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Post by marimba11 on Oct 28, 2023 17:04:29 GMT -6
Wow, not what I expected Ayala!
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Post by ps0010 on Oct 28, 2023 17:16:53 GMT -6
Finals should be interesting.
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Post by hostrauser on Oct 28, 2023 17:28:53 GMT -6
Oh? Ayala with a comeback year?! Ehh, maybe. Not the strongest lineup, though. California's band scene appears to be in a sliding phase. Band sizes are down, band quality (overall) is down. San Marcos (this is the one from San Diego, not the one from Santa Barbara that was in BOA in the 1990s) has been right at the cusp of being a really great band for about a decade. They just can't seem to hold onto it year over year. About one year in every three or four they have a vehicle that pulls them up to that Ayala/Chino Hills/Vista Murrieta level, then they slide back just a little the other years.
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Post by hostrauser on Oct 28, 2023 18:44:12 GMT -6
FINALS PREDICTION 1. Ayala, CA 2. Vista Murrieta, CA 3. San Marcos, CA 4. Gahr, CA 5. Corona del Sol, AZ 6. Buchanan, CA 7. El Dorado, CA 8. Arbor View, NV 9. Colony, CA 10. Desert Vista, AZ 11. Mission Hills, CA 12. Mira Costa, CA
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Post by cybrunette on Oct 28, 2023 18:59:08 GMT -6
Oh? Ayala with a comeback year?! Ehh, maybe. Not the strongest lineup, though. California's band scene appears to be in a sliding phase. Band sizes are down, band quality (overall) is down. San Marcos (this is the one from San Diego, not the one from Santa Barbara that was in BOA in the 1990s) has been right at the cusp of being a really great band for about a decade. They just can't seem to hold onto it year over year. About one year in every three or four they have a vehicle that pulls them up to that Ayala/Chino Hills/Vista Murrieta level, then they slide back just a little the other years. Fair! Aside from knowing numbers have been down, my only benchmark for CA groups this year is Vista when they were at Arizona. They were on Forks tail so I figured Ayala had something in them this year lol
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Post by airons0678 on Oct 28, 2023 20:16:34 GMT -6
Good analysis as always, Kevin. I was at the show (prelims). I felt San Marcos and Gahr were stronger than Ayala, personally. In fact, I thought that maybe Vista Murrieta and Buchanan were stronger, too. But Ayala does bring the name and notoriety. Finals should be interesting, and we may see some potential "place swapping." -Alan
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Post by airons0678 on Oct 28, 2023 20:20:26 GMT -6
My finals prediction:
1. Gahr, CA 2. San Marcos, CA 3. Ayala, CA 4. Vista Murrieta, CA 5. Buchanan, CA 6. El Dorado, CA 7. Corona Del Sol, AZ 8. Arbor View, NV 9. Colony, CA 10. Mission Hills, CA 11. Desert Vista, AZ 12. Mira Costa, CA
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Post by airons0678 on Oct 28, 2023 22:55:31 GMT -6
My brother texted me the results. Ayala won, swept captions. Gahr in close 2nd. VM 3rd. San Marcos 4th. Buchanan 5th. Corona Del Sol 6th. Desert Vista 7th. El Dorado 8th. Colony 9th. Not sure of the rest...
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Post by ps0010 on Oct 28, 2023 22:56:31 GMT -6
My brother texted me the results. Ayala won, swept captions. Gahr in close 2nd. VM 3rd. San Marcos 4th. Buchanan 5th. Corona Del Sol 6th. Desert Vista 7th. El Dorado 8th. Not sure of the rest... Gahr………
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Post by thewho on Oct 28, 2023 23:03:33 GMT -6
Another tragedy of the box5 mess: no spaghetti for any of us not in Riverside...
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Post by airons0678 on Oct 28, 2023 23:05:20 GMT -6
Another tragedy of the box5 mess: no spaghetti for any of us not in Riverside... I wrote down some notes. I could probably do a quick "review."
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Post by thewho on Oct 28, 2023 23:09:41 GMT -6
Another tragedy of the box5 mess: no spaghetti for any of us not in Riverside... I wrote down some notes. I could probably do a quick "review." Alan! We've been missing your notes for years now!
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Post by ps0010 on Oct 28, 2023 23:15:40 GMT -6
Finals Results 88.750 – Ayala H.S., CA 88.150 – Gahr H.S., CA 87.750 – Vista Murrieta H.S., CA 85.900 – San Marcos H.S., CA 84.200 – Buchanan H.S., CA 80.000 – Corona del Sol H.S., AZ 76.050 – Desert Vista H.S., AZ 75.450 – El Dorado H.S., CA 75.350 – Colony H.S., CA 75.100 – Mission Hills H.S., CA 75.000 – Mira Costa H.S., CA 73.600 – Arbor View H.S., NV
Outstanding Music Performance – Ayala H.S., CA Outstanding Visual Performance – Ayala H.S., CA Outstanding General Effect – Ayala H.S., CA
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Post by ps0010 on Oct 28, 2023 23:16:49 GMT -6
Congrats to Gahr. What a finish.
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Post by airons0678 on Oct 28, 2023 23:31:26 GMT -6
Here is my take:
Ramona High School is an interesting place to hold a BOA Regional. There must be a small airport nearby, as there were biplanes and other small aircraft passing by every once in a while. You could not hear the announcer for the first few bands due to the sound system snap, crackling, and popping--even DURING the shows.
The first three bands that went on were pretty easy to sort good, better, best. Vista had a Charlie Chapman themed show that was a little restrained and lacked the charisma I think they wanted. El Dorado was excellent, but their equipment tosses were a little off and the story they were telling was not clear. Gahr had amazing staging, a big and well-balanced sound for their size, and excellence all around (no equipment drops, beautiful flute solo, a mellophone "dream team," crystal clear dynamics, and clever, clever use of props and--more importantly--how they used their props). The pasta, the meatball, the BIG meatball (you had to be there) were all memorable parts of Gahr's show.
Buchanan was a pleasant surprise. When I heard their director was John Lack I said to myself, "Okay. That's why." Lack directed Clovis West's band when they were a BOA powerhouse.
San Marcos had a really neat show, complete with blooming flowers and giant tree people? Talk about big college sound. I thought they and a few other groups had topped Ayala. I thought wrong.
I can't knock Ayala too much. They displayed deep professionalism, pulled off some punchy phrasing, and utilized a long, crescent-like tarp to demo a pathway. I thought they could have done a better job staging their rifle line instead of hiding them.
Let's see...what else? It was a decent show. As Kevin mentioned earlier, there seems to be a lot of post-pandemic recovery going on. In years past you might be able to say, "Oh, definitely top 3, top 5, etc. This year...the playing field was pretty level, I thought. I miss the big bands. San Marcos was as big as it got, I think, or right around that size. But most of the bands had, what I would call, "BOA shows." They knew how to play the game.
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Post by airons0678 on Oct 28, 2023 23:49:54 GMT -6
One last thing before I call it a night: I found Desert Vista moving from 12th in prelims to 7th in finals pretty suspect. This is a band I thought would barely make finals. So either they had the show of their lives or...something. I wasn't at finals, so I can't really say.
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Post by boahistorybuff on Oct 29, 2023 7:10:46 GMT -6
Congrats Ayala on regional win number 13. Ayala has the most regional titles of any California band.
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Post by LeanderMomma on Oct 29, 2023 14:22:22 GMT -6
Here is my take: You could not hear the announcer for the first few bands due to the sound system snap, crackling, and popping--even DURING the shows. Perhaps this played a part in why BOA could not stream this contest live. I know people are really knocking Box5 this year and deservedly so, but I think it was more because there simply was no way to broadcast it here!
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Post by hostrauser on Oct 29, 2023 16:46:12 GMT -6
Gahr had amazing staging, a big and well-balanced sound for their size, and excellence all around (no equipment drops, beautiful flute solo, a mellophone "dream team," crystal clear dynamics, and clever, clever use of props and--more importantly--how they used their props). The pasta, the meatball, the BIG meatball (you had to be there) were all memorable parts of Gahr's show. Alan, is Gahr still about Center Grove's size? 100-120 or so? Truly one of the better "small" bands in the country.
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Post by airons0678 on Oct 30, 2023 9:40:07 GMT -6
Gahr had amazing staging, a big and well-balanced sound for their size, and excellence all around (no equipment drops, beautiful flute solo, a mellophone "dream team," crystal clear dynamics, and clever, clever use of props and--more importantly--how they used their props). The pasta, the meatball, the BIG meatball (you had to be there) were all memorable parts of Gahr's show. Alan, is Gahr still about Center Grove's size? 100-120 or so? Truly one of the better "small" bands in the country. Ayyy...not sure. Here is a YouTube vid that might give you a better idea:
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Post by hostrauser on Oct 30, 2023 18:35:35 GMT -6
I counted 86 musicians, 29 guard, and 3 drum majors for a total of 118 performers. Great show design!
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