Hard Core Band Fan

Well, you never know. Round Rock ISD let Round Rock and Cedar Ridge go in 2013 and North East ISD is letting CTJ and Reagan go this year. It could happen!

Yep, you are right. I was using the realignment site and they had it at 7 until a couple of days ago. They had Ann Richards SFYWL listed as a 6A. Not the first mistake I've seen there. But, like I said, it isn't likely that Area D will have 6 bands advancing.

Here's how I understand the advancing rules: 1) By default, the top 2 bands advance to State regardless of the number of bands. 2) With 15 or more bands at Area, 1 band for each 5 bands qualifying for Area will advance (15-19=3, 20-24=4, 25-29=5, 30-34=6, 35-39=7). 3) In Areas advancing 2 bands, any band ranking 2nd or higher from 2 Music judges & 1 Marching judge will advance to state. 4) In Areas advancing 3 or more bands, any band ranking 3rd or higher from 2 Music judges & 1 Marching judge will advance to state. Area D has 33 6A Bands, so the maximum they could have would be 6 advancing to state. Looking at the past 6 years or so, it is highly unlikely that there will be 30 bands that qualify and attend area, making it most likely that they will have 5 bands advancing.

Not that it matters, but in Area D, Region 18 has 7 6A bands making the total for Area D of 33 bands. Three of those bands regularly make 2's and a couple make 1's on and off, so it is highly likely that Area D will only have 5 bands advancing to state. I can see 8 of those bands being in contention for those 5 spots - CTJ, Reagan, Anderson, Bowie, Cedar Ridge, Hendrickson, Round Rock, and Westwood.

Cedar Park always performs well and sometimes I think they don't get the respect they deserve. I think they will be top half in both. The fight for medals is going to be a blood bath and I don't want to guess who those bands will be, other than Flower Mound. I'm just going to watch and enjoy. I will say that I don't rule out an upset on someone no one is expecting to do as well as they will do - at both BOA San Antonio and the Grand Nationals.

Well, Dripping Springs just didn't have good runs that day and McCallum and New Braunfels did. McCallum performed well both times and honestly, I really enjoyed their show. New Braunfels played and marched much better in the finals and narrowly jumped past Dripping Springs. O'Connor just had a lot of issues, especially in the latter half of their program. They have a lot to clean up yet.

Ditto on it being a special trip. I've been fortunate enough to have gone twice as a band parent and there is just nothing else like it. The intensity of the competition and the excitement of making the finals is something I will never forget. Even attending as a fan is an awesome experience. I hope you all get to attend and I highly recommend going at least once in your life just to see what it is really like. Watching it online via the live feed is exiting by itself, but the atmosphere at the competition - the smells, the sound ringing around the stadium, the nervous band parents, and the fantastic performances make the hassle and expense completely worth the trip. My kids are out of high school now, but I am definitely going again soon.

Then they should do well at State where the visuals aren't so important. Well, at least the modern type of visuals! Just need those straight lines and sharp uniforms...

It would be nice if it were to come closer to Texas for sure, but we really don't have the facilities to accommodate this type of competition. There may be other cities around the country that do, but I don't think we have any in Texas that are sufficient. The Alamodome can barely handle BOA San Antonio and that's with good weather. Last year with the rain, it was very difficult to provide any real space indoors to warm up and many bands got soaked in the parking lots. Indianapolis is really set up for this type of competition and with enough indoor space (and the tunnel system) to accommodate a large contest regardless of the weather, which can be iffy in many parts of the country in early November. Also, it would be nice for Avon and Carmel to have to endure more than a 20-30 minute bus ride to get to the Grand Nationals. Don't think they would be there every year otherwise!

Bowie has made the state finals every time since 2004, so I would move them to the locks category. I would really like to see Round Rock make it to state this year, but they haven't made it there since 2010 and that was the prelims. In fact, they didn't make the Area D finals in 2012 and missed the state cut in Area D finals by one place in 2014. I think they will make it this year.

I think they chose to not perform.

No captions given in the finals, just placements. I think Round Rock would have swept the captions had there been any. They were just at a different level than the other bands. Not surprising for a two-time Grand National finalist.

I have to disagree with your statement regarding LKendrick and Principalagent. They always give thoughtful and knowledgeable information and post opinions based on experience, knowledge, and relevance. I have great respect for their insight and even when I differ in opinion, I value their input. I think a lot of Rubisco's posts as well, but don't see the other two as lesser or short-sighted.

Finals 9th - 63.50 Boerne Champion 8th - 63.55 Del Valle 7th - 71.15 Seguin 6th - 73.10 Hays 5th - 76.80 O'Connor 4th - 77.10 McCallum 3rd - 79.35 Dripping Springs 2nd - 79.70 New Braunfels 1st - 85.15 Round Rock

6A: Round Rock - auxilary, percussion, marching, music captions 3rd - O'Connor 2nd - New Braunfels 1st - Round Rock

Yes, all of the bands have played in the prelims. In 5A, Dripping Springs was 1st, Sequin was 2nd, and McCallum was 3rd. As I remember it, Sequin won auxilary and percussion captions and Dripping Springs won marching and music. Waiting for 6A announcements.

And in many years, it has rained. I've been going to this contest on and off since the mid 80's and I have gotten soaked there many times. Also, since the stadium is all metal, when the lightening alarms go off you have to completely vacate the stadium and go out into the parking lots. Some years the stadium had to be cleared multiple times during the contest. I think my highest count was 8 times. But, it has been a great contest for many years and I have fond memories of attending it. Back in the 80's and early 90's the Westlake contest was one of the major contests in Central Texas. BOA was just starting and the state marching contest was the big contest to attend. The Capital City contest was another in this area that was popular for many years.

You know, I think I just included semi-finals and finals bands to compile my data. I may have missed others as well. I did this many years ago and just updated it each year. Sorry, didn't intend to leave anyone out.

Duh, and 2006. Missed it on my own spreadsheet! This will be the 4th time we have sent 6 - 2016, 2007, 2006, & 2002.

This will be the 3rd time, that I know of, that we have sent 6 bands (2007 & 2002). The most we have had make the finals is 5 in 2013. I have great confidence that this will happen a 2nd time this year. I have attached the Texas bands that I know have attended since 1985. The ones in green made the finals. Texas Bands at Grand Nationals - 1985 to Date.rtf

It does seem really late to not have the schedule up yet. Kind of hard to make plans when you don't even know when it starts. This was a big contest at one time, but they are many more competitions now. You'd think they would try a little harder to accommodate potential attendees. Has it been cancelled?

Well, actually, our GN groups will have practice time once they get to Indy. Most of the top groups book rehearsal time indoors on Thursday, after arriving on Wednesday and most also have time booked on Friday as well. And some even on Saturday morning. There, they will have highly focused rehearsals and it is amazing how much is accomplished at those rehearsals. That 6-point jump that Round Rock made in 2013 was mainly achieved in Indy. I heard them the Tuesday of that week at a parent preview and I honestly was worried that they wouldn't make the finals at the end of that week. Four or five hours of highly focused and targeted rehearsals can make a tremendous difference at the end of the season. And no 8-hour rule to worry with at that point either. I wouldn't worry too much about them having enough prep time before the GN finals. They will already be ready for the prelims and semis when they get there and will just need to fine tune for the finals. I have only seen Leander, CTJ, and Cedar Park at this point, but those 3 are definitely going to be ready for BOA San Antonio, 6A State (Leander & CTJ), and the Grand Nationals. I highly expect Reagan and Bowie to be in great shape as well as both have gone to the GN's before in recent years.

Nice job from what I could hear through the crowd noise. VR definitely has a different overall sound this year. I think a lot that can be attributed to Josh Scott now being there. Looking forward to hearing them on Saturday.

Man, this show has it all! I like the quiet build-up at the beginning to the first impact, the great use of woodwinds, and the guard as well. It is exciting throughout and I think they will have great success with this show all season. I can't wait to hear/see it this Saturday!

I'm going to go out on a l limb and say that Round Rock will make it to state this year. At least to the prelims. They've missed out the last 2 times and I think they may make it this year. A band that can make the Grand National finals twice should be able to make it to the state prelims. I know they are more of a BOA-style band, but I think they still have the potential and they are definitely a late-season band. It probably helps that Westlake is in Area H now as well. I also think that Hendrickson has a shot as well to at least get to state prelims. Last time in the 2014 Area D prelims they were 1st, only to miss the state cut ending up in 8th in the finals - just below Round Rock in 7th. 6th place was the cut-off. I think Hendrickson will have a breakout year soon. They just play too well to not have more success. Anyone know of any other bands right at the cut-off point that may surprise us this year?