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i understand wanting to keep the element of surprise, and that's fine, we don't need to see the shows before a comp, but the effect on judges is overstated. vandy wins constantly, and their shows are always all over the internet, starting w/ their May camps and continuing throughout the season. a quality show will always be rewarded, even if a judge has already seen it multiple times.

Pretty sure the name dropped, but here's some art!

This season was truly amazing! Congratulations to The Bluecoats who take their second Gold Medal back to Canton, OH! This was by far one of the best seasons we have had and makes me so excited to see what is going to happen in the future! Overall, The Bluecoats, The Troopers, Boston, and Phantom had the best shows of the season! Congratulations to all who competed in DCI this season!

Anyone who isn’t excited for this is lying.

I’ve found a good amount of north Texas groups Sachse (I think) (not waxahachie sorry) Coppell: McKinney Boyd: Wylie East: Forney: some really impressive stuff from these groups so far!

congrats Bloo on your first undefeated season and highest score yet!! congrats to the other finalists too. some pretty great stuff in the mix this year. recaps, only thing that kinda annoys me is no perfect 10 in content for BAC's guard. like, c'mon!! 9.9s again. but other than that things look fine. congrats to the BAC guard on the first undefeated guard season since before 2013!!

and maybe the ppl who think it has mattered for them at some point are a little... delulu?? i guess that's my point lol. i won't harp on it tho.

Southlake Carroll v Hebron Southlake Carroll's starts at about 2:40:00 (Unfortunately, it seems the commentators also start talking during Hebron's performance...) Hebron's starts around 2:51:20 Game last night on 9/6/24 Edit: Video taken down.

First performance minus preshow. Looking good so far!

Was looking around for halftime shows and ran across one from Hendrickson: I’ll keep looking for more, but most bands haven’t had their first game yet

I’m so excited to be here performing w the UNT Green Brigade! I am so excited for you guys to see the show, whether you are watching it on Box5 or in person. I personally am in love w the music and what we have learned so far, GMG! 💚🦅

This year is a little different. This is the best I have seen them in week 2 since I started going to all of their performance in 2015. The marching form is advanced beyond anything I've ever seen from CP this early (as a whole). The guard is gigantic (finally) for Cedar Park! They were at a little disadvantage tonight as their front ensemble truck did not make the game. The front ensemble features were mostly silent for the show tonight. Luckily Vandy allowed the front ensemble to use their set. Mighty sporting of Vandegrift. LISD is truly One Team. I hate how this phone compresses the audio. They were much more dynamic than this video's recording but, it's what I had on me. And this video should clear up as it finishes processing

Back in the stands, for anyone watching I hope you enjoyed. I am proud to finally share the name of the show. Cy-Fair HS Marching Band 2024: "Gravity"

Livingin the Leander ISD, I am fortunate. I get to see Cedar Park, Vandegrift, Leander, Vista Ridge, and Rouse multiple times a year. I choose which game to go see based on the bands 😅

phantommmm over crown after semis!! judges are giving "the people" most of what they want this yr, it seems. crowd rxn to phantom will be wilddd tomorrow night. blooooo on top again in semis. boring result but well-earned. undefeated season incoming. vis prof judge was a lil stingy overall, kept Bloo's total score just below a 98. think my og premiere prediction of a 98.5ish in finals will end up accurate, tho if im the one judging VA, MA, or GE, id prob have Bloo 100 in what, 99 in how, assuming a performance that isn't really obviously worse than usual, or a competitor's perf that's way better. BAC preeetty solidly in 2nd, GE should keep them there. very likely will earn their highest score yet. their best show ever, so go figure. guard still undefeated i think. a guard hasn't had an undefeated season since before 2013, as far back as results go on the DCI site. even BD's 2014 guard was beaten at a contest in Indiana by Bloo. 99-99-99 from the judge in semis. might see a perfect 100 for BAC in finals. will say it again, best guard ive ever seen in DCI, like Pride of Cincinnati but on the field, esp when viewed up close. holy vocabulary!! perc obviously doing something right to be slaying also, but personally not a big fan of the perc writing overall. too intrusive to the fabric of the music, 2nd mvmnt drags again for me. prefer Bloo's approach to perc writing, more dynamic and textured, fits with the brass better. think it's more effective that way. devils are obviously amazing performers but the show never came together. looking forward to next year for them. hope 2025's vis program has more of that clarity and balance they're known for. wanna be able to "hang it on a wall" the way @Rubisco says. also hope they do a theme that's more left-field for them. no more simply picking an artist or art movement or art work! i forbid thee!! wondering if heads will roll at Cavies after this season. currently in 11th. feel like the design team should be given at least a couple chances before being guillotined, but ppl in this activity are quite impulsive, actually frequently quite nasty compared to, say, the color guard side of WGI. but that's a diff discussion LOL.

So, I'm saying this now... Top 8 in order Celina North Lamar Sulphur Springs Lumberton Pine Tree Canton Paris Farmersville

Welcome to our Annual Predictions Game! It is me, J-Mike, one of the admins for the game, here to announce the start of the chaos that is about to ensue. If any of y'all would like to participate, please feel free to either click on the huge box with the text "Marching Predictions" or click on the Predictions tab at the top in between Forums Activity and Donate. For anyone who did not play last year, we admins introduced a badge that is given to the top 10 Predictors. This year, we will have a similar badge but just different colors. ***NEW*** This year we are implementing a weighting system when it comes to the competitions and the number of predictions submitted to each event. I would go into detail on what it does, but I will let you all see it for yourselves in the "Learn More" tab in the Prediction Game. ----- Just to let everyone know, I will be accepting event submissions IF the competition is already confirmed on who is going and the schedule is out. Lastly, I wish everyone the best of luck as we enter a bloodbath of Amazing Texas HS Marching Bands waiting to just blow us all away!. Let the games begin!!!

Bands that I believe have this on their calendar. Of course unconfirmed, but managed to find most of these based on what bands are posting on their websites: Canyon James Martin JJ Pearce Keller Keller Central Lake Ridge Permian Plano Plano East Rockwall Waxahachie Weatherford Wylie

woodlands show is cool. music had a jazzy promenade vibe, like a stroll down a street. visual - hard to tell w/ the camera w/in the 40s and a lot of the action outside of the 40s. maybe started partway in, not sure? no benches tonite. some interval issues w/ the drumline right away as they marched out to side 2, but overall solid from the winds/perc for a first show. guard: challenging skills don't even seem to challenge them much. freakishly clean for first show. loved the 6 or 7 into the ground w/ the rifle kick. i like that they've made it a little harder for me to tell when their phrases begin and end, something Avon and Carmel do very well, could still be a little bit "spinnier" as they travel to their next dot, like full 360 rotations as opposed to just kinda posing w/ the weapons. minor complaint tho, i mean they're so far beyond where they need to be for a field show quality-wise. gives the whole thing a sheen of visual clarity.

Cleaned up this topic. Please make sure you are posting within the guidelines for this forum. Thank you.

Here's what I'm thinking pre-season: 1. Marcus (GE, Music) What can you say about Marcus that hasn't already been said. They'll no doubt have the cleanest, most refined show at this contest. They're coming off an excellent season last year, and I'm certain they're only looking to ramp it up for this year. Look out for them to possibly be back on top of the Lewisville Trio this year. 2. Bell (Vis) Similar to Marcus, Bell had a banner year last year--their best in over a decade--and don't forget: they outright won Prosper prelims last year. I was very impressed by how those kids moved last, especially by end-of-season, though Wakeland or Marcus could easily nab that vis caption on the strength of ensemble vis. Regardless, I think Bell is notching out a fresh identity for this historic program, and the judges seem to love it. 3. Wakeland Last year, Wakeland surged early season before having a lower than expected placement in San Antonio. I think their show this year is again relatively unoriginal, following a trend they set last year. While not necessarily presenting the freshest of concepts, they always find a way to steal my heart with their drill. 3A captions are theirs for the taking, unless Lone Star comes out swinging. 4. Bentonville Coming off a great season with Arkansas' first-ever GNats finals appearance, there's no reason to assume this group won't be in top-half. Truthfully, I don't even know the title of their program this year, but I can't wait to see this group and I think it would be awesome to see some non-TX bands finish nicely here. 5. Jenks Similar to Wakeland, Jenks also seemed to have a great start to their season last year that didn't translate to full-season dominance. At BOA Bedford last year, they enjoyed a top-half finish among some of the biggest names in TX, even beating groups like LD Bell, Timber Creek, and Keller Central. I think the OK and AR groups will have to come out swinging in vis this year to compete with the music scene here. 6. Lone Star This is the most difficult group to place for me. Given the rapid growth in the city of Frisco and their incredible music book last year, I think 6th place is well within reach. Would love to see them in top-half and continue to contribute to the growth of Frisco ISD as another powerhouse district. 7. Prosper Prosper always seems so volatile in their placements to me, especially on their Nats years. Just when you feel like counting them out, they go and have an absolutely monster run in Nats Semis, though I think we're on the verge of seeing Cartwright-designed shows falling out of vogue. TX groups that go to Nats tend to have a later surge in their season than those that don't, and I anticipate seeing that reflected in scores here. 8. Keller Central I'm really excited to see this show! Last year, they had one of my favorite visual programs, and I could see them being a sleeper pick for top-half this year. They've been good for a long time, but recently I've started to feel that they're becoming great. I love seeing Keller ISD becoming a force to be reckoned with in the band world. 'Another Time, Another Place' will probably be one of the most unique shows in finals here. 9. Wylie East This is where it gets a bit dicey, since there are a million bands in this 9-12 echelon for this contest--it will come down to splitting hairs. I'm hoping that Wylie East's show this year will be a little more concrete than last year's to lock into finals. With how the new Area J is looking, it will be really difficult for anyone outside of LISD to punch a ticket to state, so they will all be fighting tooth and nail for this finals appearance. 10. Rock Hill Also incredibly difficult to place. This program is so young compared to the rest on this list, and they had an incredible finish in top-half here last year. I could be way off-base thinking they'll be as low as 10th, but their weaker results toward the end of the season have me a bit hesitant to predict them toward top-half this year. 11. McKinney North In their state run last year, I was shocked by their sound--I could have sworn I was listening to a DCI hornline. Seeing them miss 5A finals was a complete shock for me, and I'm thinking they'll turn up the dial even more this year. The only weakness I picked up on was size, something that will continue to grow as the city does. I anticipate them being noticeably larger than last year, which will hopefully translate to a second, consecutive finals appearance here. 12. Wylie I have been blown away by the quality and cleanliness of their shows for the past two years, and I'm a bit taken aback that they aren't rewarded by judges like I think they ought to be. Personally, I think they should be scoring much higher than 12th here, and I often struggle to find one thing to critique about them. Hopefully this is the year the begin receiving the recognition they deserve! I have Mustang and Southlake Carroll just outside of finals. Ultimately, it comes down to how much Mustang can beef up their music program to compete with these TX groups in their first trip down and how clean Southlake Carroll can be by this point. I also think the prelims schedule will have a big impact when the bubble is this large, and Azle, Aledo, Rockwall, and Braswell will all certainly be on fire.

I have a really good feeling about Leander as well this year! Their product this season has all the right qualities and they are sounding fantastic already. It’s going to be a great GN experience this year in so many ways and I am so happy to be going!

maybe we should, like, ya know, wait for Shadow Creek's show to be actually fielded before we start with the breathless pearl clutching and calling it "wildly racist"??? just a thought, kiddos!

I saw Cypress Park, they have GREATLY improved from last year, cool show theme, I think they might be able to join the competition for finals this year.

Wylie HS plays Flower Mound this week. Excited for that one!

yesssss, it's quite crazy!! they have through their ballad and the very first part of their closer on the field. maybe taking the classic ctj approach of getting it all out there asap. drill writer is meeting his deadlines, that's for sure lol.

They do not use field mics or amp their ensemble. The show wouldn't work with it given how separated their ensemble is throughout the show. Also, BOA highly discourages this and have some recommended changes to better clarify it. Current BOA: However, when amplification of only specific individuals during full ensemble passages leads to an intentional misrepresentation of the band sound as a whole, the instructional leadership has strayed from the core values and beliefs stated above. Such misrepresentation of acoustic qualities, by enhancing the performance of only a few players, is unacceptable and must be selfregulated by the participating bands. Proposed Changes: In consideration of the Bands of America philosophy, we recommend the following be implemented for the 2023 BOA season and beyond. • Amplifying individuals (wind players) through a soundboard during tutti sections leads to an intentional misrepresentation of what is being performed by the total ensemble. This misrepresentation of acoustic quality by enhancing a few individuals is unacceptable. • Soloists and featured ensembles may use microphones during their feature section but must be muted from amplification when not being featured. • Where a participating band has a limited number of performers (e.g., one player to a part), the use of individual microphones is acceptable.

First performance minus preshow Looking good so far!

Predictions *=State MBC Qualifier 1st-2nd Bubble 🥇Frisco Wakeland HS*: This is one of the most consistently good programs in the state. I've seen snippets of their show and the brass sounds great. Woodwinds sound like they could take their respective caption at state again. However, I don't think their show is something any more innovative than years past, and they may experience a slight plateau or even dip in their competition season results compared to last year. Other than that there's not much else to say. They're Wakeland. 🥈Frisco Lone Star HS*: Drove to their community preview in Frisco. Certainly a noticeable step forward in design. They sound PHENOMENAL for this early in the year, brass section is cranking more than ever before, and it's already cleaner than most, with a tougher book. I think they will once again be a crowd favorite, just from their opener alone. That said I think these top 2 are pretty locked. Lone Star's had nothing but an upward trajectory since 2020. They won here in 2022, though Wakeland was famously not there because of a UIL disqualification. There is also questions on how valid their win in Area Prelims last year was, what with spread-out performance times. However, I think the fact that Lone Star's had their foot in the door for a while there says that Wakeland is no longer untouchable in Area B. I see Wakeland still a little ahead, but I think they could definitely swap some ordinals with each other this year in finals. Lone Star could maybe even be a poor finals performance by Wakeland away from a more "undisputed" Area Championship. 3rd-5th Bubble 🥉Frisco Lebanon Trail HS*: I haven't seen LT yet, but they are a great program with some 5A state experience under their belt. Their show "Fascinating People" appears to be a step in the right direction this year, with a more "outside the box" show concept. I feel like that has been a consistent hold-back for this program, and it took them several years to escape their trend of safe, classical, albeit clean shows. I see some Chick Corea in their repertoire and that makes me excited. What the band staff does in terms of design with the show they've got, is what will make or break them against bands like Argyle, who are pretty heated up after last year's 4th to 5th place movement in finals. 4 McKinney North*: Not seen them yet. A lot of people talk about how this program gets "underscored" in UIL competitions because of their more BOA-oriented show designs. And while I see why people see it that way, I think North has gotten some pretty justifiable UIL scorings over the last few years, maybe even higher than expected. They've been a pretty consistent program since 2022, placing 3rd the last two years at Area, and making the SMBC last year for the first time in a while. I think they've found a neat identity with their jazzy shows and they remind me a lot of the Mandarins in terms of recent show design. I think they could be anywhere in the 3-5 bubble, but we'll see as the year plays out. 5 Argyle HS: I put this program in 5th because I don't think I'm quite sold on them being fully on par yet with the big 5A bands. What they do have going for them, is lots of historically great state runs and I'm guessing some fired-up students after 2023's Area Finals. While this band IS similar in size to McKinney North, I feel like they still have a bit of 4A blood left in terms of show design, and North uses what they have far more effectively in my opinion. However, I would love for Argyle to prove me dead wrong, because I think they have found the top 5 bubble nice and comfortable these last two years, and are ready to make a swing for a possible top 4 or 3. I think this top 5 is pretty set and will not be disrupted. 6-10 Bubble 6 Frisco Independence HS: I think last year was a fluke. They have a great big sound for a smaller band, and they remind me a lot of Argyle, but a little louder. 7 The Colony HS: To be honest I don't really know where this program's headed. They never seem to attract a lot of attention in competition season leading up to this event (but I think they should get more credit), but always seem to end up in the middle-upper finals bubble. I think they'll stay there for now. I see them literally anywhere 6-10, or they could just randomly give Top 5 a small run for its money. 8 Frisco Emerson HS: They really surprised me last year. I thought early on they'd be a dark horse for finals and ended up right. Lots of talent for a medium-size 5A band, especially being so new. I see them in the 8-12 range. 9 Anna HS: Another 4A band moving up, another with some good state experience. I think they will hover in the 8-14 range. 10 Lucas Lovejoy HS: This band is a lot like The Colony in terms of placement history, but has definitely been more volatile, with some historical 5th, 6ths, then 9ths and non-finals finishes. They consistently do very well in the prior competition season then get snubbed come Area, but I don't think they will break that Top 5 bubble. Anywhere from 6-12 for me. Finals Bubble (In Descending Order): Frisco Memorial HS, Frisco Centennial HS, Frisco Reedy HS, Frisco Liberty HS, Prosper Walnut Grove HS HUGE GRAIN OF SALT FOR THIS POST: It's August. 95% of these are going to be wrong.

Who’s this Hebron you speak of?

Marcus' show is called In a New Light. Keller's is called Distant Voices. Not sure if either has been posted yet. There's a football game video with both performances on YouTube. It seems like Marcus is keeping with the more aggressive style this year. Actually, the pacing of the music is quite similar to last year as well. Front ensemble and mello solo build-up into the first big hit, which kind of sounds like a pop tune (I'm not sure about that), followed by fast, belligerent single-tongued and double-tongued brass features. I'm really enjoying this style for them. I think they could have success similar to last year. Keller also has a solid show. Like Marcus, a slow-burn start. Wonderful flute solo, with lots of expanding circles on the field. It didn't seem like they had as much of their program on the field as Marcus, although it may just seem that way because they stopped right after the first full-ensemble hit. Strong starts overall!

Quite the band district, for sure. Maybe when I retire from the day job I can convince Dave Campbells Texas football to do a band edition and let me write for them.

Two of my favorite things!!

Cy-Fair and Klein Cain: 8/29/2024 (Playing each other)

Looks like Breakfast burritos and BOA!

Ive seen Lone Star this year, and the design of their show has gotten much better, and is visually cleaner than it was even in early competition season last year. If they can continue to improve at the rate they have they can really place high. Definitely a dark horse in the race this year!

Rockwall High School

I don’t know if I’d disagree with ridge point over clear springs, don’t get me wrong clear springs is definitely improving, I love what’s going on over there, but I think ridge point can make a statement here for sure.

As a marcher from Wylie East I am so, so grateful that we’ve been integrated into this comp so well and have been successful enough over the past few years to the point that people expect a top 5 finish from us. We will NOT disappoint. Thank you all❤️

I have updated the original post with the preliminary schedule for this contest.

Fredom Field has a capacity of 10,280 while Challenger only has 10,000 a small difference but 280 is 280. Also freedom field is the 9th most expensive in Texas, Challenger is 10th. Freedom Field is 2 years newer. I got all this info from the wfaa ABC 8 article on August 17th 2023. A really big difference tho is the track Challenger has and Freedom field doesn't, that's very good for Freedom Field, because that means the sound doesn't have to travel as much, meaning bands will sound way louder. That's something exciting. Also the parents helping with Challenger Area can finally go see their students perform at Area, as somebody in this forum previously said, tho the Alvin parents now have to volunteer for this year's area contest, I think this a positive change.

I'll make a spitball for this, but the bottom half of finals is completely unpredictable in my opinion: 1. Marcus (Visual, Music) 2. Wakeland (General Effect) 3. Prosper 4. Jenks 5. L.D. Bell 6. Bentonville 7. Keller Central 8. Rock Hill 9. Wylie East 10. McKinney Boyd 11. McKinney North 12. Lone Star Finalist Bubble: Wylie, Mustang, Southlake, McKinney, Azle, Rockwall Realistically, the only locks apart from the top 6 are Keller Central and Wylie East in my opinion given how their show design and execution is very consistent for BOA measures, McKinney Boyd and North have had some pretty good momentum, but this competition got a tight finals bubble, I can see some of these bands finishing either in the top 8-9, or 15th/16th

If DCI was any indicator at all, this is going to be a GREAT Grand Nats year for shows and performances!

Amazing season and congratulations to all our finalist and our other corps! So many wonderful shows top to bottom, I think Phantom was my favorite, but Bloo and BAC were not close behind! BD had some solid moments and ofc executed so well, SCV had a fire comeback season, Mandarines had such a FUN show, loved colts music book, troopers were just WOW, Cavies show was not their best, but they still looked and sounded great, and was super happy to have Scouts back in finals! Overall probably my favorite season since 17, so sad it’s over but I’m already looking forward to next season!!!

It has officialy been moved to Freedom Field per UIL.

A playoff system isn't practical nationwide. It's barely practical in Texas. I think the terminology is fine as it is.