On Saturday, September 24th, Fishers High School hosted a marching band invitational. Tons of notable things happened at this show, the most prominent being the Avon Marching Black and Gold, defending national champions, debuting their show with uniforms, entitled “Mondriesque.” Based on the scores, so far this year is shaping up to be everchanging.
Mt. Vernon is in Open Class B. What does that mean to a person who isn’t in band? There are two classifications of competition, Scholastic and Open. Open is the more competitive circuit, and bands are classified based on school size. Scholastic, on the other hand, is less competitive, and bands are classified based on the band’s size. The classes are ranked A-D with A being the largest and D being the smallest.
The thing that differentiates marching band from other sports is its subjective scoring. Each competition a band goes to has a different judging panel and each of these panels is completely subjective. These scores fluctuate and change as the season progresses so these scores do not mean much, however, it is good to track how each band progresses.
Moving on to the scores…
Open Class A:
1st: Avon – 79.575
- Best-in-class music, visual, and general effect
2nd: Lawrence Township – 72.9
3rd: Hamilton Southeastern – 71.025
4th: Perry Meridian – 67.15
Open B:
1st: Greenfield-Central – 67.425
- Best-in-class music, visual, and general effect
2nd: Mt Vernon – 63.1
Open D:
1st: Elwood – 53.65
- Best-in-class music, visual, and general effect
Scholastic A:
1st: Lafayette Jefferson – 59.125
- Best-in-class music, visual, and general effect
2nd: Jeffersonville – 56.9
Scholastic B:
1st: Danville – 67.15
- Best-in-class music, visual, and general effect
The Band of Marauders placed behind Greenfield Central by four points. Open B’s scores this season have been everchanging and it has been hard to gauge who will make it to state finals. However, there are the overarching winners such as Greenwood and Evansville North, neither of which were present at this competition, that always make it to state. This competition alone did not help me form any predictions on the season. It is going to be fun performing this season, while also watching it unfold.