West Preview 9/24
Going west to the west side of the United States, there are fewer contests before October, but we still have a decent amount this week. There are no contests in California, where a majority of the bands that you will recognize from this half of the country are from, but there are still some exciting events to keep your eyes on.
Arizona is the state that is most active at this point in the season, largely thanks to its two completely separate state circuits. This weekend we have two contests run by Arizona Marching Band Association (AzMBA, more “modern”) and one by Arizona Band and Orchestra Directors Association (ABODA, the “traditional”). Our first of the AzMBA is the Millennium Show in Goodyear, where consistent BOA finalist and State Champion in both circuits, Desert Vista (AZ), will compete alongside other notable bands, including Arcadia (AZ), Basha (AZ), and Millennium (AZ). Going over Tucson, we have the AzMBA Sabino Show where 2021 4A bronze medalist Rincon University (AZ) is competing. ABODA’s sole event this weekend is the Prescott Invitational, with notable names such as Williams Field (AZ) and Peoria (AZ).
Moving northeast to Colorado, a couple of invitationals are happening within the Colorado Bandmasters Association (CBA) circuit. First off is the Colorado West Marching Invitational in Grand Junction, which primarily features 2021 5A State Finalist Fruita Monument and 3A Bronze Medalist Palisade, but fans who have followed the BOA St. George Regional for a while will also be happy to see Montezuma-Cortez in attendance as well. The other contest is the Legacy Marching Festival which takes place in Broomfield outside of Denver, which is the area where most of the top bands in the state are from. Many of the 4A and 5A finalists always go to this contest, and it’s the first big Colorado contest of the year. Fans of BOA will recognize names such as Air Academy (CO), Fossil Ridge (CO), and Loveland (CO). Still, there are a lot of other names worth looking out for, such as Centaurus (CO), Cherry Creek (CO), Fairview (CO), Lakewood (CO), Legend (CO), Monarch (CO), Pine Creek (CO), and Rampart (CO). D’Evelyn (CO), a BOA 2021 Midland Finalist and winner of the 2021 CBA 3A State Championship (by over 5 points), is also a name to keep an eye on.
West of Colorado in Utah, the Utah Music Educators Association (UMEA) is holding their second competition of the year, the Oquirrh Mountain (pronounced “Oaker”, thank you to my Utah insider for that) Band Invitational in Herriman. Many of the state’s top programs, such as Brighton (UT), Cedar Valley (UT), Green Canyon (UT), Herriman (UT), Mountain Ridge (UT), Skyridge (UT), and Westlake (UT), will be in attendance. Of course, American Fork (UT) will be there as well to get feedback in preparation for their trip to BOA Grand Nationals in November. Just to the north in Idaho, USBands is hosting the first of their three events at Caldwell (ID). The most notable bands in attendance are Rocky Mountain (ID), Timberline (ID), and Eagle (ID). Lastly going all the way to the coast is the LMB Tournament of Bands in McMinnville, OR which is part of the Northwest Association for Performing Arts (NWAPA) circuit which covers Oregon and Washington bands. While it is a smaller contest and there aren’t a ton of bands you’ll recognize if you’re not from the area, Century (OR) and Glencoe (OR) are the two big names to be looking out for here. Finally, Nevada Marching Band Circuit (NMBC) is hosting their first contest at Desert Oasis in Las Vegas, headlined by Nevada bands such as Sierra Vista (NV), Arbor View (NV), and Pinecrest Academy Cadence (NV).
This region will start picking up in the next two weeks as circuits such as Western Band Association (WBA), Southern California School Band and Orchestra Association (SCSBOA), and other California circuits begin. With BOA’s reach not going as far west as usual, this region’s contests will be very interesting to follow.
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.
