Your Favorite BOA Nationals

[Drummantx]

Just interested to see what everybodies favorite is. Mine is 2007, every show, has something I just love, PCEP and Harrison that year are 2 of my favorites ever.

[takigan]

Same here, 2007.....and not just because LD Bell won. 7 Texas bands competing (greatest showing ever), 6 making Semis and 4 making Finals. L.D. Bell's Trancendents show and Richland's iShow were fantastic shows and still among my favorites.

 

2003 was also pretty amazing (though I didn't actually get to see the event). Westfield won the Eagle; most of us know that and that's pretty cool. But that was also the year the stars aligned (Great Bands + Great Runs + Great Panel) and Texas managed to claim the Top 3 spots in Semi-Finals (1. Westfield, 2. Reagan, 3. Bell). But Carmel (IN) was nipping at Bell's heels and managed to claim Bell's #3 spot in Finals. And really any one of these bands could have won the eagle that year, there was only a .65 spread between 1st and 4th place in Semis. The Top 4 results at BOA San Antonio the previous year are another pretty good indicator of that.

 

I don't think a medal-sweep by 1 state has occurred at any level of GN during any other year before or after that one. Westfield and Reagan had both ascended to legendary heights with 2 extremely amazing shows, and Bell was just beginning to blossom into the GN powerhouse we know them as today.

[Xenon]

I personally love 2005. That is the one year where I can just sit back and listen to every single Finals show on the CD.

[dmbalash]

2001, end of discussion. The best top 12 ever.

[bandnerdforever1989]

I would prolly say my favorite year was 06 ,biased opinion prolly the best slate of shows ive ever seen, and personanlly because I went and performed, so 06

[mellopwn1]

...and Bell was just beginning to blossom into the GN powerhouse we know them as today.

 

I would hardly say they were merely blossoming! ConVergence ties for my favorite Bell show with The Quest, and, in my opinion, was their most complex and demanding show from them I have seen. It had it all. Five brilliant works performed with a world class ensemble sound, the awesome cymbal chicks (you have posted pictures of their ConVergence Cymbal kick. EPIC!!!), awesome tuba section/feature, and some memorable visuals. The only thing I loathe about them is the awful outdated uniforms they used to have. haha. Grey pants have never done a band good....

 

 

As for GN, 2002 & 2006 are my favorite from top to bottom.

 

2007 had probably my favorite last place show (Harrison, GA)

2010 my favorite semifinals performances (PCEP, Mason)

2004 & 2010 tie for my favorite Champion (Lawrence Central and Avon)

[NewMexicoBandsman]

2007 was my favorite. Seeing the end of Bell's Pan's labyrinth trio was awesome, and Avon's integration of the Requiem into a visually amazing show was simply stunning. I loved all the shows there, and Texas made a fine showing. About the only way I could have been happier with that year would be if Marcus had attended; I hadn't been able to watch San Antonio, and I hear only incredible things about that show. (getting a full caption sweep over the soon-to-be grand champion is no petty feat.)

[Kamo]

2006. Bell's "The Remaining." Giant white sheet ending the show in finals. Crazy.

[Xenon]

2006. Bell's "The Remaining." Giant white sheet ending the show in finals. Crazy.

Being in the audience for that was spine chilling. Nobody was expecting that and the entire dome went absolutely silent. You could feel the tension in the audience.

[takigan]

Always great to hear about THE Bell '06. That show will be talked about for years to come, especially that iconic Finals run.

 

I love the murmurs from the crowd after the guard girl in white emerges from the tarp. One of the loudest "crowd murmurs" I've ever heard on a marching band video.

 

I remember that was such a huge deal. I'ma pull up some old threads now for posterity's sake:

 

 

The "tarp thread":

 

http://www.txbands.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1897

 

(There used to be a photo posted by someone in the dome during Finals of the tarp spread across the field, but it was removed when the forum was reformatted).

 

Alan Irons' Finals Review:

 

http://www.txbands.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1933

 

 

And this is a really cool thread I had to bring up. It involves several Bell students who were involved in the show (back when it wasn't frowned upon for them to post on internet forums) and them giving an inside scoop about the subtle dramatic elements that were taking place during various incarnations of the show at each contest:

 

http://www.txbands.com/forums/index.php?sh...t=0&start=0

 

And then there was the whole controversy with the Youtube video, which stayed up for a long time and raked in over 50,000 views before it was taken down. I'll bet if it were still up it would have over 100,000 by now. 2006 was a great year.