You’d think an event centered in the heart of one of the most prominent marching band states would feature a vast majority of competitors ONLY from that state.

You’d be wrong, if you’re referring to Saturday’s Bands of America Central Indiana Regional Championship in Muncie. 

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Sure, there’s a strong sampling of Indiana bands, as you’d expect, including a handful of 2018 ISSMA state finalists. But notable ensembles from Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and Missouri will all be looking to shake things up away from home this weekend at Ball State.

The event kicks off at 8 AM ET, and its Prelims will wrap up around 4 PM, with finals competition getting going later in the evening.

High-Profile Hoosiers

OK, so the first question — which of the Indiana bands should we have a close eye on?

From Indiana’s largest division, Class "A," there’s Fishers — which earned fourth place in ISSMA State Finals a year ago, just five points off of Grand National champion Carmel — and there’s Caroll, which took eighth. Carroll also took second at the early-season BOA Toledo Regional.

Fishers was also one of 37 semifinalists at last year’s Grand Nationals, earning 18th. The other Indiana band we’ll be seeing this weekend that earned a spot in Grand National Semifinals in 2018 is Goshen, which placed 30th overall.

The Visitors

As was previously mentioned, there are plenty of bands coming from outside the Hoosier State that can make plenty of noise on this weekend’s recaps. 

One name that sticks out is Centerville (OH), which earned Grand National Semifinalist status in 2018 in 26th place. There’s also Walled Lake Central (MI), which isn’t often a competitor at Grand Nationals, but has become a staple, particularly in percussion, of WGI’s top scholastic classification. Beechwood (KY) was also a semifinalist as recently as 2017.

Looking for bands with a little bit of 2019 BOA pedigree already under their belts, Henry Clay (KY) has already made its presence felt this fall on the BOA scene, earning a finalist position at the September 21 regional in Louisville.

Musical Moments

Looking through some of the repertoires coming to Munice this weekend, one of the first that stuck out to me was Goshen’s — a nice little sampling of Paul Simon, including “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” and John Lennon’s “Imagine?” Love it.

You’d like to get a little recent drum corps music fix? Perfect, you’ve got a nice array of that, with Carroll playing Verdi’s “Dies Irae” and Fishers playing “True Colors,” among others.

Oh, you’re more interested in some modern flair? OK, Beechwood is playing “Bad Blood” by Taylor Swift. And that’s amazing.

Oh, and Decatur Central’s playing Christmas music. So, regardless of how you feel about Holiday music being played before December, you can’t deny that that’s pretty fun. 

Convinced yet? Good. The BOA Central Indiana Regional Championship gets rolling Saturday, bright and early at 8 AM ET.