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  1. Well boy do I have some good news for you
    26 points
  2. Danpod

    Reporting Comments

    Hi friends! Activity around here definitely picks up around Area Saturday. This is great and also not so great at the same time. See something that may be spam, abusive, or infringing on copyright? By all means, report it!!! We'll look at it and take appropriate actions. Trust me. We have some neat moderating tools that I am hungry to try out!!! Also, please leave a reason why you flagged it. The Report function is NOT used to downvote someone's prediction because you don't like it because they didn't pick your band and that's totally sus because we're really good this year HONEST! Don't abuse that reporting tool. It slows my day down, especially when I am eating. Good luck to everyone this weekend!
    24 points
  3. Well, well, well ….look who I passed on my way to work today!! #teamtexas
    21 points
  4. This message is mostly aimed to students at Cy-Woods, Cy-Fair, and Bridgeland high schools. I'm a Bridgeland parent and I know many BL kids read this forum, and I imagine the CyWoods/CyFair kids do, too. I am beyond proud of what our district is starting to do right now. In the 1990s and early 2000s, Houston had some of the best marching bands in the nation. Westfield, Spring, Langham Creek, Clements... nobody knew of Hebron, Vandegrift or Vista Ridge back then. But the directors at those great Houston schools eventually retired or moved on, and their programs declined quickly, with Langham Creek being the last to do so. CFISD's music program has struggled for 17 years, since Langham Creek HS was the big dog and was doing great things on the field. It's been nothing but tumbleweeds since then. But to see what these three bands have put on the field the past couple of years, and especially this year, it just makes me incredibly proud of how we are representing Cypress, CFISD, and Houston in general. It is a renaissance for CFISD and for Houston. To the Cy-Fair HS kids: Your show this year was so outside-the-box. I've been following marching bands for a long time, and it's one of the most creative show designs I have ever seen. Everything was new, different, original. I have never heard so many kids from other bands "ooh" and "aah" over a show as I did at the area I contest a few weeks ago when you performed in the finals. I've never discussed the meaning of a show so often with parents from BL and other schools. That means you put ART on the field, and that's all in addition to the precision marching, the beautiful and tight woodwind runs, the beautiful brass sound, the amazing guard with its butterflies. It was just a complete package and, knowing we are friendly competition, I was sweating you guys all season and was a little relieved you weren't attending BOA SA - one less contender to worry about. I can't wait to see what you guys cook up next year. I know it's going to be absolutely incredible. To the Cy-Woods HS kids: You put on a fantastically clean and modern show. The black and yellow popped on the field visually, and it complemented the block formations and diagonals so well. The cleanliness of the front ensemble was noteworthy, and my favorite moment might have been the trumpet-led brass section in the first 1/3 of the show, where you're standing in a diagonal formation on the right side of the field and are building up to a tense moment with a constantly crescendoing double-tonguing master class that is so, so clean and in unison--that is really difficult to pull off, but you did. I'm sure you are aware from the prelims scores that you were incredibly close to making the BOA SA finals. Maybe you felt a little disrespected this season in the judging, and I'm stressed about what that's going to make you do next year. And to my Bridgeland kids: I can't say enough about you. The show was so beautiful this year. You achieved historic things. There's only one band in the history of Texas that has ascended so quickly from being a new school to being a state finalist - and that one band is Vandegrift. I remember when I was in marching band in HS, I didn't really understand the competing bands and what it meant to place at a certain level. But I hope that when you look at the list of state championship finalists and BOA SA finalists, that you understand what an elite level you are at right now. You were the new kid on the block and nobody knew who you were. And now, everyone knows who you are. In the countless times I walked back and forth from my hotel to the Alamodome this week, I spoke with parents from Hebron, Vandegrift, the Woodlands, students at the University of Houston, former Marcus students who are now in college... they were all so complimentary, and they all knew the name "Bridgeland." One of the UH kids used to play at Pearland and he was the most blunt about the 2022 show. He said, "Yeah, I saw Bridgeland was going on, and I was like, 'who's that?' But their show blew me away, I was like [expletive expletive! expletive!!!] That is AMAZING!" You are on the map now, kiddos. And I am willing to bet the directors are going to really kick it up a notch with next year's show. It is going to be incredible, and I hope you are setting your sights very high. If you're on Bridgeland neighborhood social media, you can see how proud the whole neighborhood is of you guys, with hundreds of likes and comments pouring in. Bravo on a job well done. I hope you never stop striving for greatness in life. In closing: I'm so pleased to see how the schools in some other districts in our state support each other. Leander ISD, for example -- you'll see fans of all the different HS programs in this district cheering their hearts out for each other. As CFISD starts to re-gain prominence, I hope we do the same for each other. If Bridgeland didn't make the finals, I sure as heck was rooting for Cy Fair or Cy Woods to make it. Stick together and let's go head to head against these other districts that have dominated for too long. 😉 Here's to 2024!
    21 points
  5. As many know, I am associated with Vista Ridge. I am an alumni parent, all three of my kids went through the program. I have been involved at Vista for 11 years now and remain involved today. I am horrified and embarrassed at any suggestion that our parents are saying anything to denigrate other programs, ESPECIALLY our sister schools. That is NOT the culture that I have been a part of for more than a decade now. The Ranger Band family has always been supportive of other bands just as much as our own kids. We cheer loud and long for other bands' performances and celebrate their successes, again, ESPECIALLY our sister schools. We go out of our way to offer help and support if we can and love to make friends along the way. My hope is that the individuals involved in any of these unfortunate situations learn that what they have said is NOT the way we do things. My guess is that these comments are from folks less involved as volunteers and I would suggest strongly that they get more involved. Volunteering to work with and for our kids will open your eyes to understanding just how hard they work, just like the kids from all other schools. On behalf of the Ranger Band family, I sincerely apologize for any and all of these unfortunate incidents. They are not representative of who we are. And congratulations to Rouse on an amazing season! The Ranger Band family is happy for you and immensely proud of the honor you bring to LISD.
    21 points
  6. CTJ parent here! Just came on to say that all of the bands did amazing at semi-finals and should be so proud of their accomplishments regardless if they were 1st or 40th. It was an impressive display of talent and creativity and we will be cheering y'all on in the finals. GO TEAM TEXAS!
    21 points
  7. Congrats to Avon! They were great! And congrats to Harloff on a very successful first season as head director! My rankings after watching finals on high cam were Carmel, The Woodlands, Hebron, then Avon, albeit all of them quite close to each other. Needless to say I was quite surprised by the final gaps! Carmel was pure elegance, yet again. They produce lush sounds and shape long, beautiful phrases. People underestimate how difficult that is! There's an unmatched attention to detail musically and visually, even if the content doesn't connect with a broader audience and is more cerebral. Their visual performance was quite pristine in finals as well. The guard in particular gave their best performance of the season. I don't think I saw a single drop! The ballad was of course goosebumps central, with that gorgeous, diaphanous blue fabric that was pulled out over the band. The show was a fully formed diamond, just exquisite. The Woodlands show was absolutely thrilling, musically and visually. The show is a real stunner visually -- crystal clear from both the band and the guard, the staging also developing in clear, logical, and creative ways. The 19.7 they received in semifinals from John Howell for visual effect was the accurate score for them in that caption. Their weakness relative to the top was in musicianship and exploring a fuller range of moods and musical colors. Also, to a degree, in trying something new, given the similarities to the Blue Devils 1994 show. Hebron was of course dazzling musically. There was no other band in all of finals that could match their virtuosity. The showmanship of it all! As others have pointed out, fantastic music performances often bleed into music effect. I was a bit surprised that didn't happen as much here, but it's hard to know what the judges will react to emotionally and intellectually. Alas, as we all know by now, judges don't care much about general audience reaction. Visually, I thought Hebron's show was the weakest of the four by quite a bit from a perspective of pure cleanliness -- the guard in particular was a bit distracting with their ensemble flag timing throughout -- but their designers also challenge their members with lots of simultaneous responsibilities and difficult drill. Avon was wearing costumes that looked like track suits for a reason. They just fly around the field. They take off right in the beginning and rarely let up. There's a lot of excitement here, musically and visually. The ending was particularly strong with the recapitulation of the main theme and the picture frames coming together in a jumbled but appealing mess. Purple, of course, works well on the green field, and provides a nice aesthetic pop. The arrangement of Pictures was also refreshing, unlike any we've heard before. Finals, however, didn't actually seem like Avon's strongest run, with a bit of flagging energy and some noticeable visual dirt, ensemble flag issues, and some exposed drops. But, again, challenges are a bigger part of the visual sheets than they used to be, and that's likely where Avon shined. An honorable mention to Blue Springs. Like I said earlier, it's extremely rare for me to see a show with a concept that I've never seen before, even if I found the narration a little cheesy and trite. (Platitudes like "in an ocean darkness" and "there will never be anybody quite like you" abounded.) They gave a great performance, albeit not one that warranted a 4th place finish. Obviously, I disagreed a bit with the finals panel. It wasn't the first time, and it won't be the last. What concerns me more, however, is the reaction I'm seeing to the results from people in Texas. It's not just on these forums, with the (sometimes sort of humorous) accusations of conflicts of interest among BOA's adjudication community; it's also on other chats I'm privy to featuring quite a lot of current educators and some judges. I'm hearing complaints about music being de-valued, about how it's no longer Music for All but Aesthetics for All, which is probably my favorite. 😄 There has even been talk among these educators of Texas bands divesting themselves of BOA -- sort of like how the Midwest Combine broke off prior to the formation of DCI. For me, this is a bit too much like throwing the baby out with the bathwater. If there are issues, directors ought to try working with BOA first to fix them. Meanwhile, the advisory panel needs to take recommendations seriously. A good starting place might be to revise any policies regarding conflicts of interest. I would also recommend the use of double adjuducation panels in major events, like in DCI and WGI, to try to help reduce major shifts between rounds and to get more of an "average judge" perspective, whatever that is. Music already counts for most of the score, but maybe including fine-line performance to a greater degree in the effect captions is in order. But here's the thing: so much of the reason why Texas bands struggle against the National competition has nothing at all to do with BOA and everything to do with TEA and their regulations. With the limited rehearsal time before August, in addition to the 8 hour rule throughout the season, Texas bands are limited both by How well they perform their shows and What they're able to field and reasonably clean. Do you see what I did there? The rules affect success in both the "What" and the "How" halves of the judging sheets. Those arguing otherwise are disingenuous -- well, either that, or I have a bridge to sell them. ("Not being able to rehearse twice as long as 8 hours a week totally has no effect on how Texas bands do! Derp derp!" 😄) Anyway, the point remains, a lot of this issue is because of Texas itself, not BOA. But be careful what you wish for, folks! You might miss only having to rehearse 8 hours a week! 😉
    20 points
  8. At this point "CTJ should've been added" is just cope. Waxahachie performed well, that's why they got ranked at 14th. Even if waxahachie DIDN'T go over we probably wouldn't have seen CTJ in finals as the results show. The time accomodation is such a trivial thing in regards to who should and shouldn't be in finals. It's alright to be upset CTJ didn't make finals but this whole "let's add an extra spot and waxahachie should've been reprimanded" is so... unnecessary.. Just to add- the basis of "well they made finals every year since 2010" doesn't really hold weight as we've seen this year. Cedar Ridge was a bronze medalist and couldn't even make it to state. Reputation doesn't mean things are owed.
    20 points
  9. hello! keller student here. everything is fine regarding the buses, nobody was injured thank goodness!
    19 points
  10. There are so many great marching bands in Texas. By the end of Prelims we will have 23 sure-fire Finalists. 🤣
    18 points
  11. Before scores start, I want to thank, not just the bands that performed these past 3 days, but to all the kids in band this year, not just here in Texas. I think personally, 2019 was my favorite year or marching band all around. Every band had incredible shows, and GN's was peak, but 2023 ya'll, this was something real, real special. Getting to see so many wonderful performances both live and on Box5 for these past two months has been so much fun, so thank you, to all the kids around the nation who made this year possible. For putting in countless hours of work, for you dedication and hard work, for performing through the sweat in tears, and for allowing us to have the opportunities to witness magic on the field be made. I've made countless memories this season, and I can't wait already for 2024. Thank you to all the kids, parents, boosters and band enthusiast that made this season so special, and what may be my new personal favorite season of marching band. And to our 12 finalists, no matter what the results are, be happy and proud of yourselves for all that you have accomplished this season!
    17 points
  12. I’m a member of the Aledo Band, there was no penalties, we had a decent run, not our best performance, but I still believe we deserved finals. Our performance time was not very desirable either though. It sucks that we didn’t make finals but my best wishes go out to all the other bands!
    15 points
  13. 15 points
  14. Fun fact. The people behind me at semi-finals had never heard of Hebron and after they performed, were speechless. Then one of them said, "I think that changed me." The other person said, "Yeah, I don't know what to say other than I am not the same." Got a chuckle from it.
    14 points
  15. A little visual of where our 12 finalists come from congratulations to everyone and thank you for sharing your talent with us !!
    14 points
  16. You’re welcome. 1. Cedar Park - 12 2. Rouse - 17 3. Wakeland - 23 4. Leander - 25 5. Forney - 45 6. Centennial - 54 7. Lone Star - 62 8. Roma - 62 9. Friendswood - 67 10. Richland - 67 11. Lebanon Trail - 70 12. Hendrickson - 74
    14 points
  17. As a Dville band alumni and someone who grew up in Duncanville I’ll chime in a bit. Dville is not a bad place to live at all however it’s nowhere near as well off as some of the other parts of the state and money can prove to be an issue for many. Consequently, many students (myself included when I was there) required financial assistance in some way shape of form. Thankfully, the program has an INCREDIBLE booster program, culture/traditions, and a high standard of education/teaching. Rather than using the money raised to go to a bunch of competitions every season, it is invested into the students themselves so that any student can have private lessons despite their situation and to ensure that no student ever has to pay a “band fee” just to be a member of the band. Despite the circumstances, Dville has 3 state championships to their name, a music caption at Grand Nationals, and one of if not the longest streaks of any 6A band for consecutive advancements to state going every cycle from 1984-2018 (missed it in 2021 but returned in 2022). Although Dville is not at the peak of where they used to be, they’ve always stuck around and are a program that can never be counted out. (I am extremely biased towards this program so sorry if this comes across as a little preachy 😭)
    14 points
  18. I also think that people get hung up on “bands not being as good as they used to be” when in fact the activity is moving SO fast that groups with a certain “brand” may find it hard to maintain the level of success they’re used to. CTJ has absolutely pushed the activity from a performance and design standpoint, and now everyone in the top has caught up to them. It’s the mentality of “a rising tide lifts all boats.” If you get very good, everyone around you will also get good-which is a GOOD thing! It’s not unique to CTJ- this has happened to Spring, Westfield, LD Bell, and to an extent Cedar Park and Cedar Ridge from time to time. CTJ still has an incredible product and brand and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them surge once again in a season or two like has happened for a few of the previously mentioned groups. It’s one of the best things about TX bands!
    13 points
  19. Oh be still my heart! I am so proud of everyone who made it to finals. I am extremely happy and proud of Forney! This has been an incredible season for us! I am glad that this is the end of the road for me, I wouldn’t have it any other way. @tennertrumbow @SaxA41 @BandKid_2 @krustyjoe: i am so beyond proud of you guys. i hope you take this comp and continue to grow. now then, ill still be active here and try to make comps. i love you all so much, and i’ll always miss this experience. - Kai
    13 points
  20. I am so sorry but TWHS in 5th doesn’t sit right with me
    12 points
  21. 12 points
  22. UIL 5A State Finals Results: Cedar Park Rouse Wakeland Forney Leander Burleson Centennial Lone Star Hendrickson Richland Roma Friendswood Lebanon Trail
    12 points
  23. Wow, the level of toxicity is the highest I’ve seen here. Can’t we all just celebrate the hard work EVERYONE has done? At the end of the day if the kids had fun through the entire season, then what else is there to fight about? We are here to celebrate Texas Marching band, not be sore losers/winners. Think about all the other bands who weren’t fortunate to be at this comp. They will gladly take your preferred schools place if you aren’t happy with it. Be grateful, and be happy. Push others, not drag them down!
    12 points
  24. New top 5!!! 1. Krum 2. UNT 3. Allen (the more people the better) 4. James Pace Early College 5. Tubalord11
    12 points
  25. I think I speak for many when I say, "WOW! What amazing performances by everyone involved!" I was super enamored and impressed by Wakeland's stellar performance, as always. I cannot wait to see how well they do when prelims announcements roll around. Other bands such as Pflugerville and Friendswood are extremely captivating and enjoyable as well! Also sorry about my comments earlier, I shouldn’t have brought down other bands in my enthusiasm. LISD and the rest of them are stellar.
    12 points
  26. I love your passion and enthusiasm for Wakeland (I am a former Wakeland parent myself), but whoa! You might want to curb the claim that the LISD schools received most points from GE and judges bias. That is very bold and unfounded. They are incredible programs that consistently do extremely well wherever they compete, in whatever competition format, and they do not deserve that statement. Support and cheer for Wakeland, but please do it humbly and graciously, without throwing negative shade on other programs. All you end up doing in the long run is shining a negative light on your own program instead. As a former Wakeland parent, I don’t appreciate that, because that’s never been what we are about. Wishing all bands here that today they have their VERY BEST performances to date! Let’s make it a fantastic experience for all, especially those out there on that field.
    12 points
  27. Texas will have a strong showing - expect Hebron and Woodlands to be top 4. The Woodlands will compete for best effect and best visual, Hebron will compete for best music and best effect. We’ll see Pearland top 8, with a tremendous possibility of top 5. We’ll see Round Rock top 10, though I expect top 7. We’ll see Keller and CTJ in finals, likely 7-11. We’ll see Dripping and Bowie making a strong statement in semis, with an outstanding chance of making finals. Go Team Texas!!
    12 points
  28. Vandy Band parent here. After that contest, there were a lot of folks who reached out assuming we were disappointed by the 2nd place finish at BOA Austin. But that wasn't the case at all. The Leander ISD bands are really a big family. We were all so, so happy for Rouse, especially the kids. They are a fairly new school, and that was the first competition they had ever won. And to beat Vandy in a fair fight to do it was just the icing on the cake. They also had a great show last year, and they just keep getting better and better. They're not going to slow down anytime soon. They are definitely playing with the big dogs now, and we're here for it. Would love to see them do well this weekend.
    12 points
  29. all the nice things said about bridgeland were shared around my bus <33!! the directors said it was the best show of the year and some happy tears were shed. we’re really proud of our show tonight.
    12 points
  30. Another Waxahachie person here...Waxahachie was NOT DQ'd.
    12 points
  31. I am in pure disbelief. I did not expect 3 Texas bands to miss finals. Ugh. Heartbroken for James Bowie, CTJ, and Dripping Springs. I am very interested to see just how close it was to the cutoff for finals. To be honest, I did not expect for some of those other bands to advance, but that's why I'm not a judge. Congratulations to Hebron, Pearland, Keller, Round Rock and The Woodlands for moving on to finals. James Bowie, CTJ, Dripping Springs, we love you, and we are so proud of the work you've done this whole season. You reperesented yourselves and the state of Texas well.
    11 points
  32. While we’re still awestruck at what the LISD bands are doing, let’s not ignore what’s happening in Frisco. Lone Star to Wakeland is 2.8 miles door to door. Lone Star to Panther Creek (4A silver, will be 5A by ‘25) is 2.3 miles door to door. Lebanon Trail is just across town. While we salute the kids and these programs, let’s not ignore the feeder schools — those three schools (LS, Wake, PCreek) actually SHARE kids from some middle schools, which is stunning in its own right — that instill this love of music and band. just an incredible few nights for these neighborhood kids. Congrats to all …
    11 points
  33. I’ve noticed a lot of nastiness and mean spirited comments recently. That makes me so incredibly sad. Marching band should bring us together under the common love for the sport. We all care so much about how our and our children’s bands do, but that shouldn’t give us an excuse to tear down each other or other programs. We all need a refresher on etiquette. Everyone in every band did great today, and we should be acknowledging that. Congratulations to all those who made it to state, and good luck to all those who made finals. I’m excited to see what comes tomorrow!
    11 points
  34. THIS IS IT! This is my last competition of the season (ever technically cause I’m a senior), and I couldn’t be any prouder of my band, Forney. We’ve been through so much this season, and I genuinely am glad I’ve had this opportunity for 4 years to be apart of this organization. I honestly regret not being in these forums sooner because y'all are genuinely the kindest people I’ve ever met. Anyway, enough with the blabbing. Good luck to every single 5A program who is competing! I genuinely love you all, and give it your best shot! - Kai
    11 points
  35. Hello! Just in case you didn't know, there's a silly show I do about Texas marching band stuff. The link below will get you on the way to listening. Get subscribed because there's plenty more coming this season! THANKS! The Danpodcast
    11 points
  36. Speaking as a Richland alum: I will always be over-the-moon to see great results from Richland. This is the manifestly the best Richland has been since 2016, and I sincerely hope they get very soon to the level of competitivity they were in 2005 and 2007. I personally think it is possible within the next year or so. That said, what I have been less excited to see lately is hype that approaches the level of cringe. I have zero authority here, but I would kindly ask alum, parents, fans, &c., to consider whether their support for Richland on a public forum is constructive to the conversation. If your point has already been made, indeed made several times, I promise you that insisting upon your point will not augment other persons' perceptions of Richland -- but will in fact deteriorate them. For better or worse, people will generally remember the negative interactions better than they will positive interactions. If Richland is your home team -- whether as an alum, parent, fan, &c. -- I think it makes more sense to let future results do the insisting. I'm pretty sure they'll get here soon enough.
    11 points
  37. They're fine. They just passed out. No one is injured, and everyone is OK.
    11 points
  38. NFHS is much improved this year for me. Not the best video and audio quality but much better than last year. Stream has been way more stable than any of the BOA ones I have watched this year.
    11 points
  39. With the kid's also watching these threads I think it is always a good habit to find the positive and not stress the negative in what you are watching. These are all fantastic bands and the effort put in is top notch!
    11 points
  40. From my own experience, there is no higher compliment to a teacher than the knowledge that you inspired your own students to teach as well. The Woodlands HS Guard is guided by three of the finest, most creative and energetic teachers I have ever known…led by Cynthia Robbins and ably assisted by Joseph Danforth and Tiffany Quinstein.
    11 points
  41. I recorded all of finals. I will be posting them when my phone recharges. Was at 1% when Round Rock finished
    11 points
  42. The Marcus and L.D. Bell resurgences are just the greatest.
    10 points
  43. Ladies and gentlemen, your 2023 UIL 4A state champion… The Texas Rangers!
    10 points
  44. oooo, some seemingly really nutty results in those ordinals. uil, gurl, u spicy!!!
    10 points
  45. There is too many good shows and bands this year and it sucks because only 14 makes finals. Every band should be proud today because these performances have been stunning.
    10 points
  46. I don't think name plays that much of a role, if at all, anymore. Historically, I would have said that groups in UIL tended to place better on name alone, but that has definitely changed in recent years, at least at the state level. Even in BOA, some groups with wonderful, rich histories have had less successful seasons. Hendrickson--a recent Grand Nats finalist--has missed regional BOA finals twice this year. LD Bell--a Grand Nats champion--missed BOA San Antonio finals five years after winning the competition altogether. Cedar Ridge--a medalist at state last year--failed to advance out of area this year. You're usually not going to see a top-tier program place low, not because of name recognition, but because they are SO consistent in successful show design that properly showcases the students' technical and artistic strengths.
    10 points
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