We’re coming into Week #3 of the 2019 WGI competitive season on FloMarching. This weekend, some of the best winter guards that the East Coast has to offer will be live from Monmouth Junction, NJ at the 2019 WGI South Brunswick Guard Regional.

Watch the 2019 WGI South Brunswick Regional LIVE on Feb. 23-24 @ 10:15AM ET

WATCH LIVE | Schedule

This Regional will be another two-day contest. This weekend (unlike last weekend), there is only one contest site, which means fans won’t have to choose between two different streams to catch all their favorite guards.

There will be a total of 61 units in competition including 6 Scholastic Regional A, 5 Independent Regional A, 27 Scholastic A, 5 Independent A, 4 Scholastic Open, 6 Independent Open, 1 Scholastic World, and 7 Independent World—Emanon will no longer be performing this weekend.

Scholastic A

Southern Regional HS (NJ) comes off of a 15th Place finish in SA at the 2018 WGI World Championships (out of the 132 total SA guards who competed in Dayton), which is considerably impressive. Their program, “Table for One” featured the track, “She Used to Be Mine,” from Sara Bareilles's album, "What’s Inside: Songs from Waitress."

To make it into the top 25 of SA means that you have a lot of great things going on with your program—Southern Regional HS was no exception. The flag writing was really wonderful—both musically appropriate in terms of style, and musical in terms of picking up on accents and releases. The weapon lines were also fantastic, with excellent technique and timing.

Their 2019 program, “ǔndyïng lōve,” is…apparently about love involving zombies.

No, I’m not joking.

As a huge fan of the zombie genre (the first film I ever saw in a theater when was George A. Romero’s seminal classic, “Dawn of the Dead"—I was four-years-old, which explains so much about my personality looking back on it), I am definitely intrigued to see how they manage to pull this concept and perhaps a few limbs off, on the floor.

Scholastic Open

Cumberland Valley HS (Mechanicsburg, PA) placed 14th in Scholastic A at the 2018 WGI World Championships but will be competing in Open Class in 2019. This promotion to Open occurred due to a WGI rule stipulating that any A Class guard that makes Finals for three consecutive years will automatically be promoted to Open Class. 

Their 2018 program, “You Will Be,” was a show about depression, suicidal ideation, and mental health—a popular theme amongst high school groups (given the age demographic and statistics on the issue).

Their greatest strength, last year, was their ability to sell their show with their performance. The flag writing was pretty advanced for A Class, with a lot of tricky hand switches, re-grabs, and release points, and it was achieved pretty well for being so fast. The weapon writing wasn’t as tricky, but it was still fast in most parts of the show. 

Their ability to achieve last year’s book speaks well of their chances to compete well in Open Class, this season.

Scholastic World

Somerville HS (Somerville, NJ) is the lone SW guard in competition, at this Regional, after finishing 17th in Dayton at Scholastic World semifinals. Their 2018 program, “The Sum of Us,” was a very movement heavy program, which showed off the best qualities of their performers’ abilities.

Somerville moved very well in 2018 and their flag book was both lyrical and well achieved. I look forward to seeing what they have to bring to the table in 2019.

Independent World

The Brigadiers are a new face in Independent World Class, after finishing third in Independent Open in 2018. Their 2018 program, “From Behind the Wall,” featured three live singers providing the music—Tracy Chapman’s, “Behind the Wall (Last Night)”—followed by the studio recording of Kesha’s, “Praying.”

The opening segment of their show, with live vocals and a half floor from front-to-back, showcased The Brigadiers excellent timing and execution skills, with a flag line that relied upon live singers’ counting abilities and watching for timing. This ended with the reveal of a full-sized floor and introduced Kesha’s track, allowing for faster tempos and a greater range of expressive performance qualities.

The Brigadiers promotion to World Class was well-deserved, and I look forward to their 2019 program, “Gaining Perspective.”

In addition to The Brigadiers, we’ll also be seeing Light Brigade World, AMP Winter Guard, First Flight, Alter Ego, and Fusion Winter Guard competing in Independent World Class.