Rubisco

I agree that the 8 hour rule has forced directors to use their rehearsal time more effectively. That said, I'm not convinced they'd stop using their time effectively if they could tack on occasional Saturday rehearsals. It would take at least a generation or two for them to get lazy and complacent, right? For the random Flower Mound tiff: I agree that prelims panels aren't the most accurate, but FM *did* perform last last year. And in 2015, Reagan performed before them and placed 2nd. So, those results probably weren't entirely due to the overwhelming number of high quality bands. By the way, I think FM would have won last year (not 2015, though). Just one caveat: if Broken Arrow had also gone last year, they would have won. Their show was a near-masterpiece, and I don't say that lightly. But, it's all hypothetical, isn't it? 1,000 likes for Brandon's post. Yes, and yes!

Carmel absolutely nailed their preliminary performance at the Southeast Power Regional. I don't think there's really any competition for them at Worlds this year. Maybe James Logan, whose show is stirring and politically-minded, but probably not. Carmel's show is too elegant and too well-performed to be topped. Pride of Cincinnati will be similarly dominant in the Independent World Class, unless Aimachi is better than ever. It wasn't the best preliminary run for POC, but the show is so well put-together that it didn't matter. I *do* love Onyx's show, and it might end up being my favorite of the year, but it lacks focus (probably intentionally, but that doesn't change the fact that it lacks focus). All in all, it'll end up being another great year for Michael Gaines, who's probably the closest thing the marching arts has to a genius.

And before people complain, I apologize for not being a little bit more explicit that this is about the 8-hour rule. But obviously that's the main benefit of dropping out of UIL.

principalagent - I agree entirely with the first paragraph. In the second paragraph, I don't agree that there has been a band in Texas every year since 2010 that could beat Avon. 2013, yes, obviously. 2016, maybe, although Avon was stronger visually. Other years, I'm not so certain. Certainly, it's not obvious enough that I would use the word, "likely." I do, however, agree with the last claim. The probability of Texas band X or Y or Z beating Avon is additive, and therefore probably higher overall, although Avon is VERY dominant. By the way, although I knew it would strike a nerve, my main reason for bringing this up wasn't to get into a debate over whether or not Avon will win SA. aaron067 - I'm not really discounting UIL here, although it's no secret I'm not a big fan. I'm just fantasizing about the removal of the 8-hour rule, which happens pretty regularly on these forums. By the way, I agree that Texas has the deepest field of bands in the nation. I think most music educators would agree with that, even the ones who don't teach in Texas. Anthony V - Eh, I don't really view this as a UIL scoring versus BOA scoring thread. Indeed, if the 8-hour rule were dropped, you'd see improvements by bands in both circuits. As such, I don't think the second paragraph, in which you describe how rubrics are internalized by judges and therefore difficult to truly distinguish, is really germane to the discussion. As for the third paragraph, I'm not completely sure to what you are referring. Do you mean that if I wanted to know how groups would change without the 8-hour rule I might start conducting interviews? Well, maybe, but this is all speculative. It is a thread on TXBands, after all. BandG33k73 and JeremiahW - Maybe, unless they end up getting a prelims panel like they did in 2015 at SA, when they placed 3rd. Or a prelims panel like they did in 2016 at SA, when they placed third in Effect and had several groups scoring within a point of them. Obviously, they're fabulous and more than capable of winning an Eagle, but there's a little less agreement about their dominance than some folks would have you believe.

Besides all of them. Or (if you're crazy) none of them. What are the ones that would benefit the most? I was going back through some old threads and saw that rumor from a couple of years ago about how Claudia Taylor Johnson had supposedly dropped out of UIL. It ended up being false, but it got me thinking: what if they had? Also, I'm probably thinking about it more these days because Avon is coming down to SA this year and stands a very good chance of making mincemeat out of the Texas groups in the visual captions (as usual). Like last season, I probably won't comment on any of the shows, but going into this season, Avon would be my guess for SA Champion. (It'll be like Carmel 2002 all over again, but this time around it won't be the result of one judge tanking L.D. Bell in Visual GE in finals, and it'll be at a *~*SUPER*~* Regional.) Just imagine if the playing field were level. Everyone could do so much more. But who would do the most?

Some absolutely stunning photos from the Southwest Regional are available over at Zach Ashcraft's website, for those who are interested: http://zachashcraft.com/wgidenton Here are a few. Klein Oak. "Don't leave me, Jamie!" More Klein Oak. That can't be easy! Bellevue West. If ya got it, flaunt it. More Bellevue West. Because they've obviously got it. Wolves with great hair. The Woodlands. Guilty until proven innocent. More The Woodlands. Pretty good for girls.

David Bowie's explanation of his song (lifted from Wikipedia) might shed some light on Trumbull's concept: Bowie, at the time of Hunky Dory's release in 1971, summed up the song as "A sensitive young girl's reaction to the media." In 1997, he added "I think she finds herself disappointed with reality... that although she's living in the doldrums of reality, she's being told that there's a far greater life somewhere, and she's bitterly disappointed that she doesn't have access to it."

I didn't watch finals, but poring over the recaps, I'm seeing (mostly) what I expected. Glad to see that Invictus' score of 69 in prelims was due to a 10 point penalty. It would have been *quite* baffling otherwise. I'm also happy to see Trumbull break 85. That's where their score should be. A real boffo score. I'm thinking it'll be Carmel, James Logan, Avon, Flanagan, and Trumbull in the top 5, but who knows. Flanagan is probably the only World Class guard I haven't seen. As far as the TX groups go, I'm happy that the world guards apparently gave better performances in finals this time! I'm definitely happy that Bowie cracked 80. Only a very small handful of guards are going to do that before the World Championship. I'm also somewhat heartened by the fact that The Woodlands was in the upper 70s for their vocabulary, composition, and repertoire scores, since those are harder to fix. The show is fine (if lacking a bit of subtlety), and they're doing very difficult things, but the execution needs to be there. They've got a couple weeks. I've got my fingers crossed. In the Open Class, I'm seeing pretty much what I expected. GE judges seemed a bit divided on Eastlake, with half seeing it the way I saw it, and the other half, not so much. Bellevue West was first across the board in movement in both rounds. Not at all surprising. That was so obviously their strength, and they put a lot of World Class groups to shame. What was a bit surprising for me were the high equipment scores. To each her own, although I didn't see the finals performance, so I can't comment on that. Meanwhile, Hendrickson seems well-positioned to medal at the World Championship. We might have a new World Class guard in Texas soon. We'll see!

I forgot to add, I also saw the Klein Oak guard, which came out on top in the A Class. I thought it was very well-done. A very pretty show, although they relied a bit heavily on the lone guy member of the team. It seemed like most of the most difficult skills were performed by him. The rest of the guard was excellent, too, but it was definitely something that was more noticeable than in other guards. Then again, the show *was* called Jamie, and so I'd assume that the lone male guard member was playing the lead role.

Lots of Power Regionals today. Guards should really have their stuff together by this point, as there are only a couple of weeks left before the World Championship. I was super impressed by Trumbull. The show is called "2017" and is performed to a cover of David Bowie's "Life on Mars?". There's a little girl staring at a TV at the front right corner of the floor the whole time. I'm not sure I understand exactly what this show is about (being consumed by the media?), but man, can those girls spin. And toss. And move. This is what a world class guard should look like. I strongly suspect they'll be around the top 5 at Worlds. I was also reasonably impressed by Cape Fear. I'm not a big fan of the music (there's a very awful, metal-ish cover of "The Sound of Silence" towards the end), but I respect the quality of the performers. Lots of prison bars. It's very reminiscent of The Woodlands' show this year, which might not be so favorable to The Woodlands. I thought Marcus had a very fun and cute show. I absolutely loved the concept and all of those magic tricks, although I might have chosen different music. "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" only really works because of that one line; it's essentially a song about love and desire, and the show didn't seem to have any of those elements. The Woodlands has improved since last time, and there have been several changes to the show, including what seems to be an extended ending. Honestly, I still think the ending needs work, as it just doesn't have that air of finality. I'm not sure what they could do. Maybe the girls could topple over the bars with some sort of crash as the soloist catches that last toss? I don't know. More than anything, they should be focused on getting it clean and infusing some energy into the performance. They're going to be right on the border of making finals at worlds, probably, which is somewhat disappointing, given that last year's show would have made finals comfortably. No paint again in prelims for James Bowie, but they didn't need it. Far and away the best scholastic guard at the contest. There's just something about the way that they move that sets them apart from everyone else, and it's apparent from the very first few phrases, as the guard has its legs in the air and begins to rummage about like little woodland creatures. And the performance is so much better than it was two weeks ago at WGI Austin. The show is really coming together, and I can't wait to see how it does at World! I was able to catch a few guards in the Open Class at the Southwest Regional as well. I absolutely loved Eastlake's show, which is based on Copland conducting a performance of Appalachian Spring, and I think it should have been closer to Hendrickson. Eastlake's show is a more cerebral sort of show, whereas Hendrickson's is very obviously pretty and affecting, which probably helped Hendrickson. Certainly, I would have had Eastlake above Bellevue West, whose movement was arresting, but whose equipment skills left a bit to be desired. I *did* like Bellevue's West use of MJ's "Dirty Diana" and the show's horror/Teen Wolf-style elements, and am left wondering if BW came out over Eastlake mainly because BW's show was so viscerally entertaining. Edit: Life ON Mars. Typos galore.

After watching Onyx again, I want to qualify my statement about the guard getting "quite naked." I'm exaggerating there. But the ones who do strip down really stick out.

There's the paint. Bowie was saving it for finals. And now I know why everything is so white, because they get it all over the floor, themselves, and the flags. Definitely haven't seen anything quite like that before. Very clever idea. Performance-wise, I'd say it was about the same as it was in prelims, which will be more than enough for them to win this contest. The Woodlands seemed a bit off in finals. Prelims was much better for them. Opening with a drop never helps!

Loved Hendrickson's show. Beautiful rendition of Bob Dylan's Blowin' in the Wind. Full guard weapon features always impress me. It's a bigger investment from a pedagogical standpoint. There are scholastic world guards out there with only 5 or 6 members of their guard doing weapon work. Something to keep in mind. I think Hendrickson's performance was cleaner than Little Elm's, although the skills were a bit more advanced in Little Elm's show. I can see why the two groups were so close in prelims.

Very clean performance from Dawson. The whole thing just really moves. I wish I could have seen Klein Oak, but the feed completely cut out, and the rewind function doesn't help. The performance doesn't seem to have been recorded at all. Thanks, FloMarching!

"Victoria Page will not dance the dance of The Red Shoes TONIGHT!" Oh, my. It looks like Onyx has taken the hint and done something completely left of center this year. When's the last time an Onyx show had you smiling and laughing? Anybody? Crickets? I love how the guy strips off the typical Onyx uniform in the beginning. Then the rest of the guard also proceeds to get *quite* naked. It's a veritable cabaret-esque striptease. It's also quite queer, with men strutting around in high heels, performing phrases from Beyonce's now legendary Single Ladies dance. Work it! I'm loving this, although I have to admit it feels like stuff I've seen before -- off the top of my head, Cypress Independent's 2015 show. This one, however, is a bit more... charged.

It looks like Bowie is going the Onyx route with their costumes. Same costumes as last year, I think. Lots of white again -- the costumes, the floor, the ramp in the back. They're risking a bit of sameness here. It's a very gentle show, performed to the William Wordsworth poem, Intimations of Immortality. I probably could have used a little bit more bite, to be honest, but I still enjoyed it. A few key drops, and a few moments where the guard really wasn't performing quite cohesively as an ensemble, but nothing too major. Not a bad performance for their first major contest. Apparently the paint will be coming later, if it comes at all. One thing is for sure, though: this show is absolutely nothing like Bishop Kearney's show so far, which is good! The Woodlands has the most confrontationally feminist show I've seen in a while. The audio track is an odd, but interesting mix of Blondie's Heart of Glass, a chamber string piece, and sound bites from women. "Some people think little girls should be seen and not heard," it starts, as the girls are behind a line of prison bars. "You're pretty good for a girl," another says. Like Bowie, there were a bit more performance lapses than I was expecting, but solid overall. Movement was their Achilles' heel at the last contest they attended. I can kind of see why. There's a bit more hesitancy than there should be, and the phrases aren't really connecting organically. Something to hit hard, although I think the show itself is quite fine. Certainly among the more engaging ones I've seen. I'll be surprised if they're both not in finals at World, although I'm hesitant to predict the sort of success that Bowie saw last year. Still, I'm excited to see how both grow throughout the season. Edit: Wordsworth, not Woodsworth.

I'm watching it online. For Indianapolis prelims, it was just a single camera that was placed at the top of the bleachers. No multi-cam or anything like that, so you can't make out all of the fine details. The sound is fine, I guess. Not as important for judging a winter guard group.

A fine performance from Carmel at the Indianapolis regional. Love the swing sets. Very playful. Definitely the standout for me, although I wasn't a huge fan of the SW shows in general. (To be fair, I'm usually not.) Pride of Cincinnati was typically excellent. I could do with a little less talking in the soundtrack, as I think the music is quite interesting (much more so than the Nico Muhly piece they performed last year), but it could grow on me. I think the white, PVC pipe room that gets moved around the floor is brilliant. It's like a movable jungle gym that the performers climb all over. It creates some very interesting visual moments.

Big day for WGI. Lots of contests all over the place (including Dallas), which should provide a little bit of evidence about how everyone stacks up. Unfortunately, it looks like Bowie might have withdrawn from the Dallas regional. I'm wondering if the cost of paint had anything to do with it! Very Bishop Kearney '96-ish, by the way, although I'm confident that Bowie can update the concept in a way that's fresh and interesting. Be sure to donate if you can!

Despite how I harp on Texas groups during the marching season about their visual packages, even I have to admit that Texas groups have come a looooong way. And their always improving color guards have a lot to do with it! Where would Texas bands be without these wonderful young performers? So, I've decided to start a thread (probably in the wrong section) to discuss how excited I am to see Texas winter guards compete this season at WGI, and also to create a space to discuss the winter guard season in general. Texas will be VERY well represented this year at the WGI World Championships. For those who don't know, Texas winter guard had something of a banner year last year in the form of the James Bowie World Class Winter Guard. After Bowie placed 4th in the Scholastic Open Class in 2015, Joey Powell, the director at Bowie, self-promoted the group to the World Class for 2016, and the group proceeded to completely shatter expectations, placing third in semi-finals over the likes of well-oiled guard machines Avon, Flanagan, and James Logan. Bowie ended up dropping to 5th in finals, but it was still far and away the best showing ever by a Texas group in the Scholastic World Class. Their show last year, The Anarchy of Silence, is maybe the best-designed show I've seen in the Scholastic World Class since the Scott Chandler days at James Logan, and it was such a tricky thing to pull off. Sure, Tarpon Springs outclassed the competition from a skills and performance perspective, but I definitely preferred Bowie's show. I am so excited to see how much they've grown this season. I hope they continue to break the mold! Also competing in the Scholastic World Class for the first time since 2006 is The Woodlands World Guard. This group has seen a meteoric rise the past couple of years. Honestly, somebody should give their director, Cyndi Robbins, a cookie (or better yet, a pay raise) because I have NEVER seen a group go from non-finals-worthy A Class group to finals-worthy World Class group in 1 and 1/2 winter guard seasons. In 2015, Ms. Robbins' first year with the group, the guard started its season by dominating the A Class, was seeded first nationally, was promoted to the Open Class, and proceeded to make finals in the Open Class. In 2016, the group dominated the Open Class, would have been ranked first nationally, if it had gone to the World Championship, and became the first group ever to be promoted to the World Class mid-season. At the Southwestern Power Regional, the guard placed 2nd to Bowie and beat out 3 other groups, including the NEISD Guard by over 3 points. (The NEISD Guard, another outstanding group, went on to make finals at the World Championships.) Needless to say, I'm very excited to see how The Woodlands does this year with a show that's designed for the class that they end their season in. Their shows the past two years have been beautifully expressive, and almost a little poetic in the way that they seem to tell the future. Obviously, I'm very excited about the World groups, but Texas isn't slouching in the other classes. Both Little Elm and Eastlake will return in the Open Class, where they placed 4th and 7th last year. I especially loved Eastlake's show, which was very Texan and very kitschy, and I mean that in a good way! In the A Class, the always strong Americas will be making an appearance, as well as the Dawson A Guard, which is currently ranked first in the nation, albeit only 1 week into the season. And then of course all of the Independent groups. It's going to be a great season. Best of luck to all!

Is anybody else a little bit concerned about this -- in particular, its implementation at San Antonio Super Regional Finals performances, where there are often more than 7 groups in contention for a "medal"? It's too early to tell if there's a pattern, but there have been 14 San Antonio Super Regionals since 2003, and 2016 was the first time since 2004 that the bands scoring in the top half in prelims were identical to the bands scoring in the top half in finals. In fact, 2004 is the only other time this has happened, and probably back then it was due to a relatively weak field. (L.D. Bell, Stephen F. Austin, and The Woodlands were all absent.) I suppose what concerns me is the very strong signal (conscious or unconscious) that the scheduling sends to the adjudication panel in Finals. Obviously, I understand how crappy it is when a first place group performs first in Finals and their nearest competitor performs last, but the trade-off might be that a group that has an uncharacteristically weak performance in prelims (or gets an unsympathetic panel) has a tougher time redeeming itself. I've never had a problem with this set-up at regular regionals, because they typically aren't as a competitive near the top, but the SA Super Regional is an entirely different beast. If it keeps up like this, and that's a big if, I suppose that the lesson is that preliminary performances at Super Regionals and semi-finals performances at Nationals have just become a lot more important. The days of groups dropping from 3rd to 8th or 7th to 13th might be over (or at least rarer). Anyway, I just thought it was an interesting observation, especially since next year's San Antonio Super Regional will be even more competitive than usual with the addition of the 10-times-in-a-row-National-Medalist-3-times-in-a-row-National-Champion Avon Marching Band from Avon, Indiana.

The best Texas band ever is L.D. Bell. And, frankly, that declaration almost feels more objective than subjective at this point in time. Bell's sustained success from 2005 to 2010 at BOA Grand Nationals, the most prestigious and holistically-judged marching contest in the country, makes it hard to debate. A list of marching shows would, of course, include more than L.D. Bell, but I'd still have them at the top of the list. 1.) L.D. Bell 2006 - Not the best performed Texas show ever, but that hardly matters when you're being burned in the fire of something new. Unfortunately, the sheer energy of the performance doesn't completely come across in the recordings. You really had to see this one live. It was a strange and beautiful show, which is maybe not as strange and beautiful today because theatricality is now so prevalent. That, and some designers have fallen into self-parody. 2.) Ronald Reagan 2005 - This is essentially Reagan's summa. All of the electronics and all of that forward-thinking pop-culture sensibility congealed in Reagan's finest (or second-finest) performance. (I say second-finest, because I might actually prefer the execution of the 2006 show, Mark Chambers' swan song.) This is also probably the only show where a very schizophrenic music design can be excused as thematically relevant ("You Never Know"). A lot of music educators were shocked when this one missed out on the Eagle. It's hard to overstate Reagan's influence, which was exerted over a very short period of time. 3.) The Woodlands 2013 - Brilliant concept brilliantly executed. This is probably the only show that a Texas group has brought to Nationals that could have won all three captions without me batting an eye. (I'm still waiting for a Texas group to win that visual caption in Finals!) This was the year that The Woodlands' performance finally equaled the design, which is almost always fantastic. The Woodlands is still Texas' primary purveyor of the avant-garde. 4.) Marcus 2007 - Yes, it was an absolutely ingenious use of the green field, but it was really the music performance that sold me on this one. Early on in their season, they already sounded better than most National Finalists do at the END of their seasons. Make Our Garden Grow remains my favorite marching band ballad ever. It is the most exquisite music performance I've ever heard from a high school group. The attention to detail is unparalleled. Every phrase is so beautifully shaped. 5.) Westfield 2003 - I'm with the judges on this one. The music was too good to ignore, both from a performance and a design perspective. Musically, the show is such a technical marvel, and it's so very exciting. Now, do I think the visual matches the excitement of the music? No. In fact, I only ever listen to this show, because I find the visual largely superfluous. But the music is so strong that I think it belongs on this list. 6.) Marcus 2012 - Another performance by Marcus where the musicianship just blew you away. And it was once again matched by an elegant visual package. Marcus' show this year (and most years) was like a fine wine. Sure, maybe a general audience found it a little bit dull compared to the more fast-paced, DCI-esque shows, but for a more discerning audience, the pleasures were multitudinous. 7.) The Woodlands 2007 - Turning the entire field into Sudoku board is still the most insane, outside-of-the-box thing a Texas group has ever done. This may also be the most difficult show a Texas group has tackled. The marching and playing were hard enough, but having to incorporate all of those prop flips and visuals into the drill just made it ten times worse. It's the sort of show you want to see done without the 8-hour rule. Still, the band gave a fine performance, and the sheer ingenuity of the show launches it into the top 10. 8.) L.D. Bell 2005 - This was really the starting point for L.D. Bell's reign. It was such a beautiful and elegant show, which maybe suffered early on in the season because it was so difficult. Most of the people around me suspected that L.D. Bell was beginning to falter, because of those early performances. But I loved the show so much that I (correctly) predicted that it would place in the top 3 at Nationals. Cartwright started with Bell as a designer in 2004, I believe, but this was the first year that I really took notice of his work. 9.) James Bowie 2011 - It's hard to shake that powerful opening statement of Belshazzar's Feast and the touching tribute at the end to Bruce Dinkins. But those are just two moments in a show that was from start to finish fantastically well-performed and beautifully constructed. They didn't go to Nationals in 2011, but this is one of those shows that I think could have been a dark horse, especially after snagging the GE caption at San Antonio Finals from the likes of L.D. Bell, Marcus, and The Woodlands. 10.) Flower Mound 2016 - A lot of people say that certain groups sound like a drum corps. I'm not sure I would have agreed with them until I saw Flower Mound perform last year. Every chorus was just so, so strong. They walked right up to that line, where they would have sounded crass if they had taken just one more small step, but managed to never cross it. Bands everywhere are going to have to up their game to match Flower Mound's sheer technique and power. The visual was also very clean, although I give them a little less credit for that, because the visual wasn't nearly as challenging as the music. Still, it was a fine show matched with spectacular execution. Honorable Mentions: Take your pick of Spring and Westfield shows from the 1990s, although, if I'm being honest, the level of performance and design is so high today that I'm not entirely convinced that any of them would make finals at Nationals. Certainly, none of them would win. Still, you've got to acknowledge their dominance.