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Post by ilikeguard on Oct 5, 2022 9:06:11 GMT -6
This is a pretty stacked indy super It's probably one of the reasons why St. Louis is so thin this year too, seeing as there's a few consistent attendees there that are skipping to try their shot here. Other than the fact that the Texas bands are skipping out as well
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Post by es203 on Oct 5, 2022 9:19:27 GMT -6
Carmel and Avon almost back to back again during prelims? Yes please
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Post by verysaxy on Oct 5, 2022 9:20:21 GMT -6
Finals Predictions as of 10/5: 1. Carmel, IN (M, GE) — Honestly, we never really know who’s in a better spot until prelims (since Avon opts out of early season regionals), but I do know that Carmel is slightly ahead of Avon by about a week, so I’ll put them here for now — even though I prefer Avon’s show design. 2. Avon, IN (V) — see above 3. Blue Springs, MO — The old Blue Springs is back! This 2018/19-esque show screams Vento and will resonate even better in person. Although I think a caption is out of reach, I can see them taking this medal from Mason pretty easily. 4. William Mason, OH 5. Lincoln-Way, IL 6. Union, OK — 🤞hoping they bounce back from last year and don’t make me look a fool putting them this high🤞 7. Jenks, OK 8. Fishers, IN — Although I was a little late to the Fishers train, consider me a passenger. Fishers is a GREAT program who had a (in my opinion) GN Finals worthy show last year with great meaning. How I see it, they could even break top five here. But for now, 8th is their calling. 9. Brownsburg, IN — I think this is the year they finally surpass Castle, albeit close. 10. Castle, IN — Castle’s show is for sure a step down from last year, but a step up from every year before so (excluding 2016/17). I don’t see them higher than 9th or lower than 10th here. It’s between them & Brownsburg. 11. Grain Valley, MO — These two Missouri powerhouses are sleepers here. I’m unsure to put them in the top half, simply because that would insinuate true GN finals caliber which, as I see it, is out of reach for now for GV & Camdenton. With that being said, they’re ALL the hype these days and could break well into top half or miss finals all together. I guess we’ll see! 12. Camdenton, MO — see above 13. Centerville, OH — Amazing showing at Louisville, hope to see them make it here as well! 14. Franklin, TN
With the way panels shook out here, I had to leave our normal contenders such as Goshen, MPLT, Center Grove, and Lafayette. I still think it’s possible for one, maybe two (but no more) to sneak in though.
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Post by verysaxy on Oct 5, 2022 9:24:10 GMT -6
Also — is Franklin really AA this year, or was that a typo? If so, that extends the list of near-guaranteed medalists at GN from four to five, which is a lot considering there’s only three medals 🫠
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Post by yayband914 on Oct 5, 2022 9:25:43 GMT -6
Also — is Franklin really AA this year, or was that a typo? If so, that extends the list of near-guaranteed medalists at GN from four to five, which is a lot considering there’s only three medals 🫠 Franklin is in AA this year and are not attending Grand Nats. Also, don’t blame Union for making you look like a fool. 😉 (But seriously though, I hope they bounce back too.)
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Post by Marching Observer on Oct 5, 2022 14:24:08 GMT -6
Carmel and Avon almost back to back again during prelims? Yes please Not to mention Center Grove seems to be doing pretty well this year too which is gets to be the creamy center of the sandwich haha. Taking Visual from Fishers at Avon 2 weeks ago (with a pretty good judging panel) and only being about 1.5 points behind them is a decent sign. Now that could have a lot to do with the awesomeness that is the CG color guard, but then what's wrong with a fantastic guard!
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Post by bandaid on Oct 5, 2022 18:33:43 GMT -6
Is Decatur Central really in Class AA? If you use DOE's numbers for the 2021-2022 school year the 9th to 11th graders would be this years 10th to 12th graders of which they have an enrollment of 1,549 which is well within in Class AAA.
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Post by Marching Observer on Oct 5, 2022 18:47:52 GMT -6
Is Decatur Central really in AA? I mean that's what they were declared at at Louisville so it will have to be for the rest of the season. I scratch my head on that one though too...
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Post by coleeich on Oct 5, 2022 19:12:13 GMT -6
My personal opinion is Jenks is a solid contender for 5th at this contest. That could be able to pull off the upset and beat out WM for 4th, but I think it is unlikely. I also currently don't see Union in finals, although I think a lot of people counted them out last year and they still made it. I think we could see a Grain Valley or Camdenton upset as well, which would be neat. I'll post predictions a little closer to the contest to see how the next couple of weeks shake out!
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Post by ilikeguard on Oct 5, 2022 19:25:27 GMT -6
My personal opinion is Jenks is a solid contender for 5th at this contest. That could be able to pull off the upset and beat out WM for 4th, but I think it is unlikely. I also currently don't see Union in finals, although I think a lot of people counted them out last year and they still made it. I think we could see a Grain Valley or Camdenton upset as well, which would be neat. I'll post predictions a little closer to the contest to see how the next couple of weeks shake out! With these last few weeks of competition, I think we’ll have to see a huge change to see Union in finals. I don’t want to put the nail in the coffin yet, but the program just isn’t what it was three years ago (and that’s okay). Camdenton has been working on the issues that kept them behind Southmoore last week, but as fantastic as the show is, I don’t necessarily see them in either. They’re matched with Grain Valley early season, but GV is very strong late season. I’m hesitant to put Jenks so high due to their inconsistency, but we’ve seen them at an incredibly high level before, and the show feels like it has a much higher ceiling than we’ve seen so far. I can’t see them taking any captions from WM right now, considering they lost captions to both Camdenton and Southmoore last week. But so much can change in three weeks
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Post by coleeich on Oct 5, 2022 19:29:06 GMT -6
My personal opinion is Jenks is a solid contender for 5th at this contest. That could be able to pull off the upset and beat out WM for 4th, but I think it is unlikely. I also currently don't see Union in finals, although I think a lot of people counted them out last year and they still made it. I think we could see a Grain Valley or Camdenton upset as well, which would be neat. I'll post predictions a little closer to the contest to see how the next couple of weeks shake out! With these last few weeks of competition, I think we’ll have to see a huge change to see Union in finals. I don’t want to put the nail in the coffin yet, but the program just isn’t what it was three years ago (and that’s okay). Camdenton has been working on the issues that kept them behind Southmoore last week, but as fantastic as the show is, I don’t necessarily see them in either. They’re matched with Grain Valley early season, but GV is very strong late season. I’m hesitant to put Jenks so high due to their inconsistency, but we’ve seen them at an incredibly high level before, and the show feels like it has a much higher ceiling than we’ve seen so far. I can’t see them taking any captions from WM right now, considering they lost captions to both Camdenton and Southmoore last week. But so much can change in three weeks To be fair, I have not seen anything from William Mason this year, so they might be off the charts good, I truly don't know lol. I was not a huge fan of last year's program, but they consistently perform well so I expect nothing but greatness from them! Love to stir the pot a bit with hot takes!
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Post by hewhowaits on Oct 6, 2022 5:51:35 GMT -6
Is Decatur Central really in AA? I mean that's what they were declared at at Louisville so it will have to be for the rest of the season. I scratch my head on that one though too... This is not necessarily true. I don't recall the year, but there was a case of Northmont being in a different class at Grand Nationals than they were at a regional earlier in the season. If the numbers change or are found to be incorrect, the school administration can submit a new declaration. This is most likely to happen when the new number moves a band DOWN in class.
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Post by verysaxy on Oct 6, 2022 9:04:32 GMT -6
I mean that's what they were declared at at Louisville so it will have to be for the rest of the season. I scratch my head on that one though too... This is not necessarily true. I don't recall the year, but there was a case of Northmont being in a different class at Grand Nationals than they were at a regional earlier in the season. If the numbers change or are found to be incorrect, the school administration can submit a new declaration. This is most likely to happen when the new number moves a band DOWN in class. This also happened in 2019 with Roma (TX). At McAllen they were announced as AAA and at SA they won AA. Honestly a great deal for them — two class championships in one season!
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Post by Marching Observer on Oct 6, 2022 11:11:18 GMT -6
What is unfortunate though in those cases when they are found incorrect is that whatever band got knocked out of getting a placement being recognized. So just in case it is found to be wrong, congratulations to Bellbrook (OH) who would have placed 3rd in AA at Louisville! And honestly, quite deserved too. I truly believe this is the best show and overall band I've seen from Bellbrook in many years! Hope they continue to improve this season and in the years to come to become a force once again.
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Post by brnrkm on Oct 7, 2022 0:32:26 GMT -6
With these last few weeks of competition, I think we’ll have to see a huge change to see Union in finals. I don’t want to put the nail in the coffin yet, but the program just isn’t what it was three years ago (and that’s okay). Camdenton has been working on the issues that kept them behind Southmoore last week, but as fantastic as the show is, I don’t necessarily see them in either. They’re matched with Grain Valley early season, but GV is very strong late season. I’m hesitant to put Jenks so high due to their inconsistency, but we’ve seen them at an incredibly high level before, and the show feels like it has a much higher ceiling than we’ve seen so far. I can’t see them taking any captions from WM right now, considering they lost captions to both Camdenton and Southmoore last week. But so much can change in three weeks To be fair, I have not seen anything from William Mason this year, so they might be off the charts good, I truly don't know lol. I was not a huge fan of last year's program, but they consistently perform well so I expect nothing but greatness from them! Love to stir the pot a bit with hot takes! I don’t think Camdenton won any captions in Finals at BAI. 🤔Southmoore took Music and Jenks took Visual and GE. Union has a lot of work to do in a short timeframe. They will definitely improve, just how much remains to be seen. Hoping it’s enough to get them into finals at Indy!
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Post by ilikeguard on Oct 7, 2022 8:58:06 GMT -6
To be fair, I have not seen anything from William Mason this year, so they might be off the charts good, I truly don't know lol. I was not a huge fan of last year's program, but they consistently perform well so I expect nothing but greatness from them! Love to stir the pot a bit with hot takes! I don’t think Camdenton won any captions in Finals at BAI. 🤔Southmoore took Music and Jenks took Visual and GE. Union has a lot of work to do in a short timeframe. They will definitely improve, just how much remains to be seen. Hoping it’s enough to get them into finals at Indy! Camdenton was first in Visual in prelims. You're correct that they didn't take any in finals
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Post by verysaxy on Oct 7, 2022 11:12:13 GMT -6
I know Homestead hasn’t quite met expectations recently, but after watching that Box5 video posted on YouTube last week I’m pretty confident they’re in finals. That band can play, and it’s such a huge improvement from last year.
I also think a lot of us (myself included) got so caught up in the placements talk we didn’t give equal thought to A. how close the scores were, B. the split captions, and C. how great Homestead sounds this year.
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Post by ohbandie48 on Oct 7, 2022 13:11:08 GMT -6
Taking a stab at predictions--
Panel 1, Top 5: Carmel Avon Blue Springs Castle Fishers
Panel 2, Top 5: William Mason Lafayette Lincoln-Way Brownsburg Jenks
Next 4: Grain Valley Franklin Union Homestead --------------- (Centerville) (Kennesaw Mountain)
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Post by bandalum15 on Oct 7, 2022 14:34:49 GMT -6
I know Homestead hasn’t quite met expectations recently, but after watching that Box5 video posted on YouTube last week I’m pretty confident they’re in finals. That band can play, and it’s such a huge improvement from last year. I also think a lot of us (myself included) got so caught up in the placements talk we didn’t give equal thought to A. how close the scores were, B. the split captions, and C. how great Homestead sounds this year. I would be surprised to see Homestead not make it into finals. But that prelim time slot in no man’s land on Friday morning is not going to help them. I don’t think they’ll make it as a top 5 on their panel so they will need to make it on score. That performance slot is dangerous. I’m a little nervous for them.
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Post by TeamIndiana on Oct 7, 2022 16:22:51 GMT -6
I know Homestead hasn’t quite met expectations recently, but after watching that Box5 video posted on YouTube last week I’m pretty confident they’re in finals. That band can play, and it’s such a huge improvement from last year. I also think a lot of us (myself included) got so caught up in the placements talk we didn’t give equal thought to A. how close the scores were, B. the split captions, and C. how great Homestead sounds this year. I would be surprised to see Homestead not make it into finals. But that prelim time slot in no man’s land on Friday morning is not going to help them. I don’t think they’ll make it as a top 5 on their panel so they will need to make it on score. That performance slot is dangerous. I’m a little nervous for them. Personally I’m waiting until I see them at regionals before I make any prediction on them in regards to the rest of the season. If they stack up within reason to Carmel and Fishers then I will have hope. If not, and they end up getting eclipsed by Goshen, Carroll, or any others, then that will be it for the season. I’m curious to see how they have progressed since I saw them last in Toledo. Hopefully the ending will be on the field and they will be wearing their new uniforms. I do agree about their performance time slot… definitely a bit scary!
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Post by Marching Observer on Oct 7, 2022 17:03:36 GMT -6
I would be surprised to see Homestead not make it into finals. But that prelim time slot in no man’s land on Friday morning is not going to help them. I don’t think they’ll make it as a top 5 on their panel so they will need to make it on score. That performance slot is dangerous. I’m a little nervous for them. Personally I’m waiting until I see them at regionals before I make any prediction on them in regards to the rest of the season. If they stack up within reason to Carmel and Fishers then I will have hope. If not, and they end up getting eclipsed by Goshen, Carroll, or any others, then that will be it for the season. I’m curious to see how they have progressed since I saw them last in Toledo. Hopefully the ending will be on the field and they will be wearing their new uniforms. I do agree about their performance time slot… definitely a bit scary! I'll be attending the Homestead Scholastic Prelims/Open Invitational tomorrow so will certainly have another decent look at them. I seem to be catching literally every two weeks at a time! Goshen, then Toledo, now this, and then Indy Supers, followed by (hopefully but you never know but have full confidence), State. Only then at GN the week after state will I have seen them in consecutive weeks lol. As they said before, a lot of people got caught up in the placements, rather than the actual performances. Homestead is sounding better. And they scored higher here than they normally do. Albeit a week later but that score jump is generally in line with a lot of week to week bumps. It is also very possible, and NO ONE seems to consider this, maybe Jenison is getting that good! Assume for a second that Homestead is remaining flat from last year. Not better. Not worse. Who placed 21st still in a very stacked Semi-Finals. Then Jenison's growth cannot be denied. And I've very excited by their growth. This show and last year's have really been great and I've really loved watching them. Instead of trying to think in the negative that "Homestead must be regressing" and try to think the other way and say, "wow, these bands are getting better!" because shows like Goshen and other Indiana groups that I've seen have really been pushing themselves into the world of head turning greatness. Now with that said, that slot definitely does them no favors and they seem to always get the short end of the stick when it comes to time slots which is rooouuuuggghh. At this stage, I do still have them top 5 in the block. But we've got those 2 weeks still to go and lots of bands to watch!
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Post by bandalum15 on Oct 8, 2022 7:41:37 GMT -6
Personally I’m waiting until I see them at regionals before I make any prediction on them in regards to the rest of the season. If they stack up within reason to Carmel and Fishers then I will have hope. If not, and they end up getting eclipsed by Goshen, Carroll, or any others, then that will be it for the season. I’m curious to see how they have progressed since I saw them last in Toledo. Hopefully the ending will be on the field and they will be wearing their new uniforms. I do agree about their performance time slot… definitely a bit scary! I'll be attending the Homestead Scholastic Prelims/Open Invitational tomorrow so will certainly have another decent look at them. I seem to be catching literally every two weeks at a time! Goshen, then Toledo, now this, and then Indy Supers, followed by (hopefully but you never know but have full confidence), State. Only then at GN the week after state will I have seen them in consecutive weeks lol. As they said before, a lot of people got caught up in the placements, rather than the actual performances. Homestead is sounding better. And they scored higher here than they normally do. Albeit a week later but that score jump is generally in line with a lot of week to week bumps. It is also very possible, and NO ONE seems to consider this, maybe Jenison is getting that good! Assume for a second that Homestead is remaining flat from last year. Not better. Not worse. Who placed 21st still in a very stacked Semi-Finals. Then Jenison's growth cannot be denied. And I've very excited by their growth. This show and last year's have really been great and I've really loved watching them. Instead of trying to think in the negative that "Homestead must be regressing" and try to think the other way and say, "wow, these bands are getting better!" because shows like Goshen and other Indiana groups that I've seen have really been pushing themselves into the world of head turning greatness. Now with that said, that slot definitely does them no favors and they seem to always get the short end of the stick when it comes to time slots which is rooouuuuggghh. At this stage, I do still have them top 5 in the block. But we've got those 2 weeks still to go and lots of bands to watch! I wish I could have your positive outlook! How do you do it? Please report back on how Homestead looks in tonight's performance. And does anyone know how they matched up score-wise with Goshen at their invitational last weekend?
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Post by TeamIndiana on Oct 8, 2022 20:22:51 GMT -6
I'll be attending the Homestead Scholastic Prelims/Open Invitational tomorrow so will certainly have another decent look at them. I seem to be catching literally every two weeks at a time! Goshen, then Toledo, now this, and then Indy Supers, followed by (hopefully but you never know but have full confidence), State. Only then at GN the week after state will I have seen them in consecutive weeks lol. As they said before, a lot of people got caught up in the placements, rather than the actual performances. Homestead is sounding better. And they scored higher here than they normally do. Albeit a week later but that score jump is generally in line with a lot of week to week bumps. It is also very possible, and NO ONE seems to consider this, maybe Jenison is getting that good! Assume for a second that Homestead is remaining flat from last year. Not better. Not worse. Who placed 21st still in a very stacked Semi-Finals. Then Jenison's growth cannot be denied. And I've very excited by their growth. This show and last year's have really been great and I've really loved watching them. Instead of trying to think in the negative that "Homestead must be regressing" and try to think the other way and say, "wow, these bands are getting better!" because shows like Goshen and other Indiana groups that I've seen have really been pushing themselves into the world of head turning greatness. Now with that said, that slot definitely does them no favors and they seem to always get the short end of the stick when it comes to time slots which is rooouuuuggghh. At this stage, I do still have them top 5 in the block. But we've got those 2 weeks still to go and lots of bands to watch! I wish I could have your positive outlook! How do you do it? Please report back on how Homestead looks in tonight's performance. And does anyone know how they matched up score-wise with Goshen at their invitational last weekend? I ended up deciding to go tonight to the “district” performance at Homestead. Tonight’s performance left me honestly upset. No props, no new uniforms, still no closer, sound / electronics didn’t work. Of course there are still 2 weeks until the Indy super regional, but right now I don’t have a good feeling after tonight’s performance. The 39 degree weather didn’t help either. As usual, the students did as well as they could considering the circumstances. If the Homestead staff read this forum, PLEASE fix the electronics issues. Please. Problems constantly since 2019. It’s puzzling to me. Get it figured out please, for the students. They deserve it. I’m sad that Carroll isn’t doing any BOA shows this year because they have a great show! Considering what Homestead delivered tonight, I wouldn’t be surprised if they beat them.
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Post by Marching Observer on Oct 8, 2022 22:25:01 GMT -6
I wish I could have your positive outlook! How do you do it? Please report back on how Homestead looks in tonight's performance. And does anyone know how they matched up score-wise with Goshen at their invitational last weekend? I ended up deciding to go tonight to the “district” performance at Homestead. Tonight’s performance left me honestly upset. No props, no new uniforms, still no closer, sound / electronics didn’t work. Of course there are still 2 weeks until the Indy super regional, but right now I don’t have a good feeling after tonight’s performance. The 39 degree weather didn’t help either. As usual, the students did as well as they could considering the circumstances. If the Homestead staff read this forum, PLEASE fix the electronics issues. Please. Problems constantly since 2019. It’s puzzling to me. Get it figured out please, for the students. They deserve it. I’m sad that Carroll isn’t doing any BOA shows this year because they have a great show! Considering what Homestead delivered tonight, I wouldn’t be surprised if they beat them. You beat me to the punch as I was heading home and wrapping up other posts elsewhere. But yes. I am hoping to head off several of the negative comments at the pass as it were. But this is also the first time you're going to see me rather critical too in regards to commentary. As he stated, electronics did not work, AGAIN, for Homestead. This seems to be their mantra at this point heh. I'm honestly quite baffled by this. How does this keep happening? Does it simply work fine at every practice? Is there something they can do about this as I saw the kid pounding on the laptop during the show to try and make it work as well. That's not going to help. But would a new laptop seem to be in order here? It has never seemed like a wiring issue. It truly perplexes me and this show has some MAJOR gaps in it where it relies heavily on it. Otherwise we are left with some gaping silence for several measures. Mic issues with feedback at times. My head is spinning on how everything that can go wrong with electronics, does with Homestead. This show is going to live or die by the sword...err..electronics on this. Also, still no closer yet? I'm fine with the method of putting chunks in at a time and cleaning up before moving on, but we are now halfway through the season and we didn't even get a portion of the closer tonight. So many questions regarding the status of it. You'd think they'd at least want to get eyes on it before Regionals next week even if it isn't particularly clean. Now, I don't know about other bands like Carmel and Avon if they put on the last bit of their show this week for their football games as they didn't go out to any contest this week. Both still didn't have it either last week. So in that regard, okay? But perhaps when they do finally perform it, it will be to the level of the rest of the show (for the most part) which leads me to where I'm going next. THAT SAID, here are the positive good notes to give. I will 100% stand by the performance of the kids. The music performance is really gelling and blending together nicely. This IS the best sounding Homestead in several years. The students are able to play really well in every section. I wouldn't be able to point out a weak section except for maybe some strainging/tininess/over blowing in some trumpet sections. But quite frankly, most Indiana groups have that issue including Carmel (except so far this year? Carmel is sounding on a different level this year but I digress). The woodwinds are completely solid in all of their features and the low brass are getting some good power out. The Visual was also notably improved from Toledo especially in the 'tornado' section. The circles were less blob until it is intentionally blobbed. The guard is improving on their tosses and more fluid in their dance routine. More choreography has been added especially towards the current 'end' of the show. There is almost always movement in this show. There doesn't seem to be any kids that are noticeably (at least to me) standing out having perpetual stand out in a bad way visuals. The ensemble as a whole looks better. BUT, as I stated before and to wrap up, this show has many electronic filler spots and without it, GE is going to get hit HARD. And that is 100% not on the students at all. They are doing exactly what they need to be doing and doing it exceedingly well. This show may not be to your preference and there are things to be concerned about. But I will never think that this group of students is in any shape worse than last year which even then by the end put on a fun, enjoyable show (well I guess to some but you know what I mean lol) that still placed them 21st in a rather stacked year at Grand Nations. I wish we could figure out the most glaring issue (you know what it is and I'm also tired of saying it), so that we could truly pay attention to the other things that could be worked on or appreciate the talent of all of these kids who are owning this show; rather than being continually distracted by the perpetual issue felt throughout the show by its absence. However, the show must go on. I was asked how I am able to remain so positive. It's because (through many years of practice haha) that I am able to (mostly) ignore when problems happen and still focus on what is still being presented to me. Its intention, design, performance, etc. I see where this show can lead and see the improvement of each of these performers. I can, and do, acknowledge the flaws and mistakes that are/do occur. Why I don't bring them up is because others have already pointed them out. There is no need to compound it. So I try to take it on myself to point out the positives. It isn't that I think it's all rainbows and sunshine. Goodness no. But the kids need to hear the good things as well. When I start to see people start to gush over a band, I tend to want to point out its flaws. Call me Thanos but I like to keep things perfectly balanced. Just as all things should be lol. But I normally don't simply because I don't generally like to be negative in a public space and also because unless it's a pretty large flaw, I'll assume it will get fixed. Also because I don't want people to start yelling at me and be angry saying that I'm biased or that I'm being mean to the kids or generally hurting feelings cause someone likes something. I'm a people person. I like to try and make everyone happy. Annnnnyyyywwwayyyy. I think I've gone on a long enough tangent tonight. Final thoughts. Homestead's PERFORMANCE levels are up. The elephant in the room is still there though and it's a big boy heh. I'm not going to be overly shocked by any scores or score differences or captions captured that may be leaked at some point. The potential and talent are all there. It will come down to getting it right when it matters most. And that's where I stress at because that is the area that they have not been consistent with at all. But I hope that I'm proved wrong and that they can and will be able to and have a smooth rest of the season. We'll have to see. I admit it is very frustrating to see it keep happening over and over again. It wears on you. Makes me tired when I see that lost potential. So here's to hope, belief, and a bit of luck. I'll always love Homestead, but for the love of....please please please fix this. Keep on getting better everyday. Everything else you've been doing has been great. Truly. Thanks for coming to my TED talk? haha
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Post by oldschooldrummer on Oct 8, 2022 22:42:46 GMT -6
I wish I could have your positive outlook! How do you do it? Please report back on how Homestead looks in tonight's performance. And does anyone know how they matched up score-wise with Goshen at their invitational last weekend? I ended up deciding to go tonight to the “district” performance at Homestead. Tonight’s performance left me honestly upset. No props, no new uniforms, still no closer, sound / electronics didn’t work. Of course there are still 2 weeks until the Indy super regional, but right now I don’t have a good feeling after tonight’s performance. The 39 degree weather didn’t help either. As usual, the students did as well as they could considering the circumstances. If the Homestead staff read this forum, PLEASE fix the electronics issues. Please. Problems constantly since 2019. It’s puzzling to me. Get it figured out please, for the students. They deserve it. I’m sad that Carroll isn’t doing any BOA shows this year because they have a great show! Considering what Homestead delivered tonight, I wouldn’t be surprised if they beat them. Was also at Homestead tonight. Ditto to everything you guys have said. I will also say I’m sad Carroll is doing BOA this year. I really like and enjoy their show. I too think it’s a great show! Really nice GE musically and visually. I like what they’re doing visually, of course it still needs cleaning. They don’t have that Homestead sound, but they’re getting better every year. And I think this is the best tone quality overall they’ve had. From what I understand, they have a ton of young kids. Something like close to 40% are first year marchers. Just my thoughts on Carroll since you guys seemed to have nailed my Homestead thoughts 🤷🏻♂️
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Post by Marching Observer on Oct 8, 2022 23:20:01 GMT -6
As I did not mention Carroll in my post, I too want to give a big shout-out to them as well. It is a loss to BOA for them not going this year. Easily the best Carroll band to date and they show no signs of stopping in improvement. They are your next Homestead/Fishers/Brownsburg (different styles yes but quality).
I want to give another shout-out to DeKalb who IS going to be here. Best I've seen them in a long time and I'm really looking forward to seeing this show again at Indy Supers (and quite possibly State). They are AA and no real threat of medaling, but this is a band worth sticking around and watching.
Another loss to BOA this year is Concordia Lutheran. Could have made some noise in A at Indy. Catch them if you can elsewhere though. Very solid.
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Post by bandalum15 on Oct 9, 2022 6:17:52 GMT -6
I ended up deciding to go tonight to the “district” performance at Homestead. Tonight’s performance left me honestly upset. No props, no new uniforms, still no closer, sound / electronics didn’t work. Of course there are still 2 weeks until the Indy super regional, but right now I don’t have a good feeling after tonight’s performance. The 39 degree weather didn’t help either. As usual, the students did as well as they could considering the circumstances. If the Homestead staff read this forum, PLEASE fix the electronics issues. Please. Problems constantly since 2019. It’s puzzling to me. Get it figured out please, for the students. They deserve it. I’m sad that Carroll isn’t doing any BOA shows this year because they have a great show! Considering what Homestead delivered tonight, I wouldn’t be surprised if they beat them. You beat me to the punch as I was heading home and wrapping up other posts elsewhere. But yes. I am hoping to head off several of the negative comments at the pass as it were. But this is also the first time you're going to see me rather critical too in regards to commentary. As he stated, electronics did not work, AGAIN, for Homestead. This seems to be their mantra at this point heh. I'm honestly quite baffled by this. How does this keep happening? Does it simply work fine at every practice? Is there something they can do about this as I saw the kid pounding on the laptop during the show to try and make it work as well. That's not going to help. But would a new laptop seem to be in order here? It has never seemed like a wiring issue. It truly perplexes me and this show has some MAJOR gaps in it where it relies heavily on it. Otherwise we are left with some gaping silence for several measures. Mic issues with feedback at times. My head is spinning on how everything that can go wrong with electronics, does with Homestead. This show is going to live or die by the sword...err..electronics on this. Also, still no closer yet? I'm fine with the method of putting chunks in at a time and cleaning up before moving on, but we are now halfway through the season and we didn't even get a portion of the closer tonight. So many questions regarding the status of it. You'd think they'd at least want to get eyes on it before Regionals next week even if it isn't particularly clean. Now, I don't know about other bands like Carmel and Avon if they put on the last bit of their show this week for their football games as they didn't go out to any contest this week. Both still didn't have it either last week. So in that regard, okay? But perhaps when they do finally perform it, it will be to the level of the rest of the show (for the most part) which leads me to where I'm going next. THAT SAID, here are the positive good notes to give. I will 100% stand by the performance of the kids. The music performance is really gelling and blending together nicely. This IS the best sounding Homestead in several years. The students are able to play really well in every section. I wouldn't be able to point out a weak section except for maybe some strainging/tininess/over blowing in some trumpet sections. But quite frankly, most Indiana groups have that issue including Carmel (except so far this year? Carmel is sounding on a different level this year but I digress). The woodwinds are completely solid in all of their features and the low brass are getting some good power out. The Visual was also notably improved from Toledo especially in the 'tornado' section. The circles were less blob until it is intentionally blobbed. The guard is improving on their tosses and more fluid in their dance routine. More choreography has been added especially towards the current 'end' of the show. There is almost always movement in this show. There doesn't seem to be any kids that are noticeably (at least to me) standing out having perpetual stand out in a bad way visuals. The ensemble as a whole looks better. BUT, as I stated before and to wrap up, this show has many electronic filler spots and without it, GE is going to get hit HARD. And that is 100% not on the students at all. They are doing exactly what they need to be doing and doing it exceedingly well. This show may not be to your preference and there are things to be concerned about. But I will never think that this group of students is in any shape worse than last year which even then by the end put on a fun, enjoyable show (well I guess to some but you know what I mean lol) that still placed them 21st in a rather stacked year at Grand Nations. I wish we could figure out the most glaring issue (you know what it is and I'm also tired of saying it), so that we could truly pay attention to the other things that could be worked on or appreciate the talent of all of these kids who are owning this show; rather than being continually distracted by the perpetual issue felt throughout the show by its absence. However, the show must go on. I was asked how I am able to remain so positive. It's because (through many years of practice haha) that I am able to (mostly) ignore when problems happen and still focus on what is still being presented to me. Its intention, design, performance, etc. I see where this show can lead and see the improvement of each of these performers. I can, and do, acknowledge the flaws and mistakes that are/do occur. Why I don't bring them up is because others have already pointed them out. There is no need to compound it. So I try to take it on myself to point out the positives. It isn't that I think it's all rainbows and sunshine. Goodness no. But the kids need to hear the good things as well. When I start to see people start to gush over a band, I tend to want to point out its flaws. Call me Thanos but I like to keep things perfectly balanced. Just as all things should be lol. But I normally don't simply because I don't generally like to be negative in a public space and also because unless it's a pretty large flaw, I'll assume it will get fixed. Also because I don't want people to start yelling at me and be angry saying that I'm biased or that I'm being mean to the kids or generally hurting feelings cause someone likes something. I'm a people person. I like to try and make everyone happy. Annnnnyyyywwwayyyy. I think I've gone on a long enough tangent tonight. Final thoughts. Homestead's PERFORMANCE levels are up. The elephant in the room is still there though and it's a big boy heh. I'm not going to be overly shocked by any scores or score differences or captions captured that may be leaked at some point. The potential and talent are all there. It will come down to getting it right when it matters most. And that's where I stress at because that is the area that they have not been consistent with at all. But I hope that I'm proved wrong and that they can and will be able to and have a smooth rest of the season. We'll have to see. I admit it is very frustrating to see it keep happening over and over again. It wears on you. Makes me tired when I see that lost potential. So here's to hope, belief, and a bit of luck. I'll always love Homestead, but for the love of....please please please fix this. Keep on getting better everyday. Everything else you've been doing has been great. Truly. Thanks for coming to my TED talk? haha Thank you for the reports. I was hoping for better news. I hope the staff can fix their problems, because I'm sorry to say this falls on the program leadership.
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contra
Junior Member
Posts: 23
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Post by contra on Oct 9, 2022 8:25:12 GMT -6
I wish I could have your positive outlook! How do you do it? Please report back on how Homestead looks in tonight's performance. And does anyone know how they matched up score-wise with Goshen at their invitational last weekend? I ended up deciding to go tonight to the “district” performance at Homestead. Tonight’s performance left me honestly upset. No props, no new uniforms, still no closer, sound / electronics didn’t work. Of course there are still 2 weeks until the Indy super regional, but right now I don’t have a good feeling after tonight’s performance. The 39 degree weather didn’t help either. As usual, the students did as well as they could considering the circumstances. If the Homestead staff read this forum, PLEASE fix the electronics issues. Please. Problems constantly since 2019. It’s puzzling to me. Get it figured out please, for the students. They deserve it. I’m sad that Carroll isn’t doing any BOA shows this year because they have a great show! Considering what Homestead delivered tonight, I wouldn’t be surprised if they beat them. I'm just perplexed at how this has been going on for so long. It's just another symptom of the program being poorly managed, and quite frankly, it's unacceptable.
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Post by TeamIndiana on Oct 9, 2022 10:11:55 GMT -6
I ended up deciding to go tonight to the “district” performance at Homestead. Tonight’s performance left me honestly upset. No props, no new uniforms, still no closer, sound / electronics didn’t work. Of course there are still 2 weeks until the Indy super regional, but right now I don’t have a good feeling after tonight’s performance. The 39 degree weather didn’t help either. As usual, the students did as well as they could considering the circumstances. If the Homestead staff read this forum, PLEASE fix the electronics issues. Please. Problems constantly since 2019. It’s puzzling to me. Get it figured out please, for the students. They deserve it. I’m sad that Carroll isn’t doing any BOA shows this year because they have a great show! Considering what Homestead delivered tonight, I wouldn’t be surprised if they beat them. I'm just perplexed at how this has been going on for so long. It's just another symptom of the program being poorly managed, and quite frankly, it's unacceptable. They spent A LOT of money this year on a new soundboard and speakers and yet there are still issues, so obviously that wasn’t the problem. It is probably procedural problems along with leadership problems. Regardless, they have to get it figured out and fixed. There are no excuses that can blanket the 3 seasons of sound problems any longer. I’ve been to several practices this season and they haven’t had any problems with the electronics. It’s the quick setup that’s causing the problem at shows. If they need to practice over and over and over again the set up process to get it right, then that’s what they need to do. Get it done Homestead staff! The students deserve it.
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Post by verysaxy on Oct 9, 2022 10:36:55 GMT -6
This may sound selfish of me, but I’m so exhausted of having the same Homestead conversation every year. I’m on the same page as the rest, something needs to change.
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