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As a member of the Pit Crew, I can confirm that the Gaudi Benches ARE custom made. We utilized aluminum from the 2019-21-22 stage props to fabricate the infrastructure. All of the flooring and steps were created and added by parents. The broken mosaics were printed and are attached for each performance. The bench backs are all removed for transport. The benches will have additional elements applied in the coming weeks, including new paint coloring and further shaping of the bench backs to more closely match the source benches from Barcelona's Park Guell.

On the other hand, I feel bad for some of the up and coming bands stuck on Panel 2 with all the "locks", knowing that those 5 auto advance spots are probably taken, and then some. It just feels like the chances of breaking through for those groups are smaller. Bridgeland, Wakeland, etc. come to mind.

I love TWHS’ music this year. It gets stuck in my head every time I hear it. The first measure of the second part sounds like the beginning of their 2013 show. Idk if that was intentional or I’m reading waaay too much into it lol. I think my early season favorite is Flower Mound, especially the second part of the show. It’s weird, abrasive, and kinda robotic (all in a good way imo) with crazy time signature changes. Plus the guard is on fire🔥

In Alphabetical order I think the finalists could be: Aledo Cedar Park Forney Foster Friendswood Henderickson Jack C. Hays Leander Lone Star McKinney North Rouse Wakeland

just keep your eyes peeled for the band that seems to be cosplaying as Pikachu, can't miss em.

Panel 1 - Cedar Park, Cedar Ridge, Westlake, Rouse, Vandegrift, LD Bell Panel 2 - Round Rock, Vista Ridge, CTJ, Leander, James Bowie, Ronald Reagan, Marcus, Wakeland, The Woodlands Looks pretty unbalanced to me.

I think making any prediction public with this group is a "bold" action 😁

Prelims is gonna be a big deal since cville and lake ridge are in the same class so we will likely see who would win finals depending on prelims results. Also excited to see what Brewer has to offer in class C against the “favorites” since they had a really successful season last year.

Lone star was the 5a state honor band champion this year. I have a feeling they are going into this season firing on all cylinders. I can't see them not making finals.

If you’re putting Churchill, McKinney, and New Braunfels in that category, heights stands no chance if I’m being so fr 💀

I’m so glad you created a separate thread for these!

They got 8th in 2014 and 9th in 2015. In 2014, I remember them being particularly good and thinking they should have placed higher.

im bored and want to start a topic. i guess if GE were eliminated id be afraid that shows would devolve into boring technical exercises w/o much artistically interesting or compelling about them, also would make part of my training irrelevant. buuuut i also can't shake the feeling that there's already A LOT of overlap w/ the upstairs performance judges who like GE judges look at performance and at content, including from an artistic perspective and not just difficulty. def think 60% effect in BOA is too much, too easy to throw a contest. id prefer a system that is closer to DCI. 30% music - 1 onfield winds judge (sheet subdivided beyond what/how into brass/woodwinds), 1 onfield perc judge (sheet subdivided into front ensemble/battery), 1 upstairs ensemble judge. 30% visual - 1 onfield judge trained in dance not just marching, 1 color guard/auxiliary judge located mid-stands, not pressbox, to more accurately assess non-toss vocabulary and excellence, 1 ensemble judge. 40% effect - one visual, one music, DCI doesn't have sep sheets anymore but the split persists regardless. net total addition of 1 judge for BOA which is the least they could do considering they're the only of the big 3 marching arts orgs not to do double panels for major events. for groups w/ dance teams not guards the question for the aux judge becomes, does the movement vocabulary and excellence of this dance unit exceed the total dance and equipment vocab/excellence of the neighboring guard unit? the bar for dance skills SHOULD be higher for those groups that don't display a full range of equipment skills. like duh. aaaanyway, dream away, y'all!!!

Like you, I would be a little worried about artistry getting thrown out of the window. At its core, this activity is about creating art. It's not simply a sport. It's really not possible to judge it completely objectively. Indeed, all the captions are quite subjective, not just General Effect.

This is Cedar Park's performance from tonight. Garbage camera tonight. Sorry ya'll

I thought it would be cool to post some band videos this year in this area. So here's a few I found: Boswell HS: Chisholm Trail HS: Trinity HS: Lake Ridge HS: North Crowley HS: Fossil Ridge HS:

i was like ummm where r u seeing a decent Cedar Ridge video? ihsFan!!! found it!!! i actually like the opening, it's like WE'RE HERE AND WE WILL NOT BE IGNORED!!! it's an effective declarative sentence. theyre able to pull the big blastiness off better than most too. not sure the show's as clean as last year but don't really remember what it looked like beginning of Sept LOL. visual looks a liiiittle simple to my eyes again but i bet it's missing a bunch of set pieces or something. oooo another Reagan and Round Rock too. faaaallling down this ihsFan vid hole like Alice. just learned that Rock has a JV band lol. that's really cool. makes sense given how GIGANTOR that band is. very talented group too but, uhh, was kinda lookin' for varsity lol. Reagan still serving cool, opening vis super nostalgic 2002. major props for letting the marching and music speak for itself, tho also can't shake the feeling they've done this all before lol. needs some major cleaning too. theyll get there. vista ridge a lot less of a hot mess visually this week!!! really lookin a lot better.

They haven't. I just watched it. Linked to the start of the CPHS show. It is such a different sound from Cedar Park last year and this year. The drill is amazing in that they expose every last member of the band. As this show cleans up it is going to be a tough one. The guard is far ahead of previous seasons. Excited to see this show develop. I was kicking myself late last night for not going to this game but I did not want to deal with the traffic and lack of parking at Vandy.

I won't share too much, but I can now confirm that this is true. I'm very excited by what I'm seeing and hearing from them. If the brass can just develop a little bit more control and balance that sound in the louder moments -- it's getting away from them a bit right now. Honestly, it doesn't even have to be that loud. But yeah, this was truly an impressive first performance! It's so cool to see another Houston band blossoming! Just a few other videos I need to catch up on now...🥰

I agree north shore looked fantastic! I don’t know how others are managing more time to spend on drill… 🤷‍♀️ I just know it’s been a consistent announcement that the heat is too high and they will start practice inside. They even moved the practices later in the evening instead of right after school- to try and have a better chance to get outside time.

Hey @packwick !! TWHS has rescheduled all rehearsals to evening/night. Even with that, they were limited to just 3.5 hours outside on the field this past week!!! In fact, on Thursday night, once the “feels like” temp was below the district-mandated limit, the band was outside for 6 minutes followed by two lightning delays lasting the remainder of the scheduled rehearsal time (no rain, OF COURSE!). @Rubisco is correct; Part 2 IS on the field. There was just no time solidify the new material completed the last time the band was on the field (Wednesday). The student performers are focused, excited, and working hard. TWHS travels to play Lamar at Delmar Stadium in Houston this week. Because of the travel logistics, the Gaudi Props will make their first appearance the week after next.

Not going to share the video, but Lumberton is coming after State Finals. I've said it a couple times already on different media platforms, but I lost my jaw somewhere. Musically, holy cow. How they are clean this early is beyond me. Of course, visually is going to a little rough but this band is miles ahead of at least the last 3 years of the program.

Saw Hebron’s first run of the season at tonight’s game. Show is entitled “Monomyth.” Really really difficult music this year, even by their standards.

Hey everyone!! It is September 1st, which means that our annual Prediction Game (if you call it a game lol) has now officially begun! If you would like to participate, feel free to head on over to the Predictions which is located between Forums Activity & Donate at the top of the page. As a returning Predictions Admin, I am honored to be able to help out again this year with the Predictions and if there are any mistakes or errors, please let me or Clarinot know about the issue, and we will fix it as soon as we can! On that note, I am going to be out of the country on Vacation from the 10th - 17th of September. I will not have access to internet so during that time, Clarinot will be the "main person" to go to. Hope yall are ready for some madness that we call Texas HS Marching Band Season! Gonna be fun predicting it this year lol!

i forgot cedar ridge, i’d put them at like 4th

guess what's back With the 2023 Marching Contest season beginning in less than a month, I thought it would be finally time to bring back this topic for the 2023 season. Here you can talk with everyone about results from a contest that you attended for UIL Region and so we can also take the time to congratulate all bands who advance on to the Area contest, and to all 1A bands who advance on to State. This will also allow us to congratulate all Military Style bands that advance on to the State Military Marching Contest. Can't wait for the season to begin!

Jordan High School - show starts around 1:58

I’m happy that you’re happy! I just love seeing a lot of bands having a lot of early success…I honestly think this season may be one of the best we’ve ever had!

name of Avon's show is Tableaux, btw. hence the picture frames.

Well, the metronome thing I don't think is that big of a deal. It's still an early September performance. I've heard others using it in their first movements. But I can understand your fears about the drill learning, when you've been watching all these other football videos with bands performing throughout their ballads and beyond. 😄 That said, again, I highly suspect TWHS knows more than what they're fielding. Now, whether it's a smart decision to forgo performing it and building that confidence is another question. TL;DR Don't start worrying until October. 😄

This would be my prediction for top 6 -Bridgeland -Dickinson -College Park -Clear Brook -Klein Oak -Brazoswood Might think about switching College Park and Klein Oak

Unfortunately she’s all growed up now and can’t take off of work to travel with her momma much anymore but we usually at least get to go to BOA San Antonio together, and occasionally GN. If Leander ever goes back to Indy, I’ll be bugging her to go with me for sure!

MotherBoy BOA Grand Nats 2023 will be happening, been a loooong time since we've done it. prob some of semis and all of finals, well maybe not the retreat, will wanna gtfo before the flood. besides i know that the retreat won't be as good as the one w/ the real authentic God Bless The USA singer lol. great seats for finals!!!

Thanks for the post, we very much appreciate it

Westlake been posted yet? Barber's First!!! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Pet36hVprps&pp=ygULSGVicm9uIGJhbmQ%3D

CTJ in 2021

We need an entire competition subtopic section for UIL contests and one for all others.

I've heard of band directors going into programs where before/after school rehearsals were "optional" going in, and had to slowly reprogram the band into making those eventually mandatory. You can't come in and instantly demand that it all be mandatory because you'll often get massive pushback and you'll even have tons of kids quit. You have to win their favor first and then slowly introduce standards year after year. It's all about culture. I remember my freshman year at my alma mater being blown away on the first week of marching band seeing kids only a couple years older than I was basically acting like teachers and establishing a a rehearsal procedure and task-oriented goals. And the atmosphere was so positive and we had goals in mind. Rehearsals were mandatory and I attended every single one. I didn't want to miss out.

This last year I’ve watched the bridgeland band and specifically guard- I definitely think they are one to watch and can see them climbing up the expectation ladder. I’ve really liked what I’ve seen from them each year!

oooo y'all i think Bridgeland might be the real deal. watched the soundless Bridgeland and Cy-Fair game lol. both looked very good, but Bridgeland in particular was, like, stunningly good visually. so layered and interesting and well performed. that guard is going. to. be. a. threat. they opened w/ this like full field black flag feature, full size 6 foot poles, and it was shockingly clean. rifles were reallllly on point too. just reaaaalllly consistently engaging to watch the whole visual package. gotta hope the music matches it, could be a great yr for them. unless im confusing them w/ CyFair LOL. i think CyFair were the maroon ones. they were also very good. have these curved white set pieces the band moves around. ofc u really need the music to know.

alllllrighty now that ive seen first videos from everyone, time to RANK THEMMMM!!! bc that's what we do here right??? /s *me setting Hebron's soundless video to I Like Your Booty (But I'm Not G@y) by the Insane-o-Flex and diligently assigning them a score*

Last year- the new directors and newness definitely slowed down the show being learned. There were times the kids and directors didn’t understand each other because of different approaches to terminology and such- once they got over those speed bumps they cleaned up and did great. This year they were set to start strong- but maybe the 105 degree UIL limit on outdoor practice could be blamed for the shorter amount of drill learned!? And the fact that school started on Aug 9th giving them only less than a week of drill time before school started. They’ve had quite a few rehearsals they had to scrap being outside- and were limited to what they could do spacewise inside because of the weather- you know campus- there isn’t much space for the size of the band to do anything inside if they can’t get gym space (which is incredibly hard to get.) I have a feeling their music is getting dialed in further than what they showed us last night and we just need some consistent days under 105 degrees for them to catch up their drill to where they would normally be.

i watched the VYPE and the ihsfan vid for CedarP and CedarR. i think in the vype one the sports guys disrespectfully talk over Ridge but then shut up for Park, who is LOUD and in charge. reminded me a lot of last yr which is probably a good thing for them. the other vid seemed to show Ridge performing through their ballad which is nuts. they sounded good in the ballad also, variations on a theme by Paganini unless im confusing the two bands. preeeetty beautiful and expressive already. the LISD schools all look great and have lots on the field already, wish i coulda heard em. FloMo remains the masters of the symmetric drill, this time w/ lots of big ensemble flag moments, lots of visual volume. guard is really looking good for a first show, maybe even kinda sorta chasing twhs a little. Marcus is looking real clean again and their guard is solid. Hebron starts out in these like three big ovals that unwind. im wondering if there'll be some set piece thing in the center of them. really liking what im seeing, lots of nice layering, im sure they sound great too. guard not as strong as the other two yet but may be slower to start. the good news about twhs is that i like the opening fanfare quite a bit and will probably like it more w/ set pieces and maybe some leg capes or whatever on the guard, kinda looks like they're picking fabric up. bad news is that they performed the least amount of drill of any of the 20+ bands i watched and the least ive ever seen from them at a first game. 2nd mvmt also pretty boring and robotic even at the standstill. guard looked good tho, like they time traveled from October lol. go figure. anyone have any insights on why they're a bit behind learning the show this yr and last? just a new approach of holding back? i for one think u need to give the kids every public performance opportunity possible to build confidence even if it's dirty. def was concerned when it took them until Oct 18th last yr to perform their full show for the first time publicly.

Alright, so tonight we've got Weiss, Round Rock, and Westwood, and Cedar Ridge. Sadly, the stream showing CP and CR muted the beginning of Cedar Park, and the video kept lagging, but thankfully they unmuted for the ballad, but showed none of Cedar Park. Of course, as always, how loud the bands are here aren't actually always that loud and normally get gigga turned up, but regardless, I'm taking into consideration what I here. Weiss: Really love the visual book! Some rough sounds in the brass but in this heat, especially in Austin area it's not unexpected. I LOVE the sextet, and again they have some really cool moments in the drill! Also loving the dark sounds/music coming from the band, very big fan of that. Once they clean up, I think they could turn some heads. Should be a good season for Weiss. Round Rock: For the drill that was on the field, it was pretty dang clean for this early in the season. I love they two little groups playing backfield while the band does some body work, and the music definitely works very very well with the theme! They are definitely building off last seasons successes, and I can see them going big places this season! Great first performance rock band! Cedar Ridge: From what I saw and heard, ummmmm, WOW!!! They definitely will be once again at the top of all the comps they attend. Look and sound so freaking good already, and I'm SO excited to see how they do this season. ` Westwood: Some really great sounds, and love the visual book! The woodwinds are nailing their features, and the drill is going to look really nice when it's all cleaned up. Another great performance from one of our Austin bands!

also the crown to start Vista's show. lol, wonder where ive seen that before??? sly little nod there, love it. Iconic. ICONIC. both vista and bowie were hot messes visually, same as everyone else in August in TX, couldn't really tell what was going on a lot of the time. too early to project any future success obviously. i'll keep u posted lol. ill know when theyre cleaner!!