LKendrick

They're just a really solid band, I've seen them twice in 2009 and 2012, always very polished. Very impressed by them.

I know of at least one that hasn't been mentioned, but I'm not gonna say anything because I know how some programs are and I respect their privacy. Heard the same about Round Rock and Cedar Ridge, excited both are returning! Both made a huge splash at their first nationals last year and I'm sure they can do it again. I hope what someone was saying about Hebron, Marcus, and FloMo switching between each other is true, that'd be awesome. Bowie hasn't been since 2012, would be nice to see them again, they're getting a little more solid every year after already being very formidable. Heard rumblings about CTJ as well. Reagan's due for another trip within a couple years. The Woodlands has went every other year since 2007, hope that trend continues. Throw that in with Broken Arrow, Avon, Carmel, William Mason, ect., and we could have another monster nationals again if even just some of these bands go. Already excited about 2015! Wouldn't surprise me to see a Leander ISD school go some time soon, I think Cedar Park in 2010 was the last one.

Probably the Holidays. Noticed Indiana Marching is getting hit by some too.

Flower Mound Finalist feature: To the DM in tears at the end, I know those feelings, know them very well, reminds me of my last performance. Looks like they had an absolute blast.

In no specific order: Texas: Leander Cedar Park Cedar Ridge Flower Mound Hebron Hendrickson Ronald Reagan Outside of Texas: Broken Arrow, might be an all time favorite. Wando Tarpon Springs Avon Lawrence Township Plymouth Canton Dobbyns Bennett, tear jerker.

Wow, Marian Catholic went 14th, 6th, 10th. Union went 15th, 12th, 11th. Lake Central went from 11th, to 24th. I fell really bad for them, always a really good band that I think will make finals, and they just miss out. Last years "A World of Her Creation" should have been in finals.........that was a beautiful show. They've been right outside looking in every year since 2011 it seems. Maybe next year.

Also, my surprise of the weekend is Wando, they were AWESOME! Really enjoyed Lawrence Township as well. And my negative surprise was Marian Catholic, pretty shocked to see them that low, had them 4th myself. One of my absolute favorites of the year.

Congratulations to Flower Mound! Wow, 6th in their first nationals! They should be VERY proud! And has there ever been two bands over 97 before? Both were INCREDIBLE! Was pulling for Broken Arrow myself, but congrats to Tarpon Springs! Well deserved! Hope the Eagle flies back to Texas next year.....I hear there's some major firepower headed up there in 2015. Man, Broken Arrow has lost their last two nationals by .15. Next year........I bet they're going to absolutely bring the heat. Thought their show was absolutely stunning, I think I understand it now, which brings it to a whole other level.

I think I agree.

Congrats to Wakeland on the AAA on outstanding visual performance an 3rd in class and congrats to Flowermound on making Grand National finals!

How do you know? I believe you, just curious.

Congrats to Wakeland and Flower Mound on advancing to semifinals tomorrow!

That's about where I have Wakeland, definitely not bad for Nationals! I could see them anywhere from 14th - 20th, which is a great place to be. Who knows with those on field captions, stuff can get crazy! We'll see!

Flower Mound REALLY sparkled just now, that show on the field in Indy is peaking right when it needs to, I'd be surprised if they aren't a finalist. Not two weeks ago at SA, not last week at State, but right now. Wakeland was awesome! Such a creepy dark show. Sensemeya was awesome, and that closer is intense! Fantastic job as well! I think we'll definetely be seeing them in Semi Finals, maybe finals? We'll see.

Discussing which set of obviously awesome parents are classier/nicer is like discussing which of these two puppies is more adorable: They're both so adorable, fluffy, soft.....awww. If you don't like dogs, you get my point. Point is, if they're all supporting other bands, being awesome, and doing nothing but classy, awesome things, they're all the best in my opinion, why talk about which of the positive awesome things is better if they're both great?

That was supposed to be a 2, that was just a typo on my part, adjusted the percentages accordingly. Around 15% for prelims and 4% of schools for finals out of the total amount of schools.

244 (not 344, that was a typo). Also some of those probably don't have bands, so give or take about 10 or so. http://www.uiltexas.org/files/alignments/FB_BB_6A_Rvsd_2.20.14_2014-15.pdf So state represented around 15% of the bands, and finals the top about 4% of bands. 5A is 262.

If they can clean up the closer (which is AWESOME), I think they could slip in, we'll see. I think the top 5 are: Broken Arrow Tarpon Springs Avon Marian Catholic Carmel Marian Catholic, with my favorite show for sure, "Rapture of the Deep" is just awesome, the concept is pretty stunning and they sell it VERY well. Telling the story of a deep sea diver who almost succumbs to the deep, only to be saved by the creatures that lurk beneath, bringing him back to the surface in a fantastic arrangement of John Mackey's "The Frozen Cathedral". The use of field coverage is awesome, and the final chord with the diver clawing his way back onto land at the top of the field is just GE galore. Fantastic show! Tarpon Springs probably has my next favorite "Man Vs. Machine" is a show theme that could have been cliche, but it is pretty dang cool, if you've seen iRobot, think that. It's pretty awesome. Avon's is stunning, "Drawn to the Flame" makes relatively boring Moths into something breathtaking and beautiful. Broken Arrow's "FaceMe" is pretty intense, still not too sure what it's about, but their music, including Pines of Rome, Spartacus, Saint Saen's Organ Symphony, and others is pretty awesome. Fantastic visual package, guard as stunning as always. Carmel's "In the Cards" has a pretty great visual package, musically, not too into it, but they perform the crud out of it. After those, probably about a two point gap or so before in my eyes: Homestead William Mason Lawrence Township Flower Mound Union Owasso Homestead's a wild card, I could see them as high as 3rd, and as low as 12th - 14th I just don't know. Their show is interesting, the guard is pretty stunning with their wings, but other than that, I can't remember much about it. My favorite show of theirs is definitely still 2010s "Children of the Sun". William Mason's VERY polished, especially visually. "Once Upon a Time" is a fun show. Some New World Symphony, Once Upon a Dream, Sabre Dance,Symphonie Fantastique, ect. is a fun show that seems to be Maleficent themed. A dragon much like Haltom's this year spans the back of the field and moves around during the show. The guard is huge and impactful, lots of bright greens, purples, ect. Flower Mound's "Harmonic Tapestries" is stunning. The use of color throughout is fantastic, and the music is beautiful, noteably the Samuel Barber Ballad with the Bassoons and the GOREGOUS purple color scheme in the guard. They should do very well. The french horn opening is amazing as well. Love the ending where the band is scattered within the towers with the different colors from the show stretched about. Lots of great visual GE Moments. Lawrence Township's "The Green Table", based on a ballet by German Choreographer Kurt Jooss depicting the futile peace negotiations leading up to World War II, is another favorite from outside of Texas this year. Awesome visual package, and very playful music book which includes an AWESOME ballad. I think everyone's still surprised they didn't make finals in 2012, but Union's "Caged Bird" is more along the lines of what they did in their previous two Grand National Finals appearances. Pretty solid. Reminds me a lot of Marian Catholic's 2009 show that got 3rd at nationals. Owasso's "2 Road's, 1 Voice" is a nice show, a different take on the Two Roads Diverged in a wood poem we're all familiar with, they make it their own for sure. I see 1 of these groups rounding out finals: Franklin Lake Central Wando Wakeland Wakeland's Venomous show is pretty awesome, especially the newer stuff in the closer. They've been keeping quiet, but they've got a fantastic show. That super dark and....venomous version of Sensemeya is just AWESOME. Love the trombones in the closer. Fantastic color guard. Excited to see how our Texas bands, as well as some of my favorite band programs from outside the state do in a week to close out the 2014 marching season for the most part!

I guess in the end it is what you do with your degree that matters, not where you got it. I would like to think that I can be just as successful regardless of where I am going to college, just as many others have. Wherever you end up, just be the best player you can be, go to class, work hard, and learn as much as you can and you will be set for the rest of your life, regardless of where you end up going to school. Go somewhere you feel like you can learn, succeed, and get as much individual time with your music professors as possible.

Percussion as well it is the place to go, but I agree there are quite a few colleges with just as good education programs.

Depends on what your focus will be, Therapy, Business, Performance, Education, ect, what instrument you play if you're looking for a certain professor, cost, ect. A little biased because I'm going here, but West Texas A&M has a fantastic Education program, and the Therapy program is pretty fantastic as well. Of course there's many other great colleges in the state as well, I'm never going to use the word best, because it just depends on many factors.

What a year for Johnson. 1st at Conroe, 1st at San Antonio, and 3rd at state, wow! They're a new powerhouse, I can't wait for them to go back to nationals. Hebron was close! Those visual scores sure flipped from prelims. Marcus, that's 9 years you've been the reigning champion, and in this state, that's absolutely incredible, congratulations!

Unfortunately, some bands will always get left out, that's just how it works. I do think a consistent amount of bands for each area would be a good idea, but regardless, there's always that one band that gets left out. It's part of the way things go, whether they take 1 band or 8. If you look at who beat them, can you objectively say that they shouldn't have? It sucks some times, I was in the band that was the last one out my senior year, but I watch today at who beat us, and I can see why they did. And as far as the CY Fair jumping up, it's not Area, it's over a week later, there's still time to improve, and it sounds like they had a great run. 3 of the bloggers had them in finals.

They're just proud excited parents and members, nothing wrong with that!

I'd throw Tarpon Springs in there as well, but pretty much this.