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BOA St. Louis Super-Regional Review:
"Show Down in the Show-Me State"
by Michael Reed
The first of three consecutive weekends of Bands of America Super Regional
competitions took place in the beautiful Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis this
past weekend. A huge crowd combined with the strongest line-up of bands in
the history of the St. Louis Super-Regional to produce an event that will be
remembered for a long, long time by the spectators and performers fortunate
enough to be there.
Fifty outstanding bands from sixteen states took the field in preliminary
competition that started on Friday afternoon and concluded Saturday. After
the last band's prelim performance, anxious spectators were checking their
program books, trying to figure out which bands would be selected for
Saturday evening's finals. In a truly stellar field of groups, there were a
number of outstanding bands who would be finalists at most other regionals,
but fell just short at this event with its stacked line-up.
After starting the evening with a beautiful version of the National Anthem
arranged by Director Richard Saucedo, defending Grand National Champion
Carmel (IN) (1st - 89.8) showed that they are again a strong contender for
another "Eagle" next month as they swept all captions with "Revolution," set
to music of The Beatles. The theme of the program was visually portrayed by
blue and green globes which "revolved" around the field throughout the
production, and by a drill which features one of the most difficult moves of
the season in the closing arrangement of "Hey Jude," where a large
curvilinear formation rotates 180 degrees from sideline to sideline. The
musical blend was wonderful, as the velvety brass sonority combined with a
percussion section almost perfectly tuned to the dome acoustics to give the
band a clarity of sound usually heard on a digitally remastered cd.
Broken Arrow (OK) (2nd - 88.15), famous for their creative productions, once
again has a masterpiece that BOA fans will be replaying on their dvd players
for years. Their 2006 production "Aqua" is, quite simply, a work of art.
The color scheme of aqua and lavender in guard costumes and flags is
stunning in its visual effect, and contrasts nicely with the black and
white band uniforms. Equally stunning is the music book featuring
"Harrison's Dream" by Peter Graham, the fugue from "Young Person's Guide to
the Orchestra" by Britten, and "Time To Say Goodbye," made famous by Andrea
Bocelli and Sarah Brightman. The music was both graceful and powerful at
the same time (earning the Outstanding Music Performance award for Class AAA
in prelims), and featured multiple fast passages by the woodwinds and
trumpets.
1998 and 2002 Bands of America Grand National Champions Lassiter (GA) (3rd -
85.65) made a much-anticipated return to the Midwest with "Musical
Tapestries." Utilizing large, 3-sided backdrops with abstract
impressionist art inspired by Picasso and Pollack among others, the group
presented a musical and visual portrayal of the moods created by the
artists. The music of John Barnes Chance, Malcomb Arnold, David Holsinger
and Eric Ball was the vehicle for the band to showcase the rich symphonic
sound the band is noted for. The moods ranged from darkness in the opener,
to peacefulness in a beautiful arrangement of Arnold's "Solitaire," to a
near-chaos with Holsinger's "Scootin' on Hardrock," and finally to
jubilation in the closer of Ball's "The Kingdom Triumphant," which ended the
show with uplifting glory.
Lafayette (KY) (4th - 83.65) made us feel proud to be Americans with
"American Times," based on common American anthems from a variety of musical
styles. Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man" opened the performance as
the brass section grabbed our attention from the first note, then led into a
faster section that featured variations on the Shaker hymn made famous in
Appalachian Spring. Samuel Barber's "Adagio For Strings" was
heart-wrenching, as the guard conveyed mourning and loss of loved ones from
America's wars. Our toes were tapping in the finale of Gershwin's "I Got
Rhythm" (with a bit of "Rhapsody In Blue" added). The show ended as strains
of "Star Spangled Banner" were pounded out by the low brass at the
thunderous conclusion.
Just a few tenths of a point back, fellow Lexington, KY band Paul Laurence
Dunbar (5th - 83.4) gave the audience a cornucopia for the eyes with "Up" by
Mark Higginbotham. Bright neon hot pink and orange colors were in such
abundance that the field almost seemed to glow. The "Up" motif was
portrayed with upward-pointing arrows in the drill and guard costumes, and
the word "up" also appeared in the drill. A neat saxophone feature had the
audience members saying "Cool!." The show ended with huge brightly colored
streamers shooting towards the sky. Look for big things from this band at
Grand Nationals next month as the group still has about 30 seconds to add to
finish the closer.
Owasso (OK) (6th - 81.3), fresh off their first Grand Nationals Finals
appearance last year, utilized all manner of bell and whistle sounds in
their appropriately named production, "Bells and Whistles." Music that is
known for bells (such as "Carol of the Bells") and whistles ("Colonel
Bogey," used in the film "Bridge on the River Kwai") was used throughout the
show. Sleighbells, slide whistles and more were all heard during the
performance. The effect most people were talking about after the show
occurred when the band pulled out flourescent-colored pop tubes and swung
them around, creating a high-pitched whistling sound accompanied by
cowbells.
"These guys should come to Nationals!" was mentioned by a number of people
after Rosemount (MN) (7th - 78.5) finished their unique program "G3: Get Up,
Get Down, Get Out!!." Playing the quirky, jazz-influenced music Roger
Cichy, the group began the show seated on small teal platforms, and quickly
"got up". The group "got down" big time during the second movement, which
featured a whopping 28 rifles at one time, and a big jazz shout chorus by
the band. The band did indeed "get out!" at the end of the show, as all the
wind players jazz ran to the end zone, followed by a lone guard member who
literally kicked them off the field.
Irondale (MN) (8th - 78.15) took us to their own private amusement park with
"Roller Coaster." Large roller coaster props made from pvc pipes set the
mood as the band gave the crowd thrills and chills. Narration advised us to
keep our hands and feet inside the ride as we were taken on a musical
journey on three of the fiercest coasters around - the Knight Express, the
newest ride, the Knight Rider (which experienced a malfunction with a
hilarious moment of "elevator music" while waiting for it to be fixed), and
finally, the highest and fastest coaster in the land, the "Iron Knight."
Northmont (OH) (9th - 76.4) gave a moving tribute to one of the first sights
most immigrants saw when coming to the United States with "Ellis Island:
Gateway to America." Photographs of immigrants were revealed on large
backdrops as narration told their stories. The package depicted the hopes
and dreams of immigrants throughout the last 100+ years, many of whom came
to our nation to escape war and famine with only the shirt on their back.
The show concluded with an emotional look at what the Statue of Liberty has
meant to scores of new Americans over the years.
Roosevelt (SD) (10th - 74.45) explored mythologies associated with fire with
their sizzling hot "Firebreathers" production. Large dragons, fire pits,
and a large fence that looked as if it could have been the gates of Hades
set the tone for the show. The beginning evoked images of life being forged
in a fiery furnace of the gods, using Nancy Galbraith's "Danza de los
Duendes," then looked at different primitive rituals associated with fire.
The band became a fire-breathing dragon in the finale as guard members used
large flags to represent dragons taking flight.
In their first ever BOA appearance, Blue Springs (MO) (11th - 74.3) did
themselves and the state of Missouri proud in making a solid finals
appearance. "Gotham: After Hours" used music from the Batman movies and at
times had a dark, sinister aura. A swinging version of Van Morrison's
"Moondance" had the audience tapping their toes in rhythm. When trouble
threatened during the ending production, the band made a giant bat signal in
the drill, and as he always does, the Caped Crusader came to the rescue in
the dynamic ending.
Eastview (MN) (12th - 74.1) made a big impression with
"Speed-Strength-Honor-Risk," built around traits which are valued in our
society. The centerpiece of the show was during the "Honor" movement set to
music of Thomas Newman's film score from "The Road To Perdition," which
featured an absolutely brilliant flute soloist accompanied by an equally
exceptional dancer. When the entire band got to the climax, accompanied by
the guard with white flags, it was a stunning and poignant moment.
Union (OK) (13th - 72.6) took us inside an arcade pinball machine with music
from The Who's rock opera, "Tommy." The show, "Pinball," featured large
balls rolled by guard members, as the band became the flippers and
components of the machine and the guard became the pinballs. At one point
during the show, the intensity caused the machine to go on "Tilt". The
closer "Pinball Wizard" got a roar from the audience as the performance
ended with a flourish of big jazz sounds and bright colors.
Gentle piano music began the performance for Class AA champion Blue Valley
West (KS) (14th - 69.9) with "Were You There?" by Aaron Guidry. The music
book featured several tastefully scored duets and trios. Like a high tide
rolling in from the sea, the intensity level built to the very end as the
flute and clarinet players picked up large red and blue flags, joining the
guard members in making the field come alive with color as the saxes and
brass players hammered home the final chords.
The evening concluded with an exhibition by Class A champions Murray (KY).
Their show "Iconoclast" featured a guard member who dared to be different
from the crowd. During the performance, the girl wore different costuming
and used different equipment than the others. Eventually, they came around
to her point of view and ended the program costumed as she was...but the
young lady turned the tables by wearing the same jacket the rest of the
guard members wore for most of the program.
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