Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
WGI 2025 Percussion & Winds Recap
0 Plays2 seconds ago
On this jam-packed On A Water Break episode, host Stephen McCarrick is joined live by Matt Walters (@surfingdrums), Austin Hall (@austin_hall10), Woody Woodward (@remoking100), Joey Montes (@marchingbymontes), and first-time guest Daniel Balls (@balls_boy) to break down all the action from WGI Championships 2025.
💥 From record-breaking scores to viral horse props, this live panel covers it all:
🧾 What’s inside this week’s episode:
🎉 Recaps of every finals class: PIW, PIO, PIA, Scholastic World, Open, and A
🥁 Joey's tabla prodigy & ICT’s surprise debut
🥇 George Mason’s fan favorite moment — and controversial video snub
🚨 Ayala & RCC setting new world records
🎭 Deep talk on effect, show design, and letting go of “I didn’t get the show”
🧠 60 Second Tech Block – Joey delivers the “3 C’s of Champ Week” like a pro
🧐 Water We Doing? – Crooked floors, cold lot setups, and missed applause
💖 Gush and Go – Shoutouts to students, staff, wins culture, bass drum culture, and a reminder: We’re all in this together
Plus:
- How a group literally brought horses to WGI
- Why Veritas and George Mason raised the bar
- Woody reveals his students found out he’s on the podcast 👀
- Joey takes on too many groups (again)
- Austin dreams of Winds getting its own weekend
- Matt gushes about bassline love and SoCal Base Camp
- Daniel reflects on member growth and family vibes at North Star
🎧 Whether you watched it live or are tuning in after the fact, this is the ultimate wrap-up of WGI 2025 Percussion & Winds.
—
📣 Want to be a guest on the show? Fill out the form:
👉 https://forms.gle/7GcpYZLfY8Uo54pp9
📺 Watch episodes & live streams on our YouTube Channel
📸 Follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Threads → @OnAWaterBreak
🛍 Sponsored by: Guard Closet | @guardcloset
🚌 Powered by: Peak Group Travel | @peakgrouptravel
🎙️ Listen to all episodes: https://onawaterbreak.buzzsprout.com
—
🔎 TAGS
#OnAWaterBreak #WGI2025 #PercussionRecap #WindsRecap #PIW #WGIWorldClass #WaterWeDoing #GushAndGo #60SecondTechBlock #GeorgeMason #Ayala #BrokenCity #RhythmX #WGIResults #MarchingArtsPodcast #DrumlineCulture #BasslineLove #SoCalBaseCamp #GuardCloset #PeakGroupTravel #WGIWins #WGI2025Recap #IndependentWorld #ScholasticWorld
Recommended
Transcript
Podcast Introduction & New YouTube Experience
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey everyone, and welcome back to on a water break, the podcast where we talk about everything you and your friends are talking about at rehearsal on a water break in this that we're recapping, uh, finals this last weekend and all the cool things we saw. We're going to find out what made Matt say. I walked around a lot.
00:00:17
Speaker
I don't, I don't watch snares. I don't watch pits. I'm like a, a bass drum caveman, right? And why Joey said, and, uh, i'm just I'm about to shed tears about just thinking about It was so cool. she just All this and more on this week's episode of On a Water Break.
00:00:38
Speaker
Adolph the Met and go. Welcome to you On a Water Break.
00:00:44
Speaker
The podcast where we talk everything marching arts. Everyone, bring it in. It's time for a water break.
00:00:56
Speaker
All right, everyone. Welcome back. We got a great episode this week and ah we are live on YouTube, which is so exciting. so if you're listening to this after the live call, you missed out. You should be here while it's live. Come subscribe on YouTube and then you'll be able to catch the live streams as they happen.
00:01:11
Speaker
If you got any questions, if you're listening out there on YouTube now, put them in the comments. One of our producers, Austin's on the call and he's in the comments too. So if you've got something for us, we'll talk about it.
00:01:23
Speaker
um But yeah, the color guard people went live last week. Now it's our turn. Before we get into the action here, let's see who's on the sidelines this week. um Go and subscribe on your favorite listening app. Please write us a review. Share it with a friend. If you've got a question or a good topic to talk about, you could email us at onawaterbreakpodcast.gmail.com or find us on social media and DM us if you want to be on the show.
00:01:46
Speaker
ah We've got a
Meet the Panelists: Backgrounds and Experiences
00:01:47
Speaker
form that you could fill out now if you want to be a guest. Check it out at the link in our bio. So in on the sidelines this week, we've got Matt Walters is back again on the call. Matt, how are you doing, man?
00:02:01
Speaker
doing good just uh getting home getting back to work trying to get back into what am i going to do on saturday from now on yeah i uh i know exactly what i'm about to be doing on saturday because on the east coast weekend band is already getting going again i'm i'm practically diving right back into it but uh For our listeners, Matt, just in case they didn't catch any of of the ah episodes when you've been on in the past, could you bring them up to speed real quick on, I guess, where you taught this winter and some your background?
00:02:33
Speaker
Yeah, um Matt Walters from Southern California, ah did RCC and Blue Devils, 08, 09, 10, also RCC 11.
00:02:45
Speaker
And then ah been teaching in the era ever since, taught RCC for a little bit, taught Pulse for a little bit, and now I am at Broken City this year and last year. Yeah. So Matt gets around a lot. One of the most accomplished bass techs in the activity. ah Super awesome to have you on the call and super awesome just to know you, man. You
Dayton Week Highlights and Humorous Anecdotes
00:03:04
Speaker
do a lot of cool stuff.
00:03:05
Speaker
but Yeah, excited to be here. Awesome. And Austin, we got Austin Hall on the show tonight as well. Two weeks in Dayton. Austin, you must be tired. How was it? I am still recovering and boy, i am tired.
00:03:19
Speaker
Yeah, I could imagine, man, because one of our other panelists tonight, Woody, had you running around all across the lot. What he I was had a great time chasing Woody.
00:03:30
Speaker
that was i was I'm sure that was a sight to see. Yeah, I was chasing him all across the lot for pretty much the better half of three days. It was it was a good time, though. We had fun. We got a lot of interviews done.
00:03:41
Speaker
um Woody still somehow knows everybody and I can't figure out how to. It's like the East Coast Godfather. He really is. Yeah, we've got Woody on the sideline as well. Woody, how are you doing, man?
00:03:56
Speaker
I'm doing fantastic. It's good to see you guys. Good to see you. I miss you, man. I miss you.
00:04:04
Speaker
You guys probably got pretty close there for a couple of days. No, it was cool to actually meet him person. Very cool. you know We do this thing all across the country and you just know him by nanoseconds.
00:04:17
Speaker
I got to actually touch his skin. It was was incredible. Yeah. And Joey, Joey, you were out there doing all types of stuff this week over in a Dayton with the Winds ensembles.
00:04:29
Speaker
What was that like this week? It was incredible. I mean, think the proposal that we passed this past summer about everybody getting two runs, I think everybody felt better about their weekend. And I'm hoping that means that next year we have another list for who's going to come to finals first time um that's ever happened. So yeah, it was great watching all the groups and all my, all my content for the week for on a water break was walking on with as many people as I could and being as supportive as I was. And it was amazing. and Again, the camaraderie around the wins activity and the idiom is so cool that stuff just loving life.
00:05:04
Speaker
Yeah, that's awesome. I always love hearing about what's going on in WGI wins, especially because the rules and how it's like coming together. It's a new idiom and it really grows so much every year.
00:05:16
Speaker
Definitely want to hear more about that a little bit later on. But we've got one more important guest on the sideline. A new ah guest that we haven't spoken with before. His name is Daniel Balls.
00:05:27
Speaker
Daniel, thank you for hopping on the show tonight. Hi, everybody. Thank you. Excited. We are going to get into your 32 counts life story in just a sec. But before we do, I want to preview some amazing episodes and bonus content that we have going on with on a water break.
00:05:41
Speaker
ah We've got an episode on a water break with Brandy Keaton, one of the directors for the University of Alabama Color Guard and world class Alta Maria. A great color guard episode there that you should check out. ah We're also starting a new bonus episode called Quick Sips.
00:05:56
Speaker
Just put one out about the couple that got engaged on the WGI floor. So you should look for more of these coming out soon for percussion week and more. And then just before percussion week, I got to sit down. at Me and my old bass one from Crown in 19 did an episode with Julie Davila.
00:06:12
Speaker
where she talks about everything
WGI Winds Growth and Adaptation Strategies
00:06:13
Speaker
she's been through a ton in her judging philosophies. And she's just a really accomplished percussionist and judge in general. So definitely check those episodes out. They're really cool.
00:06:23
Speaker
But back to the episode we're doing here right now. Daniel, I'm really excited. do You know how the 32 count life story works? We're going to find out. How about that? You'll get eight and in from the Met and then you just get eight bars, 32 counts to catch us all up to speed on your background and what brings you here today.
00:06:40
Speaker
So great. Eight and in from the Met and then you go. Hi everybody, I'm Daniel Balls. I started my marching career in Utah with the Skyview High School Marching Band and then my senior at the Idaho Falls High School Marching Band in Idaho Falls.
00:06:55
Speaker
I started my percussion my senior year at True Percussion Indoor where I added two years on tenors and transitioned into North Star Independent where marched five additional years and that's now where I teach as the battery caption head.
00:07:10
Speaker
Nice. Yeah, I think you got one last bar here, but it's a wrap. teach the Troopers Legacy Corps as well. And i High School again. Nice. That was that last bar.
00:07:21
Speaker
Perfect. The last bar was hanging out there. But yeah, that's that's cool, man. A North Star. Where where is North Star again? Can you remind me in the audience? Idaho Falls, Idaho. and i ah north of Utah. Right.
00:07:33
Speaker
Yeah. Right up on I-15. Awesome. And ah so North Star, what part of WGI do they compete in? ah We compete in percussion independent a in PIA.
00:07:45
Speaker
Okay, awesome. right. Well, before we dive into our favorite performances tonight, I want to talk about everyone's experiences this year at WGI. And if you're watching live right now, you could comment, tell us what you thought or ask any questions that you might want to answer.
00:07:57
Speaker
i guess to kick it off with my experience this winter, it was actually kind of a crazy one. My carpool going out, we got into a car crash, which was very sad. and That was a crazy way to kick off the week.
00:08:10
Speaker
But then I had probably like the most touching moment with my student I've had yet as a teacher. I was driving a Mustang and on their Walmart break, they got me a Mustang. Which it actually like really, really was very touching. It's funny, but it meant a lot to me.
00:08:27
Speaker
And then the week went really well. I felt like my bass drums played great, was super happy with them. And we wrapped up with a pretty good score. so But we can go around the horn here. I want to hear about everyone's week and and what you guys got up to.
00:08:41
Speaker
We got any volunteers? Anyone want to kick it off? I want to hear. Yeah, john let's see what you got. justtin Yeah, I mean, it was fun. I mean just the sheer level of exhaustion started to take over at the very um ah end of it, um considering I did have two weeks. But um I did. I was very happy to go and learn a lot just about just visual design and all over the place and just how it just works.
00:09:10
Speaker
how visual how each side of the activity pushes each other and how bands of America and drum corps push the push the indoor activity and vice versa, like you kind of see it all happening.
00:09:21
Speaker
But just experience as a whole being able to watch being able to meet people being able to talk just talk to people and just enjoy the marching arts as a whole was just super, super fun and eye-opening and it was just it was just fun i mean can't really you can't forget about waiting a lot you really can't that was what he was the main woody was the main guy who was like meet this guy meet this guy meet the meet her meet him i'm like all right cool had a ton of people you know Austin told me just to shut up. I'm the producer and you be the i was like what yeah
00:09:56
Speaker
I was like, Woody, just be the personality. That's all you got to be. Just be the personality. I'm like, I'll follow you. I'll take care of the logistics behind it. Just go talk to people. That's all I need you to do.
00:10:07
Speaker
That's pretty much what it was. And it was fun. I enjoyed it. Just being able to meet a bunch of people and then obviously being able to meet you, Steven, in person for the first time after knowing you for, I guess, over a year now. Yeah, right. Hanging out with Joey and hanging out with Daniel and seeing his group and all that good stuff. And it was just fun to really, really experience it and dive into what it was because my WGI experiences have all been just just wins.
00:10:29
Speaker
Okay. Just twice and wins. Yeah, percussion is an experience. was a different animal. It was fun. I really, really enjoyed it. Yeah, it's dope. I've been there. This was now my I haven't missed it once since 2013, and I don't intend to. I'm just going to keep on at it.
00:10:44
Speaker
This is like my Christmas week. But Woody, what was your Dayton lot experience like? You were getting active out there, man. You know, first off, I have to tell you, if you do the lot thing like I did, you have to have a producer. It made it so much easier have Austin just do the work and I just talk. And I loved it because when he sent me out on my own, things slowed down immensely.
00:11:12
Speaker
I got like two, yeah, yeah, give me the the bad sound. So ah will if you get a chance to do it again, take a producer. It was good to be back. I've been out for a couple years because of my health and stuff.
00:11:26
Speaker
Don't feel sorry for me. But it was really good to be
WGI Finals: Results, Records, and Performance Insights
00:11:29
Speaker
back. And the the love from the activities, is almost like no one even realized that left. They were like, hey, hey, Woody, Woody, dis goes there goes Woody.
00:11:39
Speaker
So that was pretty exciting. Almost like every 50 feet, Woody, Woody. Yeah. For myself, it's flattering because I actually try to keep a low profile, but obviously I'm not doing a good job at it.
00:11:55
Speaker
yeah not familiar possible It's like a reunion out there. I do love it for the same reason, but I feel pulled between too many groups at this point. It's like I got too many different friend groups and I want to see them all, but you can't see them all the same time.
00:12:09
Speaker
And meanwhile, I'm also just teaching my ensemble and I should just be present with my own ensemble. It's a very tough week. Not enough time. But Daniel, don't you tell us a little bit about your week with Northstar?
00:12:23
Speaker
Yeah, we had a great week. ah Had a great prelims run, honestly. It was probably the best run we had all year, excluding finals, obviously. ah Very proud of the members. They really pulled through. They really gave it all they could And that's all I could ask for. They had a great two runs in Dayton.
00:12:39
Speaker
Yeah, no, it it was a lot of fun seeing Austin, hanging out with Austin, seeing all the friends that I have in the booth and inside the merch tent and all that sort of stuff like that. But no, it was great. It was a great week.
00:12:51
Speaker
Good to be home. That merch tent out of control, right? That merch tent is out of control. it is. It's crazy. It's easier every year, it doesn't Yeah, and they're so well-produced in that. When I first showed up in 2013, it would be like some dude selling t-shirts out of box under a table.
00:13:09
Speaker
He's got like a whiteboard and some dry erase markers that he wrote his brand on. Sold out. And then like you see Seavine, you see Lot Riot, you see... I mean, Synced Ups, it felt like it was a Midwest booth.
00:13:23
Speaker
But how much stuff they had on both sides, it's gotten crazy. Yeah, it's almost like a little mini-Pasic. I talked to a cat last night. He had his Lot Riot shirt on. and He said he dropped 350 bucks at the Lot Riot.
00:13:36
Speaker
I know. I know. Man. like, well, the gear is nice, but I don't know about that. No, that's cool. Maybe I need to make a little designer business. for you.
00:13:54
Speaker
Yeah, no kidding. That week to week, I will say, like kind of doing the week to week comparison, percussion, the percussion tent, way crazier than Collar Guard. It's not close. Louder.
00:14:05
Speaker
It's definitely louder. It's not close. There's a ton more people in there too. Consistently a ton of people in that percussion booth. It is loud.
00:14:16
Speaker
Just to play on a pad that you have at home. That's what I'm saying. It's different than a tent for some reason. That's funny. But Joey, tell me a little bit about your week with winds and the different ensembles you help out with.
00:14:31
Speaker
um So I got to, this is the first time I've gotten to go out with a couple of my percussion groups, two first timers. I had, or I guess three first timers. Technically had Lotus indoor percussion who I do like video consults with and and talk with a director. That's their first time coming out of Arkansas.
00:14:47
Speaker
Crazy cool show is a Frank ocean orange album kind of tribute. Okay. Really cool. Yeah. Yeah. It was really cool. If you get a chance to catch it on YouTube, go find that. It's it's pretty awesome.
00:15:01
Speaker
um Their first time out, they had great runs. It was like two out of semis. ah They were in PIO. And then I had two PSA groups. It's their first time ah coming out to Dayton. Both groups have existed for maybe three or four years at the max.
00:15:15
Speaker
And this is the first time coming to Dayton. Uh, and low made it into semifinals, uh, which is fantastic. It's the first time we've had a group make semifinals in PSA in North Carolina in over 10 years. So really glad to be around that kind of history and that kind of legacy. And then, uh, green level.
00:15:32
Speaker
So the first time as well, didn't make semis, but had a pretty cool run, uh, as well. And then my wins groups at Corinth holders out there. the first time being back in, in a finals performance since they won, uh,
00:15:44
Speaker
WSA in 2022. So that was, that was great to see. And I just, just kind of where we're at in that, the growth of that, that ensemble was just cool to see him in finals again, had ICT out of Wichita, Kansas, ICT wins their first year as my brother's a group, he started a group. Oh, that's really cool.
00:16:02
Speaker
Oh my gosh. That's probably my family business. That's probably my favorite picture from the entire week is they surprised me. My mom showed up and it's the first time i seen my mom in a while. And,
00:16:14
Speaker
It's the first time she's gotten to see a group of mine live in three years, maybe. And ah I'm just i'm about to shed tears about just thinking about it. was was so cool. She just showed up in the lot and I was like, Mom, what are you doing here?
00:16:28
Speaker
And then it was, oh, that was so great. And then just trying to, yeah, just trying to think if I missed anybody that I was out there with. No, I mean, like ah ah ah all the groups I took out, they all all had great runs and a lot of first time history made.
00:16:44
Speaker
this year with the marching by Montez clients. So I'm just truly blessed to have been around it. And um if you, you can now check it out on marching blogs. They just posted it today. We have a killer tabla player at Enloe.
00:16:55
Speaker
Go check them out. It is probably the coolest thing you'll see. His hands are pretty insane for, i mean, for a high schooler, but just a tabla expert in general. He's, he's got cool hands. Go check them out.
00:17:06
Speaker
Yeah, no, that's actually a cool idea. I've thought about like, what if someone did tabla really well in indoor, but the problem I always thought would be like, how do you find a talented tabla player that's not aged out that actually wants to do indoor percussion?
00:17:22
Speaker
Yeah. But you did it. You cracked the code. You found that guy. We found it. Yeah, it was ah it's ah it's a magnet school, magnet art school. So nice. Have tons of,
00:17:34
Speaker
Asian ah influence and in the group. And so it made a lot of sense to bring, bring a lot of their culture to this show is about a Lotus flower and the culture significance to them. And we were like, Hey, do you want to play tabla?
00:17:47
Speaker
And they're like, yeah, but this guy also does flick work dance. If you want to put him in that. And I was like sold. And so, I mean, it was so, it was just so like, I was so scared the entire time. i was like, okay, I'm trying to be culturally, you know,
00:18:01
Speaker
sensitive here, but I, I want, I want like jazz hands here, you know, I want these hands to go up and then we do that and they're like, Oh yeah, that's fine. Oh yeah. Put that in. Oh yeah. Let's highlight the
Marching Arts Challenges and Championship Advice
00:18:10
Speaker
table player for two and a half minutes. You know, it was, it's a pretty cool show. It was, we definitely cracked the code on that one and we're going have to find a way to top it.
00:18:20
Speaker
Cool. I'm gonna have to check that out after our call. Cause that does sound really cool. But, uh, Before I get into that, I want to hear about Matt's week. First off, Matt, congratulations. I saw your post.
00:18:32
Speaker
I don't know of anyone else that has taught three different PIW meddling ensembles, certainly at least as a bass tech.
00:18:43
Speaker
Very, very accomplished instructor, Matt. But yeah, tell us about your week with Broken City. It was awesome. You know, the members just worked super hard from like the first day we showed up.
00:18:54
Speaker
Obviously, we're from Southern California. It's nice all the time. And that first Tuesday morning rehearsal was like 14 degrees on the cold. It was like two the blocks outside and they just fought through it.
00:19:08
Speaker
They were awesome. So, you know, nothing but love for those members and the work they put in. But I, you know, I love coming. Like you said, it's Christmas week and just getting to see all the friends and, you know, marched with them, family. It was really awesome. And then getting to see all the cool baselines, got to see United, got to see like Monarch and George Mason. Like those are just like a couple that come to mind, but just a lot of really good drumming, a lot of really good friends, a lot of catching up and all that stuff. So really, really great week.
00:19:43
Speaker
Yeah, no, that's really cool. And I actually am curious because on the East coast, we always like, we almost mythologize like the cold Dayton where we're like, oh, boys, it's time for us to rise up. We were born in the cold.
00:19:57
Speaker
These California kids don't know how to drum in this. What's it actually like when people from California show up and have to do Cold Dane? Absolutely miserable. It was terrible.
00:20:10
Speaker
You know, you see Broken City finals night. If you would have seen them on Tuesday, you would have laughed at them probably. It's rough and just like getting acclimated to that.
00:20:21
Speaker
And then, you know, just kind of learn from it. You start with like the worst imaginable moments. rehearsal you know weather yeah and then it's all better from there then you get to like semis like oh it's nice out here we could do it yeah yeah we actually definitely got lucky there a little bit this week too i feel like it was really cold when we showed up and then it got a little bit better i wouldn't ever say it got like nice spare for like a brief pocket of sun at like 2 30 p.m each afternoon but yeah i've been like uh
00:20:56
Speaker
I bet like that 35, 40 degree thing that Steve, that we can live through, it must be like 10 degrees to you, man. It must be really bad. Can we play with our gloves on?
00:21:07
Speaker
No. The age old East coast question that Matt's never even had to consider. Can I play with the gloves on? I've never even thought about it. All right. Well,
00:21:19
Speaker
We have a couple questions here and thoughts from the audience. One thing that we saw, one of our listeners, Rachel, on YouTube dropped $700 on the Lot Riot tent. I saw that. I saw that. Which is impressive.
00:21:33
Speaker
I would have liked to have. I didn't drop $700, but I can't say I don't empathize with it. Imagine dropping almost a full rent payment. She dropped car payment. She dropped a car payment. A nice car.
00:21:45
Speaker
Yeah. What's with all rent? I'm going to spend a whole rack at the lot, Riot Booth. Hey, man, more power to you. They got some good merch. I can't lie. They got some good stuff going on.
00:21:57
Speaker
They do got good stuff. And then Awesome22 asks, when do PIW groups head to Dayton to have time to practice? Matt, what was Broken City's schedule like? And then I'll say what the East Coast schedule is like.
00:22:10
Speaker
ah We fly out or the members fly out like Monday morning. They got there, I think, around 8 p.m. local time on Monday. So they have a full rehearsal day Tuesday and Wednesday and then just like whatever rehearsal we can fit in around prelim semis and finals.
00:22:31
Speaker
Yeah. And then it's pretty similar for a group like United. We rehearsed the weekend before and then actually rehearsed on Monday as well. Tuesday, we get on a bus early in the morning, ah drive out to Dayton, probably have a block Tuesday night and then Wednesday's series rehearsal.
00:22:47
Speaker
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, yeah you get what makes sense. All right, cool. Well, we are going to toss to a quick commercial and then we will be back with some of the biggest news of Dayton and our favorite groups.
00:23:08
Speaker
Celebrating its 25th anniversary, Guard Closet was founded as a consignment shop in 2000. Since then, it has grown to become your one-stop shop for the marching arts. Do you need consignment uniforms and flags for your color guard, marching band, or drum line?
00:23:23
Speaker
We have thousands of sets of consignments in stock and ready to ship. Do you need show design and custom choreography? Our designers have years of experience in the marching arts. Do you need to sell your items and clear out your storage areas?
00:23:37
Speaker
We take in more than 600 sets of consignments each year and return hundreds of thousands of dollars to our consignors for their sales. Do you need to have your students order shoes, gloves, and other equipment?
00:23:50
Speaker
We can set up a microsite for easy student ordering of a wide variety of items. Do you need custom costumes or flags? We can help get you great designs from our team through top vendors like Show Day Designs.
00:24:01
Speaker
Have you listened to our podcast on a water break? Weekly episodes and bonus content keep you entertained and informed with what's going on in the marching arts. For over 25 years, Guard Closet has been here to help.
00:24:14
Speaker
Check us out at guardcloset.com or follow us on social media. We're alive as well.
00:24:31
Speaker
All right, we are back and we are going to start off with what everybody is all excited about. The scores, the results from Dayton Week, our favorite shows and all the cool stuff that we saw. um Some crazy stuff happened. We actually set three world records in world class this year, but we will get to that in a couple minutes.
00:24:52
Speaker
I want to start off actually and independent marching a and a Daniel, if you want to tell us about what happened in an independent marching a over here, I'd love to hear about it. Yeah. I mean, m three is a powerhouse, right?
00:25:06
Speaker
They're very good and they are very clean and they're consistent year to year. So they won. M3 took first. They have Nomad Percussion in second with a 92.65. Still very nice.
00:25:17
Speaker
Third place did not break 90, but Lake Effect Percussion, previously in ah prelims, they were fourth place, were able to jump into third and medal. Congratulations to them. I'm glad they had a very good run.
00:25:28
Speaker
North Star Independent. Northstar Independent took fourth with an 88.8. Looking forward to seeing what they're doing in the future. And Kannapolis with fifth place. So very exciting. Very, very competitive in the top of A class.
00:25:43
Speaker
Very excited to see where this division starts pushing forward. And I know we'll talk a little bit more about my thoughts on this ah when we have the what are we doing segment. But very exciting stuff happening.
00:25:55
Speaker
Cool. Yeah, I definitely am excited to hear that. What are we doing? And I'll run us down through Scholastic Marchingay now, which is also a notorious dogfight. Scholastic Marchingay, there are so many ensembles, so it really becomes like a real battle for cleanliness. The groups at the top are really clean.
00:26:13
Speaker
So Clinton High School won with a 97.038. I definitely recognize that name. They've been a longtime perennial WGI school. Choctawatchee High School came in second place with a 95.975.
00:26:26
Speaker
White Catholic High School came in third place with a 94.275.
00:26:32
Speaker
ah But from that point on down, there are still a lot of different groups that broke 90. ah Unionville High School had a pretty big gap before at four with 93.625. And then at fifth, it's ah Dakota Combined Schools with a 91.938.
00:26:49
Speaker
ah But really great scores and performances from all the ensembles that ah competed in class here. As stated before, they work really hard and get really clean. It's all about fundamentals in that class and in open.
00:27:01
Speaker
so Before we move on from A-Class, are we going to talk about the horses? you Tell me about the horses. Do you not know about the horses?
00:27:11
Speaker
No. Just Google WGI percussion horses. and That's all you got to do. It very, very much went viral. I was sitting in the box when that group came on.
00:27:23
Speaker
I looked down. i saw those horses and I go, what the heck is about to happen here? As a matter of fact, I think we were really doing for that one, didn't we?
00:27:34
Speaker
We may have, but that was quite the experience. I enjoyed it. Woody, did you just say you guys interviewed a horse? No, we did a what are we doing together look at it like, what are we doing?
00:27:50
Speaker
It was very ah shocking. Yeah, I... Oh, this is great. Yeah, this is crazy. Getting to see Steven's face watching this is pretty great.
00:28:05
Speaker
The best part about those horses was the fact that the back legs were mechanical and they worked as long as the front legs moved. The front legs were students that were on the floor inside of the horse.
00:28:19
Speaker
running around performing actually on wheels in order for it to move like solidly it worked so well they did they generally affected me I will say that much I watched the video and they were doing drill the horse they were doing drill and it was effective they have a whole company front with horses i it was incredible who was it crazy was it Edie White yeah they came in third yeah the horse show came in I remember they got a medal I just can't remember who it was That's awesome. Did they wait? Wait. I wonder if they wore the horses at retreat.
00:28:53
Speaker
was about to say, did they put a medal on a horse? Because that's a missed opportunity. I don't know. really don't know if they did. I left because I needed to go get sleep. man i Daniel, you were there for you were there i was there.
00:29:06
Speaker
I don't remember seeing horses on the retreat floor. Oh, that's so sad. It was a great opportunity. It's a great opportunity. You know, it's funny, Steve, that... Before they came on, there was like two other cowboy shows. it's like, wow, there's a lot of cowboy shows.
00:29:22
Speaker
And then this one with the horses just dwarfed everything. Yeah, imagine doing a cowboy show, going to Dayton, and then finding out that someone has horses. You'd be like, oh, God. There was reason they got third. Overcooked. That's the cowboy show.
00:29:37
Speaker
There's some super dad out there that we all need to meet, right? Yeah. Yeah. Shout out to those shout out to those bandads for real who who engineered those horses specifically. Well, we shouldn't just assume it was a dad.
00:29:51
Speaker
It could be a mom. sure It could be. could be But likely these grandparents put in the work. Uh huh. Facts. All right.
00:30:02
Speaker
but so Let's jump up into the. Indeed. um Let's jump into the open class scores. So for independent marching open finals, we've got Veritas with the ninety seven point eight five winning.
00:30:16
Speaker
then Civitas Independent with a 96.775, Freedom Percussion with a and then Percussion I'm pretty sure my buddy is the for that
00:30:32
Speaker
But yeah, the independent marching open got a lot of different groups in there. Some of them are feeders for world-class groups. Others are standalone groups. And yeah, it's it's a lot like A-class, lots of fighting to be the cleanest um and just showing that you're good at the skills.
00:30:47
Speaker
But lot of the shows are bangers too. I wish I got more time throughout the week to see it, but did anyone around in the call get to check out any of these ensembles? You know, Steve, all those years being involved with the United program, I've never got a chance to watch those other groups.
00:31:03
Speaker
Oh, yeah. I kept saying to Austin, this is awesome. I watched A and Open for the first time ever. i It was really cool.
00:31:14
Speaker
So we got a chance to watch both classes. It was definitely different. Yeah, no, that's awesome. I can at least speak for UP2. um Definitely get a couple opportunities to see them throughout finals week.
00:31:26
Speaker
And I was really impressed, man. like They played clean. you know like We put a lot of thought into the world class show, and I know that that's like something that we're figuring out how to get as much like detail into the open class show that we do at the world level.
00:31:41
Speaker
But in terms of just how the members played it, like they really executed what they had in front of them. So that was shout out UP too. They did a lot of good work, but, uh, go ahead.
00:31:53
Speaker
I was just going to say my significant other, um she's a guard person, but she volunteered for percussion week. She's just been doing that annually now. And she said that Veritas is something just absolutely worth watching in terms of like full production and how the plan moment goes into the next moment, how there's an end and an out and,
00:32:12
Speaker
I mean, just seeing the scores now, I didn't really get to follow much of open once the wind stuff started taking play and I had to be at rehearsal rehearsal. But I mean, there's a reason they got a 97.8 above everybody else. I mean, nearly, I know one pointing the next person is because of how well produced it was.
00:32:28
Speaker
I haven't got a chance to watch it, but that was, that was the one she kept talking about. It was like, you have to watch Veritas. You have to watch Veritas. So well done. It's great message. It's a great message as well. we're out of Yeah. I'm going to have to check that out.
00:32:42
Speaker
And then just another big shout out, I guess, for we haven't done Scholastic Open We're about it if you want to. I just want to say, like, big shout out to Kamiak coming all the way from the Pacific Northwest and absolutely killing it. I've got some some older friends back out that way from my trooper days. and It's just really cool to see teammates win like that. so Nice.
00:33:03
Speaker
Yeah, that's awesome. ah Let's run through those Scholastic Marching Open scores now. Another longtime competitor here won. Remember this because I remember competing with Victor J. Andrew High School in Open Class, ah but they win this year with 96.763.
00:33:20
Speaker
Fishers High School comes in second place with a 96.75.
00:33:24
Speaker
Rancho Cucamonga High School with a 96.075 takes third place. Then there was a tie for fourth and fifth between ah Greenfield Central High School and Zionsville Community High School.
00:33:37
Speaker
But yeah, lots of great stuff coming out of open class, much like what we were all describing. And now we can talk about these world-class groups where there was really some crazy, crazy happenings going on this year on both sides of the aisle, Scholastic and in the independent side.
00:33:54
Speaker
There's some real crazy stuff. In Independent World, Meraki Percussion made finals for, I think, the first time. Is that a California group, Matt? Shout out to Meraki.
00:34:07
Speaker
Honestly, they were... Yeah, they're San Bernardino. Yeah, San Bernardino. So, a new finalist, that's crazy. Makes me wonder which group didn't make it. I wasn't thinking about that.
00:34:20
Speaker
If I'm not mistaken, I think that was like their third or fourth year out total. And I think it's their first year in world. They were in open class group last year. Yeah, their third or fourth year out total, first year in world, they made finals.
00:34:31
Speaker
Yeah, yeah c incredible. think Dark Sky was the 16th. Ah, Dark Sky. Dark Sky, Konexus missed as well. All right.
00:34:43
Speaker
Rhythmic Force also is a kind of new. I don't know if this is their first year, but Rhythmic Force is not a like old ensemble, at least for world class finalists. But yeah, getting up towards the top end of the activity here, I want to talk about these world records that happened because it happened in like a three minute stretch and it actually was pretty crazy inside the arena.
00:35:04
Speaker
Like people were audibly gasping. People audibly gasped first when George Mason beat Music City Mystique, which was a crazy moment. Means a lot for the East Coast, really, especially if that could replicable. What a fun show that was. Did you guys get to watch it?
00:35:21
Speaker
Oh my gosh. It was so fun. I loved it so much. Yeah. Even before we break into that, i have to tell you, Steve, this is the strongest East coast representation I've seen in quite some time.
00:35:35
Speaker
I mean, I think you're totally right. Sixth place, eighth place. don't think it's ever been that high between both ensembles and dude, like if, if, Mason had an awesome year. like As a United guy, you wish that you beat them, but you know they they win this year. They got it.
00:35:52
Speaker
and If there's their show was so fun, if it gets people moving, like that's just more help for the East Coast. It's more people drumming out here. would mean more people for United, too.
00:36:03
Speaker
so I think you know everyone our success lifts up the East Coast ensembles together no matter what way you shape. so i'm good I'm real happy for them. We're coming, Matt.
00:36:14
Speaker
We're coming back. We're going to get them in round two. They got us in round one. okay That was awesome with the George Mason thing. We wanted to do an interview with George Mason, and Austin and I had to stand in line and wait to talk. yeah We got that interview, though.
00:36:35
Speaker
We did get that interview. It is on the Instagram page. Go watch it. It was fun. yeah Like a deli counter, like you had to take your number and wait, like, okay. He should have it so i felt like, honestly, there was just, he should have had a deli.
00:36:48
Speaker
Pay money. Picture after picture after picture. And we're like, all right, come on, dude. And we just pretty much just grabbed took him right into the tent. Right here, right now. That's what we're doing. It's happening. But it's so interesting, like Mason did actually narrow in on an effective idea that no one's really done, which is like through and through having a character in Dayton who's in character the whole time that like gets all the people engaged and then sure enough like he was committed to it 100 i will say he was it allowed that show was the loudest applause of the night and i don't think it was close by far yeah they figured something out you can't knock it they figured something out but um well you know what we're drum corps people we find some way to knock something
00:37:36
Speaker
That's what we do. You go to the orchestra and you're like, well, the symphony wasn't clean. It wasn't clean the way I like it. wait We're negative that way. It's not that segment of the show yet, Woody. We didn't get to the water we doing. see We'll get critical later, okay?
00:37:51
Speaker
But yeah, I want to jump ahead up to the top to what happened in those last couple minutes there. So first off, they go through the Scholastic scores first. It's awesome to see a school from Texas get up there because it's mostly been Chino Hills or Ayala in one and two for a while.
00:38:06
Speaker
So Bridgeland, honestly, from my perspective, like kind of came out of nowhere. I just wasn't that familiar with the program, and it's super dope to see another school actually compete at that level. But then Ayala just busted down all the records ah for the class, for the entirety of WGI percussion. 99.5 from Ayala with their show, I think, The Holder of the Eyes.
00:38:34
Speaker
So close there. It might be beholder. It was gorgeous. Yeah, really just incredible show. There is a lot of group playing to different sides of the arena this year, which I actually thought was pretty interesting.
00:38:47
Speaker
And like I only used it a lot to affect what their actual sound was and how loud the dynamics worked. And they just really nailed everything. It was so good. Did you guys get to see that show? Yeah, it's incredible.
00:38:58
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. If you're listening to this and you haven't somehow, I don't really know how you're that hula hoop like subsection that Venn diagram slip of someone that's listening to this, but didn't catch the show.
00:39:11
Speaker
You got to go check it because it's really. But then here's where things got spicy. First off, Matt gets a bronze medal. Shout out to Matt.
00:39:23
Speaker
And then Rhythm X sets the new world record for PIW right after that, but from second place. And RCC sets the new world record right after that, like about two or three minutes later at a 99.163. He was like that.
00:39:43
Speaker
right there Yeah, which having seen all the top three shows is like it was just a incredibly successful year for the top end of the activity.
00:39:56
Speaker
As a Rhythm X alum, we'll stand on it that I liked Rhythm X's show, but both of them were so outstandingly excellent. It was like, it sucks that only one of these shows can win this year.
00:40:09
Speaker
But wow, what a real leap forward. I felt like RCC was really creative with the pre-show stuff. They did a lot of things that just are unconventional that you don't think of.
00:40:23
Speaker
And then RhythmX just really was such a seamless production and was really just very good. yeah i get Broken City was too. I'm sorry. I feel like I'm like... knocking it mad by talking up the other two groups so much but this really was a crazy year at the top end ah what do you guys think ah when you get to this 90 98 99 range it is definitely you know from a judging standpoint more of a bias than it is anything else this is what i like it is everything else is even it's you know like the thing says well between one and three temps it's anybody's call any day who has the best
00:41:03
Speaker
thing And I always preach to kids or students that the judge was once you. And if you touch them in that way, that's that's the call. you know
00:41:15
Speaker
Yeah, it is. That's always what I think that like when the tapes are going really well at that end of the activity, the judge isn't even really like judging. He's just kind of taken out of the moment, just sitting there, just like enjoying the program, just the same way that like anyone else in the audience is.
00:41:31
Speaker
It's just when there's like a little sliver of dirt where they get drawn back into being a judge where you start to lose tense. But yeah, it was crazy. I totally do agree as well, Woody, that when you get up to that end, like what's the difference between a 100-100 and a It's that the judge just prefers the group that he gave a 100-100 to.
00:41:50
Speaker
It's not that much deeper than that. They're both excellent. There you go, yeah. Yes, speaking the hundreds, I think and going back to Scholastic, Ayala got 11 100s across the board.
00:42:05
Speaker
Yeah. like In total capture, in content achievement, total i think the total was 11. That's crazy. I think they had a perfect effect score too, which is totally, you know that doesn't happen very often.
00:42:19
Speaker
But when you look at that, if you stop and analyze it, if they got 100s, that says a lot about the two groups before them. Because you've pushed the judge to the wall.
00:42:30
Speaker
I have no place else to go. like yep That says a lot about the, matter of fact, the top five. Because that fifth place group has already pushed so far into box five.
00:42:42
Speaker
I got no place to go. have give it up. It's like inflation gets us all.
00:42:51
Speaker
I don't think we talk about that. All right, well, let's get into these wins scores. Joey, I feel like it would be great for you to walk us through some of the wins scores because you and Austin are both really locked in with what's going on over there.
00:43:04
Speaker
Could you walk us through a bit of what happened? Sure. i'm I'm really bad at reading and numbers, so if I mess this up, everybody just fire me. It's going to be okay. um Let's start with Scholastic A wins.
00:43:17
Speaker
Edinburgh High School got a 94-618. That's good enough first place. and that's good enough for first place Damian High School out of California. It's their first year out. um I got to actually walk on the floor with them with On a Water Break.
00:43:30
Speaker
It's really, really cool. It's music conservatory high school, like magnet ah arts school there in California. And they came out independent in Scholastic, sorry, for their first year. And they they came out with a silver medal, which was pretty cool. 91.919. And then Mount Juliet, who's been a ah pretty consistent, uh, finalists in the wind space. Third place was a 90.865 Noonan Noonan gets in with an 89.283. Uh, that's good enough for fourth.
00:44:04
Speaker
And then Warren in Central High School out of Indiana gets an 88.663. And that's, uh, that's your top five Scholastic A wins finalists. And just like something personal for me is, uh, my brother came out.
00:44:17
Speaker
Oh, sorry. No, we're, we'll talk about that here in a second. Scholastic really, really cool to see the growth in this space. And WGI did something really cool this year. and They listened to the advisory board and the steering committee and that we really felt like people come out, they spend all this money to come to WGI and try out this thing that has a weird stigma to it.
00:44:36
Speaker
They get one run, they get eliminated. And then statistically, they don't come back. So but this is the first year everybody was at least a semifinalist. And then in the A space, yeah, I mean,
00:44:49
Speaker
Thank you to Ron and thank you to ah Wayne Dillon and all the admin for making that happen. So if you were an A, you made into semifinals and then you got the top five going into finals in both independent and scholastic.
00:45:03
Speaker
And so really, really cool. We'll jump into the independent scores now. Ethereal gets 92.363. That's good enough for first place again. That's their second one. They come around next year.
00:45:14
Speaker
They've got the three-peat. We'll talk about a big three-peat coming up here at the end of this segment. Obsidian is new to the space, I believe. They got second place in Independent A with a 90.715.
00:45:26
Speaker
So cool to... I also, ah just on a theory really quick, they're from El Paso hometown. I think they just broke Independent A wins record this weekend.
00:45:37
Speaker
So that's pretty cool. Congrats to them. Yeah, congrats Celeste and Caleb D'Aleon. For all the work you do, they're directors of the ensemble and they're also marching members of the ensemble. So it's really cool to see them in that space.
00:45:51
Speaker
Most of their staff is marching members of the ensemble too. Because one of my former students, shout out Sergio, on staff there with Ethereal. And this they're doing some really, really, really good work out there. And they're really doing a lot for the El Paso community as a whole, which is just super, super awesome to Yep, I think their guard, which is their first year out to Dayton, made semifinals. And the percussion made semis that they came out, Sun City.
00:46:17
Speaker
um And then let's go third place in independent LSM West, 87.508. That's a feeder for LSM World. Crazy to see. There's an East, there's a West, there's a World. There probably be an open at some point.
00:46:32
Speaker
LSM's kind of growing exponentially there and in the state, and it's ah it's really cool to see. cyclone wind that gets forced with an 85.165 and then forest hills is an 84.115 and they' that's your top five independent a wins wins finalists so now i want to talk about my brother comes out with ict wins first time out um really just like from like hey how do you start a non-profit to okay i've got enough wins to do it how do you get them to play music and how do you like it so for everything from backing track to here's just you know
00:47:07
Speaker
get this um Get this arranger. Wes Pendergrass does a lot of great work with the wind space. And ah believe believe he's still doing his thing. is if If it's your first year to Dayton, he'll write your drill for free and do some coordination, which is, I mean, just amazing.
00:47:27
Speaker
But ICT comes out and gets seventh out of nine in their first year, which is which is pretty great. i'm very proud of my brother, Joel, over at ICT. Yeah. ah Austin, do you want to do open?
00:47:40
Speaker
Yeah, will. I just want to ask about when did the ICT wins start? like When did that conversation first start rolling? ah We probably started in September but last year. i mean like It started kind of in the summer. He's like, I think I want to do this. i was like, let's do this. The first thing you should probably do is that nonprofit paperwork.
00:47:59
Speaker
that That takes a long time. And if you don't do it right, it's just just hurdle after hurdle. And then It was quite a kind of quiet for a little bit. He's a band director out there in North Carolina, so gets kind of bogged down with elementary school, middle school, high school, jazz band, concert, you know percussion stuff.
00:48:17
Speaker
um And then December really started rolling around. Oh, I have enough kids. sort And so we were we was very we were very lucky to get a lot of people in the community to to offer their services for free or for at least very cheap.
00:48:29
Speaker
And then just like my independent group a few years ago, It was money out of his wallet.
00:48:39
Speaker
Whenever one in 23, I think I had about three or $4,000 of my own money in it. And i I'll never see that back. You know, it's, it's never coming back, but I mean, the, the, you know, the, the, the things on the wall and we're happy about it. And, uh, what's up, Woody?
00:48:59
Speaker
I was going to say, you know, that kind of comes that kind of comes with the territory. United owes me a nice little amount, and I would love to have my Xolo phone and marimba back. ah ah the runov viro phone And a and a sound system.
00:49:13
Speaker
Hey, but you know, It's part of the love. It is definitely part of the love. So when I did it and watch Steve teach the United percussion, you know, it's very moving to see the whole thing all with it from where it started.
00:49:29
Speaker
Like like you're saying, Jose, up to what United is today. it is very moving. It goes with the territory. Yeah.
00:49:41
Speaker
Yeah, I'm really excited to see a lot of these A class groups really progress into these next spaces as the activity grows, see more A classes add ah lot of these A classes bump and then add and then just watch the activity grow.
00:49:53
Speaker
And hopefully one weekend or one year, Wins will have their own weekend. Hopefully that's what we're shooting for. That's the goal. Someday that's gotta be thing. It will. It's coming one It will happen one day. If I'm not mistaken, this is the most groups that we've ever had at WGI Wins.
00:50:09
Speaker
Groups were turned away this year. Groups said we don't have space for you. yeah You're really getting close to needing your own weekend already. Absolutely. I would say in the next probably three to five years tops. Yep.
00:50:20
Speaker
I'm hoping even sooner. Nice. That'd be ideal. But going into the Scholastic open scores, we got Davies County finishing ah finishing off with a 91.
00:50:32
Speaker
And then I think we have the wrong score for Robert Vila. It's the same score. I don't um They both won. They both won? All right. They both got first. cool i wasn't there for I wasn't there for retreat. I had to bail.
00:50:44
Speaker
They both won. Yeah. Shout out Davies County and Robert Vila High School. 91-675. And then third place, Bob Jones High School with an 89.6. Miamisburg High School from right down the street in Dayton.
00:50:59
Speaker
Valley Christian High School.
00:51:05
Speaker
Corinth Holders. ah with a 79.525 in Lake Orion with a 78.95. So nine total finalists in Scholastic Open wins. Nice.
00:51:17
Speaker
Yeah, and it's interesting to see, like, a lot of these schools also are big, ah either percussion or guard schools, too. So it's like schools propping up multiple programs and just kind of being good at everything they do.
00:51:28
Speaker
they work I mean, they're working. I mean, they're working hard. They're doing great things. A lot of these lot of these people are really teaching their butts off and really creating good, really, really good groups out coming out for this.
00:51:41
Speaker
Trying to follow the Avon model. Absolutely. Yep. and it it's If it's possible. It's proven to work. I think Steve and Austin, we really need to as promoters for all of this stuff, we really need to try to tap that market and get some people out here on our podcast, you know, learn more about it as an activity, you know, let's get it going as quick as possible, man.
00:52:09
Speaker
Yeah, no, it actually is really cool. A lot of the listeners probably didn't catch whatever episodes we've done in the past about wins. But the wins discussions are fun. Wins is actually a really open medium where there's a lot less rules than there are in percussion.
00:52:24
Speaker
And it's kind of still growing and discovering itself. But the rule restrictions are a lot less strict. So if you're listening and you don't know about it, you should have an open mind. It's actually growing and being pretty cool.
00:52:36
Speaker
And that's how the wins idiom is by design. At the end of the day, advisory boards have been like, we want to keep this a wide open discussion. We want to keep this a wide open playing field. We want to be able to so we can grow the activity as much as we can.
00:52:48
Speaker
The only rules are really the OSHA, the safety stuff, the boundaries, timing. bat That's pretty much it. Basically, yeah, basically.
00:53:00
Speaker
It is the wild west of WGI i at the end of the day. I'm really excited to see where all this progresses to and how all these groups will end up pushing the sport forward in the wins sector.
00:53:11
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Next couple years, especially. Oh, yeah. Especially just with more more groups. But so yeah. What do we got? Independent open now for the wins? Yeah, we do. Yeah, we got read these ones off.
00:53:23
Speaker
But yeah, go for it. Yeah, so we've got Valhalla wins winning with a 91.6. River City Rhythm with a 91.225 takes second place.
00:53:34
Speaker
it went ah With an 82.95 takes fourth. Convergence Indoor wins with an 81.575 takes fifth. And then Evidence wins from William Carey University with sixth place with an 80.875. Yes. Real fun fact. A guy I do some work with over the internet from Columbia.
00:53:55
Speaker
He came over and he did independent, ah the Minnesota team. I thought that was very cool. And he's planning on doing Redding this summer. Really? Yeah.
00:54:06
Speaker
but Columbia, and he's going to take all that information back across the equator. i Yes. Right. Well, and no, that's awesome. When we get to independent world, I got something to tell you a little bit later, Woody.
00:54:20
Speaker
But I just want to shout out River City Rhythm really quick. This was their first year out in wins. They started in eighth class this year. Got bumped to open about a month before WGI.
00:54:35
Speaker
Showed up and ended up getting a silver medal in open class. Dang. WGI is does how you feel good about that. When they do the bumping, you don't just get bumped and get tanked afterwards. They do a very good job with that.
00:54:48
Speaker
Not a lot of circuits are good at that. and I got to give the thumbs up to WGI with that. Yeah, they were they were super, super awesome. Really, really great educators over there. River City doing a lot of great work. A lot of those kids are going to a lot of those kids are in the drum corps, too.
00:55:03
Speaker
So they'll be marching this summer. So definitely something definitely something to keep an eye on this summer, too. So just little drum corps preview. Yeah, that's interesting. Like a group actually getting and making their wins group and then having wins players playing through the winter and then coming into the summer. It's like I don't think there's actually a lot of groups that have that full pipeline.
00:55:24
Speaker
operative It makes sense. i mean, at the end of the day, it does make sense. As long as it makes sense financially, it makes sense for the training. ah But all right, you guys want to tell us about the World Ensemble? Sounds like you had a little story cooked up, Austin.
00:55:38
Speaker
ah Joe, you want to jump on Scholastic World? Sure. Let's start from the bottom and we'll go to the top, starting with Lake Hamilton, Arkansas, ah fourth place with an 88 flat.
00:55:50
Speaker
Greenfield Central High School with a 90.350.
00:55:54
Speaker
Westfield High School second place from Indiana with a 91.950. And of course, your reigning Scholastic World Class wins champion, Avon High School with a 97.45.
00:56:09
Speaker
Quick little tidbit about that. Matt Harloff makes it to retreat to medalist kids after getting off a flight.
00:56:20
Speaker
from Coachella. He had just performed with Crown Brass with Travis Scott the night before. And I like, there kind of like whispers. are like, where's Matt? Where's Matt? Where's Matt? Oh, Matt's over here. Oh, Matt's doing that. then Matt put out a little blurb.
00:56:33
Speaker
It was like, ah there's a show worth watching on Saturday on YouTube Live. Might be from Coachella. Who knows? I thought that was pretty insane. Not only that, but he got to see Bernie Sanders this weekend too.
00:56:45
Speaker
So he did medals and Bernie Sanders. Dang. oh Yeah, that's crazy. The whole Carolina crown and two colleges playing at Coachella with Travis Scott just wasn't on my bingo card.
00:56:57
Speaker
But I think that is an absolutely wild crossover event. To go from a Hall of Frame earlier in the week to Travis Scott to World Championships. I mean, his family must be having, you know, like there must be so much cake in the house and so much, you know, everywhere. Like, I don't know how they're cleaning it all up.
00:57:15
Speaker
big ah He's kind of been on a generational run the past couple of months. Keep in mind, Avon won Grand Nationals too. He's on SideQuest now. He's like Snoop Dogg. He's got Hall of Fame and then winning this and just craziness. therere i mean Wow.
00:57:30
Speaker
yeah well We will have him on the show soon as our producer Jeremy just let us know. We're going to do a Matt Harloff interview so keep coming back. Keep watching the show. Cause I'm going to want to ask him all sorts of questions about Travis Scott. Like what is his favorite, um, McDonald's food? What's his favorite, uh, Fortnite character.
00:57:50
Speaker
let's, uh, let's get into these independent world wins, uh,
00:57:57
Speaker
start but let's ah let's get into these independent worldwins ah Yeah, I'll start from the bottom up. We'll do the same thing. We got LSM. with they They started off with an 87.7.
00:58:12
Speaker
They have the two, like we mentioned earlier they do have the two feeder groups, LSM East and West, and they do have a world-class group as well. Lots and lots of growth from that group specifically. I saw a lot of really, really great things um out of what they were doing.
00:58:27
Speaker
And then you got Legacy um from South Florida here with an 89.475. They've had
00:58:33
Speaker
they've had tremendous amounts of growth as well. Super, super happy to see what they're doing. They've they've added so many members in the past couple years. I think they started their first year with about probably eight, 10, maybe.
00:58:45
Speaker
They had like at least 35, 40 on the floor this time around. Really, really great stuff. And then Horizon wins breaking 90 with a 90.85. Vaquero wins from down in the valley of south texas but a ninety four point two And then the perennial three-peat from Strike Wins, gold medal with a 97.275. Also, Team Florida. Three of the five groups in independent world class are Team Florida.
00:59:20
Speaker
So, shout out to Florida.
00:59:24
Speaker
Nice. Well, that was a lot of a lot a lot of scores. It was a crazy week for WGI Percussion and for Wins as well. So if your mind's twirling right now, you should probably just make sure you're there next year and you see it all yourself. And then you wouldn't, you wouldn't even need to catch the recap because it was solid all yourself.
00:59:43
Speaker
But we're going to be back in a couple minutes here. We got a quick commercial and then we are in for the last bit of our rehearsal. Hi everyone, it's time for your travel tip of the week with me.
00:59:54
Speaker
I'm Beth with Peak Group Travel. Messaging apps like Groupspot are great for keeping your group on track while you're on your trip. You can set up a meeting time for your whole group, you can reach out to all of your chaperones at one time, and you can even use the app as a photo scrapbook for all of the special moments that happen on your trip.
01:00:13
Speaker
And if you partner with Peak on your next tour, you'll get access to Groupspot for free. Don't forget to like and follow Peak Group Travel on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
01:00:24
Speaker
And be sure to send an email to info at peakgrouptravel.com when you're ready to start planning your next tour. This is Beth with Peak Group Travel and your travel tip of the week.
01:00:48
Speaker
Ready to elevate your travel game? Welcome to Peak Group Travel, the ultimate adventure creators. Whether you're planning an unforgettable class trip, a once in a lifetime parade experience for your marching band, or a choir tour full of memorable performance venues, Peak Group Travel handles it all so you can focus on making memories.
01:01:06
Speaker
From breathtaking international destinations to amazing adventures right here at home, Peak Group Travel customizes every journey to your vision. We're not just planners, we're your partners for the trip you want for your students.
01:01:19
Speaker
Our online registration portal makes managing your pre-trip experience smooth and convenient. We even collect your payments if you'd like. Picture it. Effortless planning, unmatched experiences, and smiles that last long after the journey ends.
01:01:32
Speaker
That's the Peak Group travel difference. And if you choose to partner with Peak on your next tour, and you mentioned that you heard about us on the On a Water Break podcast, you'll earn a $100 trip credit. Discover white groups everywhere trust Peak Group Travel.
01:01:45
Speaker
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, and be sure to visit peakgrouptravel.com today. You pick the date, and we'll make it great.
01:02:01
Speaker
All right, everyone, it is time for the 60 second tech block. This is the segment where one of our ah hosts or guest clinicians is put on the spot to deliver a nonstop 60 second tech session on a topic that needs some serious attention after the last run.
01:02:16
Speaker
So. Our special tech this week has come ah prepared with three topics that he thinks he could talk about for a full 60 seconds straight. Three whole topics, 60 seconds, any of them.
01:02:27
Speaker
No hesitation, no pauses, just pure technical gold. So this week we're going to throw it over to Joey, who's got three topics that he's very knowledgeable about. So knowledgeable. Oh my gosh.
01:02:40
Speaker
Y'all aren't ready. Here's my three topics. All right. And we'll kind of just, everybody gets to kind of choose up in this space. Okay. ah The one, one, number one is what to pack for a week in Dayton.
01:02:51
Speaker
Number two is what, how to get most of your students, how to get the most out of your students champ week. And then number three is how to diversify your financial portfolio to allow for the most positive gains this fiscal year. Yeah. So, I mean, ah we're going to pick and choose as a panel here. And then I guess,
01:03:07
Speaker
I guess we're off to the races. ah Jeremy thinks I'm a, Jeremy feels I'm an expert in all three. I think I'm only an expert on the packing, but here we go. What do you guys think? I want the financial one, but havent beat too dude no i I don't think he wants to give up the secrets. Honestly, it's not in his financial best interest, but yeah. how you Am I right?
01:03:29
Speaker
So what do we think? What do you think guys? One, two or three. ah I think number two is probably the best one. I'm going two. Okay, we're getting... All right, all right. Cool. So how do we do this? How we go?
01:03:42
Speaker
I just start? I'm going give you a three, two, one, go, and we're just going to go for it, all right? Okay, okay, here we go. That's how. Go, Ricardo.
01:03:55
Speaker
That's how you it.
01:03:58
Speaker
Ready to go. Okay. How to get the most out of your students in champ week. So I'll give you the three C's. The first one is consistency is key. Remember, uh, whatever you do in December is what's going to set you up for the Thursday of Dayton week. Okay. So everything's a process. Everything leads you in, uh, same vibes from the season to the week of don't switch up stuff. Consistency is key.
01:04:21
Speaker
The second one is confidence is crucial. Be your student's biggest cheerleader. At the end of the day, when the curtain pulls and they see you standing there by the TMP judge in front of the entire stadium, there's going to be a sense of calmness and and comfortability. So just make sure you're there for them and that you're always cheering them on.
01:04:38
Speaker
You've got to make them confident. That's what puts you in finals. And then commit to communication. There's a lot of crazy stuff happening the week of. Make sure they're communicating with the members efficiently, the staff,
01:04:49
Speaker
and the parents. If you don't have the parents in the right place, your props aren't going to be on the floor. That is what I've got. 60 second tech block. Mike, drop. Oh.
01:05:01
Speaker
Oh. Rhymed to the end. That was smooth. Second and a half to spare. It's got to be the best 60 second tech block execution rep we've had yet. and But yeah, that's actually huge, man, because it's so hard that like you're it's not a consistent week. Everything else throughout the season has actually been different completely.
01:05:22
Speaker
You've been at your high school. You've been at local shows. You've been where you're comfortable. And then for most ensembles, you don't get to play in a room like that until Dayton.
01:05:33
Speaker
So you get there and everything sounds different, too. So keeping that consistency is actually a real challenge. Yeah. But you got any advice for how to make it feel the same?
01:05:46
Speaker
I mean, so like the the thing is the vibe. So um for me, ah things I see other people do is they'll dress differently and they'll kind of walk differently when they're in the lot. And I'd like it's all the same. So we're all.
01:05:57
Speaker
where like it'll always be chill. They'll always dab up my center snare and I'll be like, Hey dude, how's it going? We're ready to do this. And they're like, yeah. I'm like, okay, cool. ah One big thing that I do with a lot of my groups is they'll have like a hype piece.
01:06:09
Speaker
And so it'll be like that the, the Tondu exercise into dance choreography they have in the show. They do it at the top of every rehearsal. So at the top of the lot, I press play and it's the same thing they've had, whether there was the dance room, the gym, the lobby, the hotel lobby,
01:06:25
Speaker
or the lot, you know, it's, it's, uh, it's really important that there there's consistency in how they start the process. Uh, and then the energy, like I can't, I can't be looking, you know, it's gotta be the same intensity. Like, Oh, it could crescendo a little bit, you know, as we get to the end, but it can't be, Oh, that was cool yesterday, but today that's just unacceptable.
01:06:45
Speaker
Uh, like they can't do that on the Thursday that they're going to be in the lot in front of people. You know, you want them to be comfortable and comfortability exudes confidence. So the more that you can make them comfortable ah with the most consistent you can be, the better.
01:07:00
Speaker
One thing that Jara said on a podcast we did a while ago with the guard was if she feels like she's amped up, she'll just let another staff member run warm up and she'll step away if she's going to be the one that's adding the stress.
01:07:13
Speaker
I think being that aware is really important to you being the adult in the room, knowing like, Hey, I'm, I'm kind of jazzed up right now. I should probably just go plug in some XLR cables, you know?
01:07:24
Speaker
Like I'll take a, I'll take a break. I'll go make sure the mixer's on and you know, maybe I'll, I'll double check the subway order that comes right after our prelims run. But like, I don't need to be right here right now. I think that's self, that's self awareness is really important.
01:07:40
Speaker
Yeah, I'm going to tune the bass drums. ah Don't talk to me right now. All right. Well, that was a solid 60 second tech block. Thank you, Joey. Hopefully someone out there just got the tech advice that they did not even know that they needed.
01:07:53
Speaker
ah But now it's time to switch things up. It's time for everyone's favorite. What are we doing? what are we doing
01:08:08
Speaker
what are we doing That groove, isn't it? It lays in deep. ah Shout out Josh Leda. Leda music. The three-shot lead-in is perfect.
01:08:19
Speaker
Cat, cat, cat. All right. Well, this is the part the where we ah let loose a little bit, or could be a lot. Depends. um It's your chance to rant about something in the marching arts that just does not make sense to you.
01:08:31
Speaker
could be a tradition that needs to go or a habit that performers just can't seem to break. ah At the end of the day, it's something that makes you say, why are we doing this? Or why haven't we started doing this yet?
01:08:42
Speaker
Whatever it is, it's your moment to call it out. So who's got something that they need to get off their chest? Woody, I feel like you probably have something to get off your chest. You know, about the only thing I'm going to say is, you know,
01:08:57
Speaker
When you sit in the stands and you watch how much money goes in and out of that gym, why are we forcing it to all go together inside of like three minutes so you can break something?
01:09:11
Speaker
And especially with our younger, you know, you watch our A-class kids come on and, oh oh God, oh God, oh God, snap. And then it doesn't work. And you see that look on the kid's face, you know, like,
01:09:25
Speaker
Is another minute going to really kill us? Is it really? I mean, that's just that's just me. I wish it wouldn't kill us, but I'm hearing that in the winds world, they can't even take all the groups.
01:09:37
Speaker
There's not enough time. ah ah i don't know. I just want to hear you. You know, too hectic. Yes, it is too hectic. Oh, well.
01:09:49
Speaker
No, I definitely hear you. It's funny. George Mason was almost making a little fun of that with their get off the floor and they're throwing babies and everything. Yeah, yeah. Get off the floor, you know. It was a funny answer. Even another 30 seconds would probably take change the color ah of everything. yeah Yeah. I mean, you watch some of those groups. ah oh What is it? Two groups had had ah had sound issues at the start of their show. Finals night for percussion on Saturday. I don't remember who two they were, but I mean.
01:10:17
Speaker
I was sitting there stressing out and i mean, I mean the instructors again about exuding confidence or just like, yeah, so check just check that. Yeah. Just check that. And i'm I'm like, it's been, it's been two and a half minutes. You should start. And then seeing them run off the floor, like what's, you know, in those moments, you know, that's where like that catastrophic electronic rule should really apply. it's like, you should maybe just walk before you tear off, tear apart thousands of dollars worth of electronic equipment. You know, like we understand something happened.
01:10:47
Speaker
Just have a good day. The next group's on anyway. also RCC's already started. so who cares? You know, they're, they're in the They're already drumming back there. Those
Percussion Front Ensemble Evolution
01:10:58
Speaker
guys.
01:10:59
Speaker
Yeah, that's funny. I guess when you really think about it, like, ah the front ensemble is kind of where the activity is pushing forward. I feel like in percussion because the battery is battery. Like there's ways that you can push it, but the front ensemble is becoming more and more like an actual concert, uh,
01:11:14
Speaker
in how it's equipped and the actual like sound logistics that are happening every year. So the more that that becomes the front line that everyone needs to stick to, the more I feel like the, what are you actually like pretty right that we should probably have something we could do to accommodate all of that complicated electronics that needs to be set up in two minutes.
01:11:36
Speaker
Um, but I don't know. That's also the challenge. That's the challenge. You're right. You know, that's the preparation and that's the consistency that Joe was talking about, you know, but for some reason, groups
Competitive Mindset and Emotional Reflections
01:11:50
Speaker
get it. It is a skill.
01:11:52
Speaker
It's practiced and it's a skill. So, uh, but let's keep this one moving. Joey, what do you got for? What are we doing? My, mine is just, what are we doing? Not sharing. Uh, you know, I see there's, I mean, like, I know it's a long week,
01:12:05
Speaker
I know it's whatever on Saturday. i just saw there were groups that just were not happy about their placement. I feel, know, I don't really know what the answer was. Maybe it was just a long week, but I mean, there are big things happening on the floor and they're just, you know, or you're in you're in the finals retreat and you're not happy with whatever came up on the weekend. Like you can have your moment and that's fine. I just feel like we, I, maybe I'm just, I'm just a little bit, um,
01:12:33
Speaker
ah what's the word? I'm a little bit blessed or naive or what have you because of my time with the wins where you know you get beat by a group that it's their first year and you've been around for five and like they're still cheering. I'm from that space.
01:12:51
Speaker
But like what are we doing and not cheering for our competitors and and hyping up? I mean, everybody had crazy cool stuff this year. And we all know what the struggles were. We all know You know, I mean, on the East Coast, we lost like three weeks of rehearsals this year because of snow and and unplanned weather stuff.
01:13:09
Speaker
um Like, what are we doing not cheering through those those hurdles, you know? um That's not what we're doing. Yeah, no, I feel you. i actually think that I offer or I have a bit of a different perspective on that one from being in a group that really it's just becoming the RhythmX experience is coming in second by tenth.
01:13:30
Speaker
When I was there in 22, it was in second by a 10th. This year was in second by a 10th. I think in 2018, it was in second by a 10th or very so something close to that. It's tough because I see a lot of people online mention about like, oh, you got a medal, but you look disappointed.
01:13:48
Speaker
And it's like, well, they didn't achieve their goal. The goal was to win. um And, you know, they are all happy with the product they put together. They're happy this week coming home still with the experience they had. But in that moment, you learn that you didn't achieve the goal.
01:14:05
Speaker
So I think I see both sides of the story. I definitely agree with you, Steve, with that that kind of a thing. you know It's just a moment because when you get older and you look back, you know what? When you move from one house to another house 10 years later and you open up that box and there's that silver medal, you know you won't remember the disappointing part. You'll remember all the memories getting to that silver medal.
01:14:30
Speaker
That's very important. That's very important.
01:14:37
Speaker
Austin, what do you want to, what are we doing this week? Oh boy. Oh, this is yeah, this is, this is one that really bothered me and Woody can attest to this. What are we doing? Setting crooked floors at finals.
01:14:55
Speaker
That one. oh my. The, in it was everywhere. I promise you there. No, I'm not even kidding. And it wasn't the fact that they weren't centered because I'm sure they were, ah but I'm on the side.
01:15:10
Speaker
I have ah I have a very specific view. The line of the lot. There are literal lines on the, there are literal black tape lines on the base floor, right?
Setup Precision and Its Competitive Impact
01:15:20
Speaker
What are we not lining the front and back of our floor parallel with those lines?
01:15:27
Speaker
That's that extra minute. that's that You're not wrong. That's Woody's extra minute. And this this is the part that's going to get me in trouble. Because it came from a lot of the groups that were in the bottom half of the of pretty much every almost every single class in the percussion side. I didn't see it as much in wins.
01:15:53
Speaker
But... In the percussion class, there was a lot of there was a lot of people who didn't set their like didn't set their floors properly. And honestly, this is my hot take.
01:16:04
Speaker
And I'm going to say it. It's going to get me in trouble. I'm not going to say that's why you're not placing higher. But at the same time, it's a small detail at the end of the day.
01:16:18
Speaker
How many more details are you missing when you're cleaning the shelf?
01:16:23
Speaker
You know what, man? You'd be surprised how many people, like at the top echelon, that's part of what has to be done. But when you're down there at the bottom, there's so many other things that jump in front of that.
01:16:38
Speaker
But keep in mind, it was at finals. I didn't watch a lot of prelims. I watched mostly. I know, but, you know, coming from a program that that is just starting,
01:16:53
Speaker
the staff that was already there, ah preparing to come on the floor was not something they had ever done before. And the guys, they came in, they were all shocked.
01:17:03
Speaker
Like, you mean you never worked to on the floor? No, because the color guard usually just helps them get on the floor. I'm like, that's even worse. Yep. Yep. But, I mean, you look at that, i mean, we talk about the differences between the top of the bottom.
01:17:19
Speaker
There there's 12 points between ah the bottom of world-class and the top, you know, like something's, something's different in that space and that training. And like we've talked about already, like there are a couple of first time newbies in world-class finals this year. Like there are, there are those, those things. And, and I, you know, I, I think it's cool to like, once you start getting up to the top, um like one of the things I saw was how consistent the, the setup process what got as we moved up up in the ranks. Like I was like, Oh shit, that front ensemble knows exactly.
01:17:51
Speaker
what they're doing. That battery knows exactly how to have to put their drum down to do the choreo sit roll, put it on, jump, do a backflip, and now it's time for the snare feature. Like that consistency shows up in and more ways than one. i think it's cool. Those little details.
01:18:06
Speaker
That's why I like watching clips from the side is that if the drill's clean from the side, you know it's squeaky clean from the f front. That is my thing. You know, I say that all the time. If it's clean from the side, it's clean.
01:18:19
Speaker
Well, I think you guys are definitely right. Those little details matter a ton um and just make you look professional at the end of the day. But Matt, what do you got for us? I got a what are we doing saying i don't get that show?
The Artistic Value of Shows
01:18:35
Speaker
ah It's an artistic medium and like you don't have to get it. It's about like creating feelings inside of the viewer, right? And like I don't know.
01:18:47
Speaker
I hear it a lot, especially you know in Dayton. Like, oh yeah, like I liked this group, but I didn't really get their show, but it was really cool. Well, then it was cool. What's not to get? You know, like, yeah not everything is horses.
01:19:00
Speaker
You know, like, some shows are about horses. Some shows are not. But, like, did you enjoy watching it? Like, did those performers, like, affect you? Did the music make you feel something? i just think, like, it's...
01:19:13
Speaker
It's not 2004 anymore. We're not doing, like, story shows where, like, the couple goes off, like, holding hands at the end. and So, like, let's, like, lean into, like, the artistry of it and just appreciate, like, good music, art, visual performance, whatever you want to call it. Like, any other medium that's not, like, drums in a gym, you would...
01:19:35
Speaker
You don't leave the ballet like, what was that about? What was that dance, that modern dance they did? I don't know what that meant. like It doesn't mean anything. It's just like cool art that you enjoyed watching.
01:19:46
Speaker
Yeah, no, I totally agree. um It's like when you go to a museum, you would you would want the painting to provoke like questions in your mind.
01:19:58
Speaker
And it might even be a great painting or art piece or poem if it doesn't answer the questions that it makes you start asking and it just leads you to draw your own conclusions. I feel like that's like where really good artistry is kind of hard to make in this idiom, but like groups are doing it and it is on the audience then to be mature enough to know that they didn't need to know exactly what the designer meant this moment to mean. It can be more for you to just draw your own conclusions on.
01:20:25
Speaker
I think I think you know, general effect in its most purest form is audience engagement, you know, and if, if the audience is engaged and it's generally effective, you know, and I think, I think the more we start buying into that world, the more some of these old school feelings and vibes will go away too, but it is, is definitely ingrained in the activity and um I can't wait for it to be out.
01:20:48
Speaker
Cause I, I hate that too. Oh my God. Yeah. thank It'll phase out. Don't worry. No, Pendulum swing. Daniel, I remember earlier you were talking about what are we doing and you had one already cooked up, ready to go.
01:21:04
Speaker
What do you got for us? Cooked up. All right. What are we doing? And this kind of goes in two folds, but WGI ah Dayton World Championships is coined as the celebration of excellence, right?
Sportsmanship and Community Support
01:21:18
Speaker
And if we're not achieving excellence, I don't know if that's what we should be doing, right? If we can't achieve excellence at a certain level, we shouldn't be doing it in Dayton.
01:21:30
Speaker
okay And that goes in two terms, in terms of that, but also in terms of what ah Joey talked about earlier with the celebration of each other. And what are we doing not clapping for each other?
01:21:41
Speaker
What we doing not clapping for the other groups when maybe the snare feature was just a touch dirty, but it doesn't nearly get as much applause as anything else, right? It's still a celebration of excellence.
01:21:53
Speaker
We're still celebrating each other. It still has to feel uplifting. It still has to feel... happy. we It's a celebration of each other. and I really would like in the future if it really felt a little bit more like that, especially in finals.
01:22:07
Speaker
You know, Daniel, why don't you mention that? Because it's something I notice a lot. Because if you go to a color if you go to a color guard show, whether they catch it or not, they they cheer for each other.
01:22:24
Speaker
They're going nuts. You got it
01:22:28
Speaker
Our room is just dark. It's either right or it's wrong. Oh, 100%. You listen to a tenor feature and you know the one Spock roll was dirty and it just gets no applause because of the final ending, the final two counts of that Spock roll, right? It's sad.
01:22:45
Speaker
It's sad to see it. is It's nothing new. It has always been like that and it's amazing to me because i went to the Guard Regional with my group this year and The group was bad, but they they throw the thing up in the air, hits the ground.
01:23:01
Speaker
Yay! are Like you said, <unk> you dropped into the Spock roll. You know what? They should lose. Yep. That's how we are. Last place.
01:23:14
Speaker
100%. And it's sad. It really is. And especially you think about those members on the floor when they hear that applause come in and maybe it's not as much as the next one that they hear because they recognize that maybe that rep wasn't nearly as good as the the previous rep and they know what it sounds like clean.
01:23:30
Speaker
It's got to suck. It's got to hurt. I've been behind a dirty rep in my day. It hurts. It does hurt. Yeah. um All right. I've got what are we doing ah that might get me or us in a little bit of trouble, but I have beef with this
Controversial Exclusion and Teacher Impact
01:23:49
Speaker
occurrence.
01:23:49
Speaker
um What are we doing not including George Mason in the catwalk recap video from PIW finals? Yeah.
01:24:02
Speaker
Yeah, WGI included all 14 groups except the fan favorite that was a spicy show that called out aspects of the activity. so Oh, Steve, you're going to Oh, man, you're done. The WGI Illuminati is going to get you. didn't make the decision to not include it. I wasn't even the first person to point it out.
01:24:22
Speaker
But I just think, you know, theres you could have taken that a way different way. you don't have to be so negative about the show. you can just The show can just help people get better. Don't want to dwell on it too long, but I thought that this segment would be remiss if I didn't include that. Great job, everyone. Yeah, absolutely. Gush and go.
01:24:41
Speaker
Gush and go. Whatever it is, this is your moment to call it out. Oh, no, that's the, that's some water we're doing. Gush and go. but Just your chance to go on about anything that's important to you. a quick little spot about something.
01:24:53
Speaker
Doesn't have to be marching arts related, or it can be if you want it to be. ah But Woody, what do you want to gush and go on about this week? Well, uh, What I'll gush about is through this year, you know, I've picked up a new band director job.
01:25:09
Speaker
And it was some tough going. My kids are now watching the podcast. Now that they know that I'm on it, I never really thought. They accidentally found out. They didn't even know my name was Woody.
01:25:21
Speaker
I'm Mr. Woodward. but Mr. Woodward. That's what I'll call you now. Hey, Mr. Woodward. they They weren't quite buying into the system because Mr. Woodward is so mean.
01:25:34
Speaker
Nothing's ever right. They won their first show last weekend. I wasn't there. But they they were so energized. Nice. I'm very happy for them. It's awesome. I'm very proud of them because they endured a lot.
01:25:50
Speaker
Because Mr. Woodward is mean. They dropped that spot roll. They dropped that spot roll? No, it sucked. Take it back.
01:26:00
Speaker
Everybody else will clap for you, but Mr. Woodward will tell you how it is. No, they say that. Oh, Woody's never happy. It's got to be right. Sorry.
01:26:13
Speaker
No, they need it. You're their teacher. that's You're the guy that's got to hold them accountable. As long as it's consistent. ah Joey, what do you want to gush and go on about?
01:26:23
Speaker
Oh man. Uh, I'm just happy that the winter season's done. I took on way too many groups again. I'm going to get better at one day. Um, the balance, uh, but are you? No, probably not. It's so hard to say no. You know, like most of the, most of the, I shouldn't have done that happens in like January where it's like, Oh, I don't have a drill writer. Can you please get me a movement in a week? Cause we can't get ahold of our drill writer. We can't get ahold of a choreographer. And it's like,
01:26:51
Speaker
I have to, I could do today, you know, I could write it today, you know, like, so I'll get better at it one day or I'll just find a way to deal with the bandwidth. I am getting a lot better on the, on the communication side and the efficiency side of this.
01:27:04
Speaker
But yeah, I'm happy that the, that we ended strongly and groups did well. um I'm, I'm going to take about a week. I do this every time I, for like, I wanted to do this and then I'll disappear for a week. No one, no one will know how to,
01:27:17
Speaker
touch like text me, email, you can't reach me. i' I'm gone. I'm off the face the earth for about a week and then it's time to start writing fall shows. i have Speaking of doing too much, I've got two more slots open on my ah design schedule. i got I can write your drill choreography. I can design your props, your uniforms, the whole shindig. Any part of your visual package, I'll come out and teach if you need to.
01:27:43
Speaker
um But yeah, that's what I've got. I'm trying to fill up the rest of my early summer and then two clients for the fall. Holla at me. All right. Get in there. Yeah. A great resource, Joey. And it sounds, it's so funny how in the same gush and go, you'll be like, I need to stop taking on so many groups.
01:28:00
Speaker
But then 30 seconds later, you're like, I got space in the for some more groups. hey I was thinking the same thing. It's the grind, bro. I can't not. It is the grind. All right. ah Austin, what do you want to gush and go on about?
01:28:14
Speaker
um i want to gush and go about the um I think I gushed about this last year, but I'm going to do it again. I'm going to gush and go about the camaraderie of the wind side of things and just how how supportive a community it is.
01:28:31
Speaker
It's it's really, really, really awesome what they really, really awesome that how everybody is friends with them, with everyone, and no one has bad. No one has bad blood with anyone. It's just like, oh, this is this is who like, obviously, people are going to have their differences and they're going to whatever.
01:28:46
Speaker
But no one truly has any like super, super bad, bad blood with anyone. Um, it's just a fantastic, it's just a fantastic space where everyone can just, and there's a whole Facebook page about it.
01:28:58
Speaker
Like the winds instruct, there's a whole Facebook page, WGI winds, instructors and designers. Um, everyone's in there always sharing information, um, going kind of going back, shout out to LSM.
01:29:10
Speaker
They helped out ICT at prelims, I think. Was it prelims, right? Because their sound system was busted. Joey, you want to talk more about that?
01:29:21
Speaker
Yeah, it was semi. So talking about not planning on and off, this prelims was this group's second show the season because of snow and and travel.
01:29:32
Speaker
So their first one was a WGI regional. So craziness on there. Again, first time, first everything. They run off the floor. They start folding the floor the wrong way.
01:29:43
Speaker
ah Like they start doing a horizontal timeline. I'm like, no, it's vertical. Get, get, get, you gotta go. We did not plan this. And i was like, there's anything you practice. It's the on and off through the craziness. A speak on cable was ripped and torn.
01:29:56
Speaker
and And if I was there, I could have sat there and like soldered it and done the thing. I don't know that my brother knows how to do that. And so, i mean, the whole system was down. There was just no way they were going to get left, right.
01:30:06
Speaker
And there were some left, right effects in the show. So, ah We put out a little APB, a little emergency, come help the ahcc crew. And Ellison came through. Zach Novicki came through, right? That's Zach Novicki. Steven and Leah came through and really helped us out. And again, just a testament to how ah brotherly love the ah the wind space is.
01:30:26
Speaker
We're very fortunate, very fortunate to to get that help. That's awesome. Oh, yeah. jo I just love I just love this. I just love the activity in that regard just because of how how fun it is and how the winds people are just so good to it, so good to each other, regardless of competitiveness or whatnot. It's just it's just a good environment to be in.
01:30:47
Speaker
Because you don't have a spock roll. Yeah, that's it. He don't have spock rolls. Let's see, you're right. Not yet. Just wait. Once you start doing spock rolls and wins, y'all are going to start getting awfully mean to each other.
01:31:01
Speaker
Probably so.
01:31:04
Speaker
All right, Matt, what do you want to gush and go on about?
Celebrating Growth and Future Content
01:31:08
Speaker
um i'm gonna say like the state of bass drumming i've walked around the a lot i don't i don't watch snares i don't watch pits i'm like a ah bass drum caveman right yeah i i watched a lot of bass lines and every one of them was good man like you know the miless I walked around on, you know, prelims day, got to see some groups that I normally wouldn't get to see um just because everyone's all mixed up, getting to see like Connexus and stuff like that. Like, man, the bar is so high already.
01:31:47
Speaker
man Just, you know. The lots are super cool, like getting to see like Monarch's lot. I don't know if you've seen those videos where Monarch's lot just explodes.
01:31:59
Speaker
yeah That stuff's so fun to me. like i I don't think when I started it was like that. ah you know I love the lot hype. I love that you know groups let people right up in there.
01:32:12
Speaker
um Yeah. Broken city lot was crowded and there weren't crazy. i don't, I think the broken city lots like pretty calm, but you walk past that X lot and it's going crazy.
01:32:24
Speaker
ah monarchs got people like jumping over each other to jam with the drum line. So, um, Just like the the vibes, even though like Drumline is mostly haters, just like as a brief, we still show up for each other and cheer and have a good time. I think inside is quiet, but out in the lot, you would never know that people are sitting on their hands for a dirty Spock roll. Like I watched a stacked hand to hand get like an extreme applause out there just because it's there, you know?
01:32:59
Speaker
I think people are out in the parking lot absolutely giving it up, whether it's good or bad. And I think that's awesome. I love the community. I love the, you know, base stuff, getting to like meet you in person. I met a couple people this year that I've just like been talking to online. So just dating overall and the people, the friends, the family was super, super cool.
01:33:23
Speaker
Yeah, I feel like there's a bit of a growing bass drum culture. There already was a bass drum culture, but i feel like it's continuing to grow now that like more of the text, I feel like we're doing some of this crazy hard stuff and now we're teaching it. So it's, it's, we're in a better position for today's baselines to execute the hard stuff from five years ago. Cause five years ago, our text didn't actually tend to know like,
01:33:48
Speaker
Anyway, you go back the further and back you go, there's just more information now. and it's It's really becoming something special. um yeah I feel like the bass drum thing is the equivalent to the the tenors in the 90s.
01:34:02
Speaker
Once they started you know doing all the sweeps and stuff, like the tenor drumming thing was the most progressive, but the bass drums were always still in the back.
01:34:12
Speaker
Now, the bass drums have stepped forward and they are now the new new progressive thing most definitely yeah just talking about the lot like big shout out to groups like marching vlogs and and people like that they capture that magic uh and knowing that they come out on their own dime to make that happen is pretty incredible and awesome uh daniel what do you want to gush and go on about this week Yeah, so, I mean, the season just ended. I mean, not for us. We still have a championship this weekend, which is kind of funny.
01:34:46
Speaker
Not looking forward to it. Actually, totally am. It's like after finals. It's so weird, but it'll be fun. It'll be a fun weekend to get the show back together. But over the course of like the last six months, you know, eight months, I think the thing I've been relishing in the most right now is just the amount of progress that I've seen in members and the amount of a growth that I've got to experience and got to be a part of has just been incredible this year.
01:35:15
Speaker
It really has. um Our group really made strides. I mean, our auditions, they weren't rough, but they still were kind of on the the lower end of what we've seen in the and ah past. And I really think we ended somewhere better than North Star really ever has.
01:35:33
Speaker
the growth member to member that everybody grew, not just as a player, but like as people ah in relationships with each other and just the total maturity about everything as a person from the beginning of the season to the end of the season.
01:35:47
Speaker
It was just incredible. I like, I'm so proud of them. They did a great job and in Dayton. I look forward to seeing ah them all come back next year and get to see all this progress again. Like it just makes me excited. You know what i mean? they're They're great members.
01:36:03
Speaker
Yeah, it's nice. I really love, a being able to be a part of like independent students progression. Cause they're a little bit older. I mean, I'm not sure exactly what the demographic base at North star is, but it's nice.
01:36:16
Speaker
High school's great, but I also love impacting like a young adult in their path. And it's like drumline just becomes the venue through which they grow and mature. And it's, it's all cool.
01:36:28
Speaker
Um, And for me to gush and go real quick, I'm just happy with UP bass. They played real good. um That was our goal. um That's all we can control is essentially our sub slot and sounding good there.
01:36:41
Speaker
So I was real happy with the whole ensemble, but real happy with my students specifically. um And for on a water break, we're going to have a performer episode coming out sometime soon ah with where we meet up with a bunch of different performers that we actually spoke with earlier in the season, um, and get their feedback or, or just hear what their experiences were like from those same performers now that they got through finals. Um, so we're going to get on that soon.
01:37:09
Speaker
and I would think you're going to love the episode. should check it out, but thanks. Hey, it's called gush and go, not gushing the day. Let's go. feel like I always forget that there's an outro music to that one. And i always just roll right into the, uh,
01:37:24
Speaker
and into the outro, but, uh, thank you all for a great rehearsal this week. Uh, it's crazy doing this live. Uh, thank you all. If you're listening live, that's so cool. Really appreciate it Um, it's awesome that we've got listeners. Um, thank you to Woody.
01:37:37
Speaker
Thank you to Joey. Thank you to Austin. Um, Matt, where could our listeners find you or the different things you're involved with online? Um, you can find me at SoCalBaseCamp on Instagram.
01:37:50
Speaker
Um, hopefully, hopefully I don't have anything in concrete yet, but hopefully doing another, uh, second year of Base Camp in Southern California. Bye.
01:38:01
Speaker
kind of like the in-between weeks between DCI ending and indoor auditions. um So if you want to keep your eyes there, and then my personal is at Surfing Drums um if you want to follow me personally.
01:38:18
Speaker
Nice. Definitely should check out, uh, Matt's stuff. You do a lot of cool stuff for the community of bass drummers in SoCal. So awesome having you on the show. Um, and Daniel, where, uh, could our listeners find you online?
01:38:33
Speaker
So, uh, communications, I'm probably on Instagram by balls underscore boy, um, as well as email through, ah Daniel at NSI independent.org. I know. Okay. Yeah.
01:38:49
Speaker
Honestly, it's just impressive that you got that one, man. You must have been an OG user. i You know what I mean? It's old account. I think it's the first username I ever had. And so it's just, I stuck with animal the man I know it's great. You got to hold up to it. You know what I mean? It yours.
01:39:06
Speaker
It's a brand at this point. It's a brand. It is. Awesome. Well, check Daniel out. Give Daniel a follow as well. um If you've got a question or a good topic to talk about, email us at on a water break podcast at gmail.com or you could find us on social media and DM us if you want to be on the show.
01:39:24
Speaker
We've got a form that you can fill out now if you want to be a guest. and We love having people on the podcast. So check it out in the link on our bio on social media or you could just take out your phone. You can make a video. You can send it to us. You might see yourself on the podcast soon.
01:39:37
Speaker
And ah one more thing, if you're listening live, you must not possibly be forgetting that we have a YouTube channel now. But if you're listening to this after the fact, ah we've got a YouTube channel. Go check it out. Subscribe. You can see us all there. We release a lot of video content now and we do some live streams. So it's a good place to be.
01:39:56
Speaker
um Before you close out of your listening app, subscribe there, please. Write us a review. Share it with a friend. Follow us on social media at On A Water Break. And we will see you at the next rehearsal on A Water Break.
01:40:07
Speaker
Now go practice.
01:40:15
Speaker
The On a Water Break podcast was produced by Jeremy Williams and Christine Rehm. The intro and outro music was produced by Josh Lida. To learn more, visit LidaMusic.com.
01:40:27
Speaker
And until next time, thanks for tuning