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BOA Reviews
The following two independent
reviews have been on several Marching Band boards and sites.
The reviewer's credentials are at the bottom of the page.
Please enjoy.
BOA
San Antonio 2003 Super Regional
Lewisville
High School, Lewisville, TX
Repertoire: "Harrison's Dream - The Undying Human Spirit"
featuring the music of Peter Graham, David Mairs and JJ Pipitone
Comments: Mystical sound erupts, with a unique sounding
mellophone and saxophone solo. Yes, I love that pass-through
that occurs in the brass section. The wind players strike a pose
facing the right in zone, and then fakes us out by putting the
horns towards us and then putting them back. Rifle tosses are on
target, somewhat. (At least one was caught less than perfect.)
The arm movement from the musicians was effective, I thought.
These kids moved with grace, and did you see that kid in the
middle of the field on his hands and knees, ready to do some
major dancing of some sort? The arcs of sound coming from the
winds were of superior quality. The arms go up like horns at one
point during the next movement, and then the horns go up, which
is a neat effect. The end was elaborate, with jazz running
to make some lines connect, and jazz running up and down the
field, and at last a block that tied it all up.
BOA
San Antonio 2002 Regional
Lewisville
High School, Lewisville, Texas
Repertoire: "Reflections of Sight and Sound" - the music of
Phillip Sparke, David Mairs, and JJ Piptone
Comments: With purple cones on rollers, funhouse-style
curved mirrors, and triangular orange, yellow, and light purple
tarps on the field, this band assumed dead-still positions. Oh
my goodness, did these woodwinds play! They thrust forth the
same notes the Cadets of Bergen County did in 1997. This group
sparkled with this Phillip Sparke music. After the first
movement, a silent but near perfect display of difficult
marching maneuvers was carried out. Here and there there were
nice spurts of music/non-music, visual/non-visual. I saw a blind
cross-through that was flawless. These kids had everything down!
Elegant rifle tosses by the guard at the end of the second
movement, with the male guard member yelling "Yeah!" after he
caught his toss. "Yeah!" indeed! These kids were very involved
with their show. There was some sweet dancing, and I mean
*dancing* by a group of members in uniform, while the rest of
the ensemble put forth concert-sounding clean music that tugged
at your emotions. The third movement was all about precision,
and I am proud to inform you that they pulled it off. Superior
music and line formations, and drill you could not believe at
the end. This band had an outstanding performance. I could tell
these kids "wanted it," and put their hearts and minds into a
cookie-cutter fine show.
Final Thoughts
You could say the big "Cinderella" story was Lewisville getting
into finals. Who would have thought that Lewisville would be "up
there"? Well, Lewisville, I thought, truly deserved to be with
the best of the best. They seemed to want it more than any other
band, and boy did they earn it! Lewisville, by the way, has been
the bubble band of the decade. They have been on the low rung of
the finalists spots the past two years at BOA shows, and in the
mid-1990s they were not contenders in 1995, and they were
"unlucky number eleven" in 1996. Lewisville was
impressive...they have come so far! We can safely say now that
Lewisville is extremely capable and dangerous.
About the
Reviewer
My review of
the Bands of America Regional Championships will cover every
band that performed at the event, because *every* band at
*every* show deserves to be covered, and because *all* students
that perform are our "winners" in life. My commentary also
includes "my scores" as opposed to "judges' scores" for fun, but
more importantly to provide further insight on what did and did
not happen. All in all, however, we must constantly remember
that the high school marching band activity is a subjective
activity. My "judging" may be awkward for two reasons: 1) I have
never judged a high school marching band competition, nor have I
had any prior training as a judge, and 2) As an individual, it
is practically impossible to do what eight highly knowledgeable
people with differing perspectives do. You will notice that
general effect is weighed heavily by Bands of America, which
promotes an "overall" show rather than a music show or a visual
show, and therefore you will notice my scoring has a lot to do
with general effect. I scored each band one by one, and did not
alter the scores following the announcement of the actual
scores. (Also, please note that I have "my score" without the
actual score for preliminary performances only, because the
actual scores for preliminary performances are not available at
this time.) In defense of myself, however, I marched in a high
school marching band for four years, in three years I marched in
two drum and bugle corps, I have studied and learned from
watching many, many high school marching band shows (both live
and recorded) sponsored by circuits such as MBASC (now defunct),
SCJA, WBA (formerly WSMBC), SCSBOA, and BOA. I am extremely
familiar with the Bands of America organization. And finally, to
clarify my serious intentions, since 1995 I have written
well-received reviews on bands from California, Nevada,
Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and
Pennsylvania. I have never seen 30 of the 32 bands compete
before (and have never seen 32 of the 32 bands compete this
year). Also, consider that I am from California, and do not care
who wins or loses at this event. Every high school marching band
will be rated equally. Now that I have laid out the issues
behind the review, let the writing and (later) reading begin!
Alan Irons
Fountain Valley High School Marching Band 1993-1996
Pacific Crest of Diamond Bar 1997
Nashua Spartans 1998-1999
UCSB Class of 2002
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