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Post by marimba11 on Aug 27, 2021 17:14:40 GMT -6
boahistorybuff thank you so much for this thread. It is wonderful to know where the activity has been and the accomplishments of some great bands. I bet there is a lot of history for Dobyns Bennett and byrnes!
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Post by boahistorybuff on Aug 28, 2021 4:04:21 GMT -6
boahistorybuff thank you so much for this thread. It is wonderful to know where the activity has been and the accomplishments of some great bands. I bet there is a lot of history for Dobyns Bennett and byrnes! You are very welcome. I am planning on showcasing some of James F Byrnes late 90s shows. Although Irmo and Fort Mill came very close to becoming South Carolina's first band to win a BOA regional, it was 1999 James F Byrnes that was the first to reach that achievement. As far as Dobyns-Bennett, yes they have been around a very long time. Dobyns-Bennett has had a corps style competitive marching band going all the way back into the 1970s. In fact, the region of east Tennessee, western North Carolina and western Virginia (I guess you would consider that the Smoky Mountain region) had many strong marching bands back in the 70s and 80s. Sylva-Webster (NC), now Smoky Mountain HS, won the 1979 Grand National Title. Also in the early 1980s, John S Battle (VA) and Tuscola (NC) appeared in Grand National finals. Grand Nationals was actually held in Johnson City, TN in 81,82 and 83. So let us take a look at some vintage Dobyns-Bennett. I could not find any videos of them from the 1970s, but here are a few from the 1980s, enjoy!
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Post by boahistorybuff on Aug 29, 2021 4:17:36 GMT -6
One of BOA's Most Evocative Shows - 1994 Westerville South
I already have a few posts of Westerville South on this thread. Their 1994 show, however, deserves a stand alone post. Westerville South, from Westerville, OH, was one of the most successful bands in BOA competition during the 1980s and 1990s. During those two decades, they made BOA regional finals somewhere between 40 and 50 times (yes they usually attended multiple BOA regionals per season even though there were few regionals back then). They outright won two BOA regional titles (1991 and 1994) and they were a 10 time BOA Grand National Finalist. Their highest finish at Grand Nationals was fourth, where they placed three years in a row; 92, 93 and 94. Their BOA accolades certainly put them among BOA's finest. In my opinion, their 1994 show alone should be enough to garner this band tons of respect.
In 1994, Westerville South did a very difficult, bold and brave move by performing Symphony Number 1 (In Memoriam Dresden, 1945) by Daniel Bukvich. The symphony depicts before, during and after the allied bombing of Dresden, Germany in 1945. This was near the end of World War II and it was described as one of the most devastating attacks on Germany. The city was not just destroyed, it was incinerated and an estimated 20,000 civilians perished, many of whom were burned to death. So it is one thing to have a symphony written that tells the story of this horrific event, it is another for a high school marching band to put this music onto the field. Not only did Westerville South perform the music, they told the story. I think it may have been the first time that a high school marching band tackled such a tragic event in such a direct manor. For 1994, this was a very innovative show and very 'outside of the box'. I should also mention that this music was likely very difficult to perform in a marching band setting. This was one of the most talked about shows of the 1994 season. After Westerville South won the highly competitive BOA Eastern (Morgantown, WV) regional, they were considered a strong contender for the 1994 Grand National title. Upon conclusion of the 1994 Grand National Prelims/Class Championships, Westerville South was crowned Class AAA Champion. This led many to speculate that they had won prelims (they were actually 3rd in prelims behind Marian and Kiski, two Class AA bands). In finals, when Westerville South performed this show to a packed RCA Dome (I think this was the year the name changed from Hoosier to RCA Dome), they absolutely captivated the audience. During the end of this show, you could have heard a pin drop in the stands. Some people even said the show gave them chills. During the finals award ceremony, Westerville South was announced in 4th place. There was actually a lot of booing of the judges (something that has been rare in GN Finals) and not just by the Westerville South crowd. Now I will say that I think this show should have scored much higher. I have always been really surprised by the music effect score. I mean this band's performance really resonated with the audience. I always thought the judges overlooked that aspect. That said, Marian and Kiski were extremely strong and in my opinion were deserving of being in the top two. I do however think that Westerville South made the biggest impact on the audience of all the finalist bands this year. In fact, I consider this one of BOA's most ground breaking shows. It also seemed to open the door for other bands to tackle very serious and often tragic subject matters, something we saw much more of during the 2000s.
So here is the GN Finals performance of 1994 Westerville South. Of course the video does not quite simulate the experience of watching this show live in the stands. Trust me, given the context of types of shows being done during that era, watching this show in the audience was a very memorable experience.
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Post by MadScientist on Aug 30, 2021 12:54:49 GMT -6
One of BOA's Most Evocative Shows - 1994 Westerville SouthIn 1994, Westerville South did a very difficult, bold and brave move by performing Symphony Number 1 (In Memoriam Dresden, 1945) by Daniel Bukvich. The symphony depicts before, during and after the allied bombing of Dresden, Germany in 1945. This was near the end of World War II and it was described as one of the most devastating attacks on Germany. We played this piece in our concert band in high school one year. During our performance, right after the final flute note (which ends the piece), a baby in the audience started crying. Not a dry eye in the room.
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Post by elsie on Sept 7, 2021 0:14:16 GMT -6
Wistful
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Post by Uncle Baby Billy on Sept 7, 2021 13:30:41 GMT -6
Point of note: 1992 was the first year of then-named BOA National Concert Band Festival. Carmel, Marian Catholic, Leander & a few other concert powers of the day like United Township HS-IL , Lake Braddock-VA (?), Grissom-AL (?) were invited to Northwestern University to perform in that event. An all-star studded cast of evaluators were on hand, including Frederick Fennell & William Revelli. The following year, Lassiter made their debut. I believe 1994 featured the debut of Westfield & 1995 Etiwanda. Several well-known marching bands today made their mark in the concert arena back in the 90s, before making the jump to greater marching success later (Wando, Harrison, etc.) 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.
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Post by boahistorybuff on Sept 8, 2021 10:26:10 GMT -6
Rule Number 1 - Never Count Marian Out
As the 1994 BOA Grand National Finals got underway, there were two bands who many thought would be vying for the Grand National Title; Westerville South and Kiski Area. These bands both won their respective Class Titles from Prelims. Based on the Class AA highest achievement awards from Prelims, we did however figure that Marian Catholic was very close to Kiski. In fact, Marian scored only two tenths (included in that was a one tenth penalty) behind Kiski and was actually comfortably ahead of Westerville South. Nonetheless, Marian had not won the Grand National title since 1989 and there was a lot of buzz about both Kiski and Westerville South's shows. By the early 1990s, Marian Catholic's shows had become extremely difficult, even more so than their late 1980s glory years. This and the way that the Marian band paced themselves throughout the season led to them improving exponentially during the course of the season. By 1994 they had already become known for having the ability to clean up/improve more in the two weeks leading into Grand Nationals than any other band (with Plymouth-Canton perhaps a close second). During the early 1990s, Marian participated in the very early BOA Midwest Regionals. While they easily made finals, with this regional being so early in the season, they fell far short of even coming close to winning the regional titles. In 1994, Marian attended the BOA Mideast (Toledo) Regional as apposed to the BOA Midwest Regional. While the Mideast Regional was later in the season, it was only later by a week as it was held on October 1st. Marian Catholic finished 3rd in finals at this regional behind West Genesee (who also won the Class AA Title) and Lake Park. Side Trivia Note: Since the beginning of the fall Grand Nationals in 1980, every Grand National Champion has placed either 1st or 2nd in at least one of the BOA regionals they competed in during the season of their win; the exception being 1994 Marian Catholic.
So as Marian began to perform in Grand National Finals, I of course was expecting them to do really well. They exceeded my expectations as they were quite clean and delivered a very solid performance. They performed Symphonic Music of South America. Like the previous two years, this show was a musical showcase of various composers. In typical Marian fashion, the show was packed full of tons of musical difficulty done while the band was doing a lot of complex drill maneuvers. Despite not having the highest Music Effect and Visual Effect Score, they had the highest combined overall General Effect Score in Finals. They ended up winning the Grand National Title by scoring 0.15 points higher than Kiski Area. Kiski actually had a 0.1 point penalty, so Marian's raw score was just 0.05 points ahead of Kiski. This marked their 5th BOA Grand National Title. Of Marian's seven Grand National Titles, they won this one by the slimmest margin. In fact, there were many who thought Kiski should have won and many who thought Westerville South (who ended up in 4th) should have won. I think it may be a little ironic as in both 1991 and 1992 there were many who felt that Marian should have won the Grand National Title (they were 2nd both years). I guess that is just how competition goes sometimes. For the rest of the decade, we would all say, never discount what Marian can pull off in GN Finals.
The video on line is of the multi cam angle of their 1994 Grand National Finals performance. The video quality is actually quite good compared to a lot of early 1990s era videos.
There are a few things I will point out first. Back in the 80s and early 90s it was a tradition that when the announcer asked if they were ready to take the field, the drum majors would give a command and the band would shout ONE... TWO while lifting one leg up and down. In this multi cam video, the camera cuts to close up when they made their signature letter M in the drill. Take note of all the various marching techniques that the band was doing in this show. Marian was known almost as much for their visual difficulty as for their musical prowess. The music in this show was of course so nuanced and in my opinion very controlled and sophisticated. While it might be hard to showcase in a video, the one thing Marian had was what I consider to be 'command of the field'. Every year, going well back into the 1980s, when Marian began their shows, there was a more pronounced hush that came across the audience; more so than what was experienced with most other power hourse bands. Part of this I am sure was their reputation. The biggest factor I think was simply that you had to listen closely this band to pick up on all of the things going on musically. My final point about what is shown in the video is the drum major. Now I am sure that with all of the varying time signatures and frequent tempo fluctuations, being the drum major for Marian was/is no easy feat. This drum major does it from a small podium on top of the larger podium. Personally, I would be afraid that I would get myself a little off balance and take a hard tumble right in the middle of the show. Maybe that is just me, but yikes.
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Post by boahistorybuff on Sept 9, 2021 17:09:36 GMT -6
Some Successful Early 90s Class A Bands
I have showcased 1990 Adair County KY and 1993 Jackson Academy MS in earlier posts. Here are a few other small school bands that had much success in the early 1990s.
First will be 1990 Western HS from Russiaville, IN. They won the 1990 BOA Grand National Class A Title, their 4th title at the time. 1990 was the last year that Grand National Finals consisted of a minimum of the top two from each class. Western had the second highest score of a Class A band in prelims; second to Adair County. In finals, they ended up in 13th place and edged out Adair for the Class A Title. This was also their 7th GN Finals Appearance (and last appearance as a competitor in Grand National Finals). They had to wait 22 years before picking up their 5th Grand National Class A Title. The video is from the Indiana State Championships. Western won the Class C State Title.
In 1991, Western (the Marching Panthers) again won the Indiana Class C State Title. They went to Grand Nationals and were heavily favored to win the Class A Title. They were upset by Academy, PA and had to settle for second in Class A; whichs was actually a bit of a controversial loss. This was the first year that Grand National Finals consisted of only the top 12 from prelims regardless of class, so we did not get to see them in finals this year. 1991 would mark Western's last appearance in BOA until around 2008/2009 I believe. The video is the performance from the Indiana state championships.
So the Academy HS marching band was from Erie, PA. They had been a consistent BOA participant through the latter half of the 1980s. In 1990, they were runner-up to the Class A Title at BOA Morgantown and managed to edge into finals, finishing in 10th place. At Grand Nationals in 1990, perhaps they had a rough performance, but they finished 37th. At the 1991 BOA Morgantown regional, they just missed making finals. They did however win the Class A Title. They surprised a lot of us at Grand Nationals. This was the first year of the class championships when the class titles were determined in prelims and not finals. Western was heavily favored to win the Class A Title. Western did win Music and Visual in Class A. The General Effect judges were however not as generous with Western and instead favored Academy. Academy's high GE scores pulled them ahead of Western and won them the 1991 Bands of America Grand National Class A Title. They were 21st place overall. Academy also became the first band to perform in exhibition in Finals as Class A Champion. 1991 also marked the last year of Academy HS. The next year Academy HS closed and the school and the entire band program moved over to Erie Central HS. In 1992, Erie Central made finals at the BOA Morgantown regional and won the Class A Title. However, they did not have as much success at the 1992 Grand Nationals and finished 8th in Class A. 1993 may have been Erie Central/Academy's most successful season. At the BOA Morgantown regional, they finished 5th and won the Class A title. They were second to the Class A title at the 1993 Grand Nationals. Jackson Academy's legendary performance prevented them from claiming that title. They did finish 17th overall. In 1994, more students were merged into Erie Central. This allowed the band to grow in size and jump into Class AAA in BOA competition. The rapid growth did however cause the band to drop considerably in placements in BOA competitions which they competed in for the next several years.
Here is the 1991 Grand National performance by Academy.
Here is the 1993 Grand National performance by Erie Central. Note: the video is the last in a series of videos highlighting the 93 season. The Grand National performance starts around minute 2:30
In 1992, we had another band that surprised us a bit by winning the Grand Nationals Class A Title. That band was Owen Valley HS from Spencer, Indiana. For those of us outside of Indiana, this band seemed to come out of nowhere. In fact, I think 1992 was the first year this band participated in BOA. While they did not make finals at the BOA Indy Regional, they did win the Class A title. Then at Grand Nationals, they won the Class A title, beating out up and coming Bellbrook OH and Class A stalwart Marlington OH. It was this bands high visual scores that propelled them to the Class A title. They finished 27th overall. I should also note that they were the 1992 Esprit de Corps winner. In 1992 Owen Valley moved from Class C to Class B in Indiana state competition (their size was certainly larger than most Class A bands at the time). Interesting to note that in 1993, Owen Valley dropped back down to Class C in Indiana State Competition (and were runner-up to the Class C State Title) while in BOA competition they jumped up into Class AA, ending their chances for another GN Class A title during this bands relatively brief time in the BOA spotlight. Here is the performance of Owen Valley at the 1992 Grand Nationals (video quality is not the best).
The final band I will showcase is the Marlington HS (Marching Dukes) from Alliance, OH. Marlington was a highly successful small school band in BOA competition throughout the 1980 and 1990s under long time director Terren Frenz. They were BOA regional finalists many times over, won several BOA regional Class A titles and always finished within the top group of Class A bands at Grand Nationals. During the 1980s and early 1990s, Marlington was notable as having a Scottish military attire. 1986 was perhaps their most successful year in BOA competition. They won two BOA Regional Class A Titles and made Grand National Finals (finishing in the top 12 in prelims). At the 1986 Grand Nationals Finals, they finished 11th and captured the Grand National Class A title. This would be their only Class A win. After finishing 3rd in Class A in 1992, they fell to a bit of a disappointing 6th in Class A in 1993. At the 1994 Grand Nationals, they won Music and GE in Class A but had to settle for 2nd in Class A as the visual performance scores gave rising Class A power Bellbrook OH their first Class A title. At the 1995 Grand Nationals, Marlington won the Class A music performance award and finished 3rd in Class A. I will showcase the 1994 and 1995 Grand National performances by Marlington. You will see that they really embraced the themed based shows that were really taking hold during the 1990s. In 1995 they even added a little costuming of the band for their Stonehenge show.
Marlington 1994
Marlington 1995
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Post by boahistorybuff on Sept 13, 2021 15:10:09 GMT -6
Not a Vintage Video - Just a Cool Performance
On Saturday, the 20th year since the 9/11 attacks, the University of Michigan Wolverines played the Washington Huskies at the U of M Stadium (aka The Big House) in Ann Arbor MI. The Wolverines won (Go Blue!). That is not the point of this video. The U of M marching band performed a 9/11 tribute show during halftime. Unfortunately, the half time show was not televised (they needed their commercials and commentary). Luckily MLive posted the video of the performance on line. From what I understand, they learned this show in a little over a week. I thought the it may be a cool video to post.
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Post by dbalash on Sept 13, 2021 16:10:18 GMT -6
Rule Number 1 - Never Count Marian OutThere are a few things I will point out first. Back in the 80s and early 90s it was a tradition that when the announcer asked if they were ready to take the field, the drum majors would give a command and the band would shout ONE... TWO while lifting one leg up and down. 2001 was the last year of that in finals.
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Post by boahistorybuff on Sept 16, 2021 7:25:11 GMT -6
What a Year for the Marching Knights
The Prospect HS 'Marching Knights' from Mount Prospect, IL has had a very long history of success. Although this has not been a band that has competed in BOA every year, they have done quite well in the BOA circuit. They are a five time Grand National Finalist; 1986, 1987, 1990, 1994 and 1995. Even though they last made finals in 1995, they came close to GN Finals on a few occasions in the late 1990s and early 2000s. They have also had much success at the regional level, especially over the past 25 years. They even won a BOA regional title in 2001. Prospect's most successful year at Grand Nationals came in 1994 when they finished 9th place in Finals. This would be the highest finish at Grand Nationals for this band. One of the things I always loved about Prospect was their drill design. During the late 1980s, their designer was legendary Steve Brubaker. I am not sure who took over their designs after Mr. Brubaker's passing in 1993. It is clear from the 1994 video that their designer was heavily influenced by Mr. Brubaker. Prospect's 1994 show was music of Aaron Copland. Of course, Copland has long been a favored Composer for many marching bands and drum corps. During the early years of the theme based shows, there were a lot of bands who built their show around the music of Aaron Copland. This is what Prospect did for their 1994 show.
A final note; the director of the Prospect marching band in the 1980s and 1990s was Dave Morrison. His son is Dan Morrison, who was the director for Ronald Reagan HS in TX during much of the 2010s.
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Post by LeanderMomma on Sept 16, 2021 8:25:23 GMT -6
Those Morrisons are one talented family!
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Post by Marching Observer on Sept 16, 2021 9:27:06 GMT -6
Not to mention Dan Morrison's sister is the famous actresses, Jennifer Morrison. Daniel Sanchez, Chris, Seth, and myself all got our picture taken with her when she came to Grand Nationals to watch her brothers band. That was a good evening. 🙂
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Post by OldSchoolTrumpet on Sept 16, 2021 10:40:52 GMT -6
Not to mention Dan Morrison's sister is the famous actresses, Jennifer Morrison. Daniel Sanchez, Chris, Seth, and myself all got our picture taken with her when she came to Grand Nationals to watch her brothers band. That was a good evening. 🙂
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Post by dbalash on Sept 16, 2021 19:50:47 GMT -6
What a Year for the Marching KnightsThey even won a BOA regional title in 2001. Early season, but they beat the absolute crap out of the eventual 3rd and 16th place bands at Nationals.
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Post by Uncle Baby Billy on Sept 16, 2021 19:59:40 GMT -6
Always a fast starter, but poor finisher. Fundamentally strong, but unimpressive + overtaken by better competition later. Same story every year for years. What a Year for the Marching KnightsThey even won a BOA regional title in 2001. Early season, but they beat the absolute crap out of the eventual 3rd and 16th place bands at Nationals.
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Post by boahistorybuff on Sept 17, 2021 8:48:56 GMT -6
1994 Grand Nationals - One Band Had the Music, Another Had the Visual
At the 1994 Grand Nationals, there were two bands that we thought "man if you put this bands music with this bands visuals, you have a contender for the GN title". These two bands both however had a weakness. The band with the music was weak with the visual and the band that had the visual was weak with the music.
The band that had the impressive music performance was Klein HS from Spring, TX. During the 80s and 90s the Klein ISD produced some very strong and successful marching bands and had a solid music program overall. The most successful of those bands was Klein. In the late 80s and early 90s they were usually right up there with Westfield and Duncanville in Texas competitions and were a consistent BOA Regional Finalist. They even upset Westfield for the BOA Southwest Regional Title in 1989. This was their first and only BOA regional title. In 1994, Klein made their first and only trip to Indy for the Grand Nationals. In Prelims, they won the music performance award in Class AAA. In fact, they had the highest overall music performance score of all bands (higher than both Marian and Kiski (Class AA Bands) who were in the top two). Despite their high music scores, Klein barely made Finals. They finished 12th overall of all competing bands. The reason for this is that their overall visual performance score was 30th place of all competing bands. In finals, they had the third overall highest music performance score. The visual judges in finals were much more generous to them than the Class AAA panel in prelims. This allowed them to jump into 7th place. Watching their performance at the time, it was certainly the music that made a big impression on me. Here is their 1994 GN Finals Performance, both hi cam and multi cam angles,
The other band (one that those in the activity in more recent years are very familiar with) is Homestead HS from Fort Wayne, IN. During the early 1990s, Homestead rocketed up to the top of the Indiana competitive circuit. In 1991, they were runner up to the Indiana Class B state title. In 1992 they jumped up to Class A and ended up winning the Class A state title. In 1993, they were runner up to the Class A state title. This was followed by a three-peat as they won the Class A state title in 1994, 1995 and 1996. I do know that Homestead did compete in some of the summer Whitewater, WI nationals in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They then took an extended break from MBA/BOA competition, returning in 1992. In 1992, they were a finalist at the BOA Midwest (Indy) regional. They were finalists at this regional again in both 1993 and 1994; both of those two years they won the regional Class AA title. They attended Grand Nationals in 1994, their first trip to Grand Nationals since those years when it was held in the summer in the later 1970s. What impressed me (and the judges) was how strong they were on the visual side of things. They easily made Grand National finals. In finals, they had the third highest visual performance score. The visual effect judge actually placed them first. They tied Prospect in score. Despite winning the visual effect caption, their relative low scores in music effect (both music effect judges had them in 12th) caused them to have a lower overall GE score than Prospect. So Homestead ended up finishing 10th in Finals. I actually thought they should have placed higher. Apparently, this experience made them feel that BOA was not really for them. After this 1994 GN Finals performance, Homestead would not participate in BOA for the next 20 years. This is despite the fact that they remained one of the best bands from the state of Indiana. Yes the BOA world was super excited when they returned to BOA (and Grand Nationals Finals) in 2014. Here is their 1994 GN Finals Performance (only multi cam is on line, but I think the high cam version from the state championships is still available).
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Post by Marching Observer on Sept 17, 2021 8:52:48 GMT -6
Having watched several of the 94 finalist shows, Homestead definitely got the short end of the stick on that one. Even putting my bias aside, that was a bad call. But hey, that's just my opinion and I'm glad they are back! I really wish we had dinner BOA while I was in it though.
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Post by boahistorybuff on Sept 17, 2021 8:58:41 GMT -6
Having watched several of the 94 finalist shows, Homestead definitely got the short end of the stick on that one. Even putting my bias aside, that was a bad call. But hey, that's just my opinion and I'm glad they are back! I really wish we had dinner BOA while I was in it though. Yes there was an overall feeling amongst the crowd that Homestead should have placed higher that year. They were actually fourth overall in Prelims. If the Finals music effect judges were as generous as the Prelims panel, Homestead would have indeed finished much higher. Who knows, maybe if that had happened, they would have stuck with BOA. Imagine how many GN finals appearances this band would have racked up if they attended Grand Nationals during that 20 year gap.
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Post by Marching Observer on Sept 17, 2021 9:06:43 GMT -6
My guess would be at least 15 but I know others would have other opinions on that lol.
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Post by hostrauser on Sept 17, 2021 9:53:24 GMT -6
Having watched several of the 94 finalist shows, Homestead definitely got the short end of the stick on that one. Even putting my bias aside, that was a bad call. But hey, that's just my opinion and I'm glad they are back! I really wish we had dinner BOA while I was in it though. I have no bias at all: Homestead got shafted. That was one of my favorite shows from 1994, and I thought they should have been 5th. (Pretty sure I still have the 1994 Grand Nationals VHS tapes in the basement!)
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Post by Marching Observer on Sept 17, 2021 10:14:55 GMT -6
It is a very interesting thought experiment to think of Homestead could have possibly won sometime in the 90's. I'd argue no... But they'd have certainly been in the hunt and close.
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Post by OldSchoolTrumpet on Sept 17, 2021 11:42:47 GMT -6
My guess would be at least 15 but I know others would have other opinions on that lol. In an alternative history exercise, one wonders how the program may have evolved differently had they continued with the BOA path after 1994, rather than abandoning it to concentrate solely on ISSMA until 2014. This was before my time but it seems to me that in those earlier days that perhaps show design varied a bit more between what worked for BOA vs what worked for ISSMA, and Homestead geared their program towards success in the latter. How might Homestead look today had they concentrated on BOA success from the beginning?
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Post by kvgdc on Sept 17, 2021 18:25:16 GMT -6
Brad Watkins was assisant at Homestead by then right? Considering the "you made finals in a strong position then got plonked to 12th" that happened to Northrop when he was marching, I'm wondering if that had a general feeling of "Let's just prioritize ISSMA?"
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Post by Marching Observer on Sept 17, 2021 18:43:56 GMT -6
Brad Watkins was assisant at Homestead by then right? Considering the "you made finals in a strong position then got plonked to 12th" that happened to Northrop when he was marching, I'm wondering if that had a general feeling of "Let's just prioritize ISSMA?" Brad Watkins first year was 1993.
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Post by starfire94 on Sept 18, 2021 22:15:49 GMT -6
So, as a former Homestead marcher from 94' I can confirm that there was some friction in dealing with adjudication differences between ISSMA and BOA. We had to completely change our ISSMA focused show to deal with BOA differences, and ultimately after the 94' GN finals the staff decided it wasn't worth it to try to accommodate both adjudication standards. Over time some of those standards seem to have converged enough to warrant participating in both at a high level.
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Post by kvgdc on Sept 19, 2021 12:24:59 GMT -6
So, as a former Homestead marcher from 94' I can confirm that there was some friction in dealing with adjudication differences between ISSMA and BOA. We had to completely change our ISSMA focused show to deal with BOA differences, and ultimately after the 94' GN finals the staff decided it wasn't worth it to try to accommodate both adjudication standards. Over time some of those standards seem to have converged enough to warrant participating in both at a high level. Yeah. This has been speculated as part of the tension around Northrop's big plonk in 1984 as well. Although it also seemed that different BOA panels would adjucate the sheets in different ways when such things appeared. I remember our 86 show we had to make major drill changes to the opener as Chops Czapinski had written us in an opening set that extended lines into the endzones and beyond the back and front lines. It sort of borked up the whole opening statement to do so and that further soured Northrop's participation in BOA for awhile.
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Post by boahistorybuff on Sept 22, 2021 12:19:34 GMT -6
A Little More Jazz
This post will cover a few more vintage shows from the Centerville Jazz Band.
I would not be surprised in 1993 if Centerville set out to prove that their upset GN Win in 1992 was no fluke. I think they achieved that and then some. Centerville won the early season BOA Indy Regional in 1993. At the time, this was only their second regional title with their fist occurring way back in 1987. A few weeks later they were runner-up at the BOA Atlanta Regional. In 1993, Centerville performed music from Earth, Wind and Fire. They delivered a very strong show in finals. I actually think the show was stronger than their 1992 Championship performance, perhaps just not quite as energetic. In finals, they actually scored 0.05 point higher than their 92 GN win. However, they ended up in third place (competition was at the top was stronger in 93). Centerville did win the award for coordinated auxiliary in finals. Here is their 93 GN Finals performance.
In 1994, Centerville again won the early season BOA Indy Regional. They were third at the BOA Morgantown Regional. They did the Music of Chase. This show was typical Centerville; a very big crowd pleaser. They finished 8th in GN Finals. They were just not as clean as they had been the previous two years. While Union won the award for Coordinated Auxiliary in GN Class AAA Competition (Union did make finals), Centerville won the award for Outstanding Coordinated Auxiliary in Finals. That marked the very last time that BOA ever gave out the coordinated auxiliary award; an award that has been missed by the guard aficionados ever since. Here is the 1994 GN Finals performance.
In 1995, Centerville won the early season BOA Cincinnati Regional and were again third at the BOA Morgantown regional. Centerville took us to a Blues Club in 1995. I for one loved this show. They used these jazz club style table props as performance platforms. The idea of using props to stand on top of and perform during segments of the show had gained popularity by the mid 1990s. This show also had a harmonica soloists which garnered much buzz this season. The video is from the 1995 GN Prelims. As you can imagine, in finals, this show was a bit more energetic as it had a huge crowed to play to. This was a kind of show that the more the audience got into it, the better they became. In finals, Centerville finished 6th place with this show.
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Post by boahistorybuff on Sept 30, 2021 7:03:14 GMT -6
Holy Uniforms Batman!
Although it was not the first instance of this; I noted it in my Center Grove 1988 post, but it was the first I had ever seen something like it. It was an entire band dressed not in uniforms, but in costumes. In 1994, it had become quite common for the color guard to dress in more of an artistic costume to fit the theme of the show, but certainly not the band. But there at the 1994 BOA Grand Nationals was Union. The band was in Joker costumes, the guard as Catwoman, with a drum major and other characters on the field as Batman. The show itself was awesome and really dove into the whole Batman theme. The guard won the coordinated auxiliary award in Class AAA. However, they failed to make finals, finishing in the unlucky number 13th spot. I was very upset that they did not get in. I thought they should have been finals, one of the many placements I strongly disagreed with this particular year at Grand Nationals. One of the music effect judges actually had this band in 2nd place. There were, however, some notable timing issues near the end of the show for which the music ensemble judge was brutal in their score. Even with those errors, I still thought they should have been in finals.
I did however want to give attention to this show which I found to be quite innovative for the time. I believe Wes Cartwright was still with Union at this time, probably why I get a little bit of Broken Arrow vibes watching this back so many years later. While the idea of costuming of the band did not immediately catch on (it finally did over 20 years later), during the coming years/decades, formal band uniforms did become much more artistically designed compared to the very military look of earlier years. So here is the Union HS 'Renegade Regiment' from Tulsa, OK at the 1994 BOA Grand Nationals, a show I really felt should have been in finals.
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Post by kvgdc on Sept 30, 2021 16:54:37 GMT -6
The hats! If those checked pants were solid, those could near pass for late 80s Ben Davis (IN) uniforms. They had big old wide brimmed hats.
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