Vidal28

I kinda do wish there was a bit more back-and-forth discussion about a band that was mentioned, instead of one of our commentators being much of the voice monopolizing the conversation when it came to talking about a group, not that it was intentional I’m sure, the guys are all trying not to step on each other’s toes, giving everyone their time to shine and talk with their insight, and they’re all nice individuals. I just kinda do like that nature of piggy-backing off of someone’s thoughts, adding one’s own perspective as to what someone led off with and have a more “round-table” kind of approach to discussion, not that what I’m saying wasn’t happening, I just wish there was more of it, it’s still a very interesting video to watch.

I feel the LISD medalist monopoly could definitely be broken up next year, Wakeland is a very consistent program so I don’t really see them slipping, other DFW programs could kick into another gear and all be in the conversation, we’ll just have to see!

I feel like I have to wait until late spring to really know who all is going, I don’t wanna be let down😂

Band Grand Slam or Band Slam are both cool, props to the schools that have already completed it too! Haha

You can go to pretty much any local contest here not named BOA and have a fun time listening to every band in attendance, despite the few SA finalist level bands that are sprinkled into local contests(for some contests they aren’t just sprinkled in, TMC has a top half filled with SA finalists) every band is putting out to their utmost potential, a growing number of bands that are ascending leading to an incredibly competitive atmosphere where groups simply cannot be complacent, otherwise they’ll get leapfrogged by a new school that opened up in the last 5 years, many examples of that, that we can see in the state which is crazy. The state has never been more competitive than it has been as a result of what the last 5 years have brought!

If you made finals at both and you’ve become more consistent in making it(especially when it comes to BOASA) as Pearland has become, you stand to fare pretty well at Grand Nats! You want your first trip to be as successful as possible for the students, it’s a reasonable rationale

If we have 8 or so top Texas contenders, I’d be ecstatic!!

I absolutely want this, purely for EVERYONE to be on “Legendary” difficulty setting😂

All they needed was two weeks of no competitions and more focused cleaning. Same with Prosper, congrats to all the bands that made finals, and congrats to Carmel for the win!

SLC missed finals at BOA DFW and people immediately dropped them down a few pegs as opposed to simply waiting and seeing how they could develop as the season progressed, same with Hendrickson at BOA Austin(although they didn’t miss finals there). Every Texas band that attended grand nats took the “it’s a marathon, not a sprint” philosophy to heart here this season and it paid off for all of them, I’m sure M&G weren’t too far out from finals either, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens.

I don’t really believe this to be the case all too much, usually if you’re able to hold your own against the giants, I believe, the judges give you credit and don’t bury you in the scores Many were predicting M&G to be a top 8 or so finalist. I would say that would be holding their own in the scores, I don’t believe they dropped to much as a result of being alongside those two groups, it could’ve boosted them as much as harmed them imo. Although my personal thoughts of M&G going into finals from what I was able to see previously were more of a “meh it’s alright” kind of feeling so it wouldn’t have been unexpected in my mind to think they could miss out

I think that’s their floor

It’s also important to remember that some groups weren’t always in the highest classification(be it 4A, 5A, or 6A currently) up until very recently. Bands like Waxahachie like you mentioned already having a long history of success at UIL, just in the 2nd highest classification. Bands like Vista, Vandy, Cedar Ridge have competed in the highest classification for not too long now and they are all either state champions or medalists now in 6A. You could insert a Rouse, Leander, Cedar Park, Wakeland and several others competing now in 5A into 6A competition and they could all contend for a finals spot at state with all the 6A groups, it’s only “a lot of turnover” simply due to the large volume of groups, and not really because bands are inconsistent or have “fallen off” as some doomers like to say sometimes😂 So many are performing at a high level, and that number hasn’t ever shrunk but has only continued to grow, which we should all see as a great thing for marching band here in the state, as well as how these schools set their students up for success in the second part of the fall and concert season in the spring, it’s very exciting!

Agreed, it’s interesting though that the cut above for the top 5 is a 9.5+/10 and then the next several bands are still at a 9.0-9.3/10 still. You can still eek out how the bands seperate themselves though regardless haha

Agreed, we’ll see what LISD north pulls out of their hats next year though. I most certainly will be there to watch as a DFW local here haha