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I think I'm going to step outside the box a little bit. Add some bands that are not powerhouses and some that are lol 10. Copperas Cove 2022-Miles From Home. 9. Westfield 2002- Metamorphosis 8. Churchill 2003- Toxic 7. Harker Heights 2021- Serpentine 6. Dripping Springs 2014-Bohemian Rhapsody in Blue Shades 5. Belton 1995- Opera Unplugged 4. L. D. Bell 2006- The Remaining 3. CTJ 2016- Flashdance 2. L.D. Bell 2004- Blue 1. Leander 2015- Choral Works

Red alert! Red alert! 🚨 The annual Vandegrift May performance video has dropped! I repeat, the Vandegrift video has dropped! Calling all TXBands users! 😄 They sound amazing, of course. I agree that they seem to be chasing Hebron a little bit. So many technically challenging parts in that opener! They'll have a great year. I think The Woodlands sounds fantastic as well, by the way. They're producing clear, wonderful sounds, and I like the music a lot. My gut says they're going to have a very special season. By the way -- and I'm sure you know this already -- there's more to difficulty than the number of notes you play! Rhythmic challenges, intervallic challenges, phrasing challenges -- all can impress an educated listener. Also, like in WGI, I think the fundamental training needs to match the vocabulary for the vocabulary to be fully credited by a judge. A band shouldn't attempt something difficult just because they can and then have it be filthy!

well Vandegrift already sounds amazing and it's still May. thiiink they're going for Hebron virtuosity this year, looots of notes. the only other one ive heard is twhs, my unfiltered opinion is that Vandy makes their wind book sound like it's for intermediate school students lol, tho i like it quite a bit nonetheless. just not sure why they don't challenge the wind musicians a little bit more. but yeah, Vandy prob gearing up for top 3 yet again unless everything else about the show is a lot worse or everyone else is way better than usual.

I always recommend that whole era of LD Bell 2005-2010 to any newcomer to the scene willing to watch/listen. Rankings aside, it was some of the most beautifully written and performed music to ever grace a field. Also I think TWHS '04 might've been one of the very first BOA shows I ever watched aside from groups like Westfield, Bowie, Leander and Cedar Park whom I got to watch live in HS at games and competitions. I'd heard of bands like Winston Churchill, Spring and my senior year was the first time I heard the name "Carmel" and becoming aware of bands out of state, but I didn't watch my first marching band online video until Summer 2006. And those finalists from the '05 and '04 lineups were some of the first I watched.

Update on the #teamtexas traveling trophy - my first pass was going to cost $6K for the base traveling trophy, but we wanted to have it set up where the school takes a smaller version home for their trophy case. that appeared to be a bit steep for me and our foundation. the goal is to have a very unique and very "Texas" trophy that we could set up at the alamodome for a selfie station like they do in Indy. I have initiated the conversation with MFA/BOA so that we can use their logo for the trophy or at least understand if they are going to have an issue with us doing so. Hope to have a final design to share by late June as well as our new designs for the #teamtexas merchandise for the 8 schools going to grand nats. much more to come.

I’ll never forget my daughter’s Senior year at Leander when they medaled at BOA SA with the Fourth Dimension, took seventh their first season as a 6A state band a few days later, and then took 6th at GN 4 days after UIL! 8 days of INSANITY. It was an exhausting but incredible week.

At least this year it'll be many days in between each contest. Couldn't believe that reagan, CTJ, and Marcus did all 3 within 9 days in 2021. 13 days for all 3 is still tough though.