A Look at BOA Long Beach Prelims (Part 2)
Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 9:08 pm
Ramona High School - This group had a giant Monopoly board tarp on the field, with the authentic-looking squares to "land on." I love the tuxedo-and-top-hats uniform. The sound effects from the pit seemed to overpower the band, which overall had a muddled, basic sound. I saw a lot of flat feet out there when it came to movement. Spacing between marchers wavered. Beautiful use of the silks, particularly the auxiliary girl with the green flag in the ballad. Inventive show. They need to work on quality. MY SCORE: 55.00
Foothill High School (NV) - I am digging the backfield sectional moments, followed by the big organ sound that fades away. Thus far, nothing monumental in music and marching and flags/weapon work. They are a bit stronger musically. Ah, guard--love the small bird cage props. This show suddenly turned old fashioned, not in a good way. VERY simplified drill book. Hmmm...it's hard to read this show as quality-wise the music is rockin'...but there were few risks. MY SCORE: 59.00
South Pasadena High School - The side-field direction of sound was effective, as if striking a pose amidst the NASA broadcast effect. This cookie-cutter show did not push boundaries, but it was intact. The props were a bit unnecessary. Nothing else notable. I love that this show was a tribute to the crew of the space shuttle Challenger (which blew up in 1986). Very touching, and the audience thought so, too. MY SCORE: 55.30
Covina High School - The mirroring of member-on-member and then members-on-members is fascinating, and the center stage "evil queen" character is excellent in regards to staging. There is lots of visual finesse, but I'm not HEARING it. I was looking for more cohesion from them. The electric guitar player was on point. (Great work!) I approved of some of the risks this group took. MY SCORE: 57.00
Desert Vista High School - A cheesy song is played as the winds and percussion wave to us, the audience. This goes on for such...a long...time. (Wow. I think that just KILLED their show!) Then chord. Chord. Chord chord. I'm following them, but so far it's been elementary. I want meat--not milk. Excellent backfield poses at the beginning of the percussion feature, wind players. Neat "ejection" of the clarinet soloist from that pod, mosh-pit. The end of the show was a challenge for them, but they got to the finish line. MY SCORE: 59.90
El Dorado High School (TX) - I love that this group and their parents have a lot of pride. Whoa! They may be facing backfield, but those trumpets are grand. Scratch that. EVERYONE was grand in how they played their instrument. Nothing they did was out of the ordinary, but they really didn't need to do too much, given the field they were up against. They were a treat for the ears. The trombone trio against the banjo played from the synth was glorious. MY SCORE: 61.30
Corona del Sol High School - Oh man, unblock the view of the dancing couple. Move that prop out of the way! Cute acting job from the villain "stealing the hero's girl." This was a silent film style show. Think "villain tying girl to the train tracks" sort of thing. Lovely flute/trombone duet. Gorgeous ballad. Some key saber drops here and there, but a nice attempt. This group kept me involved to the last note. Ugh, work on those horn snaps! Okay, this wasn't bad. MY SCORE: 60.20
Upland High School - I appreciate the otherworldly guard costumes, and the full-out range-of-motion body-movement across the field. I haven't been a big fan of Upland in a while, but really like their show this year. VERY neat up-down ramps. So controlled in all that they do! Whew! This was the first show of the day that I thoroughly enjoyed. Performance excellence was evident in all areas. How fun that those wind players slide down those large ramps after a solo. It was kind of Winston-Churchill-ish (a BOA band from TX that had large ramps like this in 2002). The end of their show was somewhat of a question mark, but their sound and poise was impenetrable. MY SCORE: 77.20
Ayala High School - Prior to the show beginning is a sloshing sound coming from the pit, as the winds lie down on their back and wave one hand in the air. Someone dressed in medieval garb holds a lantern and searches around. This show has a lot of tension to it. Unique work done on the "tree swing" prop, and the rifle-wheel accessories that essentially get tossed like rifles. There is a lot of "woodwind feature," but an enormous drumline and pit seems to cover up their sound, unfortunately. (Ha! Nationally revered band problems, right?) There was a very, very ambitious brass run that caught my ears. I like! Sparkling performance. It just needs some more tweaking. MY SCORE: 77.00
Riverside Community College (Exhibition): Amazing performance, and treat for all the high school band kids who come to a BOA show where they are at. Love that the tuba players were wearing the OLD RCC orange uniforms, from back in the day, which contrasted against the modern ones. (Nice ode to the past!) Hey, it's their big 30th anniversary!
All right. All in all, excellent show. I was a little annoyed by these two women sitting behind me, chit-chatting the whole way through bands' shows. They were both loud and disruptive. I had to move to get out of earshot. PEOPLE: a marching band show is like a concert band festival. I know it may not seem like it with all the crash-bang-boom of the drums, but it is!
As I wrote before, not a lot of "sit up and take note" performances, likely because it's early season time. Fountain Valley not making finals was a shock, but at the same time wasn't a shock. I felt Arroyo should have been in finals, big time. (Not sure what it was that kept them out.) Congratulations to Trabuco Hills, who seem to finally be getting the BOA recognition they deserve...but I think a big part of that is that they are somewhat breaking the mold. I really liked seeing a Trabuco Hills show that isn't your usual Trabuco Hills show. Now they just need to "spice it up a bit." I thought that Upland was better than Ayala, but that's my opinion. Ayala was very, very good, though. It stinks I couldn't stick around for finals, but I was attending a social engagement that evening. I'm sure finals was fun!
Sincerely,
Alan
Foothill High School (NV) - I am digging the backfield sectional moments, followed by the big organ sound that fades away. Thus far, nothing monumental in music and marching and flags/weapon work. They are a bit stronger musically. Ah, guard--love the small bird cage props. This show suddenly turned old fashioned, not in a good way. VERY simplified drill book. Hmmm...it's hard to read this show as quality-wise the music is rockin'...but there were few risks. MY SCORE: 59.00
South Pasadena High School - The side-field direction of sound was effective, as if striking a pose amidst the NASA broadcast effect. This cookie-cutter show did not push boundaries, but it was intact. The props were a bit unnecessary. Nothing else notable. I love that this show was a tribute to the crew of the space shuttle Challenger (which blew up in 1986). Very touching, and the audience thought so, too. MY SCORE: 55.30
Covina High School - The mirroring of member-on-member and then members-on-members is fascinating, and the center stage "evil queen" character is excellent in regards to staging. There is lots of visual finesse, but I'm not HEARING it. I was looking for more cohesion from them. The electric guitar player was on point. (Great work!) I approved of some of the risks this group took. MY SCORE: 57.00
Desert Vista High School - A cheesy song is played as the winds and percussion wave to us, the audience. This goes on for such...a long...time. (Wow. I think that just KILLED their show!) Then chord. Chord. Chord chord. I'm following them, but so far it's been elementary. I want meat--not milk. Excellent backfield poses at the beginning of the percussion feature, wind players. Neat "ejection" of the clarinet soloist from that pod, mosh-pit. The end of the show was a challenge for them, but they got to the finish line. MY SCORE: 59.90
El Dorado High School (TX) - I love that this group and their parents have a lot of pride. Whoa! They may be facing backfield, but those trumpets are grand. Scratch that. EVERYONE was grand in how they played their instrument. Nothing they did was out of the ordinary, but they really didn't need to do too much, given the field they were up against. They were a treat for the ears. The trombone trio against the banjo played from the synth was glorious. MY SCORE: 61.30
Corona del Sol High School - Oh man, unblock the view of the dancing couple. Move that prop out of the way! Cute acting job from the villain "stealing the hero's girl." This was a silent film style show. Think "villain tying girl to the train tracks" sort of thing. Lovely flute/trombone duet. Gorgeous ballad. Some key saber drops here and there, but a nice attempt. This group kept me involved to the last note. Ugh, work on those horn snaps! Okay, this wasn't bad. MY SCORE: 60.20
Upland High School - I appreciate the otherworldly guard costumes, and the full-out range-of-motion body-movement across the field. I haven't been a big fan of Upland in a while, but really like their show this year. VERY neat up-down ramps. So controlled in all that they do! Whew! This was the first show of the day that I thoroughly enjoyed. Performance excellence was evident in all areas. How fun that those wind players slide down those large ramps after a solo. It was kind of Winston-Churchill-ish (a BOA band from TX that had large ramps like this in 2002). The end of their show was somewhat of a question mark, but their sound and poise was impenetrable. MY SCORE: 77.20
Ayala High School - Prior to the show beginning is a sloshing sound coming from the pit, as the winds lie down on their back and wave one hand in the air. Someone dressed in medieval garb holds a lantern and searches around. This show has a lot of tension to it. Unique work done on the "tree swing" prop, and the rifle-wheel accessories that essentially get tossed like rifles. There is a lot of "woodwind feature," but an enormous drumline and pit seems to cover up their sound, unfortunately. (Ha! Nationally revered band problems, right?) There was a very, very ambitious brass run that caught my ears. I like! Sparkling performance. It just needs some more tweaking. MY SCORE: 77.00
Riverside Community College (Exhibition): Amazing performance, and treat for all the high school band kids who come to a BOA show where they are at. Love that the tuba players were wearing the OLD RCC orange uniforms, from back in the day, which contrasted against the modern ones. (Nice ode to the past!) Hey, it's their big 30th anniversary!
All right. All in all, excellent show. I was a little annoyed by these two women sitting behind me, chit-chatting the whole way through bands' shows. They were both loud and disruptive. I had to move to get out of earshot. PEOPLE: a marching band show is like a concert band festival. I know it may not seem like it with all the crash-bang-boom of the drums, but it is!
As I wrote before, not a lot of "sit up and take note" performances, likely because it's early season time. Fountain Valley not making finals was a shock, but at the same time wasn't a shock. I felt Arroyo should have been in finals, big time. (Not sure what it was that kept them out.) Congratulations to Trabuco Hills, who seem to finally be getting the BOA recognition they deserve...but I think a big part of that is that they are somewhat breaking the mold. I really liked seeing a Trabuco Hills show that isn't your usual Trabuco Hills show. Now they just need to "spice it up a bit." I thought that Upland was better than Ayala, but that's my opinion. Ayala was very, very good, though. It stinks I couldn't stick around for finals, but I was attending a social engagement that evening. I'm sure finals was fun!
Sincerely,
Alan