. Everything they did was fantastic. No, it was not just perfection that helped them win...it was so much more. This group changed the image of high school band, and gained respect from those both inside and outside of the marching band community. But do not take my word for it! If you research the vast archives of rec.arts.marching.band.high-school (usenet), the Bands of America forums, and other related high school marching band discussion groups, you will find others who agree with my claims. Sure, there are some who think Lassiter '98 or Plymouth-Canton '99 are the all time best...but Spring was first, and the units of the future had to reckon with that standard.
Spring High School
Spring, TX
Repertoire: Music of Paul Hindemith: Symphony in B flat, and 3rd and 4th movements from Symphonic Metamorphosis
Comments: Before the band is announced, you can hear the sound check, "Test! Test!" This sound check will forever be etched in time, because it reflects the perfect, and because it reflects the future. The garb of the marching members were black and grey: white plumes, black shakos with a standard silver sunburst, grey tops with silver buttons on the front and shoulder wings, a black sparkling sash, black gauntlets, black pants, and black shoes. (Their look was incredibly minimalist, yet incredible effective.) I have not seen a band seem to own the field like this one. This band seems to explode with the first few measures of music they perform. The confidence of this group is astounding. The first part of their show is a feast for the eyes and the ears. Their drill is extremely, extremely difficult. When the first part of their show ends, you know they will win, but this great show goes on and on. Note that the camera closeup of one color guard members reveals the ultimate in discipline: she is motionless, except for her eyes that watch the drum major. The flute soloist that begins the second movement (and plays a fine role in the rest of the show) is famous. (People write about her today!) The dangerous blind passthroughs are utilized to the max. The second movement is like a whirlwind that gets stronger and stronger. The band gets into a triangle formation that morphs into what looks like a three-sided chinese-star formation. The audience seems to love this show with a passion. The third movement, has a clarinet solo, a concert baritone solo, a concert french horn solo, and another clarinet solo. The moment when the flute soloist starts playing and there is applause is stunning. It was as if this show was meant to win. The final movement has a trombone section that knows no limits. I love how the camera close-up focuses on the upper body of the saxophones, and when they move one sax girl diagonally behind another sax girl uses her eyes only to keep the spacing between them even. Plus, it is neat to watch their upper bodies barely move as their lower bodies move. (The camera, focusing on the upper bodies, really shows how this works.) The end of the show is monstrously powerful musically, and though the last two drill moves are not much to brag about, the last two drill moves do seem to be flawless.
Score: 96.55 (1st Place)"
Now here are both the hi cam and mult cam videos of the 1993 Spring Marching band in their Grand National Championship performance.
The final year of Spring I will highlight is 1994. Of course we all wanted Spring to come to Grand Nationals again. To my dismay, they did not return to GN the rest of the decade. In 1994, I am sure it was hard to top the show they had done in 1993. The certainly gave it a good shot and were very successful. At the 1994 BOA Southwest Regional (the first BOA regional held in the new Alamodome by the way) Spring not only won, every single judge had them in first place (despite a strong showing by rival Westfield). Spring also won their second UIL state title that season. Thankfully this video has made it online. They did "Firebird Suite" and yes had they attended Grand Nationals they would have been top contenders for the Grand National Title. Here is their 1994 UIL performance.
|
|
|
Post by hostrauser on Aug 14, 2021 22:46:11 GMT -6
Spring 1993 remains on the short list of "Best of the Best" Grand Nationals champions. I remember watching video of that show for the first time in disbelief. A lot of school bands would consider it ambitious to tackle Paul Hindemith in the concert hall, and they put him on the field. And man did they MOVE. They had such a robust, difficult drill to accompany robust, difficult music.
You mention Brubaker and the Cavaliers connections Spring had in the early 1990s... in 1994, The Cavaliers would use the March from Symphonic Metamorphosis as their finale, and in 1995 The Cavaliers used that rotating double helix drill move to great effect in DCI. But both had been done by Spring (a high school band!) in 1993. Just amazing.
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Aug 18, 2021 7:45:08 GMT -6
The End of an Era - Ben Davis's Last State Title
Any top five marching band lists of Indiana bands during the 1970s and 1980s would include the Ben Davis HS 'Marching Giants' from Indianapolis. Although their participation in MBA/BOA was brief during their glory years (4 GN Finals appearances between 1981 and 1984), they were an Indiana state power throughout the 70s and 80s. Between1976 and 1989 they won 8 Indiana Class A State Titles (five of which were consecutive). They actually held the record for most Class A state titles by 1988. Now Ben Davis was still a very strong band in the 1990s, especially the first half of the decade. They would continue to place near the top at the state championships. However, they only managed one additional state title in the 1990s. That came in 1993. This would be their ninth and last Indiana Class A State Titles. Here is the video (a bit grainy but it will have to suffice).
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Aug 27, 2021 3:39:33 GMT -6
Same Theme - Two Very Different Shows
As I have stated many times before, back in the early years of theme based shows, among some of the popular themed shows were Broadway Musicals and Movie Soundtracks. During the course of the 1990s, those were still pretty popular types of themed shows. The means by which to tell the story were becoming much more elaborate. For example, costuming of the guard, the use of props and electronics had all become commonplace by the mid 1990s to help tell the story of the music being played. What this opened the door to was much more creativity. Watching marching band shows had now become as much a visual spectacle as a musical one. Now because there was a limit on the number of musicals and movie soundtracks, it was common for bands to have the same show or similar show theme. Just because they had the same show however, does not mean everything was exactly the same. Of course, the drill designs and musical selections/arrangements were different. The means by which the bands told the story was also quite different. So even though bands had the same show theme did not mean the shows were exact. In fact, in many instances they were quite different. An example that I am going to showcase in this post is two bands who did a show based on the 1993 movie Gettysburg. This became a popular show theme in the mid 1990s. In fact, civil war based themes had already been common for many years (in fact way back in 1980 in DCI the Bridgeman had a song selection (not the whole show) with a Civil War theme). In this post I am going to showcase two bands who did a Civil War themed show based on the movie Gettysburg (one band was a northerner and the other a southerner).
The first video is from West Genesee HS from Camillus, NY and is from the 1995 New York State Championships (they won). West Genesee had come off their first and only BOA regional title the previous year in 1994 (in fact the only regional title for a New York band). After this performance at the state championships, they went to Grand Nationals (first appearance at GN since 1991). They finished 8th in finals. This show was a big hit at Grand Nationals. That was their sixth trip to Grand Nationals and their sixth appearance in Grand National finals. 1995 would mark their last trip to Grand Nationals. That was disappointing to me because during the 80s and 90 this was one of my favorite bands. Here is the 1995 West Genesee Marching Band. Of note, 1995 saw a lot of bands experimenting with placing the pit on the field and using large props as performance platforms. West Genesee embraced these two relatively new techniques at the time in this show.
The second video is of Alan C Pope HS from Marietta, Ga. This is their performance (prelims I think) at the BOA Southeast (Atlanta) Regional. They finished 3rd in Finals. At the time, Pope was still a relative newcomer to BOA competition. Their first BOA competition was in 1992 at the BOA Southeast (Johnson City, TN) Regional. They won the regional title in their first BOA competition and broke a Georgia drought for regional wins as it marked the first time since 1980 that a Georgia band won a BOA regional. It would be Pope's first and only regional title. I am not sure why but they did not attend the 1993 BOA Southeast (Atlanta) Regional. So this 1994 video marks only their second trip to a BOA competition. In their take on Gettysburg, they relied a lot on costuming and character acting to convey the story.
|
|