principalagent

Perfect! About what time do you have to stand in line after prelims to get a good seat? I see that the gates open around 6:15, but past experience tells me that there's already a pretty healthy line by then

How do people feel about sitting in the Upper Deck for finals? Is the sound quality good up there? I always thought the top of the GA seating was sufficient for a good view. It's my first time going to SA as a non-student, and I would love to get good seats!

Although I want to see an Austin area band medal in 5A/6A for the first time since 2004, it would be entertaining to see a (different) LISD medal sweep two years in a row!

No surprise that Lopez took 1st in music. They've been the finest music program in the Valley for some time, with an 4A Honor Band title under their belt and a program that regularly competes with (and bests) the Area B/C/D/E power houses in the top 7 of 5A (6A) Honor Band.

Agreed on Marcus, Hebron and Bowie. I don't think anyone's really touching those three on sheer cleanliness and execution. Bowie has to be itching for a medal after two years in 4th.

The point is to showcase the best of what the state has to offer, and unlike what everyone likes to believe, Texas isn't just the big four cities' rich suburbs (this coming from someone who lives in and went to high school in one of said suburbs). All of these bands work hard and deserve to be seen. It wouldn't truly be a state marching contest if we only saw the Texas Triangle. Marching band itself may not be fair, but letting kids who work just as hard as those in any spot of the state have a shot regardless of the large amount of factors that go into why the band hotspots are the way they are (eg: desirability of said urban areas, parental support in their schools, budgets these school districts have, etc) is fairer. At let's be honest, there are spots in more areas than just G and A that could easily go to B and D. Meritocracy is a completely contrived and confounded concept, but maybe txbands isn't the place for a Rawlsian/Nozickian philosophical debate. And to make another point, it's not like the next band left out in B, C or D would medal, or before this year even make finals (which is debatable as well). And yes, I think realignment is necessary at this point - the regions are fairly imbalanced as it stands now - but at the same time, nothing is going to change. There will always be groups that "deserve it more/less" who may or may not make it to finals / advance to state. Until Texas shrinks in land size to make an Indiana-style process feasible or the metro areas magically move away from I-35, I-45, and I-10 into different corners of the state, band programs will have to learn to roll on to the next opportunity and perform a little harder next time.

Just like 5A and 6A, probably some combination of areas B and D. Look at Argyle to 5(?)-peat, with Fredericksburg, Burnet, Canton and Princeton in the mix afterwards. North Lamar will make noise too.

We won't know finalists for about another hour and a half

...they're flying to San Antonio? Air travel within Texas is fairly cheap these days, but I didn't think it was *that* cheap! And yes, I think Hebron will be just fine. Even if they score lower in prelims, which I kind of doubt, they'll be ready to go for finals.

Barring anything unexpected, six bands will advance.

I think between this Area A schism that's going to keep one or two really strong bands at home and the fiasco that is the Area G marathon this saturday, it's time for some realignment. The areas were (kinda) balanced in 2006, but it's thrown way off now.

http://www.uiltexas.org/files/alignments/FB_BB_6A_Rvsd_2.20.14_2014-15.pdf This should corroborate both Keller Timber Creek and Keller Central being in 6A.

I just about completely agree with Rubisco's analysis. I think CTJ and Hebron are the two battling for the win at the moment. Hebron's execution is out of this world, and CTJ's design is quite spectacular. The Woodlands, Bowie and Marcus can definitely break that though, and they'll likely round out the top 5. Leander's show is a break out this year, and they should lead the next pack, and even challenge the log jam in the top 5. Bell and Round Rock both are known for pushing in the late season, and they could also challenge higher. Assuming Flower Mound doesn't intend to peak yet, they'll probably round out the next four. All nine of these bands are locks, as far as I'm concerned. I would be a bit surprised to see any fall out of the top 10 for that matter. I think the next four spots after that go to Vandegrift, Ronald Reagan, Cedar Park and Spring in some order. Reagan probably has the highest chance of punching above this grouping. The last spot is tough to place. My favorite dark horse is Lake Ridge, whose visual package is insane, but Berkner, Richland, Hendrickson, Aledo, Vista Ridge and Churchill can challenge that. If Westlake cleans up from Austin, they could very well make finals and place towards the middle as well. Regardless, it's a going to be an amazing show!

TW College Park also isn't attending, but I think Spring fits nicely in their place.

For some context: SFA has been in Area E at least since the last alignment in 2004, but opted out of going to Area from 2006-2010 because they wanted to focus on BOA as a program rather than UIL.

I'd just remember that although this is a recording of note, they are off this year for honor band. Next year, they'll be up for a tape.

2008 also had Hidalgo and Colleyville Heritage if I remember correctly.

Cedar Ridge now joins two other Texas bands in making finals on their fourth year as a school, along with CTJ (2008 -> 2011) and Reagan (1999 -> 2002). Has any band done it more quickly than these three?

I think the easiest way to think of it is correlation versus causation. The bands that have the means to have a ton of props and backdrops and such tend to be those who have most of their students on private lessons, strong booster organizations who will spend tons of hours doing whatever they can for the show, and the best teachers due to the affluence of the area that the school is located in. Cedar Park year in and out should be the best example or "control" group for this. They tend to lack a "show" and use very few props, if any, but they still score as well as the groups with tons of backdrops and props. However, they still have the large parental support, great private lessons teachers that most of their students use, and strong and efficient staff that the groups that have more "involved" shows have. (Note that there is an argument against general affluence being a factor, with the best example given probably by Duncanville in the present day, but more often than not, these bands are in well-off suburbs).

Well for one, BOA and UIL judge different aspects of marching band, and comparing the two isn't necessarily fair (although, most bands that do well in one do well in the other). Secondly, Azle and Aledo are in different areas (even though they're really close to each other geographically), so you can't really say it's *that* unfair that one band is going while the other isn't just by virtue of how the areas are drawn. Even if they were redrawn in a way that allowed Azle and Aledo to compete at Area, or that Aledo was in a area that was less competitive, some other band would be "shafted". It's unfortunate yes, as Aledo is a great ensemble, but it's just how things go.

Looking at the snapshot day numbers around the internet, only Rouse has a chance to move up. The others are still solidly in 4A (or the new football 5A).

After being at Area D, I can't imagine anything other than an LISD sweep at state. I'm convinced that those three LISD bands would have made it out of 5A Area D as well with the performances given in finals. The next three or so finals bands would have been good bets as finalists at state as well. If only they could send more from such a stacked area!

Bell and Marcus both only had about 6 or so minutes worth of their show on the field of what will probably be 9 or 10 minutes total. Who knows how having (more) complete shows will affect their placement

I can't wait to see how all the LISD schools do now that they're back in the same area after 5 years apart. It'll be interesting to see which advance on. No matter the configuration, it'll be a great representation of the school district! I'm supposing that it'll be Dripping Springs, Cedar Park, Vandegrift and Leander in some order, but Vista Ridge advancing wouldn't be a surprise either.

Out of town competitions were one of my favorite parts of marching band in high school. You get to see other bands' shows than those in your immediate area, you get to have fun and get closer to your band mates on the bus, and you get to show how great your school's band is to an area of the state that doesn't always get to see it. Also, if you can't balance high school homework and band, it may be time to look for better strategies or manage time better. People specifically from your high school do the IB program while in band and end up going to great schools. If they can balance it, it may be hard, but you can too. Learning how to balance my extracurricular and heavy class load with band in high school helped me out tremendously for doing well in college, where it's easier to balance because I have that experience.