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Post by boahistorybuff on Nov 18, 2021 4:42:13 GMT -6
rickofavon Very glad you enjoy these write ups. I have a copy and several others here have copied these. I will do the 2021 season write up a few months down the road. I like to re-watch the performances and get my thought together. I also try to catch some performances I missed. A lot of bands these days to keep track of. As for your question: The years that Bands of America was known as Marching Bands of America was from 1975 (with the first GN taking place in 1976) until 1984. In 1984 it became Bands of America. It was the first four years (1976 to 1979) that the Grand National Finalists were broken by class. During those four years, Grand Nationals was held in June in Whitewater, WI (yes summer competitions were big back then). The bands were divided into two classes; Open Class for larger schools and Class A for smaller schools. In prelims, it was one judging panel for all bands. The top 6 scoring bands from the two classes then advanced to finals. In finals, again one judging panel, all 12 bands competed. The highest placing band from each class was awarded the class champion title and the band with the highest overall score, regardless of class, was named Grand National Champion. In 1980, Grand Nationals was moved to the fall. The Whitewater event was renamed the summer nationals and continued through 1989. In 1980, a third class (AA) for mid sized schools was added. At nationals (both Grand Nationals and Summer Nationals), the means for selecting finalist bands was the top 12 scoring bands from prelims advanced and the top two from each class if they were not part of the top 12 in prelims advanced. In the early 80s, Class A bands typically did land in the top 12. By the end of the decade, as more larger school bands were competing, the top two class A bands from prelims did not always make the top 12. So you will see finals consisted of more than 12 bands. In 1991, the means of selection for finals (class champions were named from prelims) was a little closer to how it is today.
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rickofavon
Senior Member
Never let the drumming die.
Posts: 75
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Post by rickofavon on Nov 18, 2021 9:50:57 GMT -6
Nice. Thanks for the clarification there on how the early summer/grand nationals functioned when it comes to advancements and finals structure. Super helpful in understanding.
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Post by trumpet300 on Dec 10, 2021 10:01:22 GMT -6
Excited to hopefully see a 2021 review soon!!!
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Post by boahistorybuff on Dec 10, 2021 10:41:03 GMT -6
Excited to hopefully see a 2021 review soon!!! Yes there will be one coming soon, sometime after the holidays.
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Post by trumpet300 on Dec 10, 2021 11:57:10 GMT -6
Excited to hopefully see a 2021 review soon!!! Yes there will be one coming soon, sometime after the holidays. Can't wait!
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Post by boahistorybuff on Jan 14, 2022 5:52:05 GMT -6
2021 SEASON REVIEW
Following the canceled 2020 season due to Covid, 2021 may very well be the most anticipated season in BOA's history. BOA managed to make it quite the success and even pulled off 21 BOA regionals, with just logistics of securing a venue preventing a regional in California this season (it was 10 years since the last time BOA was unable to get a venue for California). To me there seemed to be some programs that had been more impacted by the pandemic than others. However, despite the craziness of the last two years with the Covid pandemic, 2021 managed to bring a lot of extraordinary shows. If there is to be one silver lining in the last two years and the impacts they have had on the marching arts, I would say that it was evident there were a lot of students using their quarantine/at home time practicing and it showed in some extraordinary solos and ensembles this season. While there have always been some great soloists over the years, especially from bands at the top, I noticed some amazing solos at just about every performance level this season.
Seeing this was the first season of a new decade, the trends of the 2010s have certainly carried into the 2020s. Colorful artistic uniforms and/or costumes among the band and guard are pretty much the norm. The use of electronics is now extensive; with bands certainly needing the expertise of electronics/sound technicians. As I stated before, this year was notable for incredible solos and ensembles; typically showcased on platforms in the pit or on top of staging/props on the field. The visual aspect of the shows have continued a steady evolving trend. In fact, on a personal note, I have struggled a bit to wrap my head around some of the changes of recent years. There are so many variations in movement among the band members. No longer is a show just marching from formation to formation. There are a lot of form breaks, running, moving up and down, onto and off props, etc. In addition to more artistic movements, there is certainly a good deal of athleticism going on. I can't imagine the amount of conditioning these bands have to go through to play the way they do while moving so much. I am typically one to watch the hi cam angles. This season I watched a lot more on the multi cam to try to gain more appreciation for the level of choreography with respect to the body positioning that is now going into these shows. I imagine getting the timing down and body movements just right takes an enormous amount of practice time. The whole show concept/themes are as abstract and creative as ever. Don't even ask me about all the symbolism that is now packed into these shows. I just watch and listen and enjoy. I get the sense that some of the trends with these show themes are that they offer a more broad interpretation by the audience; or maybe that is just how I feel. One of the ongoing trends is more seamlessness in the shows. There is now often little if any stopping from the pre show right through the end; something always seems to be moving or playing.
The fall of 2021 actually marked 30 years since I participated in BOA and Grand Nationals as a senior in high school. How things have changed. If I were to place myself back in 1991 and then watch the 2021 Grand National Finals, this is probably what I would think about the changes. For one, the very colorful uniforms and attire would probably look like something out of a science fiction movie. I would be in awe of the more professional look of the props and how well they moved across the field. The amount of electronics would be very surprising. I think I would be perplexed by the different ways the bands were moving and the dramatic differences in the visual designs and how they blended with the moving props. Most of all, I would be blown away by how well the bands played. I would have a hard time believing that these were high school students.
Although this rule change was set in 2020, this was the first year it was implemented. That rule change was expanding the number of finalists at the BOA regionals (non Super Regionals) to 12 instead of 10. Some of the 21 regionals held this season did not have a large number of participating bands (I am sure still being in the midst of the pandemic contributed to that). That is alright as it allowed several bands the opportunity to be named regional champions who would not be so fortunate at more widely attended regionals. There were also a whopping 8 BOA regionals held in the state of Texas (including the San Antonio Super Regional). Despite all these regionals, not a single Texas band won multiple regionals this year, the first time since 2011 when only three regionals were held in the state that no Texas band won more than one regional in the same season.
The College Park, MD regional, held early season, was won by Kiski Area PA. This marked Kiski's 21st BOA regional title. They beat Cleveland NC by a little over two points. This second place finish by Cleveland is the closest this band has come to a BOA regional title. A few points down in third was BOA stalwart, Norwin PA. Tarpon Springs FL picked up two regional titles this season. At the mid season Orlando regional, Tarpon won with every judge having them in first. Timber Creek FL had a very respectable second place finish and is now on my radar. That second place finish was their strongest showing at a BOA event to date. Tarpon also won the Johnson City TN regional where they beat out Dobyns-Bennett TN. DB however was not far behind Tarpon and actually won the music performance award and tied Tarpon in music effect. Tarpon Springs did a modernized take on the Wizard of Oz. This was a show I wish they had taken to Grand Nationals. These two regional titles have given Tarpon Springs 24 total regional wins as of this writing. One of the regionals held the first weekend of fall BOA competition this season was Powder Springs GA. Although sparsely attended, it was memorable in that long-time BOA competitor Walton GA won their very first BOA regional title, edging out Mill Creek GA. The mid-season Jacksonville AL regional was tight at the top between Wanda SC and Dobyns-Bennett TN with Wando edging out DB for their third BOA regional title. Another South Carolina power, James F Byrnes was a distant 3rd. In 4th was a strong and a bit of a surprise showing by Hernando MS who edged out Georgia power Harrison.
The McAllen TX regional was in my opinion a bit of an upset as Louis D Brandeis TX beat Weiss TX for their first ever BOA regional title. Brandeis is from San Antonio; the city that has given regional champs named after a US president, First Lady, British Prime Minister and now a Supreme Court Justice. The McAllen regional also made history because finals were canceled, not by rain or storms but by excessive heat; the first BOA regional to be interrupted by very hot conditions. This season marked the first time that two BOA regionals were held in the greater Houston area. The Katy TX regional was won by Ronald Reagan TX, while Cedar Ridge TX had a strong second place finish. This marked Reagan's 12th BOA regional title, giving them the second highest number of BOA regionals for a Texas band (LD Bell has the most with 15). The other Houston regional was on the northside in Shenandoah TX. The Woodlands TX won by several points and swept all captions. This was The Woodlands fourth BOA title and their first win since their 2013 championship season. Cypress Woods TX came in second, the closest this band has so far come to a BOA regional title. At the early season Austin TX regional, defending GN Champ Vandegrift TX edged out Claudia Taylor Johnson TX by a mere quarter point for their fourth BOA regional title. The Waco TX regional was won by Cedar Park TX, a big comeback year for this band. This was Cedar Park's first BOA regional title. They had finished runner-up four or five times at previous regionals. Prior to this event, Cedar Park was on my list of best bands never to have won a BOA regional. I will say that second place Rouse TX put up a good showing at this regional. The DFW area regional, held in Bedford TX, had three very strong shows at the top. Flower Mound TX won the regional, their 8th BOA regional title. Hebron TX was a strong second with Marcus TX in third. The west Texas regional, held in Midland, was won by Johnson TX from Buda, not to be confused with CTJ. This was their first BOA regional title. They beat second place Summit TX by a razor thin 0.05 points; the closest Summit has come to a BOA regional title.
The only BOA regional held west of the Rockies this season was at St George, UT. American Fork UT won this regional, their 10th BOA regional title. This band has certainly come to be a dominating force at this regional. Lakota West OH made the long distance trip and had a strong second place finish, with Farmington UT close behind in third. This regional actually featured many Utah bands in finals. BOA returned to Cedar Rapids IA for the second time. Camdenton MO won the regional; their first BOA regional title with Morton IL (a strong contender) in second place. Castle IN swept all caption awards at the early season Clarksville TN regional, making this their fourth BOA regional title. Their strong performance also made us consider them a contender for GN finals. Lincoln-Way IL had a strong second place finish (their highest placement at a BOA regional) with Franklin TN in third. The early season Dayton OH regional was dominated by Carmel IN with Centerville OH coming in a strong second. The central (Obitz) OH regional was actually fairly close at the top. Lakota West (OH) won their first ever BOA regional title. Decatur Central IN was second, their highest finish at a BOA regional with Worthington Kilbourne OH in third. The Toledo OH regional was won by up and coming Brownsburg IN, their first BOA regional title. The other Lakota (Lakota East) was second and Rockford MI third.
As has been the case since 2010, the Indianapolis IN Super Regional was a match between Carmel IN and Avon IN with Caramel pulling off the win; their second regional title of the season. As of this writing, this makes 25 BOA regional wins for Carmel. Carmel managed to edge out Avon by two tenths of a point. Later in the season, Avon would edge out Carmel for the Indiana State Title. William Mason OH was a strong third at the Indy Super Regional. Broken Arrow OK was of course heavily favored to win the St Louis Super Regional and they really delivered. This marked the 18th BOA regional title for Broken Arrow and 15th consecutive regional win. BA has won the St Louis Super Regional every year since 2007, except 2012 the year they did not attend. Blue Springs MO was a strong second. There were a few Texas bands that attended this regional this year. I love these Texas bands coming to St Louis because they make this regional more competitive. It was Coppell in 3rd, Prosper in 4th and Southlake Carroll in 5th. Somewhat surprising was that Camdenton MO, who won the Iowa regional, just missed finals.
Then of course the granddaddy of all regionals, the San Antonio Super Regional. As is typical, this regional did not disappoint. Hebron TX took top honors, winning their very first Super Regional Title (fourth BOA regional overall) which was something many felt was long overdue. After finishing second earlier in the season at the DFW regional, Hebron seemed determined to deliver a strong show and boy did they deliver. For many years Hebron has been considered one of the best bands musically ever to have competed in BOA (in their two GN appearances they finished third and won best music both times). What I also took note of this year was a big improvement in the visual aspect of their show, which made this a performance that would be a GN champion contender had they attended nationals (or perhaps I should say would have been close to BA). Their show was called 'Penstriped'. Several large striped props were moved around the field with huge streamers of color coming out of them at the end. The whole visual aspect of the show was very clean and I personally loved the ending. With Hebron, their music is always a treat. In this show, the music was beyond great. The minute they started playing, you knew this was going to be great. There were several moments of amazing technical difficulty done by the brass, woodwinds and percussion and these moments were done with extreme clarity. What also impressed me was how this band attacked this show. While this show had many moments of powerful ensemble sound, there were also sections of more subtlety and emotion. Just a few days after the super regional, the Texas 6A State UIL Championships was held and Hebron won the title. I actually thought their UIL performance was stronger. In fact, I would consider it one of the best performances from a musical aspect ever done by a high school marching band. In a strong second place finish and a band I certainly had as a contender for the title was the reigning GN national champ Vandegrift TX with their show "Juliet Letters". Another band with a strong music ensemble sound, this show had wonderful flow and they played a lot of very familiar classical music. They also did a wonderful job at conveying the emotion in this show (it was a love story after all). One of the things I was actually really impressed with was the percussion, especially the battery. The percussion arrangements were done extremely well and showcased the brilliance of Vandegrift's drumline. We often talk about the brass and woodwind sections in these powerhouse Texas bands, but I have also heard some awesome percussion features from the Lone Star State. Vandegrift is also one of BOA's largest marching bands; so I can only imagine how incredible their sound filled the Alamodome. The 3rd through 5th place finishers all attended Grand Nationals this season; Claudia Taylor Johnson, The Woodlands and Ronald Reagan. Cedar Ridge TX ended up finishing 6th, their highest finish at San Antonio to date with a rather strong and well arranged/designed show. In fact, in 2019 they failed to make finals at San Antonio. Marcus TX finished 7th; Coppell wound up in 8th with one of their best shows in my opinion, Leander TX came in 9th (their vintage bus prop was quite the crowd pleaser); Keller TX was 10th; Cedar Park TX was 11th with their nod to shows of their past; Vista Ridge TX was 12th, with Rouse TX in 13th and Pearland TX in 14th. The latter two are both bands that many of us have our eye on for future success.
There were a total of 99 bands who attended Grand Nationals this season. For the first time in BOA history, a Nevada band (Pinecrest Cadence) attended. Overall, however, there did not seem to be as much geographic diversity as in years past. I am sure the pandemic had a lot to do with that. A total of seven Texas bands did attend, which made this a rather competitive Grand Nationals at the top. BOA used a new streaming service this season, BOX5 Media. After some glitches at some early season regionals, Grand Nationals seemed to go on without a hitch. One of the big changes at the regionals and nationals was that there were no retreats prior to the awards. This was a Covid protocal so as not to pack all the bands on the field. There were 34 bands that advanced to Semi Finals. Of the 12 finalist bands, 6 were from Texas. While I am not big on scores as they are so dependent on the judging panel, (I actually thought 2019 scores could have been a little higher) I definitely agreed with some of the high scores set at Grand Nationals this season.
After their performance in St Louis and at the OBA State Championships, Broken Arrow OK (The Pride of Broken Arrow) established themselves as a strong contender for the Grand National title this season. When they won the class 4A title in Semi Finals, they seemed destined to win the title. They more than delivered in Finals. Their show was titled 'The Edge of Eternity'. To me this show seemed to take us on a journey with an obvious love story component. BA made very extensive use of various body movements, running, jumping, etc; more so than most other bands this season. This band was actually why I chose to watch the multicam angle live (I typically prefer hi cam). The visuals, especially all of their movements, were certainly clean and helped earn them the visual performance award in finals. One of the things that got me about this show was how fluid it was. After a soft musical pre show with a dancing guard, the show started and immediately I felt "OK the journey has begun". The whole show flowed seamlessly from start to finish; not stopping until the end. Even the multiple elaborate and colorful props almost seemed to float across the field. There were also some wonderful musical moments; at times very strong and powerful and at other times soft, but jammed packed with emotion. How this music was arranged, phrased and delivered, I just felt the whole idea of an emotional journey based solely off the music. Although they did not win overall music performance, the music ensemble judge did have them in first. BA did take best general effect, with all three GE judges placing them first. In fact, they were only a half a point off a perfect GE score. Now don't get me wrong, I loved their visual designs, but there are many shows from the past that I liked better (more or less from the 90s/early 2000s era of fast drill transitions). In my opinion, however, Broken Arrow had the best overall general effect I have ever seen. For me, it seemed like the music was flowing through the visual designs and even through the bodies of the band members. The design certainly had a lot to do with this but so too was how well all of the members performed. The guard, especially those flags, also contributed greatly to this (even the section of amazing rifle work felt fluid; yes BA went back to using rifles). It went a step above the way they married music and visual design in their legendary 2006 GN win. I have a distinct feeling that this show is going to be looked back on in the future as an iconic/legendary show, perhaps even ahead of its time. In fact, I have noticed that in many of BOA's greatest shows of the past, two things seemed common. One, several band members broke into tears at the end of the show and two, the standing ovation began before the music even stopped. Both of these things occurred at the end of Broken Arrows performance. This marked Broken Arrow's 16th Grand National Finals appearance and fourth Grand National title. They scored 98.25 points, becoming the first band in BOA history to break 98 points and setting a brand new score record that will prove a tough one for future bands to beat.
In second place was Carmel IN with their show 'The Expanse'. Several large and tall black props were used to create the illusion of the expanse. These props were near the front of the show at the beginning, then moved back and forth a bit throughout the show. Band members emerged from behind the props at times, performed in front of them with the black props serving as a backdrop and even performed atop them at times. It created multiple visual illusions throughout the show. Carmel did a rock solid, clean and controlled performance. I also have to mention some wonderful guard moments in this show. They packed a lot of classical music into this show with of course some original work by Richard Saucedo. I personally loved their music selections. Overall, this was a more subdued music repertoire with an extended ballad section. They seemed to pour their hearts into that music which made for an extraordinary ballad piece. All three GE judges had them second to BA. Although they were over a point behind BA, they still broke 97 points. This marked Carmel's 25th appearance in Grand National Finals, the second highest number of appearances behind Marian. Another extraordinary fact about Carmel is that since 1999, they have placed in the top five in Grand National finals every year except one, this includes their five GN Titles. I don't see this band slowing down either.
One of the things I loved about Avon IN this season is how they delivered at Grand Nationals. They finished in third place, their 14th consecutive year finishing in the top three in GN finals, an astonishing record that no other band comes close to. Avon's show was titled 'Passing the Torch', which gave me a bit of an Olympic vibe. When I saw this show early in the season, I thought, hmmm, the music is a bit rough. There were also several who predicted that Avon would not make the top three in GN Finals this year. Avon had something different to say. Let's just say they cleaned the music up considerably and in semi finals tied for music performance. Their music was powerful, packed with difficulty and it was just crisp and clean. I also have to give a shout to a wonderful saxophone section. Also all of those keyboards; amazing as usual. Featured in the beginning and near the end was a trumpet/snare duet (the melody is still stuck in my head), which I found quite cool. As is usual with Avon, I absolutely loved the drill. It was fast and furious at times with many difficult transitions. Like always, Avon just attacked it with a high degree of confidence. It is understandable given their visual difficulty that their music really peaked late season, once they got all those moves down. And of course, there is that fantastic Avon guard with rifles flying at dizzying heights. One of the things I appreciated in this show (and in several recent Avon shows) is that they are embracing the visual changes of recent years but still maintaining aspects from the late 2000s that have made them the BOA legend that they are. This season marked Avon's 19th appearance in Grand National Finals.
One of the big crowd favorite shows this season was 4th place The Woodlands TX 'Life's a Cabaret'. Somewhat continuing with a mid 20th century vibe like their 2019 show, The Woodlands took the whole idea of a Cabaret and brought it to the field. For some of you youngsters, a cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song and dance. They often took place in nightclubs. The whole band really adapted to this theme, transforming themselves into cabaret performers. I mean they really sold this show. To be honest, this show really impressed the you know what out of me. The soloists were just astonishing. The songs, the dance, the fast tempos, etc made this show just a treat to watch from start to finish. There were a couple up tempo sections that may very well classify as some of the fastest tempos ever in BOA competition; certainly helped by one awesome percussion section. I swear those keyboards were smoking by the end of the show. Now I know the top three bands in finals were amazing. Still, everytime I see The Woodlands at Grand Nationals and San Antonio (with the exception of 2013 of course), I always expect them to place higher than what they do. Although they finished 4th, they still broke 96 points, making this the highest scoring fourth place finish in Grand National Finals history. This was also The Woodlands 11th appearance in Grand National Finals, making them the Texas band with the most GN Finals appearances.
Another big crowd pleaser this season was 5th place Flower Mound TX with their 'Geisel Show' which was based on Dr. Seuss (aka Theodore Seuss Geisel). Flower Mound has become a band known for some very creative and interesting show themes and boy did they nail it this season. They even wrote an intro and ending for the announcers to read that sounded right out of a Dr. Suess book. A large green ramp prop in the front of the field also looked straight out of the Dr Seuss books, although I imagine that could have been a distraction from some vantage points. The band and guard really got into character in this show and I mean just brilliantly sold it. It looked like they had a lot of fun doing this show. Flower Mound did not attend San Antonio the week prior, so how they were going to stack up was still a little up in the air. They lived up to expectations. While this show had a lot of little quirks and unique points of visual interest (it was Dr. Seuss after all), the music was extremely well played and just plain enjoyable. Flower Mound won the music performance award, largely with the help of the music judge on the field. This had a ton of technical difficulty in their show and they tackled it brilliantly. The woodwinds were on fire! They too had some incredible soloists. One of the big highlights for me and a highlight of the 2021 season was Flower Mound's sousaphone ensemble feature, an absolute must see. This marked Flower Mound's third appearance at Grand Nationals and third time in finals.
After their seventh place finish at San Antonio, Marcus TX landed in 6th place with their show 'The Missing Piece'. To me it seemed like the concept was that of a puzzle. Several orange and yellow props were scattered about the field, moved together at the end and transformed into a sea of purple. Two featured soloists (one in all orange and one in all yellow also featured heavily). The drill also gave the impression of pieces being broken and then fitted into place. There was quite a bit of block drill segments, which I loved as it gave it a little bit of an ol school feel to some of the visual designs. In typical Marcus fashion, this show was so clean that they made it look easy, which I could tell it was not, especially that music; wonderful sound quality as always. Since 2009, Marcus has been on a four year GN rotation. So this was their fourth GN Finals appearance.
Claudia Taylor Johnson TX ended up in 7th place with their 'Opposites Attract' show. To me this was like a yin and yang type theme with dueling pianos front and center. They even had some soloists atop the pianos and several ramp props which added visual interest. While I got the impression that this show was to be a back and forth between classical and pop; I heard classical, pop, jazz, country western, etc. The band just switched genres with the flip of a switch. This show had a lot going on with rapidly changing musical styles, frequent amazing soloists, amazing piano features and all of the body movements and fast visual transitions and aggressive color guard routines. I will admit, there was so much going on it was hard to keep track of everything; a bit of sensory overload. As usual with CTJ, the kids looked like they were having a ball performing it and we enjoyed watching it. I did find it interesting that CTJ went back to their early/mid 2010s era quirky blue uniforms for this show. This marked CTJ's fourth trip to Grand Nationals and fourth appearance in finals.
After being runner-up to two regionals this season and with many questioning whether they could land in finals, Dobyns-Bennett TN brought the goods to Grand Nationals. In fact, they won the Class AAA title in semi finals (their second time winning the 3A title) and easily made finals, finishing 8th with their show 'The Promise of Living'. Hey it would not be Grand Nationals without Copland's Appalachian Spring, right! This was one of DB's music selections. Their show theme, however, was about living in Appalachia. Dobyns-Bennett from Kingsport, TN in fact is in Appalachia. The band members even carried old photographs of residents/past residents of their homeland in their uniforms during their performance. This was certainly one reason why I think this show resonated so well with the audience as the band really had an emotional connection to the theme and it came across in their performance. One of the unique aspects of this show was a couple sections where several band members sang choral style front and center. It was quite good. Of all the Copland/Appalachian Springs shows over the decades, this certainly ranks among the best. This marked Dobyns-Bennett's fourth appearance in Grand National finals.
I think many of us expected Ronald Reagan TX to place higher than 9th coming into Finals. They were the unlucky band to have to go first in finals. I also kind of think they had a slightly stronger show the week earlier at San Antonio where they placed 5th. Now don't get me wrong, Ronald Reagan was still quite good and even with a new director, they still had that it factor that makes them so fun to watch and listen to. Their show was called 'The Path', with the drill designs offering moments of symbolism to refer to a path. Much like the last few years, Reagan did not pull out a bunch of props, with the expection of a burst of colorful streamers near the end. In some ways it seemed a bit minimal compared to other bands. The complexity of the drill, the guard routines and the music were certainly not simplistic. This was a demanding show and really garnered one's attention with all of the musical details. Big shout out to an amazing piccolo section. This marked Ronald Reagan's sixth appearance in Grand National finals and first appearance since 2016.
Blue Springs MO edged into finals by finishing 12th in semi finals. They were also runner-up to the Class AAA Title. They then gave a strong show in finals (likely their strongest show of the season) and ended up in 10th place in finals. I always seem to find a uniqueness about Blue Spring's shows and that was again this case this year with their show '212 Boiling Point'. The staging of the props and the large platform stage, not to mention the unique attire of the band, all seemed so fresh. The platform was used as a stage for some wonderful soloists and guard features. That saxophone solo was fantastic. The music, the band attire and some of those visuals gave this show a bit of an edge. To me, it was like there was a bit of a hard rock vibe infused into a marching band. This marked Blue Spring's fourth appearance in Grand National finals. They remain the only band from Missouri to have performed in GN Finals.
After failing to make the overall top 12 in prelims, William Mason delivered when it counted. Their semi final performance easily landed them in finals. In Finals, they finished 11th with their 'Top Gun' show, certainly pleasing those of us who were fans of the 1980s movie. The band was dressed in US marine aviator attire, just like the movie. A few huge flags/tarps were flown across the field at times to give the illusion of flying through the air. Aircraft sound effects also emanated from the pit to complete the effect. Aside from the frills, this was a well designed and well performed Mason show as typical. The music was not actually from the movie soundtrack except the very end when some of the band did a choreagraphed dance to Kenny Loggins' Danger Zone'. This marked William Mason's ninth appearance in GN Finals.
This year marked the very first time Vista Ridge TX attended Grand Nationals. Their appearance was much anticipated after their rise into the Texas elite during the late 2010s. Their show was titled 'Vorca Rhe', which to me seemed to be relating to another world or something to that effect. The music and the band's delivery of it was just spectacular. Not only did I enjouy the music, there were several sections where they really performed it quite well. I also found that the props and prop placement added a unique touch to the visual design. Although their placements this season did not match those of more recent years, I think they had a more demanding show this season. They ended up in 12th in GN Finals and we all hope they return to Indy soon.
The scores from semi finals proved how intense the competition was to make finals this season. After seeing their prelims performance, I thought Wando SC would be in finals (they were in the top 12 overall in combined prelims). Wando missed finals by a mere 0.05 points. Had they tied Blue Springs we would have had 13 in finals, I actually wanted that to happen because Wando gave a finals worthy performance. Wando also scored a 90.55, making it the highest semi finals score to date that did not get the band in finals. Castle IN had one of their strongest shows ever and one of my favorite Castle shows and landed in 14th place, actually breaking 89 points. Not too far behind was Fishers IN, a potential future power, who had my favorite Fishers show to date. Round Rock TX unfortunately missed finals (16th place) despite a very good show, the first time they failed to make finals. Brownsburg IN, another potential future power landed in 17th place. One semi finalist band, Mustang OK, turned some heads with dozens of their members dressed in shark costumes during the show; perhaps one of the most memorable costumes/props at Grand Nationals this season. After not having attended Grand Nationals in 10 years, BOA regional champ king, Norwin PA delivered a strong show in both Prelims and Semi Finals. They ended up winning the Class AA Title. The last time they won a Grand National Class Title was way back in 1984, the Open Class. Norwin beat Marian Catholic IL for this title. Marian, I suspect, had a bit of a rough two years with the Covid Pandemic. Third in Class AA was Jenison MI, who had a strong show with some very bright orange uniforms. You can read the 1977 Season Review about the upset that Murray KY delivered at Grand Nationals, becoming the first and only Kentucky band to win the Grand National Title. Although they have attended several regionals over the last two decades, this year marked their first appearance at Grand Nationals since their 1977 win. Although not the 200 member band they were in the late 70s, they proved a small band can make a big impact and they won the Class A title; 44 years after they won the 1977 Class A and overall Grand National Title. That 44 year gap is the longest between GN class titles for any band. Archbishop Alter OH was runner-up to the Class A Title, establishing themselves as one of the best small school bands that has yet to win the Class A Title at Nationals. Class A power Bourbon County KY was third in Class A.
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Post by LeanderMomma on Jan 20, 2022 12:45:18 GMT -6
Thank you for another amazing and incredibly in-depth season review Buff!
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Post by LeanderMomma on Sept 8, 2022 6:30:34 GMT -6
...2011 SEASON REVIEW...
….The first weekend of October featured the Arlington, TX and Mason, OH regionals. Arlington was fairly surprising and exciting as James Bowie (TX) edged out LD Bell (TX) by a mere 0.05 points for the win. This was the very first regional title for James Bowie. Richland (TX) was 3rd but several points behind Bell. …. The first weekend of November, the last weekend of regionals before nationals, were two big competitions; the San Antonio and Indianapolis super regionals. First off at San Antonio, after finishing in second at the two earlier Texas regionals this season, LD Bell (TX) won the Super Regional title. … Just 0.05 points lower was James Bowie (TX). Bowie actually won GE. No offence to Bell or The Woodlands but I thought Bowie should have won. A low score by the music individual judge cost them the title. Their show was titled "The Promise of Winter". Props and visual designs echoed that of snowflakes. Overall, their powerful music performance (some amazing musical selections by the way) made this an awesome show. I thought overall one of the best Bowie shows ever.
**************** (LeanderMomma snipping out a lot of the original post and cutting in here):
9/8/22–I just randomly happened upon an article written about the James Bowie OPE winning their first regional at the 2011 BOA Arlington contest and I had to come here and include it! Did y’all know that Bruce Dinkins, their Band Director of over 10 years, passed away suddenly just a few months before? Kim Shuttlesworth was an assistant director at Bowie at the time and she stepped in and took over the program, but those kids really stepped up and did their old band director proud!! I thought I would include the article here. 😊
oakhillgazette.com/news/2011/10/bowie-wins-first-ever-boa-regional-championship/
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Post by boahistorybuff on Sept 8, 2022 6:36:08 GMT -6
Thanks for adding this. I am always looking for stories like this. Stepping up is an understatement, they were awesome.
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Post by LeanderMomma on Sept 8, 2022 6:54:28 GMT -6
Thanks for adding this. I am always looking for stories like this. Stepping up is an understatement, they were awesome. The article is a fantastic one as well. It really gets into the emotions of it all. I surely have to believe that the author of it was once a marching band kid herself. 🤗
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Post by principalagent on Sept 8, 2022 7:55:06 GMT -6
The Promise of Winter is an extremely special show. I think Bowie should have won both of its Super Regionals that year, and with the emotions that fueled an immensely well constructed show, I strongly believe it would have given BA a very serious challenge if it had gone to Indy.
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Post by dbdbdb on Sept 8, 2022 12:22:47 GMT -6
Love the season reviews! A couple of things about DB’s show…. Most of the photographs the kids carried were photographs of family members who lived at the time the show was set. My son carried his great, great, great grandparents for example.
The other thing…. The choir was actually the Dobyns-Bennett choir- not just band students. Our choir partnered with the band to create the performance. The band students DID join them for the very last chorus of the show. We are just as proud of our choir as we are of our band in Kingsport.
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Post by boahistorybuff on Sept 5, 2023 4:18:20 GMT -6
2022 SEASON REVIEW
Continuing the bounce back from Covid, BOA held 25 regional championships this season, nine of which were held in the state of Texas. While I did not officially count, Texas had a ton of bands compete in a BOA Regional this season. Unfortunately, a regional in California was never able to materialize. There was however a regional held in New Mexico, one in Arizona and one in Utah. This season saw a lot of big surprises at the regional level and had several first time regional champions. This really made this an exciting year at the regionals. In order to host this many regionals, BOA had to start early. The season kicked off on September 17th with four regional championships. The Clarksville, TN regional was a big battle between O'Fallon Township, IL and Castle, IN. O'Fallon edged out Castle by a mere tenth of a point for the regional title, their third to date. A big surprise at this regional was Bartlett HS TN who landed solidly in third place in finals. The Columbus/Obitz, OH regional saw Lakota West HS, OH defend their regional title. They were closely followed by Campbell County KY, Miamisburg OH, Noblesville IN and Franklin Central IN. The Las Cruces NM regional featured a win by Clovis HS, making them the first band to win a BOA Regional from the state of New Mexico. They fought off Grapevine HS TX (who landed in second) for the win. The McAllen TX regional was a battle between John B Alexander TX and Louis D Brandeis TX (both bands had won this regional once). John B Alexander pulled off the win, giving them two BOA regionals to date. The second weekend of BOA competition also had four regionals. The highly competitive Austin regional saw Vandegrift TX edging out Cedar Ridge TX for the title, their fifth BOA regional to date. Both Cedar Park TX and Vista Ridge TX were not too far behind. Another Texas regional, Conroe, also took place this weekend. The Woodlands TX crushed the competition, with every judge having them in first place. Cy-Fair TX was second, their highest finish at a BOA regional and Bridgeland TX was third, also their highest finish at a BOA regional. One of the biggest upsets at the regionals this year was the Des Moines regional. Lincoln-Way was heavily favored to win, but ended up finishing second. Lincoln SD delivered the upset and not only won their first BOA regional title, they won the first BOA regional for the state of South Dakota. The Toledo OH regional also featured a surprise. After being a near consistent BOA regional finalist for 30 years, Jenison MI won their very first BOA regional title. This also marked the first time in 10 years that Michigan band nabbed a BOA regional win. Another Michigan band, Rockford, ended up in second place, their highest finish at a BOA regional to date. These two bands defeated two strong Indiana bands, Homestead and Goshen who were third and fourth respectively.
The first Saturday of October was marked by three regionals. At the Flagstaff, AZ regional, Clovis NM proved their win a couple weeks prior was no fluke. They easily won; making this their second BOA regional title just two weeks after their first. Fossil Ridge CO was second, their highest finish at a BOA regional. The Katy TX regional had a rather big upset. Cedar Ridge TX won their very first BOA regional title by beating the two best San Antonio area bands; Claudia Taylor Johnson who landed second and Ronald Reagan who landed in third. These three bands were within six tenths of a point from each other. There was no big surprise at the Louisville KY regional, Carmel IN dominated with every judge having them in first place. This gave Carmel an impressive 26th regional win, narrowing the gap in tying Norwin for most regional wins. Brownsburg IN was a distant second, closely followed by Centerville OH in third. Three regionals were again held the second week in October. The Bedford, TX regional was good and very competitive. Hebron TX won comfortably, with Flower Mount TX in second, followed by Marcus TX, Coppell TX and Wakeland TX. The Midland TX regional was won by Moe & Jene Johnson TX, the second time they won this regional. Clovis NM was certainly going for three regional wins in a row, but had to settle for second. Sachse TX (first time BOA participant maybe?) was a close third. The Newark DE regional was won by Kiski Area PA. Every judge had Kiski in first. This marked Kiski's 22nd BOA regional title. An impressive performance by Independence VA landed them in second place. They were followed by perennial Virginia finalist James Madison in third.
The St Louis Super Regional was won by none other than Broken Arrow OK. They have won this regional every year except 2011, the year they did not attend. This made for Broken Arrow's 19th BOA regional title, the last 16 have been consecutive; they have not lost a regional since 2006. Blue Springs MO did however come very close to upsetting BA. They were less than a half a point behind and won the visual performance award. Blue Springs woodsy inspired show "Call of the Grove" was considered by many to be among the best shows of the 2022 season. I very much agree. This was an overall slower more melodic show than is typical from Blue Springs, but I found it highly effective. I thought it was some of the best musical moments Blue Springs has had. Unfortunately they did not take this show to Grand Nationals. Both Broken Arrow and Blue Springs broke 92 points at this regional and were clearly in a league of their own. However, there were still some other strong performances and some surprises. Bentonville AR landed in third. This was their highest finish at BOA St Louis and cemented themselves in my mind as the most successful band from Arkansas to have ever competed in BOA. Their 2022 ladybug inspired show "Lady" proved to be a very big crowd favorite. Lincoln SD proved their earlier season win at Des Moines was no fluke and finished in 4th place, just ahead of O'Fallon Township IL and Mustang OK. The Prosper TX regional was the second Dallas-Fort Worth area regional of the season and was very tight at the top, even without Hebron/Flower Mound/Marcus in attendance. Wakeland TX pulled off the upset over Westlake TX for their first regional title. Waxahachie TX, Wyle East TX and Prosper TX trailed closely behind. At the Johnson City TN regional, nearby Dobyns-Bennett TN crushed the competition, with every judge having them in first place. A BOA newcomer, South Jones MS landed in second place with a respectable score. Lake Hamilton, AR was third followed by Elizabethton TN in fourth; their return to BOA after over a two decade absence. The Winston-Salem, NC regional featured yet another upset. Catawba Ridge SC won their first regional title, bouncing off a third place finish in prelims to win comfortably in finals. Packed closely together in 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively was Harrison GA, Walton GA and Cleveland NC.
The Indianapolis Supper Regional was absolutely power packed and the top four bands all broke 90 points. As expected, Avon and Carmel battled it out for the title, with Avon pulling off the win. Avon won by six tenths of a point over Carmel, making this Avon's 13th BOA regional title. These two bands have been battling it our for the top two spots at this regional going all the way back to 2009. Although they did not attend Grand National this year, Blue Springs MO did attend the BOA Indy regional and landed in third, just ahead of William Mason OH. Fishers IN, Brownsburg IN and Jenks OK rounded out the top half of this power packed finalist group. As expected, Tarpon Springs FL won the BOA Orlando regional somewhat comfortably. Wando SC (in second) and James Bowie TX (in third) were not too far off their heels. Timber Creek FL (a band that has been on my radar the last two years) was a strong 4th. The Jacksonville, AL regional was won by Dobbyns-Bennett TN, their second regional win of the season, giving them a total of 7 BOA regional titles to date, more than any other Tennessee band. James F. Byrnes was solidly in second place with Bartlett TN making another strong showing in third. The Piscataway, NJ regional turned out to be an epic battle between Dartmouth MA in their first BOA competition and BOA Stalwart Norwin PA. While Norwin had the edge with the music judges, Dartmouth's visual scores propelled them to the regional win, making them only the second Massachusetts band to win a BOA title. John P Stevens NJ and James Madison VA were a respectable 3rd and 4th. Cedar Park TX defended their title at the Waco Regional, their second regional win. Moe & Jene Johnson TX was second followed by Rouse TX and Leander TX. At the St. George UT regional, American Fork UT won. This was their 11th BOA regional title. Utah had a strong showing at this regional. Davis UT was second and Westlake UT was third.
Given that the top tier Texas bands were not attending Grand Nationals this year, it made watching the San Antonio Super regional even more necessary. As expected, it did not disappoint. Hebron came out on top for the second year in a row with their show "Odyssey F.M", which brought a radio concept theme to the field. While for me personally, I thought the visual routine from their 2021 show was a touch better (the 4 the place visual effect score actually cost them the GE caption in Finals), Hebron's music as typical was just mesmerizing. They played very difficult music extremely clean and oh my gosh were the soloists amazing. In fact the music was so good, this is one show that I could have been just as happy only listening to the audio. Not only was the quality of the ensemble good, it was highly effective. Both music effect judges had them first. Another point I have to make about this band is that not only are they strong musicians, the sound they make is very aesthetically pleasing. While as of 2022, Hebron has only attended two Grand Nationals (yes they are making their third trip in 2023), the quality of their performances at the Texas regionals, especially in more recent years has earned this band the reputation of being one of BOA's greats. In fact, I remember watching them at their first Grand Nationals appearance in 2015 and thinking, if this band improves their visuals a little more, watch out. Well, they have now improved their visuals, so yes as of this writing, I think Hebron has more amazing seasons ahead of them. Not too far behind Hebron was BOA Stalwart The Woodlands, who actually nabbed the GE award from Hebron. Having a new director this season did not slow The Woodlands down. They continued their jazz infused show style which has kind of given them a new and fresh identity in recent years. This show was fast, packed with difficulty, clean and wow that percussion. I love it when a show is extremely entertaining and so incredibly good. This show actually put a smile on my face watching it. In addition to the amazing musicianship, I would not do this show justice if I did not mention the color guard performance. The Woodlands guard has really moved up in WGI and it shows in the marching band. I will boldly say that the guard delivered the best performance a Texas guard has ever given in BOA. It was firmly on par with the legendary Avon and Carmel guard routines. While they may have been a bit disappointed with their 9th place finish at 2021 GN, Ronald Reagan bounced back with an extraordinary performance at San Antonio and landed in 3rd place. Historically one of the best Texas bands on the visual front, Reagan won the visual effect caption. In 4th was Vandegrift, another band that in my opinion is very aesthetically pleasing to listen to. For me, they did a wonderful job conveying the emotion in this show. Vista Ridge, CTJ and Flower Mound rounded out the top 7. While some found Flower Mound's comic book themed show a little dull (obviously it is not going to compare to their amazing 2021 show), I still really enjoyed it. This band has always had wonderful ways to deliver pops of color. Packed together in 8th,9th and 10th were the Austin area bands of Round Rock, Cedar Ridge and Cedar Park. All of these bands had among their best performances ever in my opinion. Rounding out the rest of the finalists were Coppell, Pearland, Marcus and Keller. To give a sense of the depth of the Texas field, each of these bottom four bands would have likely finished in the top half at GN if they had attended. To give another sense of the depth of this competition, the top 28 bands in Prelims all broke 85 points. To put this even more into perspective, the score of the 28th place band at San Antonio would have placed 9th in the Indy Super Regional prelims.
Again, 2022 was a year when most of the top tier Texas bands did not attend Grand Nationals. There still managed to be three Texas bands in Finals, really showcasing the depth of Texas. Indiana also landed 5 bands in Finals, showcasing the depth of great bands in Indiana (a much smaller state). Although the field at the top may not have been as deep as in the past couple Grand Nationals, making Finals was still very competitive and the quality of Grand National Finals and Semi FInals was exceptional. 99 bands competed at the 2022 Grand Nationals, 34 of those bands advanced to Semi Finals. I do have to mention that for those of us watching the Grand National Finals live stream, the streaming service crashed at the start of the top six. Thankfully we all got to watch a rebroadcast.
The winner of Semi Finals and the Class 4A title was Carmel IN. They went on to win in Finals, giving them an impressive 6th Grand National Title. They also swept the highest achievement awards. In fact, every judge except 2 had them in first place in Finals. This also marked their 26th consecutive appearance in Grand National Finals. I really think that Carmel simply rose to the occasion in Finals and really delivered a powerful and clean show. Carmel's show was titled "Vitruvian" and featured Samuel Barber's Symphony #1. The best way I can describe this show is sophisticated and elegant. The music and visuals were so impeccably clean. There were some visual moves that did not have a ton of difficulty, while there were others that did but they were executed so cleanly that the band made it look easy. In some ways, for me, this show felt a little bit of a throwback to show styles of years past. This included a lot more marching (as opposed to running, jumping and intricate body movements) compared to the other top level bands. Rather than have so much visual and music overload so to speak, this show seemed to take its time and allowed the audience to really savor every moment. Not only was the music arrangement amazing, the visual designs flowed very well with the music. Barber's Symphony #1 is in itself a musical masterpiece and has been played many times over in BOA. Carmel's interpretation of the music was quite brilliant. To fit the minimalist style of this show, there were only a few silver props which did not take away from the visuals that the band was doing. The ending did feature an explosion of pink streamers which really put a nice exclamation point on this masterclass performance.
Hard to believe with their consistency that Avon IN last won the Grand National Title in 2010. They came in 2nd place in Finals with their show "Bloodlines". This marked Avon's 15th consecutive top three finish in Grand National Finals, a record that no other band even comes close to. This also marked Avon's 7th time being runner up to the Grand National Title and their 20th appearance in GN Finals. No band has been runner-up this many times. Every band member utilized large red scarfs, draped around them, over their instruments, and at times laid down on the field. In fact, at the end of the show, they covered the yard lines with the red scarfs and streamers, fitting the blood lines theme. I can not imagine the countless hours of practice to get the placements and movements of these scarfs just right. It seemed after their win at the BOA Indy regional, they would finally nab that 4th Grand National Title, but Carmel got in the way. This was still an amazing show and would have been a worthy championship performance. The music gave this show a Latin flair and was wonderfully enjoyable. Staying true to their identity, this show was packed with visual difficulty and had some moments of just pure power and the guard certainly proved why they have long been considered one of BOA's best. The guard and their solid execution of some pretty difficult visual routines and the great drill design and execution garnered them first in visual effect.
Broken Arrow OK had a hard task this season and that was to follow up their legendary 2021 show. They did a respectable job with this show "Over the Edge" which to me felt like a sequel to their 2021 show "the Edge of Eternity". This was a darker and heavier show compared to 2021, complemented by the band and props in red and black. The music was quite challenging at times and for me was rather enjoyable, especially the opener. After not being in the top three in Semi Finals (they were fourth), BA delivered a strong show in Finals and finished in third, coming very close to Avon. BA has been first and second many times, but this was their first time placing third. This also marked their 17th appearance in Grand National Finals. For these top three bands (Carmel, Avon and Broken Arrow) this was the fifth time that these bands were all in the top three in GN Finals together. Certainly fitting as these three bands have had such a long period of success in BOA (with no signs of that ending anytime soon). They have earned their reputation as BOA Super Stars.
William Mason OH delivered a surprise in Semi Finals by not only coming in 2nd, but also winning the GE award. This had many predicting/hoping that Mason would pull off a surprise win. They did give an amazing finals performance, but landed in 4th place. As I expected, those top three bands know how to deliver strong shows in GN Finals. William Mason seems to know how to come back. They did after their disastrous 2017 season, and then they did it again this year after finishing 11th in GN Finals just last year. For me this show was much stronger than 2021. Their show was titled "Odyssey" The whites and yellows of the band, guard and tarps set the tone for the wonderful melodies in this show. Wes Cartwright really did a good job with the design of this show, which was very fluid with the music. Mason did an equally fantastic job in delivering it. Although their highest finish in GN Finals thus far was third place in 2016, I think this show may have been their strongest. This marked William Mason's 10th appearance in Grand National Finals and they certainly look to have many more to come.
This was a welcome return for Tarpon Springs FL who last attended Grand Nationals in 2018 (they would have attended in 2020 had Covid not ruined the season). Despite their small school size (which places them in Class AA) Tarpon is a magnet school for the performing arts in the Tampa/St Pete area. Perhaps somewhat unfair to the other Class AA bands, nonetheless Tarpon dominated the Class AA competition and easily won their 10th Class AA Title. In Grand National Finals, Tarpon finished in 5th place. This marked their 14th appearance in Grand National Finals. You can always count on Tarpon to put forth a show packed with difficulty and being perhaps a little over the top. That is exactly what they did in this show titled "Urban Legend". The props, the music selections, the vocalization, some beat boxing, the dance, it all echoed that urban theme. The featured saxophone solo was also AMAZING. The energy and feel and difficulty of this show was typical Tarpon to a tee and proved why this band has long been a BOA crowd favorite. Although it was a fifth place performance, they did hit 95 points and came close to Mason. I think for many, myself included, this show is ranked high on the list of all time favorite Tarpon shows.
Rounding out the top 6th was Dobyns-Bennett TN. They won the Class AAA Title (their third time winning this) and made their 5th appearance in Grand National Finals, tying McGavock for most appearances in Finals by a Tennessee band. DB's show was titled Candide, featuring the music from Bernstein's opera Candide. For me, this show was reminiscent of the 1988 show by the great Marian Catholic (aside from Marian's opener). I actually considered it to be a modern take on an old BOA classic, complete with the props, the period guard attire and the vocalists (a full choir up front). In fact these 'modern' touches really set this show apart from all of the bands that did Candide in the past. I really really liked this show so much that I think it is my favorite DB show ever. This also marked DB's second time finishing 6th place in Finals, their highest finish.
One band who I think surprised a lot of people at GN was Southlake Carroll TX. This band really got a little more attention outside of Texas by their strong performance at the 2021 St Louis Super Regional. This season seemed to be a bit of a struggle for this band. They just missed finals at the BOA Bedford regional. Then later in the season at the BOA Prosper regional they finished 8th. While many expected this band to be strong Semi Finalist candidates, a spot in GN Finals seemed out of reach. This was actually their first trip to Grand Nationals. When the combined GN Prelims results were added together, Southlake Carroll was in 22nd place. This band rose to the occasion in Semi Finals and finished 11th, earning a spot in Finals (for many it was a surprise). When they performed in Finals I fully expected that I would be seeing an 11th or 12th place performance. Something lit a fire under this band in Finals, I was pleasantly surprised how very good they were. The judges were impressed too as they ended up in 7th place in Finals. This certainly makes this one of the biggest placement jumps from Prelims to Sems to Finals ever since the Semi Finals format was created. Their show "House of Glass" definitely had an Arabian vibe. Immensely colorful with the props and tarps and wonderfully enjoyable music. It is my hope that the extraordinary performance this band gave at nationals will be just the beginning.
One of bands that has been considered an up and coming band for the last few years is Brownsburg IN. They performed one of their most demanding shows to date and did an amazing job, especially in Grand National Finals. This marked their debut in Finals and they finished in 8th place. Their show "The Uninvited" was often fast paced and intense. They also utilized large and what looked like heavy props. Having watched this band develop over the last few years, it was fun watching the joy of this group as they performed in their first finals appearance. Time will tell, but when I watched their finals performance, I saw signs of a future top level BOA power; Carmel and Avon may have a new competitor in the very near future.
Another band that really rose to the occasion in their first Grand National appearance was Robert E. Hendrickson TX. This band has been a long time competitor in the BOA circuit and has many regional finals appearances under their belt, including several appearances in past San Antonio super regionals. The last few years, including this year, Hendrickson was not so lucky at San Antonio and actually fell far short of making finals. This season they landed in 25th place at San Antonio prelims. Now we all know that the talent depth at San Antonio is so great that there have been many bands that have failed to make finals at San Antonio only to turn around a week or two later and land themselves in GN Finals. But that seemed as though it may be a tall order for Hendrickson. In fact in GN Prelims, they were 16th overall. In semi finals, they rose to the challenge and nabbed the 12th spot to earn a place in their first GN Finals. They then delivered a strong show in Finals and finished in 9th place. Their show "Trainlapse" had a ton of visual and musical touches which added to this train theme. That included some pretty demanding percussion features, which I loved. During the closeup cuts at the end you could see in the band members faces how ecstatic they were to have been able to pull off the performance that they did. It was great.
In 10th place and also making their first appearance in GN Finals was Fishers IN. This has been a band that we have all enjoyed watching them slowly but steadily improving over the past decade. They have been close to finals before, but this time solidly landed in Finals. They were the first band to perform in Finals which in my opinion is the worst slot to perform. I think had they had a later performance slot, they could have finished higher. Nonetheless they gave a solid performance of their show "Chasing Starlight". The props and band attire really set the theme. I have to say that they did have a pretty cool jazz segment. I would be remiss if I did not also mention that Fishers is proving themselves to be another potential future top level BOA Power.
This was Prosper's third trip to Grand Nationals and this marked their second appearance in Finals. Like 2018, they again landed in 11th place. The quality of Prosper I think left no doubt that this band would make finals, even though they finished fifth at the BOA Prosper regional. The vibrant colors in their show, the fantastic design and strong music performance of this band really shined in Finals. Their show "Sit Down, Stand Up" featured dozens of huge white chair props, which added a ton of visual interest; quintessential Wes Cartwright design.
Rounding out the 12th spot in Finals was Castle IN. Their appearance in Finals meant five Indiana bands in Finals, the last time this state put that many bands in finals was way back in 1984. This was Castle' third appearance in finals with their last appearance being back in 2017. Castle had a really demanding show that really peaked at Grand Nationals. Their show "The Count" had numbers playing a key role in the theme. To me this was a modern take on a type of theme that has been around since the 90s/early 2000s. The visual designs in this show were just spectacular. It was also a pretty difficult show, likely why it really peaked at Grand Nationals.
For all of the pleasant surprises in finals, there were of course some disappointments. The unlucky number 13th spot went to American Fork UT in what I think was their strongest show ever, fantastic and interesting drum feature too. An interesting point to make is that this was American Fork's highest finish ever at Grand Nationals (higher than their only appearance in 1995s GN Finals, when a top 14 was selected for finals). In 14th place, also their highest finish at GN, was James F Byrnes SC with a very unique and crowd pleasing show. They have proven that they may also be ones to watch in the near future. The one Texas band that I think everyone thought was a sure bet for finals was M&G Johnson who has really risen among the ranks of all the Texas bands the last two seasons. They just did not have as strong a show as needed in semi finals and landed in 15th place. I hope this band will be back to GN because they are still on everyone's radar. Some of the other points about semi finals I will make are the AA and A Classes. Although Tarpon dominated AA, 2nd, 3rd and 4th in AA (Morton IL, Kiski Area PA, Jenison MI) were all separated by a tiny fraction of a point. In Class A, tiny Archbishop Alter OH defeated the Kentucky contingent of Beechwood, Bourbon County and Murray to win their very first Class A title. Archbishop Alter had under 40 members total in the band and are right in line with 2004's Jackson Academy for smallest band to win the Class A title. I have to say that Alter did give (for me anyway) one of the most memorable moments in the 2022 Grand National Championships. They of course performed very early in Semi Finals on Saturday. They then went on to perform in Saturday night Finals exhibition after all of the finalist bands performed. So at the end of Finals, after these huge and powerful bands performed, including several of BOA's most legendary marching bands, out comes this tiny band to perform in front of a packed Lucas Oil Stadium. With that small of a band, I am sure every member felt very 'front and center'. Their show involved a little bit of audience interaction/participation and boy did they play it up to a tee and the audience loved it. Alter was performing not for a score or placement but simply for the joy of performing. I thought when I watched them that this is what BOA is really all about.
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Post by hewhowaits on Sept 5, 2023 6:52:11 GMT -6
2022 SEASON REVIEW Continuing the bounce back from Covid, BOA held 25 regional championships this season, nine of which were held in the state of Texas. While I did not officially count, Texas had more bands compete in a BOA Regional this season than all other states combined. Texas had 187 different bands compete in at least one Regional or Super Regional. The rest of the country had 410 compete in at least one along with 33 at Grand Nationals without having been at another event. It only SEEMS like Texas outnumbers the rest of the country because the next largest contingent of participants was Indiana with 61 (including GN only bands) and many of the Texas bands compete at multiple events each year. The total appearances at Regionals and Super Regionals is probably much closer.
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Post by boahistorybuff on Sept 5, 2023 7:24:28 GMT -6
2022 SEASON REVIEW Continuing the bounce back from Covid, BOA held 25 regional championships this season, nine of which were held in the state of Texas. While I did not officially count, Texas had more bands compete in a BOA Regional this season than all other states combined. Texas had 187 different bands compete in at least one Regional or Super Regional. The rest of the country had 410 compete in at least one along with 33 at Grand Nationals without having been at another event. It only SEEMS like Texas outnumbers the rest of the country because the next largest contingent of participants was Indiana with 61 (including GN only bands) and many of the Texas bands compete at multiple events each year. The total appearances at Regionals and Super Regionals is probably much closer. Thanks for the clarification and the stats, wow. I fixed my post a little. I think I was trying to phrase it in a non literal way but it did not come out that way.
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Post by thewho on Sept 5, 2023 13:25:09 GMT -6
Great write-up! 2022 was another fantastic season in the books, but I'll always be fond of this season because there has been so many rising programs as of late. I don't think we've seen so many programs at once take an active interest in not becoming competitive but also curating a wonderful experience for the students in band beyond "just competing". The shows on field as an average have been becoming quite difficult and complex.
I'll also add that 2022 GN had easily one of the best prelims lineup on paper. Grumblings about a particular band missing semis is always a given, but there were so many that got pushed out simply because of the extraordinary number of quality programs attending. I can't do a write-up for each, but here's a few that I would've been GN semis shoo-ins in another year:
Miamisburg Campbell County Cleveland (NC) Deer Creek Legacy Catawba Ridge
The bands below those were also stellar. I counted maybe another 5 or so that put pretty strong statements for semis that year. 4 or so deserving bands that miss seems to be the norm, but 2022 broke that norm by a wide margin.
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Post by boahistorybuff on Sept 5, 2023 15:36:41 GMT -6
Thanks. There are now so many competitions and participating bands, it is hard to capture it all in a season review.
While we have been on a near steady upward trajectory in the number of strong competitive band programs for 50 years, it does seem like things have really exploaded in recent years. This is not just Texas, but all over, especially Oklahoma. It is hard to be able to follow all of these bands, not that that is a bad thing.
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