Hard Core Band Fan

Again, thanks for your comments and insights. You are honest and credible. It's much easier to just complement what's good in each performance, but you tell it like you see it. I don't as I know too many people that have kids in current groups and try hard not to hurt anyone's feelings. At least most of the time. Also, I am glad to see that someone else is feeling the frustration of seeing kids not get the instruction needed to succeed and be their best. At the top of the list for me.

Bowie's shows have been a love it or hate it situation for several years now. As hard as I have tried, I've not been able to be in the love category. I too like The Woodlands' music and think the work matches the frantic nature of the composition. As far as the performance issues, that's the SW class. You have to take those high risks to have a chance in competing. No taking the safe route there!

You'd be surprised how common this has been. I have stories that you wouldn't believe.

1) The Dallas/Fort Worth area guards usually participate in the North Texas Colorguard Association and they are having their championship today as well. They also compete in the WGI competitions. 2) CTJ usually just competes in WGI as far as I know. We saw them in several of those competitions. (Ladybird HS doing a Ladybird show this year) 3) The WGI World Championships requires attendance of at least 1 regional competition in that season if there is one within 400 miles of your guard's location. As far as class changes, sometimes guards are promoted to the next higher class if they are performing at a level that is consistently above the other guards in that class. This is mainly in the lower classes. You can elect to move up to a higher class if you want want to.

Well, I liked the military bands back then, but really think that their day has passed. The level of difficulty of the performances today with corps style bands isn't the same as it was then. Everything has evolved to what we have now and is on a different place on the evolutionary scale. I'm not saying anything against the military bands and I have loved the journey along the way. I wish I could say that I quickly embraced all the changes, but some took a while to digest. I have to remind myself how much I love something today that I didn't care for when first introduced in the past. I am just as excited about what I see today as I was in the mid '60's.

I guess I'm the lone dissenter on Onyx. I liked their show a lot. I don't think it was the best, of course, but I did like it. Maybe in part because I am old school in regard to their organized entry, performance, and exit from the performance area. It reminds me of the days many years ago when I was in high school and we were told that our marching performance started from the time we exited the bus until we got back on to leave. Everything was organized and planned and we were "on" the entire time. It was a military style band and that was a long time ago, but I do miss that discipline and dedication to task.

I just have to say that you have an excellent ability to verbalize and describe what you observe. You have great insights and assessments of the performances and are such a great contributor to this site (marching band as well). Thank you.

I guess if don't understand the vocals in Carmel's show, it would be weird to you. It makes perfect sense to me and is both humorous and entertaining. I liked it! Out there isn't wrong, it's just different.

Leander outscored the winning guards in the other two power regionals this weekend by 2 points. Fine job! Different judges, for sure, but clearly showing them to be a strong contender for the very top of the World Championships.

The guard world has changed a lot since then. Back then, the guard was made of oboe and flute players. Now, they recruit guard members from the dance classes in middle schools.

Must have been one of those non-guard people! I was one until my wife and daughter trained me in the correct lingo. Yep, learned a whole lot of things most men don't know about costumes, hair, and makeup...

Good day for Bentonville. Their JV was 4th in SA semis and their varsity was 2nd in SO prelims.

Didn't make a lick of difference. They were clearly the best performance of the semis. To be honest, I didn't even notice. With many years of guard experience, I didn't see it.

Way to go Keller! Both the JV and the Varsity made it to the SA semis.

Cedar Park performed well and their complex tarp layers were impressive. If you have ever had to fold and lay out tarps, you would appreciate the difficulty in getting this to all line up, work, and to get on and off of the performance area in the allotted time.

Yes, that is Eastlake's JV and they do have depth in that program. They are consistently in the top because of it.

Looking forward to Eastlake's performance today in Denton. They are currently ranked 3rd overall in SO.

Awesome performance for sure!

Leander is now ranked #1 in the WGI standings for Scholastic A! Way to go Leader Guard!! http://wgi.org/wp-content/uploads/wgi_events/rankings/2018/ranking_Scholastic_A.html

These guys really have an instrumental quality to their voices. I would love to hear an arrangement of this on the field! When I first heard them I thought it was the Swingle Singers performing it as they have this same quality of sound. If you haven't heard of them, it's worth the effort to find and buy their albums. They have been around for decades.

Oh, and their show concept and work are both impressive as well.

Well this is not quite WGI discussion material, but I went to the TCGC competition today at Rouse HS and saw an awesome performance by Leander. I can't wait to see this at the end of the season when they have all of the kinks worked out. It is my favorite show that I've seen this year. Will Calloway and his team are a truly talented bunch. Way to go! My heart was pounding by the end of the performance. Also, kudos to Dripping Springs for choosing killer music for their show. It was an effective combination of intense and beautiful. You can hear the music .

Maybe this will help understand the divisions: Division Class – The class the group will be competing in: A, Open, World or Regional A (color guard only). • Regional A Class – Novice programs and performers. • A Class – Beginning programs and performers. • Open Class – The intermediate developmental level of performers. • World Class – The most advanced programs and performers. Division Subtype – Independent or Scholastic. Scholastic is represented by those whose membership comes from the SAME High School or a school that feeds to that particular High School. Independent is represented by those whose members are not necessarily associated with a particular school. Can be associated with a university.

I agree! Although I will say that the SA division is insanely difficult at the World Championships.

I think that Leander performed theirs better today, though. Loved them both. Leander just received a 71 in finals!