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Please email any and all streaming issues and complaints to music@uiltexas.org so this never happens again!

I’m going to copy and paste my other post here into this thread as well because it’s so important!! Friends we need to BAND TOGETHER and ask UIL to allow the SMBC to be streamed by a service that is more Band friendly and not so much Football friendly! Oh my goodness has the state of Texas not PROVEN to UIL that our marching bands are absolutely incredible? This is shameful to me that a FOOTBALL streaming service is allowed first right of refusal over services like Box5 or FloMarching who SPECIALIZE in streaming marching bands! I’m so aggravated by this. It’s an insult to our great marching bands, honestly. They deserve better. Having said all that, PLEASE direct your streaming complaints directly to music@uiltexas.org. Please, please, please!!!!

Every top band in Texas blows DCI away in terms of woodwinds.

His playing has matched his beard too. He has definitely thrived during this season and his moment in the sun.

A Facebook Live stream from an Ipad on a stand would genuinely be better at this point.

Hebron Prelims Performances NFHS Live Stream Phone Recording

Block three: Hebron: What else is there left to say? The brass book leaves me trying to catch my breath from the comforts of my couch. The props are perfect, the guard looks great, the soloists are probably the best I've heard all year (even though the mics were a bit hot in the ballad), is it a stretch to say they could make semifinals at the DCI World Class Championships? Probably, but who cares! This show is a delight to witness every time the opportunity arises. The Woodlands: One word: COLORGUARD. Nobody on the field looks like they're having as much fun as them. The crispness of the brass articulation in the opener gets me every time. It's no surprise why this show earned a silver medal and won GE this past weekend - it is "effective" in every sense of the word. I could see them slipping into the medal conversation here as well (especially given how close they were to Hebron in finals this past weekend), but we will just have to wait and see how it plays out. Waxahachie: This show is like when you eat a dish so good that it takes you back in time to when your grandma used to make it: It hits you in the feels. The set pieces are beautiful, and the costumes compliment them very well. The dynamic control in the ballad is beyond impressive, and all the soloists really help bring this thing home. A strong finals contender to me. Westlake: There's a lot going on in this show, partially because the clarinet soloist is absolutely shredding most of the time. Put his mic through a distortion pedal and he'd sound just like Eddie Van Halen. Kiss from a Rose is awesome, and I think works with the theme so well. The drill in the closer is sweet - and they execute. I would've been happy with just 8 minutes of jazzy clarinet solos, but what we get is a solid alternative. Taylor: What a beautiful show. From the props to the uniforms to the music, it definitely puts an emphasis on emotional impact moments! The soloists were excellent, just icing on the cake! Dickinson: I love anything having to do with movies, so they won me over pretty easily. They have some cool formations and they all looked really clean, and their impact moments are very effective. The Psycho music is a great way to finish off this wonderful homage to cinema. Alexander: The way they play with dynamics in the first impact moment is so cool. Those mellophones!!! The "scale" set is a great moment. Overall, a very solid show (with a very timely message) and a great run. Midland: This show gives me big Academy 2016 vibes. The Sound of Silence always makes for a great ballad. There are lots of fun visual moments in the closer, and the soloists sounded very good! Hanna: I adore this show. The props, the colors, the musical selections, all perfect. The kids look like they're having a blast too. They wanted to make a show for their community in Brownsville, and they've accomplished exactly that!

Just to make sure everyone has the right information, the correct email address for UIL Music is music@uiltexas.org not .com. The UIL absolutely does want to hear your opinions and feedback on this.

Friends we need to BAND TOGETHER and ask UIL to allow the SMBC to be streamed by a service that is more Band friendly and not so much Football friendly! Oh my goodness has the state of Texas not PROVEN to UIL that our marching bands are absolutely incredible? This is shameful to me that a FOOTBALL streaming service is allowed first right of refusal over services like Box5 or FloMarching who SPECIALIZE in streaming marching bands! I’m so aggravated by this. It’s an insult to our great marching bands, honestly. They deserve better. Having said all that, PLEASE direct your streaming complaints directly to music@uiltexas.org. Please, please, please!!!!

I for one would love to see Carolina Crown compete at UIL.

My wife, and so far she is correct when it comes to influencing her behavior. 😞

My band OCD won’t allow me to sit anywhere except high up and directly on the 50 yard line😭🤣

It seems like they've added a streaming option for high cam only

Keller with their best run in the Dome so far! I wasn’t digging this show early in the year, but wow wow wow they were fantastic today!!!

Shoutout to rocketfan86, I miss his recordings.

Great run from Cedar Ridge Someone needs to explain to them that the camera doesn't need to ALWAYS be panning left or right.

If finalists exactly copy paste from San Antonio, then there’ll be one free spot since Cedar Park was 5A! Bowie placed 15th but missed state, and Leander was 16th but is 5A so that final spot is looking really competitive for the taking!

Marcus is gonna top half this contest with relative ease imo

So I have seen a number of comments this year about a Texas Trophy for the winner of BOA San Antonio. The Bands of Claudia Taylor Johnson Foundation and the CTJ Band Parents Assc. serve as the host program of the BOA San Antonio Super Regional. While it will not happen this year, the bands of CTJ Foundation has made the request to MFA/BOA to create a traveling trophy similar to the grand nationals eagle (Kevin) Trophy. I hope that we can have this in place for next years BOA San Antonio Super Regional. I have heard a number of suggestions for the trophy to include the "armadillo" and the "road runner" - there is interest in UTSA in sponsoring the Texas Road Runner trophy but I will keep you all posted as this develops. It would be my intent that, that the trophy would recognize the previous winners of BOA San Antonio since it became a Super Regional on November 1st 2003 (FYI - San Antonio was the first Super Regional). those would include the following 2003 - Westfield 2004 - Reagan 2005 - Reagan 2006 - LD Bell 2007 - Marcus 2008 - LD Bell 2009 - LD Bell 2010 - Marcus 2011 - LD Bell 2012 - Marcus 2013 - The Woodlands 2014 - Claudia Taylor Johnson 2015 - Flower Mound 2016 - Flower Mound 2017 - Claudia Taylor Johnson 2018 - Flower Mound 2019 - Reagan 2020 - Cancelled due to Covid 2021 - Hebron once we have support of MFA/BOA, we will create a poll to decide the name of the trophy - including the nickname of the trophy - FYI - the Woodlands is credited with naming the Eagle as Kevin after hosting him in 2013. welcome your thoughts.

As the battle rages on, it seems noteworthy to remember the top DCI Corps rely heavily on horn lines full of Texas kids. And then totally obliterate the eight hour rule.

There is now a high cam option!!! Thank you NFHS.

I have no idea who takes home the win this year, during hebron I was literally wondering how anyone could compare and then the woodlands came out and did that…

Finals is saved!

I would happen to disagree. Aside from Cedar Park, everyone that made finals at BOASA is present here at the contest. And that finals is generally seen as being more competitive than Grand nats finals, even with the likes of ABC, WM, and tarpon often being in attendance. I think the depth of bands here is deeper as well when you get outside of finals imo. I don’t base the strength of a competition only from the strongest groups, especially when there’s an equivalent 12-14 top national groups attending this contest, compared to the 7 or so that make up the top half of a GN finals. There isn’t much of a dropoff when you compare the top halves of each contest from each other, versus when you compare the bottom half of each one, I think the depth of this contest is underestimated. Along with SL Carroll and Prosper barely missing out on state in their respective Area competitions when they are potential grand nats finalists this year in their own right. Just some of my opinions on the matter

If they could just have a high cam option I would be happy.

Here are some thoughts on the bands who performed in the first block: CTJ: This isn't my favorite Claudia Taylor show by any stretch, but it's steadily growing on me. I thought their run on Saturday night was stronger musically, but they will be solidly in finals and the top 5 conversation. Cedar Ridge: The colors of the props and guard flags serve as a nice contrast with the band uniforms - and the jam session at the end is so fun. Timber Creek: Best run of the year, in my opinion. The staging of the brass in the ballad is so great, especially given how well they play timing-wise in that section. The guard was on fire today! I hope we see this again tomorrow afternoon. Pearland: Wow! I really love this show. I missed their BOA runs this weekend but I definitely understand why they're becoming a perennial San Antonio finalist. They look and sound so, so good. Cy-Woods: The best run I've seen from them too. I never thought I'd hear Four Scottish Dances on a marching band field, but I'm sold! L.D. Bell: Another beautiful field design, I think that might be the best I've heard the brass sound all year! Bell being back at State is good for the activity. College Park: Some really wonderful ensemble sounds from the brass today. The execution is phenomenal across the board; from the music and drill to the choreography, solos, and guard work. I really enjoyed this show. Duncanville: I only got to catch the last couple of minutes due to the stream starting late. The vocalist is nails every time, and I loved hearing about the collaborative efforts of the Duncanville fine arts community in bringing this production to life!

This streaming service is definitely sub-par. The sound quality is lacking and the image quality seems very low-resolution. Like, are they using HD cameras? after watching box5 (and Flo) livestreams all season, it’s night and day. such a shame for those of us that can’t be there in person.

I thought having such a quick turnaround between BOA and UIL would cause a little bit of fatigue, but both Cedar Ridge and CTJ just had their best runs of the season, absolutely stellar runs. (I'm sorry for leaving out other bands, I missed them) (sidenote: I've never seen someone lose a shoe mid performance but it happened in CTJs run lmao)

I watched on a Facebook/Instagram Live. They sounded and performed better than Area B Finals in my opinion. Going first is tough, but they gave a great performance all things considered.

this aged well i think

^ this. No chance BOA takes a risk on making Grander Nats look better than Grand Nats. However, nothing says this doesn't have to be an unwritten thing. Perhaps a flag with a trumpet on it and the words "Come and Blast it" written underneath...🤣

Agreed, top to bottom, SASR and SMBC are at least GN Semis difficulty. With regard to the top level bands, you can find equivalents in TX. Hebron, Woodlands, Reagan, FloMo, CTJ occupy the same top spots that BA, Carmel, Avon, Tarpon, etc occupy. When you apply that logic, and then factor in that many bands miss Finals in SA, only to comfortably make GN Finals a week later, you can absolutely say that SASR/SMBC = GN.

LD Bell Prelims

So THAT'S what happened to Dream On! I thought I remembered it in the show reveal and was confused why that wasn't in it when I saw them earlier this season. Interesting!

When I first heard "The UIL is proud to present" I thought maybe it was just a mistake in the script...I can't imagine being at BOA and hearing "The BOA is proud to present". I'd rather have The University Interscholastic League...

Since I cannot like this comment more than once I'm quoting for emphasis

Cedar Ridge Prelims Performance

Done! It only takes a minute and may get results! Plus be sure to remind UIL that marching band contests are streamed by people nation-wide and will have heavy usage, therefore they need a specialized service to handle this!

I am getting a better picture of what is going on via the TXBands.com live blog vs. the live stream. Good grief! Yes, I'll send my thoughts into UIL. What a shame! Especially for families of band members who live in other states! So many disappointed grandparents and relatives out there! 😞

Sheldon Cooper, we need a strongly worded e-mail. Now!

I really don't understand why there's no high cam option. It's the only way that I truly enjoy watching these shows. Why do these producers continue to try and force these moving/multicam options? Maddening!! I really don't care what they think is interesting. It's art...let me find what I find interesting, please.

The Woodlands went 1st in 2018 and it was just as rough. They made it in though, and I'm thinking L.D. Bell could as well.

I just hope that instead of being buried and capped in scores by going first, they’re more of a “gatekeeper” or “bellwether” group and set the standard for performance to begin the day🔥🔥

Rowdy, The Roadrunner! Absolute perfection. What could possibly be more representative of the spirit of Texas Marching Band attitude?

Sad that Leander was out of finals but proud of them on 16th place overall amidst a difficult season for them! So so proud.

I hear the Coppell and Woodlands bakeries are great this time of year https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1--zPKZRotzSN4Pof0s9D-cUodkFl-BeO

Shhhhhh https://drive.google.com/file/d/1r6WGBRmFPMJ1ALMKEAXx8oZIsNb9qPu5/view?usp=drivesdk Still processing, you might need to download

That's actually an amazing idea and a great way to honor the previous (and future) SASR champions, can't imagine anyone at BOA objecting to it. Props to the CTJ people for getting the ball rolling on this!

Genuine PSA from the bottom of my heart. If you find yourself in San Antonio, after the contest has ended, late at night and you're looking for something to eat with your family? Do NOT go to the Denny's near the Alamodome. It is a nightmare on earth. I went there last year and my girlfriend and I didn't get our food for two hours, and apparently every bus driver in the area had decided to show up and have the loudest possible conversation, about the most vile stuff possible. They also somehow managed to get three rounds of food before anyone else in our area got anything lmao I don't think I've seen true defeat in a face until we hit the second hour of waiting for food, and the family behind us (which I believe was from the Woodlands, they were very patient and understanding) literally started to fall asleep. That doesn't even begin to talk about the homeless people that would wander into the store and have to be escorted out regularly. So please, if you're hungry late after BOA, just eat somewhere else. Yard House maybe? It's more pricey but it's better than that darn Denny's, that's for sure. Heck, even a McDonald's would beat that Denny's.

They placed 15th last year, so with 14 going to finals, they’ll certainly be in the conversation.