Paul wrote:To Mr. 'Phantom Phan'...what was your criteria of judging when you placed Foothill(P) ahead of Fairfield? Musically and showmanship wise I thought Fairfield had a much more crisp solid performance. Las Plumas/Oroville was very good this season. I think they deserve that number five position.
1. I didn't see LPO this year, which is why I put Santa Cruz at #5.
2. Fairfield vs. Foothill-Pleasanton on parade. JUST MY OPINION, so if anyone gets upset by what I'm about to say, TOUGH.
The difference is very, very slight, as I feel both bands are of roughly the same caliber. Let's not forget they were only 0.15 apart at Del Oro in mid-October. Caption by caption:
Color Guard - Fairfield's guard is far better than Foothill's on the street. However, I don't think they are unquestionably the best guard in the NCBA. I think five or six bands could make an argument for having the best parade auxiliary in the NCBA, and Fairfield would be just one of those. Honestly, the best guard I saw all year was quite possibly Santa Cruz HS.
Marching - Both are "fair" but not great. Both bands have trouble with their rows "bending" as the march progresses. And don't give me that "size of the band" argument: there's PLENTY of other bands that march 9-10 across and have no trouble keeping their rows straight. At most band reviews both of these ensembles should finish 5th-10th in marching, but that simply never happens because... well, we've already been over the NCBA judging issues.
Showmanship - Tough call, again, this year I'd say they were about equal. Fairfield was more technically precise, but lacked the fire and energy put out by Foothill. I'd say Fairfield has the edge in the visual part of showmanship, whereas Foothill has the edge in the musical part.
Music - Again, these two are just about equal. In the end, I thought Foothill was just a little bit better than Fairfield musically this year, and that's what led me to rank them ahead of the Scarlet Brigade. Fairfield did a terrific job with a technically demanding march ("Law and Order" by H. Alford)... but then so did Foothill ("Stars and Stripes Forever" by Sousa, no piece of cake itself). As I've said previously in my reviews, I thought Fairfield was lacking that "presence of sound" I'm so accustomed to hearing from them. That and, as I touched on in the Showmanship caption, I thought all of the Fairfield performances I heard this year were kind of "eh." Very precise, and they hit all the notes, but it wasn't as MUSICAL as it should've been; and, quite simply, Fairfield couldn't hold a candle to the spirit, fire, and energy Foothill put into S&SF.