Metallica Marching Band Competition

[riot]

More details at metallicamarchingband.com.

I wonder how many competitive bands will participate since they would have to be learning two different shows.

[supersound]

Leander would’ve loved this…five years ago.

[LeanderMomma]

Apr 10, 2023 17:53:00 GMT -6 supersound said:

Leander would’ve loved this…five years ago.

indeed.

[N.E. Brigand]

Fun! I'm all for more publicity for marching bands and schools' music programs. That said, while I think a competition band could choose to perform an all-Metallica show and do a fine job with it, April 10th was rather late for many such bands who would already have made their musical selections for fall 2023. Also there's a weird requirement that would seem to preclude bands from submitting video of their competition shows: contestants have to affirm that the show "has not previously won awards." So they either have to upload their video before their first contest (when it will still be very rough), or they have to hold off on attending contests until late in the season, all on the hope of winning one of the two non-negligible but probably not game-changing prizes available to high school bands. Or, as riot says, they'd have to submit an entirely separate show. So I think that festival bands are the likeliest participants. (Among Ohio high school bands, I wonder if Pickerington North might have a decent shot. They stopped competing after 2021 -- when they scored higher than Lakota West at the Buckeye Invitational! -- but they still had a great symphonic sound last year that really popped when they did an all-Queen show. And at least two of their competition shows incorporated hard rock: they played AC/DC's "Hell's Bells" in 2019 and yes, Metallica's "Enter Sandman" in 2018, scoring 79.375 and 75.70 respectively, at BOA's Indianapolis Super Regional -- though personally I think those two scores are backwards.)

Legally, who are the actual contestants? The rules say: "an authorized representative of the marching band of a high school or college," i.e., band directors -- and there's a "band director sign up" page -- but I'm not clear from the rules about who actually gets the prize: the school or the director. It does say that the contest sponsor "will work with each winning marching band to determine their specific needs" (the prize is equipment, not cash: the purchase of a "Customized Package of Musical Equipment of Sponsor’s Choosing"). I'm sure they'll work it out so that no director wins a bunch of equipment and then takes it with him if he gets a job at a different school, but I'm surprised that this doesn't seem to be made explicit. Also in the rules: the requirement that the schools be "located in the United States or the District of Columbia," which strikes me as odd phrasing: does "United States" normally not include D.C.? (It also makes me wonder if there any high school bands in Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, or the Northern Mariana Islands.) There are references on the main page but not in the rules to a "Showcase" category for bands that wish to perform but not compete for prizes. Maybe a Japanese band or two could participate in that way?

it's pretty funny that the contest site, having required just one entry per band, warns against groups trying to get around that rule. As if bands are likely to have enough extra uniforms to create a second identity, or the musical talent to sound like two totally different groups, or the bandwidth to create two shows good enough to compete.

Here's some more of what it says about the process:

(a) Entries are accepted April 10-November 16.

(b) Bands have to select from a list of 13 Metallica songs.* They can use the official Hal Leonard marching band arrangements but are not required to. Can they also use music by others? "Content cannot contain copyright materials owned by others ... without the express permission of the owner thereof." I think a band would be unlikely to get that permission from most copyright holders for their work to be used by teh contest sponsor (Tunespeak, which appears to be a social media platform for music fans). But what if you want to do a mashup of Metallica and Mozart, whose work in long out of copyright and thus requires no permissions?

(c) The show must "incorporate movement while playing instruments." I wonder if singing, so often a part of marching band performance, is permissible. When marching bands secure the rights to play a particular song, do they the rights to both the music and the lyrics?

(d) Besides restrictions on the use of copyrighted material (other than the 13 Metallica songs on offer) -- which also means no copyrighted images -- there are a lot of other limitations on content. Many are quite sensible (e.g., no nudity, no defamation, no political content, nothing "offensive"--although that's a judgment call). Others did get me to wondering about what marching bands do. Among other things, content "cannot be...":
-(i) "suggestive" -- but a number of college bands' (and even a few h.s. bands') color guards wear fairly skimpy outfits;
-(ii) "contain ... any materially dangerous activity" or "any activities that may appear unsafe or dangerous" -- no trombone head-choppers a la Boston Crusaders' show last year?
-(iii) "promote alcohol" -- Madison Scouts had drunken pirates in 1997;
-(iv) "promote ... firearms/weapons (or the use of any of the foregoing)" -- no rifles or sabers? or only if presented somewhat realistically as in Crown's wild west show in 2016?
-(v) "depict ... violation of any law" -- when one Phantom Regiment drum major speared another in 2008, was that the presentation of illegal activity?
-(vi) "contain materials embodying the names, likenesses," etc. of "any person, living or dead, without permission" -- plenty of historical figures have been included in band productions.

(e) When DCA did virtual competitions in 2021, I believe the video presented to the judges had to be one single camera shot from a very specific location, but corps were permitted to additionally create multicamera videos for the online audience to view. I didn't see anything about that in this contest's rules. What do you think would appeal most to the judges and the members of Metallica?

(f) I didn't see anything about how long the video needed to be. Would a band be better off polishing something very short?

(g) The band must upload their show to Youtube and then, having registered using the aforementioned form, must email a link to their video to the contest management.

(h) This contest is aimed more at universities than high schools. (And it's only for scholastic groups: there's no option for drum corps.) There are five prizes. Entrants in three categories will be narrowed down to five finalists each by a "panel of qualified judges" (thus in the rules; the main page describes them as "professional judges"), with the three winners among these fifteen finalists to be picked by members of Metallica itself: that's $75,000 for one division I college; $40,000 for one division II or III college; and $15,000 for one high school. (Given how many more high schools than colleges there are, this seems backwards to me.)

(i) Both the original panel of adjudicators who pick the finalists and Metallica who pick the winners are supposed to judge based on "Performance, Originality and Musical Ability." What does everyone think those terms are likely to mean?

(j) Additionally, all entries will be eligible to receive fan votes (Nov. 17-30), with one winner each in two categories: $10,000 for one college (all divisions) and $10,000 for one high school. I didn't see any language about whether or not one band could win both the fan award and the judges' award in the college or high school categories. I wish the contest organizers luck in preventing ballot stuffing, which they clearly hope to do with extensive language about disqualification for bands receiving multiple votes from individuals. In what I assume is just an oversight, the language as written seems to permit fans to vote for only one band total rather than for one in each of the two categories.


*Here's the song list: "Creeping Death," "Enter Sandman," "Fade to Black," "For Whom the Bell Tolls," "Fuel," "Hit the Lights," "Lux Æterna," "Master of Puppets," "One," "Sad but True," "Seek & Destroy," "The Unforgiven," and "Wherever I May Roam." I wonder why "Nothing Else Matters" isn't included among these tunes. White Sabers did a nice job with that in their DCA show last year. (Stebbins H.S. also played it in their 2014 competition show.)

[LeanderMomma]

Dang.

[N.E. Brigand]

I had missed the news from the 2023 repertoire thread that Dobyns Bennett H.S. is entering this contest.

Also I see from the contest website that they've added two more prizes for high schools, bringing the total prize amount for high schools and colleges from $150,000 to $180,000. There are now three different $15,000 prizes that will be awarded to high schools by decision of Metallica, one each for bands of different sizes: small (<75), medium (75-124), and large (125+). (Obviously DB will be competing in the final category.) And as before, there is also a $10,000 fan prize for the high school division. So a total of $55,000 will be awarded to four high school bands.

[N.E. Brigand]

All submissions were due two days ago, Nov. 16. Voting began yesterday, Nov. 17 and continues through Nov. 30. There appear to be a lot of submissions.

Vote here: www.metallicamarchingband.com/

[LeanderMomma]

Dobyns-Bennett absolutely SLAYED their Metallica submission. Yeah, I’ll admit it. I voted for them! It’s phenomenal!!

[dbbandalum]

Former GN attendee from Alaska, Colony High School, has also submitted a performance!

[LeanderMomma]

Nov 19, 2023 21:24:48 GMT -6 dbbandalum said:

Former GN attendee from Alaska, Colony High School, has also submitted a performance!

As has Stephen F Austin HS and the Angels dance team!  It’s really good as well!!

[dbbandalum]

Nov 19, 2023 21:37:32 GMT -6 LeanderMomma said:

Nov 19, 2023 21:24:48 GMT -6 dbbandalum said:

Former GN attendee from Alaska, Colony High School, has also submitted a performance!

As has Stephen F Austin HS and the Angels dance team!  It’s really good as well!!

Ah I didn't see them at first because they are listed as "Austin High School" lol

[N.E. Brigand]

I intend to watch all of the shows before casting my vote. To get a baseline, I started at the end of the alphabet and watched the last twelve high school performances. The first thing that struck me is that more than half the bands only perform one song, with a total length of three minutes or less.

[kvgdc]

DB put on a whole production, man...

I'm imagining those cars driving in the background thinking "What in the hell is happing at the high school tonight?"

[N.E. Brigand]

Just got around to viewing Dobyns Bennet's official submission.

It doesn't sound like the music was recorded live on the field. Was it?

[dbbandalum]

Nov 26, 2023 1:34:54 GMT -6 N.E. Brigand said:

Just got around to viewing Dobyns Bennet's official submission.

It doesn't sound like the music was recorded live on the field. Was it?

It was. The highcam footage is where the audio is from. The drone shots and other multicam footage is from the same performance, they just use the high cam audio throughout the entire video.

[LeanderMomma]

Y’all have to admit that DB’s production is absolutely fantastic.

[N.E. Brigand]

Nov 26, 2023 7:15:17 GMT -6 dbbandalum said:

Nov 26, 2023 1:34:54 GMT -6 N.E. Brigand said:

Just got around to viewing Dobyns Bennett's official submission.

It doesn't sound like the music was recorded live on the field. Was it?

It was. The highcam footage is where the audio is from. The drone shots and other multicam footage is from the same performance, they just use the high cam audio throughout the entire video.

That's good to know. I wouldn't be able to bring myself to vote for a show that was recorded elsewhere and then lip-synced.

I do have to say that I am not a fan of the herky-jerky MTV jump-cut style of the Dobyns Bennett video, which sometimes makes it very hard to tell what's going on. For example, the music that we hear in the first 45 seconds sound like one or more keyboard players, but we never see those performers. (Likewise at the very end there's a vocal sample that someone must be triggering, but who?)

[ilikeguard]

Nov 19, 2023 21:20:00 GMT -6 LeanderMomma said:

Dobyns-Bennett absolutely SLAYED their Metallica submission. Yeah, I’ll admit it. I voted for them! It’s phenomenal!!

This gave me serious motion sickness 😵 it’s great but why are we moving all over the place!!

[LeanderMomma]

Nov 26, 2023 23:52:13 GMT -6 ilikeguard said:

Nov 19, 2023 21:20:00 GMT -6 LeanderMomma said:

Dobyns-Bennett absolutely SLAYED their Metallica submission. Yeah, I’ll admit it. I voted for them! It’s phenomenal!!

This gave me serious motion sickness 😵 it’s great but why are we moving all over the place!!

did it? I kinda enjoyed the different viewpoints. Fun production!

[ilikeguard]

Nov 27, 2023 8:38:41 GMT -6 LeanderMomma said:

Nov 26, 2023 23:52:13 GMT -6 ilikeguard said:

This gave me serious motion sickness 😵 it’s great but why are we moving all over the place!!

did it? I kinda enjoyed the different viewpoints. Fun production!

Oh the production is fantastic! Just dangerously close to needing a photosensitivity warning lol

[N.E. Brigand]

One band who definitely sounds prerecorded is Natrona County H.S. from Casper, Wyoming. There are at least two other bands I've seen so far who also recorded the audio and visual separately, but in both cases, the videos are presented plainly as cinematic experiences shot in multiple locations. Natrona County's presentation appears visually to be a single performance, but it's deceptive.

The next band alphabetically, Normandy H.S. from Parma, Ohio, recorded their show at their home stadium, Byers Field, the first place I ever saw a drum corps competition.

[N.E. Brigand]

Nov 18, 2023 13:27:42 GMT -6 N.E. Brigand said:

All submissions were due two days ago, Nov. 16. Voting began yesterday, Nov. 17 and continues through Nov. 30. There appear to be a lot of submissions.

Vote here: www.metallicamarchingband.com/

Not sure where I read that voting ends November 30. Checking the official contest rules, it says that voting continues until December 31. So I may have jumped the gun just now by voting for Dobyns-Bennett without having quite seen all the bands, but I thought time was running out. I just couldn't watch all 102 high school bands in the past two weeks. I do think they have the best overall production of the bands that I saw, but not necessarily the most creative production or even the most interesting production as a marching band show.

[dbdbdb]

Finalists announced! These will be judged by the band. The voting for fan favorites is still open.  


Small High School:

Cleveland High School - Cleveland, AL

Edinburg High School - Edinburg, TX

Oakton High School - Vienna, VA

Oologah High School - Oologah, OK

Valhalla High School - El Cajon, CA




Medium High School:

Boerne High School - Boerne, TX

Desert Mountain High School - Scottsdale, AZ

DeWitt High School - DeWitt, MI

Kell High School - Kennesaw, GA

Malverne High School - Malverne, NY



Large High School:

Austin High School - Sugarland, TX

Dobyns-Bennett High School - Kingsport, TN

Lambert High School - Suwanee, GA

Lorena High School - Lorena, TX

Pell City High School - Pell City, AL

blabbermouth.net/news/metallica-announces-for-whom-the-band-tolls-marching-band-competition-finalists

[N.E. Brigand]

Not bad. Most of these track with my scores, although I'm a little surprised to see Boerne up there and not to see William B. Travis. It probably helped that Boerne's show consists entirely of Metallica music, and they have good camera work. Some of the better-performed shows suffer from being very hard to read on screen.

I had yet to count up all the members in every band, so I wasn't entirely sure about which class each fell into.

Here's a local news report on Dobyns-Bennett making the cut:

[LeanderMomma]

I’m really pulling for DB to win this one!

[N.E. Brigand]

May 4, 2023 19:49:59 GMT -6 N.E. Brigand said:

Bands have to select from a list of 13 Metallica songs.* They can use the official Hal Leonard marching band arrangements but are not required to. Can they also use music by others? "Content cannot contain copyright materials owned by others ... without the express permission of the owner thereof." I think a band would be unlikely to get that permission from most copyright holders for their work to be used by teh contest sponsor (Tunespeak, which appears to be a social media platform for music fans). But what if you want to do a mashup of Metallica and Mozart, whose work in long out of copyright and thus requires no permissions?

*Here's the song list: "Creeping Death," "Enter Sandman," "Fade to Black," "For Whom the Bell Tolls," "Fuel," "Hit the Lights," "Lux Æterna," "Master of Puppets," "One," "Sad but True," "Seek & Destroy," "The Unforgiven," and "Wherever I May Roam." I wonder why "Nothing Else Matters" isn't included among these tunes. White Sabers did a nice job with that in their DCA show last year. (Stebbins H.S. also played it in their 2014 competition show.)

Despite "Nothing Else Matters" not being on the list of approved songs, many bands played it, including some that were selected as finalists.

A number of shows also used music by other artists. Among the finalists that includes Ennio Morricone's "The Ecstasy of Gold" and the Bob Seger song "Turn the Page" -- although Metallica did cover the latter.  

[N.E. Brigand]

Stephen F. Austin's show appears to have been recorded at halftime during a football game with pretty low attendance: both the home and visitor stands seem to be about 10% occupied.

[N.E. Brigand]

Why are the visitor stands at Dobyns-Bennett offset to the left (i.e., side 1) and why do they have a gap in the middle?

[N.E. Brigand]

May 4, 2023 19:49:59 GMT -6 N.E. Brigand said:

Besides restrictions on the use of copyrighted material (other than the 13 Metallica songs on offer) -- which also means no copyrighted images -- there are a lot of other limitations on content. Many are quite sensible (e.g., no nudity, no defamation, no political content, nothing "offensive"--although that's a judgment call). Others did get me to wondering about what marching bands do. Among other things, content "cannot be...":
-(i) "suggestive" -- but a number of college bands' (and even a few h.s. bands') color guards wear fairly skimpy outfits;
-(ii) "contain ... any materially dangerous activity" or "any activities that may appear unsafe or dangerous" -- no trombone head-choppers a la Boston Crusaders' show last year?
-(iii) "promote alcohol" -- Madison Scouts had drunken pirates in 1997;
-(iv) "promote ... firearms/weapons (or the use of any of the foregoing)" -- no rifles or sabers? or only if presented somewhat realistically as in Crown's wild west show in 2016?
-(v) "depict ... violation of any law" -- when one Phantom Regiment drum major speared another in 2008, was that the presentation of illegal activity?
-(vi) "contain materials embodying the names, likenesses," etc. of "any person, living or dead, without permission" -- plenty of historical figures have been included in band productions.

One band, who was not selected as a finalist, did a show about Lizzie Borden.

[N.E. Brigand]

May 4, 2023 19:49:59 GMT -6 N.E. Brigand said:

Fun! I'm all for more publicity for marching bands and schools' music programs. That said, while I think a competition band could choose to perform an all-Metallica show and do a fine job with it, April 10th was rather late for many such bands who would already have made their musical selections for fall 2023. Also there's a weird requirement that would seem to preclude bands from submitting video of their competition shows: contestants have to affirm that the show "has not previously won awards." So they either have to upload their video before their first contest (when it will still be very rough), or they have to hold off on attending contests until late in the season, all on the hope of winning one of the two non-negligible but probably not game-changing prizes available to high school bands. Or, as riot says, they'd have to submit an entirely separate show. So I think that festival bands are the likeliest participants.

There are a number of bands, including some selected as finalists, who submitted video of all or part of their 2023 competition shows. That means either they didn't win any awards this year or, I think more likely, that "awards" was understood to mean something like "cash prizes" and didn't include placement and caption achievements at regular band competitions.

That said, having watched every high school performance at least once, I would estimate that no more than 20 bands could score above 60 on BOA's system, and only five or so would break 70.

Looking forward to the announcement of the winners over the upcoming week!