Saturday Night Lights

7th - 92.050 - Linganore

6th - 92.613 - West Potomac

5th - 94.175 - Great Bridge

4th - 96.975 - Blackstone-Millville

3rd - 97.250 - Immaculata

2nd - 97.900 - Munford (winning Visual Performance and Percussion captions)

2009 USSBA GROUP 6 NATIONAL CHAMPION
Winner of Music, Overall Effect and Color Guard Captions
98.188 - Rosbury HS


ESPRIT DE CORPS - Munford

The USSBA Nationals have come to a close with a classic Western performances. From the wagon wheel to the sunburst, the familiar western tunes were a great way to end three days of competition. The sun sets in the west ... and the sun sets on another great USSBA Nationals competition.

I don’t know who designed their visual program. Or taught it. But I know who marched it. And what can I say but "wow" ... "wow" ... a captivating performance from the first note to the last, with a performance worthy of a king. And visuals aside, Roxbury didn't leave music behind. That was solid, and the effect was high impact. I'm not judging, but ... this is probably my favorite of the three days.

At "Terminal Velocity", Great Bridge brought the concept of speed to the field. This show demonstrated the accomplishments of a band willing to put in the hard work. This was a performance to be proud of.

Munford is way down near Memphis. This large, small town band brought to Maryland some unbelievable sounds, a great look and a well marched drill, executing their program near flawlessly. I think we need to see more southern bands up here!

West Potomac brought to the bay a big sound and solid marching performance. You don't always need props to tell a great story!

Wow. First, the music was a phenomenal selection to go with the theme of Stained Glass. All elements executed well, especially the color guard, which made the show design come to life. There were a lot of demands put on the band, and they stepped up to the challenge.

First band in Group 6 is Linganore. They got the competition off to a good start with a solid sound and a particularly jammin' percussion line. Thanks for getting us going!

15th - 87.688 - Patapsco

14th - 89.288 - Calvert Hall College

13th - 90.238 - Middletown (MD)

12th - 90.625 - Kempsville

11th - 91.250 - Cranston East

10th - 91.313 - Marriott's Ridge

9th - 91.688 - Northwest

8th - 91.988 - Atholton

7th - 93.525 - Reservoir

6th - 94.025 - Princess Anne

5th - 94.663 - Edison

4th - 95.725 - Old Bridge (Percussion caption winner)

3rd - 95.863 - Urbana

2nd - 96.850 - Cedar Cliff (Music, Overall Effect winner)

2009 USSBA GROUP 3 NATIONAL CHAMPION
Captio… Continue

Wrapping up the Group 3 bands, we took another trip around the Dark Side of the Moon. I guess I shouldn't say it was a nice trip ... but it was a good one that was boldly played.

Ambitious program - one piece, and a popular hot Latin number to boot. Really nice use of the trombone talent and sound. This season I've really come to appreciate what a strong section can add to a marching program. (And the duet with the trumpet was clearly an inspired "Blast!") Most of the time this song features red silks - the tone quality created by the gold and then purple was a neat touch, especially at the end!

Is the jewel of the earth Emerald? Whether it is or not, this Rhode Island band brought color and colorful drumming (the entire guard joining in!) the the field. A nice jewel of a show!!

In(Ex)terior was the interesting concept brought to the field by this Virginia band. The concept on the field made the band look bigger, but that is okay, because they sounded bigger, too! Nice work delivering on the design!

This Baltimore band did a tribute to Mr 2131, Cal Ripkin. There was no mistaking the baseball field on the football turf - the infield, the wall, the scoreboard, the dug out. Nice tribute to the hometown hero!

Early morning duties kept me from blogging on the bands up until now. But here we go for the rest of the day.

Participation in Excellence - Stroudsburg Area

16th - 90.525 - Bunnell

15th - 90.675 - Herndon

14th - 91.475 - West Springfield

13th - 91.625 - Jefferson Forest

12th - 91.913 - Quakertown

11th - 92.512 - Northern Nash

10th - 92.913 - Hillsborough

9th - 92.938 - Grassfield

8th - 94.688 - Liverpool

7th - 94.713 - Cary

6th - 95.000 - Cleveland

5th - 95.275 - Victor

4th - 96.400 - North Penn

3rd - 96.763 - Panther Creek

2nd - 97.100 - Bassett (winner of Music and Color Guard Captions)… Continue

Stoudsburg Area, group 6 in size, performed in exhibition tonight. The show was titled "Parents and Kids", no doubt because we are always in conflict over music. What kind of music? Well, this band brought new meaning to the words Rock Band! Nice greatest hits, and the guitar and keyboard gave everyone something to get up and shout about!

As in Cleveland-we're-not-from-Ohio! Threes were evident from beginning to end (III) in this show titled "Trinity". The power fits, however, with music that pushed the stands back and marching that burned up the field. Thanks for coming up from three states down!

Although it started going one direction, making me think Christmas, Dartmouth explored the gifts of music with various unexpected pieces of music. The soloists, particular the trombone, were solid performers. Thanks for unwrapping this present for those of us in the stands!

Right away, you knew this was going to be a fun flight! Musically evocative, supported by a strong color guard design and performance, the story of Charles Lindberg was told in a very creative way. I have to say from a total concept - design and execution - this is one of my favorites tonight.