Review: BOA GN Semi-Finals (Part 1)

[airons0678]

Bands of America Grand National Championships

November 8-11, 2006

RCA Dome

Indianapolis, IN

 

I arrived for Semi-Finals early, as the sky turned from pitch dark to a hazy pink. I chatted with CSC Event Staff woman at the head of the line, who told me that she was from California, too (San Bernardino). Her circumstances were unfortunate, since the only reason she was back in Indianapolis--her home town--was because she had lost everything in a lawsuit she brought on against one of the largest trucking companies in the nation. It turned out that even though she was the plaintiff in this case, her attorney's fees were outrageous, and she refused to pay after what she felt she was a victim of CORRUPTION. (I guess she decided she would not sign any papers and not pay "one red cent.") And so now here she was, in Indianapolis, guarding a revolving door, but thankful to have a job and to be alive and two have wonderful children and grandchildren (all on the west coast, unfortunately, but nevertheless...). When the time came for us to go in, we went in. It was much warmer inside the RCA Dome. I sat on the lower-most part of the upper deck for Semi-Finals, to get a DIFFERENT perspective of all the bands, and to meet with "Wolfgang," and some other Indiana friends of mine. I ended up meeting more people than I thought I would, including some of the staff at IndianaMarching.com, my TXbands.com friends, Daniel Sanchez and Michael Bui, and big Indiana and Kentucky band fan (who knew of me and my reviews) named Bryan Sanders. I gained a lot of insight from "Wolfgang" and his crew. Oftentimes Semi-Finals is considered MORE exciting than Finals...because for a lot of bands, everything is on the line.

 

Here are my thoughts on this fight...

 

***SEMI-FINALS COMPETITION***

 

Beechwood High School

Ft. Mitchell, KY

Repertoire: "Concerto for the 21st Century" featuring the music of Brian Morgan including "I. Allegro Mysterioso," "II. Sparks," "III. Sotto Voce" and "IV. Finale"

Comments: The synthesizer on the front left triangular tarp of black sends off a low humming noise. As the band approaches in a triangular form they increase, increase, increase the sound, then SILENCE. Three piano notes from the synth on the right give this show an "acoustical" feel. But then, after some groovy musical exchanges between winds and "piano," an electric instrument blown into gets displayed. The kid wearing sunglasses playing it helps out the gal on the keys like a bad boy. Excellent horizontal lunge--a different direction for each of the three lines. The mello part is bright in the ballad, and not bad (with low notes). The vertical line that hits the 50 on the right count and then rubber bands is great. I am digging the head snap towards the pianist to their left, and then to the right towards the pit. The last drill form was a diagonal, which had the wind players pushing their arms forward in different ways. Okay, this was a well coordinated show. This small bunch of kids put out a lot of sound.

My Score: 74.30

My Placement: 33rd

 

Jackson Academy

Jackson, MS

Repertoire: "The Rough Guide to Salsa" featuring "Permisso Que Llego Van Van," "Mi Tierra," "Volveras," "Descargo De Hoy" and "Everybody's Everything"

Comments: Two trombone players stand and play in a strong pose, with one foot in front of the other. They are joined by other wind players, and proceed to thrill with a mambo beat in the heavily amplified pit. Four auxiliary girls dance around a girl holding four sabres, who seems to have some trouble knowing what to do with these...and then distributes them. A diagonal line made by the wind players is rocky, but I like how the drill functions when three parts of the angle do a half pin wheel move, and then another half pin wheel move. Stools are brought out to the middle of their tarp, and musicians sit on these to give this show a more "intimate" feel. The skilled piano player gives his input with latin, and then bluesy flair. Some of the later drill moves include more simple pin wheels and a slotting spot-switch move. This show was rowdy, fun, and gutsy...but I wanted less edge, and much more VISUAL DEMAND. Nevertheless, this event would not be the same without Jackson. Entertainment plus, here.

My Score: 73.90

My Placement: 34th

 

Carlisle High School

Carlisle, OH

Repertoire: "Healing Rain" including "Thunderstruck by ACDC and "Healing Rain" by Michael W. Smith

Comments: Two triangular forms of wind players are "full" except one, where there was a missing spot. Two mellophone soloists announce themselves, and then more and more sound is layered. The trumpet section sounds...tense. Heed the spaces in the drill, you guys. (Use that peripheral vision to really emphasize spatial awareness.) The saxophone player who wails a feel-good melody in the middle of the field is awesome. The ballad has a sweet piano part, coupled with a narrator who mentions the words "healing rain." And no sooner than these words are uttered do the long upright poles get grabbed and tilted to form rain sounds. The visual with the poles is poor, but it could have been worse. Thunder and rain sounds come with the remark, "Wash it all away." An electric guitar gives their closer a pop feel. Do not butcher those notes, trumpets. Aaaaah trumpet soloist...that was a tricky solo, and you did well with it. All right, that last chord was beefy, yes sir. Welcome to the big show! Great work.

My Score: 70.50

My Placement: 35th

 

Croatan High School

Newport, NC

Repertoire: "The X Factor" Original music by Frank Sullivan including "The X Factor," "X Marks the Spot," "The X Generation," "X=" and "The X Factor"

Comments: A raised platform in the middle of two strips of blue tarps that made "X" was the start point for this "different" band. The gock block music and dance was super. Soprano saxophonist, of what I COULD hear, it sounded fine. Someone get those mics fixed, please! With only two tubas, you have to hand it to this band for their overall dark sound. Okay, smooth form development out there. A baritone and tuba solo adds to a somber mood, and "Gen Xers" are talked down to in the narrative. I like how the wind players sit in chairs to fit the "lazy" stereotype of Generation X. Auxiliary, when you slapped those rifles into your hands I heard a unison "click." (Super, super work!) This guard is hot, as they toss and catch with ease. A soprano saxophone solo enchants as the winds take to one of the tarp strips, ground their horns, spread out, and then perform some body work which lines up quite well. I liked that this group had a focused sound to them AND moved around a lot. These kids had a lot of heart. Splendid, splendid show.

My Score: 76.90

My Placement: 32nd

 

Brentwood High School

Brentwood, TN

Repertoire: "A Spiritual Odyssey" including Awakenings - "Joy" by Joseph Curiale; Mysteries - "Nimrod" by Elger; Resolutions - "Religion" from Naqoyqaatsi" by Philip Glass and "Exultate" by Hazo

Comments: I saw motionless out there...good! The statuesque field performers engaged with sound that bounced off the back walls, and a crisp, clear rhombus form. I like that "sideways" horn flash. Again, drill...very nice. Two triangle forms that barely touched to make a box was a plus, as was a curvy follow-the-leader jazz run move. A trumpet, mellophone, sousaphone, trombone, and baritone work their sounds with a delicate touch. During the "posing" part of the ballad, one trumpet player goes so far as to lie on the ground, on his side, while playing his horn. The arc form to give us that FULL sound was a tad bit "Simple Simon," no? The folding triangle form that merged with another triangle form was a strong point. The pit, by the way, had those Philip Glass notes DOWN. Low brass, you anchored us with these booming low notes, and the trumpets could not outdo but did engage. Well, well, well...where did THAT sound come from? I, and others around me, were quite impressed.

My Score: 79.30

My Placement: 26th

 

Rampart High School

Colorado Springs, CO

Repertoire: "Autumn@tic" featuring "October" by Eric Whitacre and "Ride" by Samuel Hazo

Comments: What appeared to be bright yellow bamboo poles were held at one end by the guard. In mostly tidy "blocks of 5," the musicians on the field were well prepared...but too bad the kids on synth were not. There was an awkward wait at the start of their show because the pit did not have the synths on tap, it seemed. The first part of their show was swift and in the groove. There seemed to be too much of an edge to their sound, though...and I direct this comment to the BRASS. The overly loud guard breaths during equipment catches rocked, and then the last sabre catch was met with, oh yeah, big sound. In the ballad, things were MOVING. The electronic keyboard parts played an integral role in this section. Excellent trumpet solo, and excellent bassoon/oboe duet. One mellophone moved when he or she should have "been there." Whoa! They rocked the DJ booth with that last hurrah! This show had a lot of demand, and made you "keep up" with them.

My Score: 80.00

My Placement: 25th

 

Cypress Falls High School

Houston, TX

Repertoire: "A Different Drummer" including music selections from "Concerto for Orchestra" by Bela Bartok and Aaron Guidry

Comments: String players sat on black stools in a hexagon form, they wearing white shirts and black pants. (From their warm-up, it was obvious they were amplified.) A loose-tuned snare drum activates moves. Note the interesting bass drums played on their SIDES! This band, er, ORCHESTRA, had a rich sound. Saxophones and clarinets had minor spacing issues. Ooh, middle horns and baris, that was tasty. Good stuff! I am thrilled with that flute feature in that triangle form, in which the form soon breaks down after that flurry of notes. A violin soloist makes me want to marry her sweet, sweet sound. A sabre catch, caught vertically fine, is in synch with the notes played. Thank you for dipping me in your sound, strings. (I don't know if anything different was done from prelims to semis, but I could hear the strings MUCH better, here.) What great UNIQUE show, and hey, it was performed so well, so hard.

My Score: 85.80

My Placement: 19th

 

Milford High School

Milford, OH

Repertoire: "Joyful Noises" featuring "Joy" by Joseph Curiale, "Noisy Wheels of Joy" by Eric Whitacre, "The Road to Joy" by Wayne Markworth and "Tranzendental Danse of JOI" by James Bonney

Comments: Ah, the kaleidoscopic drill to start things off was a sight to see, as a block splits into a four-block set with an "X" form connecting it which then spirals out. (Sweet!) Ooh! A trumpet crack! Ooh! A woodwind squeak! I must write, though, that their sound was quite DIRECT, and took you for a ride. The color guard, in pastel costumes, wear shakos and dance wacky to the wacky music. Oops! One rifle, dropped. A joyous display of fun is at its peak when one of the guard, in the middle of her comrades, raises her shako. Some "Ode to Joy" is executed with stylistic touch, but I did not get absorbed in it. (Perhaps their scrappy ways did little, here?) The threading and rotating circle forms were intense, as one flute player almost gets eaten alive by her team. Their sound seemed to come undone at the end, but they made up for the dirt here and there with their fine drill, it seemed.

My Score: 77.00

My Placement: 31st

 

Connally High School

Austin, TX

Repertoire: "Ourspace.com: A Symphonic Blog." Music including "New Born" by Juse, "Dance Suite" by Bela Bartok, "Everybody Hurts" by R.E.M. and "Javelin" by Michael Torke

Comments: A definition of what a blog is is said out loud. "BOA Grand Nationals, here we are," says a young female narrator. The pit has a sound that seems to resemble some of Philip Glass's stuff. Ha ha! A blatty tuba sound, executed intentionally, gets some of the wind players to shake all crazy. These musicians were well trained...they hit their notes with great thought. A yong man narrating mentions the word "blur," and I must say the only blur I see is that of the top of their tarps. At the swirly standstill form following the narrative full of gripes, there seemed to be some divits here and there, and I do not know if these were holes that needed to be filled, or what. Whoa! Their sound can get HUGE when they want it to. There is that great control, again. Excellent blind pass-through with the saxes heading backwards. The rest of their show had some bite in sound, and the finishing narrative touch fit. Yeah, these kids "did not want it to end" all right. MARVELOUS job.

My Score: 83.00

My Placement: 24th

 

Lake Park High School

Roselle, IL

Repertoire: "A New World" featuring the music from Antonin Dvorak's "Symphony #9"

Comments: Eight skinny, tall backdrops were lined up on the 50. The woodwinds, in broad curved forms, stood with wide spacing between them. The saxophones seemed "out of touch" with their first attempt. Hmmm...gel sound, gel. "Thwamp thwamp thwamp," low brass? The drill clicked. The jazzy trumpet duet spin on the famous, famous Dvorak piece spiced things up a bit, and now enter the singing band which, yes, EXECUTEs! Whoa! Where did that pretty voice come from? The drum major? Wow. This Lake Park drumline lines their parts up like a laser. And there we go again with this stellar DM voice. (Gorgeous!) Crutch-like tools of gold were spun and flipped by the guard. Oh man, drum dudes, cut dhut...ESPECIALLY during that quiet part. Okay, this show had its moments. The last drill form was a "Kodak Moment" symmetrical form. Lake Park was up to their old tricks, musically...now if only the beginning part of their show were tighter...hmmm. Excellent work overall, guys!

My Score: 84.10

My Placement: 20th

 

Carmel High School

Carmel, IN

Repertoire: "Revolution"

Comments: Five wheel forms were made with the wind players, with a "C" form made with the guard (on their backs) and a circle form made with the guard (also on their backs). That classic Carmel eerie, abstract sound made by the winds and the pit soon comes back to earth with the "revolutionary" sounds of The Beatles. Wow! A leg-on-knee move with pairs of wind players comes across well, but the music seemed muddled a bit. SO much is going on. The booming synthesizer holds a note out long after Part 1 ends. I am thrilled with the piano sound, I might add. "Tweet!" goes a flute, and then claps. Well done! Great shaky leg throwdown, brass! The guard, in their half-Union-Jack green-and-blue costumes never drop. Way to rock 'em sock 'em, piano man! Yeeeeeah! Uh huh! The music of The Beatles is so fresh with this group. Did you catch that incredibly, incredibly difficult drill move where a globe-like form on a "hinge" rotates, in whole, around the field? Amazing.

My Score: 92.80

My Placement: 7th

 

Walton High School

Marietta, GA

Repertoire: "Life Outside the Box" including "Awakening," "Contemplation" and "Rejoicing"

Comments: The band on the field was housed under these large pipe structures that could be solid cubes if they wanted to...and the wind players seemed to mimic "trying to escape" poses seemed to reflect this. The dissonant note to pick some of these pipe props off their feet worked! Okay, another power chord...send me a new dish, please. The woodwind ensembles at the mics up front strut their stuff with no qualms. Folding horizontal lines render some vertical lines of three to attach to two sets of longer vertical threes to squeeze up a box. When the in-and-out drum parts are heard, a box form is made with the pipe structures. I caught a glimpse of a guard girl lurching back and doing some rifle work with pride. Soon, the space within is filled with, yes, you guessed it, a BLOCK of wind players, who finish with solid attacks and releases. This show left me somewhat cold. This just seemed like your routine field show with bits of oohs and aahs here and there. They performed well, and...they performed well. Get it?

My Score: 79.00

My Placement: 27th

 

Lawrence Central High School

Indianapolis, IN

Repertoire: "One Hand, One Heart" featuring the music from Leonard Bernstein's "Westside Story"

Comments: The wind players, in two large wheel forms, stood back-to-back (away from the circle). A head roll ensues, and then a trumpet solo and a baritone solo and...a build. The kids "dressed tha part" with vests that had the letters "LC" and loose-fitting pants. Oh, and did I not mention the uncharacteristic hats--baseball caps, that is? Whao! Trumpets, those notes reached for the stars, baby! Yeah! There were some mic problems during the concert baritone solo. All the necessary "West Side Story" elements were there, with a TWIST! The acting, the synth zaps, and the cracking of rifles were all there. The "up" arrow form of the auxiliary and "down" arrow form of the wind players contrasted nicely. The sultry body moves of the wind players felt the latin vibe with MAMBO! During a tenor drum feature, the rifles go flying, with one waaaaay up there which then went "click" right in the hands of the auxiliary gal. A siren goes off and sends the kids into the heart form, and not long after this show of love does this group show us the love with their sound. Stunning!

My Score: 93.00

My Placement: 6th

 

Plymouth-Canton Educational Park

Canton, MI

Repertoire: "The Passion Within" including "The Dancer," "The Painter," "The Musicians" and "The Lovers"

Comments: Easels with paintings of modern art compel. Pod forms across the field have winds cupping a hand at their chest. On a blank white tarp that looks like the moon, moves that rival synchronized swimming are done with red folding chairs. The music seems to float so light, and my ears, were they to have thumbs, would give them the "thumbs up." A spellbinding vocalist sings, a violinist plays, and...wow. The music takes off with passion that strikes a chord in you. The drill is check, check, check great. I feel like I am at a Yanni concert! This show is amongst the most exciting of the morning, no doubt. "Ode to Joy" is quite a change of pace from everything else they did out there. If there is one complaint I have--if you could even think it a valid complaint--it is that they used such a well-known and arguably OVERPLAYED piece of music to cap things off. I would have thought PCEP would do follow the path that the rest of their show took, but...ah well. It was all wonderful, nevertheless.

My Score: 90.00

My Placement: 8th

 

Centerville High School

Centerville, OH

Repertoire: "Psycho" by Bernard Hermann, "Color and Light" by Stephen Sondheim, "Let Me Fall" by Benoit Jutras and "Candelabra Rhumba" from "Le Tombeau de Liberace" by Michael Daugherty

Comments: High platforms that could be accessed by ramps or by stairs were on both 35s. A spooky, eerie narrative wishes "he would go away." I liked the crooked leg squat move, with blunt sounds. The flutes throw in a few nice sounds. A dissolving-specific aspect of a block comes into play, with pieces dissolving and coming back into focus. (This was really cool.) The staccato synth notes tense up the emotions. The trombone soloist in the ballad chokes a few notes, but gets right back on track. A mega triangle form has the guard in the center, creating "stairs" for a member with hands, and then after she ascends she falls forward. The unzipping and zipping horizontal line of wind players that has a wind player walking within the zipper until he reaches a guard girl is an aesthetic treat. The shrill "Psycho" "cuts" in sound, combined with shrieking, made this show a true class act. I have the shakes, now. Whew! With this type of work, Centerville will be well on their way to another national win. This was the best Centerville show I have seen to date.

My Score: 89.20

My Placement: 11th

 

Ben Davis High School

Indianapolis, IN

Repertoire: "Celestial Journey"

Comments: Part of the earth is shown with a giant tarp. A set of dings and rings from the pit go on with a deep-voiced narrator. I was thrown back by their immense sound. The woodwinds aced their parts. Slick stops, marching winds. (Direction changes could use some work, though.) Be alike in those horn flashes during the ballad, brass...it just plain looks BETTER. The spiraling forms that lead to a cluster lean towards the cluster, then away. Ooh! I feel like I am on Disneyland's "Space Mountain" with that eerie synth music, and whoa be that percussion feature that blasts off with stuff that makes my head bop. Oh yeah. This is what it's all about. The vastness of the universe is "made" after field CLEARS. Now this is a show I would not mind seeing again in Finals. What an elaborate sound.

My Score: 88.10

My Placement: 14th

 

Castle High School

New Castle, IN

Repertoire: "Chain Reactions...the power of one" including "Mvt. I The Power of One," "Mvt. II Chain Reaction," "Mvt. III Dreams," "Mvt. IV Action-Reaction"

Comments: A back-to-back per guard member diagonal splits a form of wind players, and then rips apart. The electro drum beats to kick off this show is too soft, I think. Some of the winds seemed restrained, and a sax feature, though nailed, is hushed a little. Some of the sabres tossed before the "Dreans"--er, "Dreams" segment did not connect the same. The voice and a picture of John F. Kennedy is inspiring. This band makes waves with their presentations. A remote flute soloist is awesome, though there are a few minor technological glitches. Five baritone sax dudes aim their stuff right at us and BLOOOW! A saxophone quartet accomplised. A baritone soloist at the end of the show does his thing on the move, creating a stage with kneeling members facing a "What Will You Do?" message created with black backdrops with white letters. Yeah, they had it, they had it.

My Score: 87.90

My Placement: 16th

 

Alan Irons

Fountain Valley High School Marching Band 1993-1996

Pacific Crest of Diamond Bar 1997

Nashua Spartans 1998-1999

UCSB Class of 2002

[Mculbert07]

  airons0678 said:

Connally High School

Austin, TX

A yong man narrating mentions the word "blur," and I must say the only blur I see is that of the top of their tarps.

That was me!

 

And it actually was some Phillip Glass stuff.