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Post by boahistorybuff on Jun 4, 2022 11:05:58 GMT -6
I am back from the dead once again! Loving these Buff. Thank you for all that you do for us as always. Welcome Back!
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Post by boahistorybuff on Jun 8, 2022 10:21:33 GMT -6
The Late 90s California Style
For the next few posts, I will take a trip to the West Coast. A California band that was very successful during the 1990s was the Mission Viejo HS Marching Band from Mission Viejo, CA. They made their mark in BOA by winning the 1996 BOA Torrance CA regional. I have not been able to find a video of that performance. I did however stumble across some late 90s videos. Like most California bands, I found myself focused visually on the guard and musically on the percussion.
Here is a video from late season 1997. Yes, the cymbal line had a bit of a mishap around minute two. I am sure looking back they all laugh at that now.
Here is Mission Viejo's performance at the 1998 WBA Finals, which I believe they won.
And here is their performance at the 1999 WBA Finals, which I also believe they won.
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Post by philodemus on Jun 8, 2022 13:19:09 GMT -6
If I recall correctly, they [Mission Viejo] also had an excellent indoor percussion program in that same period and into the early 2000s. Saw them in 2001 or so and was very impressed.
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Post by boahistorybuff on Jun 9, 2022 14:43:21 GMT -6
Not Just a Powerful Winter Guard - James Logan in the 90s (Part 1)
Going back through old videos of bands who I was not familiar with back in the day, I found one band that was quite good in the 90s (and well into the 2000s for that matter). In fact, of all the bands that I have seen who did not compete in BOA in the 1990s, this is one of my favorites. That band is James Logan HS from Union City, CA. I have some earlier post of their 1990s era winter guard (one of the most successful high school winter guards of all time by the way). The marching band itself was quite good and successful. I could tell from the videos that the James Logan band was a crowd favorite. Their shows were very high energy. In this first post, I will showcase three years; 1994, 1995 and 1996. In both 1994 and 1995 they did West Side Story and in 1996 they did James Bond. You can tell the strength of their color guard in these shows. In fact, comparing them with the top-level BOA bands of the era, they certainly had one of the best high school marching band color guards in the country during this time. I was also quite impressed with their percussion, especially in the 1995 show. Like many California bands back then (and to this day for that matter), stylistically they had a lot of similarities to drum corps (in my opinion). Of course, this band is not too far from the headquarters of both the Blue Devils and Santa Clara Vanguard. I suspect many of these kids went on to perform in those corps (especially many in that guard).
Here are the videos
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Post by boahistorybuff on Jun 10, 2022 11:24:30 GMT -6
Not Just a Powerful Winter Guard - James Logan in the 90s (Part 2)
The last three videos of the 1990s James Logan Marching band will showcase their success at the WBA Championships (or WSMBC as it was known back then).
1997 - They won (I believe) with "The Pirate Suite Show". What an amazing color guard!!!
1998 - They were second place with "Powerhouse" Show.
1999 - They won again with their "Marco Polo" show. Now while I have not seen all of the bands who did NOT participate in BOA during the 1990s, of the ones that I have seen, this show may just be the best. That percussion was so incredibly good. This show would have done quite well had they taken it to Grand Nationals as it had much stronger music effect than the previous years (in my opinion). Some of the YouTube comments suggest this show would have beaten PCEP. While it is hard to compare given the quality of the audio on this video, I would comment with a hard NO. PCEP's 99 show was designed for BOA. Their overall general effect scores would have simply been way higher than 99 Logan. However, this is really not a fair comparison as this James Logan's show was obviously designed for the WBA judging system.
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Post by boahistorybuff on Jun 14, 2022 11:07:25 GMT -6
California's BOA Power in the 1990s
During the course of the 1990s, Etiwanda HS from Rancho Cucamonga, CA won multiple BOA Regional titles and appeared in Grand National Finals three times. They won the BOA western regional title in 1994, 1995, 1998 and 1999 and made Grand National Finals in 1992 (11th), 1995 (10th) and 1999 (8th). While 99 marked their last appearance in GN Finals, they did make a few more appearances in GN Semi Finals in the 2000s and added several more BOA Regionals Titles to their trophy case. In my opinion, one of the reasons that this California band had such success in BOA is that they had shows that would garner higher overall GE scores than many other California bands. This really became notable in the late 1990s when they put forth some pretty demanding shows, especially from a visual standpoint. Here is some select shows during the 1990s from Etiwanda HS.
1992 - Grand National Finals (they won the coordinated auxiliary award). While California bands had been in finals in Grand Nationals of the 1970s June Whitewater years and had been in many finals during the Summer National years of the 1980s, this was the first California band to be in finals at the fall Grand Nationals.
1993 - Savannah Band Tournament (They did West Side Story, a very popular show back in that era).
1994 - BOA Western Regional Finals (They edged out Beyer HS for their very first regional title)
1995 - SCSBOA Tournament of Champions (They took this show to Grand Nationals, I have not been able to find BOA GN Video online).
1996 - Tournament of Champions in Santa Ana CA
1997 - Chaffey District 1st Annual Band Spectacular (This video contains several bands. Skip to 40:16 to get to Etiwanda)
1998 - After skipping BOA in 96 and 97, Etiwanda returned to BOA Competition. Here is the video from the 1998 BOA Las Vegas Regional. They won their third BOA Regional title with this show (The Wind and the Lion). Of course, not quite like Lassiter's performance of this show but still quite good.
1999 - Here is their performance at Grand Nationals. This is their semi finals performance. They made finals and finished in 8th place in Finals, their highest finish ever at Grand Nationals.
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Post by boahistorybuff on Jul 8, 2022 12:11:44 GMT -6
1998 Lake Park - A New Look
In 1998, Lake Park HS (from Roselle, IL) utilized tarps on the field for the first time and staged the pit off center. This kind of set this apart from the visual styles that Lake Park had done in years past, but it was very much on par with many of the visual trends of the 1990s. The difficulty in both drill design and music was packed with difficulty. In fact, this is one of my favorite Lake Park shows. While still a very solid show, the success this season did not quite match what Lake Park had achieved in previous season. I remember the very early season BOA Toledo regional this year. Lake Park (always a strong early season competitor back in the 1990s) was favored to win as both Marian and PCEP were always the late bloomers in the season. They won prelims but got beat by Carmel by a mere tenth of a point in finals (that was Carmel's first BOA regional title). Lake Park would go on to win the Illinois State title and finish a strong second at the BOA Indy regional later in the season. So, I was fully expecting a top 5 performance at Grand Nationals. It was a little surprising that Lake Park ended up 8th place in Finals (the first time they failed to make top 5 since 1986), which I am sure was a bit of a disappointment (they ended up finishing 0.05 points behind Carmel). I simply think Lake Park could have been a little cleaner and performed with a bit more emotion, which is probably why they landed in 8th. Still, they scored over 92 points and the show (in my opinion) was still very good. I loved the musical selections in this show. Here is the video from Grand Nationals. I think this is finals. They were first up in finals, which would be why no bands in the back stands yet.
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50fly
Senior Member
Posts: 54
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Post by 50fly on Jul 8, 2022 16:06:48 GMT -6
Welcome back. Looking forward to more posts!
The Art of Minimalism was actually Carmel’s 1998 show. Amazing show based around the music of Gorecki, and prob the last Carmel show for a while to use non original music:
I do believe 1998 was the year Lake Park did Tchaikovsky Sketches?
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Post by boahistorybuff on Jul 8, 2022 16:56:50 GMT -6
Welcome back. Looking forward to more posts! The Art of Minimalism was actually Carmel’s 1998 show. Amazing show based around the music of Gorecki, and prob the last Carmel show for a while to use non original music: I do believe 1998 was the year Lake Park did Tchaikovsky Sketches? Doh... You are right. Thanks for correcting me. I followed both those bands closely that year I got the show titles mixed up. Tchaikovsky Sketches was Lake Parks 97 show. I know in 98 they played Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff
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Post by boahistorybuff on Jul 10, 2022 4:28:51 GMT -6
Vintage Virginia
I try to make these posts represent as diverse a geographic region as possible. I have not had many posts of Virginia bands, so I thought I would go back farther in time and showcase some of the more successful Viginia bands that competed in MBA/BOA from the late 1970s into the early 2000s.
Falls Church HS from Falls Church, VA
1978 marked the first year the BOA (MBA) fall regionals were held. They held two. The first one was held in Harrisonburg, Virginia (I assume in the James Madison Univ. Stadium). That very first regional was won by a Virginia band, Falls Church. Then in the summer of 1979, Falls Church attended the Whitewater Grand Nationals. They finished 3rd in Open Class and 4th place overall. This would be the only Grand Nationals that this band would attend, and it still remains the highest finish for a Virginia band ever at Grand Nationals. Here is the video of 1979 Falls Church at the MBA Grand Nationals in 1979.
John S Battle HS from Bristol, VA
This small school band had a brief history with MBA in the early 1980s. They were a finalist at a 1980 MBA regional (I am not sure which one). Then in 1981 they attended Grand Nationals held in nearby Johnson City TN. The made finals and ended up in a tie with Rocky Mount for 11th place. I think this was the only Grand Nationals this band attended. The only video of that performance that has been placed online is the audio only performance from Grand Nationals. To show what this band looked like, I found a video of them from 1985 (the closest I could get to their early 1980s glory years). Here are both videos.
Lake Braddock Secondary from Burke, VA
This band was very successful across the Mid Atlantic region in the 1980s and 1990s. They too however had a very limited participation in BOA. In 1985, they attended Grand Nationals (their first and only trip) and made finals. They tied New Philadelphia for 11th place. This also marked the last time a Virginia band has been in Grand National Finals. They had a very unique look as they used the Bridgeman Drum Corps signature yellow uniforms in this show. For this band I will post three videos, 1984, 1985 and 1985. The 1985 video is from Grand Nationals.
Mt. Vernon HS from Alexandria, VA
To my knowledge, this band did not attend Grand Nationals. They did however attend occasional BOA eastern regionals from the late 1970s until 1991. They were finalists at these appearances and won the Class AA Title at the MBA Harrisonburg regional in 1980. I could not find any videos from BOA/MBA. However, here are three seasons during the midst of their 1980 glory years, 84,85,86.
Bassett HS from Bassett, VA
During the mid to late 1990s, this band emerged as a Class A power on the BOA Circuit. Their success continued through the 2000s. They won multiple BOA Regional Class A Titles and made several appearances in BOA Grand National Semi Finals. In 1997, they became the first Virginia band to perform in the still relatively new Grand Nationals Semi Finals. Although they were unable to nab a Grand National Class A Title, they were runner-up to the title in 2001. I could not find many videos online of this band. I did stumble across the Grand National performance in 2002. Here it is.
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Post by statechamp1239 on Jul 10, 2022 9:12:59 GMT -6
I love Bassett. They also were great in USBands Group V Open National Championships consist top 5, however they never won with such amazing shows. My personal favorite show is either 2006 or 2011. They should have made BOA Semifinals in 2006. 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 96.425: Upper Darby H.S. (PA) 2nd place: Bassett H.S. (VA) 3rd place: Cheshire H.S. (CT)
etc. | 98.275: Dartmouth H.S. (MA) 2nd place: Cheshire H.S. (CT) 96.750: Quakertown Community H.S. (PA) 96.700: George Walton Academy (GA) 5th place: Bassett H.S. (VA)
etc. | 97.813: Dartmouth H.S. (MA) 97.100: Bassett H.S. (VA) 3rd place: Quakertown Community H.S. (PA)
etc. | 98.550: Dartmouth H.S. (MA) 97.575: West Johnston H.S. (NC) 96.950: Bassett H.S. (VA)
etc. | 98.225: Dartmouth H.S. (MA) 96.712: Bassett H.S. (VA) 95.925: Liverpool H.S. (NY) 94.313: Victor H.S. (NY) 93.950: Colonial Forge H.S. (VA) 93.625: Soddy Daisy H.S. (TN) 93.387: Dorman H.S. (SC) 90.413: North Buncombe H.S. (NC) 89.475: Linganore H.S. (MD) | 96.587: Immaculata H.S. (NJ) 96.538: Dartmouth H.S. (MA) 96.338: Mechanicsburg Area Sr. H.S. (PA) 94.300: Bassett H.S. (VA) 93.875: Victor H.S. (NY) 93.550: Hempfield H.S. (PA) 93.088: Southington H.S. (CT) 92.975: Baldwinsville Central H.S. (NY) 91.800: Blackstone-Millville Regional H.S. (MA) 90.013: Wethersfield H.S. (CT) 89.688: George Washington H.S. (VA) 87.913: Broadneck H.S. (MD) 87.350: New Milford H.S. (CT) 87.175: Coatesville Area H.S. (PA) 87.088: Francis T. Maloney H.S. (CT) 87.013: Brien McMahon H.S. (CT) |
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Post by boahistorybuff on Jul 12, 2022 5:25:08 GMT -6
Classic Kiski
Having played jazz and Broadway genres for many seasons prior, it seemed very fitting that in 1998 Kiski Area (Vandergrift, PA) performed West Side Story. Although they got edged out of the BOA Morgantown Regional Title by Centerville, they did quite well with this show at Grand Nationals. They finished a respectable 6th place in finals among a very strong finals group for the era. Now by 1998, many many bands had done West Side Story in years past. In fact, the Cadets did this show way back in 1984 and won the DCI World Title with it. Of all the many high school bands that I have seen perform this music in the 80s and 90s, Kiski's performance is certainly among the best. Here is their 1998 show "West Side Story" (not sure if this is finals or semi finals).
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Post by boahistorybuff on Jul 13, 2022 4:37:55 GMT -6
A Small School Band with Big Time Success
Bellbrook HS from Bellbrook, OH emerged as a Class A power during the 1990s. Their success actually continued into the 2010s. Over this time period, Bellbrook had many appearances in BOA regional finals and won somewhere around two dozen BOA regional class titles. They won 7 BOA GN Class A Titles (more than any other band) and during their time in Class AA in the 2000s they picked up a GN Class AA Title (giving them a grand total of 8 GN Class Titles). Only Marian and Tarpon have won more GN Class Titles. Bellbrook is also one of only two Class A bands to make Grand National Finals after the 1991 rule change which no longer advanced bands into finals on class.
After winning their first two GN Class A Titles in 1994 and 1995, Bellbrook was runner-up to the GN Class A title in both 1996 and 1997. They would then regain that title in 1998, which would be the first of a GN Class A four-peat before they moved up to Class AA in 2002. This post will feature videos from both 1998 and 1999 (more videos to come from this band). As you will see, Bellbrook really embraced the trends that occurred during the 1990s with respect to props, characters on the field, etc. One thing that really stood out between Bellbrook and most other Class A bands was that their shows were designed to be competitive with the top level BOA bands of the day. They had a lot of challenging musical and visual moments in their shows. In both 1998 and 1999 they not only won the GN Class A Title, but they landed in the top 20 in Semi Finals. The two videos in this post are from the BOA Indy regionals (Grand Nationals was not online) from 1998 and 1999. And yes, their GN performances were obviously a touch better.
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50fly
Senior Member
Posts: 54
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Post by 50fly on Jul 13, 2022 15:20:06 GMT -6
A Small School Band with Big Time SuccessBellbrook HS from Bellbrook, OH emerged as a Class A power during the 1990s. Their success actually continued into the 2010s. Over this time period, Bellbrook had many appearances in BOA regional finals and won somewhere around two dozen BOA regional class titles. They won 7 BOA GN Class A Titles (more than any other band) and during their time in Class AA in the 2000s they picked up a GN Class AA Title (giving them a grand total of 8 GN Class Titles). Only Marian and Tarpon have won more GN Class Titles. Bellbrook is also one of only two bands to make Grand National Finals after the 1991 rule change which no longer advanced bands into finals on class. After winning their first two GN Class A Titles in 1994 and 1995, Bellbrook was runner-up to the GN Class A title in both 1996 and 1997. They would then regain that title in 1998, which would be the first of a GN Class A four-peat before they moved up to Class AA in 2002. This post will feature videos from both 1998 and 1999 (more videos to come from this band). As you will see, Bellbrook really embraced the trends that occurring during the 1990s with respect to props, characters on the field, etc. One thing that really stood out between Bellbrook and most other Class A bands was that their shows were designed to be competitive with the top level BOA bands of the day. They had a lot of challenging musical and visual moments in their shows. In both 1998 and 1998 they not only won the GN Class A Title, but they landed in the top 20 in Semi Finals. The two videos in this post are from the BOA Indy regionals (Grand Nationals was not online) from 1998 and 1999. And yes, their GN performances were obviously a touch better. Wow I forgot how dominate Bellbrook was back in the late 90s. They were, literally, in a class of their own. I was shocked they were in class A based on their level of show design, performance execution (especially visual) and most notably size. They must have 150+ members on the field, which was on par with most AAA bands at the time. That’s got to be something like a quarter of the school in the marching band. I remember from back in the RAMB message board days they were, along with a few other bands, victims of the extreme scoring inconsistencies between prelims and semis. Many bands were popping high 80s in prelims only to drop 6-10 points a day later in semis.
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Post by boahistorybuff on Jul 15, 2022 9:49:11 GMT -6
A Marching Wind Symphony
By the late 1990s, the idea of a marching band performing in a musical style toward that of a symphonic band was certainly not new. In fact, that concept had become quite standard in corps style competitive marching bands by the late 1990s. Some bands of course performed with a much more symphonic style sound than others. Although some of the great high school bands of the 1970s had some elements of more wind symphony style music in their shows (Live Oak HS CA comes to mind), my research suggests that Herscher HS, IL in the early 1980s (winner of the 1982 Summer National Title) really brought the idea of performing like a wind symphony on the field to the forefront. Other Illinois bands like Marian Catholic and Lake Park certainly picked up that style and really rose to prominence with it by the mid/late 1980s. Texas, a state even back in the 70s and 80s having been known for high quality concert bands, had Westfield and Spring that seemed to really popularize this style in the Lone Star State. Another Texas band, who also had an amazing concert band program, took up this style in the 1990s. That band was Leander HS, from Leander, TX (yes, I know we are all familiar with this band). Leander started participating in BOA regionals in 1992 and by the late 1990s had become consistent regional finalists (and even won a BOA regional in 1996).
Leander was a band that really prided themselves on their symphonic band style sound. The music was very rich sounding and very layered, a ton of little musical nuances throughout. In fact, back then Leander actually called themselves a marching wind symphony. The video that I have posted actually has two performances on it. The first is a performance from state prelims in 1998 and the second is from Grand National Prelims in 1999 (Leander's first trip to Grand Nationals). In 1998, I am not sure what they placed at the UIL Championships but at BOA San Antonio they finished a respectable 3rd (not too far behind Westfield). In 1999, at BOA Houston, they finished 8th (which may have been a bit of a disappointment). The following week at Grand Nationals, they made up for that disappointment and made GN Finals and finished 11th. I for one loved their GN Performance (it was the first time I had ever seen Leander). Everyone got a kick out of their props, which were essentially three pieces of a violin, made to look like a broken violin on the field. They even had a violin soloist (although still not common in the 1990s to have a string soloist, it was nothing new in BOA). You will note that Leander's assistant director was Amanda Drinkwater, who would go on to become the director of Marcus and would lead that band in some of its most successful seasons. It may also explain why when watching these two Leander performances, I got a little bit of a Marcus (circa late 2000s) vibe. Not too long after the 1999 season, Leander underwent a lot of staffing and director changes. This was probably due to the population explosion in Leander/Cedar Park TX which led to the opening of additional high schools. A lot of Texas band programs saw frequent changes in directors and staff during the last few decades of the Texas population boom. So, Leander kind of slipped in performance level a bit in the 2000s (well after the 2000 season essentially). We ended up having to wait 17 years before Leander would made their return to Grand Nationals. To say they were a better band upon their return would be an understatement.
So here is the video with both Leander 1998 and 1999.
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Post by boahistorybuff on Jul 18, 2022 5:21:13 GMT -6
The Road to a Surprising Spot in Grand National Finals
In the early 1990s, a new band from the west side of Michigan emerged in MCBA (Michigan Competing Band Association). That band was Reeths-Puffer HS from Muskegon. We all said to ourselves, what in the world is a Reeths-Puffer? Turns out the Reeths-Puffer school district emerged as a merger of two school districts way back in the 1940s. One district was named after a Charles Reeths and the other was named after a Hiram Puffer. Turns out, Reeths-Puffer ended up being one of three schools from the west side of the state that saw a meteoric rise to become one of Michigan's best marching bands in the 1990s. In 1989 and 1990, Jenison got really good really fast. Then the same thing happened to Mona Shores from 1992 to 1993. Then from 1993 to 1994 it was Reeths-Puffer's turn. The director of Reeths-Puffer during this time (and actually well into the 2000s) was Chuck Hodson. Mr. Hodson assembled a top-notch staff to develop this band into a highly successful competitive marching band. The parent organization also boosted the fundraising efforts. During the 1990s, Reeths-Puffer became a band known for pushing the envelope in terms of presenting a theme to the audience. They utilized props, costuming, character actors, etc. to sell the theme of their show. They did such a good job at selling their theme to the audience that their general effect scores tended to be among their highest. They also became one of the crowd favorites at the Michigan State Championships. Here is a timeline of their shows from 1993 to 1999.
1993 - For me this was kind of the first time that I really took note of Reeths-Puffer as a band that had potential. They ended up finishing second in Flight II (mid sized schools) at the Michigan State Championships with their show about pirates. Here is that performance.
1994 - This was the first year that Reeths-Puffer competed in BOA. They ended up making finals at the BOA Toledo Regional. They also won their first Flight II State Title. This was their baseball show and it proved very entertaining for the crowd. Here is the state championship performance.
1995 - They again made finals at BOA Toledo. The ended up in 3rd in Flight II at the Michigan State Championships. Their show was about World War II. I don't remember if the swastika image that they made on the field garnered any controversy, perhaps not because of the context of the show. Still, I think it was bold to do that. Here is their state championships performance.
1996 - At BOA Toledo, they were again a finalist and runner-up (behind Lakeland) to the class AA title. They ended up finishing a close second behind Lakeland at the Michigan Flight II State Championships. They also attended Grand Nationals for the first time and placed 20th in semi finals. This was their "Thriller" show, full of props and costuming by the band, which was not very common back then. This was another show that was a big hit with the audience. Here is their state championship performance.
1997 - After a rough prelims performance at BOA Toledo, they still managed to make finals and then had a great show in finals to place all the way in 4th. They won their second MCBA Flight II State Title and landed in 19th place in Grand National Semi Finals. They had another crowd pleasing show with "How the West Was Won". Here is their Grand National performance (prelims I believe).
1998 - They again finished 4th at BOA Toledo. They actually beat Marian in finals (very early season so take with a grain of salt). They won the Michigan Flight II State title again. This season, they did not attend Grand Nationals. Their show was "Jeckyl and Hyde". Despite the poor audio quality on the video, I actually think this season was their best overall of the decade. They really stepped up the difficulty in their show. Here is their state championship performance.
1999 - At BOA Toledo, they won the Class AA Title (their first BOA Regional class title) and finished 5th in Finals. At the Flight II State Championships, they got beat by nearly three points for the Flight II Title by Mona Shores. Then they surprised everyone at Grand Nationals. This was the year that Marian moved up to Class AAA and Kiski and Tarpon did not attend. So, it seemed possible a Michigan band could win the GN Class AA Title. I thought it would be Jenison (who competed in Flight I in Michigan that year). Looking at the overall Prelims scores, Reeths-Puffer was somewhere around 18th place overall (Jenison did have the highest score of Class AA bands in Prelims). Reeths-Puffer gave as clean a performance as they could deliver in Semi Finals (they thought it would be their last show of the season). They had a very difficult show, so a clean performance of this show did well with the judges. During the Semi Finals award for Class AA, Jenison took music, Avon IN took visual and Reeths-Puffer took GE. Then during the placements, Mona Shores took 3rd, Jenison 2nd and Reeths-Puffer took 1st, winning the AA Title. We were very surprised. I actually thought this was going to be the first year with no AA bands in Finals. We all knew who would be the top 11. The last spot was a crap shoot. It was a big shock when Reeths-Puffer was announced in finals, especially for them. Their joy of being in Finals was certainly memorable. They ended up 12th in Finals, not as strong a show as what they did in Semis. Their show was "Treasures", music from Ben Hur. Here is their Prelims performance at Grand Nationals (I wish their Semi finals performance was online because as I said it was cleaner).
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Post by bandirectorman on Jul 23, 2022 10:13:38 GMT -6
The Road to a Surprising Spot in Grand National FinalsIn the early 1990s, a new band from the west side of Michigan emerged in MCBA (Michigan Competing Band Association). That band was Reeths-Puffer HS from Muskegon. We all said to ourselves, what in the world is a Reeths-Puffer? Turns out the Reeths-Puffer school district emerged as a merger of two school districts way back in the 1940s. One district was named after a Charles Reeths and the other was named after a Hiram Puffer. Turns out, Reeths-Puffer ended up being one of three schools from the west side of the state that saw a meteoric rise to become one of Michigan's best marching bands in the 1990s. In 1989 and 1990, Jenison got really good really fast. Then the same thing happened to Mona Shores from 1992 to 1993. Then from 1993 to 1994 it was Reeths-Puffer's turn. The director of Reeths-Puffer during this time (and actually well into the 2000s) was Chuck Hodson. Mr. Hodson assembled a top-notch staff to develop this band into a highly successful competitive marching band. The parent organization also boosted the fundraising efforts. During the 1990s, Reeths-Puffer became a band known for pushing the envelope in terms of presenting a theme to the audience. They utilized props, costuming, character actors, etc. to sell the theme of their show. They did such a good job at selling their theme to the audience that their general effect scores tended to be among their highest. They also became one of the crowd favorites at the Michigan State Championships. Here is a timeline of their shows from 1993 to 1999. 1993 - For me this was kind of the first time that I really took note of Reeths-Puffer as a band that had potential. They ended up finishing second in Flight II (mid sized schools) at the Michigan State Championships with their show about pirates. Here is that performance. 1994 - This was the first year that Reeths-Puffer competed in BOA. They ended up making finals at the BOA Toledo Regional. They also won their first Flight II State Title. This was their baseball show and it proved very entertaining for the crowd. Here is the state championship performance. 1995 - They again made finals at BOA Toledo. The ended up in 3rd in Flight II at the Michigan State Championships. Their show was about World War II. I don't remember if the swastika image that they made on the field garnered any controversy, perhaps not because of the context of the show. Still, I think it was bold to do that. Here is their state championships performance. 1996 - At BOA Toledo, they were again a finalist and runner-up (behind Lakeland) to the class AA title. They ended up finishing a close second behind Lakeland at the Michigan Flight II State Championships. They also attended Grand Nationals for the first time and placed 20th in semi finals. This was their "Thriller" show, full of props and costuming by the band, which was not very common back then. This was another show that was a big hit with the audience. Here is their state championship performance. 1997 - After a rough prelims performance at BOA Toledo, they still managed to make finals and then had a great show in finals to place all the way in 4th. They won their second MCBA Flight II State Title and landed in 19th place in Grand National Semi Finals. They had another crowd pleasing show with "How the West Was Won". Here is their Grand National performance (prelims I believe). 1998 - They again finished 4th at BOA Toledo. They actually beat Marian in finals (very early season so take with a grain of salt). They won the Michigan Flight II State title again. This season, they did not attend Grand Nationals. Their show was "Jeckyl and Hyde". Despite the poor audio quality on the video, I actually think this season was their best overall of the decade. They really stepped up the difficulty in their show. Here is their state championship performance. 1999 - At BOA Toledo, they won the Class AA Title (their first BOA Regional class title) and finished 5th in Finals. At the Flight II State Championships, they got beat by nearly three points for the Flight II Title by Mona Shores. Then they surprised everyone at Grand Nationals. This was the year that Marian moved up to Class AAA and Kiski and Tarpon did not attend. So, it seemed possible a Michigan band could win the GN Class AA Title. I thought it would be Jenison (who competed in Flight I in Michigan that year). Looking at the overall Prelims scores, Reeths-Puffer was somewhere around 18th place overall (Jenison did have the highest score of Class AA bands in Prelims). Reeths-Puffer gave as clean a performance as they could deliver in Semi Finals (they thought it would be their last show of the season). They had a very difficult show, so a clean performance of this show did well with the judges. During the Semi Finals award for Class AA, Jenison took music, Avon IN took visual and Reeths-Puffer took GE. Then during the placements, Mona Shores took 3rd, Jenison 2nd and Reeths-Puffer took 1st, winning the AA Title. We were very surprised. I actually thought this was going to be the first year with no AA bands in Finals. We all knew who would be the top 11. The last spot was a crap shoot. It was a big shock when Reeths-Puffer was announced in finals, especially for them. Their joy of being in Finals was certainly memorable. They ended up 12th in Finals, not as strong a show as what they did in Semis. Their show was "Treasures", music from Ben Hur. Here is their Prelims performance at Grand Nationals (I wish their Semi finals performance was online because as I said it was cleaner). Reeths-Puffer was a consistent performing regional power. Always in the mix. I saw them at Toledo one year (I believe 1998) and they rocked the house. I think most would place their 1999 season, along with Webster 1997, as the two biggest head-scratching BOA Grand National Finalist selections of that era. I attended many of the BOA Grand Nationals in the 90s as a student teacher & instructor, so I recall this year pretty well. I think RP just won a flip of the coin that year, to be honest. There wasn't a lot of separation from the lower end of finalists and the 15th+16th place bands, which were barely pushing 80 on the scoring sheets -- in NOVEMBER. Leander, despite their strong concert track record, didn't belong. Reeths definitely did not belong, although they deserved the AA Title since Marian moved up to AAA that year. They were the best AA band by far, in my opinion, so I was happy to see the representation from that class continue in finals. Obviously, had Kiski Area, Tarpon Springs, or West Genesee attended, this would not have happened. The top 3-4 bands in 1999 (PCEP, Marian Catholic, Center Grove, Carmel) were the real deal. But Leander & Reeths-Puffer were not all that deserving (on a normal year) of a spot. Far up the track compared with Winston Churchill (10th) and Lawrence Central (9th). As we also saw one year later in 2000, the true lower end of finals wasn't that great either. Top five semifinals bands (Marian Catholic, PCEP, Carmel, Lake Park, Tarpon Springs) were solid, but the drop-off in the 11-12 range (Northmont) range was pretty noticeable as well. Can't get away with that these days!
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Post by boahistorybuff on Jul 24, 2022 5:53:55 GMT -6
The Final Grand Nationals for the Showband of the South
Between 1978 and 1992, the JM Tate HS "Showband of the South" from Gonzalez FL (outside Pensacola) won 5 BOA regional titles. They also attended Grand Nationals five times, making finals at each appearance; 79,80,81,82 and 89. Yes they won the first fall Grand National title in 1980, the first Florida band to be crowned Grand National Champion. I already have a few previous posts from this band. This band was also known for having a strong color guard. After a 10-year absence from Grand Nationals, Tate returned to Grand Nationals in 1999. They were really not a finals Calibur band any longer. They were however a solid Semi Finalist lock. They ended up finishing 21st in the 1999 BOA GN Semi Finals. This would be Tate's last appearance at Grand Nationals. They would however make occasional appearances at the BOA Florida regionals into the 2000s.
Here is their 1999 Semi Finals Performance. The show was built around storms/rain as their musical selections included: Without Warning, Make Our Garden Grow, and To Tame the Perilous Skies.
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Post by boahistorybuff on Jul 26, 2022 5:54:35 GMT -6
A Little Modern, With a Touch of Old School and Traditional
If you have been following these posts, it should come as no surprise that I really like Kentucky bands, particularly their visual style. This post will feature the last five years of the 1990s from the absolute Kentucky power of that era, Lafayette HS from Lexington, KY. Lafayette has actually been a Kentucky power for 50 years and they have dozens of Kentucky state titles under their belt. In the videos that follow, you will see that Lafayette did embrace the trends of the era with respect to building their show around a centralized theme. In most instances, their themes involved a specific nationality (Russian, French, Roman, etc). Most of the music selections they played during this time period were quite popular among marching bands or drum corps over the years (Rocky Point Holiday and Pines of Rome never get old to me). Lafayette shows were also popular with the older crowd who tended to miss the old school style of the late 70s/early 80s as Lafayette utilized a lot of symmetry in their drill designs. At the end of their shows, it was tradition that the band spelled out LAFAYETTE on the field, a very traditional style marching band thing to do.
For me, I loved Lafayette's marching technique. It exemplified the marching style that I love, featuring a clean and pronounced roll step. Their marching also just seemed to pop. You could tell they put a lot of emphasis/focus on what their feet were doing.
On the BOA front, Lafayette attended Grand Nationals in 1995 (first time since their 1983 debut which landed them 6th place in finals) and finished 11th in finals. Unfortunately, they did not attend Grand Nationals again until 2004. They did however do very well at the BOA regionals in the years following 1995, winning two regional titles (1996 and 1997). Here are the videos of Lafayette from 1995 to 1999 (I think I already showed 95 in an earlier post, but here it is again). I think these videos are from the Kentucky State Championships.
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Post by philodemus on Jul 26, 2022 7:32:53 GMT -6
"The Pride of the Bluegrass"
Their new-ish director is doing wonderful things, and every band fan in the Commonwealth is crossing our fingers for a triumphant return to Grand Nationals. Their last few shows have been 'definitely Semifinals... probably not Finals, but maybe Finals?' sort of affairs.
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Post by boahistorybuff on Jul 26, 2022 9:08:21 GMT -6
"The Pride of the Bluegrass" Their new-ish director is doing wonderful things, and every band fan in the Commonwealth is crossing our fingers for a triumphant return to Grand Nationals. Their last few shows have been 'definitely Semifinals... probably not Finals, but maybe Finals?' sort of affairs. In 2004, Ben Davis IN made GN finals again after a 20-year absence from finals. In 2014, Homestead IN made their return to GN finals after a 20-year absence. In 2024, if that trend is to continue, the only band that could make that happen is Lafayette. So fingers crossed indeed.
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50fly
Senior Member
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Post by 50fly on Jul 26, 2022 12:53:19 GMT -6
Reeths-Puffer was a consistent performing regional power. Always in the mix. I saw them at Toledo one year (I believe 1998) and they rocked the house. I think most would place their 1999 season, along with Webster 1997, as the two biggest head-scratching BOA Grand National Finalist selections of that era. I attended many of the BOA Grand Nationals in the 90s as a student teacher & instructor, so I recall this year pretty well. I think RP just won a flip of the coin that year, to be honest. There wasn't a lot of separation from the lower end of finalists and the 15th+16th place bands, which were barely pushing 80 on the scoring sheets -- in NOVEMBER. Leander, despite their strong concert track record, didn't belong. Reeths definitely did not belong, although they deserved the AA Title since Marian moved up to AAA that year. They were the best AA band by far, in my opinion, so I was happy to see the representation from that class continue in finals. The top 3-4 bands in 1999 (PCEP, Marian Catholic, Center Grove, Carmel) were the real deal. But Leander & Reeths-Puffer were not all that deserving (on a normal year) of a spot. Far up the track compared with Winston Churchill (10th) and Lawrence Central (9th). As we also saw one year later in 2000, the true lower end of finals wasn't that great either. Top five semifinals bands (Marian Catholic, PCEP, Carmel, Lake Park, Tarpon Springs) were solid, but the drop-off in the 11-12 range (Northmont) range was pretty noticeable as well. Can't get away with that these days! head scratcher indeed. They stuck out like a sore thumb on finals night and it was very clear they were not up the level of the other bands in finals that night. I am in no way saying they didnt deserve to be there, but there was a clear difference between them and the rest of the pack. I do believe that Reeths-Puffer holds the record for lowest score we have seen in finals (post semi finals/class inclusion format), somewhere in the low low 80's, and probably have one the the biggest spreads between them and the band that placed next above them. 1999 was a very strong year for the bands in the upper end of finals, but the quality dropped significantly outside of the top 10.
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Post by boahistorybuff on Jul 30, 2022 10:22:00 GMT -6
Vintage Marian
We are going to step back from the late 1990s and go back to the 80s. In a much earlier post, I provided links to the Grand National Champion performances of Marian Catholic during the 1980s (85,87,88 and 89); video quality is not the best. At the time those videos were not on YouTube. In fact, the Marian Catholic Grand National performances from 1984 to 1992 have not been online for some time. Well, we now have three of those years which have recently been posted; 1986, 1987 and 1988. I hope the rest of the 1980s performances will be posted at some time (1989 is actually my favorite Marian show of that era). Between 1984 and 1989 you can really see the improvement in visual design in the Marian shows. Mr. Bimm was really improving his drill writing skills.
So, the three videos that have been posted are shown here; 86, 87 and 88. If you read my season review thread you will note that my comment about 1986 Marian was that it was not quite as clean as their 1985 performance, which of course was their first Grand National title. I read in the comments section from this video that (for whatever reason) they threw out their entire show at the beginning of the season and learned an entire new one. Of course, I always take comments like this with a grain of salt, but if that is true, boy did Marian pull it together by Grand Nationals. They finished 3rd in Grand National Finals and won the Class AA Title. 1987 was of course the first year of the Marian three-peat. While second place Cicero North Syracuse gave them a run for their money, Marian's visual scores put them comfortably in first place. Then in 1988, Marian proved to be an unstoppable force. In June of 1988 they won their fifth consecutive Summer National Title (the last year of them doing a summer competitive program). In the fall, they won a BOA regional and the Illinois state title. Then at Grand Nationals they place first, over five points ahead of second place Lake Park. They became the first band in BOA to break 95 points and the 1988 point separation between 1st and 2nd remains the largest in BOA Grand National Finals history. I remember as a freshman in high school watching Marian perform in Grand National Finals in 1988 and was just amazed at how good they were. They were simply on another level in terms of marching bands in the late 1980s. So here are the three newly posted vintage Marian Catholic videos. Fingers crossed that 84,85,89,90,91 and 92 make it online someday.
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Post by boahistorybuff on Aug 2, 2022 9:38:55 GMT -6
Another New Video Hit the Web
In my post a few pages ago, I showed the hi cam video of the 1997 Grand National Championship Finals performance by Marian Catholic. I noted that I wish the multi cam was online so you can see how much they were moving while playing such difficult music. Well the 1997 Grand National Finals Mulit Cam version of Marian Catholic is now online. Now I don't mean to gush too much over Marian, but I am going to anyway. Yes, the top-level bands of today are amazing and performing at a level unthinkable just 20-25 years ago. However, this video gives an example of the incredible difficulty Marian had visually, and yet they still managed to pull off such a strong music performance with such complex music. This is why I don't think there will ever be another band that compares to what Marian Catholic did during their glory years.
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Post by boahistorybuff on Aug 3, 2022 20:06:38 GMT -6
The Greyhounds Make a Big Statement
Although in 1999 Center Grove was the Indiana band getting a lot of attention. Another Indiana band, Carmel was on their heels the whole season. Carmel was second to Center Grove at two BOA Regionals in 1999. At the 1999 Grand National Finals, Carmel again finished behind Center Grove. However, it was a third-place finish. In fact, Carmel was a sliver ahead of Marian Catholic (granted that was a bit controversial as many thought Marian should have been second behind PCEP, but I digress). Back in those days, any band that could finish ahead of Marian Catholic in Grand National Finals made us take note. That was a very big statement to make. At the time, Carmel was making only their fourth appearance in GN Finals, with the previous three all being 7th place finishes. So, this third-place finish was a big deal. Now here we are 23 years later and Carmel now has five Grand National Titles under their belt (and counting I may add). In fact, since 1999, Carmel has placed in the top 5 every single year in Grand National Finals except 2006 when they finished 8th. That is amazing!
In 1999, Carmel's show was titled "Variations: Three Chant Settings". I suspect this (or most of it) was original music by their director at the time Richard Saucedo. The music was certainly entertaining as was the drill. It was a very demanding drill routine, standard Carmel in the late 90s/early 2000s. I also have to note the incredibly well written percussion features in this show. I still suspect that maybe it was the percussion that put the overall score 0.05 points ahead of Marian in Finals. So here is 1999 Carmel, just put online.
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50fly
Senior Member
Posts: 54
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Post by 50fly on Aug 4, 2022 8:03:35 GMT -6
The Greyhounds Make a Big StatementAlthough in 1999 Center Grove was the Indiana band getting a lot of attention. Another Indiana band, Carmel was on their heels the whole season. Carmel was second to Center Grove at two BOA Regionals in 1999. At the 1999 Grand National Finals, Carmel again finished behind Center Grove. However, it was a third-place finish. In fact, Carmel was a sliver ahead of Marian Catholic (granted that was a bit controversial as many thought Marian should have been second behind PCEP, but I digress). Back in those days, any band that could finish ahead of Marian Catholic in Grand National Finals made us take note. That was a very big statement to make. At the time, Carmel was making only their fourth appearance in GN Finals, with the previous three all being 7th place finishes. So, this third-place finish was a big deal. Now here we are 23 years later and Carmel now has five Grand National Titles under their belt (and counting I may add). In fact, since 1999, Carmel has placed in the top 5 every single year in Grand National Finals except 2006 when they finished 8th. That is amazing! In 1999, Carmel's show was titled "Variations: Three Chant Settings". I suspect this (or most of it) was original music by their director at the time Richard Saucedo. The music was certainly entertaining as was the drill. It was a very demanding drill routine, standard Carmel in the late 90s/early 2000s. I also have to note the incredibly well written percussion features in this show. I still suspect that maybe it was the percussion that put the overall score 0.05 points ahead of Marian in Finals. So here is 1999 Carmel, just put online. Center Grove had the momentum going into GN in 1999. They had just won ISSMA and the Indy regional and had the buzzworthy and "cool" show (im not a fan of their 1999 show... too WGI for me and they barely hit the 7 min. mark). Plymouth Canton had only participated in 1 early season regional this year, and placed 2nd to a Centerville band who had just placed 4th at the Indy regional. The internet was still a novelty at this time, so no one outside of the local shows in Michigan had any idea of the masterpiece of a show PCEP had in store. Carmel had beat Marian at the Indy regional, but with the famous Marian clean the week before nationals, expectations were for a high placement from them. Lawrence Central had beat Center Grove at an early season regional and was the ISSMA runner up the week prior to nationals, ahead of 4th place Carmel. 1999 really had one the strongest top half of finals of all time, each show was wildly different and really highlighted each bands strength and identity. I was very fortunate I was able to attend finals in person! At finals when the 7th place band was announced, it was a relief to see Carmel break out of their perennial mid pack placement. Then 6th... then Lawrence Central in 5th... then Marian in 4th. When Carmel was announced in 3rd the crowd went crazy, and the band was so ecstatic they broke ranks and started celebrating before 2nd and 1st place were announced. Carmel's 1999 show was really a nice catapult to get them to where they would be for the next 20 years. The original Saucedo music was fun and playful but incredibly complex. The way the same melodic motif weaves itself through the entire show and transforms itself into the 3 musical styles of the show (gregorian, symphonic, and hoe-down?) is brilliant and would become a design element they have returned to many times in the last 20 years. The drill is difficult and clean, peak 90's design style of follow the leader blob forms, mixed with precise geometric forms. The false company front, with the huge dynamic push and the cymbal buildup, into silence with the tip toe and soft woodwind accelerando is absolutely brilliant! it still makes me smile to this day! the tag ending with drum cadence, slide whistle, xylophone and yee haws after the audience is already clapping, also brilliant! One of my all time favorite closers to such a fantastic show.
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Post by boahistorybuff on Aug 4, 2022 14:02:02 GMT -6
Love the comments. Yes those of us in Michigan knew PCEP was going to be special.
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Post by boahistorybuff on Aug 5, 2022 15:56:00 GMT -6
A Unique Show is An Understatement, Center Grove's "New Era Dance"
Heading into Grand Nationals in 1999, Center Grove HS from Greenwood IN was all the rage. They had won the coveted Indiana Class A State Title and two BOA regionals (Indy and St Louis). Many were expecting them to win their second Grand National Title, well those outside of Michigan I should say. It certainly became clear at the end of Semi Finals that Plymouth Canton seemed destined to take home the eagle. Center Grove was actually third in Semi Finals behind Marian and PCEP. They delivered a strong show in finals and ended up finishing in second place. This was their fifth consecutive top three finishes in GN Finals.
Although they did not claim another GN Title, their show was still extremely innovative for its time. Center Grove had used tarps in their 95,96 and 97 shows and this season they had huge tarps that laid out on the field in a checkerboard pattern. It was a very unique (strange at the time) look. These tarps certainly factored into the visual design of this show. The music, which I quite enjoyed, seemed very abstract and made good use of Center Grove's incredible percussion. Overall, I think there was certainly an influence from WGI (and brass theater/Blast) that factored into the visual designs. There were several very difficult drill segments which Center Grove executed quite well (I thought they may even win visual; they were second overall in visual performance). At the time, this is kind of how I remember some of the reactions in the audience. There were many who had no clue what this show was about and what was going on, but they loved it. There were many of the old schoolers who did not like it, yet they could not keep their eyes off it. Then of course there were those who thought this show was just plain awesome. I guess as often was the case back then, when a show came along that pushed the boundaries, it often garnered a somewhat polarizing response. For me, at the time, I had some mixed feelings, there were parts I absolutely loved and there were other parts I was a little unsure of. I think many of us did wish the show was a little longer. This is certainly one of, if not the shortest shows in GN Finals history.
Aside from some of the amazing percussion and visual moves, I will say that this show had an excellent guard. Not only were they clean, but they also really sold the danse aspect of this show. So here is 1999 Center Grove's "New Era Dance".
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Post by Marching Observer on Aug 5, 2022 16:15:14 GMT -6
You weren't kidding about that guard. It's been a long time since I last watched this show (music isn't my taste but was still solid) but after watching it again. Wow! That guard would easily still be among the best in the modern era today!
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Post by boahistorybuff on Aug 12, 2022 4:19:17 GMT -6
Revelations of the Spirit
After wowing us with two Grand National Finals appearances (1996 and 1997), Lawrence Central HS from Indianapolis IN did not participate in BOA in 1998 (unsure why). In 1998, they did however win their second consecutive Indiana Class A State Title. I was very glad to see the 'Spirit of Central' return to BOA competition in 1999. In fact, they won the very early season BOA Louisville Regional, their first BOA regional title. Later in the season at Grand Nationals, Lawrence Central ended up placing 5th in Finals. This put three Indiana bands in the top five in Grand National Finals, the first time that happened since 1984. Lawrence Central's 1999 show was called Revelations of the Spirit. What I loved about this show was the depth of the music. While I think overall Lawrence Central is probably most noted for their wonderful clean marching (they won the visual award in GN Finals four times in the 2000s), this band had some amazing musical moments in their shows, especially during the late 1990s and early 2000s. The video of 1999 Lawrence Central has finally found its way online. This video is from Prelims. I think the consensus was that they really came alive in Finals. Anyway, here is the 1999 Sprit of Central Marching Band.
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