LHSax

Weather doesn't look great for most of Texas this weekend...which is a real bummer because these are competitions that desperately need prelims/finals to get the right bands through to state. Not optimistic we'll see too many finals with the current forecast.

I may regret posting this as it may get taken down, but here's a really high def version of vista from the TMC (there's some other bands posted on that channel as well) The quality really let's you see some of the nuances of this show. I think with a few tweaks this show will definitely be in the medal conversation at state.

that's what it was...well still possible with this bunch in my opinion.

It would take a lot of improvement from the area's smaller bands to manage 5 advancing from area this year. On the one hand I could see it happening because of the growth of these areas in the past few years as well as the fact that it is a state year. However historically, many of the bands that got those 2/3's last year, have consistently gotten those ratings. What's a bit scary actually is that if we go off last years numbers, this area is actually closer to advancing 3 than advancing 4, which would be a travesty. Let's hope the judges are feeling generous And I don't think anyone's counting Connally out by any means. I made that mistake last go round. But I do think this will end up being a 6 way battle for 4 spots. And I don't think there are any guarantees for those spots either. Is there still a rule where if 2 music judges and 1 visual judge have you advancing, but you don't finish in an advancing placement, you still advance? Wouldn't surprise me at all if that didn't get used somehow (wishful thinking?)

Predictions were so much easier 10 years ago when I could say - 1. Marcus, 2. LD Bell....everybody else. But this is WAY more fun.

It's interesting that the two "confirmed" bands, Leander and VR, are the ones most likely to move to 6A next year and would therefore have to deal with the burden of doing both uil state and grand nationals. Its do-able, but I would think the bands likely staying at 5a would go next year, followed by the 6a the next year. But next year does seem like it will be the peak of this era for these bands, with the opening of the new high school putting a slight dip in numbers.

Love how different each of the LISD shows are. Each band has certainly established an identity and are really playing to their strengths this year. maybe its just the hype being generated on this board, but I really feel like these bands are going all out with these shows this year. It'll be interesting to see how/when each group peaks and who will peak at the right time.

Fail...I thought the show sounded familiar. Darn videos with the wrong year on them! Ignore the video, but my prediction remains the same

While I'll stay true to my prediction of a lot of flipping to happen among the LISD bands this year, I think it's gonna be really tough to dethrone Vandy in terms of UIL State. I also believe that Area D finals this year might just be a stronger field than state finals. With Friendswood and Dawson moving up, there aren't many threats to Area D IMO. Yes, Wakeland, Lake Ridge and others may make me eat my words, but I honestly think the 5th-7th place bands in Area D (which will likely not advance to state unfortunately) will be more competition for the top 4 bands then those same places at state. Long story short - Area D finals will be just as, if not more exciting than SMBC. Edit: removed a video from LAST years Vandy show (fail)

The marching pads are finally active again and the horrible tan lines have begun! Marching season is back and it's time to get some fun discussion rolling on these boards. So here's what I'm proposing - post one (or more) storyline(s) you're excited to follow this season, and add a bold prediction. For example- Storyline - As always I'm excited to follow what might be the final epic chapter (for now) of the Leander ISD blood bath. After this year these bands will likely divide into different classes, and the opening of a new school will once again take a little toll on these schools. But this year, these bands will be fully stocked and loaded, and I think will be better than ever! The Vandy/CP/Leander/Vista showdown will have many chapters this year, meeting at least 3 times (BOA Austin, Texas Marching Classic, Area) before the final rounds in San Antonio. Will there even be enough room for all these bands to advance to state? I sure hope so. I wouldn't be surprised to see a different band end up on top at each meeting. Prediction - Leander ISD will get it's 3rd straight 5A (4A) title (maybe not so bold), but it won't be from a band that got the district the last two.

Thanks for the update! While of course the goal of the district is the keep these schools as even as possible, the marching world is better off with them mixing up between 5A and 6A. While I am of course looking forward to the LISD showdown, part 2 at state this year (I'd be more shocked if LISD DIDN'T sweep this year)...It would be nicer for all these groups to have their chance to shine. At this point they're crowding themselves out of medal contention, and heck, even out of advancing to state. Having a few 5A and few 6A allows a little more room for these bands to succeed. Side note - what's the over/under on the number of years it takes for the new LISD school to be a state finalist? I'll take the under in any case!

Haven't posted much this season, but I figured I'd get a few comments out. -Vista's rise has been fun to watch. That rise has been pretty methodical if you look at their BOA SA rankings through the last 5 years (32, 28, 23, 17, 14). Like many here have mentioned, their finals appearance was well deserved after many near misses. That show was smoking! -And of course congratz to Leander! I am really curious to those closer to the program - what sparked this result? Leander has consistently over the past 10 years been a finals bubble band, always a good band, but not reaching those levels they did in the late 90's. Was it just a special show? Or a change of director? Is the band finally filling up again after all the splits? Really curious! Always interested in these stories. -I predicted a few years ago after the split of the LISD that these bands were gonna be scary good when they filled up. Last year they proved they were unparalleled in 4A, and this year they're making a strong case for rivaling the other LISD for even being the best district in all divisions. As it's been mentioned, these bands really should be competing at the 6A Level, and I think next year's 5A state will be pretty unfair, but it will be fun to watch these 4 bands go at it again. Does anyone know if these schools plan to stay 5A, or will they grow back to 6A again? Last time I saw, the growth plan looked like they intended to stay down, but that was years ago. -I am pretty disappointed in our BOA GN lineup this year (although I'm sure Wakeland and Flower Mound will do great!) but then again I don't think any of the shows this year were necessarily world beaters like the Woodlands (and potentially Hebron) were last year. I think CTJ could've made it's mark, but I don't know if they'd be medal contenders. I think top to bottom this was an amazing finals group, maybe the best ever, but there wasn't a "that band can win GN's" show this year. Maybe I'm wrong. but I am very excited to see what happens next year with all the rumors swirling around of the bands we could be sending. I think next year could be special in terms of a Texas take over of Indianapolis.

Wow...that last block

Looks like a pretty dissappointing line up for TX bands after the awesome lineup we had last year. Pretty surprised to not see a single top tier band attending. Not to take anything away from flower mound, of course, I'm sure they'll do great. But not a super competitive lineup.

I think Hebron and Vandy are no brainers, if not next year, then in the next couple of years. I've always wondered why westlake has never made the trip (I think?). I think Indianapolis would love them and I know they're financially capable of it. On another miscellaneous note, I love how complete the Woodlands package was this year. Every time I listen to this show I find something new I love about it, most recently their use of various cymbal crashes to mimic train exhaust/brakes. And yet they're so integrated into the music!! So many great little moments in this show that scream "we're going for a title this year!" And don't even get me started on the nonstop intensity/volume of this show! Incredible. Alright, sorry, that's enough love from me. Recently thought back to the woodlands area debacle back in '08 (has it already been that long??!) and gotta be impressed how they didn't miss a beat after that. I know that was a while ago, but they never really let that get to them. (Maybe not related, but just spewing thougts)

I'll back you up. All he's trying to say is we brought our 1,8,9,10,11 bands from Texas, and placed 1,4,5,10,11 at grand nationals. It's not hard to imagine that if we brought more of those 2-7 bands (minus Blue Springs) the result would've been even more impressive. I think it's just amazing that (and the results don't lie) in this particular year, the SA regional was harder than the grand nationals. I think that's a tribute to what an amazing year Texas had, and a tribute to a few typical bands missing from GN (but I think it's more so the first one ) Would also like to give props to the Woodlands and Round Rock for some impressive pacing of their show. I think they definitely had shows that were intended to peak at grand nationals, and they obviously did. Of course I think all these bands did, but I think it was most apparent for these two bands...especially the Woodlands considering their were able to win SA with a show that really hadn't even peaked yet. Major props to that staff for designing this show. It's a show that definitely grew on me over the year.

I don't know why there's suddenly a huge complaint of loud "blaring" music all of a sudden after last night. Yeah, I think the LISD schools were some of the higher volume schools, but I didn't hear any of this blaring? What impressed me the most about these groups is that they were able to play loud and with balance and clarity, which in my opinion is hard to do. Just because something is loud, doesn't mean it's not good? I don't think these bands won because they were loud, I think they won because they play loud well and are impactful when they do so. Not to mention they countered these big moments with some amazing contrastingly soft and elegant moments (Vandy with their delicate Ballad, CP with those crazy intricate and technical woodwind runs, and VR with their multitude of impressive solis and solos). And on a personal note...I love loud, in your face music when played well. Those are the moments that remind me why I still love marching band to this day. Those are the moments that send shivers down your spine and get the adrenaline pumping! But again, these bands didn't do well because they were the loudest, they did well because they played the best...while also playing loud, exciting music.

I was personally pretty impressed and surprised by the consistency of the scores this go round, prelims and finals, especially considering how close all these bands are at the top. And a 1 and a 5 for Wakeland is really not much of a differential at all. I can go on a whole rant about why the UIL system is actually pretty clever and one of the better options out there (but I'll save that for another day), but in the end Statebound is right, nothing to really complain about for this one. Congratz to Leander ISD! Well deserved sweep. The camaraderie between these groups is amazing. And has there really not been a 5th of November/V for Vendetta/V for Vandegrift joke yet?

I have also heard this and I believe the goal when they opened the new schools was to end up with 5 4A schools, at least for the foreseeable future. But you never know with all the growth in the area. It is interesting that these programs are just now finally starting to fill out after the split and that they will only continue to grow these next few years. Scary thought that these bands will only get better.

Is it too soon to point out the blood bath area D will be next year Particularly if any of the LISD schools move back up. Too soon? Okay fine...

It's worth noting that Hebron almost won both prelims and finals without winning a single caption all day!

The easy answer to this question is that BOA scoring puts a much bigger emphasis on GE, but even then you generally see the bands that do well in BOA also do generally the same in the UIL system (with a few extreme exceptions). The idea is generally that BOA generally rewards creativity and difficulty over cleanliness, while UIL does the opposite, but that's not necessarily a cold hard fact. That is not to say that BOA does not reward cleanliness (as I think actually happened quite a bit last night) and that UIL does not consider difficulty (I think difficulty was very rewarded at the area level - see Lake Ridge). In the end there isn't much we can take from this past weekend because the only 4A bands that will be there tuesday that competed were Vandegrift, Cedar Park, VR and Azle. I think the impressive showings of the LISD bands in a really strong regional (12th, 13th, 17th in prelims, not to including Leander in 15th) only goes to show what we already knew...these bands are definitely contenders on Tuesday.

The music ordinals are the ones i disagree most with, but even then it seems like the individual and ensemble judges generally agreed across the board (besides Coppell, which I think often happens). The most "wut?" worthy ordinals- -Bell in DEAD LAST in GE? (sax man fixed this) -Marcus 11th in Music? -Actually think Blue Springs deserved higher than 14th in Music...Yeah, they're not from Texas, but I thought they held their own in Music. -In general I find the Music Ensemble judges scores to be pretty heavily weighed to the bands towards the end of finals. Also seems like they really tried to make a statement by giving Vandegrift first overall...Very unprecedented to see a band this size win a caption, and I'm not trying to take anything away from Vandegrift at all! I think their show is fantastic and they deserve every bit of credit, but it's definitely a break from tradition (but who says that's a bad thing?) Just my initial pass on those results...looking at prelims will be just as interesting I think. I can say that as far as just missed bands go - Vista Ridge took 17th, meaning Leander took 15th or 16th. That's the extent of my knowledge though.

I agree that 7-8 was shockingly low, but seeing them lower than normal wasn't surprising. And I really don't think it had to do with things going wrong for them either...I just think everyone else has risen to their level in the past couple of years, and they can't keep doing the same things they've been doing to dominate the contest for a majority of the last decade.

You have to go back to 2005 to see the last time this regional wasn't won by a band named Marcus or Bell