March 9th, 2014 6:09pm
Marching Knights were last season's winners and started off the parade. The reverse position may have effected them since they believed they would be last and it showed they were a little shaky with their performance. Though the up beat song of Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go was still a crowd favorite to start off the parade.
Blue Deviled Eggs proved once again that polka does not work. They performed "We are the champions" in a polka variation which the judges just found grating to their ears. Once the group turned the corner the judges finally took their hands off their ears and wrote their score. No matter how clean apparently if the judges don't like your music they won't rate you well.
The Marching Marchers were extremely over confident in their abilities and the song selection of John Cage 4'33" was not a great choice for the parade. The crowd was confused and the judges reaction was not what the band was hoping for...or was it?
Hornets performed Baba Yetu from the Civilization video game series and it was remarkable. Their performance was a judges favorite in terms of music selection. Unfortunately it seemed simple mistakes were made through out causing the scores to be lower than the judges wanted to give them.
Nadoka Devils were definitely this season's surprise group. Blowing everyone away with Achy Breaky 2. The fusion of the hip hop and instrumentals were nothing like anything else seen today and it worked well for them.
Carolina Royals performed Circus Bee March for their song. Rather than doing something a bit more modern they decided to stick with what they do and do well.
Sigma Regiment did well last season but really showed they practiced for the parade and blew us away with their performance of Gustav Holst's Mars. Though this is an over used piece they some how felt like they brought something new to it.
Redcoat Regiment was just a complete mess as they came down the street. Who could have thought that a top contender in field shows could be this bad in parades? You could hear the brass playing a great rendition of "He Who Brings the Night", but the drumline sounded more like they were playing A Journey of a Lifetime from their field show. And I do believe the color guard were just trying to pick pocket the crowd.
Incognito Elites actually didn't even march they decided to just play their song "Strength of a Thousand Men" from an audience bleacher. I don't know what they thought they were doing, but it was wrong.
Nadoka Scouts performed Pumped Up Kicks. This was another of the great groups of the day. Though the music wasn't very challenging it was extremely clean and fun to listen to. The crowd enjoyed it and you could even see some of them singing along to the band as they marched down the street.
After last season's performance Nemesis felt like they had something to prove and while they weren't the best group out there they did improve a lot with their performance of "Forget You". I think it may have been a jab at last season's scoring where they were placed dead last, but the judges didn't take it to heart and judged them fairly.
Tullahoma Azure Echo is a great group that didn't come last season and decided they wanted to make a name for themselves here. They performed Warrior March by Jeff van Dyck. They really wanted to show off their amazing winds and they did.
Hoosier Regiment decided to come out and not just play a small piece but rather a full suite of Rite of Spring. The parade isn't a rather large one so they started at the step off and finished at the end. Apparently they timed the piece to make sure they never stopped playing the whole parade. Unfortunately the judges only got to judge a small portion of their performance midway through which meant they were unfortunately unable to see the best of this group.
Indiana Cascaders performed the pop song My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark. They seem to do well at the upbeat pop stuff and should do it more often. The lines were surprisingly good for a first time parade performance.
Next up was Spectrum Force. This was one jazzy group playing an upbeat performance of When the Saints Come Marching In. They were doing the legend Louis Armstrong justice with this piece.
San Benito Vanguard could be a group to watch in the future. Although their performance of Army of the Nile was a little rough it showed extreme promise for a group so new to the competition. They may not have the sound of a top group, but they do have the technical abilities and it really showed in their performance.
Just like their corps brothers Hoosier Marching 100 decided to do a full suite and unfortunately suffered the same results of not being at their best in front of the judges. They performed Appalachian Spring and unfortunately their best moments was done just after the judging with the Simple Gifts part.
Full Spectrum came down the lane with tons of fans in the crowd cheering for them. They started up their rendition of the classic Somewhere over the Rainbow putting in as much emotion as they could. While the crowd absolutely loved it. Some thought they were over doing it.
Tullahoma Azure Force sounded like they were trying to make up for not coming last season with their song Soldier's Chant. The powerful and dramatic piece was done just right to show off both their technical and emotional side.
The Scarlet Regiment was the last group in the parade. They were the lucky newcomers to get this coveted position. They performed a song called "Centaur". Though the performance was good it just wasn't memorable.
And with that the competition ended and the awards ceremony began shortly after.