Despite my bad experience with Morehead State last year, I made the trek again this year to watch the impressive lineup of bands. The experience was about what I expected: overpriced concessions, low quality program, not enough room in the stands for the parents of 20 bands (including at least 5 bands with over 100 members), being kicked out of the stadium between prelims and finals, walking at least a quarter of a mile from parking to the stadium. I brought my own water and refilled from the water fountains rather than spend $2.50 per half liter bottle of Morehead State's brand. Aside from Bob Gregg, all of the judges were from out of state, and I had doubts about whether or not they would be able to judge consistently across the board according to KMEA's criteria. As we saw from the chaos among the ordinals in the finals recaps, my doubts seem to have been confirmed. Oddly, the only judge who agreed with my placements of the top 4 (MC, then PLD, then BC, then W-town) was Bob Gregg. The tabulation errors in prelims and then in finals are alarming; shouldn't they double-check before sending off the scores? If you are looking for a competition to attend, then please be aware that maybe the only good thing about this competition is the quality of its lineup. Everything else is, at best, a mixed bag.
Anyway, on to my reviews. These are in the order in which they performed in finals. I added in a review of Paris, even though they performed in exhibition, because I know a lot of you are interested in hearing about them.
Paris - "The Asylum"
Wow, I love the show concept. I think psychological shows are underrated, and the musical selections are all appropriate and interesting (though Radiohead's "Creep" has gotten worn out over the last few years). Interesting backdrops, psych ward looking bed, menacing-looking guard uniforms, and a field commander who doubles as a psychologist all really help convey the concept visually. The drill is a little bland, but there's not much really that you can do with the drill for a show like this, I guess. I was afraid that this band may have fallen off somewhat after the mysterious director change, but I'm happy to report that they should be just fine this year. They're a little smaller, but that's about it. Their brass is strong, but sometimes the blend is off or they go a little out of control. They also overwhelm the woodwinds, who are only audible about half the time. Their marching was pretty good, but there are still some technique issues that could be taking away from their visual performance; body angles and uniformity of steps were the biggest of them. Lines broke down between sets and will need some reps to clean up. There are a couple of things I would like to see changed or added: there is no one portraying the patient, and I think there needs to be in order for the show concept to make the most sense. There is just so much more that can be done with the patient present, battling the demons of her mind or conveying her suffering to the audience. I think that could take their visual effect, which is already really good, to another level. The second thing I would suggest (and this is just because I'm a completist, really) is very specific psychological conditions and disorders given to the patient. There is some general background, but I think if there's a clear idea of what's wrong with her mind and why and that idea is portrayed well, it could also really add to their effect scores. As it is, though, it's still a very impactful show. If they work on blending their tones and maintaining their forms, they should contend for finals again.
Mercer County - "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger"
This band reminds me of Estill County around 6 or 7 years ago. They tease the crowd so much with their good blend and sound quality at mf, but they never give the crowd the satisfying impact moment of a fortissimo. The two chief problems I witnessed in their show on the 20th at Ryle are still there: their marching technique still leaves some to be desired (foot phasing, legs bending while marching, upper body movement), and their music still has some dirt that will need to be ironed out. They sound better than they did 3 weeks ago, but they look about the same and their music is about at the same level of cleanliness. I can tell that these kids have good musical ability, but they will need to dig deep and find another level of effort if they are going to improve their performance level enough to contend for finals, especially in a tougher AAA class.
Estill County - "Nevermore"
I have made no effort to hide the fact that I am rooting for these students to succeed. They had a rough first weekend at Bourbon County, but bounced back nicely at Mason County. Since Bourbon County, they've made pretty steady progress with cleaning their show. I'm starting to wonder if they're improving quickly enough, but there's still a month before finals. One of the things that I noticed at Bourbon County was that the energy level of their music dropped when they were marching at the same time; that has improved in most sections except for the high brass, which now sounds tired and strained pretty much all the time. Breathing exercises and conditioning would really help them to last throughout. On the other hand, the tubas were great and the woodwinds were much improved, especially in their respective features. Overall, their music sounded much better than it did in week 1, and if the trumpets could catch up with the rest of the band, then they would be solid. There are still interval issues in the drill and their lines need more work. Marching technique was pretty good, but broke down toward the end of the show. I like what I've been seeing out of them so far, but they still have cleaning to do before they're ready for state.
Danville - "My So-Called Social Life"
This band is a pretty clear case of design quality vs. performance quality. Aside from limited field coverage and drill that is somewhat slow-moving and uninteresting, this is a very well-designed show. Eye-catching props that are used multiple times and provide good staging for featured players, catchy selections that are appropriate to the show concept, voice-overs to introduce each selection and give it added meaning. Their performance level, on the other hand, does not match the quality of their show design. Because of the low velocity of their drill, a lot of band members must take very small steps going from one set to the next; posture and toe angles suffered during these sets specifically, and sometimes, they would still get to their sets too early. Their music is still pretty messy, and has not improved much since week 1. Phasing, tempo tears, voices sticking out, loss of tone control... They will need a lot of time in sectional practice to beat out their parts with a wooden block. I guess begging Jeff Towns to designate a field commander would bear no fruit, so in the absence of that, the band will need to listen in to the center snare, and likewise, the center snare will have to lock in the beat better and keep the band in sync. Listening in is key for any band that does not have a field commander, and this band just isn't doing it at this point. They will need a good amount of work in order to transform this show into a finals contender a month from now.
Pike County Central - "All These People - A Story of New Orleans"
I'm not sure what I was expecting out of this band, but I know it wasn't that. Definitely the surprise of the day for me. Their show focuses on the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the New Orleans area and how the city's unique style of music helped to heal the wounds it caused. Their mix of creole, blues, and Dixieland jazz music is an excellent representation of this musical style. Usually, I cringe at shows where someone sings, but this one worked. Their preshow is set to one of the members singing "All These People" by Harry Connick, Jr. with keyboard and drums backing him up. It sets a somber tone for the show itself, which takes the viewer through a journey from what New Orleans felt like before Katrina to the storm itself, and then the period of mourning before rebuilding into the bustling, culturally significant tourist destination it was before. Though their band was tiny, all of their performers were very skilled and confident. I loved that their depiction of the storm was the theme to the movie The Perfect Storm, and that their music of mourning was a slow Dixieland piece set to a slow march drill reminiscent of a parade. JUST like something you would find in New Orleans. Their drill was somewhat inconsistent, which I think took away from the visual aspects of their show, but most of the things they did had some kind of hint or significance regarding their show concept. There were a couple of points where the winds got out of sync, but were fixed quickly. Also, I think they can improve their blend with some more listening in and air support. Not bad at all, and I'm really glad they made it to finals at this competition.
Rowan County - "The Journey to Happiness"
This show confuses me. The title implies that they will start out from an unhappy place and the music will get happier, but yet the selections start out happy (with Ode to Joy, Simple Gifts, and Happy by Pharrell) and become unhappy (with Ice Dance, which is beautiful but sad, and then the moody Aha by Imogen Heap). That seems counterintuitive. Maybe they still need to put on their closer and that it will feature a return to the happy parts. Anyway, the music is a little messy at this point, and they will need to work on listening in and blending better. The drill had very little that stood out, and there is not much visual design to speak of at this point. Their marching was also pretty lackluster; bent legs, telegraphing, phasing, and very relaxed posture made it look less like they were marching and more like they were just walking around. The intervals are getting there, but because of the technique issues, the drill still looks messy. I think most of this can be attributed to the late departure of Kevin Christie for Texas, and this band just got off to a slow start and is still catching up. The marching really needs to be fixed and they need to add more to their show to keep the visual judges interested. I think this band is a pretty solid semifinalist, but they have a lot of work to do before they can think about finals. Boyle County proved to us in 2012 that nothing is impossible, though.
George Rogers Clark - "Rising Up"
This is one of the bands that has improved a bunch since the beginning of the season. At Bourbon County, they sounded tiny compared to the bands around them, and their drill was a mess. It looked a whole lot better on Saturday, with significantly fewer issues in the drill than before. They have also started to fill out their sound and take it to another dynamic level, which has made them sound less like a AAA band and more like a AAAAA band. The music still has its dirty moments, but sprinkled throughout were some pretty nice impact moments that I didn't hear earlier. However, I have a confession. I've actually been dreading doing a review for this show, because it would mean calling them out. Like Mercer County, I like the motivational air taken on by this show. However, also like Mercer County, I don't think they do enough visually to interpret that concept to the viewer. Unlike Mercer County, I don't think their music is challenging enough to be competitive in the toughest region in the state (AAAAA East). I believe this show can make it to semifinals, but they will need to make the drill squeaky clean and continue to improve their blend, and adding more visuals to the show would also help.
Madison Central - "Vendetta"
I really love this show. I think it has the potential to be a governor's cup show on November 1st. This band has the best overall tone quality of any band in the state, something I never thought I would say because Paul Laurence Dunbar was the master of tone quality for such a long time. They are also definitely one of the best playing bands in the state, and their dynamics have improved a huge amount over a few years ago. I was very ambivalent about the outcome of Morehead State, because I believed that Madison Central had still beaten Dunbar comfortably and edged Bourbon County with a very good performance, but at the same time, I also knew after their finals performance that they had left the door ajar with some spacing issues and a couple of uncharacteristic moments where some voices went slightly out of control. It was really nit-picky stuff, but it was enough to give the judges an opportunity to crown someone else champion. A friend of mine once said that a band "should never leave any room for doubt", because if you do, this is what happens. So in order to win the governor's cup in this class, Madison Central can't just be good enough, they have to be pretty much perfect. I know that's a very unreasonable thing to ask of a bunch of high school kids, but at the same time, I think they can do it. The music effect scores from Morehead State baffled me, because there is no way that Madison Central deserved 4th place overall. I still think they need to add more visual design to their show, because visual effect is their weakest link right now.
Campbell County - "Maori"
What a cool show. As soon as I saw the show title in the program, I was looking forward to it, and it did not disappoint. Full of primal body movements, deep drum voices, and a blaring ram's horn, it really set the stage for their bold, forceful music. The students all really seem to be into the show concept, which is a great thing to see in today's marching band world. Their drill was a bit blocky, but otherwise did a good job of keeping the forms interesting and representative of the south Pacific island natives. They did a better job with their music than I would have expected, with just a couple of messy moments. Their biggest problem was that their brass tended to overpower their woodwinds, and had a habit of going out of control on their big attacks. It's a very thin line to have to walk between not having enough power and going out of control, but that's what this show is going to warrant. If they can balance out all the voices, then it will soudn terrific. The lines will need some work, especially on keeping them straight throughout sets, and spacing during their round, organic sets will be something to watch going forward. If they continue to perform their show at least as well as they did at Morehead State, then they are a lock to get to semifinals out of AAAAA East. If they continue to improve their ensemble balance and make their drill cleaner, they have a puncher's chance to finish inside the top half at semifinals.
Paul Laurence Dunbar - "Unbridled"
It's good to see Dunbar getting back to the things that have made them a success over the last decade: ambitious drill, dynamic mastery, and well-arranged music. The fences are a nice touch, and for the most part, I like what they do with them. I'm not a big fan of the fact that they're so far outside the middle of the field, though. There were a couple of body moments added in for effect that I didn't think were necessary, but that's just my opinion. I personally like this season's music much more than last season's music, not because last season's music was bad, but because this show's music flows so much better and spends more time in major keys, which I think Dunbar does better than minor keys. They did a great job both in prelims and in finals, though I did not see much discernable difference between the two performances, which had the same amount and magnitude of issues. Some field coverage phasing, some muddiness in the instrumental features, a bunch of crooked lines (especially between sets). This will be a phenomenal show by November 1st, but on Saturday, it was just not clean yet. I'm not sure where the judges found the 2-point swing between their prelims and finals spreads with Dunbar and Madison Central, because I didn't see it. I'm really looking forward to seeing how this show progresses, though, because it's going to be a tough show to beat at finals. This COULD be a return to title form for them.
Williamstown - "Galaxy"
Boy, did they put in some work on their music between Ryle and Morehead. A lot of the mud in their first two movements disappeared, the tempo tears during the middle two movements disappeared, and everything else was just as good. The rocket that they launched (yes, you read that correctly) during "Rocket Man" was a great moment. What's scary is that I agreed with Williamstown moving up to 4th place overall in finals, and they didn't even nail their show. Their marching was excellent, but ironically, I think their drill took a step back on Saturday; I saw a couple of moments where their spacing was off or their lines were crooked that I had not seen before. They still did a great job, but I know they can and will do better before the season is over. Musically, it was much more clean, and there were no major errors. I think there are a couple of things that could really propel them forward: the soloists tend to get drowned out by their surroundings, and if they could play out more, their solos would have more impact; also, I think at times Williamstown does TOO good of a job of staying under control and could really bring out those impact moments by making them a little louder, especially in the opener. They're on track to have this show squeaky clean by finals, and if they nail it on November 1st, magic could happen.
Male - "The Red Gypsy"
This is such a strange show, taking pieces from the play Carmen and adding what I can only describe as an Arabian style to them. Interesting. All of the color guard are wearing the red dresses characterized by Carmen, but there was one who danced around the band playfully during the show, almost flirting with them. I really appreciated that nod to the personality of the character upon which their show was based, though I'm sure not everyone in the crowd caught it. This is another really odd turn of events. Male's music was actually pretty good at Bourbon County, but their marching was a mess. At Morehead on Saturday (especially in their finals performance), their drill was improved only to be brought down by a disastrous musical performance fraught with uncharacteristic tempo tears and breakdowns in their blend. There were still some spacing issues in the drill, and their marching technique averaged out (some really good marchers, some marchers who need work), but not as bad as Bourbon County. Ultimately, it was their musical performance that I believe sunk them behind Campbell County, and I know this band is capable of better and will have many better performances before the season ends. I do wish they would take part in some sort of championship; if not KMEA, then Mid-States or BOA. They would represent our state well.
Bourbon County - "Our Wicked Ways"
Wow. After the bands that had performed up to that point, Bourbon County sounded humongous. I was left speechless after they performed. This was definitely the best show design of any band at Morehead State. I love the allusions in this show to In the Halls of the Mountain King, which is one of my favorite classical pieces, and the Bette Midler song "I've Put a Spell On You" from the movie Hocus Pocus. I also really enjoyed the malicious edge this show puts on their rendition of the witch theme. Juxtaposed onto the contempt and fear toward her by the community around her, however, even this vengeful witch seems to have a protagonist's moral advantage. It's an interesting sociological take on the concept that gives more depth to it than a group usually does. I'm sure that subtlety will be lost on a lot of viewers, but if I were an effect judge, I think I would really be impressed by that. The one thing I didn't like was that the stage kind of limited what the band could do visually while it was in the middle of the field for the first half of the show. Their drill was very clean for this point in the season, though there were some issues with students not quite getting to sets or being behind in line rotations. The lines were good, but will need more work in order to really click into place. They had by far the best spacing of any band at Morehead State. For the most part, the music is very well done; at least a couple of voices went out of control in almost all of their hits, though. The double-tonguing trumpets did an excellent job, but it sounded like only a few of them played; I would like to hear more of them playing on the night of finals. The trumpet soloist was excellent in prelims, made a couple of small errors in finals, but recovered really well. By finals, he'll be nailing it. This show is just as complete as last year's show, and they still have a month left to streamline and add to it. The rest of AAA is really going to have to work hard to beat this band. Possible, but really difficult.
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