HighSchoolBandNerd212

Thank you all so much for the comments! It means so much! That was an amazing run.
 
I definitely balled my eyes out at the end of that.

Great job, Madison!  I love that they used the same ballad as Keller 2016- probably my favorite ballad ever.
 
MadisonBandMan1, you should be very proud of your performance and all that you have given these past years.  You have shown such a contagious passion for your hard work and it has been fun to watch you growing up and maturing.  You have a fan, here!

All that I really have to say is that being there all day, I really feel like the judges judged the performances of the day.  Maybe two or three I personally would have moved up or down a little bit, but not a lot different.  
 
2019 as a whole has taken what we expect to see in results from a lot of bands and just completely turned that on its head.  There's usually a lot of complaining that it's the same old bands in the same placements just kinda shuffling around a bit.  But now that we have had some pretty surprising results, there's again some push back, but now that the judges don't know what they're doing, the results are crazy, etc.  And I get being a little upset if a band you're associated with doesn't do as well as you had hoped.  Three out of four years of my high school band experience we barely made finals and were constantly the first one out, etc.  Probably not even a month from now that will have all settled and you can remember the stuff that really matters.  

I think O'Connor is gonna take on Hays for that last spot. However, I have not seen them yet so it is hard to say.

I was blown away by Sandra day O’Connors preformance they might make it ... I think there new directors have something brewing at O’Connor highschool

Vandegrift High School alumnus; former clarinetist.
 
I'm not a very active poster, but I still occasionally lurk around the forums.

Here is Vista Ridge's spring preview:
 

Warning...this turned out to be a wall of text.  Sorry about that.
 
MPE tapes often deal with design, especially in regard to demand placed on the students and how it affects their ability to perform the music.  For instance, a group with incredibly difficult music arrangements with pretty strong execution is going to outscore a group with middle-of-the-road level arrangements who performs just as strongly, and probably a bit better to our UIL ears. There's obviously a point where high quality music arrangements definitely will not make up for a lack of quality execution, though, and also where truly immaculate execution can make up for weaker arrangements.  
 
The design being involved in the performance scores bothered me until a judge explained the general effect caption to me.  There are three aspects to it: (1) the emotional connection with the audience, which is the most important; (2) the intellectual design, and can the students clearly demonstrate the complexity of that design; and (3) the artistry, or detailing and subtle nuance of absolutely every aspect of the performance.  That final element is where bands like Marcus and Vandegrift really shine through in the GE caption, while bands like Flower Mound and Leander just blow you away with high energy and excitement, and groups like Carmel, Avon, and William Mason excel at the intellectual design.  Of course, all the successful groups have a strong marriage of all three elements, but you can begin to really understand how some end up above others when you dig into the GE caption like this.  
 
I bring all of this up because GE does affect UIL scores, even though it isn't a judged element.  Take Leander and Vandegrift.  In an outdoor stadium, at the end of the season, on a first or second read, Leander has ended up outscoring Vandegrift.  When you go back and watch videos, there's really no way Leander should ever top Vandgrift in a UIL contest based on quality of marching and playing (though they're still very strong and worthy of both their 5A and 6A finalist positions); however, their occasional higher placement is easily explained by judges getting carried away with the high energy of their performance, which is a huge factor when it comes to a Leander show.  It's a lot like watching Bell's 2006 The Remaining live versus on a video.  It still holds up on video despite some of the issues in performance captions, but the massive amount of emotion coming from the live performance was just unmatched and makes you forget about any of the other issues.      
 
On the score sheet, UIL really places very little emphasis on difficulty or content.  Those sheets are concerned primarily with execution; however, some of the more experienced directors who judge often look for elements in a show that allow them to tick off boxes on the sheet.  For instance, a group that features every section of their band successfully or who has both lyrical and challenging technical features for both brass and woodwinds throughout the show is going to be given more credit because it's more moments where a judge can be impressed. This means that a group with a show designed to feature and impress is probably going to end of scoring higher than a group with an out-of-the-box type of show with some judges, but not necessarily all.  Unfortunately, UIL only requires a brief online course for judges at the Area level, and, beyond that, it's really a very subjective point system.  That's why you see so much variety between rankings...not everyone manages their scores well over the course of a contest, and they're simply reacting based on their own experience and preferences.
 
Regarding Hebron in particular, I think that may just be a fault of the system.  Hebron performed at a level so far beyond all the musical capability of the other groups at GN that there was no precedent for how to compare.  Gary Markham himself told me that Hebron's performance last year was one of the most memorable musical performance of all his years involved in BOA because they shifted the paradigm regarding what a high school band was actually capable of doing on the move, with such great control, and while performing such a great variety of styles and dynamics.  They couldn't very well score them above a 20.0, and going first obviously didn't help.  It's just the nature of this type of scoring system.    

All the BOA Regionals and Super Regionals are done.  
 
Conclusion - I have no idea what the heck is going to happen.  

Gotta give some love to Rouse. They've entered into a whole new level this year. Results aren't always indicative of that, but the performance definitely was. I hope they place well. 

As a band director in NISD at O'Connor I can say with certainty that the realignment was in the best interest of all schools in the State. TMEA decided to realign for the first time in many years and with so many large schools it's understandable why. UIL likewise followed suit and used very similar zones to the TMEA lines. In reality, these new UIL zones create closer proximity contests for most/not all schools and lessens the burden for all in general in terms of travel.
I applaud all the Area H schools and finalists, it was an honor to share the field with so many great bands. I wish the very best to Vandegrift, Leander, Westlake and Vista Ridge who will represent the Area to the fullest degree. I'm saddened that O'Connor did not advance for the first time in a long time, but I also think that as stated above the NISD schools and ourselves are stronger and will continue to be in the future. Best wishes to all bands at State and BOA.
 
Wesley Perkins
O'Connor HS Band

Sherman almost made it into finals. They were 13th in prelims and only 0.25 points behind Kennesaw Mountain (who placed 12th in prelims).

Sherman almost made it into finals. They were 13th in prelims and only 0.25 points behind Kennesaw Mountain (who placed 12th in prelims).

In response to these "controversial" posts about Flower Mound. I can guarantee you 100% that FMHS follows the 8-hour rule. Do people really think they would risk the consequences? Furthermore, as NTXBandFan stated, the band simply learns/reviews fundamental marching in May to get them ready for marching season. It's a good time to start learning because it gives the band members a basic understanding of the activity before summer (when so many people are out of town). And they don't start learning drill until several days after August 1. (Keep in mind they have a competition band and a JV band. Summer rehearsals and the first few days of band camp are used to sort through band members and assign them to a specific marching band. It would be impossible to learn drill with more band members than drill spots in the competition band.)
 
Flower Mound's rehearsal schedule has been nearly identical the past >4 years. If they were "cheating" the UIL standards, it would've been uncovered by now. Nothing is different this year other than the fact that everything aligned for an incredible show perfected by a hardworking staff and performed by extremely dedicated students.
 
Other bands are doing wonderfully. But there is no denying the fact that Flower Mound just has an amazing show completely suited for them. And frankly, this isn't that much of a surprise; FM has been building its reputation and performance ability throughout its last 5 or so seasons. You can see their development in the competition results, especially since 2014 when they went to Grand Nats.
 
Flower Mound puts in the same amount of time as Hebron, Marcus, etc. There is literally no question. They're just an awesome band surrounded by other awesome bands. Don't discredit their success, especially on the basis of very little evidence!

If motivation and "wanting it" from the students was all it took then there would probably be about 30-50 elite bands in Texas all competing for gold. Once you get to a certain point, show design and instruction is everything (especially in the BOA world). It's why bands like Flower Mound, Round Rock, and Leander all exploded onto the scene in a short amount of time (although Leander already had a successful history, but they got WAY better in the matter of one year back in 2014). All of those bands probably had very talented and motivated members long before they were what they are now. They just stepped up their show design game to highlight the talent they had. And when it comes to instructors, Marcus for example has been such a monster musically because their instructors took their talented individual performers and focused heavily on maturing their sound as an ensemble into what it has been the past decade, it's not because the kids simply wanted to be the best band musically. And I'm not trying to say that motivation and effort isn't important, because it's extremely important. I'm just saying a ton of bands in Texas have kids that are just as motivated as Flower Mound.

That kind of spread over the reigning for 10 years 6A State Champion, prior BOA Grand National Champions and finalists, and other amazing bands should shock the heck out of me.  But watching finals online it was pretty obvious that Flower Mound is on another plane this year.  That is NO detriment to the other bands because boy Marcus is clean and sounds amazing, Hebron sounds amazing, LD Bell has their best show since 2011 and performed really well, and James Bowie was outstanding...........but Flower Mound is performing the best I've ever seen a high school this early, and their show is perfection in terms of flow, GE moments, details, and how they're selling it.  There isn't a weak spot.  I'm not sure if they'll 4 point the field in San Antonio but I don't see them losing all year.  They could VERY well be our 6A State Champion too.  
 
What is surprising to me is this show actually relies VERY little on gimmicks, prop usage, electronics, ect.  It is AMAZINGLY well arranged and exciting music with fantastic drill that just flows and goes together effortlessly and they are performing it like the best.  They're just straight up out marching and out playing everyone right now with a show that is so well put together it doesn't need a bunch of extras.   
 
I would place them 1st in any competition this year, including Grand Nationals.  I don't see anyone touching them, and like I said it's not because the other bands aren't fantastic, Flower Mound just has the right combination of staff, students, design, and performance coming together in perfect Harmony.  
 
Incredibly stunning.  

Hello.
 
I'm Daniel Valdez.  I'm one of the Moderators here on Txbands.com.  You'll also see me throw it down on the TxBands Live Blog with Daniel Sanchez (Xenon) at the Super Regional this weekend!
 
I'd first like to say howdy to all of our newest members on the site!  We always have a nice jump in membership when Fall season starts.  We always appreciate people paying attention to the site, whether it is through our Forums board or our Live Blog.  We are completely indebted to our loyal members.  Your support and love really does make Marching Band Season that much more enjoyable!

Texas State Marching Contest is, by far, the most intense State Marching Band contest in the United States.  It's a big deal.  heck, we're a big freakin' State!  Bands from all across Texas have The Alamodome set in their sights all year long.  That's the ultimate goal for the majority of bands across the State.  If we make State, we're golden.  The parking lot at State Contest is littered with cars that have State Or Bust written in shoe polish on the back windshield.  It's serious business here.  I totally get it.
 
Unfortunately, the spirit of sportsmanship and competition gets lost in translation on the Internet.  People say things that are really stupid.  People try to bring other programs down that they think don't "deserve" the placement they received.  People criticize specific programs to the point that the entire comment simply looks like garbage.  I've noticed this happening on this Forum for a bit this year.  I'm not really a fan of the lame comments.  Nobody really is.  I'm not sure why you would even hint that you are from a certain program while typing out hateful stuff on here.  Just remember that if your directors find out, we're not to blame.
 
If you've read this far, thanks a ton!  All I can do is ask you folks who wish to be jerks on here to think really hard before you post something.  In the end, it's just a contest.  Celebrate those who have succeeded so far this season.  Do not attempt to bring them down because honestly, you won't be able to tear them down from the cloud that they have built themselves with hard work and dedication.
 
Congratulations to all those who made the State Marching Contest!  I'll see you good folks this weekend at The Alamodome!

This is such a clever comment and I'm upset that nobody caught it / directed attention to it.
 
I agree with the above poster who noted that Vandegrift was performing on an extraordinary level at BOA Austin finals. Having been there all day, I completely agree. If they have a performance like that, anything can happen (and a shakier performance by Leander in finals certainly helped too). I think both them and Leander will make a huge splash - I would be a little surprised to see either place out of the top 8, at this point. I've noticed a general shift, especially recently, in UIL judging priorities to more of an achievement model of scoring rather than pure execution, which others have alluded to. I believe this helped CTJ a lot in 2014 and I can only see that helping them, as well as Leander, score well this November.

From what I've seen from watching multiple recent videos of Vandegrift, their BOA Austin finals performance is currently a rarity in terms of quality. Their other recent performances (i.e. BOA Austin prelims, LISD Festival of Bands) have been very, very good for this early in the season, but are still a slight, but notable step down in quality compared to their BOA Austin Finals performance. So it is still too early to determine if Vandegrift will be at the level of Marcus come November 8. They will have to keep pushing forward at an equal or perhaps even greater pace of improvement compared to what they have done since August of this year. Are they capable of dethroning Marcus? It is possible to some degree. Leander went from 15th in prelims at BOA San Antonio in 2013 to 3rd at BOA San Antonio finals in 2014. And what's even better is that Vandegrift is working from a higher position than Leander was in 2013 (last year: 10th at BOA San Antonio finals, tied for 1st but lost the tie at the 5A State finals). To say the least, 6A State is going to be interesting!

Probably worth noting here that UIL's handbook has been updated to state that should there be 36 or more bands at SMBC, then 12 bands will advance to finals.
 
Finals will also now be a full retreat.

I've seen full video from this week from four of the shows I think will end up in the top 5 at Austin, and a partial video from last week of the fifth.
 
Leander takes this one. What they're doing is just simply on another plane right now. The show is incredibly progressive, well thought out, impeccably designed, and performed at a very high level for early September, considering even the obviously heightened musical and visual difficulty over last year. They haven't been hurting for soloists lately, but this euphonium soloist might be head and shoulders above their past few. Thank the heavens they're taking this show to Grand Nationals - it's absolutely special.
 
I also have to shout out Cedar Park. They're exceptional and solid for a medal. Their last GN show was not typical for them and it showed all the way through the last performance. This show is even more atypical and they're handling it with aplomb. No doubt in my mind that they make finals in November, maybe placing in the single digits, and stay a heavy front runner for the music caption all season.

James Bowie High School: OverThrone
 
Vandegrift High School: En Pointe

Cedar Park just won the 5A Division II State Football Championship.
Based off of the UIL Champion archives, they are the first school in UIL history to win both the State Marching Contest and the State Football Championship within the same year.
Granted, the marching band contest has been held biennially since 1991, whereas the football championship has been held every year. However, Cedar Park and Argyle are the only two schools to win both championships within a two year span.
I offer a huge congratulations to both Cedar Park organizations for this rare achievement!

After this marching season I have thought of one request and wish for the dci season, SOMEONE PLEASE PLAY ARA BATUR