Read along with live blogger Krista Viveiros as the top marching bands in the WORLD competed in the 2019 BOA Grand National finals.

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Good evening everyone and welcome to another exciting evening of marching music live from Indianapolis! I hope you're as excited to see the culmination of the 2019 BOA season! Bourbon County H.S. (KY) already kicked us off with an incredible exhibition performance; congratulations to them on an incredible season. 

8:00 pm - William Mason H.S. (OH)

• Dressed in neon, so you can't miss them, William Mason is now taking the field! Their uniforms are SO bright. 
• How many people can say they slid onto the field for their finals performance? It's really fun visually
• Beautiful kickoff from that quartet up front, too! 
• Great commitment to performance from the hornline with a lot of that choreography. 
• Nice front ensemble interlude with a flute duet to bring us down a notch for a ballad
• The continued use of the slides throughout the show to hide performers doesn't get old
• What a crazy and fun push to the finish, thank you so much, William Mason!

8:15 pm - The Woodlands H.S. (TX)

• Next up, our first Texas band on the night!
• Always love an on the field front ensemble set up
• The stark white Navy uniforms are another standout on the field tonight! Coupled with the music certainly takes us back to another era
• The dynamic between the colorguard and the hornline is so so so fun. 
• Who doesn't love a good swing flag ballad moment?! And with so many colors too?!
• Those kids must be having a BLAST with that moment. Absolutely wailing away on a few fun jazzy chords
• Just as soon as they arrive, they're gone! Congratulations on a great season, The Woodlands! 

8:30 pm - Ayala H.S. (CA)

• Setting up now is Ayala H.S. all the way from California! And our only California band of the evening. 
• Another different front ensemble set up, too! Been starting to see this one more and more this the boards angled facing each other. 
• Ayala drumline kicking us off with a strong start, leading us into the first dissonant horn hits
• Here comes a uniform change! The colorguard switching from the all-black to a colorful pink design
• Always appreciate a drumline visual moment with swing flags!
• Those props opening up looked like flowers blooming, a beautiful visual moment
• But still bringing us back to the darkness in the end. Congrats to Ayala on an incredible season and a great run tonight!

8:45 pm - Homstead H.S. (IN)

• Welcome to the field, Homestead! 
• Beautiful start from the saxophone soloist leading into the flute feature and just a hint of a first hornline hit. 
• Nice drum feature from that backfield stage prop
• Some great brass moments throughout this dark movement, especially in the low brass. 
• The colorguard made a flower in the center of the field, just like the flower from the show intro! 
• Time for a fun and colorful push to the finish! 
• Hah! They even redecorated the Colts football helmet AND the field! 
• Congratulations and thank you, Homestead, for an incredible performance. 

9:00 pm - Union H.S. (OK)

• Now on the field, our only Oklahoma band of the night, Union!
• Loving the very orchestra-esque start, very formal
• Yet another great moment from a few Union flutists
• But take the musicians away from the rigidity of the chairs and the setting and we get to have a bit more visual fun
• Some beautiful visual moments in this ballad, loving the additional dimension added with the chairs, gives a lot more options. 
• The performers looked like they were having an absolute blast towards the end of that one
• Congratulations, Union, on an excellent performance and season

9:15 pm - Round Rock H.S. (TX)

• Flying onto the field next is the Round Rock Dragon band! They have some of the coolest looking uniforms year in and year out. 
• That flower prop really pops off of the field with all of that black and white dominating the field
• Is that the first cymbal line we've tonight? 
• Sweet mellophone feature!!!
• Very nice one-handed rolls in the front ensemble to kick off this ballad
• Incredibly strong low brass during this closer! What a great sound
• Beautiful show, Round Rock! Thank you so much and congratulations again on an incredible season. 

9:30 pm - Claudia Taylor Johnson H.S. (TX)

• There's currently a "CTJ" chant welcoming our next band to the field! Don't know if you can hear it on the live stream but you certainly can in the stadium. This crowd is EXCITED. 
• If you can't tell by the props, this show is called 'The Circle of Life' and that alone makes it incredibly exciting. 
• When you hit that intro sample and the crowd goes wild already... 
• Love that the show isn't just 'Lion King' music top to bottom, there's a lot of fun and unexpected repertoire in this show. 
• Yes, front ensemble and drumline get everyone excited for this fun movement
• Wow. Just wow. That dueling solo moment was just incredible
• And that push to the end! So much energy. Congratulations to all of the performers on an incredible show. It was truly a blast to watch. 

9:45 pm - Avon H.S. (IN)

• Here's a band that's absolutely no stranger to the BOA stage, or to Lucas Oil stadium in general, welcome to the field, Avon!
• Starting out with a beautiful set laying down, swirling all around the field. 
• Special shout out to the guitar soloist, what a great performer selling absolutely every note. That takes skill. 
• That piccolo solo was great, too. Everyone knows that playing the piccolo leaves no room for error and she nailed it. 
• This show is top to bottom musically excellent. So many variations on the same thing, which is the point but it's done at such a high level and is so fun. 
• The colorguard is having a great show also, a beautiful rifle catch along with the final push to the end here. 
• An incredible final push, Avon! Thank you so much for a great performance and congratulations on a great season. 

10:00 pm - Leander H.S. (TX)

• You know it's about to go down when you hear 'Einstein on the Beach' starting up
• Love that biohazard sign set
• Get that run, front ensemble!!!
• I take it back, when you hear BRITNEY SPEARS you know it's about to go down
• Yes, colorguard bringing the energy to the forefront of this movement
• As usual, a nice front ensemble moment leading us into the ballad, opening with a euphonium feature
• Having the hornline under the silk up front is a nice visual effect when they stand up and down. 
• Countdown to the meltdown! Super fun visual effects all around until the end!
• Congratulations on your final run, Leander! 

10:15 pm - Hebron H.S. (TX)

• Hebron wasting NO time taking the field. Setting up that many props is always a little bit of a time crunch. 
• The stars are certainly big and bright on the flags opening-up this show
• This front ensemble is tearing it up, echoing a lot of some incredibly tough hornline licks
• Beautiful star set! Absolutely helps to close that movement out strong
• Loving this small saxophone and flute ensemble here
• GREAT percussion feature 
• AH What a moment, with the rotating star drill!
• Incredible finish! Thank you so much, Hebron! Congratulations on another incredible season. 

10:30 pm - Vandegrift H.S. (TX)

• Here comes our last Texas band, and second to last band overall tonight, Vandegrift!
• Beautiful start with the guard soloist representing the queen
• And some killer drill straight into a HUGE horn hit. Vandegrift means business tonight. 
• Strong first movement from every area of the ensemble
• So many great moments from this hornline already, they don't have a second of downtime
• Another great trombone feature, pushing us into a percussion feature
• That show was a great example of just pure top to bottom greatness
• Congratulations, Vandegrift on an incredible season

10:45 pm - Carmel H.S. (IN)

• And finally, we are at our last competing ensemble of the evening: Carmel HS!
• Beautiful intro from the front ensemble, especially the vibraphones kicking us off
• Carmel's hornline always impresses and tonight is no different
• This french horn soloist is an incredible player, great presence and playing. 
• Unison crash cymbals in the front ensemble always look easy but definitely aren't
• Drumline bringing us back out of the ballad, some wild front ensemble moments with this feature too
• The Carmel guard is having a great run, too. Wonderful weapons moments all around 
• And our soloists are finally together again! A great push to the finish from the entire ensemble
• Congratulations to Carmel on a great run and another successful finals appearance. 

We'll be back again with scores in just a bit but in the meantime, you can enjoy two great exhibition performances. 

11:00 pm - EXHIBITION - Class AA: Marion Catholic H.S. (IL)

11:15 pm - EXHIBITION - The University of North Alabama