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Best experience you have ever had watching a band


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2 hours ago, LHSax said:

And then of course you have Hebron 13....It still baffles me that Hebron doesn't have an BOASA/UIL State/Grand national title...They should have all 3 in my opinion. 

Unfortunately I never saw 13 live, but I remember that being a really really huge breakout year for them, as well as a very impressive late season surge. I believe they tied with Churchill in Conroe prelims, and then went on to be 1st in SA prelims with Churchill in 26th (no disrespect intended, just trying to illustrate how impressive their late season surge was). I also really thought they were going to win state in 14, it just didnt quite come true.

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I don't know the exact number, but Hebron has won prelims (or semi-finals) at many end of year competitions, just to get edged during finals...I can think of at least 3 occasions. Their medal count is super impressive over the last 10 years, they just have to get over that hump!! My theory is that they score better (if only slightly) in prelims because they blow away the non-finalist caliber bands around them with their other-worldly playing, but have a bit more trouble standing out amongst top tier bands...and i mean this on a super minimal level, just enough to keep them off the top of the podium.

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1 hour ago, LHSax said:

I don't know the exact number, but Hebron has won prelims (or semi-finals) at many end of year competitions, just to get edged during finals...I can think of at least 3 occasions. Their medal count is super impressive over the last 10 years, they just have to get over that hump!! My theory is that they score better (if only slightly) in prelims because they blow away the non-finalist caliber bands around them with their other-worldly playing, but have a bit more trouble standing out amongst top tier bands...and i mean this on a super minimal level, just enough to keep them off the top of the podium.

13 and 17 at BOASA, and 15 at nationals.

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I dont mean to beat a dead horse with this thread, but I have to give a shoutout to Bridgeland 2019. The difference between that show between BOA Houston and Cypress Showcase was probably the most dramatic difference in a show I have seen since I got involved in marching band. Felt like I was watching a super regional finalist.

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23 hours ago, Cityscapes said:

I dont mean to beat a dead horse with this thread, but I have to give a shoutout to Bridgeland 2019. The difference between that show between BOA Houston and Cypress Showcase was probably the most dramatic difference in a show I have seen since I got involved in marching band. Felt like I was watching a super regional finalist.

I 100% agree. 

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Reagan 2015 when they played that incredible ballad and the dancers trickled out onto the field.  Every time I saw that show I'd look around and see people wiping tears away. It was beautiful and full of joy.

Reagan 2018 loved everything about the show from the moment the pianist was rolled onto the field while playing.

Reagan 2019 Mind blowing. Just a truly stunning show and again--when the visual ensemble lifted the gold flags and ran around the entire field or when the drum major and the VE member ran through the circles that opened as they went through. Just a jaw dropping show.

Vista Ridge 2018 state finals. When the trombone player finished his solo and had that huge grin on his face, I knew they had won it. You could just see reflected in his face the special thing that was taking place on the field.

BOASA Finals 2017.  Just everything about that whole finals was incredible. I'm sorry for every person who didn't get to see it live.

Marcus's show that had the gates as props. That show blew me away.

The Woodlands show that had the train gates. That was such a well done show. I remember thinking all the bands at that competition were great and then they took the field and I knew they were on a completely different level with that show than anyone else that day.

FlowerMound 2015's Leonardo show. Truly a stunning concept and I'll never forget the moment of almost reverent silence on  the stadium when the flying machine "took flight." 

FlowerMound's Surreal show. The saxaphone players in the eggs. The singing heads. Loved it.

FlowerMound's 2018 show. I loved the innovative use of props and the pop art going on on the field. And their marching was so clean and precise.

Leander's Choral Works in 2015. Still sad we didn't get to see that show go head to head with Reagan and FlowerMound that year. 

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  • 5 months later...

 

 

Best marching band moment The Dragon Band at BOA GN in 2013 with Elemental Evolution.

Finals run was great but the Prelim was like nothing I'd ever seen. Everyone in Lucas Oil stood..and people were actually crying at the outro.

4th place 1st time at Indy..and the Rose Parade pick.

Unbelievable..and my kid was a freshman in that show...

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1st)  Watching my Daughter in the 2018 State 6A finals with Vista Ridge's Lost and Found.   My dad who's in his 80's was able to attend and it was such a moving show and experience.

2nd)  The "Band Hug" at the Break Ranks after the retreat for 6A State 2018.  

3rd)   My son's 2013 State 4A (was no 6A then so equivalent to 5A today) performance with Vista Ridge Band winning 3rd place with Scheherazade. 

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Even though there aren't many shows that I remember seeing, I was in a 4A school, so we didn't get to see many of the 5A/6A shows, there were a couple that I can recall from 4A. North Lamar 2017 was probably one of the best shows I had seen while I was in High School. Especially the Tuba solo, which made everyone cheer! Another 4A show that I remember seeing was Princeton, before they were a 5A, in 2017, and I really enjoyed that show! For 5A, I did get to see Ridge Point perform at the UIL State Contest. I was in Band class and the director had the State Contest on, and I was able to catch the performance. Even though the ending got ruined because of the tarp getting stuck, which caused half the band to not get covered (They were doing something kindave like what Carolina Crown did in 2015, but it was still a great performance to watch! 6A, I was able to see a couple of performances since my band went to watch some of the 2018 6A Finals State contest before we had to go to dinner. I can't remember which school I did see, it was either Keller or Vandegrift because of the time we got to the Stadium. I was sad though because I was in line to get the State shirt when Ronald Regan was about to perform, and they are one of my favorite 6A bands.... Overall, there were plenty of shows that I do remember seeing, but due to the fact that I was in a 4A school, I didn't get to see many of the 5A/6A performances.

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  • 6 months later...

Haltom 2005- Lots of memorable moments, shows, and experiences. I’m not choosing this because it’s perfect, but choosing this show just because it takes me back to a perfect night(but I do absolutely love this show). I watched it in the stands at a competition and I remember how the crowd erupted and the energy they brought. I remember how well our band performed that night, the emotional speech we got from our director, how good all the shows we watched were, how perfect the night air was, hanging out with friends, cuddling with a girl I just started dating, and just how good life was at that moment. Those fun times are why I loved marching band. When I watch this show it takes me right back to that night. 
 


Honorable mention:

Bluecoats 2018. Wish I could relive watching this live over and over again.

 

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On 7/6/2021 at 3:55 AM, Soxafome said:

Haltom 2005- 

 

I'll always remember that show for its closer.  So exciting, and the utilization of those vocals as a rhythmic device was really creative at the time.

But that overall vibe/mood/atmosphere whatever you wanna call it...where you've spent the entire day stressing out, sweating and giving everything you've got, and you get to just enjoy the evening together with your crew under the stadium lights watching the other bands.  And the bus ride home.  That tops any singular emotional experience from a show itself.

That's part of the joy of going to shows as an alumni/fan.  Year by year, that evening atmosphere during finals hasn't really changed...you look around and you still see kids in letterman jackets huddled up under blankets next to each other.  I've had years where I go and I see that and I feel sort of sad and out of place....like I'm dwelling in the past too much.  But other years the experience is really nostalgic, if even magical....and I'm really glad I went.

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On 6/16/2020 at 10:10 AM, LHSax said:

Appreciate the effort to change the subject of this board back to marching band! 

I have many shows that I return to over the last 15 years,  but this thread seems to be geared towards shows we experienced in person, so I'll use it as an opportunity to jump back in time and pull up some oldies. Links included for newer fans to pass the time as we wade through a DCI-less summer (apologies for some in poor quality - marching band recording has come a long way in 15 years).

 

Hebron - 2006 - Music in Every Direction - Before Hebron was the perennial top 5 contender they are these days, there was this show. While this show only got 9th that year, I see it as the beginning of Hebron's rise to to power. I'm not exactly sure when the "dance break" became a thing in marching band, but this will forever be THE dance break for me. DDR was all the rage back then, and the dance section of this show, with the syncopated/offset DDR directions, was unreal to a bunch of high school kids who were obsessed with this trend. This was the first time I ever saw a standing ovation for a show before the end. This moment literally ripped people from their seats in excitement. I've searched for years for a better recording of this to no avail. 

LD Bell - 2007 - Transcendents - I don't think I have to say much about this show, because I (hope?) think everyone is aware of it, no matter how new you are to the activity. But I'm gonna say a lot anyway - I don't even know if I can call this a marching band show. This show was an experience. The crowd reaction to this show is still my favorite to this day because you could feel the moment of "what just happened" as they wrapped up their show. The fact that the ending changed at each performance put people even more on the edge of the seat. I also love that this show broke all the rules of typical marching show music organization. Rather than the typical opener-ballad-closer, this show was 5 minutes of opener (with some mixed in slow moments), and then 6+ minutes of ballad/art, and they milked every second BOA allowed them. Bringing back Lux from the first part of the trilogy was the cherry on top, I'm pretty sure I may have teared up a bit. I don't even know of a show from the modern era (last 5-8 years) that I could put in the same category as this one, it's just that unique.

LD Bell - 2008 - The Quest - I was already hooked on Bell fever after the trilogy, so I had high hopes before seeing this show. It didn't disappoint. If 2007 felt like a theater production, this show felt like a movie. The closer is still one of my favorite's to this day. Still feel like Bell should've become the first back to back TX GN champion that year. Might've honestly been our only chance for that to ever happen. 

Cedar Park - 2008 - On Edge - When I pre-preemptively hope that Cedar Park gets back to it's glory days (it's "Roots"?) before every season, it's because of this show. I probably saw this show 3 or 4 times throughout the season, and I have never experienced anything quite like this opening statement from a high school marching band. This show is pure adrenaline. No props, no real theme, just marching band at it's purest form. Cedar Park was far from the largest band at BOA SA that year, and yet no one even came close to the volume CP was putting out. And this show was HARD. I'm not one of those old people who wish we would go back to the "good old days," but no one marches and plays simultaneously like CP did in this show (most bands didn't even do it back then). And the tempos they were reaching at the end of this show were UNREAL. If they hadn't run into Marcus/LD Bell duo at their peak, CP would have a BOA SA title. 

Bowie - 2011 - The Promise of Winter - I'm still bummed Bowie didn't get a title during their glory days. Of those "days", 2011 was my favorite. The linked video doesn't do it justice, but this opening statement SLAPPED you in the face. And before the rise of the Hebron mellos, there were the Bowie mellos. I'm pretty sure I first saw this show at a football game, and while football crowds usually half pay attention to marching shows - this show grabbed EVERYONE's attention and didn't let go. 

 

That Hebron 2006 show actually only placed 22nd at state that year. It didn't matter to me because that show made me fall in love with marching band. I was a sophomore at Wakeland at the time in our very first year of opening when we saw them at Carrollton Tournament of Champions. If you didn't know our initial band had 60 total members, and like only 45 winds on the field. Anyways all of us watching that show was in awe of how fun that show was, and how well Hebron performed it. That was the show that got me hooked on marching band, and actually discover this website. It was crazy to think about to see how that show really inspired our entire program then to do the things that has now turned the Wakeland band into one of the top 3 bands in 5A. Never did most of us ever even imagine we would make UIL state, much less do the things they've done today.

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For me, might as well go to the very first show I watched. James Martin High School in 2013 presenting “Elegy for a Young American” honoring the 50th anniversary of President JFK’s death in 1963 right here in Dallas. As an 8th grader I saw this show my eventual high school was doing at junior high night, and it was, and has been a very enduring experience for me, and it definitely retains the qualities of marching shows that leave an impact on me: an engaging atmosphere, brought on by the voice work throughout, really encapsulating the feelings people had of JFK’s passing as if you were there in the aftermath. Excellent music selection, starting with the show’s titular work, Bartok’s String Quartet No.4, and Mackey’s Aurora Awakes. The music brings about how cinematic the show is as the show is all about going through the “5 stages of Grief” collectively felt because of this tragedy, and as you can imagine, there’s a wide contrast of emotions that the show takes you through from what you see and hear, and I was very fortunate for this to be the first show that I was able to hear and really sparked my enthusiasm for band as a whole coming into HS. Maybe y’all will feel the same after watching it☺️

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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...
On 10/20/2021 at 11:05 AM, Spitfire78 said:

All the finalists on the field -not just the drum majors.

Probably won't see that again due to COVID-19

20191012_224334~2.jpg

First BOA we ever attended as parents of a band kid and it was truly memorable. After prelims, Summit won best in class and after finals, I believe second overall. It was so different than UIL competition, so visually striking and stirred up emotions I never thought I could have for marching band! ❤️

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