The scholastic season has been done for two weeks and MCBA state finals were last weekend… but the 2011 marching season is not in the history books yet for everyone! Eleven bands from Michigan will be heading down to Indianapolis this weekend for the Bands of America Grand National Championships presented by Music for All at Lucas Oil Stadium (500 South Capitol Avenue Indianapolis, IN 46225).
Even though the list of nationals participants is missing a consistent attendee from Michigan (Plymouth-Canton chose to forgo the trip to Indy this year to participate in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade), the groups going this year are still incredibly consistent attendees and we even have two first time participants!
If you aren’t familiar with the nationals process, anyone can sign up to attend. Attendance has nothing to do with state contests or other Bands of America regional competitions. Preliminary competitions take place on Thursday and Friday. The top 11 bands from each preliminary day, and the next 8 highest scoring bands regardless of day advance to semifinals on Saturday morning. If at least two bands from each class (AAAA, AAA, AA, A), each day, do not advance to Semis, then extra semifinals spots will be added to ensure sufficient representation. After semis, the 12 highest bands (regardless of class) advance to finals competition on Saturday. Unfortunately, Michigan has not had a band in Finals competition since 2008. However, even without Plymouth attending, we think our chances might be good this year.
Most of the bands from Michigan will be in preliminary competition on Thursday:
12:15 – Lake Orion
5:45 – West Bloomfield
6:15 – Troy Athens
7:00 – Reeths-Puffer
8:45 – Grant
9:15 – Walled Lake Central
9:45 – Jenison
11:00 – Rockford (First Time Attendee)
The Michigan bands performing on Friday include:
8:00a – Newaygo (First Time Attendee)
4:30p – Grandville
5:00p – Lakeland
Tickets for preliminary competition are $21 general admission for each day, or $34 for a two day pass. Tickets for semi finals are $37 general admission, while finals tickets are reserved and range from $12 to $65. The are also Music for All club experience tickets available for $115.
If you can’t make it in person, there are also live streaming options available through the Music for All fan network. Pay per view options are Grand National Prelims ($19.95), Grand National Semifinals ($24.95), and Grand National Finals ($29.95). You can also purchase a $59 plus subscription which includes all of the grand nationals streaming, plus on demand video playback of all Nationals, Super Regional, and Regional performances from the BOA season (There is also basic subscription available that does not include streaming). More info for all of the fan network options is available at mfa.thefannetwork.org.