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I just finished catching up on the remaining Scholastic As. I thought the third block was very strong. I'm not surprised to see several high scores in that block, and I wouldn't be surprised to see the top guards there rearrange in finals. And I was VERY happy to see Westfield here! ❤️ Seven Lakes' music seemed weirdly off, like the two speakers weren't perfectly in time with each other, so there was an odd echo effect. I love those T-shirt flags! Friendswood's finished set design is gorgeous. I love the staging in this show and all the expressive qualities. I'm not sure it was quite clean enough to warrant an 80+, but the content was there. Overall, the Houston-area A guards had a very strong showing here, taking the top 4 spots. Congrats to Pearland, Friendswood, and Cypress Woods on those top 3 placements. We'll see if they can hold onto them tomorrow! Now time to catch up on Open class...

Congrats to Westlake on coming out on top in Open class in your first year in the class! Very, very impressive! Kind of an interesting mashup of the regular dance-y sounding Robyn song Dancing On My Own and a more slowed-down piano version of it. Meanwhile, Winston Churchill wins the award for most WTF show I've seen so far this year. It was a hilariously chaotic floor full of monkeys and monkey bars. I love when the safari guy comes out and is chasing them around. I think he ends up in the cage at the end. 😄 I actually liked ORIGINS Open more than I liked ORIGINS World again. I thought they gave a clean performance of a very clear design. The world class show was... interesting. It's something different, and it may take me multiple viewings to appreciate it more. I will add that Wayne Harris voiceovers are definitely back in style this year. See: Tarpon Springs. If there's a more talented high school guard in the US than TWHS World this year, I haven't seen it -- at least from an equipment perspective. Is there any other guard in the US right now that could do those insane ripple trick tosses at the end of that show as cleanly as they did them? Not a single drop on the traveling 6s over the arms of the girls. Not a single drop on the roll tosses over the moving dolly that immediately follow. Clean catches, too. WOW! But, as others have mentioned, the design needs to match the level of the performers. I still think the show is in desperate need of a color infusion. Everything is so dark that the staging looks cluttered in parts, because I can't tell the girls from the floor from the boxes. Adding a pop of brighter color to the performers seems like an easy fix. Also, I'd like to see more shaping in the staging in the last section with all the weapon work around the boxes. But overall that 84.9 is a great prelims score, and they're probably still at least in the running for a medal at Dayton.

I'm catching up. Watching fragments and full shows here and there. I've gotten through the first block. New Braunfels came out on top over Georgetown, which is a change from WGI Houston. I agree with that. I thought New Braunfels had a very clear, logical program and gave one of the cleanest performances I've seen so far. I believe it was the Georgia O'Keeffe one with Georgia on My Mind for the soundtrack. Georgetown by contrast seemed to have a somewhat rough run, with room to grow for finals. Shadow Creek was clean, but the soundtrack (River Deep, Mountain High) is kind of samey from beginning, middle, to end, which makes the show not feel as dynamic as some of the others. It was fun, though, and high energy. Hebron's varsity was absolutely lovely. I'm surprised they've been scoring as low as they have, but this is the first time I've seen them. More Than Gold, was it? Something like that. I think the floor was a guitar with a little black table on it. The costumes are kind of a similar, gold-ish color to the floor. I found it very expressive, and one of the better performances so far as well. Mount Pleasant was a standout, too. Very eye-popping floor and confident performers.

oh what's this, CyWoods is third with an 80 and not the 68 they got just last weekend? hmmmmmm.... wait a sec, who was right about them again?... oh yeah... that's right... it was ME! hahahaha. twilight zone, i toldja!

Scores went up pretty significantly in finals at WGI Austin for the most part, especially for the A guards. That 84.690 for Pearland is really making me wish they were going to Dayton! Oh, well. Maybe next year! *fingers crossed* Come ooooon, Clear Brook! 😄 TWHS with an 86, despite that opening drop. That's great; I mean, the overall show was still very well performed. 88 for both vocab and excellence in equipment -- now that's a judge who probably agrees with me about their equipment skills relative to the field this year. They'll be seeded 2nd behind Tarpon for now. Looks like my prediction of Tarpon vs. TWHS may still come true, but I'm sure Carmel and Avon will have something to say about it. Carmel got an 85.2 at their local contest yesterday, with Avon a little over a point behind them. It's gonna be competitive!

I’m really excited for this competition!!!

I thought both of their squads were great!

Mount Pleasant came out on top of the SA class a couple of weeks ago at the Mansfield regional. Their JV made the finals as well.

Good job by Mt. Pleasant varsity. They are the sole guard from the vast wasteland of military bands in Northeast Texas that compete in WGI events. Correction: Pine Tree from Longview competes in WGI as well.

Definitely do your hometown contest, especially with it being a brand new event! I always really enjoy going to this one, being my local big event with many great bands to enjoy! I hope the event in Memphis fills out!!

I cant wait for next season!! As a clements allumni would love for them to do great but all the other bands in this are also very good. 7-8 bands you can make a arguemnt for making state.

Agreed! Everywhere there are BOA competitions, the quality of the area programs is increased. I just wish there was a competition in Northeast Texas, maybe in Tyler or Longview. I know there aren't many corps style programs here, but I think that would change if there were more exposure to them. It's a corps style dead zone there and the students in the military bands are actually told that the corps style bands aren't real marching bands and aren't any good. It's the students who lose when they don't get a chance to experience something more fun and challenging.