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.
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