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Hard Core Band Fan

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Everything posted by Hard Core Band Fan

  1. 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!
  2. Oh, and she was also a shadow composer with David on the 4th Symphony as well...
  3. And we all know that the Avon band has been tightly associated with Betty White... as has most of the Texas bands.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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!
  8. 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.
  9. True, but not the reason I stated it. Wouldn't bother to lie.
  10. 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.
  11. 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!
  12. 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.
  13. 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!
  14. 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!
  15. Actually, in 2010, the last time they made it to state they were 16th in the prelims.
  16. 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
  17. Yes, those kids play the All-state audition material as a warm-up.
  18. Have you tried using Chrome?
  19. It was a very strong performance!
  20. We have to be careful when we start making decisions with the intention of leveling the playing field. No particular rule or set of rules is going to make things equal for all involved. The rules in place now have been developed over decades of time and they still aren't considered by all to have leveled the field. It is what it is and everyone has to make their best effort according to the guidelines in place. It's not a perfect system, but it's not a bad one either. As far as limiting costs, should this also be expanded to include how much you are spending for your drill and/or arrangements? Or to how much you spend on instrument costs? Does anyone really need a $7,000 bassoon? Or how about how much is being spent on staff, either part-time or full-time? Or electronic equipment? Or uniforms and costumes? Once you start limiting costs, it's just hard to find the place to draw the line. And with UIL, I don't really see props and visual elements having the ability to tip the scale that much, if at all. I see those items tolerated more than appreciated in this system. If you march and play at a high level, you will be judged fairly whether you have the glitz and glamour or not.
  21. I just watched the video and as is mostly the case with videos, it just doesn't begin to capture the quality of the performance. I can see how it may seem somewhat unimpressive, but it was anything but that and was very exciting. Visually and sonically it was an awesome experience. One of my favorite moments visually was at 6:12 when the color guard & dance team's costumes change from pink and blue to that bright yellow. It is absolutely stunning when it happens right in front of you and dominating your view.
  22. I think their show comes off better live. I heard it twice on Saturday and it was very impressive.
  23. You could be right. I just feel that they have a show that may be received favorably by UIL judges. That's why I have them listed.
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