bandamonium

Let's not jump to too many conclusions. Unless you've recently seen all the other possible 8-10 groups that could be fighting for the top spot next weekend I wouldn't say that it'll only be Leander and Ronald Reagan fighting for 1st. I will say that Leander has a very complete and strong program and its tending to be just as strong as last year's showing, but I wouldn't count out groups like Hebron, Flower Mound, Marcus, The Woodlands, CTJ, or even James Bowie besting them in San Antonio as other groups complete their shows and clean up. The one thing I think that will hurt Leander is that I would've like to see more intricate and difficult drill from them if they really wanted to compete with some of the big 4A groups at BOA this year. It just looked to me that there was a lot of areas where, yes they are doing body movement, but they are standing and playing. I love their music A LOT, but I just don't know how their visuals will compete especially with how intense the competition is this year. It's could be the difference of a placement in a caption on determining their overall placement.

I can only wish that we have 7 groups get 1's in region 18 so we can have 5 advance from Area D. LISD is just too dominant and you can't split them up into different areas because of their close proximity! Great programs.

I would suspect that there will be less 6A groups attending nationals because of UIL state, but I've seen it happen. (Ronald Reagan and Bowie 2012). Attending- Leander Possibly attending- Cedar Park Ronald Reagan Claudia Taylor Johnson James Bowie Not sure of any other groups rumored to be thinking about it. Interesting topic, even if it is still 2015 and more than a year away.

Yeah! Love that articulation feature. Ballad is going to be awesome in the dome. They also apparently have more to add to the end. Should be interesting!

Bowie from last week. It looks like they changed a few things since this recording after watching them yesterday at TMC. Thought I'd share for those who hadn't seen them. http://youtu.be/t9eSVHrZmlE

If you're making that judgement based on their BOA Austin performance I would definitely rethink that one of those groups being in top 5. Bowie has really rebounded and at the TMC they really put up a good showing against Reagan who seems to be a pretty good threat for the top spot of BOA SA. It's soooooo hard to pick a top 5 for me though. Top 8 for me would be-Hebron Flower Mound Claudia Taylor Johnson Ronald Reagan James Bowie Marcus Round Rock Cedar Park And even with picking eight groups I still feel like I'm missing some very good groups that could be in the mix as well. So crazy!

I don't think that using Round Rock's score to judge the Austin Bands for BOA San Antonio will be very accurate. The Texas Marching Classic tonight was killer. Leander, Bowie, Reagan, and Cedar Park absolutely KILLED IT tonight and they've all improved remarkably in just two weeks with Bowie being the most recognizable improvement. I definitely think if RR had attended that they might not have been the top scorer this time around. Story lines and uncertainty going into SA this year is CRAZY. There are at least 8 or 10 groups that come to mind this year when trying to pick a champion. It's going to be a BOA San Antonio for the record books!

I'm going in blind on some of this, but I do think after seeing some performances that we will see Marcus, Hebron, and Round Rock fighting for that top spot. I would say Marcus is the current favorite although I do believe Hebron and Round Rock have what it takes to pull ahead this Saturday. Round Rock has a very strong visual program however I'm not exactly a fan of their musical selections this year its a nice show for grand nats! Hebron's show and music is VERY impressive I think if the visuals are clean enough that we could see them contend for the title for the third straight year. I haven't seen Marcus, but I have heard great things about their show. LD Bell and Flower Mound seem like dark horses for this regional, but I definitely see them as a possible threat to breaking into top 3.

1. Bowie 2. Leander 3. Round Rock 4. Vista Ridge 5. Cedar Park 6. Cedar Ridge 7. Vandegrift 8. Westlake 9. Dripping Springs 10. Westwood I have yet to see any shows so this is pure speculation based on previous seasons so more than likely I'll be wrong about a few of these placements.

I don't think that it's thought of in that aspect, but as a program not wanting another group seeing what and how well they are performing. It leaves an element of uncertainty and surprise that always brings excitement to the first competitions.

Other programs typically don't post their shows early on in the season whether it be because of copyright or because of the program not wanting other competing schools to see their show or both. Like I know that Bowie is usually very private and does well about keeping their show off the internet until the end of the season.

2015 Grand Nationals Participating Bands As of: April 9, 2015 Ada H.S., OH Adair County H.S., KY Archbishop Alter H.S., OH Avon H.S., OH Avon H.S., IN Beechwood H.S., KY Bellbrook H.S., OH Ben Davis H.S., IN Bentonville H.S., AR Berryhill H.S., OK Bishop Fenwick H.S., OH Blackhawk H.S., PA Blue Springs H.S., MO Bourbon County H.S., KY Broken Arrow H.S., OK Brunswick H.S., OH Carlisle H.S., OH Carmel H.S., IN Carroll H.S., OH Cary Senior H.S., NC Cedar Ridge H.S., TX Center Grove H.S., IN Centerville H.S., OH Central Crossing H.S., OH Central Hardin H.S., KY Cleveland H.S., TN Colony H.S., AK Davenport Central H.S., IA Dawson-Bryant High School, OH DeSoto Central H.S., MS Dobyns-Bennett H.S., TN Dublin Coffman H.S., OH East Clinton H.S., OH Eden Prairie H.S., MN Edgewood H.S., OH Father Ryan H.S., TN Franklin H.S., TN Fred J. Page H.S., TN Goodpasture Christian School, TN Goshen H.S., IN Green Hope H.S., NC Greendale H.S., WI Hamilton H.S., OH Harrison H.S., GA Hebron H.S., TX Herscher H.S., IL Highlands H.S., KY Homestead H.S., IN Homestead H.S., CA Indian Hill H.S., OH Jenison H.S., MI Keller Central High School, TX Keller H.S., TX Kiski Area H.S., PA L.D. Bell H.S., TX La Salle H.S., OH Lake Central H.S., IN Lake Park H.S., IL Lakeland H.S., MI Lancaster H.S., NY Larry A. Ryle H.S., KY Lawrence Township, IN Marian Catholic H.S., IL Meade County H.S., KY Metamora Township H.S., IL Miamisburg H.S., OH Milford H.S., OH Mililani H.S., HI Milton-Union H.S., OH Monrovia H.S., IN New Philadelphia H.S., OH North Laurel H.S., KY Northmont H.S., OH Norton H.S., OH Paragould H.S., AR Potosi H.S., MO Pulaski County H.S., KY Ravenwood H.S., TN Round Rock H.S., TX Saint James School, AL Southwestern H.S., IN Stebbins H.S., OH Talawanda H.S., OH The King's Academy, FL The Woodlands H.S., TX Tippecanoe H.S., OH Triton Central H.S., IN Troy Athens H.S., MI Valley Christian H.S., CA Warren Local H.S., OH Waukesha North H.S., WI West Bloomfield H.S., MI William Mason H.S., OH

BOA Austin Participating Bands As of: April 8, 2015 Aledo H.S., TX Anderson H.S., TX Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, TX Brackenridge H.S., TX Cedar Park H.S., TX Cedar Ridge H.S., TX Coppell H.S., TX Cuero H.S., TX Dripping Springs H.S., TX Earl Warren H.S., TX East View High School, TX Hendrickson H.S., TX James Bowie H.S., TX Leander H.S., TX McCallum H.S., TX Pflugerville H.S., TX Robert E. Lee H.S., TX Round Rock H.S., TX Stephen F. Austin H.S., TX Vandegrift H.S., TX Vista Ridge H.S., TX Westlake H.S., TX Westwood H.S., TX Winston Churchill H.S., TX BOA McAllen Participating Bands As of: April 8, 2015 Claudia Taylor Johnson H.S., TX Clear Creek H.S., TX Edinburg H.S., TX Edinburg North H.S., TX Harlingen H.S., TX Hidalgo H.S., TX Juarez-Lincoln H. S., TX McAllen H.S., TX McAllen Memorial H.S., TX Mission H.S., TX Nikki Rowe H.S., TX Palmview H.S., TX Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Early College H.S., TX Pioneer High School, TX Pharr-San Juan-Alamo North Early College H.S., TX Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Memorial Early College H.S., TX Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Southwest Early College H.S., TX Rio Grande City H.S., TX Rivera H.S., TX Robert Vela High School, TX Roma H.S., TX Sandra Day O' Connor H.S., TX Santa Rosa H.S., TX Sharyland H.S., TX United South H.S., TX Veterans Memorial H.S., TX Wagner H.S., TX

Hopefully a realignment of Area D comes with them. 6A Area D is already a bloodbath as it is with Bowie, Reagan, CTJ, Westlake, Round Rock, Cedar Ridge, Hendrickson, etc all being in this area, and the addition of Leander and Vandegrift would be just way too much. I'm hoping they split off the North Austin groups (Round Rock, Cedar Ridge, Leander, Vandegrift, etc) into a new area or move them to another area so that Area D isn't so crowded.

Wonder what sources from Indy would mention bowie and CTJ going? Woodlands are almost for sure going. Rumors are that seven texas groups have signed up for the event. We'll see come February who those groups are.

It didn't start raining until Bowie's performance. It was quite an amazing musical performance. I've only seen one video on youtube of Bowie's 2013 production due to copyright I believe most people refrained from posting videos of the show. Round Rock's Finals performance is here.

CTJ got music, and the caption they were correcting was General Effect caption which CTJ won instead of Flower Mound. The captions didnt change other than GE, and placement changed- 1st- Claudia Taylor Johnson 2nd- Marcus 3rd- The Woodlands

With the feedback Ive gotten this is the list of participants for next year. Likely to Attend- The Woodlands Hebron Cedar Ridge Round Rock Possible- Claudia Taylor Johnson Bowie L.D. Bell And of coarse this isn't anything close to being final as it is just a compiled list of the groups that appear primed and ready to take Indy by storm next year.

From what I've heard 7 Texas groups have applied for the 2015 Grand Nationals already. -The Woodlands (They usually go during non-UIL years) -Cedar Ridge (I know for a fact that they are going again) -Bowie (There is still skepticism with rumors that their London Trip will keep expenses too high for them to make a return, but they've traditionally gone every 3 years so we'll have to see if they end up going or not) -Claudia Taylor Johnson (After the big year they had this year, I think there's a good chance they make a return after 4 years) -Round Rock (I haven't heard anything, but after placing 4th, I could see them making the trip again) -Marcus (They haven't historically gone every other year) -L.D. Bell -Hebron (Perhaps their first appearance?)

They have added new tree limbs to the uniform to fit the theme (If a Tree Falls). They also added roots to the tree stump that the oboe player falls off of in the ballad. Other than those changes I don't think they're adding anything else.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz2p26W96ps Recent Video of Marcus Recent Video of Hebron Just saw Bowie at Region 18 contest last night, I think they could easily rival these performances, if not beat them. It's going to be a very exciting end to this season! Is anyone going to Area D competition?

Hebron James Bowie Marcus Claudia Taylor Johnson The Woodlands Leander LD Bell Flower Mound Round Rock Vandegrift Ronald Reagan Cedar Park Spring Vista Ridge

Bowie's program this year is next level. I have yet to see any other top tier bands in the state, but Bowie is bringing it this year. The Woodlands could also be in the running, but without LD Bell, I'd say that Bowie won't be subject to another tie resulting in not medaling like 2010 and 2012.