Hard Core Band Fan

I don't think San Antonio will be harder than the Grand Nationals this year, especially at the top. With so many heavy-hitters going this year I expect it to be one of the best yet.

I wouldn't be so quick to put Avon out of the top 3. They almost always make a lot of progress by that time. They may not be at that level by then, but they will be ready to compete.

I didn't see anyone mention it, but there was no MPI judge at this competition. It may not have made any difference, but it could have. Definitely gave the MPE judge a little more weight than normal.

After BOA Austin, I would move Round Rock up a notch or two closer to the top. I would have them no lower than 4th and maybe in the top 3.

I think the top four will likely be the same (Vandegrift, Leander, CTJ, Cedar Park - maybe in a different order) with the slight possibility of Round Rock sneaking in there somewhere if they get a good, solid start. I expect Hendrickson and Vista Ridge to do well and not only make the finals again, but maybe move up a spot or two. Bowie will be there and they always have the potential to do very well. Westlake and Cedar Ridge both have real potential and Churchill is Grand Nationals bound and likely to hit the gate running.

I would put Round Rock in the top half. This is a Grand Nationals year for them and I expect them to be more prepared, earlier and competitive by the Conroe show.

I can see at least 20 bands in contention for the finals in San Antonio. Avon will take one place that is normally taken by a Texas band and the usual 10th-14th bands are going to have a lot of competition this year. This is going to be interesting!

Oh, and she was also a shadow composer with David on the 4th Symphony as well...

And we all know that the Avon band has been tightly associated with Betty White... as has most of the Texas bands.

I looked a little closer at the Avon schedule and it's going to be a tough one! 9/16 - BOA Canton (650 Miles round trip) 9/23 - Avon Invitational (0 miles round trip) 9/30 - Tiger Invitational, Fishers, IN (90 miles round trip) 10/7 - BOA Dayton (280 miles round trip) 10/14 - ISSMA Regionals, Greenwood, IN (50 miles round trip) 10/20-10/21 - BOA Indianapolis (30 miles round trip) 11/3-11/4 - BOA San Antonio (~2500 miles driven or ~9 hours of flight time) 11/9-11/11 - Grand Nationals (30 miles round trip) Several competitions are close by, but there is one competition after another from 9/16 through 11/11 with only one weekend off at the end of October, as far as I can tell. Add to this, all of the football games and rehearsals and this is really one impressive and difficult undertaking.

I can't wait to see them live. I've only seen them live at the Grand Nationals in 2013 and 2015. I wish more of the other non-Texas GN finalists would come to San Antonio, especially Broken Arrow, Mason, and Tarpon Springs. I have never had the privilege to see either Broken Arrow or Tarpon in person.

An extra 3 or 4 hours of rehearsal each week can make a huge difference if the time is used wisely, especially if it's done on a Saturday. Saturday rehearsals are a completely different animal without the school day interferences and when the whole band and the directors are in a different frame of mind. Even a highly focused 2-hour rehearsal then can reap great rewards and much cleaning and tweaking can be done. It also gives you a chance to fix something you weren't happy with on Friday night and not have to wait until Monday or Tuesday to do it.

Has Duncanville been to any BOA competitions before? I didn't remember them attending one. I can only search all of the San Antonio competitions as I have a spreadsheet with all of the years on it. This is great news!

Whatever format they use will be seen as unfair or unfavorable for someone. It's always going to be an issue. The main thing is to be ready to win when you get there and bring it - prelims or finals! And the truth is that some of the bands that make the finals only have the goal of making the finals. 14th, maybe better, is just fine for some of the bottom-halfers of the super regionals and the point spread from bottom to top can be an 8+ point difference. There will always be at least 2 battles - the one at the top to medal and the one at the bottom to make the finals.

True, but not the reason I stated it. Wouldn't bother to lie.

I've learned over the years to not underestimate Cedar Park. Many times, most all of the discussion is on other bands and CP steps up and passes most, if not all of them up. I fully expected them to be the best Texas band at the Grand Nationals.

I agree that this did have some effect on the Grand National performances this year. Three major competitions in less than 2 weeks is a lot of stress. All in all, I still think they did very well and Avon, Carmel, and Mason really raised the bar high this year. It would have been really interesting to see how things would have turned out if Flower Mound and Hebron had been there!

Round Rock

This was long before most of these kids were born and they may just not know about it. Most kids in most bands probably don't know what their bands did in the late 70's and early 80's, if their schools even existed that long ago. Their band directors may not have told them about it as well. Also, many directors don't really consider those first competitions as the same kind of competition as today. It wasn't widely attended then and there wasn't a good representation of the state at that time. I knew the Round Rock director in 2010 the last time they made state before this year and he considered 2010 their first time to go.

Agreed. If you are going to go to the trouble to assemble them all together, at least reveal the placements up to the medals. It was ridiculous to have a full retreat for just the medals. Didn't want to be too much like a BOA contest I guess!

You have to remember that the prelims are the screening phase of the competition. If you have weakness, any weakness in your show you will pay a hefty price for it. What I noticed time and time again was bands performing really well, but at some point had a certain section or sections of their show that didn't go well. That's all it really takes sometimes, just one bad moment. All the bands at state are good or they wouldn't be there. You have to have a really strong performance throughout just to have a shot. I saw many bands loose their chance with just one rough patch. The judging at state can be brutal and unforgiving!

Actually, in 2010, the last time they made it to state they were 16th in the prelims.

The last time they made the state finals was 1985. They were 2nd. 1985 Finals 1 MacArthur HS, San Antonio 2 Round Rock HS, Round Rock 3 Permian HS, Odessa 4 Marshall HS, San Antonio 5 West Orange-Stark, Orange

Yes, those kids play the All-state audition material as a warm-up.

Bummer! Been there...