Welcome to the super fan guide, where we get to dig deeper into the competing bands and contest dynamics of this weekend’s Indianapolis Super Regional. This week we’ll focus on the super regional’s role as both an introduction and finale to the season, the strong contingent of Indiana bands, and the many out-of-state challengers.

Need a refresher on the competitive format for the upcoming Super Regionals? Check out our Cheat Sheet!

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The Avon/Carmel "rivalry"

For decades these two top bands have competed head-to-head hundreds of times, with nearly an even split of champion titles to each band. While Carmel has had the upper hand for much — but not all — of the last few years, in local and state circuit competitions, Avon has been placing ahead of Carmel so far this year.

Avon always challenges its students with incredibly bold and ambitious performances. There are very few other bands that attempt near as difficult a show as Avon. With that level of difficulty comes a whole lot of work to bring everything together, work that frequently isn’t apparent until the very end of the season. Some years, that final work that really makes everything click doesn’t happen until the last week of the season or even until after prelims at Grand Nats!

Visually, Carmel’s look is pretty traditional. They are one of the few bands competing at this level that haven’t embraced show-specific costuming. In fact, they just doubled down this year on that approach, purchasing brand new uniforms that are nearly identical to the ones they’ve been wearing for the last 14 years. But the marching greyhounds are in no way behind the times. In fact, it could be argued they are perfectly on the pulse of what’s happening in the marching arts in any given year. Never pushing too far ahead or acting ahead of the times, while also not falling behind where the activity is evolving. They’ve mastered that focus on exactly what’s needed to be successful in this day and age, and translated that into award-winning productions year after year.

The potential spoiler

Blue Springs has a unique history of surprising results around and occasionally above Avon and Carmel, at least in prelims competition. Just last November, the Golden Regiment finished above Avon in national prelims. In 2016, Blue Springs finished above Carmel in prelims at the Indianapolis Super Regional. In both of those seasons, they also placed second behind Broken Arrow at St. Louis just like they did last week.

With a Macy*s Parade trip planned for next month, this will be Blue Springs' final competitive performance of the season, which means unlike Carmel and Avon, they won’t be saving any changes or rewrites for future shows. That could mean that Blue Springs has a cleaner and more refined product than the many Indiana bands who have three weeks to clean and refine. But unlike past seasons, with Blue Springs now in class AAA, we won’t have any idea how close to Avon and Carmel they are until finals awards.

Friday night Indiana elites

There are numerous other Indiana bands in attendance, most of whom perform Friday afternoon and evening. If you forget that this is a two-day super regional and don’t tune in until Saturday, you will be severely missing out.

Homestead, of course, is the top of this group. After winning the Toledo Regional earlier this season, Homestead is in a great position to make a splash and demonstrate they deserve to be in finals both this weekend and at nationals.

Center Grove and Lawrence Township have some tremendous histories of marching excellence, including each being named national champion at least once. They’re also two groups that are creating some of the most innovative designs in recent years.

Center Grove has begun creating shows that most closely mirror the indoor activity, limiting the stage with tarps and drapes and therefore being able to completely control what the audience and judges are paying attention to. This year, they do away with tarps, but continue to use large backdrop props that can customize the huge stage of a football field for just what they need.

Lawrence Township really struck a chord last year with their crowd favorite production “Livin' on Royal Street”. This year’s show “Harlem at Midnight” also features some incredible music that the students and audience can connect to. It’s an incredibly engaging experience because you can see the kids love the show and really buy into performing it as best they can.

Compared to CG and MPLT, Castle and Fishers are two bands who have just more recently achieved competitive success. Castle had an incredible incremental rise in the years leading up to their first national finals appearance in 2016. Fishers break out year was just last year, as they shot to the top half of finals at Indy Super and placed in the teens at Grand Nats. Both groups can be expected to impress this weekend.

Outstanding Ohioans

Centerville and Lakota East will both be traveling over to Indianapolis this season. Centerville’s decades of excellence and tradition continue into this season as one of the most recognizable programs across the county. While some bands seem to get lost in a sea of similar productions, Centerville’s jazzy approach to marching band is very unique.

Lakota East had an incredible season in 2018 earning a bronze medal at the Bowling Green Regional before their first super regional finals appearance at this very competition. This will be a critical year to see how well they’re able to build on that success and establish themselves as one of the top Ohio programs.

Illinois challengers

The merger of the Lincoln-Way bands happened at a tough time for the district. As enrollment was dropping,  the district made the hard decision to close some high schools, leading to a huge rezoning. And with little precedent aside from Lawrence Township, the task of combining those bands was quite daunting. Just a few years in and the band is already off to a great start earning may regional and super regional finals appearances.

O’Fallon Township has decided to attend Indy Super instead of grand nationals in the year following their first national finals appearance. This year instead of covering the field with tarps, O’Fallon is covering the field with dozens of large red boxes that move around the field throughout the show.

Marian Catholic is the other top group in Illinois and will both be looking to make a bold statement at this super regional after falling out of finals for the first time in decades. This could be a checkpoint to set them up for a return to finals. 

Other finalist competitors

There are so many other deserving bands in attendance. Here’s a quick lightning round of some other groups in the running for a finalist position.

North Hardin, from Kentucky, will also be looking to continue making strides this year and earn a spot as a super regional finalist. They held their own against consistent super regional finalist Castle earlier this season at the Louisville Regional.

Plainfield and Brownsburg both earned spot in finals last season and will be aiming to repeat as finalists. Competing against some of the top bands in the nation each and every weekend is not easy, but as local bands in the greater Indianapolis area, that’s what these two groups do all season long.

Blue Springs South has made appearances in finals at both this super regional and in St. Louis and this year’s show seems better than ever.

Lockport Township has yet to make finals here at the super regional, but they have advanced to Grand National semifinals, proving they have what it takes to compete among the best.

Ben Davis last made finals here in 2016, but has a strong group this year that could rally back into finals.

Mustang always impresses us with beautiful shows and vibrant colors. Their strong finish in national semifinals last season is indicative of how great they are as a program and gives us high hopes for their performance here in Indy.

Greenfield Central and Fort Zumwalt North are two other class AA bands that’ll be competing alongside Marian Catholic for the class championship. Unfortunately with former national champion in attendance, a class championship will be a tough challenge, but advancing to finals on score is not out of the question.