LKendrick

Feed went to heck during Cedar Park, didn't catch much of anything.

Anderson was a ton of fun!

Best of luck to all of them! They're members of some great programs.

Well, the other BOA Grand Nationals is about to kick off in about 9 hours! Took off work to watch as much as I can the next two days. Best of luck to everyone, and I'm sure as is so every year, it will be the best high school contest I've ever watched in any shape or form regardless of wins, gets in finals, etc. Best of luck to everyone attending, have fun if you're spectating, and feel free to discuss and share your thoughts! I always enjoy reading what everyone has to say. I'll do my write up in finals for each band like I did last year again, really enjoyed doing that. This officially kicks off the finale of the 2016 marching season, which once again went by way too fast.

If you put a cash restriction on bands they will just find another way to adapt and do well in those conditions because the best bands do well because of their amazing staffs and teaching, not because they have cool backdrops or some fancy lighting effect. If you take that away and put a rule in place that says bands can have nothing on the field and have to march in a box formation for 4 minutes and curves for 4 minutes with no body, you can bet that directors like Sealy, Drinkwater, Biskup, Selaiden, so on and so forth would change how they teach, get the best staff they can to teach it, and still do well because they're amazing teachers. I've had the pleasure of experiencing one of those listed first hand and his bands sure as heck aren't dominating because they're hiding behind smoke and mirrors, it's because they're master teachers. It's not the what they're teaching, it's the how. I've seen PLENTY of absolute crap bands with amazing props and trying do do BOA type shows as well as AMAZING bands that do really well with absolutely nothing extra in the field.

Said it before I did. We can joke, have fun, or even get a little sassy. Just don't cross the line of insulting someone, a community, members of a band, etc. Thank you.

Is it getting hot in here or is it just me? ._.

There is a difference between homerism and blind homerism.

Seconded.

Thank you for clarifying some things. I understand. We were the little guy when I was in high school. Like I said, same bands every year and we really didn't have much of a chance in heck of advancing until the lines were redrawn in 2013 and all the bands that advanced to state were no longer in our area and then suddenly boom in 2015 they swept and made it to state while some of the the other very good bands that used to be in the area did not. I thought many of the same things at the time. In retrospect though the scores don't mean jack. Would it have been amazing to win and go to state? Absolutely. But that would have been just a mere cherry on top of my high school band experience. 5 years out only one marching season really still has an effect on me, and my best memories were growing as a band my senior year and one performance in particular where we got a HUGE crowd reaction. I probably couldn't remember most of our placements. I guess in the end I get it, it would be cool to win and advance, but some times its just not in the cards. Always take pride in your performance and growth as a band, and after that everything is out of your control.

Have you watched Hebron, Flower Mound, or Marcus objectively? Particularly Hebron. I watched them last night and was absolutely floored at the musical demands they have while on the move, particularly in the closer. Was like this in their opener last year too. No one is doing what they are doing while marching, or a very select few. I mean the woodwinds are playing insane runs on the move and the brass is double and triple toungjng on the move. There is no lack of demand. Also on the 3 you mentioned, 90% of their props are either backdrop/stage setting or not involved enough with the drill that you could strip them away and the show would still work very well. But those two things aside they also march and play like very few can. You can hate the props, hate the style and hate the flashy stuff. But when you strip all that stuff away they are still performing like the best of the best. That is not BOA bleeding into UIL judging. It's just playing and marching the best. Give them a "UIL" style show and they'd probably still win. I get the frustration. When I was in HS it was ALWAYS Azle, Boswell, and some El Paso bands that advanced. No one competed with them. But the fact of the matter is they were way better and deserved to advance because state is the best of the best. No matter how you draw those Area lines there are always gonna be those bands that destroy everyone and someone is gonna get screwed. It's just how it works. And in terms of prelims vs finals judging, of course bands are not gonna stay. When you only have 10 to manage rather than 25+ the results tighten and there are no wacky lower than 10th judges that can tank someone. Prelims to finals shifts are nothing new.

This thread is about the shows you like, doesn't have to be restricted by placement/advancement.

I think Ronald Reagan and Leander with an outside shot of Claudia Taylor Johnson are the Texas contenders. Ronald Reagan isn't my favorite of the group in terms of personal taste but they're definitely performing at that level and have a very well put together show. Leander has EXPLODED the last two weeks. That show is starting to clean, get the small additions that make it come alive, and they are starting to believe and perform this thing. I think they could end up being the highest placing Texas band. Claudia Taylor Johnson has the show...just gotta clean clean clean clean clean. Outside Texas I agree with your picks: Tarpon Springs was the unbeatable favorite about 24 hours ago. Now they're showing some potential weaknesses. The show is wild, exciting, and just downright difficult, it's just a question of over saturation and cleanliness to me, and seemingly the judges. I haven't seen it, but the murmurs and rumors are that Avon absolutely came alive the last few weeks with a pretty stunning and inspiring ISSMA Championships performance to take the gold this weekend. Carmel was solid early on, but once shows were finished and cleaning, seems like Avon got ahead and stayed ahead. William Mason. I have a gut feeling. I really liked what I saw design wise early on and we know they'll perform it incredibly well. They're definitely lurking in the shadows. I've got my locks and bubbles down to about 18 bands now, but there are of course a few that could break into that. These 18 are the bands I see having a shot at finals. - Avon - Ayala - Bellevue West - Carmel - Cedar Park - Claudia Taylor Johnson - Dobyns Bennett - Homestead - James Bowie - Leander - Marian Catholic - Owasso - Ronald Reagan - Tarpon Springs - Union - Vista Murrieta - Wando - William Mason There are about 10 others that I think have the room to grow into that grouping, and countless others in the conversation for a teens placement. I took into consideration potential growth, etc.

I will try. Might be a long list though. The three that come to my mind instantly are: Flower Mound Hendrickson Leander More later...

I'm too tired right now to dive into my thoughts on UIL judging. Haha. I do think the right bands advanced though, for sure based on what I have seen.

El Paso Americas advanced on judges preference, placed in the top 3 by a majority of judges and advanced. Or something like that.

Don't do this to me...... D:

Please watch the kind of language we post with. Thank you.

I don't understand why it has to be pointed out that it's "not the one horse race we thought it would be". No one said it would be/was today. Quite frankly getting an ordinal 6 against the two best bands from last go around is super impressive. And no, I'm not implying they can't be beat before it gets twisted into that.

So happy for Hendrickson after 2014.

No one I have seen is either: a) Bordering on tacky. Coveing any shortfalls up. c) Has any shortfalls to cover up. Area prelims are always full of discrepancies. There is always a judge or two that is pretty solitary in their rankings. That's not because of what has been implied, just another set of eyes and ears seeing and hearing the show from a different perspective. So let's see what happens tonight.

Odessa Permian advanced to state.  Do not know who the other two are, just basing it off of some (VERY EXCITED) Permian acquaintances.     :)

Prelims:

Think those are the top 6 in finals too, someone really good is gonna get left out.