West Preview 10/22
Let’s start our tour of the west in New Mexico, where the Pageant of Bands is taking place and features most of the top programs in the state, including BOA Las Cruces Finalists La Cueva (NM), Organ Mountain (NM), and Volcano Vista (NM) as well as other powerhouses such as Eldorado (NM), Rio Rancho (NM), and V. Sue Cleveland (NM).
Out in Arizona, there are a handful of shows in both AzMBA and ABODA. The AzMBA contests are being held at Agua Fria, Ironwood Ridge, and Perry with some of the big names at these contests being Arcadia (AZ), Rincon University (AZ), and Campo Verde (AZ). The two ABODA shows are at Williams Field and Northern Arizona University, the former featuring the first head to head matchup of the season between Williams Field (AZ) and Desert Vista (AZ). At NAU, Dobson (AZ) who has been having a strong season will be performing.
A little further north in Utah, American Fork (UT) is hosting and competing in the Mt. Timpanogos Invitational, joined by the neck-in-neck pack of Westlake (UT), Davis (UT), and Skyridge (UT).
Before we end up in California, let’s take a trip up north to Oregon for the Liberty Marching Arts Challenge, featuring some of the best bands in Oregon such as Grants Pass (OR), Sprague (OR), and Mountainside (OR), along with a neighbor from the north in Hanford (WA).
Starting with WBA in California, we have the SoCal Tournament of Gold and Scarlet Regiment Tournament of Bands. At SoCal, we will be able to see the first head-to-head matchup between Chino Hills (CA) and Vista Murrieta (CA), who will be joined by other strong bands like San Marcos (CA) and Rowland (CA). At the other contest, Homestead (CA) will be competing with multiple other NorCal programs. SCSBOA is hosting six contests: Baldwin Park FT, Chaffey FT, Grover Cleveland FT, John F. Kennedy Preview of Champions, Poway FT, and West Ranch Wildcat Classic. Chaffey is host to powerhouses Etiwanda (CA) and Rancho Cucamonga (CA), and Poway will feature Rancho Bernardo (CA) and Mt. Carmel (CA). Bands such as Chino (CA), William S. Hart (CA), Valencia (CA), and West Ranch (CA) will be spread out across the other four contests. Finally, CSBC will be hosting the University FT where Ayala (CA) is attending in favor of the WBA SoCal show and will be joined by Gahr (CA).
That wraps up our West Preview for this week! With many state championships rounding the corner, the competition really begins to heat up around this time of the year. Stay tuned for more coverage of this region in the coming weeks!
Aaron Blackley is one of the original contributors for General Effect Media. Despite being young and fresh out of college, he has a vast knowledge and passion for the marching arts and has worked alongside the likes of HornRank as a ranker and moderator as well as the TxBands.com liveblog team since summer 2021. He can be found on Twitter as @GEMAaronB.