Well, weekend 3 of the 2007 competition season is upon us.
Phantom Regiment Marching Band Festival-Machesney Park, Illinois
A-Opening up the 2007 Regiment Festival will be two bands in class A: Niles West and Elmwood Park. Elmwood Park is competing several times this year, but we feel this competition is going to go to the other band in this class. Our pick: Niles West
AA-Herscher and McHenry are in this class. McHenry has an interesting show that is bound to get better. However, at this show, we are going with the band who is a past Marching Bands of America finalist. Our pick: Herscher
AAA-Huntley has the arduous task of competing against Morton in this class. While this will be the beginning of a very long day for Morton, we just can’t pass them by. Our pick: Morton
AAAA-Lake Park and Bolingbrook go head to head in this class. This one should be a no-brainer. Our pick: Lake Park
GC-Morton and Lake Park will battle it out for the grand champion title here. However, we feel that Morton will come up just short in their quest, losing to Lake Park by under 2 points. Our pick: Lake Park
SUNDAY, September 30th
Chicago Mustang Stampede
A-Another interesting class. Grant is coming off a win last week at Wheaton North. Antioch was champions at this show last year. Oak Lawn, Elk Grove, Notre Dame, and others could put up a fight here. Our pick: Grant
AA-Another good class here. Good to see T.F. South back competitively, after taking a year or two off. This class will be a dogfight between Glenbrook North and A.A. Stagg. Our pick: A.A. Stagg
AAA-A 3 band class, with Riverside-Brookfield, Minooka, and Glenbrook South. Minooka and Glenbrook South will battle it out, and Minooka will eke out the class win. Our pick: Minooka
GC-Stagg and Minooka will compete for Grand Champion here. A long day will end for Stagg with a Grand Champion trophy. Our pick: A.A. Stagg
Geneseo Maple Leaf Festival-Geneseo, IL
A: 1A is the largest class here and therefore most difficult to predict. Based on what we have seen thus far in the year, Metamora should pull out ahead. Our Pick: Metamora
AA: Macomb is the powerhouse in this class and should take 2A with a storm. Our Pick: Macomb
AAA: IVC is known for quality and should come out on top here during 3A. Our Pick: IVC
GC: Grand Champion will be a battle between IVC and Macomb. These two bands usually battle neck and neck at U of I when they meet, and their scores should be close. With IVC’s later performance time, the tip goes to them. Our Pick: IVC
Olympia
Parade
A: The only band in this class is Galva. Our Pick: Galva
AA: Pekin did fairly well at Morton 2 weeks ago in parade, and should take 2A. Our Pick: Pekin
AAA: Prairie Central and Eureka will both be performing their first parade of the season, so it could go either way. With Eureka’s history at this competition though, we give the tip to them. Our Pick: Eureka
AAAA: Bloomington had a great showing at Morton and should do well here as well. Our Pick: Bloomington
Field
A: Dunlap Cadet band enters the fray for 1A field, and should prove to be a good match for Galva. Our Pick: Dunlap Cadet
AA: Again based on the bands in 2A, and Pekin’s performance at Morton, they should be more than a match for 2A. Our Pick: Pekin.
AAA: Eureka has habitually beaten Prairie Central, and should have no problem doing so again this year. Our Pick: Eureka
AAAA: Bloomington’s field show strength has shot up incredibly over the past few years, and should have no problem over powering the rest of 4A. Our Pick: Bloomington.
GC: With Bloomington scoring higher than any other band present this year, they should win Grand Champion…but parade scores have screwed things up in the past, so watch for that. Our Pick: Bloomington
Chicagoland Marching Band Festival-Wheeling, IL
A-This class is the easiest class that we will predict all season. Seeing as how they’re the only band in their class, our pick goes to: Bremen.
AA-A number of these bands (T.F. South, GN, Brother Rice) will also be competing the next day at the St. Rita competition. However, our pick goes to the band that will be competing earlier in the day at the Phantom Regiment compeition. Our pick: Morton
AAA-This class is quite possibly the hardest class to decide for this weekend. Lincoln Way Central has a good shot, but their show is usually very dirty at this point in the season. Waubonsie Valley also has a good shot, but we feel that this class championship will go to the band that defeated Prospect in class AA at the U of I marching field competition last year. Our pick: John Hersey.
GC-With Hersey usually peaking well at the end of the season (right around U of I), we give a very small nod to Morton. Our pick: Morton
EIU Panther Marching Festival
A: 1A should be close between Atwood-Hammond and Bement. Atwood has a history of being a strong small band and should do very well here. Our Pick: Atwood-Hammond
AA: The top battlers here are Newton and Robinson. Both have excellent track records and the win could go either way. Our Pick: Robinson
AAA: Champaign Central should win this twin cities rivalry based on previous years scores. Our Pick: Champaign Central
AAAA: Belleville West is the only band in 4A. Our Pick: Belleville West
GC: Grand Champion should also go to the 4A winner, Our Pick: Belleville West.
Bands of America Regional Championships-Ypsilanti, Michigan
The second regional of the season is amongst us. Only 12 bands have signed up, which makes it a 12 band prelims and 12 band finals. This regional, back when it was held in the Pontiac Silverdome, usually had about 25-30 bands. Now that it’s being held at Eastern Michigan, only 12 bands decided to make the trek this season. Some of the usual bands are here, including Plymouth Canton Educational Park (Michigan), Reeths-Puffer (dominant in AA, also from Michigan), and two bands from Illinois this season, Victor J. Andrew and Lincoln Way East. PCEP will be grand champion of this regional, with Lincoln Way East coming in second. Reeths-Puffer will be in 3rd, Dublin-Coffman (Ohio) will be 4th, and Victor J. Andrew will round out the top 5. Our pick: Plymouth Canton.
Sparta Homefest Band Show-Sparta, IL
Due to no schedule being posted, we cannot speculate on this show.