drillwriter

Could you please elaborate? I'm genuinely curious about the sequence of events. And what does "revamp their program" mean? I assume Morton and every other band is trying to be their best each season, regardless of what other bands may or may not be attending any specific competitions.

I couldn't disagree more. Band directors do not concern themselves with what other schools are doing.

While it may be challenging (to anyone other than Dan) to get recaps for many local shows, BOA regionals and finals recaps are posted the following day here: https://marching.musicforall.org/result/

As much as it's great when many Illinois bands participate in a show at an Illinois university, there are significant benefits of going to StL or Indy ---> indoors. Regardless of the weather outside, 1) you will get to perform, and 2) you will perform in ideal conditions. Plus, students are get to see more top-tier programs. There may be additional costs and efforts to get to these regionals, but if it's doable, I think it's worth it.

I'll bring up extracurricular vs curricular again. Extracurricular typically means voluntary, paying a (larger) fee, and commitment to attending all rehearsals and performances. Curricular typically has to be more flexible for students (participating in other sports and activities), plus there are other challenges.

Whether marching band is curricular or extracurricular, many band programs are ready to move focus to their other band programs (concert, jazz, etc)

That's fine, then the contingency is: if the weather presents a safety concern, pause for a certain period of time, and either resume or cancel. This at least gives the bands a chance to perform if the weather isn't as bad as the forecast (like Saturday). Many students unnecessarily lost their last chance to compete this season, including seniors that lost their last high school competition ever. Too much time, energy, and money goes into these productions to bail out as quickly as Lincolnway did (IMO). Edit: look at all of the other performances that happened across Illinois on Saturday despite the forecast being the same across the whole state.

I think Lincolnway was premature in cancelling today's show on Thursday morning. I know the forecast kept showing rain everywhere in Illinois all day, but we all know that weather forecasts are educated guesses. Since 6am there's been almost no rain in Frankfort. It seems like most, if not all, performances could have gone on today. I realize there are other considerations, but in the future I hope contest hosts will learn from this and not bail so quickly on weather predictions 2+ days in advance of a show (on artificial turf). A wait-and-see approach seems more prudent. Many bands only participate in 3 or 4 competitions, and it seems like many students unnecessarily lost a performance opportunity today. For some bands, this was their last competition of the season.

Yeah, bummer on Lincolnway. The Saturday forecast looks the same across the entire state. Wondering if there will be any IL competitions Saturday.

Marching band cannot be compared to sports. Sports have a fixed number of players. While some marching bands have tryouts and others have shadows/alternates, every director I've worked with gives every student as good an experience as possible. And having shadows/alternates may not be as negative as you might think. First, it can allow the band to adjust when they might lose members after the drill has been written. Also, I've seen first hand where freshman as relieved to be a shadow, because they know they aren't quite ready to march and play. And alternates are given opportunities to match in halftime shows, plus help with props. I'd be shocked if there are many directors that would "cut" students in order to make a certain Class. Believe it or not, it's not as cutthroat as some people may think.

From memory, so not guaranteed from Naperville Central... 2A 1 Buffalo Grove 2 Wheaton North 3 Plainfield East 3A 1 Mahomet Seymour (all captions except music performance, plus 1st overall for the indoor percussion competition) 2 Minooka 3 Yorkville (music performance) Grand Champs: Mahomet Seymour

This highlights an elephant in the room: how to group bands. ISU and U of I use enrollment numbers similarly to get 6 classes; BOA uses enrollment numbers to get 4 classes; and pretty much every other IL competition uses band size to divide into 3 to 8 classes. Shall we start a separate thread on which way is most "fair"? 🙂

Correct, the IHSA should not be involved in any way. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't see things getting coordinated across the state. Between college football schedules, HS proms, bands only wanting to participate in so many competitions each year, travel budgets, etc. it seems daunting. Plus, HSs do want to host shows - these are fundraisers.

Is anyone besides me old enough to remember the very coldest ISU, which was either '89 or '90? Is was very windy and I believe wind chill was well below 32. Bands started performing in the AM, and tuning across all sections was impossible due to the temps. Valves were freezing up, and my understanding is that performers were showing up at the ER of the local hospital with frostbite. Eventually either the police or fire department showed up and shut the competition down. It's also my understanding that directors were told they would take things indoor if necessary, but it ended up that there was no indoor facility available.

Hello Band Directors, As a seasoned visual designer, I've had the privilege of working with Mahomet-Seymour (25+ seasons between 1987 and today, including 2017-2024), Downers Grove South (2007-2014), Waubonsie Valley (1995-2005), several other high schools, PLUS the University of Illinois Marching Illini when I was a marching member in the late 80's. While workings with the above high schools for a long tenure, each enjoyed levels of competitive success - Grand Champions, Class Champions, ISU finalists, and BOA regional finalists. Visual design has been a hobby for me, but I now have more time, so I'm looking to add customers for 2025. I'm eager to bring my expertise and passion to your program, working closely with your staff to design a show that meets your goals. I live in Chicagoland, and I am very interested in in-person collaboration and on-site visits to monitor the band's progress throughout the season. I'm happy to provide sample videos & deliverables or references upon request. Please message me to start the conversation! -Bill Jindrich

This is overdue, but I wanted to say thanks to everyone that's contributed to gathering 2024 show information, contest lineups, and contest scores. I know Dan B does a lot of this work, and he's been doing this for many years, simply because of his passion for marching band. Thanks Dan and all other contributors!