Dan Balash

Prelims scores and prelims/finals recaps: 1A: 63.875 Archbishop Alter, OH (Music, Visual, GE) 57.650 Grant, MI 2A: 77.250 Jenison, MI (Music, Visual, GE) 74.800 Goshen, IN 69.050 Davenport Central, IA 68.100 Reeths-Puffer, MI 66.700 LAnse-Creuse, MI 66.200 Miamisburg, OH 60.650 Central Crossing, OH 3A: 78.550 Homestead, IN (Music, Visual, GE) 75.200 Rockford, MI 67.150 Lake Orion, MI 61.150 Plainfield Central 60.950 Hudsonville, MI 4A: 72.950 Carroll, IN (Visual, GE) 72.650 Plymouth-Canton Educational Park, MI (Music) 58.850 Webster, NY TOLEDO-FINALS-RECAP-BOA24.pdf TOLEDO-PRELIMS-RECAP-BOA24.pdf

Plainfield Central unlucky #13 in prelims.

Pontiac is also being live streamed today!

ISU lost Herscher and gained Macomb and El Paso Gridley this year, both of whom are smaller than IVC, bumping up (by my estimation) IVC into 2A if ISU divides classes evenly, which they usually do.

CMBF will be livestreamed this weekend!

My predictions, since I am on vacation starting tonight: CMBF: 1A: 1) Buffalo Grove 2) Glenbrook South 3) Bloom Township 2A: 1) Marian Catholic 2) Wheaton North 3) Rolling Meadows 3A: 1) Greendale, WI 2) Mundelein Grand Champion: Tough call here. Greendale is by far and away the best Wisconsin band (they'll make Grand National semifinals one day), but I really like what I've seen from Marian so far this year. Going to be a homer and pick the Catholics. Lake Park 1A: 1) H.D. Jacobs 2) Glenbrook North 3) Herscher 2A: 1) Huntley 2) Lake Central 3) Naperville Central 3A: 1) Lincoln-Way Grand Champion: Lincoln-Way Plainfield South: 1A: 1) Lemont 2) LaSalle-Peru 3) Sandwich 2A: 1) Waubonsie Valley 2) Joliet West 3) Plainfield East 3A: 1) Plainfield North 2) Oswego East 3) East Aurora Grand Champion: Plainfield North Pontiac Indian Showdown: 1A: 1) University 2) Tolono Unity 3) Streator Township 2A: 1) Eureka 2) Watseka 3) Prairie Central 3A: 1) East Peoria 2) Richwoods 3) Alan B. Shepard Grand Champion: East Peoria Sage City Invitational: 1A: 1) Paxton-Buckley-Loda 2) Maroa-Forsyth 3) Blue Ridge 2A: 1) Paris Cooperative 2) Newton 3) Richland County 3A: 1) Rantoul Township 2) MacArthur 3) Mattoon 4A: 1) Belleville West 2) Champaign Centennial 3) Danville Grand Champion: Belleville West Murphysboro Drums at Appletime: 1A: 1) Anna-Jonesboro 2) Pinckneyville Community 3) Nashville Community 2A: 1) Cape Central, MO 2) Marion 3) Carbondale 3A: 1) Centralia 2) Potosi, MO 3) Waterloo 4A: 1) Oakville, MO 2) Francis Howell North, MO 3) Marquette, MO Grand Champion: Oakville, MO Bands of America Toledo, Ohio Finalists: Plymouth-Canton Educational Park, MI, Miamisburg, OH, Goshen, IN, Rockford, MI, Carroll, IN, Reeths-Puffer, MI, Archbishop Alter, OH, Webster, NY, Homestead, IN, Jenison, MI, Davenport Central, IA, Plainfield Central, IL Champion: Gut says Jenison, MI. Homestead, IN, Carroll, IN & Goshen, IN could also challenge for the title. Plainfield Central I'm predicting around 10-11.

7 shows this weekend! Chicagoland Marching Band Festival: Wheeling, IL Class 1A 5:45 PM: William Howard Taft 6:00 PM: Bloom Township 6:15 PM: Cudahy, WI 6:30 PM: Glenbrook South 6:45 PM: Break Class 1A 7:00 PM: Crystal Lake South 7:15 PM: Buffalo Grove 7:30 PM: Break Class 2A 7:45 PM: Maine West 8:00 PM: Wheaton North 8:15 PM: Elk Grove 8:30 PM: Break Class 2A 8:45 PM: Rolling Meadows 9:00 PM: Marian Catholic Class 3A 9:15 PM: Mundelein 9:30 PM: Greendale, WI Exb 9:45 PM: Wheeling 10:15 PM: Awards Lake Park Lancer Joust: Roselle, IL Class 1A 2:00 PM: Herscher 2:15 PM: Glenbrook North 2:30 PM: H.D. Jacobs 2:45 PM: Break Class 2A 3:00 PM: Buffalo Grove 3:15 PM: Huntley 3:30 PM: Downers Grove South (DGS says they're out; have not seen an updated schedule) 3:45 PM: Naperville Central 4:00 PM: Lake Central, IN 4:15 PM: Break Class 3A 4:30 PM: Lincoln-Way Exb 4:45 PM: Lake Park 5:15 PM: Awards Murphysboro Drums at Appletime: Murphysboro, IL Class 1A 4:30 PM: Sparta Class 2A 4:45 PM: Carbondale Class 1A 5:00 PM: Nashville Community 5:15 PM: Frankfort Community 5:30 PM: East Prairie, MO 5:45 PM: Kelly, MO 6:00 PM: Break Class 1A 6:15 PM: Pinckneyville Community 6:30 PM: Anna-Jonesboro Class 3A 6:45 PM: Paducah-Tilghman, KY 7:00 PM: Break Class 3A 7:15 PM: Potosi, MO 7:30 PM: Centralia 7:45 PM: Waterloo Class 2A 8:00 PM: Northwest, MO 8:15 PM: Marion 8:30 PM: Break Class 2A 8:45 PM: Cape Central, MO Class 4A 9:00 PM: Francis Howell North, MO 9:15 PM: Marquette, MO 9:30 PM: Oakville, MO 9:45 PM: McCracken County, KY Exb 10:00 PM: Murphysboro 10:15 PM: Awards Plainfield South Marching Band Invitational: Plainfield, IL Class 3A 4:00 PM: East Aurora 4:15 PM: Oswego East 4:30 PM: Plainfield North 4:45 PM: Break Class 1A 5:00 PM: Coal City 5:15 PM: Sandwich 5:30 PM: Lemont 5:45 PM: LaSalle-Peru 6:00 PM: Break Class 2A 6:15 PM: Waubonsie Valley 6:30 PM: Joliet West 6:45 PM: Plainfield East Exb 7:00 PM: Plainfield South 7:15 PM: Awards Pontiac Indian Showdown: Pontiac, IL Class 1A 4:15 PM: Tolono Unity 4:30 PM: University 4:45 PM: Streator Township 5:00 PM: Break Class 2A 5:15 PM: Watseka Community 5:30 PM: Eureka Class 3A 5:45 PM: Richwoods 6:00 PM: East Peoria 6:15 PM: Break Class 2A 6:30 PM: Olympia 6:45 PM: Prairie Central Class 3A 7:00 PM: Alan B. Shepard 7:15 PM: Lincoln Community Exb 7:30 PM: Pontiac Township 7:45 PM: Awards Sage City Invitational: Monticello, IL Class 1A 3:00 PM: Blue Ridge 3:15 PM: Paxton-Buckley-Loda 3:30 PM: Maroa-Forsyth 3:45 PM: Break Class 2A 4:00 PM: El Paso-Gridley 4:15 PM: Paris Cooperative 4:30 PM: Mt. Zion 4:45 PM: Newton 5:00 PM: Richland County 5:15 PM: Effingham 5:30 PM: Break Class 3A 5:45 PM: Jacksonville 6:00 PM: MacArthur 6:15 PM: Rantoul Township 6:30 PM: Mattoon 6:45 PM: Break Class 4A 7:00 PM: Urbana 7:15 PM: Champaign Centennial 7:30 PM: Danville 7:45 PM: Belleville West 8:00 PM: Break Exb 8:15 PM: Monticello 8:30 PM: Awards Bands of America Regional Championships: Toledo, Ohio: 10:45 AM: Copley, OH 11:00 AM: Plymouth-Canton Educational Park, MI 11:15 AM: Hudsonville, MI 11:30 AM: Lake Orion, MI 11:45 AM: Break 12:30 PM: Miamisburg, OH 12:45 PM: Davenport Central, IA 1:00 PM: Goshen, IN 1:15 PM: Grant, MI 1:30 PM: Central Crossing, OH 1:45 PM: Rockford, MI 2:00 PM: Carroll, IN 2:15 PM: Break 2:30 PM: Reeths-Puffer, MI 2:45 PM: Archbishop Alter, OH 3:00 PM: Webster, NY 3:15 PM: Plainfield Central 3:30 PM: Homestead, IN 3:45 PM: LAnse-Creuse, MI 4:00 PM: Jenison, MI Exb 4:15 PM: University of Toledo 4:30 PM: Awards

Additions to the schedule: Rich Township Raptor Rumble - October 19th Added schedules for Pontiac, Normal, BOA Indianapolis, BOA St. Louis. Schedules adjusted for VJA and Edwardsville.

Based on IHSA enrollment numbers they could be 2A with the other bands that are signed up. Granted, those IHSA numbers are only updated every 2 years now, so who knows?

Washington Marching Panther Invitational: 1A: 50.200 Watseka Community (Percussion, Auxiliary) 46.200 Farmington 45.500 Hoopeston Area 44.200 Dwight Township 2A: 51.800 Tri-Valley (Auxiliary) 50.100 Rock Falls (Percussion) 48.700 Olympia 45.600 Monmouth-Roseville 3A: 62.100 Metamora (Auxiliary) 61.000 East Peoria (Percussion) 59.000 Dunlap 54.400 United Township 4A: 57.900 Pontiac Township 55.500 Limestone Community (Percussion, Auxiliary) 48.500 Canton 5A: 64.200 Eureka (Auxiliary) 62.800 Joliet West 62.700 Illinois Valley Central (Percussion) 6A: 53.100 Kewanee (Percussion) 51.300 Morris Community (Auxiliary) 47.700 El Paso-Gridley 46.700 Tolono Unity 7A: 74.500 Normal (Percussion, Auxiliary) 70.800 Bloomington 58.300 Champaign Central 8A: 75.200 Morton (Percussion, Auxiliary) 70.000 Galesburg Director Copy of Panther Invitational 2024 Field Recap - Google Sheets.pdf

Here's an odd one from 2A: VJA scoring a 9.40 in Music Performance Individual, only ahead of Reavis, Richards, Herscher and Providence Catholic?

Here are the projected breakdowns, and how finalists are selected for a refresher: 1A+2A champion plus next highest scoring, 3A+4A Champions + next 3 highest scoring, 5A+6A champions + next 5 highest scoring=15 finalists 1A: El Paso-Gridley 374 Eureka 445 Monticello 484 Paris Cooperative 521 Prairie Central 530 Macomb 584 University 608 2A: Illinois Valley Central 614 Providence Catholic 785 Metamora 923 Morton 1026 LaSalle-Peru 1210 Galesburg 1232 Grayslake North * 1289 3A: Marian Catholic * 878 Kaneland 1326 Lemont 1377 Bloomington 1489 Alan B. Shepard 1802 Wheaton Warrenville South 1833 4A: Argo 1878 Batavia 1882 Romeoville 1893 Elk Grove 1898 Collinsville 1901 John Hersey 1989 5A: H.D. Jacobs 2029 Plainfield Central 2050 Prospect 2155 Victor J. Andrew 2217 Plainfield North 2351 A.A. Stagg 2479 Lake Park 2557 Naperville Central 2591 6A: Oswego East 2831 Carl Sandburg 2834 Oswego 2843 Huntley 2996 Joliet West 3337 Warren Township 3696 Normal 3712 Lockport Township 3821

North Knights Marching Festival: A: 66.200 Dwight D. Eisenhower (Percussion, Auxiliary) 48.150 Grant Community 42.500 Marengo AA: 54.200 Lakes Community (Auxiliary) 50.600 Grayslake Central (Percussion) 46.800 McHenry AAA: 66.400 Warren Township (Percussion, Auxiliary) 54.550 Round Lake 46.700 Antioch 09.08.24-GrayslakeNorth-TABS-FINAL.pdf

A.A. Stagg Jamboree: A: 65.750 Dwight D. Eisenhower (Music, Visual, ) 63.950 Kaneland (Percussion, DM) 60.350 Wheeling 60.050 H.D. Jacobs 58.900 Bloom Township 55.800 Glenbrook North (Auxiliary) 55.250 Bremen 54.650 Richards 51.750 Herscher 51.350 Providence Catholic AA: 75.850 Lockport Township (Music, Visual, Auxiliary) 72.100 Victor J. Andrew (Percussion) 71.250 Naperville Central (DM) 69.500 Downers Grove South 67.250 Plainfield South 65.600 Carl Sandburg 64.100 Plainfield East AAA: 78.500 Prospect (Music, Visual, Percussion, Auxiliary, DM) 72.750 Plainfield Central 71.250 Romeoville 66.030 Fremd 64.580 Oak Park/River Forest 59.780 Reavis Jamboree 2024 - Overall.pdf

I know it's early, but here's my predictions: Stagg: A: 1) D.D. Eisenhower 2) H.D. Jacobs 3) Herscher AA: 1) VJA 2) Lockport Township 3) Naperville Central AAA: 1) Prospect 2) Romeoville 3) Plainfield Central Grand Champion: Prospect MEMC: A: 1) Monticello 2) Centralia 3) Mater Dei AA: 1) Triad 2) Mascoutah 3) Waterloo AAA: 1) Francis Howell Central 2) Fort Zumwalt North 3) Granite City AAAA: 1) Edwardsville 2) Lindbergh 3) Belleville East Grand Champion: Edwardsville Washington: 1A: 1) Watseka 2) Farmington 3) Hoopeston Area 2A: 1) Tri-Valley 2) Rock Falls 3) Olympia 3A: 1) Dunlap 2) East Peoria 3) Metamora 4A: 1) Limestone Community 2) Canton 3) Pontiac Township 5A: 1) Eureka 2) IVC 3) Joliet West 6A: 1) Tolono Unity 2) Kewanee 3) Morris Community 7A: 1) Normal 2) Bloomington 3) Champaign Central 8A: 1) Morton 2) Galesburg Grand Champion: Morton Grayslake North: 1A: 1) D.D. Eisenhower 2) Grant 3) Marengo 2A: 1)Grayslake Central 2) McHenry 3)Lakes Community 3A: 1) Warren Township 2)Round Lake 3)Antioch Grand Champion: Warren Township

Marion is hosting the Blue and Gold Invitational on September 28th.

Music is good; I feel like the drill is kind of lacking. Boxed into the front 2/3 of the field and from 30 to 30 makes it feel kind of claustrophobic, with a fair amount of halts. Are they somewhat smaller than last year?

Schedules posted for Grayslake North, Lake Park, Murphysboro, Plainfield South, Monticello, Edwardsville and ISU.

Grayslake North schedule: Class 1A 12:30 PM: Marengo 12:45 PM: Johnsburg 1:00 PM: Dwight D. Eisenhower 1:15 PM: Grant Community 1:30 PM: Break Class 2A 1:45 PM: Grayslake Central 2:00 PM: Lakes Community 2:15 PM: McHenry Class 3A 2:30 PM: Antioch 2:45 PM: Round Lake 3:00 PM: Warren Township Exb 3:15 PM: Grayslake North 3:30 PM: Awards

First weekend is upon us! Feel free to make your predictions. North Knights Marching Festival: Grayslake, IL: No schedule available yet. A.A. Stagg Jamboree: Palos Hills, IL Class 1A 2:30 PM: Herscher 2:45 PM: Providence Catholic 3:00 PM: Glenbrook North 3:15 PM: Richards 3:30 PM: Bloom Township 3:45 PM: Break Class 1A 4:00 PM: Bremen 4:15 PM: Wheeling 4:30 PM: Dwight D. Eisenhower 4:45 PM: H.D. Jacobs 5:00 PM: Kaneland 5:20 PM: Awards Class 2A 5:45 PM: Carl Sandburg 6:00 PM: Downers Grove South 6:15 PM: Naperville Central 6:30 PM: Plainfield South 6:45 PM: Lockport Township 7:00 PM: Plainfield East 7:15 PM: Victor J. Andrew 7:35 PM: Awards Class 3A 8:15 PM: Reavis 8:30 PM: Oak Park/River Forest 8:45 PM: Fremd 9:00 PM: Romeoville 9:15 PM: Plainfield Central 9:30 PM: Prospect Exb 9:45 PM: A.A. Stagg 10:00 PM: Awards Metro East Marching Classic: O'Fallon, IL Class 1A 12:32 PM: Centralia 12:45 PM: Monticello 12:58 PM: Nashville Community 1:11 PM: Breese Central 1:24 PM: Effingham 1:37 PM: Mater Dei 1:50 PM: Civic Memorial 2:03 PM: Break Class 2A 2:16 PM: Waterloo 2:29 PM: Triad 2:42 PM: Highland 2:55 PM: Hillsboro, MO 3:08 PM: Mascoutah Exb 3:21 PM: O'Fallon Township 3:30 PM: Awards Class 3A 5:51 PM: Fox, MO 6:04 PM: Lafayette, MO 6:17 PM: Granite City 6:30 PM: Northwest, MO 6:43 PM: Francis Howell Central, MO 6:56 PM: Fort Zumwalt West, MO 7:09 PM: Fort Zumwalt North, MO 7:22 PM: Break Class 4A 7:35 PM: Lindbergh, MO 7:48 PM: Alton 8:01 PM: Belleville East 8:14 PM: Collinsville 8:27 PM: Edwardsville Exb 8:40 PM: O'Fallon Township 8:50 PM: Awards Washington Marching Panther Invitational: Washington, IL Class 1A 12:16 PM: Hoopeston Area 12:30 PM: Dwight Township 12:44 PM: Farmington 12:58 PM: Watseka Community Class 2A 1:12 PM: Rock Falls 1:26 PM: Monmouth-Roseville 1:40 PM: Olympia 1:54 PM: Tri-Valley 2:08 PM: Break Class 3A 2:18 PM: United Township 2:32 PM: Metamora 2:46 PM: Dunlap 3:00 PM: East Peoria Class 4A 3:14 PM: Pontiac Township 3:28 PM: Canton 3:42 PM: Limestone Community Class 5A 3:56 PM: Joliet West 4:10 PM: Eureka 4:24 PM: Illinois Valley Central Exb 4:38 PM: Washington Community 4:50 PM: Awards Class 6A 6:46 PM: El Paso-Gridley 7:00 PM: Tolono Unity 7:14 PM: Kewanee 7:28 PM: Morris Community 7:42 PM: Break Class 7A 7:50 PM: Champaign Central 8:04 PM: Bloomington 8:18 PM: Normal Class 8A 8:32 PM: Galesburg 8:46 PM: Morton Exb 9:00 PM: Washington Community

Here's the ones that I remember: Alan B. Shepard: Kenneth George replaces Chris Pitlik, who retired. Bloomington: Jarrett DeFields replaces Pamela Kelly as the assistant director. She retired. Coal City: Aniie Ternes has been hired as the new director. DuQuoin: Ike Minton replaces Luke Schaffer, who is now at Morton. Galesburg: Andy Empey is now the head director at Morton. Dena Baity, former assistant director, is now the head director. She is joined by Kyle Barshinger, Matt Welch & Joanna Sieczka. Kaneland: Kyle Baltzer is now the assistant director (coming from Providence Catholic); Brock Feece is now the head director. Lemont: Ben Clemons is now the assistant director. He is replacing Matt Doherty, who has moved into administration at Lemont. Morton: Andy Empey is now the Co-Director of Bands with Katrina Fitzpatrick, Luke Schaffer is Assistant Director of Bands. Craig Hatter took a job at a middle school in the suburbs of Chicago. Naperville North: John Gonzalez (formerly of Morton) is now Co-Director of Bands here. Pontiac Township: Kevin Valois and Hailey Woock were hired to replace Scot Schickel, who retired. Yorkville: Bobby Vnizen and Justin Heinekamp (formerly of Sandwich) are now the directors here, replacing the retired Victor Anderson.

Prospect Knight of Champions: https://ilmarching.com/festivals_detail.php?FestivalID=1194&archive=0

CMBF schedule: https://ilmarching.com/festivals_detail.php?FestivalID=1213&archive=0

Nice to see the Brother Rice/Mother McAuley consortium back competing; first time since 2019.

In addition, we've added back all members information to the site. We will be posting an announcement/bulk email later today notifying folks that we are back. Unfortunately, all forum history is gone (for the time being). Hopefully, that'll be added back at a later date. All information (show titles, director updates, schedules, lists of bands attending, etc.) has been added. We're pretty reliant on bands sending in their information, and we've gotten some, but not as many as we'd like, as bands like to be secretive until their public debut.