LKendrick

That show is an absolute blast, they’re gonna place really high in Dayton.

If you can stay for CGT Dallas and some of the other top groups do.......they blew me away in prelims. I’m no guard expert but I LOVE what they’re doing.

Yep. They opened up their lead to over four points and crossed 88. That was a tight run.

What was said above, they killed it.

I love love loved CGT Dallas.

Can definitely see why Eastlake is on top in Scholastic Open, what an incredibly exciting and difficult show from them!

I switched over to Open, I’ll catch some more A class later/tomorrow. I can see why Bentonville is near the top of Open, great stuff. Coppell was great too! Some incredibly confident rifle work from them.

Leander was fantastic, can easily see why they're leading the nation in Scholastic A rankings. That's gonna do REALLY well in a little under a month.

Watching some Southwest Regional today! Albeit online. Round one standouts for me were Eastlake JV, Jenks A, and Dripping Springs. That arrangement of Impossible Dream that Dripping Springs uses is just awesome. Beautiful show from them. Jenks A had some pretty fierce flag work in their show, loved that flag feature. Eastlake JV was great, they have incredible depth there if that's the JV squad. Very nice show from them.

I like deep cuts, especially when in this state what gets buried under the plethora of amazing shows could probably stand out just about anywhere else. A few definitely stand out for me. Seven Lakes 2017 - First show I saw when I got to San Antonio, just really well put together and fun. Full of cool imagery and stuff from The Shining and they sounded very solid, I'm excited to see what they do in the coming years because they've been pretty strong the last two seasons. James Martin 2016 - Love their little identity they've formed with their usage of strings. This show with a really good run could have made finals in San Antonio IMO, loved their treatment of Orawa and the visual program. Great stuff. Pearland 2016 - You can see the beginnings of what they were going to do in 2017 here, love the usage of color and some incredibly powerful musical moments in the Gillingham closer. Westlake 2015 - I really like this one, it's a pretty drastic change from what they had previously done. Very interesting visual aesthetic and they sound great as always. Coppell 2015 - This is a SUPER cool show musically, they take two things we've heard on the field a lot (Music for Prague and Fanfare for the Common Man) and mash them up and take them in directions you couldn't have imagined. Super creative show that shoulda placed higher IMO.

Band with the highest sco........lowest sco......unless 1st place majority......wins? It's so weird when you say it.

It's always fun to play find the DCI prop in the fall after the season is over.

I bought that on itunes and have been looping it. I know this is a band site but the human voice is about as beautiful of an instrument as you can listen to sometimes. A Capella stuff is so so so gorgeous. ......except for me in my vocal methods course in college.

Onyx’s show is much more in the vein of Sleeping Giant, Blank Canvas, and Moving Still. What they do with the human body and the depth of how much is going on at once is pretty distinctly them, at least to my limited knowledge and eye of winter guard.

The depth of how much is going on at once in Onyx's show is pretty intimidating to watch but incredibly beautiful at the same time. Glad I've started watching winterguard, it's such a beautiful activity.

Bluecoats indoor was a blast, much like their outdoor counterpart.

I'm no guard expert but Pride of Cincinnati is absolutely breathtaking and beautiful.

I'm planning on doing that this fall for BOA/State/Nationals, I cannot even imagine trying to be in charge of a program in a week like that let alone just going as a spectator. I don't envy the logistics of that.

I was definitely taken aback as well, haha. As a percussionist it was very interesting what was going on rhythmically with all those......mouth sounds. lol Bellbrook in contrast was beautiful to listen to.

I need to know what the source for Carmel's audio was, bizarre and intriguing.

Avon was great, always blows my mind how much the top guards are capable of doing and executing in just a few minutes. Really enjoyed Shenehndowa as well, the spinning platform flag feature was cool.

I'll keep it short and down to five from both of the live shows I went to. Meant to do some kind of write up in the fall but life caught up to me and I never really got the chance to. I'm bored and reminiscing about the fall so why not. St. Louis: O'Fallon Township was a double wammy for me. They were the first of my HS big dogs to see live so the factor of that in addition to how wild that show was made that easily one of my favorite experiences from this fall. Lots and lots of things.......of course the tarp(s) was absolutely insane. A camera does not do justice to how much that thing transformed the performance environment, when that thing got unfolded (after epic band dad tarp races) it was an explosion of light reflecting off that thing. That said I found much more in that show interesting as well, the tarp is the easy thing to focus on but they did some super interesting things with body movement as well, the amount of vocabulary that HS aged kids executed in that show at such a high level is pretty bonkers. I cannot even begin to imagine going to a group of kids I work with and trying to teach AND clarify that amount of stuff. Kudos to the teachers AND kids there. And musically the Night on Fire section of that show was just a blast, super high energy and funky. Going to remember this show for a long time. They're the ones that broke me in for my first BOA competition live and it was so memorable. I thought the construction of Grain Valley's show was pretty phenomenal, pretty seamless and exciting show design from them on all levels. Loved the Fly to Paradise full out sprint ending. Bentonville; deflated ball in prelims = but it didn't even phase them. Then they came out and killed it in finals. And that singer was fantastic in Chandelier, loved that closer. I think Sioux Falls Lincoln was about the most fun I had seeing a HS band last fall. In terms of just pure entertainment and performance energy they really brought it in St. Louis, that first Children's Hour of Dream impact was WAY louder than I expected being way up in the top of the stadium, it was a pretty big "YES they're in finals" as soon as that happened. AND THE SOLOISTS! So many fantastic individual performers from them, every single one of those kids was nails, I remember the trombone in the beginning of the closer to be particularly fantastic. They were maybe not the best I saw (pretty dang good though) but in terms of watching a group of kids have the time of their lives, it was certainly the most enjoyable for me personally. Broken Arrow encore from the field was pretty eye opening, watching high school kids go from talking about taking selfies to carrying themselves as professional performers in every regard in a split second was pretty wild. It blows my mind that that many kids are that invested into something and are being taught at such a high level. Incredible stuff. San Antonio: Keller Central golf cart. Lived up to the hype. Holy crap the depth. I knew how loaded it was watching online over the past years but still wasn't ready for band after band after band after band after band to be so much higher than what I've experienced myself. Pearland and Vista Ridge certainly stood out. Pearland's show design this year was pretty top tier to me in just about every way, the accel opening on the move, HUGE first impact, epic reprise at the end, etc. They really hit on something this year, I really really hope they keep it up because if they do I definitely would not be shocked at all to see them as one of the next big names. And Vista Ridge had, what was a pretty big consensus among the group of people I was with, easily one of the best "performances" of their show out of the whole weekend. They did performed and sold their show at about as high of a level as they could have. It was electric. The experience of seeing Avon come down was pretty fantastic. The show was awesome but what happened before that was pretty special. The Yellow Rose quote in their warmup along with the dad decked out in the pretty epic suit and hat were pretty fantastic to experience. Loved getting to see Maslanka 4 on the field and I can say I've seen the mighty Avon in person now. Hendrickson's show was easily one of my favorites of the fall like 2016. And 2015. And 2014. And 2012. I really like Henny. They were a perfect way to kick off finals, in terms of communication of a concept and entertainment value they were certainly near the top for me. Hebron had me speechless. I don't know what those kids eat or how they practice or what goes on there but how high school kids can play with that level of clarity, precision, and sheer volume is beyond me. I know they didn't win music but I can safely say they left the biggest impression on me. LOVED the music from this show, so many styles and emotions all performed with pretty incredible consistency and accuracy. I wish I could go back and sit through that show again and again. Finally getting to see what BOA was all about was easily the highlight of my fall, looking forward to coming back for more next year.

You shoulda put My Heart Will Go On over the ending.

If Canyon moves back down in Area A, which right now it't looking like they will, I anticipate they'll definitely be at state and in contention for a finalist spot. Would be cool to see my Alma Mater back in finals.

Just got back home. Oh my God. What an experience that was, and it sounds like I picked the right year to come down for my first show! The drama, results, and most importantly the quality and ability of those students and staffs was just insane to experience there in the dome. Hebron's musical performance in particular was just.......transcending. I am absolutely coming back for more next year, I'm hooked. Also shout out to Avon. What a class act. How they carried themselves, the Yellow Rose addition to their warm up, the waves, staying for CTJs encore, and so much more were just so so so amazing and we noticed. Thank you so much for coming down, I'm so glad I got to experience the mighty Avon on top of everything else that happened with a show that's built around a piece that is so special to me!