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Post by statechamp1239 on Feb 21, 2023 11:52:05 GMT -6
That was their 1994 show, the one they took to Grand Nationals. The video of that performance is on this thread, several posts back. OK. I've seen that show before, but never read what it was able. Must've missed that post.
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Post by TeamIndiana on Feb 21, 2023 13:20:11 GMT -6
But then again this is the band that also did a show about Lizzie Borden. What year was that? It was 1994, the year they placed 4th at BOA Grand Nationals and then quit. While I am not associated with the band any longer, when I was a student there the 2002 show was very legendary and we watched it before each state finals. That was 06-09. The screams you hear were done without any amplification! They actually held screaming tryouts to see who could do them the loudest!
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Post by OldSchoolTrumpet on Feb 21, 2023 14:36:37 GMT -6
It was 1994, the year they placed 4th at BOA Grand Nationals and then quit. While I am not associated with the band any longer, when I was a student there the 2002 show was very legendary and we watched it before each state finals. That was 06-09. The screams you hear were done with out any amplification! They actually held screaming tryouts to see who could do them the loudest! I have a friend who had kids in that 2002 band. He told me that they had high hopes of a championship going into State. This was before semistate, so they hadn't yet met up with any of the South groups. I guess finishing 4th (behind Carmel, Lawrence Central, and Center Grove) was a bit of a disappointment at the time. But the sting of placements fades and the show was remembered quite fondly for years to come.
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Post by dbalash on Feb 22, 2023 8:47:41 GMT -6
Big, Loud and Just Plain AwesomeI know that I have told this story in previous posts, but here it goes again. My sophomore year in marching band (1989) we did not participate in BOA, the only year in my high school career that we did not go to BOA Regionals and Grand Nationals. Later that school year (spring of 1990) our high school wind ensemble did however take a trip to a concert band workshop/symposium in Atlanta, Georgia. At that event, we got to listen to an amazing high school symphonic band. At the time, it was the best high school concert band I had ever heard. That band was from the Atlanta suburb of Marietta and its name was Lassiter and it was under the direction of a Mr. Alfred Watkins. Then in the fall of my junior year (1990) at BOA Grand Nationals we got to see that high school's marching band. It too did not disappoint. It was their first trip to Grand Nationals. Not only did they make finals, they finished in 5th place. This was actually this bands second BOA appearance as they were runner-up at the 1988 Hattiesburg MS regional. From 1990 onward, Lassiter was on a four year rotation in Grand Nationals appearances. As spectators, we wished they would have attended more frequently. Mr. Watkins liked to give the marching band different experiences. They took other trips than just Grand Nationals, which I suppose is understandable. After a 3rd place finish at GN in 1994, they returned in 1998 and won the GN Title (and topped the BOA highest score at the time). In 2002, there was a lot of excitement because Lassiter would be making their return to Grand Nationals, their first appearance since their 1998 GN win. To say that they did not disappoint would be an understatement. Back then Lassiter was a band that did not incorporate a lot of props and other frills into their shows. It was just fantastic music and complex and difficult drill designs. In 2002, they did however add a little bit more to their show design. The concept of stained glass (which was very fitting to their musical selections) featured prominently in their drill design and props. During the drum feature, the band members even did some choreographed moves with hand held props that looked like pieces of stained glass. These things are not what made this show. This was a loud and just wonderful musical performance. They had some pretty demanding drill routines to boot. While there were certainly some amazing woodwind features in this performance, the quality of the Lassiter brass really shined. Of course you have to mention that percussion. The percussion feature (I just love a good percussion feature) was just killer. The French horn feature at the end of this show was also epic. Yes, if you can't tell, I absolutely loved this performance. In my previous post I referred to Lassiter as a Texas band from Georgia. For those that have not seen this performance, perhaps that will become more clear as to why I describe this band in that manor. After Lassiter's semi finals performance, I don't think there was much doubt that they were going to take home the eagle, despite 2002 being a fairly competitive year. Not only did Lassiter walk away with the 2002 GN Title, they won music performance and general effect. While Lassiter's visual scores had typically been this band's Achilles heel, that was not so much the case with this performance. They were second in visual performance and had the highest visual effect score. As far as scores, I thought the 2002 GN Finals scores could have been a couple points higher for all of the finalist bands, including Lassiter. But scores are of course very relative, which is why I have never given too much attention to them. So this performance did not score as high as their 1998 GN win. Now, I think that for many, 1998 may have had more crowd appeal and it certainly had some high quality and difficult moments. I feel that Lassiter's 2002 win was however the strongest (and cleanest) show they ever put forth on the field. I think you can also tell that after that amazing ending, the audience and Chuck knew that they had just witnessed the 2002 GN Champion performance. Sadly, this was the last performance that Lassiter would ever give at Grand Nationals. While they did attend frequent BOA regionals in subsequent years and won a few more regional titles, they have never returned to Grand Nationals. I heard there was some redistricting in the Marietta, GA school districts in the mid/late 2000s which may have had some impact on the program. However, it was the retirement of longtime director Alfred Watkins sometime around 2013 that had a very detrimental impact to the marching band program. While it was sad to see that happen, I will always be fond of some of the great Lassiter performances of the past (both on the football field and in the concert hall). Here is the 2002 Bands of America Grand National Champion performance of the Lassiter High School Marching Band. One of the coolest things about my 4 years in marching band was getting to share the field with them at Ben Davis prior to prelims and getting to watch them rehearse and having my eardrums explode from the sheer volume of sound they produced. Also cool was being 2nd behind them in semifinals. Give me a mid '00's show over a now show any day of the week.
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Post by boahistorybuff on Mar 1, 2023 21:49:06 GMT -6
Dialogues With A Muse
I was tempted to call this post Another Marian Masterpiece. This show really hit its stride at Grand Nationals. Just one week prior to the 2002 GN, Marian Catholic finished 4th at the BOA Indy regional. Then at GN Semi Finals, they were runner-up to the Class AAA Title and second overall. In Finals, they took third place. No offense to Lawrence Central but I thought they should have been second in Finals. The two individual and the visual GE judges scores are what dropped them to third. Ignoring all of the scores and placements, this was just an awesome show. I absolutely love the music selections. I also really enjoyed some of the pit features. While of course the whole band was fantastic, Marian was always among the best bands in how they showcased their woodwinds. I always loved how their arrangements did such a fantastic job with the woodwinds. At the time, this was Marian's 19th consecutive appearance in GN Finals. You may be able to tell from this video how the audience stayed a little extra focused on the performance. That was always the case back in those days when Marian stepped onto the GN Finals field "Shhh, Marian is about play". Here is the 2002 Grand National Finals performance of Marian Catholic. Perhaps our Marian alum can enlighten us more about this show.
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Post by Subito Fortissimo on Mar 1, 2023 22:01:06 GMT -6
Dialogues With A MuseI was tempted to call this post Another Marian Masterpiece. This show really hit its stride at Grand Nationals. Just one week prior to the 2002 GN, Marian Catholic finished 4th at the BOA Indy regional. Then at GN Semi Finals, they were runner-up to the Class AAA Title and second overall. In Finals, they took third place. No offense to Lawrence Central but I thought they should have been second in Finals. The two individual and the visual GE judges scores are what dropped them to third. Ignoring all of the scores and placements, this was just an awesome show. I absolutely love the music selections. I also really enjoyed some of the pit features. While of course the whole band was fantastic, Marian was always among the best bands in how they showcased their woodwinds. I always loved how their arrangements did such a fantastic job with the woodwinds. At the time, this was Marian's 19th consecutive appearance in GN Finals. You may be able to tell from this video how the audience stayed a little extra focused on the performance. That was always the case back in those days when Marian stepped onto the GN Finals field "Shhh, Marian is about play". Here is the 2002 Grand National Finals performance of Marian Catholic. Perhaps our Marian alum can enlighten us more about this show. Still probably my favorite MC show ever.
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Post by dbalash on Mar 3, 2023 10:03:15 GMT -6
Dialogues With A MuseI was tempted to call this post Another Marian Masterpiece. This show really hit its stride at Grand Nationals. Just one week prior to the 2002 GN, Marian Catholic finished 4th at the BOA Indy regional. Then at GN Semi Finals, they were runner-up to the Class AAA Title and second overall. In Finals, they took third place. No offense to Lawrence Central but I thought they should have been second in Finals. The two individual and the visual GE judges scores are what dropped them to third. Ignoring all of the scores and placements, this was just an awesome show. I absolutely love the music selections. I also really enjoyed some of the pit features. While of course the whole band was fantastic, Marian was always among the best bands in how they showcased their woodwinds. I always loved how their arrangements did such a fantastic job with the woodwinds. At the time, this was Marian's 19th consecutive appearance in GN Finals. You may be able to tell from this video how the audience stayed a little extra focused on the performance. That was always the case back in those days when Marian stepped onto the GN Finals field "Shhh, Marian is about play". Here is the 2002 Grand National Finals performance of Marian Catholic. Perhaps our Marian alum can enlighten us more about this show. Some general thoughts, which will probably go into long, rambling thoughts: - This is by far my favorite show that I got to march.
- Music is Harrison's Dream by Peter Graham and Alone in the Crowd from the "Pollock" soundtrack by Jeff Beal.
- Harrison's Dream is a depiction of the 40 year effort by John Harrison during the first half of the 18th century to develop a chronometer capable of providing exact time on the high seas. Pollock is about Jackson Pollock, an abstract expressionist painter who was troubled.
- There was a 12 hour rehearsal the Saturday before regionals (November 2nd, regionals were November 9) to learn the drill for the final 2:30. That was the best rehearsal I've ever been far of.
- 2nd at ISU behind Lake Park (with a fake ending; I'll link the video below), 2nd at U of I behind Prospect, 4th at regionals behind LC, Carmel, Grove.
- Grand Nationals, we cooked all weekend. Won Thursday by 1.7 over Carmel (3rd overall after prelims), 2nd in semis, 3rd in finals. Music Individual killed us all weekend. Won Music Performance Ensemble, Visual Performance Ensemble in finals, 4th in MPI,6th in VPI 2nd in Music GE 1 and 2 (.10 behind Lassiter from both), 6th Visual GE.
- The good old days of the BOA Forums. "OMG I just saw Marion (sic) Catholic at ISU. They won't make GN Finals with this show!"
Video thoughts: - First year of not being called to attention by the DM's on the field.
- I miss 800 Video Express. Sure, it took until May to get your tapes (yes kids, there were these things called VHS tapes), but they were a great company.
- First year of all black uniforms. Red sashes on the uniforms; this would change for Facets next year to the gray(ish) overlay with the red triangles.
- Tempos got jacked for GN. ISU was way slower.
- I marched bass clarinet. Keeping the bass line eighth note line going was extremely difficult. We marched 8 bass clarinets back then; one senior (Kelly) and one junior (Jonathan) were made DM's, so we had two additional seniors at the start of the year; down to one by GN because one's mom died. One junior, one sophomore (me), 5 freshman for GN.
- The woodwind book (like usual) was insane in this show. No easy moments for anyone.
- I am still fascinated watching Greg Bimm's drill. For those of you that don't know, he was kind of a technophobe back in the day, so all music and drill was handwritten. He plotted every person's drill via hand (see below drill set from 2004). The black and white triangle meshes in 2001 and 2005 are probably some of my favorite moves. This show has some good moves; the boxes moving and rotating and expanding during the sousa solo at about 3:15, the "Hollywood Squares", the big diagonal that goes back and forth at about 5:40 (that was a pain to learn), the drill from about 12:30-end. I absolutely love how that drill flows and expands.
You can see the Marian "M" in pretty much every show, CB (Connie Bimm, his wife), JB (Jessica Bimm/Jeff Bimm, children). - When the ballad of Harrison's Dream starts, notice the flutes and clarinets are still playing the music from Alone in the Crowd, and are moving at a much faster tempo. The left side drum major (Kelly) is conducting that, Johnathan and Brittany are conducting the ballad. I've always thought that was really cool.
- Loved the use of colors in the flags this year.
- The chimes being rung on the back sideline were all alternates. If I remember correctly earlier in the season, we had little bells that we would ring as we were moving, and that didn't work.
- We sort of fell apart during the reprisal of the 16th note runs in the main theme. Thanks, brass! :-D
- Peep Bimm and Lambert jumping up and down at about 10:00.
- Hot take: this show would win pretty much any other year until like mid 2010's.
- 2002 is one of the best years in BOA's history. You've got 12 FANTASTIC shows in finals, including Lassiter and Lake Park's last times in finals, Avon's first time in Finals (AA exhibition), 4 first time finalists (Reagan, Kennesaw, SFA, The Woodlands)
ISU: Drill set from 2004: If drill/music was rewritten, it would look just like this. -
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Post by mrsaxophone on Mar 4, 2023 17:00:58 GMT -6
Does anyone have any Grand National google drives from the following years? If so dm me 2010 2014 2015 2016 2017
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Post by kvgdc on Mar 7, 2023 19:32:14 GMT -6
I'm probably showing my age but seeing shows from 2002 in the Vintage Videos thread is causing some weird feels.
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Post by boahistorybuff on Mar 7, 2023 23:24:25 GMT -6
I'm probably showing my age but seeing shows from 2002 in the Vintage Videos thread is causing some weird feels. I totally agree. My original thoughts when I started this was to just have videos prior to 2000. But thinking about it, the early 2000s is actually before the kids that are in high school today were even born. So I guess it is somewhat all relative. I am also getting a little bit more insight in these early 2000s videos because there are a lot of people on these forums that were part of the activity during that time and are offering some interesting back stories. Not as many on these forums who were around back in our day.
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Post by kvgdc on Mar 8, 2023 17:22:13 GMT -6
Its all good.
I'm embracing my dino status these days. [straightens my shako with two fingers betwen the nose and brim, tucks the shirt in and adjust the dickie into the cumberbund]
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Post by boahistorybuff on Mar 10, 2023 5:06:32 GMT -6
On the Road to Greatness
Coming off their surprise defeat (by a mere 0.05 points) at the 2001 Grand Nationals, Carmel presented a show titled simply "Metal" in 2002. This was a show built around the concept of metal and feature everything from clanking metal to the music genre of metal. This show, as was common back then, featured a lot of original music by their director at the time, BOA Hall of Famer Richard Saucedo. This show was packed with a lot of visual difficulty and certainly had some interesting musical moments. I actually loved the percussion in this show. This is also one of my favorite Carmel shows from the 2000s. Two weeks prior to Grand Nationals, Carmel took their first and only trip to BOA San Antonio (this was the year before that regional was made a super regional). They found themselves in a heated battle with LD Bell TX at this regional. It was the superior music ability of LD Bell vs the visual prowess of Carmel. While LD Bell won Prelims, Carmel's visual scores put them over the edge in Finals and Carmel ended up winning the regional title. This marked the first time since Pearl MS in 1986 that a non Texas band won a BOA regional title on Texas soil. In fact, since this event, the only time a non Texas band has won a BOA regional in Texas was at the El Paso regional in 2007 when Rampart CO took the title. Anyway, after that 2002 San Antonio win, I thought Carmel would end up in a battle for the 2002 Grand National Title with Lassiter. The following week, however, at the BOA Indy regional, Carmel landed 2nd to Lawrence Central IN. Then the following week, Carmel ended up finishing 4th in Grand National Finals. Putting myself back into the 2002 mindset, I thought "man Carmel has potential to one day claim a Grand National title". Little did I know that 20 years after this performance Carmel would be winning their 6th BOA Grand National Title.
Here is the 2002 Grand National Finals performance of Carmel.
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Post by boahistorybuff on Mar 12, 2023 5:27:43 GMT -6
The Era of Demanding Drill
Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s the LD Bell 'Blue Raider Band' always gave us some fast paced, energetic and downright daring drill moves. They did all this while playing really well. There had to have been a ton of conditioning to get these kids to play so well while at the same time moving so much and so fast. In 2002, LD Bell performed a show titled "Binary Systems". This video is from the 2002 BOA San Antonio Regional Finals (one year before this regional became a super regional). Bell did not attend GN this year. They entered this competition having won the previous 5 BOA regionals they had competed, not loosing a regional title since 1999. Despite a 10th place ordinal from the visual ensemble judge in Prelims, Bell still came out on top in Prelims. In Finals, they ended up having the highest visual ensemble score (some speculation here but perhaps a cleaner show and a judge that felt the level of difficulty garnered a high score). However, the visual effect judge (they were first in VE in Prelims) had them 5th and 1.5 points behind Carmel. That was enough to pull Carmel ahead of Bell (who had scored quite a bit higher in music effect). So LD Bell had to settle for second place at this regional.
In 2002, Jeremy Earnhart took the helm as director of the LD Bell band. Over the next few years he instituted some staffing changes, most notably hiring Wes Cartwright as designer. This would give the Bell shows a much different look and feel by the middle to end of the decade and would also give us some pretty iconic moments at Grand Nationals Finals. More on these shows to come. Anyway, here is the 2002 LD Bell 'Blue Raider Band' at BOA San Antonio.
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Post by boahistorybuff on Mar 18, 2023 4:00:24 GMT -6
A Momentous Occasion for the Knights
The North Penn 'Knights' Marching Band from Landsdale, PA was a frequent BOA regional finalist throughout the 2000s. At the 2002 BOA Hempstead Regional, North Penn won their first and only BOA Regional Title. Thankfully that regional performance is on line (well at least the Prelims performance). What I really enjoyed about the visual aspect of this show is the bands uniforms; dark on the front and light on the back. It made for some interesting visual effects at times. While I typically prefer posting late season videos since obviously the bands are going to be cleaner, this video is from mid October. It is however rare to have the regional champion performances online from the smaller regionals during this era. So here is 2002 North Penn.
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Post by statechamp1239 on Mar 18, 2023 11:21:35 GMT -6
A Momentous Occasion for the KnightsThe North Penn 'Knights' Marching Band from Landsdale, PA was a frequent BOA regional finalist throughout the 2000s. At the 2002 BOA Hempstead Regional, North Penn won their first and only BOA Regional Title. Thankfully that regional performance is on line (well at least the Prelims performance). What I really enjoyed about the visual aspect of this show is the bands uniforms; dark on the front and light on the back. It made for some interesting visual effects at times. While I typically prefer posting late season videos since obviously the bands are going to be cleaner, this video is from mid October. It is however rare to have the regional champion performances online from the smaller regionals during this era. So here is 2002 North Penn. From wooden picket fences on the front, wagons travelling across the field from East to west, color guard dressed in a colorful array of reds, and blues Victorian long apron dress with bonnets, little bit of square dancing here and there, and the depiction of the sunrise as they reached the west. Using songs from Appalachian Springs and Yankee Doodle Dandy Piscataway Superchiefs was able to place 2nd for the second and last time in BOA which was the most at the time for NJ bands to place top 2 until BRHS. They were able to beat their sworn enemy North Penn in visual winning Best Visual along with Norwalk. I do think if they played the same musical power as their 1995 Appalachian Springs could have been a killer show. Here is also BOA Hempstead but quality is decent. They would later win the inaugural USSBA Group V Open NJ States in South Brunswick.
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Post by boahistorybuff on Mar 25, 2023 11:23:16 GMT -6
Beyond a Meteoric Rise
Kennesaw Mountain HS from Kennesaw, GA opened as a brand new school the fall of 2000. The students who enrolled in the music program had already had a strong music education background within the Cobb County school district, mainly schools that also fed into nearby Harrison HS. Correct me if I am wrong, but I do not believe that Kennesaw Mountain fielded a marching band in the first fall that the school was opened. But by the fall of 2001 a marching band had been formed and it was under the direction of David Starnes. On September 29th, 2001, the Kennesaw Mountain 'Mustang' Marching band competed in their very first BOA competition, BOA Orlando. Not only did they make finals, they finished in 2nd place behind Tarpon Springs. They actually beat out Seminole HS FL who was a very good band. Nearly a month later, they competed in the BOA Atlanta Regional. They made finals and landed in 7th place in finals. Here is a video of their Prelims performance at the 2001 BOA Atlanta regional (yes the video quality is not good).
To say Kennesaw Mountain improved by the second year of their existence would be an understatement. On September 28, 2002, KM competed in the BOA Johnson City regional and they won, beating out several strong South Carolina bands. This would be their first of several regional titles. Then later in the season at BOA Atlanta, KM raised some eyebrows as they finished in second place and they beat the power house band of Tarpon Springs. While they were second place to Lassiter (who would go on to win the Grand National Title this year), they edged out Lassiter for the music performance caption. Two weeks later, KM would make their very first trip to Grand Nationals. They easily made Finals and landed in the middle of the pack in 7th place. When people heard that this band had only been in existence for only two years, they were shocked. Their show about color "The Canvas" was a crowd favorite, especially with kids. Their water feature props, which changed from clear to multiple colors mid way through the show also raised some eyebrows. The music was brilliantly arranged, with Over the Rainbow woven through the music. The brilliance of KMs arrangements and how they layered multiple song selections on top of each other was quite notable during their 2000s glory years. Here is the 2002 GN Finals Performance of Kennesaw Mountain. Enjoy!
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Post by boahistorybuff on Mar 27, 2023 5:32:38 GMT -6
Throwback to 1982
A new vintage video just hit the web. It is of the 1982 Ben Davis Marching Giants. The video opens with student interviews after Grand National prelims and concludes with their Grand National Finals performance. Ben Davis had just come off winning the 1982 Indiana Class A State Title (A big deal as Chesterton had won it the previous four years). Ben Davis did not win at Grand Nationals. However, they did finish 3rd behind Norwin and Chesterton (they would peak at second place in 1983). Ben Davis did however improve markedly from their 9th place finish in 1981. This video has been digitally remastered so the quality is far better than most videos of the early 1980s. In the early 1980s, drill was still very symmetrically designed. Back in those years, Ben Davis had some of the most elaborate symmetrical designs compared to other high school marching bands. So here is the 1982 Ben Davis marching band in Grand National Finals. Enjoy!
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Post by boahistorybuff on Apr 3, 2023 7:38:21 GMT -6
A Concert Band Concept Applied to the Field
Remembering way back in the day to my concert band days, I remember it was quite a big deal to get first chair in the concert band/wind ensemble. Not sure if they still do this, but we even had challenges where 2nd chair could try to unseat the person in first chair. In 2002, Lawrence Central took this concept of First Chair and built a show around it. This concept with their musical selections worked really well. In fact, this is one of my favorite shows from the Sprit of Central. Coming off their surprise Grand National win the year before, Lawrence Central had another very successful season. They won the BOA Indy regional and in Grand National Finals, they finished 2nd and won the visual performance award (the first of four times they would get this award in finals). You can see in this show how LC used chair props to convey the first chair concept. The soloists and tympani features were quite memorable. Aside from the unique concept, superb marching and wonderful solos, LC did a very good job in conveying the emotion in this music. And for those BOA aficionados in more recent years, you will find the music very familiar. So here is the 2002 Grand National Finals performance of Lawrence Central and their show "First Chair". Enjoy!
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Post by boahistorybuff on Apr 8, 2023 2:41:33 GMT -6
Bulldogs and Angels
IN 1995, the Stephen F Austin HS marching band from Sugar Land TX made their debut at BOA regionals. They had some ups and downs in the late 90s at the regional level but did make finals a few times. The band got stronger in the 2000s, joining several other notable Texas marching bands that really rose to prominance in the early 2000s. In 2002, the Stephen F Austin "Bulldog Band and Angels Dance Team" made us all take note. On October 5th, 2002, SFA won the BOA Huntsville regional, beating LD Bell. This was their first of what would be six BOA regional titles. They also made their first appearance at Grand Nationals. That was the first time I saw the Stephen F Austin marching band and I was really impressed. Their show was titled "The Anatomy of Performance". One unique aspect of this band was that they did not have a traditional colorguard (a little more common for the Texas bands but not so much in the Midwest). Their guard was the Angels Dance Team. They did not use guard equipment. All of their visual were done with dance and body movement. The band itself was just incredible and put forth a pretty demanding show. In 2002, there were four Texas bands in GN Finals, which at that time was the most Texas bands in Finals ever. Stephen F Austin placed 5th, the highest placement of the four Texas bands in Finals. They were even second in music performance. Another interesting aspect about their Grand National Finals performance was how polarized the two music effect judges were. One judge placed them first ahead of Lassiter (which was a bit two high in my opinion) and the other music effect judge had them 9th (way too low in my opinion). Their ordinal for combined music effect ended up being 4th (which I kind of thought was right where it should have been). Here is Stephen F Austin's 2002 debut in Grand National Finals. Enjoy!
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50fly
Senior Member
Posts: 54
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Post by 50fly on Apr 8, 2023 10:10:29 GMT -6
A Concert Band Concept Applied to the FieldRemembering way back in the day to my concert band days, I remember it was quite a big deal to get first chair in the concert band/wind ensemble. Not sure if they still do this, but we even had challenges where 2nd chair could try to unseat the person in first chair. In 2002, Lawrence Central took this concept of First Chair and built a show around it. This concept with their musical selections worked really well. In fact, this is one of my favorite shows from the Sprit of Central. Coming off their surprise Grand National win the year before, Lawrence Central had another very successful season. They won the BOA Indy regional and in Grand National Finals, they finished 2nd and won the visual performance award (the first of four times they would get this award in finals). You can see in this show how LC used chair props to convey the first chair concept. The soloists and tympani features were quite memorable. Aside from the unique concept, superb marching and wonderful solos, LC did a very good job in conveying the emotion in this music. And for those BOA aficionados in more recent years, you will find the music very familiar. So here is the 2002 Grand National Finals performance of Lawrence Central and their show "First Chair". Enjoy! Really really love this show, so well arranged and performed. LC was always good at building shows around simple but interesting and new themes that were easily readable. This is by far my favorite of all the Barber symphony shows, mainly because it's more balanced and layered in it's arrangement. Avon was too aggressive and sharp and Carmel was too slow and bloated, this one is just right. I know LC is always remembered for their visual dominance, but the level of musicianship is crazy good here (and in their entire late 90's-mid 2000 run). I am surprised they never took the music caption. That oboe player is just perfection, they really captured the neo romantic lyricism of Barber's writing.
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Post by thewho on Apr 8, 2023 11:32:45 GMT -6
A Concert Band Concept Applied to the FieldRemembering way back in the day to my concert band days, I remember it was quite a big deal to get first chair in the concert band/wind ensemble. Not sure if they still do this, but we even had challenges where 2nd chair could try to unseat the person in first chair. In 2002, Lawrence Central took this concept of First Chair and built a show around it. This concept with their musical selections worked really well. In fact, this is one of my favorite shows from the Sprit of Central. Coming off their surprise Grand National win the year before, Lawrence Central had another very successful season. They won the BOA Indy regional and in Grand National Finals, they finished 2nd and won the visual performance award (the first of four times they would get this award in finals). You can see in this show how LC used chair props to convey the first chair concept. The soloists and tympani features were quite memorable. Aside from the unique concept, superb marching and wonderful solos, LC did a very good job in conveying the emotion in this music. And for those BOA aficionados in more recent years, you will find the music very familiar. So here is the 2002 Grand National Finals performance of Lawrence Central and their show "First Chair". Enjoy! Really really love this show, so well arranged and performed. LC was always good at building shows around simple but interesting and new themes that were easily readable. This is by far my favorite of all the Barber symphony shows, mainly because it's more balanced and layered in it's arrangement. Avon was too aggressive and sharp and Carmel was too slow and bloated, this one is just right. I know LC is always remembered for their visual dominance, but the level of musicianship is crazy good here (and in their entire late 90's-mid 2000 run). I am surprised they never took the music caption. That oboe player is just perfection, they really captured the neo romantic lyricism of Barber's writing. I tend to parrot the laurels of Lawrence Central too much, but I genuinely think that the trilogy of 2001-2004 (excluding 2003) are some of the greatest collections of consecutive shows put on the field. 2001 and 2002 just really showcased how musically proficient LC were individually (2001) and as a whole (2002). 2004 was a tad of a musical slip, but that show was a full-on design flex from a visual standpoint.
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Post by boahistorybuff on Apr 14, 2023 3:31:49 GMT -6
All Good Things Must Come to an End
In 2002, the Lake Park 'Lancer' marching band made Grand National Finals for the 18th time. At the time, only Marian Catholic had more appearances in Grand National Finals than them and Marian had them beat by only one year. Lake Park was very much a part of Grand National Finals as Marian was. The 2002 season got off to a bit of a rough start for Lake Park. We were all a bit surprised by their 7th place finish at BOA St Louis in early October of this year. They bounced back from that and ended up in 5th place at the very competitive BOA Indy regional and then landed in Grand National Finals. Their 12th place finish was their lowest placement in their finals years. Although Lake Park would go on to have several good shows in subsequent years, 2002 marked their last appearance in Grand National Finals. It took me a few years to get over not seeing them in Finals. Under the direction of Ken Snoeck, Lake Park had established themselves as one of BOA's greatest bands. Their accolades still place them among BOA's greatest bands of the last nearly 50 years. In addition to 18 consecutive Grand National Finals appearances, 11 of which were top 5 finishes, Lake Park also won two GN Class AAA Titles and was the 1996 Grand National Champion. They also won 8 BOA Regional Titles and numerous state of Illinois Titles. When I think of the great Lake Park shows of the past, I marvel at their musicality. They just had such wonderfully layered and well arranged music and they did it all while doing a lot of demanding drill routines. Here is the 2002 Grand National Finals performance of Lake Park.
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Post by dbalash on Apr 14, 2023 8:40:53 GMT -6
All Good Things Must Come to an EndIn 2002, the Lake Park 'Lancer' marching band made Grand National Finals for the 18th time. At the time, only Marian Catholic had more appearances in Grand National Finals than them and Marian had them beat by only one year. Lake Park was very much a part of Grand National Finals as Marian was. The 2002 season got off to a bit of a rough start for Lake Park. We were all a bit surprised by their 7th place finish at BOA St Louis in early October of this year. They bounced back from that and ended up in 5th place at the very competitive BOA Indy regional and then landed in Grand National Finals. Their 12th place finish was their lowest placement in their finals years. Although Lake Park would go on to have several good shows in subsequent years, 2002 marked their last appearance in Grand National Finals. It took me a few years to get over not seeing them in Finals. Under the direction of Ken Snoeck, Lake Park had established themselves as one of BOA's greatest bands. Their accolades still place them among BOA's greatest bands of the last nearly 50 years. In addition to 18 consecutive Grand National Finals appearances, 11 of which were top 5 finishes, Lake Park also won two GN Class AAA Titles and was the 1996 Grand National Champion. They also won 8 BOA Regional Titles and numerous state of Illinois Titles. When I think of the great Lake Park shows of the past, I marvel at their musicality. They just had such wonderfully layered and well arranged music and they did it all while doing a lot of demanding drill routines. Here is the 2002 Grand National Finals performance of Lake Park. Fun fact: Bimm was once asked by Damp Otter (Dan Potter) what was in the bag that he always carries with him. His answer, amongst other things, was a Lake Park pennant.
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Post by boahistorybuff on Apr 15, 2023 4:17:07 GMT -6
More Vintage Videos Hit the Web!
I was very excited to have stumbled across these videos that were recently posted. The videos take us all the way back to 1980 and 1981. I had heard this bands performance on the old LP records from the 1980 Grand Nationals but never saw the video until just yesterday. The band is the Southern Garrett HS "Highlander" Marching Band from Oakland, Maryland (far western MD). In 1980, at the BOA Toledo Regional, Southern Garrett made finals and won the Class A title (I will show the GN video even though the Toledo regional video is also on line; I did not know any videos of that regional even existed). The 1980 Grand Nationals was the inaugural Grand Nationals to be held in the fall (moved from June in the late 1970s, to November in 1980; with the June event continuing on as the summer nationals through the 1980s). The 1980 Grand Nationals was held in late November in Jacksonville, FL. This was the only fall Grand Nationals held outdoors. Despite being in Florida, temperatures were quite cold on Finals night. This caused a lot of discomfort among the performers and spectators (a lot of southern bands at this event were not used to cold weather performances), which is probably why Grand National got moved to an indoor stadium at ETSU in Johnson City the next year. Southern Garrett HS (or just southern as the announcers were calling it) made the trip to Florida to compete at the first fall Grand Nationals. They ended up making Finals (and they were third in Class A) and finished in 11th place overall. This marked the first and only time a band from Maryland ever made Grand National Finals. Here is that performance:
Southern Garrett made their second trip to Grand Nationals in 1981, this time to Johnson City, TN. In 1980, there was a big performance gap between the top bands and the bottom bands in GN Finals. That was not the case in 1981, it was a much more competitive event getting into Finals. While Southern Garrett performed quite well, much like 1980, they did not make finals. The video of their prelims performance is however online. It is shown below. Southern Garrett's days of participating in MBA were short lived. I actually don't know if they made any appearances following 1981 Grand Nationals. I know they have not competed in BOA since the mid 1980s. I do know, however, that they maintained their competitive marching band program. Like most small school band programs, their enrollment numbers dropped off during the course of the 1980s (they were said to have 90 members in 1980).
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Post by boahistorybuff on Apr 18, 2023 3:22:19 GMT -6
Programme One Part Two?
The design elements in the 2001 Plymouth-Canton show "Programme One" were so effective, they tried them out again in 2002, well at least that was how it appeared. The drill designs were actually completely different. They created a concept show built around "Elasticity". So throughout the show the images of stretching and contracting played heavily into the visual designs and several of the guard routines. This show landed in 9th place in Grand National Finals, so yes a very good performance. However, it did not really have the iconic feel that their 2001 show had. In addition to being a little cleaner, their 2001 show had a much bigger overall effect. Nonetheless, 2002 still had some interesting visual moments. Here is the 2002 PCEP show, Elasticity.
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Post by boahistorybuff on Apr 26, 2023 4:43:18 GMT -6
To Make a Show Memorable
When looking back on shows of the early 2000s, one thing that always comes to my mind is the concerted effort to make a show stand out. In most cases it was a specific prop or visual design, key drill moves, staging of the pit/props, unique musical moment, etc. One of the main objectives was to make sure the audience remembers your show. In 2001 Winston Churchill HS (TX) performed a show titled "Under Construction". This type of theme built around construction was actually fairly common back in the 2000s. In addition to the staging, one of the features of this show that stood out was the percussion feature, when they started using the construction barrels as drums. It was certainly a memorable moment in their show. While Churchill did not attend Grand Nationals in 2001, they did attend two Texas BOA regionals. They finished 3rd at the early season San Antonio regional (this was a couple years before it was a late season super regional) and they finished 3rd at the late season Houston Regional. Here is a video of their 2001 performance at BOA Houston.
In 2002, Winston Churchill presented a show titled "Anime". This was actually one of my favorite Churchill shows. Churchill made use of a trampoline on the field with this show, certainly a prop that was memorable at the time. They also used 5 ramps as props in the visual design, more than just platforms for the performers to stand on. This was very unique at the time, and several years before the Bluecoats used ramps/slides (granted the Bluecoats took the concept up several notches). Churchill was 5th at BOA San Antonio this season. They did attend Grand National this year. This marked their third trip to Indy. In Semi Finals, Churchill finished 12th and just slid into finals. A brutal score by the visual effect judge almost prevented them from making Finals, which would have been a huge shame. In Finals, they ended up finishing 10th, helped by a much higher visual effect score. Here is the 2002 Grand National Finals performance of Winston Churchill HS with their show "Anime".
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Post by boahistorybuff on May 1, 2023 9:24:19 GMT -6
Improved Synergy in Show Themes
One of the things that I noticed during the course of the 2000s is how marching band shows further developed and improved upon blending the show theme, visuals and music. A good example of this was how in 2002 Center Grove gave us a theme based around spring, called "Spring Has Sprung". This show was a play on the double meaning of the word spring, with the musical pieces referencing Spring the season and the visual designs and props referencing the other definition of spring, that of a metal coil. Still very much an innovative band visually, Center Grove really pulled off this show. This is also one of my favorite Center Grove shows of the 2000s. Not only were the visuals unique, there was a lot of overlaying of the musical selections in a wonderfully arranged musical presentation. The 2002 season was actually the most successful for Center Grove following their late 1990s glory years. They won the BOA Louisville Regional, their 7th and last regional win and they finished in 6th place in Grand Nationals Finals, their highest post 99 finish at GN Finals. Here is 2002 Center Grove in Grand National Finals. Also note, I believe that it is an unwritten rule in marching band that if your show has the word Spring in the title, you must play Appalachian Spring.
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Post by boahistorybuff on May 3, 2023 9:46:44 GMT -6
The Highlanders Reach a New Level
In the early to mid 1990s, one of the many Texas bands that was building a competitive program was McCullough HS. They even made a few BOA Regional Finals in the mid 1990s. Then in 1996, McCullough High School became a junior high and the marching band program essentially transferred over to a brand new high school by the name of The Woodlands, under the direction of Brett Johnson. In their inaugural year as The Woodlands, they made finals at BOA Houston (coming in 10th place). They have never missed making finals at a BOA regional ever since. The Woodlands attended their first BOA Grand Nationals in 1998. Although they were not quite a Finals caliber band at that point, they did finish 23rd in Semi Finals. Mr. Johnson led the program to a steady improvement in the years following that appearance. The BOA aficionados took a bigger notice in The Woodlands in 2001 where at the BOA Houston Regional they placed 2nd. This was a relatively competitive regional too. Here is the performance of The Woodlands at 2001 BOA Houston.
In 2002, The Woodlands was 4th at the early season BOA Huntsville regional. They then finished 7th later in the season at BOA San Antonio. 2002 marked their second trip to Grand Nationals. After that 7th place performance at BOA San Antonio and considering the competitive field at 2002 Grand Nationals, The Woodlands was not necessarily considered a lock for finals. They rose to the occasion though, not only making Grand National Finals for the first time but also placing a respectable 8th. The Woodlands have not looked back since that moment. They have since made Grand National Finals every single time they have attended, which as of this writing gives them eleven Grand National Finals appearances, more than any other Texas band. And as we all know, they are better than ever. The Woodlands was one of four bands who made their GN Finals debut in 2002. As an occasional forums stalker in those days, I remember seeing how many were predicting a future Grand National Title for either Ronald Reagan or Kennesaw Mountain (or both) given their meteoric rise the first couple years of the decade. I also noticed some chatter about Stephen F Austin being a future GN Champ given their strong performance. Funny, I don't remember any talk of The Woodlands being a future GN Champ at that time. Then low and behold, of those four first time finalists, only The Woodland would go on to nab a Grand National Title (on a side note, I think there is another title in their future).
The Woodlands, 2002 show was called Genesis: The Creation of Color. Show theme/concepts built around color go all they way back to at least the early 1990s if not earlier. Typically these shows transitioned from black and white to primary colors to colors of the rainbow. This was very much the case with The Woodlands show, although they avoided the old cliché of playing Somewhere Over the Rainbow when the full colors of the rainbow were revealed at the end. Of course shows built around color continue to this day. I think the themes and concepts have just become much more abstract and creative. So here is the 2002 Grand National Finals performance of The Woodlands HS. Given how successful this band has been in the 20 years since this moment, I consider this a pretty big BOA historical first.
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Post by twhsalumniparent on May 3, 2023 17:33:55 GMT -6
The Highlanders Reach a New LevelIn the early to mid 1990s, one of the many Texas bands that was building a competitive program was McCullough HS. They even made a few BOA Regional Finals in the mid 1990s. Then in 1996, McCullough High School closed and the marching band program essentially transferred over to a brand new high school by the name of The Woodlands, under the direction of Brett Johnson. In their inaugural year as The Woodlands, they made finals at BOA Houston (coming in 10th place). They have never missed making finals at a BOA regional ever since. The Woodlands attended their first BOA Grand Nationals in 1998. Although they were not quite a Finals caliber band at that point, they did finish 23rd in Semi Finals. Mr. Johnson led the program to a steady improvement in the years following that appearance. The BOA aficionados took a bigger notice in The Woodlands in 2001 where at the BOA Houston Regional they placed 2nd. This was a relatively competitive regional too. Here is the performance of The Woodlands at 2001 BOA Houston. Minor correction - when The Woodlands HS opened McCullough became a Jr. High School, it wasn't closed (and currently remains a Jr. High School).
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Post by boahistorybuff on May 9, 2023 9:36:12 GMT -6
A Slight Off Year Followed By a Near Comeback
At the start of the 2001 season, even though the Centerville Jazz band lost the early season Toledo Regional to Prospect, it still seemed they would be headed for Grand National Finals. Unfortunately, the show just did not click during the course of the season. After being a consistent Grand National Finals for several years, Centerville had to face the disappointment of missing Grand National Finals. They still had a very enjoyable show, I really liked the music selections in this show. Now everything has to be looked at in a relative context of course. Centerville did place 16th in Grand National Semi Finals this season. Many bands would certainly have loved to have this level of achievement. Here is the 2001 Grand National Semi Finals Performance.
In 2002, Centerville seemed destined to return to Grand National Finals, especially after having won two regional titles this season. In fact, the overall combined results from 2002 GN Prelims had Centerville in 6th place. They also did a wonderful job in Semi Finals. However, they ended up finishing in the dreaded 13th place. The judges were kind of all over the place with their ordinals. It was the music effect judges that really sunk their chances of getting into finals. The visual individual judge actually had them in first. I think (and someone can correct me if I am wrong) that this is the only instance of a band getting a first place ordinal from one of the judges in semi finals that did not advance on to finals. Here is the 2002 GN Semi Finals performance of the Centerville Jazz band.
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