2019 BOA San Antonio

[LeanderMomma]

Not sure why that posted twice! Apologies...

You can click on the bottom area of your post and a delete button pops up.

[aspenmoonlight]

You can click on the bottom area of your post and a delete button pops up.

Thank you!

[BlueCircle]

Seriously, they're just so strong on all fronts. I really love Reagan, but I think this is gonna be just like last year and 2015. Like usual I love the show with more viewings and they're performing at an exceptional level.

I agree. What I find so fascinating about FloMo is that even though nothing they do is the most difficult thing we’ll see in San Antonio, they will likely have the most effective show. It’s so rare to find a program that can nail a design and execute near perfection year after year and stay at the top. They are the best band in Texas imo.

[Drumlinedan]

I just came back from the football game Vista vs Hendrickson. Vista didn't perform due to weather, but I'm not giving up my hopes on Hendrickson. They didn't make finals at Austin because of time, but there visual and music performance is pretty strong and I think they might have just a chance to be in either the final at San Antonio or even a close bubble group

[BandFan95]

Westwood gave us a treat after tonight’s game. Big props to the Leander band for hanging out in the cold to watch the show.

[abtwitch]

Westwood gave us a treat after tonight’s game. Big props to the Leander band for hanging out in the cold to watch the show.

And cold it was! Glad I could make it out to the game, always fun to see other alumni and catch up with them. Really enjoyed their performance, a bit rough on the edges, but it’s difficult to perform your show after an entire football game in 40 degree weather.

[principalagent]

And cold it was! Glad I could make it out to the game, always fun to see other alumni and catch up with them. Really enjoyed their performance, a bit rough on the edges, but it’s difficult to perform your show after an entire football game in 40 degree weather.

 

They're doing a Christmas show! They should be fine in this weather with the free GE!!!

[LeanderMomma]

They're doing a Christmas show! They should be fine in this weather with the free GE!!!

[abtwitch]

Here's the next 2 blocks since I missed yesterday while at DMI:

 

10:45 Cedar Ridge (Round Rock ISD, Round Rock) AAAA

Cedar Ridge’s show this year is very fun and very Cedar Ridge. It’s the insanely loud small group we’ve grown to love and will have a great shot at finals this year once again. 

 

11:30 Westwood (Round Rock ISD, Austin) AAAA

What a breakout year! Westwood’s show is a GE monster and a half and will be not playing around to make finals this year. Their new closer, which I just saw on Friday night is a gift wrapped in GE. The only thing I could see holding them back is a relatively weaker drill book compared to their competitors. 

 

11:45 Sandra Day O’Connor (Northside ISD, Helotes) AAAA

O’Connor has been going through staff changes recently, but they seem to be getting back on their feet. They’ve been performing stronger this year than last year and competition results are reflecting that.

 

12:00 Del Rio (San Felipe-Del Rio CISD, Del Rio) AAAA

This will be Del Rio’s 4th BOA contest of the season and they have made finals at 2 of the 3. Their show is very enjoyable and I find myself coming back to it quite a bit.

 

12:30 Westlake (Eanes ISD, Austin) AAAA

Don’t let their 4th place finish at Houston fool you, Westlake is on FIRE this year. Their show is one of my favorites of the year and they are stronger than they were last year overall.

 

1:00 James Madison (North East ISD, San Antonio) AAAA

Madison is a very up and down group, but I haven’t seen enough of them to count them out of the top just yet. 

 

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2:00 Keller Central (Keller ISD, Fort Worth) AAAA

KC made finals at BOA Bedford this year and are overall having a strong season. I got to see them at Duncanville and I absolutely love their show and the execution is fantastic. Their bari sax soloist is incredible especially. 

 

2:30 John B. Alexander (United ISD, Laredo) AAAA

Alexander has an incredible show this year and will be one of the many groups who could sneak their way into finals. If I recall correctly, they are currently undefeated this season and while that will not be true after SA, it bodes well for them overall.

 

2:45 Keller (Keller ISD, Keller) AAAA

Don’t let Keller’s Waco performance fool you, they were very dirty and have a history of peaking late season, it’s not common that we see them doing mid-season competitions. Keller’s performance at Duncanville was very clean and crisp, the trombones in the closer are incredible and it’s one of my favorite shows this year.

 

3:00 Hendrickson (Pflugerville ISD, Pflugerville) AAA

Henny is all over the place this year. Missing finals at Austin, making finals at a weaker TMC, then missing finals by a very surprising margin at a debatably even weaker Waco. I think they will have a strong performance at SA, but are mostly if not completely out of the conversation for finals. 

 

3:15 James Bowie (Austin ISD, Austin) AAAA

Similar to Hendrickson, Bowie has been up and down a lot. With low placements at both BOA Austin and TMC, they surprised everyone when they came out on top by over a point at Waco. Definitely an upper-bubble group for San Antonio finals.

 

3:30 Ronald Reagan (North East ISD, San Antonio) AAAA

Reagan has yet to lose a single caption this year, even against groups like The Woodlands, Vandegrift, and Leander. The favorite to win San Antonio at this point with a beautiful show.

 

3:45 Clear Brook (Clear Creek ISD, Friendswood) AAA

While not my favorite show of the season, Clear Brook has a very easy to follow and effective show that has been clean all season long. They could be fighting for a class medal this year.

 

4:00 Claudia Taylor Johnson (North East ISD, San Antonio) AAAA

The most consistent group in Texas, CTJ hasn’t been out of the top 5 at San Antonio since 2011. I don’t see them dropping out this year either as they’ve had plenty of room for growth since their last competition in September. They could even challenge for a medal, but I think their show is a bit too “ADHD” to get that high. Here’s to no prop issues!

[itsjaredh97]

im gonna go ahead and throw in my predictions. i go to westwood and i can tell yall that we want that finals spot realllllly bad. we've been putting in some great work and i can't wait for friday. 

 

1. Reagan

2. Flower Mound

3. Vandegrift

4. Hebron 

5. Leander

6. Vista Ridge

7. Claudia Taylor Johnson

8. Marcus

9. L.D Bell

10. The Woodlands

11. James Bowie

12. Keller 

13. Westwood

14. Cedar Park/Rouse (leaning more towards Rouse)

____________________________________________

15. Coppell 

16. Cedar Park/Rouse

17. Cedar Ridge

18. Westlake

 

Music: Hebron

Visual: Reagan

GE: Reagan

[FEDude]

Madison has a very enjoyable opener this year. It was really fun to watch.

 

O'Connor is also very fun to watch. Made me very nostalgic because that's more or less the show from my senior year.

 

I saw Taft at UIL and it looks like they got rid of a certain trumpet feature they just weren't playing well and gave it to the woodwinds. Either way, it sounds great now. I don't care if the scores aren't reflecting this, this is their best show in quite some time. Their "new" director is very talented and will take them where they want to be.

 

Reagan's show is just so beautiful. I hope it wins.

[Samuel Culper]

What is going on with the Prediction List Analyzer for this event?  There is a second listing after every school that just gives the State the school is in.  You guys need to up your pay to your IT dept. 

[chesteriop]

im gonna go ahead and throw in my predictions. i go to westwood and i can tell yall that we want that finals spot realllllly bad. we've been putting in some great work and i can't wait for friday. 

 

1. Reagan

2. Flower Mound

3. Vandegrift

4. Hebron 

5. Leander

6. Vista Ridge

7. Claudia Taylor Johnson

8. Marcus

9. L.D Bell

10. The Woodlands

11. James Bowie

12. Keller 

13. Westwood

14. Cedar Park/Rouse (leaning more towards Rouse)

____________________________________________

15. Coppell 

16. Cedar Park/Rouse

17. Cedar Ridge

18. Westlake

 

Music: Hebron

Visual: Reagan

GE: Reagan

Would change music caption to Flower Mound, and I would move Hebron up.

[abtwitch]

Would change music caption to Flower Mound, and I would move Hebron up.

I'd be very surprised to see Hebron lose the music caption if they clean up by San Antonio.

[natertater21000]

I cannot stop watching that video of flowermound. I think it'll come down to subjective preference for GE against reagan. However, I would not be shocked if flowermound takes visual or music. The marching and playing in that show is phenomenal. The show reminds me of a 1995-2005 drum Corp show in all the best ways.

[Trombone kid]

I just found out that marcus tied Hebron in prelims and beat them in finals sweeping all captions at duncanville marching contest

[DeepEllum]

 

I just found out that marcus tied Hebron in prelims and beat them in finals sweeping all captions at duncanville marching contest

Duncanville is judged more like a state contest not a BOA contest, so it rewarded Marcus’s cleanliness and core tonality over Hebron’s (slightly dirtier) difficulty and technicality.

[BandDad4]

I just found out that marcus tied Hebron in prelims and beat them in finals sweeping all captions at duncanville marching contest

 

UIL Scores mean very little when it comes to how BOA is scored. I wouldn't use those scores to predict SA and I don't expect any of the top three from Duncanville to win.

[natertater21000]

New week, new list! Hard to believe we are only a few days away from the SA super regional. It seems to sneak up faster every year. This list will contain a bit more of my own personal bias but it's still a list I think is 100% possible.

 

1st. (music, visual) Flowermound: The sheer amount of difficult marching and playing in this show is incredible. What's even crazier is how easy they make it look. I'm really pulling for this show to win it all.

 

2nd. (GE) Ronald Reagan: their marching and especially their playing are nothing to sneeze at but the GE is the real power here. The ballad impact will be remembered for years to come, and I cannot get over that intro. It's just too cool.

 

3rd. Vandegrift: like I said before I really think they'll take home the bronze. The execution by the end will rival any band, and the design is elegant and engaging.

 

4th. Leander: I personally view this as their ceiling for this contest. Leander is looking to peak later at nats but I think the changes and cleaning they've been doing behind the scenes for the last three weeks are going to make them turn some heads.

 

5th Hebron: It's been talked about on other threads and I agree that Hebron is doing everything they can to peak at the right time. The new opener tempo is blazing and once it's clean in just under 3 weeks they'll challenge for the eagle.

 

6th CTJ: Just to play contrarian to my earlier post, all streaks have to end eventually. Ctj could just as easily land in the top 5 and I'll happily eat crow as I clap along to I just can't wait to be king. However I think if there has ever been a collection of groups to push them out of the top 5 this is it.

 

7th. The Woodlands. This show has as a really good shot at top half. It's completely different from what's around it and I really enjoy it.

 

8th. Vista Ridge. Ugh this contest is crazy. I never would expect to see a show like this in 8th but looking at the field it's certainly possible. I really love the visual aesthetic of this show.

 

9th. Marcus. One word. Clean. Clean, clean, clean. I'm glad they are sticking to what they do best in these transitional years. The shows are still undeniably Marcus, but they are programmed for maximum achievement so well. I think a lot of bands can still learn a thing or two by watching what they do.

 

10. LD Bell. Pretty much the same thoughts as my last post. Glad they are still around. The show is especially exciting visually. They are the last band on this list that I view as a lock for finals.

 

11. Cedar Park. Some people may be surprised by this, but by looking back at past results you can see that cedar park actually places better at SA on state years (with one exception in 2013). I think this is due to the extremely high level of cleanliness they achieve by the end in pursuit of state. Clean music and marching is the original GE and I think it'll pay off for CP.

 

12. Westwood: huge breakout year and I can't wait to hear some christmas music directly following Halloween (just the way it should be). Jokes aside, seeing programs explode into finals for the first time is always my favorite thing to watch so I'm excited.

 

13. James Bowie: like I said before, their performance at Waco makes it very difficult to see them out of finals here. I personally really enjoy the music book for this show and they are performing it very well.

 

14. Keller: consistency is what gives Keller this spot for me. It's really hard to imagine their brass line out of finals, but there are multiple bands that may have something to say about that. I think the closer will give Keller the extra push into finals. Really effective musically.

 

There are multiple bands that could challenge for a finals spot. You could swap out any of the final 4 bands with one from the list below and I wouldn't really be able to argue against it. Anything could happen!

 

Bubble:

Cedar Ridge

Rouse

Westlake

Lake travis

Round Rock

[meursault]

New week, new list! Hard to believe we are only a few days away from the SA super regional. It seems to sneak up faster every year. This list will contain a bit more of my own personal bias but it's still a list I think is 100% possible.

 

1st. (music, visual) Flowermound: The sheer amount of difficult marching and playing in this show is incredible. What's even crazier is how easy they make it look. I'm really pulling for this show to win it all.

 

2nd. (GE) Ronald Reagan: their marching and especially their playing are nothing to sneeze at but the GE is the real power here. The ballad impact will be remembered for years to come, and I cannot get over that intro. It's just too cool.

 

3rd. Vandegrift: like I said before I really think they'll take home the bronze. The execution by the end will rival any band, and the design is elegant and engaging.

 

4th. Leander: I personally view this as their ceiling for this contest. Leander is looking to peak later at nats but I think the changes and cleaning they've been doing behind the scenes for the last three weeks are going to make them turn some heads.

 

5th Hebron: It's been talked about on other threads and I agree that Hebron is doing everything they can to peak at the right time. The new opener tempo is blazing and once it's clean in just under 3 weeks they'll challenge for the eagle.

 

6th CTJ: Just to play contrarian to my earlier post, all streaks have to end eventually. Ctj could just as easily land in the top 5 and I'll happily eat crow as I clap along to I just can't wait to be king. However I think if there has ever been a collection of groups to push them out of the top 5 this is it.

 

7th. The Woodlands. This show has as a really good shot at top half. It's completely different from what's around it and I really enjoy it.

 

8th. Vista Ridge. Ugh this contest is crazy. I never would expect to see a show like this in 8th but looking at the field it's certainly possible. I really love the visual aesthetic of this show.

 

9th. Marcus. One word. Clean. Clean, clean, clean. I'm glad they are sticking to what they do best in these transitional years. The shows are still undeniably Marcus, but they are programmed for maximum achievement so well. I think a lot of bands can still learn a thing or two by watching what they do.

 

10. LD Bell. Pretty much the same thoughts as my last post. Glad they are still around. The show is especially exciting visually. They are the last band on this list that I view as a lock for finals.

 

11. Cedar Park. Some people may be surprised by this, but by looking back at past results you can see that cedar park actually places better at SA on state years (with one exception in 2013). I think this is due to the extremely high level of cleanliness they achieve by the end in pursuit of state. Clean music and marching is the original GE and I think it'll pay off for CP.

 

12. Westwood: huge breakout year and I can't wait to hear some christmas music directly following Halloween (just the way it should be). Jokes aside, seeing programs explode into finals for the first time is always my favorite thing to watch so I'm excited.

 

13. James Bowie: like I said before, their performance at Waco makes it very difficult to see them out of finals here. I personally really enjoy the music book for this show and they are performing it very well.

 

14. Keller: consistency is what gives Keller this spot for me. It's really hard to imagine their brass line out of finals, but there are multiple bands that may have something to say about that. I think the closer will give Keller the extra push into finals. Really effective musically.

 

There are multiple bands that could challenge for a finals spot. You could swap out any of the final 4 bands with one from the list below and I wouldn't really be able to argue against it. Anything could happen!

 

Bubble:

Cedar Ridge

Rouse

Westlake

Lake travis

Round Rock

Coppell and Wakeland will almost certainly do better than both LT and RR barring major mistakes from the former 2 and major improvements from the latter 2. Other than I think this is a pretty solid analysis. I'd personally put Keller a bit higher (Waco performance was dirty because they just added the closer).

[BandDad4]

Rain Tuesday-Thursday is really going to play havok with some DFW bands practice schedules this week.

[ja2austintx]

Is public video of Flower Mound, Marcus, or Hebron available, or is it all behind paywalls?

[LeanderMomma]

Yes. They were this morning anyway.

[meursault]

Is public video of Flower Mound, Marcus, or Hebron available, or is it all behind paywalls?

idk about a video of Hebron, but there's a video of a band called Not Hebron on youtube

[justabandkid94]

There’s a Flower Mound video up with an absolutely hilarious title... pretty easy to find