Wednesday, October 22, 2014

My Reviews of the Bryan Station Pageant of Bands on October 18th, 2014


It's good to see that this band is reinventing itself. I've always wanted to design a show that uses Mozart's and Verdi's Requiems, so this show is right down my alley. The preshow with the chord progression from Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" was a nice touch. The backdrops were good, and I was happy to see some flags used by the guard that actually matched the stained glass pattern on the backdrops. That's a kind of subtlety that I would only hope a marching band effect judge would pick up on. I do wish the drill would move more, and I saw plenty of opportunities for more visual effect to be put into the show. One of the things that I have come to expect from this band is creativity with props used by the color guard, and I think if they could find a couple of appropriate props and incorporate them into the show, then it would really help boost their visual effect score. Nicholas County suffered from some small band musical issues, like mistakes being more audible because fewer voices are performing the parts, and music at low dynamic levels not quite reaching the press box because of a combination of ambient noise and the increased distance from the field to the stands at Bryan Station's football stadium. The woodwinds tended to get overpowered by the brass at the higher dynamic levels and will need to play out to match them. Intonation in the trumpets was an issue throughout the performance; I recommend tuning all of the valves daily to help combat this, especially in cold weather. They had a tendency not to last all the way through their phrases and will need to work on completing the statement before they take a breath. All of the featured performers were good, but the tuba's solo kind of got drowned out by the pit and will need some more air, and the clarinet solo had a couple of missed notes; bonus points for sticking with it and finishing strong, though. The front ensemble's bass drum striker is my new hero; that kid played his part like a boss. Great sound from the drum, and always on beat. He single-handedly added a lot of excitement to that movement. As I mentioned before, their drill was slower than average, and with a small band, that really limits the options a director has for visual creativity. Also, with slower drill, marching technique tends to suffer because students tend to shuffle more than actually marching when they have to take very small steps to get from point A to point B. Their lines were not bad, but they really need to be exact with their positioning to show the judges beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is what the formation is supposed to look like; they sometimes left just a little room for doubt, which hurt their visual scores. The guard added a lot to the show, and were pretty clean from what I saw. They're pretty well integrated into the band during a lot of the most important parts, and the choreography keeps something happening visually at all times. I had them on the bubble to make it into finals; between them, Paris, and Danville, I was pretty confident that one of the three would take the spot that GRC ended up filling.

I like the changes they have made to their show since Morehead, and the way the show ends is a nice twist. The featured guard girl does a fantastic job as the tortured, schizophrenic patient fighting for her life against the demons in her mind. Their selections are all appropriate for the show concept and work well together. The voice-overs help to set up their movements, but I really wish they would not use school names for the name of the psychiatric facility; county or municipal names would be more appropriate. "Bryan Station Psychiatric Facility" just sounded strange. Regardless, this is a great visual show design, and the guard really helps tell the show's story. The flag designs are really cool, especially in the last couple of movements. I'm not thrilled with the fact that the drill only moves horizontally and cannot really move vertically because the backdrops are so far forward on the field, but I understand that that's sometimes the only way to combat the issues Nicholas County faced with their sound not reaching the press box. The thing that most dismayed me about their performance was that they are not really getting cleaner. Their tones were still rough, they still had some phrasing issues, and the brasses tended to be a little behind the beat. Intonation became an issue among the brasses during their louder points. I also believe that they need some more dynamic variation; more crescendos and decrescendos would really help their music effect. The flute soloist did a good job, but could really use more expression to make the performance more memorable. Vibrato and subtle dynamic swells at appropriate times will really help here. The baritone soloist was also good, but could use some of the same things as the flute soloist. The pit had a solid performance and were the biggest stabilizing factor in the music. The drill was cleaner, but still had some slight spacing issues and lines that weren't quite straight. Like Nicholas County, I think what hurts their visual scores the most is the fact that they literally cannot move more than they do because of the restrictions placed on them by the backdrops. The level of demand can be higher, and if it is, then they will be rewarded for it. Their upper body posture was still hit-or-miss; I saw some bobbing up and down and I saw some wobbling back and forth. Those upper bodies need to be completely motionless while marching. Their body angles were varied on pretty much every visual they did, which limited the amount of points they received for them; if they can work on the uniformity of those angles, then it will add to their visual scores. There is still a good amount of room for this band to improve, and they can be in the finals mix again, but they have a lot of problems that need to be fixed in order for that to happen. I've always liked this band, and I will be keeping my fingers crossed for them next Saturday.

From what I can tell, this show is about a the oppressed subjugates of a cruel tyrant who rise up and "overthrow" him. An interesting concept, though difficult to portray musically. The selections (Dvorak's 9th symphony, Jupiter from The Planets, and Farandole by Georges Bizet) seemed completely random and left me scratching my head. Good pieces individually, but what do they have to do with one another or with the show concept? Likewise, the drill is a pretty collection of shapes and designs that does very little to enhance or portray the idea presented by the title. I think this will limit their effect scores going forward. Though larger in size than Nicholas County or Paris, Morgan County still had trouble getting their sound to the press box. The highest dynamic level I heard from them may or may not have been a mezzo forte. As a result, their dynamics were severely limited, and the band could not use dynamics to enhance their music effect nearly as much throughout their performance. I found myself wanting more than they gave at several points throughout the show. I thought the snare drum parts during the Jupiter ballad were out of place and accented the wrong beats, which took away from the movement instead of adding to it. Their closer just kind of fell apart. The soloists during Farandole had good technique (and the baritone soloist at the beginning of the piece did a very good job), but the blend in the harmony and during the heavy march theme need to be balanced out. The melody often got drowned out by the countermelody; whenever a wind player has the melody during that movement, they need to play out more so that the melody is always the focal point of the audience. The music got a little dirty and lost energy toward the end; the band will need to work on pushing all the way through the show even though they're tired. As with many of the smaller bands, Morgan County's drill was limited by their backdrops. I also thought the soloists needed better staging, especially during the closer. Their marching technique will need work going forward; leg angles, upper body posture, and toe lift were all over the place. I saw foot phasing periodically throughout the show, and a couple of spacing issues also popped up. Their lines and curves weren't bad, but their blocks did not hit and rarely stayed intact during sets. They will need to work on making their lines and diagonals exact in order to leave no room in the judge's mind about what their drill is trying to do. In a very weak AA East region, I think this performance will be enough to get them to semifinals, but I would like to see them work on their marching and carrying the melody and give an improved performance that could get them through regionals comfortably.

This band has been very frustrating over the last couple of seasons. Before 2013, they really cleaned up and started coming together at the right time as they approached regionals, and they just missed taking home the governor's cup for two straight years. However, that steady, gradual process has disappeared in the last two years, leaving the band just as much of a mess at the end of the season as it was at the beginning. There is very little wrong with this show as far as being competitive in their class. Yes, their drill is pretty slow; yes, their guard work is simple; yes, their music is somewhat easy; yes, they do a lot of dancing around instead of marching; but there are myriad other bands in AA who have similar shows but perform them cleanly and are in better positions going into regionals. There is nothing stopping Danville from being right there with the rest of them -- their staging is excellent with the large iPhone frames, and their selections are all interesting and appropriate to the show -- but their show is just not cleaning up. As with most other bands today, the high brass were plagued with intonation issues from the temperatures. Their energy level seemed pretty low throughout, and a lot of the music came out flat. The band (including all of the featured performers) will need to work on expressing the emotions in their music more. The lower voices got drowned out most of the time, and all I could hear was the high brass, some of the woodwinds, and the bass guitar. The trumpets stuck out pretty much all the time, and when they stopped playing, I couldn't tell whether the music was designed that way or the trumpets were just dropping the phrase to take a breath. The closer's music fell apart, and their energy level dropped further at that point. Students will have to work on lasting throughout their phrases and keeping the energy going all the way through the show. I think they could use some more crescendos and decrescendos in their music, as well, just to show that they are capable of doing so. As mentioned before, the drill and guard work aren't overly challenging, which may have hurt their visual effect score. I think they need to be challenged more so that they can grow into the show more as the season goes on. They did a good job of being uniform with their body movements during the sections where they danced around. There were some bent legs and foot phasing throughout the show that will need to be cleaned up before semifinals. I am a little dismayed at how similar Saturday's Danville looked to the Danville I saw at Bourbon County; there has been little improvement over a month and a half, which just won't get a band into finals. This band will need to do some soul searching over the next week and a half and figure out what they really want to do with this activity. If they want to get back to finals, then they will need to do much better.

For fans of the reality television show of the same name, this show might be an amusing tribute. Alas, I am not a fan of the show. The selections made me smile, since I am a fan of classic rock, and they are all appropriate to the concept. However, that is the extent of the positives I experienced during this show. Classic rock, like other popular musical genres, is somewhat limiting with dynamics, and that problem was exacerbated by the lack of dynamic variety shown by the band; they may have reached a mezzo forte a few times, and that's about it. Air support and faster air flow will be needed. Their selections are not very difficult, but they still had problems with timing and could not maintain a high energy level throughout. There were times when it was difficult to tell what was going on in the music, so they really need to subdivide in order to keep the beat locked in. Their marching technique needs a lot of work; I saw instruments drooping, upper bodies facing different directions, bent legs, foot phasing, etc. They will need to work on their marching technique going forward in order to help with their visual scores. The guard was not together and may have taken away from the show instead of adding to it; they could use some practice on individual sets and then with putting those sets together to form the movements of the show. Subdivision will be key for them, as well. While not as difficult as AAA West, the east region is still full of good bands, so I do not believe Greenup County currently possesses the tools to make it to semifinals this year. My suggestion to them is not to focus on that, but instead to focus on getting an early start working on those fundamentals (subdivision, marching technique, air support) and use next Saturday's performance as practice for those techniques for the future.

These students have exemplified their show this season just by having a competitive marching band despite all the adversity they have faced over the last couple of seasons. It's really a shame, and also somewhat infuriating, that the school board abandoned them in the way it did by slashing their budget. This is another group of kids who deserve much better than what they have been given in the recent past. This season's show looks like it was hashed together at the last minute, which unfortunately may have been the case. Mars and Jupiter from Holst's The Planets Suite really don't fit in with the rest of the show's patriotic idea. (John Williams's "Hymn to the Fallen" from the film Saving Private Ryan would have made an excellent ballad for this show!) The visual package has improved a little bit since Bourbon County, and I like the moment at the beginning of the show where the guard forms a pose representing the statue of the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima. Also, even though Jupiter has little to do with the show concept, the red, white, and blue flags used during the hit made for another really nice moment. The use of Taps, Caisson Song (which is commonly referred to as the theme song for the U.S. Army), and Walking with Heroes, was very tasteful and somber. I would have liked to hear more emotion coming through with the solos, and their phrasing can also be improved. The band's energy level was never really high, and with a couple of exceptions, their music came out very quiet and emotionless. The woodwinds got drowned out during every hit and really need to improve their projection. I found their drill sluggish, and I felt it contributed to the band's low energy level. There were a lot of issues with spacing and crooked lines, and I don't think I saw any sets hit perfectly. Uniformity was a big issue: none of their visuals were completely together, either with the moves or the angles, and I saw a lot of issues with stepping off to the next set too early or too late. The guard work was pretty simple and not together; there were plenty of moments where I could not tell if the guard was supposed to do their moves on separate beats or whether they were just off by 1-2 counts. They really need to make their timing exact so that the judges will know that that is what is supposed to happen. I think there's a lot of improvement this band can make between their performance at Bryan Station and regionals on Saturday; better timing in the guard and their drill will really help their visual scores, and listening in to improve their blend will really help with their music scores, and both can be achieved in a week. I have my fingers crossed for them, because they have had such a tough road over the last couple of years.

Their finals performance on Saturday was the first sign I have seen that this show was finally starting to come together. Energy has never been a problem with this band; this season, their biggest problem this season is that they are struggling with cleaning up their show. There are two other problems they're having that are typical for them: rough tones because the brass is trying to play out so much, and small band drill because they're not a very big band; the backdrops cut their field in half as other small bands do. The color guard and field commander still add a lot to the show with their attitude. The low brass got lost in the blend during their hits, but the piccolo came through piercingly. If they could balance it out so that everyone is represented, then their show would sound a lot better. There are still some muddy parts, though they were better in finals than in prelims. There is a lot of demand placed on the brass in this show, and they have been the weak link thus far; they will need to nail their more difficult passages in order to maximize their music scores. Slow it down if you have to, get it right, then speed it back up. Do all the body movements you would be doing to get yourself used to doing it all at the same time. The front ensemble is a bit underutilized, and I would like to hear more from them; the battery was cleaner than I remember Washington County being in the past, though. They will need to work on keeping their tones under control during the big hits, because there was a bit of what my band director called "laser tone" going on. At one point in the opener, there are about 20 counts of drill where there's nothing going on in the music, and I think something needs to be inserted there to keep the show going. The notes at the end of the opener were a little flat and could use more power. The sax solo was good, but some of the notes seemed rushed because the sax player was taking breaths in odd places. I think his solo would come through better if he could change the phrases so that he lasts all the way through them. When the flutes join the sax soloist, they need to blend better with him; they tended to either get drowned out or their dynamic levels just went all over the place. I think part of the reason for this is because the sax soloist is miked, whereas the flutes are not. That part of their ballad is good, but can be so much better if they could work out the blend and dynamics. Their drill does not have as much vertical movement as I would have liked, which hampers their creativity with drill. They have a lot of body movements, but will need to work on keeping them together and making them shorter and more crisp. They did a good job with spacing, but sometimes their lines were a bit sketchy and will need further work. Their music is the roughest aspect of their show right now, and if they could clean it up, they could probably add about 4 or 5 points onto their score. It's unfortunate that they were put into the tougher AA West region, because it will be difficult to place in the top 4. With a clean musical run, though, I think they can do it.

This band's performance level really kills their show concept. It's supposed to be an inspiring journey from the darkness of depression and adversity to overcoming obstacles and achieving goals despite having a tough path laid before you, but all of the mistakes doom it before it even begins. Their music is not that difficult, which limits its ceiling. Issues with intonation and blend appeared throughout, with high brass losing control and woodwinds disappearing in the sound. The tubas lost control on a couple of occasions and sounded very messy. The last hit of the opener sounded somewhere between a mezzo forte and a forte, and it just needs another dynamic level in order to give the movement the ending it needs to have. The saxophone soloist did a good job, but needs to be more confident on that first entrance; it did not come out very clearly in their finals performance. Intonation issues plagued the ballad, which killed its impact. The mellophone solo wasn't bad, but the soloist needs to shape the notes more to give it a lyrical flow. The front ensemble has a pretty understated part in the show, but did a pretty good job and was one of its bright spots. Uniformity was a huge issue visually. Between the guard, the drill, and the body movements in the band, they just could not get everything together. Foot phasing and bent legs made their drill look sloppy, and their lines never hit perfectly. They formed a few triangle formations, and all of them looked at least a little wonky with spacing errors and messy diagonals. The guard needs a lot of work; they dropped flags and weapons often, were rarely completely together, and did not look that interested in their work or the show. A LOT of cleaning is in order for them this week. This band needs a gut check, or else they will be shut out of semifinals again.

Wow. At the beginning of the season, I figured they would clean up decently and be a pretty solid semifinalist, but they have already surpassed my expectations, and there are still 2 more weeks before semifinals. The telling of the poem "Annabel Lee" is such a poignant narration for this show, setting a somber tone for an appropriately dark collection of musical pieces. The dancers do an excellent job portraying the bond between the narrator and his subject, and they really add a lot of emotion to the show visually. They have an impressive first hit, which is always very important for effect; good first impressions go a long way with judges. Their blend is much improved from previous seasons, and they do a good job of maintaining it while moving. The woodwinds tended to get drowned out at higher dynamic levels, though. The brass players who sidestep while passing off the melody with other sections did a good job, but lost some energy while moving. The flute soloist is doing a really good job, but just a bit more expression would go a long way toward music effect at that moment in the show. The high brasses need to be careful during their crescendo into the big hit in the ballad, because they went a little too fast and lost control while also drowning out the rest of the band. After that big hit is over and everyone except the woodwinds releases, the woodwinds need to make sure their intonation is on the money. Also, I believe the releases from all of the winds at that point should be gentler and not quite as jagged as they were. The pit was great, and really shone at moments during their performances. The low brasses who have the melancholy, discordant melody really need to keep a strong, steady stream of air going through their horns, because they started to come out flat and go out of tune during their feature. The battery did a very good job with their feature, but can be cleaner than they were on Saturday. Their use of dynamics in their closer is very cool; it helps to give the music some movement even at lower dynamic levels. I would like to see that dynamic movement maintained throughout the movement, though. Their finals run was easily their best performance of the drill to date. There are more blocks and lines in the drill than I would like, but boy, did those blocks and lines hit quite often. The next step for them will be to clean up their diagonals to make those lines look even more uniform. Upper body posture broke down at times, especially among the woodwinds; the judges should not see any upper bodies swaying or rotating back and forth while marching. Their lines are good, but the next step is to fix their diagonals to create that perfect grid pattern that make them look even more uniform. Their body movements were good, but there were some movements and body angles that weren't exactly together and will need a little more practice with uniformity. The guard is integrated pretty well into the band's drill, and has a couple of really nice moments during hits. Their uniformity is also much improved, and really adds to the impact of the band's visual moments. In the end, I'm not sure where this band will place, but with Mercer County moving down to AAA and a couple of perennial class AAAA finalists underperforming, there's a slight chance that if this band continues to improve and clean over the next couple of weeks, they could make finals. I think they will finish closer to 6th or 7th place, but stranger things have happened at SMBC. This is the best band they have had since I have seen them perform, and I really hope they continue to improve in coming years.

There are parts of this show that I like, and there are other parts of this show that I don't. The selections they chose are all appropriate for their concept (except maybe Over the Rainbow and Baba O'Riley, though I won't complain about any band who wants to play The Who), but I'm not a big fan of how they're arranged in a jumbled, disjointed manner that jumps around too much for me to get much enjoyment from it and stylized awkwardly (and, in my opinion, unnecessarily) to give recognizable themes a spin that just sounded strange to me. Throughout the show, the melody seemed to be behind the beat pretty often. Maybe that is a side effect of those with the melody playing out to make their parts heard, but regardless, the melody needs to stay on beat. The low voices were drowned out pretty often at high dynamic levels, and will need to produce more sound to balance out the blend. there were a couple of muddy runs, one in the opener and one in the closer, that will need more work to clean up. The winds need to be careful during crescendos to impact moments, because some of them went too far and were out of control by the time the crescendo reached its apex. Intonation became an issue toward the end of the show. I liked the piano cadenza at the beginning of the ballad, even though it did not really fit in with the rest of the music. The saxophone solo sounded great, and really carried the moment; however, there wasn't enough going on in the show at that point and I felt the solo's impact was canceled out a bit by that. The battery does a great job in their feature, but I felt the feature itself went on for too long while the band was marching around and not playing. The drill had its moments, and I especially liked the light bulb shape they made in the opener. Some of their lines were good, but a lot were just a little off, and a couple were very noticeably off. I saw some spacing issues and some foot phasing throughout, as well. The guard was sometimes integrated into the band's drill very nicely, and at other times was banished to the back of the field; I would have liked to see them included in the most visible parts of the band's visual package more often. They did a good job of being together most of the time, but had a couple of moments where one or more guard members were off from the rest of the group. Most of these issues were minor, though; I thought their visual performance was pretty good in finals. Henry Clay is always an enigmatic band, and they could probably place anywhere between 4th and 8th at regionals depending on how good of a run they have. I think they will probably be closer to 6th, but I won't count out the possibility that they could finish in the top 8 at semifinals with 2 phenomenal weeks of cleaning.

What happened to this band? They're considerably smaller than they have been in the past, and their sound production has dwindled. They still play their music pretty cleanly, but at about half of the dynamic level that they used to. The voice overs are recorded airport and in-flight messages, and in my opinion, are very annoying and take away from the show instead of adding to it. I'm not a big fan of the boards in front, because not only are they static backdrops that do nothing but sit there and look like airplane windows, they hide the feet of the marchers when they are close enough to the front sideline (which they are for much, if not most, of the show). The backdrops behind the band look almost as much like shark fins as airplane wings, which had me guessing until I looked up the show title in the program. How about a whole plane instead of just a wing? I think that would make more sense. Or maybe clouds, or even the sun... Anyway, I digress. Their biggest problem was with dynamics, as I was mentioning before; they topped out at maybe a forte a couple of times and never gave me a "wow" impact moment. The woodwinds had good technique, but were the quietest part of the band and often drowned out by the other voices. The pit looked and sounded very professional, maintaining a constant beat and staying together throughout. The flute soloist was good, but needs more shaping of the phrases to add more movement to the part. Intonation was an issue at the lower dynamic levels, and I heard several squeaks from woodwinds having trouble pushing their notes out. The ballad sounded nice, but its impact was limited because there just wasn't enough sound production to give it the emotional power that it needed. The soloists in the beginning of the closer were all good, but their timing was just a bit off at points and can be improved. The blend fell off slightly at the very end, just enough to not quite sound right. Visually, it was actually quite good until the closer. I saw some bent legs that made their marching look sloppy, but the drill itself was pretty clean for the first two movements. The lines became sloppy in the closer as they added rotation to the drill, and will need to be straightened out. The guard did a good job for the most part, and some clever drill writing really helped them contribute to the band's visual scores. The weapon handlers were very skilled and caught all of their high-exposure tosses during the first two movements. The drill kind of left them out in no man's land for the closer, though. Some of the band's visuals seemed like they may have been either a cascade effect or something that was supposed to be done in unison and they just weren't in unison; more definition to the timing of those visuals would help eliminate any doubt in the minds of the judges. I can tell that this is a good group of musicians, but they're too restrained with their dynamics. They need to clean up their closer, add another dynamic level on top of what they use now, and use more dynamic changes of greater magnitudes in order to leave a more lasting impression on the judges. Otherwise, their music will get lost in the muddle at the first half of AAAA West, and I'm afraid that may cost them dearly by keeping them out of the top four.

This band just keeps getting better and better, and I still don't think I've seen them completely nail their show yet. Saturday's prelims performance was close, but there were still a few moments that left me thinking "that could be better". The air powered rocket during "Rocket Man" is awesome, and I saw that they have added LED lights to their reflective star props. Boy, those look really good under the lights. Ironically, the Williamstown effect did not come into play, and their prelims run was actually the stronger of their two performances. They have the best blend of any band in class A, and they will undoubtedly have the cleanest musical performances in the class over the next two weeks. Does that mean their music can be more difficult? Well, that's not for me to say, but their rendition of "Jupiter" from Holst's The Planets definitely is not easy. The woodwinds tended to get drowned out during the higher dynamic levels, and I would love to see them play out a little more. During their opener, the melody that plays while the trumpets make growling noises in the background still isn't loud enough and gets drowned out. This may fly in the face of some of the musical education that is taught to these kids, but my advice would be that it's okay and even preferable for the melody to stick out of the blend, so if just you or just your section carries the melody and the rest of the band is doing countermelody or harmony, then don't be afraid to play out further in order to make sure your part is the focal point of that passage. The second movement was the place where they lost energy over the first couple of weeks of the season, and they have done a great job of shoring it up; all of the sectionals are improved, especially the trombone feature that had been rough the last time I had seen them at Morehead. Their ballad continues to shine, and I think it is now my favorite part of the show. Their blend is great during the hit, making it a beautiful climax to the movement. The trumpets did have a somewhat tired tone going into it, and there were some voices that cut off just a little late, so I would like to see those issues fixed going forward. I'm a big fan of all the dynamic changes during the closer, which adds a lot of movement and makes the music that much more exciting. The band needs to maintain their blend during all of those dynamic changes, though; I felt some of the voices did not crescendo or decrescendo as fast as the rest and were left behind a bit. I like their visual package, because it has started out great and has only improved since the beginning of the season. Their drill is very clean, but there were some issues that can be fixed or improved. A lot of the rotating lines hit beautifully, but a few (especially in the closer) did not. The kids in the front will always be tired and running out of energy at that point, and will have to fight fatigue in order to stay in line and keep it straight throughout the set. I like the visuals that they do, but some of them are just a little off; they need to make it all more uniform in order to sell it to the judges. Their marching technique is about as good as you could ask any group of kids around the state to perform, but if they could do a little more work on keeping everyone's legs as straight as possible, then I think they'll look just a little bit better, and in this close of a race in class A, every little fraction of a point counts. I think if they nail their show, no one in their class can beat them, but they have to fix those small, subtle flaws and leave no room for doubt in the judges' mind.

I guess the judges have been saying something similar to what I've been saying in my reviews about how the band's music has very little to do with their show concept, because they have added voice-overs since last week. I'm not really thrilled with them, but they do help tie the music to their concept a lot better. I think they may have made some slight changes to their drill, as well, to feature a guard member playing the part of this "muse" -- and she plays the part very well. I like where the show is going, but I still think it will need more in order to drive home the concept. Some parts of this show are cleaning up pretty nicely, and then there are other parts that look or sound the same as they did in Week 3. The muted trumpets have improved their staccato notes, but their runs still like a jumbled mess. The timing in the saxophone solo was a little off in their finals run, but I think that's the first time I've heard him not nail it. Keeping it fresh in his mind will be important over the next couple of weeks. All of the woodwind features were very well done, and were the highlights of the show for me. The band's notational run in the opener was almost distinguishable, but was still a little muddy and will need more work. I heard some intonation issues and a tempo tear open up in the ballad, killing its impact. There are a couple of awkward phrasing moments in the trumpet solo; I can't really tell if the soloist is supposed to cut off abruptly, but it sounds out of place with the rest of the music. The melody dragged on and off throughout the second half of the show both in prelims and finals, and the trumpets often stuck out of an otherwise nice blend. The trombone feature cleaned up between week 3 and week 6, but has regressed a bit since then. The glissandos just aren't coming together well enough, and it still sounds messy, just not as much as it did at Ryle. I really like how much the guard adds to the show, and they're really helping to shore up the band's visual effect. The "muse" soloist is very professional and did everything just right. The rest of the guard (especially the weapon line) is doing a pretty good job, but will need more work getting everything more together during this home stretch. The drill is much better, but still has its share of issues. A lot of their body movements were not together and looked messy, which is a step back from where they were at Madison Central on the 11th. They will need to work on getting those back together and lock them into place in order to get full credit for them. Their lines were good, but some of them didn't quite hit and will need to be straighter by November 1st. Their marching also still has its share of issues; I saw some foot phasing and spacing issues that made their drill look messy. I'm a little dismayed at how they haven't come together more in the last month; Williamstown shows improvement every week, but Beechwood seems to take a step forward and a step back every week. Every time Beechwood has beaten Williamstown, in my opinion, they have beaten Williamstown's B game. If Williamstown has as clean of a finals run as they have the capability of performing, then Beechwood will need a much cleaner run than I have seen from them so far this season in order to beat them.

Steph made a very good point about this show on Saturday: even though the energy level is pretty good throughout, this show spends way too much time at the extremes of the dynamic spectrum; it's either forte and higher or piano and quieter. They show a lot of dynamic range, but they don't show as much fluidity of changing between those dynamic levels as I personally would like. The Red Cape Tango is a really cool piece, but modeling half your show off of it can get tedious. Having been a tuba player in high school, it pains me to say this, but I think Ryle's drill writer made a bit of a design error putting the tubas so close to the front of the field for so much of the show. Also, the guard is not very well integrated into the band's drill, and is shoved out to the edges of the performance area (either in the front or the back) for about 90% of the show. I also think that the closer just doesn't fit in with the rest of the show, especially when it modulates to a major key. It just sounds awkward and out of place from the rest of the music. Their performance level is about as clean overall as it was at Madison Central, which means to me that it was good but I thought it could be better. The woodwind trio is in great shape; there were just a couple of moments where it's off, but it's been solid since I've been watching the show, so they just need to keep it fresh in their minds as they practice between now and semifinals. The brasses need to be careful that they don't go overboard with their heavy ostinato, because they had a tendency to blast. There was some field coverage phasing during the opener, so they will need to work on keeping on beat with the field commander and not with what they hear from the other side of the field, even though it may feel awkward. The trumpet duet was great in prelims, but lost a bit of accuracy in finals; they need to keep working on that and make sure they can nail it regardless of temperature; blow warm air through your instruments all the way up to your entrances if you have to. The judges will understand. The bass clarinet sounds like she is forcing the first low note in her phrases a little bit, and could use some work on smoothing out that entrance. The saxophone accompaniment does a great job of blending the tones together. The rest of the woodwinds were just a bit rough in their finals performance, but they are really doing a good job with the frenetic runs during Red Cape Tango. The front ensemble is also doing a good job staying right in time with them. The trumpet runs are good, but need to be smoothed out so that they glide from note to note. During the closer, their attacks got a bit rough, and they lost tone quality toward the end. They will need to smooth it out and maintain their air support all the way through. Their blend was good throughout, but better intonation in the brasses would help make it even better. Also, the tubas need to be conscious of their position on the field and back off a little bit if they're closer to the front. Their lines have improved as the season has wrapped up, but went awry just a little bit in the second half of the show. Their rotating lines and diagonals need the most work. Despite being banished toward the edges of the performance area, the guard still managed a couple of really nice moments, especially during the lower dynamic levels, that helped keep the show's energy level up. I saw some legs bending while marching, which will need to be addressed to make the drill look more crisp. Their finals run was slightly less clean than their prelims run, but I thought both runs were clean enough to put them in second overall. I like what I'm seeing from this band, and I'm not counting them out as a potential surprise finalist in class AAAAA, but in order to have any chance of doing so, they will need to even out their music and smooth out all of the rough edges in order to eliminate any separation musically between them and the other finalist contenders. I think their show design takes a couple of points off the table that they desperately could have used, but their performance level is really solidifying. They will probably need some help to get into finals this season, but if they put together another show next season that is this good or better, then watch out, class AAAAA.

Like Beechwood, Grant County has added voice-overs to their show, and like Beechwood, those voice-overs turn a head-scratching collection of good but unrelated pieces into a collage held together by the words spoken by the narrator. I still think Grant county's show concept is a little ambiguous, but they have done what they need to do to connect their music to the idea presented by the title. I didn't notice this at Madison Central, but they're actually a little bigger than they have been in the past. Their sound has improved from past seasons and is more under control than it was last weekend, but they still have more work to do smoothing out the roughness in their tones. The question-and-answer woodwind part at the beginning got ahead of the beat a little bit, so they may actually do better listening back to the pit right behind them. The first hit is getting a lot better, but the trumpets still get a little rough once there is some movement in their parts. Their blend is good, but I seem to say so often, the woodwinds tend to get lost in the sound. They sound great when they are audible, though, and their feature was great in finals. During the ballad, the pit dragged behind the beat a little bit while the soloist (who did a good job) was playing. The band's energy level dropped while at their lower dynamic levels, so I think they could use some small dynamic swells to shape the phrases and keep the flow of their music going. Intonation became an issue in the brasses, as well. The last note of their hit in the ballad was nice, but I think it would have so much more impact if they could decrescendo it more during the first couple of counts and then crescendo back to a full forte when they cut it off; it didn't move quite enough for me. That crazy run at the beginning of their closer is getting better, but the trumpets will need to keep working on smoothing out all the roughness in their parts. The timing was great, though, and it set up the coming hit nicely. The forte piano note at the end of that hit was good, but the crescendo back to forte was very sudden; it will need to be more even and take up all of the counts in the hold. The brasses went out of control in the last part of the closer because it has some pretty crazy drill movement, but they will need to maintain their air support all the way throughout. I liked their body movements, and I thought they were the best moments in the show for portraying their concept; uniformity could use a little work, but it's very close to being perfectly together. I thought the white flags in the color guard were too plain; why not have white and black to portray two distinct choices, or maybe even more than two colors? Same with the color guard uniforms themselves. Regardless, they did a good job and had a very professional look to them. The weapon line will need a little work getting everyone more together, but they did a good job. The drill is pretty crazy, and for the most part, they do a good job with it. Their finals run was by far the rougher visual run, with lots of foot phasing and crooked lines (especially during rotations), which I thought would keep them out of second place. I also thought there should be something done visually at the end of the show to portray some kind of choice being made, which is the logical outcome of a "dilemma", but there was none. I think there is more that can be done with this show, and I hope they keep adding to it even though regionals are this weekend. I think they have something that can bring them back into the top two, but they will need to clean up their tone quality, smooth out their fast runs, and keep those lines straight in order to have any hope of winning the class. They have their work cut out for them. I will be looking forward to how they shape up against Anderson County this weekend.

It was great to see that they went back to doing the preshow; I think it's such a great setup for what the show itself is about. I would love to see the band members bend their legs out further to the side to really exaggerate the effect, even though it's preshow and not judged. Their finals run was a little rough musically, but I thought it was their best overall performance of the drill so far since they've had the whole show on the field. The brasses went a bit out of control in the opening hit, so they will need to be careful at low temperatures like Saturday. I love how they play at low dynamic levels with good blend and tone quality, and that blend does not suffer when they change dynamics, which is really difficult to do. The woodwind feature was good, but their blend broke down toward the end of it. There was a slight tempo tear in the passage leading up to the next hit, so the woodwinds will have to be careful that they don't begin to rush there. The last hit was good, but just had one trumpet sticking out throughout. The pit has a nice moment at the beginning of the ballad that they have been hitting in previous weeks, but their timing was a bit off Saturday night. The mellophone soloist has really cleared up the tone and is doing a much better job of singing out the solo. The flute soloist has some difficult timing moments and handled them very well; it sounded great on Saturday, but I think a little more dynamic movement in the solo would make it sound even better and give it more impact. The Sweeney Todd section of their ballad has some phenomenal dynamic building to a nice, full hit. they changed their show slightly to include a faint trumpet solo playing the Godfather theme before ending the ballad with a climactic hit, which I think is a really cool moment. The brass run is almost together, but the timing of the handoffs between sections will need a little more work. The woodwind countermelody does a great job of providing movement during a lyrical melody in the brasses, and the band does a great job of maintaining their energy level throughout the end of the show, finishing with crescendoing hits into a nice, full chord. Their drill has a lot of pretty crazy sets, and despite its velocity, they managed to keep their lines relatively intact during rotations and lateral movements. There were a few people out of place during these sets, though, so they need to keep working and make those lines spotless throughout. Their spacing was better than it has been in the last few weeks, but during the mellophone solo when the woodwinds take those prancing steps, they need to maintain their step size. The guard is underutilized a bit, but they are very clean and have a couple of really nice moments when they add a lot to the show. The moment in the ballad where the 3 guard members dance through the band is particularly cool. What's scary about this band is that even though they were more than 2 points ahead of a very clean Ryle, they still have another gear, which I think we will see them achieve in the next couple of weeks. They have some cleaning to do, and they will need to give solid performances from here on, but I believe that they can (and will) do it. If they nail their show, I believe a lot of jaws will drop. They have the potential to go all the way this season, and it is now just a matter of mental integrity.

Friday, October 17, 2014

My Reviews of the Madison Central Tournament of Bands on October 11th, 2014

Ugh. I will never again open my mouth about the weather being nasty. I thought it could not get much worse last Saturday, only to brave almost identical conditions with an intermittent mist of rain added to the mix this time around. Okay, mother nature, I get it. I will no longer complain. At least the stellar lineup of bands seemed unaffected by the weather and found a way to give some very high quality performances. I was very relieved to see that the rain did not make the turf slick enough to cause any bad falls or injuries. I love the new stadium Madison Central built, with just one exception: I really wish the stands extended a couple more rows up and just a bit steeper (maybe by 1-2 inches per step). I really like the ramps for the mobility impaired, though, and the bleachers are definitely more comfortable than most I've experienced over the years. Please, though, PLEASE get some better speakers for your PA system! As always, it was great hanging out and talking with my Madison Central buddies and my former mentor. This is always one of my favorite competitions to attend because of the memories it brings back, and this excellent lineup was the icing on the cake. Anyway, I digress. Sadly, this will be the last really detailed review I will be able to do, since my winter job is finally giving me shifts starting this week. I will still at least try to say something about the bands either on the forum or on my blog, but I will not have quite as much time to devote to them.

On to the bands. I actually found the performances to be a mixed bag between prelims and finals: there were still quite a few bands who had better runs in finals than in prelims, but a couple of bands had pretty comparable runs between prelims and finals, and one or two actually had a better prelims run than they did in finals. I apologize in advance for sounding like a broken record, since the same issues seem to pop up often with many different bands, especially the ones in the middle or back of the pack in their respective classes.

Fleming County - "In a New York Moment"
Watching this band is always a struggle with me, not because of the quality of their performance, but because it seems to me that this band works just as hard as any other band that competed there on Saturday, and their plight must be caused by something besides effort level. What exactly it is, I don't know, because I know very little about that program or its staff. However, I would be willing to bet that going through a stretch where they had 4 different directors in 4 years has probably taken a heavy toll on the program and they have not yet recovered from it. Their performance level is still not what I would call competitive, but their overall performance level has improved through the course of the season. Despite a shaky opener, there were some bright spots in the second and third movements. The clarinet soloist is a huge boost to their energy level, and their blend and sound improvement have both improved. There is still a lot of work to do on projecting and blending a good, steady tone and lasting all the way through every phrase, though. The size of their band limits what they can do with drill, but this show's drill seems a little uninspired even taking that into account. Low movement, not a lot of personal responsibility required from the performers, and the forms aren't really interesting or relevant. I mean no offense to the students when I say this, but it looks like they just don't know how to march properly (which is not their fault). Their execution of the drill was decent, but their posture and technique need a major overhaul. I like the improvement that I saw on Saturday, and I want to see them improve even more in the next two weeks. Going forward, I would like to challenge the students in this band to review their personal standards for marching band and raise those standards a little bit every week of every season. If they stay true to this process, then I guarantee that they will be a much better band a year and two years from now. I wish them the best of luck going forward.

Lewis County - "How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse"
Despite the band parent yelling out from the stands to run for your lives and that it was a zombie apocalypse (that was a nice touch), this show is beginning to underwhelm me. When I think of a zombie apocalypse marching band show, there are just an endless amount of visual effect moments that flood into my mind, and very few of those moments are portrayed in this show. Zombies sneaking up on band members and attacking them, unconventional weapons, the use of the rifles and sabers to "kill" zombies... Oh, if only. From an execution standpoint, it had promise when I saw it at Bourbon County at the beginning of the season, but it has not improved much if at all since then. I was dismayed that they stuck with the change where they put their backdrops in the middle of the field and then marched around them, effectively cutting off the sound of every band member marching behind them. In my opinion, that is a poor show design decision. Their music was not overly challenging and lacked dynamic movement and flow, which made it sound robotic. They really need to put more emotion into their show and give it some soul, and not play the notes on the page as much as sing it out to the audience. Some rudimentary story telling would really help here; doesn't have to be anything directly put into the show, but just something to give the kids an idea of what the music is portraying at a given point in time. The opener portrays the chaos and terror of discovering what is going on and adapting on the fly in order to survive; the ballad portrays loneliness, sadness, longing for lost loved ones. That sort of thing. If they're more connected to the story, then they will give the music more emotion. The guard outfits have grown on me, and their presence is good, but they need to work on being more together throughout the show, and with their weapon work in particular. I like that the drill tries for field coverage, but that very trait also causes some chaos among feuding factions in the band who are far from one another. The voices in the back will need to work on anticipating the beat. Subdivision, as with so many other bands around this time of the season, is absolutely essential. Marching technique needs to be improved, as well, to make the drill look cleaner. Upper body angles were not quite locked toward the sideline, and bent legs and inadequate toe lift basically guaranteed hard impact from footfalls that became audible in their tones. A lot of the stuff a marcher has to do in order to make their show as good as possible that seem wrong at first, but they will get used to it and it will become second nature after a certain amount of practice. That is what this band will need to work on between now and regionals on the 25th. They have the potential to be a semifinals caliber band, but they will need to add more life and attitude to their show in order to maximize their chances.

East Jessamine - "One Voice"
Regarding singing in a marching show, my opinion has not changed. It may be a great vocal performance that goes really well with the show concept, and I will still feel uncomfortable watching it. I think I'm just still too traditionalist when it comes to what should and shouldn't be in a marching band show. Bias aside, however, the singer himself did a great job on Saturday. His voice projected better, he had better and steadier tone, and his vibrato is really starting to shine. As much as I cringe at the idea itself, his performance is fast becoming the highlight of the show (which it should be). The narration, on the other hand, is repetitive, generalized, and needs to be revamped or removed. I can see the premise of the show, and I like its inspirational message, but it seems to me that portraying that premise musically is really tricky. I think the narration ends up hurting their music effect because it focuses too much on the "beacon of hope" aspect and not enough on the aspect of adversity that sets up the beacon of hope as a real impact moment. The first 2/3 of the show seem to be dark and depressing musically, so I believe the narration through that point should have a parallel focus. It will be difficult to do this without specific examples, so I think maybe some other voice-overs citing such examples would really help set the stage, and then a second set of voice-overs discussing how those specific examples make it difficult to get up in the morning or make a person feel sad all the time would help create that trough of depression that seems to be implied by their ballad. The real impact moment of the show is when the narrator begins to sing, so the show leading up to that point needs to build more tension and energy than it does. I think the narration about that one person shining as a beacon of hope needs to happen RIGHT before the vocals in order to make it that big impact moment that it needs to be. I was surprised to see 4 sousaphones when the rest of the brass section was so tiny; 2 should be enough to provide the bass for a band of their size, and they could probably use the help in the other low and middle brass sections. The black wrappings on the guard girls that are discarded to reveal the white dresses underneath is a pretty nice visual cue, but I believe that ALL of the disrobing of the black wraps should occur in a completely concealed location (behind the backdrops is ideal), and not down in the front of the field. Also, the white dresses are fine, but I think some white tights underneath would be a tasteful addition that would also make sure they don't freeze to death on cold days like the last couple of Saturdays have been. Like Lewis County, their music was a bit robotic, and I think that's one of the problems that really hurts their effect scores. This show should strike chords with everyone, not just the audience, but the performers, as well. I think it would really help them if they could think back to a time in their lives where they were in a bad place but one person encouraged and inspired them to persevere, and then hold on to that feeling so they can draw upon it for added emotional impact in their performance. Air support was another issue that limited their range of expression; they will need to use more air and project their sound toward the stands, especially during the passages portraying inspiration or encouragement. The drill does not stand out except for the set where the narrator sings; it moves a little slower than average, and there are no distinctive or appropriate forms. The band needs a lot of work with marching technique, which made their slow-moving drill look sloppier than it actually was. Also, the guard will need work on their uniformity and expression, especially during the last phase of the show where they need to be expressing inspiration. They have improved quite a bit from when I first saw them at Bourbon County, but I'm not sure how much they can improve before regionals. Marching technique and air support both take some time to teach properly, and time is running out. They may be able to reach semifinals this season, but they have a lot of work to do if they plan on improving their results from previous years.

Russell Independent - "In the Time of Kings"
It's a shame this band did not get a second chance to perform on Saturday, because I believe they could have performed better than they did in prelims. Even so, there were a lot of bright spots in this show. I got a kick out of the sword in the stone, and the triumphant moment where the guard member portraying Arthur removed Excalibur from its resting place was definitely the highlight of the performance. I think this show could use more visual cues to help portray what's going on in the show, because there were times when the band was playing something and Arthur was just running around randomly, and all I could think of was that it was a battle or something. I think some sort of one-wheeled medieval looking cart would really help portray Arthur's early life as a squire in the opener, and I think a fight scene with a guard member would be a great visual tie-in to one of the faster passages toward the end of the show. There could even be another featured guard player playing the villain, Mab or Malagant or even just a generic baddie. As much as I hate to say it, some voice-over narration in a good Merlin voice would also help boost their effect. I like the music, which has an appropriately medieval feel to it, and the drill is pretty well written to go hand-in-hand with their telling of the King Arthur story. This show is pretty rough, but there were a lot of bright spots. In contrast to most of the bands in AA, Russell has a good, powerful sound that fills up the stadium, but they have to be careful not to lose control. Their percussion definitely earned the AA best percussion award, and were the most consistent section in the band. The middle brasses seemed to have some issues with their attacks, which plagued them throughout. I really liked the ballad, but the small ensemble feature at the beginning came off as just a bit clunky and could use some smoothing out; the voices in the harmony started off pretty nicely, but then quickly went out of balance. They will need some work listening in and blending those tones. There was a sizable tempo tear that made a mess of their music before the band fixed it -- just in time to save Arthur's big moment with Excalibur. The tuba soloist at the end of the ballad had a very nice, warm tone, but I would love to hear him last all the way through that phrase without having to take a breath if possible. There were a lot of phasing moments in the music, so as with many other bands, subdivision will be key (especially with the bass drum in front -- use more wrist, less elbow, and your notes won't drag). I saw quite a bit of foot phasing, and like Lewis County, that made the drill look messier than it was. Their lines were half good, half squiggly; some more work with keeping track of where you are in the formation is going to be important for fixing that in these last two weeks. Horn angles were mostly good, but leg angles will need to be fixed; I saw way too many bent knees, and that contributed to their foot phasing. Also, they need to work on uniformity during their ensemble visuals; everyone needs to start their lean at the same time. A lot of these problems are fixable, and with a couple of weeks of hard work, they have the potential to earn a top 4 placement in a somewhat soft AA East pool, putting them in pretty good position to make their case for finals with a clean run. I don't see it happening this season, but with 3 weeks of cleaning and a nailed semifinals performance, stranger things have happened.

George Rogers Clark - "Rising Up"
I'm not a fan of this show, despite the fact that I like all of the selections they play. The ladders are a nice way to portray the show concept, but there is little else in their visual package to help with that effect subcaption. There is only so much they can do with their drill to help with this deficiency, so I think visual effect will be a weak point for them for the rest of the season. There was not much that was obviously wrong with their show, but the band's execution level was not great and there were a lot of minor errors that really added up. The body movements in the beginning still aren't together, and there are students starting their routines at the wrong times, which made it look pretty chaotic. The flute solo was good, but I think some vibrato would help improve her expression. I believe there was a trumpet that was either very sharp or just over-exuberant, which threw off the band's blend and sapped excitement from their musical performance. The band sounded somewhat tinny, and I think the low voices will need to play out more, especially during crescendos, where they tended to get left behind. Their big hits tended to run out of gas because they hit their loudest point before the final statement in the phrase and had no more room to crescendo. The sax solo during the ballad was well done; I thought the held notes at the ends of the phrases were a bit short for my taste. If visual effect is their weakest caption, then visual performance probably would be their second weakest; I saw a myriad of issues pop up. Some really random spacing, a bunch of slightly off lines, the triangular forms never really hit, and the guard just could not get on the same page. Again, nothing major, but a lot of small things that made them look messy pretty much throughout the show. The one thing that frustrates me the most about this show, though, is that the I believe band is pretty talented musically, but they are never really given a chance to prove that musical ability. I think they can play much more difficult music just as well by the end of the season, and I would really love to see them set the bar higher next season. In a very difficult AAAAA east, I don't see them placing higher than 8th, and a very good North Laurel performance may keep them out of semifinals.

Washington County - "The Ancient Art of War"
This is a very Washington County show, and I think it will serve this band well if they can grow into it in the next couple of weeks. Vigorous, full of attitude, and lots of brassy hits. I liked the way the guard chose to portray the show concept in less of a militaristic way and more of a primal warrior way; they added a lot of energy to the show at points where it needed that energy. The quad player in the Spartan armor also added a lot of character to the show, especially when he interacted with the guard. The band is a bit smaller than I remember them being, but their winds still packed a lot of power regardless. What disappoints me about this band is that they don't seem to have the clarity of tone or confidence in their musical ability that they had in years like 2008's "Deja View". They also don't seem to have quite as much energy as they have in the past. Their music is not easy, but it seems like the kind of book that Washington County should be able to handle a lot better than it seemed like they did on Saturday. Their ensemble blend was okay, but it was plagued by issues with tone quality, especially during their technical passages. The sections seemed to be at war with each other (no pun intended) at times during the performance, and it took away from the energy level of their music. There were also timing issues that led to a couple of tempo tears and made the faster parts of their music messy. As with the other AA bands performing on Saturday, subdividing will be absolutely essential in cleaning this show the rest of the way. I liked the sax solo in the ballad, but it could be even better if the soloist could put some more expression into it; vibrato and subtle swells in dynamics during phrases will help with this. The front ensemble will need some work staying in time with the field commander, but the battery did a great job. The drill was pretty good and had plenty of sets that supported the show concept, but I think a little more velocity would have supported the concept a little more. Their posture was good, but foot phasing and bent legs were both issues throughout the performance. Their lines were not as crooked as other bands, but they seemed to maintain a constant of being just a little off. Spacing could have been better in a couple of spots during curves or follow the leaders (which may have been from one or more absences?). Their closer fell apart somewhat, falling prey to some timing intonation issues; the kids sounded pretty tired at that point, and they did a good job of keeping the energy level up despite that fact. The guard really added to the visual performance, both with their presence and with their work. Uniformity was an issue among them at times, though, especially right before the first hit when they tossed their flags between one another. I think this is a finals quality show, but this seems to be a down year across the board in AA (the sole exception being Garrard County), and Washington County may be able get into finals even with a show that is still messy. Backing into finals, however, just seems wrong to me, so I have my fingers crossed that they clean this show up a great deal in the next few weeks so that they can field a performance at semifinals that isn't just good enough, but something they can really be proud of. I've seen this band give that performance in the past, and I want to see it from them again.

Madison Southern - "One"
I'm not sure where this show came from, since it's very little like any show Madison Southern has done so far, but I really like it. Sort of a mashup of Raggedy Ann and WALL-E, where humans have disappeared from the world, and only robots remain. I was particularly intrigued by the system they created where robots always come in pairs; that concept was very well done. Great visual design, with plenty of eye-catching stuff and something going on pretty much all the time. The LEDs on the pit and drum line were a nice touch, and the heart on the student playing Ann was great. The robotic body movements were an amusing addition, as well. I believe they're also a bit larger than they have been, which helps with their visual versatility. The other big surprise about this band was that their musical performance level has been raised a notch. A fuller ensemble sound, better blend, more ambitious music played just as well, and a very talented battery. The woodwind feature was more ambitious than I've heard them perform in the last few years, and it was a refreshing change. They're almost completely together, but will need some more practice with subdividing throughout. The trombone soloist did a very good job, but was a little rough on some of his attacks and will have to practice going from note to note to eliminate it. The trumpets had some problems with roughness in their attacks during bigger moments in the show, as well. The tubas had a bit of trouble reaching up to some higher notes and will need some practice getting all the way up to them. The saxophone soloist did a very good job, and I have a feeling that solo will be nailed on November 1st. The fingerings got just a little bit muddled toward the end, which threw it off. Their blend could still use some more work; the woodwinds tended to get lost in the mix, and the low brass tended to overpower the high brass. The voices that won out sounded good, though; it will just be a process of bringing the other voices up to that level and keeping a good, even tone throughout. I enjoyed the drill, and especially appreciated the forms representing the open circuit (open arc formation) when Ann was powered own and the closed circuit (circle formation) when she was reactivated. However, I did not like how the drill kind of banished the color guard to the back or off to the side so much; I wish they could have been integrated more into the band's movements. Their lines were mostly good, but got a little crooked during rotations. There were very few problems with foot phasing, but bent legs during marchng made their feet look sloppy and may be taking away from their visual scores. All of the visuals the band performed were together and looked great, with just a couple of errors. Visually, this band has improved light years since David Ratliff has been there. Musically, they can be hit or miss, but this year is definitely a hit. I think the hiring of Tyler Myers and Kristen Harrod to their feeder programs is already paying off, and if their improvement over the course of the season is a taste of things to come, then this program may pull off a shocker in class AAAA in the near future. This year, I see them being a solid semifinalist this season, and they could finish top 8 with a clean musical performance.

Beechwood - "Muse"
It's pretty obvious from the kind of music this band plays that they're one of the most musically gifted bands in the state. However, they are held back by dirtiness in their music and a dearth of visual design in their show. There is very little in this show that directly conveys the idea of a muse, so in essence, their show is just a collection of nice sounding musical pieces and a nice-looking drill. I think that cost them when they compete against bands like Williamstown, Hazard, and Murray, who have very clear concepts and convey them very well throughout the show. While still not what I would call clean, their music is definitely improving, especially the trombone feature. What sounded like a maelstrom of almost random sounds in week 3 is now a melody that is mostly recognizable. The glissandos are the toughest parts to get clean, and they still need more work, but they're getting there. The trumpets are having a hard time staying together while using their mutes, probably because of the change in airflow caused by the mutes themselves. I like the sound they put out, and their blend is very nice. The woodwind features are all insanely fast and performed at a very high degree of execution. I liked the stage, but it sometimes meant that the viewer could not focus on both the band and the featured performers at the same time. There were a couple of issues with dragging syncopated notes, especially in the trumpets and when leading up to a hit. The low brass did a good job with their parts, but their feature was just a little rough and will need more practice. The closer is still pretty rough, and the band will need more time to grow into it. Visually, there was a bunch of good and some bad. They are one of the better bands in the state with coordinating visuals, and they did an excellent job with all of their body movements on Saturday. Their lines are good, but sometimes they just don't lock into place and are a little off. Their technique was mostly very good, but there were a few scattered issues with foot phasing and bent legs. The color guard was not bad, but since visual effect is this band's weak spot, not bad isn't good enough. They will need to work on their timing and really get all of their movements in sync in order to maximize their much needed contribution to the band's visual effect caption. I did have them in 6th instead of 7th overall, but regardless, I hope this result will serve as a wake-up call and motivate them to work hard in these last two weeks and maybe find a couple of additions they can make to the show's visual package. Williamstown had a rough couple of years after Bob Gregg retired, but they are back, and Beechwood is going to have to raise the bar with cleanliness and show design if they want to keep their current streak alive going forward.

Grant County - "Dilemma"
Grant County and Anderson County are the two bands I always seemed to miss this season, so it was great to have a chance to watch them perform, finally. There were a lot of things about their performances on Saturday that really impressed me, and a couple of things that did not. I like the show, but the concept is too difficult to portray adequately. I guess I can see the tense, minor key music being a good parallel for the stress caused by indecision, but that's a pretty major stretch. The only thing that really supports the show concept is the backdrop, which is static. It does have a screen that changes, but only once per movement. More question / answer in the music and more changes of direction in the drill might have been able to pull it off. As I saw it on Saturday... I just didn't get it. Maybe it's supposed to leave the crowd (and judges) confused. Personal reservations about their design aside, however, their performance was the next biggest surprise for me personally (Madison Southern's improvement being the biggest). I remember saying many times over the last few years that Grant County's sound production was a bit anemic and that I wished they could pack another dynamic level into their arsenal; well, they have that next dynamic level now. They sounded much more full and balanced top to bottom, and for the most part, their blend was better than I had anticipated. The only major musical error I heard was one or two trumpets who lost control frequently during impact moments and took away from their performance. If not for that loss of control, Grant County MIGHT have been able to overtake Tates Creek and sneak into 5th place. The two woodwind features in the opener were both really well done, and I especially liked that they used some lower woodwind voices, which I think are vastly underused in marching band. The energy level dropped in the ballad, and subtle issues with intonation, phrasing, and dynamics popped up. Using air support and breathing exercises to fight fatigue is a difficult technique to master, but that will really help them to push through their phrases and maintain good tone quality when they get tired and oxygen-deprived. The crazy brass run in the closer was not bad at all; it was almost together, and will need just a little more work. Their marching is by far their biggest strength, despite wearing white uniforms that highlight every move they make. There were a couple of breakdowns that I saw, like a student being out of step for a count or two before fixing it, or bent legs during some faster drill moves, but those breakdowns were very sparse. Like Beechwood, their visuals were all really well in unison, though I bet they would have even more impact if they did a little more work on keeping all of the body angles in unison along with the moves themselves. There were a couple of really messy moments in the drill that hurt their visual scores. At the end of the opener, the band forms an S-curve, but there were a number of members out of place. Their lines were mostly straight, but there were a couple of sets where they formed blocks, but the blocks were really messy. The guard looked professional (especially the ones on weapons) and were together for the most part; a couple of guard members got out of sync with the rest of the group, but no one ever got too far ahead or behind, and they got back in sync quickly. I'm not sure how much their conservative visual design will cost them in November, but based on what I saw Saturday, I think they're a very solid contender for finals again this season, and may crack the top two again if they can clean up the messy lines and rein in those wild trumpets.

Tates Creek - "Pulling Strings"
This show is growing on me. My first impression of it at Ryle was that it was gimmicky and cheesy, but once I let that knee jerk reaction fade, I saw a pretty good marching show emerge. I still think that no amount of streamers can replace the amount of marching that they don't do, and I think their drill is arbitrarily risky by splitting up the band into groups that far away from one another, which just invites field coverage phasing. The music seems random compared to the show concept, and I think they could improve their effect scores a fair amount by putting more moments into their show where someone is pulled along by a string, or one section of the band pulls another section to them while carrying the melody, or something like that. Regardless, it has lots of eye candy, which is becoming something of a pleasant trend with Tates Creek. I like how the show starts off with a nice trancelike solo that evolves into a duet between what SOUNDS like an electronic oboe and a flute, building up to a nice, full first hit. Their blend is very good, but was sometimes top-heavy, especially during fortissimo hits. Some timing issues did, indeed, pop up due to field positioning, the most noticeable ones appearing at points where the woodwind and brass sections exchange the melody. The brass will need to smooth out their tones during their parts of the question and answer in the opener. The woodwinds sounded great in the ballad, and their blend had a few moments of a nice, dark tone. I would love to hear them put more dynamic movement into the lower dynamic levels, though, to help shape their musical statements more and add expression. The tubas dragged constantly because they were so far in the back, and will need to anticipate the beat during the entire piece. The battery solo was nice, and had a great moment with the orange streamers snapping back into place over the heads of the bass drummers. They will need to even out their notes a little more, though. If the woodwinds are supposed to have the same dynamics as the brass when they repeat the melody during the closer, then the two sections will need to be balanced out dynamically, because the brass is about 20 decibels louder (and behind the beat) during their melody. Shrillness began to creep into the high voices during the closer, and unbalanced the blend, which took a little bit away from their nice, big ending. Their drill is a mixed bag to me: there are plenty of memorable sets and it moves well, but it's too spread out and doesn't always make sense to my eyes. There were quite a few sets that looked for all the world to me like blobs. Also, there are entire parts of the show where the guard is pushed out to the edges of the performance area and their ability to add impact to the show is limited. During most of the impact moments they are relegated to running around unleashing streamers instead of doing flag or weapon work, which I think also limits their visual scores. What they do looks nice, though. The band's lines need work, especially during rotations and while moving. They did their curved sets pretty well; I only saw one or two that were warped slightly. Numerous issues with spacing and foot phasing throughout the show kept their visual performance from looking as clean or crisp as it can look. The streamers do work well to add visual impact to their musical impact moments, and I think they're used pretty tastefully. It's too bad that there are so many excellent bands fighting for the top 4 spots in this class, because Tates Creek deserves more recognition than they end up getting for the work they do. I see them getting somewhere between 6th and 8th at semifinals despite performing in the first half.

Boyle County - "Fixation"
This is one of the more entertaining preshows this season. Watching the pit jam to the song "Sail" while the guard soloist details her plight to the crowd is great, and then watching the band warm up with some nice visuals sets up the viewer nicely for their show. They need to make sure that those visuals are locked in together, though. They were good, but can be a little better. I liked the remote control prop and the yellow stands with the flags on them that show the Albert Einstein quote "I fear the day that technology surpasses our human interaction" word by word. This band's pit is one of my favorite front ensembles to watch, because they are very professional, very into their parts, and are always clean. I don't mean to be vindictive, but the trumpets are really holding the band back. They're like mayonnaise: runny, ruins the texture of the dish, and there's always more there than you want. The band's hits tended to be a brass sandwich with tubas and extra trumpet. The tubas do a great job staying on beat and keeping their tones smooth during their ostinato, providing a nice foundation for the rest of the band. Their opener has a few timing curve balls, and the winds handle them nicely. The trumpets need to smooth out their soli and make sure everyone is together; I heard what sounded like some wrong notes. Their music tends to use forte pianos at impact moments to add more movement to the music during their hits. They always start off with a good, well-blended hit, and then the crescendo back to forte always goes out of control by the end. They will need to work on those moments. The saxophone soloist does a great job, especially in the midst of the guard soloist's onslaught of distractions. As cheesy as it might seem to some, the kazoo feature is a very amusing addition to the show and does a great job of portraying the television's mockery of the guard soloist, adding to their music effect. I enjoyed the moment. The appearance of the "Eye of the Tiger" theme is hilarious, and done very well -- except for some incorrect notes in the trumpets. The flute solo in the beginning of the ballad is good, but could use some more dynamic movement to give it more emotion. The mallet players did a great job with the countermelody at that point. The ballad's hit had a great impact, with the guard running through the band as the brasses play a mournful melody signifying the despair of the guard soloist. It would have been so much better, though, had the blend not been so top heavy. Their releases at the end of the hit were a little sudden, though. The flute solo to end the ballad was very emotional, and the mallet countermelody accompanied it beautifully. I love the piece they chose for their closer, and I'm sure it will sound great once it's cleaned up. However, the eighth notes that crescendo and decrescendo need more definition and more dynamic movement. Their blend fell apart toward the end, so they will just need to grow into that last movement. There's a lot going on in the show visually, and there are no really dead spots, though the drill does not move enough for my preferences at a couple of points. They have some good body movements, but they tended to be a little messy and will need to be cleaned up. Their lines were all good, but did not hit all the way all the time; there were often just a couple of kids out of line. Their spacing will need work, especially while they're doing lines, because their diagonals were the only part of their visual package that wasn't at least pretty good. The guard adds a lot to the show, and is integrated very well into the drill. During their big moment at the ballad's big hit, I love the appearance of their flags. I would like to see them form a straighter line during their move, though. If they can clean up this show, then it's definitely finals quality. The trumpets have to catch up with the rest of the band, though, and they have to fix their blend, their diagonals, and their spacing. We'll see how much progress they've made by semifinals.

Ryle - "Face Off"
I like where this show is going. After a few weeks of cleaning, they look and sound a lot better (and less tired) than even their surprisingly good exhibition performance at the competition they hosted in week 3. The edginess in the music is a really nice portrayal of the contentious nature of their show concept. I'm not really thrilled with the major key music, because it just seems out of place. The Red Cape Tango is awesome, though, and the soloists and guard really bring it to life. It's a shame that the guard is banished to the back field for so much of this show; they could really add to this show's effect scores with some good integration and choreography during holds. This band has a very underrated woodwind section that is really starting to solidify. Their rendition of Red Cape Tango is really high quality. The woodwind quartet in the opener is doing a really good job, and is almost nailing the part; their timing is off by just a little bit in places. The low brass ostinato in the opener and their hits in the ballad add a lot of excitement to the show at those points, but they need to make sure not to drag or else it will lose some of its impact. The two trumpet soloists did a great job, and I love the echo effect caused by one playing toward the front and one toward the back. The second soloist missed a note but recovered quickly and finished well. The band lost control just a bit a couple of times at the ends of their movements. The battery feature was very clean for a band not known for its percussion, which is also very underrated. The drill is hit or miss with me; some of it looks great, and then at other times, I can't tell what they're doing. I do think that it moves a little slow at times and I wish they would employ double time marching a little more. Their lines were not bad, but can be improved with more cleaning. Their spacing was also not bad, but can also be improved. There was some foot phasing at times, espcially in the front. I like where this show is going, and I think they will be a top 4 band in the toughest region in the state. I'm not sure where they will place, but they have the ability to achieve their highest finish since returning to KMEA. Finals? Probably not, but we'll see how well they clean it up between now and semifinals.

Adair County - "Invictus"
There are subtleties in this show's design that probably very few will notice, but are really impressive when discovered. For example, a lot of people will notice the preshow with "Sweet Dreams" playing in the background of Maya Angelou reciting her poem "Still I Rise"... but not as noticeable is that the poem's rhythm is in beat with the music. I was thrilled to hear that they would be playing selections from the Eurythmics hit and Clint Mansell's "Lux Aeterna", both of which are among my favorite pieces of music. The modulation to major in the closer is strange, though, and I think just performing a different piece set in a major key may haev been a better choice. Their blend is fantastic, especially when playing dissonant chords with which other bands tend to have trouble. The flute soli was noticeably quieter than the rest of the soli sections after the first hit, so they will need to play out to balance it. Their mellos have a strong, clear tone that other bands tend not to have, but they were just a little rough at high dynamic levels and can be smoothed out a little more. The brasses pretty much nailed their double tonguing, so just keep doing that. The high brasses lost a bit of tone quality toward the end of the opener and will need to maintain that good, dark tone through the end of the piece. The duet at the beginning of the ballad sounds great, but their timing was a bit muddled at the end of it before getting back on track for a wonderful last sustained unison note. I really liked the effect of the trumpets playing their eighth note ostinato facing the backfield, which provided a nice filtering effect that made them sound faint and distant -- another one of those subtleties that many may miss but that I found brilliant. They need to be careful leading up to the ballad's big hit and watch the field commander for the tempo change, because they didn't quite slow down all at the same time. The solos at the end of the ballad were excellent and fit in beautifully with the stanza from the poem. Their percussion feature was surprisingly good, both in the pit and in the very underrated battery; those bass drum runs are very difficult to coordinate correctly. The woodwinds have a passage in the closer that has some tricky tonguing, which they handed very well, but their intonation started to diverge just a bit, which began to happen throughout the band shortly thereafter. Shrill high brass overpowered the rest of the band just enough to unbalance their blend and sap from their energy level at the end. Visually, it was just as good as the music. I think Adair's drill is my favorite of any Kentucky band so far this season. Good velocity, good field coverage, doesn't space the band out too much, good color guard integration. Very elegant. The guard was phenomenal, and added a lot of visual impact to the show. Moving around under the sheets, they seemed almost ghostlike, and their tosses were perfectly timed and executed. The cascading tosses they did are especially tricky, and they did really well. I think they can be just a little better, so they should keep working. Their body movements were very accurate, with nice uniformity of movement and body angles. There were a couple of moments toward the end of the show where this uniformity was not as good, though. Their posture is excellent throughout and they maintain good marching technique. There were a few spacing issues during their curved sets, and some of their forms warped while marching. They had some really nice straight lines, but others that did not hit, especially in the opener and the closer. The drill in the last few sets fell apart along with their blend, and they finished on a line that wasn't quite straight. Basically, what I took from this show is that they started very well and fell off toward the end, which was expected since they had only had their whole show on the field for less than a week. They need to grow into this show, stretch their good blend and accurate drill all the way through, and keep cleaning. Contrary to all the hype on the boards, this band is right there with Bourbon County and, if they nail it, will be very difficult for any band to beat. They need to keep their heads down and work hard, though.

Paul Laurence Dunbar - "Unbridled"
Boy, did this band do work in 2 weeks. They looked rough visually at Morehead and their dynamic range wasn't quite where it needed to be. At Madison Central, their blend was better, their drill was cleaner, and their impact moments had much more impact. I like their selections, which portray very nicely the freedom and majesty attributed to the horse. The drill, while not being directly involved with horses, still moves very well and almost always has something going on. I don't mind the long hold at the beginning of their show, because it allows for a nice, even blend and some very lyrical playing. I just wish more were going on visually during this time, and I think their visual effect suffers a bit as a result. They do an excellent job with the opening passage, but the mellophones were slightly behind the beat and their tones were just a bit harsh. The high brass needs to be careful while building dynamically to the first hit, because they crescendoed faster than the rest of the band and went out of control, which happened throughout the show. The melody in the woodwinds was a bit awkward and muddy for most of the opener and will need more work with being together during their passages. Intonation in the woodwinds became an issue in the second movement, and continued through their ballad, taking away from their blend. The trumpets sounded pretty good in their double tonguing section, and did a good job blending their parts, but were not completely together and sounded a bit messy. Small timing issues popped up throughout, with winds lagging behind the beat at various times. The hit at the end of the ballad was nice, but their blend needs to be more balanced; there were trumpets sticking out for pretty much their entire finals performance, which diminished some otherwise great musical moments in the second half of the show. The drill is kind of a mixed bag; there are some parts that are really demanding, and there are other parts that do not move much or at all, which they cover up most of the time with field coverage. The guard is integrated pretty well in the first two movements, but then the flags stay in the back field for pretty much the entire closer and can have much less impact than they would if they were integrated into the band's drill. There were plenty of rotating and moving lines, and some of them hit beautifully. Others were pretty messy, and will need cleaning. Marching technique was pretty good, but I saw some foot phasing at a couple of points, and upper body posture in the woodwinds will need some work. They do a lot of slow follow-the-leader during hits with weapons integrated and flags in the back, which I don't mind, but it would have been great to see them change it up a little bit. Put the flags in different locations, maybe a couple of more symmetrical shapes, straight lines, arcs, circles. The flags during the hits in the opener and the ballad were really nice visual moments, though. The weapon line wasn't bad, but there were moments when they were not together and looked like a mess; they really need to work on getting their speed of rotation and their body work on the same page. They're getting a lot of hype at the same time that Madison Central is getting bashed, and I'm not really sure why. Dunbar has a good chance of winning the cup, but no better of a chance than Madison Central, and not much better than either Lafayette or North Hardin. So the best thing this band can do is ignore the hype, keep their heads down, and work hard. Rein in the trumpets, work on the weapons, and keep those lines straight.

Madison Central - "Vendetta"
Traditionally, a band's weakest performance the exhibition performance given at the competition they host. Sadly, this held true for each of the competitions I helped host at Madison Central. However, this is not the same Madison Central band, and they did an great job overcoming their exhaustion to give a very good performance for their audience. Their first hit was very impressive, loud but at the same time balanced with good blend top to bottom. Their blend at low dynamic levels is really impressive, and the intensity that they put into it helps keep the music exciting. The mallet players had an uncharacteristic muddy spot that was fixed quickly. The woodwind feature was great, but was just a little bit off toward the end. The trumpets went just a little out of control in the last hit of the opener and will need to work on evening out that last crescendo. The mallets redeemed themselves with a great feature to begin the ballad, setting up the mellophone soloist nicely. The soloist's tone has really improved over the last few weeks and is beginning to give the music more emotion. The flute soloist missed a couple of attacks, but kept it together nicely and maintained an even tone throughout. Ironically, the trumpets got drowned out when the melody passed to them, and will need to make sure that passage is heard while maintaining their tone quality. The hits at the end of the closer sounded great, but the high brass lost control in the second one and lost some of their tone quality. They managed to fix it for a nice, long chord to end the piece. The closer, all new material, was very interesting to watch unfold. Everyone who was talking about how Madison Central's show wasn't difficult or had too much park and bark should be at least somewhat satisfied with it. The brass run caught me off guard, and I was thrilled to find that they were finally letting the brass show off a little bit. The short battery feature was very clean, but the pit player using the marching machine was slightly ahead of the beat. During the buildup to the second hit in the closer, the brasses had some timing issues and were not quite together, and the harmony needs to play out a little more to blend better with the melody. That hit ended abruptly on a cliff hanger that I can only imagine is an ending that they have yet to put on the field. Visually, it did look a little tired, but was not too bad. Most of their body movements were great, though a couple of them seemed to start a little too early. Toward the end, a couple of them were not quite as uniform and will need more work. There are a lot of moments in this drill where the marchers come together to form a line that immediately disintegrates into a different shape. These moves require pinpoint accuracy or else they look like a mess, and they hit very well, but some of them did not quite make it and will need more work. The spacing in the woodwinds is improved from previous performances, and can be improved even further with more practice. The lines in the brasses fell apart whenthey sidestepped during their exchange of the melody in the closer, and will need work keeping their formation together as they move. Some of the drill in the closer will need work, but most of the block formations hit nicely, considering it was either their first or second public performance of that portion of the show. The guard sometimes can be staged better, but for the most part, they are integrated well into the band and their red flags help portray the show concept with nice staging during their hits. The weapon line does a good job of staying together, adding further to the show's visual performance during hits. I think this is their best show design since they have been in AAAAA, and the band itself is playing even better than they did last season. This could be their best chance to win the class.