LHSax

Way to early 2021 predictions:
GE Scores: go through the roof next year! A whole year to fine tune competitive shows that already have solid foundations will result in some very intriguing depth of concept. Design teams will really get a chance to milk the most out of these shows over the year and I think it will show on the field next year.
Music Scores: get a bump. Students usually get music a few months before marching season, but now imagine having it for a whole year beforehand. I think how directors handle this will be the most interesting. I think we see much more ambitious musical productions next year since students will have a whole year to practice the base production, allowing the marching season to be a place where some very technical new parts and pieces are added (sim to what we typically see throughout a DCI season). Do bands rehearse the show music over the course of this year? or would that be unfair to seniors?
Visual Scores: Might suffer slightly. Yes, I know bands are still attempting some type of show(s) this year, but those won't replace the experience of doing a full 8+ min competitive show, so it's possible visual programs aren't quite as strong next year. 
 
Of course this is all relative. We likely won't see a literal change in scores, but the overall level of quality relative to past years will probably vary per above. 

Agreed! I propose we relive these seasons together as a board in lieu of the slowly canceled 2020 season. 

Hello everyone! Over the past few days, I've been working on this project to help take my mind off everything happening in the band world right now. I'd never found any kind of information about the history of UIL marching band, and so I decided to do some research and write about it using the plenty of free time I've been given this summer. The result is what's written here, which I also expanded to include Texas involvement in BOA. I figured the best place to share it would be here, where my fellow band geeks might appreciate it. I'm sure it's not perfect, and it's very possible that I missed something or said something wrong, so I'm certainly open to corrections or additions since I've only followed the activity for the past few years. Anyways, without further ado, I present: A brief-ish, probably incomplete, mostly accurate history of high school marching band in Texas!
 
Early History
On September 1st, 1946, music activities in Texas public schools, including band, orchestra, and choir, were incorporated into the University Interscholastic League. The UIL established “Competition-Festivals,” which were held by each of the nine music regions that had been established by the TMEA. For band, contests were created for Concert and Sightreading, Solo and Ensemble, and Marching. It’s not clear whether these were all held on the same day as one event, or over the course of the year like they are today, but it seems that most events were held in the spring, including marching. Yes, in the earliest days of Texas high school marching band, most competitions were held in the spring. However, the dates of these contests were ultimately up to the regions, meaning that the first UIL marching contest was the Region IX contest, held in Harlingen, Texas on December 14th, 1946.
These region contests looked surprisingly similar to those held today: schools were not ranked against each other; they were given a rating of I, II, III, IV, or V. There was no advancement to another round of contests, all competition started and ended at the regional level. Although many things remain unchanged, there are some differences between region contests then and now. Nowadays, first divisions are very common, with IVs and Vs being essentially unheard of at a contest, but when these contests first began, the full range of ratings was seen on the results.
Over the years regions eventually moved their marching contest to the fall semester to align with football season, but even then the contests were held closer to the end of the semester, usually in December. There was always some conversation about establishing a state contest for music events, but no state level event would be established for a while.

1970’s
1976: The first Marching Bands of America Grand National Championship was held in June at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, but no Texas bands attended. 1979: The first state marching band contest was held at the University of Texas at Austin at Texas Memorial Stadium on December 3rd & 4th, 1979. Any band earning a first division at their region contest qualified for state, but, like all UIL events, participation was voluntary. A total of 47 bands attended. There were five UIL classifications at the time (AAAA, AAA, AA, A, and B ) and each took five bands to finals (Classes A and B only had five and four bands, respectively, so all bands advanced to finals). Like the modern SMBC, each conference named a champion and the conferences did not compete against each other. The first state marching champions were Round Rock (AAAA), Fredericksburg (AAA), Medina Valley (AA), Southlake Carroll (A), and Booker (B). Fun fact: Two of these schools, Round Rock and Carroll, share not just the same mascot (Dragons), but also the same fight song (On, Wisconsin!). One aspect of the contest that has changed dramatically since the beginning is scoring. The original scoring system was as follows: “Each judge will evaluate the bands on a point system of 100 points; the highest score and the lowest score will be discarded and the rating awarded will be an average of the five middle scores.” It’s worth noting that this wasn’t technically a UIL event. It was endorsed by the UIL and was recognized as the state championship, but it was operated by the UT Longhorn Band. The contest remained this way until 1984 when it became an official UIL event.  1980’s
1980: The second state championship was also held in Austin at UT, but this year the competition was moved up to the last week of November. There was a large increase in participation due to the immense success of the previous year’s event. Otherwise, the contest operated the same as the previous year. Unfortunately, inclement weather forced the cancellation of finals performances in conferences AAAA, AAA and A. This has only happened twice in the history of the SMBC. Also, this year UIL renamed their five conferences A through AAAAA, compared to B, and then A through AAAA. As such, there was only one ever conference B state marching championship. Also in 1980, the first Marching Bands of America regional in Texas was held on the campus of Texas A&M University-Commerce. The champion, however, wasn’t even from Texas: Union HS from Tulsa, Oklahoma took first place. There has been at least one MBA/BOA regional held in Texas every year since. 1982: A Texas band won an MBA regional for the first time: Lake Highlands won the Houston regional on October 30th. For the first several years there were events in Texas, it was surprisingly uncommon for a Texas band to win. In addition to Union’s win, Comeaux HS (LA) won in 1981, and Pearl HS (MS) won in 1983 and 1986, all at the Houston regional. 1983: The Governor’s Cup was first awarded at the 1983 state marching contest to Georgetown HS. The Governor’s Cup was an outstanding band award given to the best band out of the entire contest. This makes it similar to the Grand National Champion title in that it could be received by a band in any classification. However, there was no overall state final round where the conferences competed directly, and bands were never ranked against bands outside their conference. Since bands were still awarded a numerical score on a 100-point scale, it’s possible that the band with the highest score regardless of class would be given the Governor’s Cup. It’s more likely, however, that it was simply the judges’ choice for outstanding performance because in some years the winner of the Governor’s cup was not the state champion of any conference. The Governor’s Cup was only awarded six times, from 1983 to 1988. 1984: With the full integration of the State Marching Band Championships into the UIL program, the UIL reworked the organization of music contests in Texas. The 22 music regions were renamed music districts, and the districts were all grouped into five larger music regions. This created a three-tiered marching contest system, allowing bands to advance from district, to region, and finally to state. This is effectively the same as today’s Region-Area-State system, though it can be confusing since the name “region” is used differently. The music districts must have been renamed back to regions at some point, and it is likely that the regions from 1984 became the areas that are seen today. Regardless, this three level system was created mainly to reduce the size of the SMBC, which had grown to 118 bands in 1983. 1985: Westfield HS made history as both the first Texas band to make Grand National finals and the first to win a national class championship. In prelims, they won the Open Class national championship, and in finals they earned second place with a score of 88.40, and also won the percussion caption. This was only the beginning of Westfield’s time as a powerhouse both in UIL and BOA (which had become Bands of America the previous year in 1984). 1990’s
1991: State and area marching contests were held every other year starting in 1991. The rationale that travel and transportation is expensive is familiar to most Texas band fans, but several other reasons were cited including an increase in the number of bands allowed to participate at both State and Area contests. Prior to 1991, regions could only certify two bands to the area contest, which reportedly reduced the significance of a Division I rating. Area contests expanded from eight bands to around 30, and state contests grew from 14 to about 40. State finals would also no longer be limited to 5 bands. 1993: Spring HS won Grand Nationals, becoming the first Texas band to do so. Winning with a score of 96.55, Spring won the Music Performance and General Effect captions. They had also been named the class AAA champions earlier during prelims. 1994: The Alamodome first hosted a marching contest in 1994. The BOA San Antonio Regional was the first competition held in the brand new stadium, which had just opened earlier that year. Given the dates that other domed stadiums in Texas were built, it’s likely that this was the first indoor marching contest in Texas, unless the Astrodome had held one for some reason. With the exception of 1996 and 1997, BOA  has hosted an event in San Antonio every year since 1994, each time in the Alamodome. 1998: In 1994, the Duncanville Marching Invitational introduced a new judging system, which had five judges - three for music and two for marching - each rank bands, and each bands rankings would be combined and used to determine their placement. No score would be given. In 1998, the UIL began using this system for Area and State contests. This sometimes controversial judging system would remain in place at the state contest until 2020. 2000’s
2002: The state championship this year was held on the campus of Baylor University in Waco, and marked the second of the two times that any portion of the SMBC was cancelled. Powerful storms forced the cancellation of AAAAA state finals, so final placements were based on prelims, but there's someone else on these forums who can tell that story better than I can (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DckalhBnfaM). 2003: The Alamodome saw plenty of marching action in 2003. After the events of the 2002 competition, UIL moved the state championship to the Alamodome so that weather wouldn’t be a concern, and the contest has remained there ever since. That same year, BOA promoted the San Antonio Regional to a Super Regional, creating the first multi-day BOA event other than Grand Nationals. This was the first instance of the San Antonio Super Regional as it’s known today; Westfield took the GE caption and won by nearly a point over LD Bell, who had actually won both Music and Visual. This Super Regional has become known nationwide as one of the best marching band competitions in the country, and the level of competition is second only to Grand Nationals. Since it’s promotion to a Super Regional, only three bands from outside the state of Texas have ever made finals in San Antonio: Owasso (2004, 2015), Blue Springs (2013), and Avon (2017). After winning San Antonio, Westfield made the trip to Grand Nationals and became the second Texas band to win a national championship. They beat second place Ronald Reagan by a narrow margin of 0.05, and won the Music and GE captions. In semifinals, class AAA was swept by Texas, with Westfield being named class champion and winning Music, Ronald Reagan earning second in class and General Effect, and LD Bell coming in third and winning Visual. While it’s fairly common for captions to be swept by even a single band, it’s very rare for a single state to claim the top three spots in a classification at Grand Nationals. This only happened once before, when three New York schools swept class AAA in 1987. While three Michigan schools did sweep placements in AA in 1999, the visual caption went to Avon. 2004: LD Bell won the St. Louis Super Regional in 2004. This is the only time a Texas band has ever won an out of state BOA Super Regional. 2007: LD Bell became the third Texas band to win a Grand National Championship. They won the Music and GE captions in both finals and semifinals, where they had been named class AAA champions. 2010’s
2013: The Woodlands earned Texas’s fourth Grand National title along with Music and GE. In semifinals, they had also won class AAAA and the GE caption. This year, there were five Texas bands in finals, which was a record up until 2019. Also at Grand Nationals in 2013, Texas passed Indiana to become the state with the highest number of different schools to have ever made Grand National finals. Cedar Ridge and Round Rock were the two first time Finalists that put Texas at 17 different Finalists over Indiana’s 16 at the time. Since then, Texas has made it a total of 22 Finalists, still ahead of Indiana’s 18. Another interesting fact about the Woodlands’ win is that they are the only Texan Grand National Champion to have never won a state championship. 2015: Hebron broke the record for the highest ever BOA score during Grand National Semifinals with a 97.85. Every judge had them in first except for Visual Individual, had them in 10th. This resulted in them winning Music and GE being named class AAAA champion. Unfortunately, they only placed 3rd in Finals, but still managed to win Music. Their drop to third is largely attributed to the fact that they performed first in Finals, which was a result of the completely random draw that was in place at the time. Many hold the belief that had Hebron performed later, they would have won. This is believed to be what caused BOA to implement what is referred to as the Hebron rule, which states that for all BOA events the top half of bands that advance to finals will be given the later half of performance slots, and the bottom half will perform earlier. Previously, this system had only been in place at Regionals, and not at Super Regionals or Grand Nationals. While Hebron may be the most well known example of this situation, this has occurred multiple times at Grand Nationals. For example, in 2005, Ronald Reagan was first in Semifinals, but fell to second after performing first in Finals. 2019: While it’s commonly said that band gets better every year, 2019 truly was an incredible and historic year for Texas marching bands. In St. Louis, six out of seven Texas bands that attended made Super Regional Finals, which is the record for the most Texas bands at any out of state event other than Grand Nationals. In San Antonio, Ronald Reagan won the Super Regional with the record-breaking score of 97.30, which is the highest score ever earned at any BOA event other than Grand Nationals. At Grand Nationals, all six Texas bands that attended made finals, meaning that a record half of the Grand National Finalists were from Texas. After sweeping class AAAA in Semifinals, Vandegrift became the fifth Texas band to win Grand Nationals. Vandegrift set multiple records, becoming both the youngest school to ever win the title and the first band to win on their first trip (with the exception of the earliest few years of BOA). The Woodlands also set a record: 2019 marked their 10th Grand National finals appearance, which is now the record for the most Finals appearances by a Texas band (they were previously tied with LD Bell at 9).  2020
2020 is already proving to be a historic year for marching band, both in Texas and nationwide. There are several changes to the UIL marching contests that are supposed to be implemented this year. First, the creation of a pilot program for a military style state marching contest means that military style bands will now have a separate track from other (“open class”) bands. This is related to the second major change, which is a change in judging at the SMBC. Conferences 5A and 6A will now use a seven judge system at the open class state contest, and each judge will have a specific subcaption to judge. The new subcaptions are: Music ensemble, woodwind, brass, percussion, visual individual, visual ensemble, and content and design. For the 1A through 4A state contests and at all area contests, the five judge system will remain in place with some small changes. The last major change is that area contests will now be held every year. This has created some controversy as the later date for the non-state year area contest conflicts with BOA San Antonio. While there may not be a conflict every year or for every band, it’s an issue that several groups have raised.
Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the pandemic. Many bands have already cancelled their competitive seasons, and in other states events have been cancelled altogether. As of this writing, neither UIL nor BOA has officially cancelled any events for the 2020 marching season, but most view it as inevitable. It’s unfortunately very possible that 2020 is the first year with no marching band in Texas since the World War era, but even if the show does go on, it will look very different. Regardless of what happens, this year will certainly make its mark on history.

Sources
For the UIL information (especially early on) I mostly used the UIL Leaguer archives. It doesn’t seem to be accessible through the UIL website, but you can find pretty much any edition by searching “UIL Leaguer [month and year]” on Google.
For BOA information, I referenced the History section of the HornRank forums--much credit is due to user boahistorybuff--for early scores and history and later just the archived recaps on the BOA website.

Literally one of the first shows I went to when i got the folder ? 

Thank you for fulfilling my dream of watching Cedar Park 2004

Agreed! I propose we relive these seasons together as a board in lieu of the slowly canceled 2020 season. 

Agreed! I propose we relive these seasons together as a board in lieu of the slowly canceled 2020 season. 

I am in one of the families that has stayed quarantined since March because my wife is high risk.  I’m fortunate that I have remained well and employed.  Fall has always been my favorite season for multiple reasons but marching band contests have been fall mainstays for 35 years(dang I’m getting old?) for me as a former band member and music major.  I am one who errs on the side of proactive prevention of the spread of Covid.  That being said, I’m sure I’m in the company of everyone on these forums on the probable implications of Covid 19 on marching this fall.  Despite what is decided from the tmea and uil I won’t go to band contests this year in the dfw area where I live for the first fall since I started marching band in 1985 simply because of crowd exposure.  I know there’s bigger things to worry about right now, but I’m heartbroken over that for myself but also the implications of all band parents and students.  Band was my life for 15 years from 7th grade through college, those experiences still form a core of my life experience.  I still find myself trying to get in step while walking with other people and even though I played a trumpet I still have a virtual 24 hour drum line within the confines of my nerdy mind.  Another loss of normalcy during this strange time.  I hope this doesn’t leave a lasting affect in marching band given funding issues, continuity of practice issues etc.

My wife and I have spent 2 evenings this week helping to fit uniforms for some of our group.  Our school district was the first to close in Indiana as we had one of the 1st reported cases in an elementary school less than 1/2 mile from our house.  It started with just that school, then days later, the entire district down for 2 weeks, followed by the normal 2 week spring break.  Then everything thing cancelled and seasons were over.  We are one county west of Indy, which has been the hot spot of the state.  I think we are top 5-6 out of the counties with almost 1500 cases and 116+ deaths compared to over 12k cases and 700+ deaths over in Indy.  Current plans are to proceed as if there is still a season to march.  The kids have been "zooming" to keep up and this was the first of any get togethers, all spread out, masked and in the parking lot.  It was a bit strange these past few days as we were helping freshman figure out how to put on their bibs and coats. The smell of sanitizer everywhere.  Asking what instrument they play, it was only percussion this week, to see if they were going to be wearing a harness or not, then getting the reply "I hope to be playing...." as they are still in tryouts.  Normally the line is set in May, but not this year.  Very strange.  I have already heard that a smaller class competition band has decided to skip competitions this fall, yet still play for football games.  Our son should be on his DCI tour right now and I had vacation scheduled to watch a few competitions this summer.  Not this year.  The sound of drummers playing rudiments never sounded so good the other night.  Music was still being played, ok lets be real, they beat things with a stick. The pit warmups echoing off the walls made you realize how much these little things ring as being "normal".  Playing scales, playing eighths, playing rounds.  Normal.  Sooner or later, the fields will be full of nerves, pride, hard work, excitement, exhaustion and realizing the goal from pushing on when it was hard.  And if the fields are quiet this year, I'll look forward to the DanPodcast reviewing fast food places this fall.  Marching on......

So....in the worst case scenario that Grand Nationals is cancelled....does this mean that "The Eagle" will remain in Texas for another year and that Vandy will be a two year reigning champion??  

Maybe just do all divisions every year like ISSMA? I know there are logistical issues, but maybe 2021 is their chance to try it out. They've already made the successful push to do area every year for all divisions...

Appreciate the effort to change the subject of this board back to marching band! 
I have many shows that I return to over the last 15 years,  but this thread seems to be geared towards shows we experienced in person, so I'll use it as an opportunity to jump back in time and pull up some oldies. Links included for newer fans to pass the time as we wade through a DCI-less summer (apologies for some in poor quality - marching band recording has come a long way in 15 years).
 
Hebron - 2006 - Music in Every Direction - Before Hebron was the perennial top 5 contender they are these days, there was this show. While this show only got 9th that year, I see it as the beginning of Hebron's rise to to power. I'm not exactly sure when the "dance break" became a thing in marching band, but this will forever be THE dance break for me. DDR was all the rage back then, and the dance section of this show, with the syncopated/offset DDR directions, was unreal to a bunch of high school kids who were obsessed with this trend. This was the first time I ever saw a standing ovation for a show before the end. This moment literally ripped people from their seats in excitement. I've searched for years for a better recording of this to no avail. 
LD Bell - 2007 - Transcendents - I don't think I have to say much about this show, because I (hope?) think everyone is aware of it, no matter how new you are to the activity. But I'm gonna say a lot anyway - I don't even know if I can call this a marching band show. This show was an experience. The crowd reaction to this show is still my favorite to this day because you could feel the moment of "what just happened" as they wrapped up their show. The fact that the ending changed at each performance put people even more on the edge of the seat. I also love that this show broke all the rules of typical marching show music organization. Rather than the typical opener-ballad-closer, this show was 5 minutes of opener (with some mixed in slow moments), and then 6+ minutes of ballad/art, and they milked every second BOA allowed them. Bringing back Lux from the first part of the trilogy was the cherry on top, I'm pretty sure I may have teared up a bit. I don't even know of a show from the modern era (last 5-8 years) that I could put in the same category as this one, it's just that unique.
LD Bell - 2008 - The Quest - I was already hooked on Bell fever after the trilogy, so I had high hopes before seeing this show. It didn't disappoint. If 2007 felt like a theater production, this show felt like a movie. The closer is still one of my favorite's to this day. Still feel like Bell should've become the first back to back TX GN champion that year. Might've honestly been our only chance for that to ever happen. 
Cedar Park - 2008 - On Edge - When I pre-preemptively hope that Cedar Park gets back to it's glory days (it's "Roots"?) before every season, it's because of this show. I probably saw this show 3 or 4 times throughout the season, and I have never experienced anything quite like this opening statement from a high school marching band. This show is pure adrenaline. No props, no real theme, just marching band at it's purest form. Cedar Park was far from the largest band at BOA SA that year, and yet no one even came close to the volume CP was putting out. And this show was HARD. I'm not one of those old people who wish we would go back to the "good old days," but no one marches and plays simultaneously like CP did in this show (most bands didn't even do it back then). And the tempos they were reaching at the end of this show were UNREAL. If they hadn't run into Marcus/LD Bell duo at their peak, CP would have a BOA SA title. 
Bowie - 2011 - The Promise of Winter - I'm still bummed Bowie didn't get a title during their glory days. Of those "days", 2011 was my favorite. The linked video doesn't do it justice, but this opening statement SLAPPED you in the face. And before the rise of the Hebron mellos, there were the Bowie mellos. I'm pretty sure I first saw this show at a football game, and while football crowds usually half pay attention to marching shows - this show grabbed EVERYONE's attention and didn't let go. 
 

Let me start by asking. What do band students get out of marching band? In Basic terms, and not fully complete.
They learn how to march. They learn how to be respectful of other boundaries (spacing) They learn how to breathe, manage airflow, and play an instrument at the same time. They learn how to interact with others. They create and contribute to an overall goal and picture.  
I can honestly say that Marching band in its real form is on the chopping block this year. Are our Band directors and staffs able to teach the basic marching outcomes for students? YES. What I am seeing is a lack of imagination. Lots of complaining, but no contingency plans. Here are my ideas on creating an online marching band curriculum. In crude form.
 
1.       How to march.  a. Film Student Leaders performing, demonstrating and breaking down marching techniques for students. Send to all students and have them send back recordings periodically. Hold a zoom chat 1 to 3 times a week for 15 minutes to be lead by the director or instructor. b.  Ask student leaders to reach out to band students to help them with any questions they have. c.  Provide students with the ability to record if they are unable to obtain equipment. (Band Boosters) 2.       Have students lay down yard lines 10 to 20 yard (3 or 5 lines). This way they will really get to understand the lengths of the yard. Can be done on grass in a yard or with chalk in a parking lot. Then they can practice marching on the lines. Furthermore, they could spray paint dots on the ground and work toward marching to them and back to the line. If they are able and it is safe, have them include a person do the same steps but 6 feet away from them. Help them understand spacing and avoiding the billiard ball effect. 3.       Teach students breathing exercises and then have them go for a short run while performing the breathing exercises. After that, have them perform long tones while marching those same 3 to 5-yard lines. Have them march down a sidewalk or parking lot playing a scale up and down in whole, half, quarter and eight notes.   4.       Host a weekly zoom sectional where students and student leaders discuss issues and problems with the instructor or director. Go over any music to be performed. 30 minutes minimum. This is also a great time to introduce the music for the show and provide instructional resources. 5.       Directors and Instructors should create a 3-5 minute marching band show that showcases the students achievements while creating a video that includes all students. A final performance could be edited to create a production video that matches up to a universal song.  
9 weeks of training and hard work culminating in a show is what would have happened on the field if we could be there. If things open and the band can get on the field. These lessons will be all the more valuable. Because opening is not going to leave much time for teaching and training. It is now or never. Take control of your show and create an online curriculum for your marching band show that will probably be an online show. I hope not. I miss the smell of grass.

I mean, yeah it’s a bit early to predict, but gotta work with what you know so far. Seems odd to point out a couple rumored canceling bands, cuz it’s probably gonna end up being all these bands or none of these bands pretty soon.
But don’t worry y’all, even when 2020 doesn’t happen, we’ll have @Oracle to let us know what would’ve happened. Where’d that guy go?

I mean, yeah it’s a bit early to predict, but gotta work with what you know so far. Seems odd to point out a couple rumored canceling bands, cuz it’s probably gonna end up being all these bands or none of these bands pretty soon.
But don’t worry y’all, even when 2020 doesn’t happen, we’ll have @Oracle to let us know what would’ve happened. Where’d that guy go?

I mean, yeah it’s a bit early to predict, but gotta work with what you know so far. Seems odd to point out a couple rumored canceling bands, cuz it’s probably gonna end up being all these bands or none of these bands pretty soon.
But don’t worry y’all, even when 2020 doesn’t happen, we’ll have @Oracle to let us know what would’ve happened. Where’d that guy go?

Lol, I do this all the time while watching TV now...Any time there's human contact my mind says "that's not social distancing"...Even if the show is from 20 years ago...
If the season doesn't happen, then 2021 will be an amazing season for sure. Imagine the these bands building on these show concepts for an entire year+ before putting it on the field. Imagine the emotion of these kids after not getting to do what they love the previous year. As awful as 2020 is shaping up to be, 2021 should be special.

Lol, I do this all the time while watching TV now...Any time there's human contact my mind says "that's not social distancing"...Even if the show is from 20 years ago...
If the season doesn't happen, then 2021 will be an amazing season for sure. Imagine the these bands building on these show concepts for an entire year+ before putting it on the field. Imagine the emotion of these kids after not getting to do what they love the previous year. As awful as 2020 is shaping up to be, 2021 should be special.

It's definitely a frustrating time and has been a back and forth on whether or not I think there will be a season. While it seems many no longer feel like it will happen, I still have some hope. Just thinking about all the seniors makes my heart ache, especially the ones that were hoping to go to GN. I know of an incoming senior who has struggled with their grades and hasn't gotten to march yet, but their grades have been better and this fall will be their last chance to march..
I wonder if bands that cancel their trip to GN will consider going in 2021. Thinking of another big contingent of TX bands would be really exciting. Would directors just move their show to next year if the season is canceled? I feel like that would make sense with all the work that is put into a show but I may be oblivious to certain factors. And would the extra time result in the shows being even more incredible?
It's just crazy how much things have changed. I saw an old clip of people doing trust falls with strangers and my body flinched. I remember a conversation I was having with a friend the week before spring break and she felt like the virus was being blown out of proportion and that nothing would really come of it here. My family friend had been in Korea for a week studying abroad and was sent back and quarantined. A lot of us joked that he couldn't leave the house but now no one's laughing. And a friend texting me about a confirmed case at our university and how freaked she was.
Sorry, just letting my mind run free. I'm an overall positive person and I'm not just sulking all day about the thought of the season being canceled. Just living life and pushing through each week. Marching band brings such a unique experience for those participating and those viewing and I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

All Live:

Cedar Park '02 - "Claustrophobia" (My first time seeing a marching show with a synth)
Westfield '02 - "Metamorphosis" ("Aww Westfield!, Conroe UIL! 2k2!  Those Trix are for kids!" ?)
Cypress Falls '07 - "The Shining" (First time hearing a marching show that used a bass amp to fuel their power chords [pretty much everyone in a BOA Finals does this now])
TWHS '09 - "Amen" (Favorite show from my First year live-blogging for TxB.  Subaraman drum chant!)
Cedar Ridge '10 - "The Game Within" (Final Fantasy show; their inaugural year)
CTJ '10 - "You Are" (I consider myself "CTJ Fan Zero".  Their '08 & '09 shows didn't really net much attention but I loved the design and they were some of my favorites from those years.  But this show, despite only getting 13th at State, was my favorite from 2010 and made me a CTJ fan for life!)
***TWHS '11*** - "Uninvited" (Favorite ballad in a live show.  This show is just so well written!)
CTJ '11 - "Lincolnshire Posy"
LD Bell '11 - "The Circle's Edge" (First time seeing LD Bell live.)
Cedar Ridge '12 - "Flock"  (I wonder if the insane band parent at BOA Houston might be a major source of this ?)
Friendswood '12 - "All the World's a Stage" (Mad World, New World Symphony and a GORGEOUS rendition of "On Top of the World" from Last of the Mohicans which is probably one of my most favorite ballads I've heard live)
Clear Falls '12 -  (Probably my favorite Montoya show with Lux Aurumque & Kingfishers Catch Fire which are both among my favorite band pieces.)
Cedar Ridge '13 - "Goodnight Moon" (I've rediscovered this one recently, and I realized it was a show from that year that I just flat out forgot to go back and re-experience.  It's glorious!)
Hebron '14 - "When Midnight Comes"
Leander '14 - "Color Study"
***CTJ '14*** - "Chameleon" (Absolutely, mind-blowingly good! Watching the encore from field level is one of my more memorable experiences as well.)
Reagan '15 - "Every(One)" (Just....Soooo pretty!)
***Leander '15*** - "Choral Works"  (Favorite opener of any marching band show, live or otherwise, though some of the LD Bell and old Reagan shows come close)
Cedar Park '15 - "What's Opera Doc?"
Reagan '16 - "One Love"
CTJ '16 - "Flash Dance"
Hendrickson '16 - "3D" (Still got my glasses ?)

Appreciate the effort to change the subject of this board back to marching band! 
I have many shows that I return to over the last 15 years,  but this thread seems to be geared towards shows we experienced in person, so I'll use it as an opportunity to jump back in time and pull up some oldies. Links included for newer fans to pass the time as we wade through a DCI-less summer (apologies for some in poor quality - marching band recording has come a long way in 15 years).
 
Hebron - 2006 - Music in Every Direction - Before Hebron was the perennial top 5 contender they are these days, there was this show. While this show only got 9th that year, I see it as the beginning of Hebron's rise to to power. I'm not exactly sure when the "dance break" became a thing in marching band, but this will forever be THE dance break for me. DDR was all the rage back then, and the dance section of this show, with the syncopated/offset DDR directions, was unreal to a bunch of high school kids who were obsessed with this trend. This was the first time I ever saw a standing ovation for a show before the end. This moment literally ripped people from their seats in excitement. I've searched for years for a better recording of this to no avail. 
LD Bell - 2007 - Transcendents - I don't think I have to say much about this show, because I (hope?) think everyone is aware of it, no matter how new you are to the activity. But I'm gonna say a lot anyway - I don't even know if I can call this a marching band show. This show was an experience. The crowd reaction to this show is still my favorite to this day because you could feel the moment of "what just happened" as they wrapped up their show. The fact that the ending changed at each performance put people even more on the edge of the seat. I also love that this show broke all the rules of typical marching show music organization. Rather than the typical opener-ballad-closer, this show was 5 minutes of opener (with some mixed in slow moments), and then 6+ minutes of ballad/art, and they milked every second BOA allowed them. Bringing back Lux from the first part of the trilogy was the cherry on top, I'm pretty sure I may have teared up a bit. I don't even know of a show from the modern era (last 5-8 years) that I could put in the same category as this one, it's just that unique.
LD Bell - 2008 - The Quest - I was already hooked on Bell fever after the trilogy, so I had high hopes before seeing this show. It didn't disappoint. If 2007 felt like a theater production, this show felt like a movie. The closer is still one of my favorite's to this day. Still feel like Bell should've become the first back to back TX GN champion that year. Might've honestly been our only chance for that to ever happen. 
Cedar Park - 2008 - On Edge - When I pre-preemptively hope that Cedar Park gets back to it's glory days (it's "Roots"?) before every season, it's because of this show. I probably saw this show 3 or 4 times throughout the season, and I have never experienced anything quite like this opening statement from a high school marching band. This show is pure adrenaline. No props, no real theme, just marching band at it's purest form. Cedar Park was far from the largest band at BOA SA that year, and yet no one even came close to the volume CP was putting out. And this show was HARD. I'm not one of those old people who wish we would go back to the "good old days," but no one marches and plays simultaneously like CP did in this show (most bands didn't even do it back then). And the tempos they were reaching at the end of this show were UNREAL. If they hadn't run into Marcus/LD Bell duo at their peak, CP would have a BOA SA title. 
Bowie - 2011 - The Promise of Winter - I'm still bummed Bowie didn't get a title during their glory days. Of those "days", 2011 was my favorite. The linked video doesn't do it justice, but this opening statement SLAPPED you in the face. And before the rise of the Hebron mellos, there were the Bowie mellos. I'm pretty sure I first saw this show at a football game, and while football crowds usually half pay attention to marching shows - this show grabbed EVERYONE's attention and didn't let go. 
 

Appreciate the effort to change the subject of this board back to marching band! 
I have many shows that I return to over the last 15 years,  but this thread seems to be geared towards shows we experienced in person, so I'll use it as an opportunity to jump back in time and pull up some oldies. Links included for newer fans to pass the time as we wade through a DCI-less summer (apologies for some in poor quality - marching band recording has come a long way in 15 years).
 
Hebron - 2006 - Music in Every Direction - Before Hebron was the perennial top 5 contender they are these days, there was this show. While this show only got 9th that year, I see it as the beginning of Hebron's rise to to power. I'm not exactly sure when the "dance break" became a thing in marching band, but this will forever be THE dance break for me. DDR was all the rage back then, and the dance section of this show, with the syncopated/offset DDR directions, was unreal to a bunch of high school kids who were obsessed with this trend. This was the first time I ever saw a standing ovation for a show before the end. This moment literally ripped people from their seats in excitement. I've searched for years for a better recording of this to no avail. 
LD Bell - 2007 - Transcendents - I don't think I have to say much about this show, because I (hope?) think everyone is aware of it, no matter how new you are to the activity. But I'm gonna say a lot anyway - I don't even know if I can call this a marching band show. This show was an experience. The crowd reaction to this show is still my favorite to this day because you could feel the moment of "what just happened" as they wrapped up their show. The fact that the ending changed at each performance put people even more on the edge of the seat. I also love that this show broke all the rules of typical marching show music organization. Rather than the typical opener-ballad-closer, this show was 5 minutes of opener (with some mixed in slow moments), and then 6+ minutes of ballad/art, and they milked every second BOA allowed them. Bringing back Lux from the first part of the trilogy was the cherry on top, I'm pretty sure I may have teared up a bit. I don't even know of a show from the modern era (last 5-8 years) that I could put in the same category as this one, it's just that unique.
LD Bell - 2008 - The Quest - I was already hooked on Bell fever after the trilogy, so I had high hopes before seeing this show. It didn't disappoint. If 2007 felt like a theater production, this show felt like a movie. The closer is still one of my favorite's to this day. Still feel like Bell should've become the first back to back TX GN champion that year. Might've honestly been our only chance for that to ever happen. 
Cedar Park - 2008 - On Edge - When I pre-preemptively hope that Cedar Park gets back to it's glory days (it's "Roots"?) before every season, it's because of this show. I probably saw this show 3 or 4 times throughout the season, and I have never experienced anything quite like this opening statement from a high school marching band. This show is pure adrenaline. No props, no real theme, just marching band at it's purest form. Cedar Park was far from the largest band at BOA SA that year, and yet no one even came close to the volume CP was putting out. And this show was HARD. I'm not one of those old people who wish we would go back to the "good old days," but no one marches and plays simultaneously like CP did in this show (most bands didn't even do it back then). And the tempos they were reaching at the end of this show were UNREAL. If they hadn't run into Marcus/LD Bell duo at their peak, CP would have a BOA SA title. 
Bowie - 2011 - The Promise of Winter - I'm still bummed Bowie didn't get a title during their glory days. Of those "days", 2011 was my favorite. The linked video doesn't do it justice, but this opening statement SLAPPED you in the face. And before the rise of the Hebron mellos, there were the Bowie mellos. I'm pretty sure I first saw this show at a football game, and while football crowds usually half pay attention to marching shows - this show grabbed EVERYONE's attention and didn't let go. 
 

Appreciate the effort to change the subject of this board back to marching band! 
I have many shows that I return to over the last 15 years,  but this thread seems to be geared towards shows we experienced in person, so I'll use it as an opportunity to jump back in time and pull up some oldies. Links included for newer fans to pass the time as we wade through a DCI-less summer (apologies for some in poor quality - marching band recording has come a long way in 15 years).
 
Hebron - 2006 - Music in Every Direction - Before Hebron was the perennial top 5 contender they are these days, there was this show. While this show only got 9th that year, I see it as the beginning of Hebron's rise to to power. I'm not exactly sure when the "dance break" became a thing in marching band, but this will forever be THE dance break for me. DDR was all the rage back then, and the dance section of this show, with the syncopated/offset DDR directions, was unreal to a bunch of high school kids who were obsessed with this trend. This was the first time I ever saw a standing ovation for a show before the end. This moment literally ripped people from their seats in excitement. I've searched for years for a better recording of this to no avail. 
LD Bell - 2007 - Transcendents - I don't think I have to say much about this show, because I (hope?) think everyone is aware of it, no matter how new you are to the activity. But I'm gonna say a lot anyway - I don't even know if I can call this a marching band show. This show was an experience. The crowd reaction to this show is still my favorite to this day because you could feel the moment of "what just happened" as they wrapped up their show. The fact that the ending changed at each performance put people even more on the edge of the seat. I also love that this show broke all the rules of typical marching show music organization. Rather than the typical opener-ballad-closer, this show was 5 minutes of opener (with some mixed in slow moments), and then 6+ minutes of ballad/art, and they milked every second BOA allowed them. Bringing back Lux from the first part of the trilogy was the cherry on top, I'm pretty sure I may have teared up a bit. I don't even know of a show from the modern era (last 5-8 years) that I could put in the same category as this one, it's just that unique.
LD Bell - 2008 - The Quest - I was already hooked on Bell fever after the trilogy, so I had high hopes before seeing this show. It didn't disappoint. If 2007 felt like a theater production, this show felt like a movie. The closer is still one of my favorite's to this day. Still feel like Bell should've become the first back to back TX GN champion that year. Might've honestly been our only chance for that to ever happen. 
Cedar Park - 2008 - On Edge - When I pre-preemptively hope that Cedar Park gets back to it's glory days (it's "Roots"?) before every season, it's because of this show. I probably saw this show 3 or 4 times throughout the season, and I have never experienced anything quite like this opening statement from a high school marching band. This show is pure adrenaline. No props, no real theme, just marching band at it's purest form. Cedar Park was far from the largest band at BOA SA that year, and yet no one even came close to the volume CP was putting out. And this show was HARD. I'm not one of those old people who wish we would go back to the "good old days," but no one marches and plays simultaneously like CP did in this show (most bands didn't even do it back then). And the tempos they were reaching at the end of this show were UNREAL. If they hadn't run into Marcus/LD Bell duo at their peak, CP would have a BOA SA title. 
Bowie - 2011 - The Promise of Winter - I'm still bummed Bowie didn't get a title during their glory days. Of those "days", 2011 was my favorite. The linked video doesn't do it justice, but this opening statement SLAPPED you in the face. And before the rise of the Hebron mellos, there were the Bowie mellos. I'm pretty sure I first saw this show at a football game, and while football crowds usually half pay attention to marching shows - this show grabbed EVERYONE's attention and didn't let go. 
 

Appreciate the effort to change the subject of this board back to marching band! 
I have many shows that I return to over the last 15 years,  but this thread seems to be geared towards shows we experienced in person, so I'll use it as an opportunity to jump back in time and pull up some oldies. Links included for newer fans to pass the time as we wade through a DCI-less summer (apologies for some in poor quality - marching band recording has come a long way in 15 years).
 
Hebron - 2006 - Music in Every Direction - Before Hebron was the perennial top 5 contender they are these days, there was this show. While this show only got 9th that year, I see it as the beginning of Hebron's rise to to power. I'm not exactly sure when the "dance break" became a thing in marching band, but this will forever be THE dance break for me. DDR was all the rage back then, and the dance section of this show, with the syncopated/offset DDR directions, was unreal to a bunch of high school kids who were obsessed with this trend. This was the first time I ever saw a standing ovation for a show before the end. This moment literally ripped people from their seats in excitement. I've searched for years for a better recording of this to no avail. 
LD Bell - 2007 - Transcendents - I don't think I have to say much about this show, because I (hope?) think everyone is aware of it, no matter how new you are to the activity. But I'm gonna say a lot anyway - I don't even know if I can call this a marching band show. This show was an experience. The crowd reaction to this show is still my favorite to this day because you could feel the moment of "what just happened" as they wrapped up their show. The fact that the ending changed at each performance put people even more on the edge of the seat. I also love that this show broke all the rules of typical marching show music organization. Rather than the typical opener-ballad-closer, this show was 5 minutes of opener (with some mixed in slow moments), and then 6+ minutes of ballad/art, and they milked every second BOA allowed them. Bringing back Lux from the first part of the trilogy was the cherry on top, I'm pretty sure I may have teared up a bit. I don't even know of a show from the modern era (last 5-8 years) that I could put in the same category as this one, it's just that unique.
LD Bell - 2008 - The Quest - I was already hooked on Bell fever after the trilogy, so I had high hopes before seeing this show. It didn't disappoint. If 2007 felt like a theater production, this show felt like a movie. The closer is still one of my favorite's to this day. Still feel like Bell should've become the first back to back TX GN champion that year. Might've honestly been our only chance for that to ever happen. 
Cedar Park - 2008 - On Edge - When I pre-preemptively hope that Cedar Park gets back to it's glory days (it's "Roots"?) before every season, it's because of this show. I probably saw this show 3 or 4 times throughout the season, and I have never experienced anything quite like this opening statement from a high school marching band. This show is pure adrenaline. No props, no real theme, just marching band at it's purest form. Cedar Park was far from the largest band at BOA SA that year, and yet no one even came close to the volume CP was putting out. And this show was HARD. I'm not one of those old people who wish we would go back to the "good old days," but no one marches and plays simultaneously like CP did in this show (most bands didn't even do it back then). And the tempos they were reaching at the end of this show were UNREAL. If they hadn't run into Marcus/LD Bell duo at their peak, CP would have a BOA SA title. 
Bowie - 2011 - The Promise of Winter - I'm still bummed Bowie didn't get a title during their glory days. Of those "days", 2011 was my favorite. The linked video doesn't do it justice, but this opening statement SLAPPED you in the face. And before the rise of the Hebron mellos, there were the Bowie mellos. I'm pretty sure I first saw this show at a football game, and while football crowds usually half pay attention to marching shows - this show grabbed EVERYONE's attention and didn't let go. 
 

Watching the Round Rock band kids pouring out of the Alamodome last November, literally shouting and leaping for joy because they had just been announced as a finalist band at BOA San Antonio. They made quite the comeback late in the season last year and it was very emotional for me personally, and to those around me as well, watching those kids celebrate their triumph.