Hostrauser's 2013 Arcadia Review
Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 11:06 pm
I apologize for what is going to be a long and rambling review.
I earned a reputation here many years ago for being a blunt and honest (and sometimes tactless) reviewer who simply called things how he saw them. I'm trying to get back to everything but the tactless part. We'll see how well I do. Be forewarned: I'm not going to step lightly to avoid landing on people's toes. Some of you might agree with my rant. Some of you will likely think I'm a big, bloviating idiot. I won't argue either interpretation.
So, without further ado...
On November 9th at the Bands of America Regional in Indianapolis, Marian Catholic (IL) was in trouble. They were on par with Lake Central (IN) and Centerville (OH), just behind the first and just ahead of the latter. All three were on the bubble for BOA Grand National Finals, in danger of missing out. For Lake Central (pushing for their first ever Finals berth) and Centerville (one Finals appearance in the past seven years) this was a familiar spot. For Marian Catholic (30 consecutive years as a BOA Finalist, 7-time National Champion) this was an unheard of proposition.
But at Bands of America Grand National Semifinals on Saturday, Marian Catholic was suddenly almost five full points ahead of Lake Central and over seven full points ahead of Centerville, and safely in Finals. Did they really pick up five and seven points on two national-caliber bands with LESS than one week of rehearsal? Possibly.
Or did cognitive dissonance set in? Did the judges see "Marian Catholic" and think, "Oh, there's no WAY Greg Bimm's band isn't fantastic" perhaps judging (even subconsciously) 90% the actual performance and 10% the name/legacy of Marian Catholic?
EVERY band judging circuit, even the mighty BOA, has some level of inherent bias. In some cases it is overt. In most cases (I like to think, optimistically) it is subconscious, even inadvertent.
In the 1960s, an era with tons and tons of great high school marching bands in California, the Arcadia Band Review saw SEVEN different parade champions in the nine years it was held.
In the 2000s (indeed, the past 15 years, since 1999), an era with still a lot of really, really good high school marching bands, the Arcadia band review has seen... two different champions.
I was not present for Arcadia band reviews 1999-2012, so I cannot argue the results at all. It is surprising to me that, not even one year did a Mt. Carmel, Diamond Bar, Glendora, El Dorado (etc.) just happened to have a better year. But RB and RK are fantastic bands year-in, year-out, so it's certainly within the realm of feasibility.
60th Annual Arcadia Festival of Bands, November 16th, 2013
Contrary to what some people might think, in my opinion the bar of expectation is set LOWER for the top bands, not higher. Sometimes, it seems like the consistent winners (in ANY circuit) just need to show up in uniform holding their instruments correctly and they've already got 85-90 points. It seems as if the top bands don't COMPLETELY fall apart there's no way they won't win.
I'm not even saying I'm immune to this subconscious bias: initially I had Rancho Bernardo as the highest rated band. But walking the several blocks back to my car, I had an internal debate: did I *really* think RB was the best band of the day (no), or was I just putting them first because I was EXPECTING them to be spectacular, and since they were pretty clean and mostly solid... good enough?
I kind of got that impression from Rancho Bernardo and Riverside King on Saturday. They both felt like they were playing to "not lose" Sweepstakes as opposed to "trying to win" Sweepstakes. I was standing right next to several King parents who were very distressed by King's performance. Now, these parents/boosters (I'm assuming) aren't musically trained and can't nit-pick a musical performance, but they HAVE seen the band perform this march probably dozens of times and ARE in a position to compare THOSE performances and determine that one is weaker than the rest. Not that I'm saying King or RB were bad, they were very good--and you'll see a very tight spread at the top of my own rankings at the end of the post--but it sure felt like they left the door open for another band to swoop in and steal Sweepstakes.
I don't want to harp on this, because the sweepstakes results of Arcadia is my minor gripe. I think you could make an argument for ANY of the top four bands winning Sweepstakes, and I just felt it should be someone different. Enough said.
Now for my major gripe.
I really wanted to see Golden Valley. I wanted to see how they stacked up. Before the review, I felt they were out of their element in Class AA, doomed to get stomped... but I thought they could have placed well in Class A or B. I also was very skeptical that they would get a fair shake from the SCSBOA judges.
I'm declaring myself correct on both counts.
Don't mistake me: I'm not saying Golden Valley was Parade Sweepstakes caliber. They weren't. I myself had them 9th out of 11 bands in Class AA. There were too many individual musical performance issues. But the overall ensemble sound was surprisingly solid. The musicality of the group, the phrasing and dynamics were very good. The march was challenging and handled well. The marching was no worse than any of the top Class A bands. The showmanship and guard were solid.
The guard! Several years ago, I called into question the auxiliary results from the Chino Invitational field show. Valencia had won guard sweepstakes over a very clean El Dorado squad. One of the aux judges from the event sent me a message, and explained how the layering and difficulty of Valencia's show was so much greater than what El Dorado was attempting that year.
So, keeping that knowledge in mind... does uh, that not apply to parade, too?
Because while Golden Valley's flags weren't as clean as most other AA guards, Golden Valley also had two things almost no other band tried: rifles and individual shields. One of the guards rated far ahead of Golden Valley had a whole SIX flags and a bunch of shields-on-a-pole. Cleaner than GV? Well of course. As complex and difficult as Golden Valley's 30-member guard (12 flags, 10 rifles, and 8 shields)? Give me a break. Not even close.
To me, the message from SCSBOA judges at Arcadia was unmistakable:
Dear Northern California bands,
Don't bother coming down here. We don't like your kind. Just stay home and we won't embarrass you and publicly rub your nose in how inferior we view you.
Sincerely,
SCSBOA
Golden Valley was badly, badly underscored by every judge. Some of the bands at Arcadia that were scored higher than the band from Merced were down-right HORRID. TERRIBLE. ABYSMAL. Poor intonation. Unbalanced sound. Voices sticking out the ensemble. Incomplete phrasing. Dropped melodies. Missed notes. Inadequate instrumentation for the march being performed. Marchers out of step. No diagonals. Bouncing like they're on a trampoline. Dropped flags. Pauses in routine because they're lost.
I OPENLY call into question the impartiality of any judge who thought Golden Valley was the 34th best band in the parade.
HOSTRAUSER'S ARCADIA RESULTS
(Due to rain/traffic, I arrived late and missed the host bands and Arroyo. Apologies.)
CLASS C
90.5 Beckman
88.2 El Rancho
87.1 Temple City
85.9 South El Monte
85.6 Downey
80.4 Workman
78.3 Valhalla
77.8 Patrick Henry
74.7 Point Loma
--.- Arroyo (sorry!)
CLASS B
92.9 Cypress
91.5 Whitney
91.3 Westview
91.0 West
90.4 Olympian
90.1 Schurr
89.7 Shadow Hills
88.8 Esperanza
86.2 Rowland
81.6 Bonita Vista
CLASS A
93.0 John F. Kennedy
92.6 Mayfair
92.2 Diamond Ranch
91.7 Montebello
91.1 Mira Mesa
90.8 Eastlake
90.3 Loara
88.5 Santiago
87.4 John Glenn
86.9 Garey
CLASS AA
96.0 Mt. Carmel
95.8 Rancho Bernardo
95.6 Riverside King
95.5 Diamond Bar
94.9 El Dorado
94.5 Glendora
93.7 Chino
93.3 Notre Dame
92.5 Golden Valley
92.3 Arlington
92.0 Kaiser
Hostrauser's Music Sweepstakes: Mt. Carmel
Hostrauser's Parade Sweepstakes: 96.0 - Mt. Carmel
I earned a reputation here many years ago for being a blunt and honest (and sometimes tactless) reviewer who simply called things how he saw them. I'm trying to get back to everything but the tactless part. We'll see how well I do. Be forewarned: I'm not going to step lightly to avoid landing on people's toes. Some of you might agree with my rant. Some of you will likely think I'm a big, bloviating idiot. I won't argue either interpretation.
So, without further ado...
On November 9th at the Bands of America Regional in Indianapolis, Marian Catholic (IL) was in trouble. They were on par with Lake Central (IN) and Centerville (OH), just behind the first and just ahead of the latter. All three were on the bubble for BOA Grand National Finals, in danger of missing out. For Lake Central (pushing for their first ever Finals berth) and Centerville (one Finals appearance in the past seven years) this was a familiar spot. For Marian Catholic (30 consecutive years as a BOA Finalist, 7-time National Champion) this was an unheard of proposition.
But at Bands of America Grand National Semifinals on Saturday, Marian Catholic was suddenly almost five full points ahead of Lake Central and over seven full points ahead of Centerville, and safely in Finals. Did they really pick up five and seven points on two national-caliber bands with LESS than one week of rehearsal? Possibly.
Or did cognitive dissonance set in? Did the judges see "Marian Catholic" and think, "Oh, there's no WAY Greg Bimm's band isn't fantastic" perhaps judging (even subconsciously) 90% the actual performance and 10% the name/legacy of Marian Catholic?
EVERY band judging circuit, even the mighty BOA, has some level of inherent bias. In some cases it is overt. In most cases (I like to think, optimistically) it is subconscious, even inadvertent.
In the 1960s, an era with tons and tons of great high school marching bands in California, the Arcadia Band Review saw SEVEN different parade champions in the nine years it was held.
In the 2000s (indeed, the past 15 years, since 1999), an era with still a lot of really, really good high school marching bands, the Arcadia band review has seen... two different champions.
I was not present for Arcadia band reviews 1999-2012, so I cannot argue the results at all. It is surprising to me that, not even one year did a Mt. Carmel, Diamond Bar, Glendora, El Dorado (etc.) just happened to have a better year. But RB and RK are fantastic bands year-in, year-out, so it's certainly within the realm of feasibility.
60th Annual Arcadia Festival of Bands, November 16th, 2013
Contrary to what some people might think, in my opinion the bar of expectation is set LOWER for the top bands, not higher. Sometimes, it seems like the consistent winners (in ANY circuit) just need to show up in uniform holding their instruments correctly and they've already got 85-90 points. It seems as if the top bands don't COMPLETELY fall apart there's no way they won't win.
I'm not even saying I'm immune to this subconscious bias: initially I had Rancho Bernardo as the highest rated band. But walking the several blocks back to my car, I had an internal debate: did I *really* think RB was the best band of the day (no), or was I just putting them first because I was EXPECTING them to be spectacular, and since they were pretty clean and mostly solid... good enough?
I kind of got that impression from Rancho Bernardo and Riverside King on Saturday. They both felt like they were playing to "not lose" Sweepstakes as opposed to "trying to win" Sweepstakes. I was standing right next to several King parents who were very distressed by King's performance. Now, these parents/boosters (I'm assuming) aren't musically trained and can't nit-pick a musical performance, but they HAVE seen the band perform this march probably dozens of times and ARE in a position to compare THOSE performances and determine that one is weaker than the rest. Not that I'm saying King or RB were bad, they were very good--and you'll see a very tight spread at the top of my own rankings at the end of the post--but it sure felt like they left the door open for another band to swoop in and steal Sweepstakes.
I don't want to harp on this, because the sweepstakes results of Arcadia is my minor gripe. I think you could make an argument for ANY of the top four bands winning Sweepstakes, and I just felt it should be someone different. Enough said.
Now for my major gripe.
I really wanted to see Golden Valley. I wanted to see how they stacked up. Before the review, I felt they were out of their element in Class AA, doomed to get stomped... but I thought they could have placed well in Class A or B. I also was very skeptical that they would get a fair shake from the SCSBOA judges.
I'm declaring myself correct on both counts.
Don't mistake me: I'm not saying Golden Valley was Parade Sweepstakes caliber. They weren't. I myself had them 9th out of 11 bands in Class AA. There were too many individual musical performance issues. But the overall ensemble sound was surprisingly solid. The musicality of the group, the phrasing and dynamics were very good. The march was challenging and handled well. The marching was no worse than any of the top Class A bands. The showmanship and guard were solid.
The guard! Several years ago, I called into question the auxiliary results from the Chino Invitational field show. Valencia had won guard sweepstakes over a very clean El Dorado squad. One of the aux judges from the event sent me a message, and explained how the layering and difficulty of Valencia's show was so much greater than what El Dorado was attempting that year.
So, keeping that knowledge in mind... does uh, that not apply to parade, too?
Because while Golden Valley's flags weren't as clean as most other AA guards, Golden Valley also had two things almost no other band tried: rifles and individual shields. One of the guards rated far ahead of Golden Valley had a whole SIX flags and a bunch of shields-on-a-pole. Cleaner than GV? Well of course. As complex and difficult as Golden Valley's 30-member guard (12 flags, 10 rifles, and 8 shields)? Give me a break. Not even close.
To me, the message from SCSBOA judges at Arcadia was unmistakable:
Dear Northern California bands,
Don't bother coming down here. We don't like your kind. Just stay home and we won't embarrass you and publicly rub your nose in how inferior we view you.
Sincerely,
SCSBOA
Golden Valley was badly, badly underscored by every judge. Some of the bands at Arcadia that were scored higher than the band from Merced were down-right HORRID. TERRIBLE. ABYSMAL. Poor intonation. Unbalanced sound. Voices sticking out the ensemble. Incomplete phrasing. Dropped melodies. Missed notes. Inadequate instrumentation for the march being performed. Marchers out of step. No diagonals. Bouncing like they're on a trampoline. Dropped flags. Pauses in routine because they're lost.
I OPENLY call into question the impartiality of any judge who thought Golden Valley was the 34th best band in the parade.
HOSTRAUSER'S ARCADIA RESULTS
(Due to rain/traffic, I arrived late and missed the host bands and Arroyo. Apologies.)
CLASS C
90.5 Beckman
88.2 El Rancho
87.1 Temple City
85.9 South El Monte
85.6 Downey
80.4 Workman
78.3 Valhalla
77.8 Patrick Henry
74.7 Point Loma
--.- Arroyo (sorry!)
CLASS B
92.9 Cypress
91.5 Whitney
91.3 Westview
91.0 West
90.4 Olympian
90.1 Schurr
89.7 Shadow Hills
88.8 Esperanza
86.2 Rowland
81.6 Bonita Vista
CLASS A
93.0 John F. Kennedy
92.6 Mayfair
92.2 Diamond Ranch
91.7 Montebello
91.1 Mira Mesa
90.8 Eastlake
90.3 Loara
88.5 Santiago
87.4 John Glenn
86.9 Garey
CLASS AA
96.0 Mt. Carmel
95.8 Rancho Bernardo
95.6 Riverside King
95.5 Diamond Bar
94.9 El Dorado
94.5 Glendora
93.7 Chino
93.3 Notre Dame
92.5 Golden Valley
92.3 Arlington
92.0 Kaiser
Hostrauser's Music Sweepstakes: Mt. Carmel
Hostrauser's Parade Sweepstakes: 96.0 - Mt. Carmel