LHSax

Even if they're going a "new direction," it's obvious their flare for showmanship and emotion that won them a state title last year is still very much present. I don't know that lightning will strike twice this year, but I think they're setting themselves up for long term sustained success.

Does seem like an odd move though. My guess (hope?) is that they've thought "alright, we made a huge leap largely due to a once in a generation kind of 'universally loved by all' show design. But if we want to stay in this echelon, we're gonna have to take the next step in pushing the envelope." Because, as has been pointed out, VR by no means had the most difficult show in the state (not taking away anything of course. I've expressed my love for the show plenty), and have generally been pretty conservative. Similar to how the dance team integration was fantastic a few years ago, but they made the switch back to color guard as an investment in the future, I see this as a similar move. Can't wait to see what they show up with next year.

I think we'll see a lot of bands wait and get a feel for the general landscape of who's considering going before making a definitive decision. While we all want a Texas wave in Indianapolis, if we sent 6+ bands, then we realistically start pushing each other out of finals. In that case, fringe finalist bands may reconsider going if they're much more likely going to advance when there's a smaller Texas representation in following years. The rumors will certainly keep up entertained in the off season...

If I wasn't a thousand miles away, I'd be there in a heartbeat. What an amazing environment that will be! Can't wait to move back to Texas in a couple years!

I’m a little late to the party, but let me add just one more...WOW! Vista. Freaking. Ridge. I’ve been saving that ‘wow’ because I’ve been pondering a lot of thoughts that I’ve held on to throughout the season that I felt like trying to put into coherent thoughts, namely revolving around- 1. How does a band that had spent most of its 15 years as a fringe finalist at most big competitions, had never finished in the top 20 of a 6A/5A UIL State completion, and had only (barely) made one BOA SA finals appearance (in a year in which I think they missed Austin finals mind you), put together a season as iconic as what we just witnessed? 2. Will this be a flash in the pan kind of season with a one of a kind show where we see VR take a step down next season, or is this a whole new Vista powerhouse that is here to stay? Now the second question we obviously won’t know much about for a year (but I have a hunch), and it’s probably too early to think about it before celebrating that victory more. But the 1st one I’ve thought about a lot. I’ve often compared this show (in my head) to Phantom ‘08. It’s a show that may not be the hardest, and may not be he cleanest, but it’s so darn moving and so well assembled that it was unbelievably easy to forgive a hiccup or 2, and you’re so busy being sucked into the show, that difficulty is the last thing on your mind. Phantom rode that wave of fan support to a championship, and Vista just did the exact same thing (look at their weekend - 7th-4th-2nd-1st). I like to compare it to what makes a good movie. For the best cinema in the world, you end up forgetting you’re watching a movie while watching it, only to be snapped out of the trance once the credits role. That’s how this show felt. For 8 minutes, the rest of the world didn’t matter. All that mattered, was the “Vista. Ridge. Ranger. Band.” And the hype started slowly. As is typical, LISD south had their early season videos out before anyone else. I said something along the lines of Leander and Vandegrift looking unstoppable (and I believe I correctly predicted a Vandy medal), and may have tagged on that Vista looked “pretty good” too. It looked to be shaping up to be another year where the heavy hitters would keep hitting, and Vista would be looking to get over a hump and into finals. And then the show started to come together. Props started to appear. Uniforms made their debut, and Vista actually kept a bit more quiet than typical (posted less early season videos) up until BOA Austin. And then the secret was unveiled... The Lost Chorale, that finally broke the typical “solo-buildup-turn and blow” that had become a staple of Vista openers to date, and instead grabbed your attention in a very nuanced way. The main opener, that said “we’re about to take you on an emotional journey, but we’re gonna show off some ridiculous technique while doing so.” And then that ballad. When I heard this ballad the first time, that’s when I knew this wasn’t your average Vista Ridge band. This was something else entirely. I honestly can’t name many memorable VR ballads over the years, but this one will stick in my head for a long time. The movement throughout is so subtle, but so intentional. The backfield chords are so haunting, and this is the part I probably regret the most that I live so far away and could never experience live. The sax/flugelhorn hand-off was NAILS every. single. time. And then the groove movement, which in my mind was Vista saying - we’ve arrived. Deal with it. The attitude in this part is just beaming, even through streams. All of that was enough to get them up with the big dogs at BOA Austin, finally breaking into the top half. But it’s the closer that ties all the magic together. In other iterations of amazing grace on the field, there tends to be a lot of flowing mello runs, or nifty glissandos, but the version Vista does is just pure in your face brass. I think what makes this even more powerful is that there isn’t a lot of big long sustained notes throughout the show, so this moment feels like a true destination that everything has been building to(maybe like they were found...or something). And I don’t think any ending would’ve completed this show more than the push to the company front. But obviously we’ve all gushed about this show plenty this year, so what I also want to delve into (if you’ve made it this far), is what other bands will take away from this show. And what’s crazy is, This show wasn’t able to do what it did because it was super progressive, or pushed the boundaries of marching band. We’re not talking Bluecoats 2016 here. What this show I believe will teach other bands, is the power of a design team where every single designed element and moment in the show is intentional and integrated. Every drill move is tied to the music, every visual is designed for maximum impact. What I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall in these design meetings, because this team put it ALL together. Vista obviously hinged a lot of their success this year on their visual package. They won the visual caption at BOA Austin, did pretty well in that category at boa SA, and swept the visual judges in area and state finals. Hinshaw's been doing Vista’s drill for a few years now, but I’ve personally felt like they’ve gotten a little bit of his b-side drill compared to what he has done with Avon in the past. This year was a whole other story. This was classic Hinshaw, where every set is intentional and had purpose. It’s also drill that looks good, without being too exposed to tiny mistakes. Combine that with a new director from Grain Valley, and maybe the lesson here is - people from outside Texas get marching more than we do? It’s well known that Texas bands generally struggle at the top level in winning visual captions in national events. Maybe we just need a bit more of an influence from them? I'm mostly joking, but seriously, the off season hire obviously played major dividends, show design aside. This band moved with more precision and more confidence than it ever had come close to in the past. Having a growing color guard that is finally becoming a force doesn’t hurt either. The move back to a color guard from a dance team was risky one that led to a couple rough years, but it’s definitely paying off now. I actually don't think Vista changed too much from their usual musical formula (other than the surprisingly mature ballad and gentle opening). They've always done a good job of integrating music that is recognizable and often seen on the field, with unique music that I don't think anyone has ever put on the field. Ryan George has often done an amazing job at this (And on a side note I'm just now realizing he did the Boston Crusaders show that is often compared thematically to this one and who ALSO had a big season...what a year for him). The biggest difference, as some have pointed out as criticism, is the large number of solos in this show. I agree, they probably had more solos than most...but it's the layering of these solos into the ebb and flow of this show that was done to perfection. The trade-off of the trombone solo. The way the soprano solo soars over the band in the ballad. The way that these solos are featured visually, not just with the props, but with the way the band/guard directs focus to them. And the fact that these soloists were SO FREAKING GOOD. Sure, solos mean the whole band isn't playing as often as others, but these solos fit so well into the show that it's really hard to criticize them. But what this mostly tells other bands of course is that it just takes a collaborative design effort to create an integrated theme and a dedication and commitment to performing the heck out of that theme to make this kind of leap. What makes this jump so unprecedented, is that when you see these sudden rises to contention, it’s usually bands that are new and, after good years during the time that the school is filling out, they finally get a full band and emerge as much anticipated contenders. Vista ridge has been around for 15 years. This isn’t a band that grew up into contention. It’s a band that made a few adjustments to staff and how they approach a show design and finally emerged from the thick of “good bands” in Texas to one of the greats. There’s a whole slew of bands that finished in the 15-30 range that can certainly be truly inspired by this, in thinking it isn’t impossible for next year to be special, just like Vista’s was. I think this was the parody TX bands has lacked the past few years. It’s been generally the same finalists and the same medalists for the past 5+ years, and it’s been even worse at UIL. Texas marching band is more fun when there are surprises and the season is full of the unexpected. There are plenty of diamonds in the rough that sometimes just takes a little push in the right direction to be found. Expect more of that next year. That went on a lot longer than I initially set out for...The fact that I had all that to say about a marching band show is probably more of a testament to how good this show was than anything i said about it...what a season! Let’s hope this motivates them to finally make the leap to grand nationals. It’s time to introduce themselves to Indianapolis! This will be a show that I will always regret never seeing live. But I thank everyone here for painting the picture for me so vividly. As I mentioned before, this has been an unbelievably active season for this board, and I love it!

There's gonna be some complaints about the inevitable discrepancies in scores we're about to see...but I have no idea how you can consistently rank this incredible group of bands between multiple people with various perspectives. Add 2 judges, add 4 judges, I don't care, each of these shows is just so different and amazing in their own way that i can see any of them medal-ing and any of them in 10th (okay, that's an exaggeration, but you get it...)

Flowermound is the new Marcus...man are they gonna be hard to unseat for the foreseeable future...

This will be almost every single band's 4th performance in the dome in 5 days. Everyone should be relatively rested and ready (yay making this a 2 day competition!) I expect a lot of maxed out performances this afternoon! This lineup makes me think we'll have some clooooose results at the top at the end of this.

I also noticed the "louder than typical" crowd noise throughout VR's show on the stream..was this just Vista's typical well-traveling parent section, or did this really get the crowd going that much? Seems like the substantial 7th to 4th jump in finals was 'willed' by the crowd a bit.

Seriously! Missed them at BOA, but wow that was a ride! If they can get their performance level to match the show design, this will be one to look out for.

Hoping Bowie gets some redemption and slips into finals...Would've thought their chances at BOA finals was better than UIL finals, but it wouldn't surprise me to see them sneak in tonight.

Why did we ever doubt Marcus? Man, they sure can play!!

Top 7 from 3 of the premier music districts in the country. Let the battle royale we’ve been waiting for begin!!!

Westlake - the best kept secret in CenTex. Love the new direction they’ve taken this year. Would definitely consider them a dark horse to sneak in.

NO ONE does white uniforms like DS does. When DS has been at the top of their game, their visual package SHINES because of those uniforms. Also, a shoutout to the awesome mirror triangles they had back in the day. That look was ICONIC.

We now have a Leander Band Dad and Momma. What an amazing time to be on this board.

Whew, that escalated a lot more than I thought it would for what I thought was a pretty objective post.... Just trying to say that, just like comparing scores from competition to competition, it’s also impossible to compare scores from year to year, and I tried to give a reason that I think that is the case. If scores from year to year were comparable, we’d have to have bands scoring 130’s at this point considering how much better these shows are than they were 10 and even 5 years ago (although I’m getting to that age where I’ve been tempted to type...”but shows back in my day”... and “they don’t make shows like they used to”) As many have said already, this is not a slight on CTJ’s big score last year, they certainly earned it. But I don’t think there were 7 shows last year that were better than FM 2016, as the slightly inflated scores would suggest.

I've never believed higher scores to be based on quality of programs relative to the previous year, but rather a barometer of how judging works depending on where in the schedule the finalist caliber bands are. If there are top tier bands in the first block, even if they are destined to be one of the top few groups over the course of the 2 days of competition, the judge has to leave scoring room above them regardless. This early anticipation of potentially saving higher scores, results in lower top scores, since not many bands end up topping that group. But let's say, like last year, that a lot of the top bands aren't until the end, then you generally see a slow escalation of the top tier scores over the course of prelims, resulting in the scoring boom we saw in 2017. 6 of the top 10 scores from prelims last year came in the last 12 bands on Saturday. Finals scores then tend to generally reflect the prelims range. I'm not sure how the top scores will be effected by the dual judging panels, but I imagine it will be somewhere between the average of the last 10 years, and the crazy burst from last year.

Vista Ridge will definitely play wildcard this weekend and beyond. I think there’s a very loosely agreed upon top half(ish) of finals, and bottom half/bubble. Vista Ridge can easily fall in either of those categories. While VR is having an unprecedented season by their standards, the hesitance to place them in the top half is reasonable given the fact that their highest placement at this contest is 14th, and have only made finals once. Personally, I feel the hype for a potential medal at UIL is reasonable (but maybe optimistic), given the right performance, but think they will hover around the top/half bottom half bubble for BOA SA, as they have generally historically struggled in GE captions. Which half they are in will depend a bit on how this dual judge panel scoring works out. If they can squeeze into the top half despite their early performance time on Saturday…Their finals run could certainly turn some heads. Otherwise, I think a top 10 finish for the history of this program would be phenomenal in itself.

I chuckled at first when you said “decent chance” but then I forgot that you were a wizard apparently. Really a best case scenario for an area that really deserved 4 advancers...the finals schedule and the barely bad judge rule definitely seems oddly scripted, but sometimes things just work out!! I still think this area gets (at least?) 3 finalists at state!

Lol...”random”...sure

The predictions compilation tells you all you really need to know about how much of a toss up the top 3 are- 542 (Vista Ridge) 531 (Vandegrift) 526 (Leander) I don't think the judges will agree either - Each of these shows is so different and engaging in different ways. If there's a consensus agreement on the order of this top 3 on the score sheets, I'll be amazed.

I believe this has also been a trend since the other LISD has traditionally been the UIL powerhouse of the 5A (previosuly 4A) state marching contest. The Leander schools have hovered around the 5A/6A border for the last decade, but I think they've finally adjusted to the level of competition at 6A and will have their strongest chance to medal at the highest level since Cedar Park in '04...speaking of which...is there a video of that show out there somewhere??

Just 3 bands advancing would be a major bummer. I don't think Westlake has even been scored this year, so there's obviously a chance they're not the odd man out, but the LISD schools are all at the top of their game this year and will be nearly impossible to top. Westlake has been at every 6A (old 5A) state marching contest dating back to 2008, and I believe they were pretty consistently there before that (they didn't advance in 2006). I miss the old Area D blood bath. Definitely had a lot more drama to it, but always had more bands advancing.

I haven’t posted as much this year, but I’ve been hovering around these boards for 10+ years now, and I definitely think this is the most active season of discussion I’ve ever seen! And with a few minor exceptions, it’s been great, insightful, and mature discussion with a good balance of students, alumni and parents. I don’t know what’s spurred the magic this year, but it’s been great to read and keep up with, especially with the diversity of locales represented and the number of people who have gained access to discussing shows most of us have actually gotten the chance to view (thanks Flomarching/Youtube!). It’s very exciting to see 20 page threads for BOA Austin (we usually only get that deep for San Antonio) and even multiple page threads for smaller competitions. Debates have been civil and the support for groups that people aren't specifically tied to has been fantastic! Just wanted to express my excitement for the growth of the site! Hope the rain stops so our conversations can finally move away from the weather. While I may be 1000+ miles away now, I’m excited for the most wonderful time of the year, especially due to the hype built up by this board!