takigan

I was even going to say I could see them in tears....but that's not immediately obvious from the videos that are up either. It's been a number of years since I saw this show, I'm wondering if maybe there was a better quality video up at some point that eventually got taken down.

The internet is a powerful thing. A lot of people witnessed the unusually positive experience that Avon had coming down to Texas including directors from other schools, despite Avon probably not getting the placement they would've liked. I could see other directors wanting that for their own students and attempting a similar trip to SA. The only barrier being that making finals at San Antonio is soooo tough, and making finals really is important for that quality of experience the same way making Finals at GN is for the Texas bands that elect to go.

Check out the 2004 show (Ballet for Martha), the Simple Gifts finale is spellbinding, and probably the best performed rendition of Simple Gifts by a HS marching band. They may have placed 4th that year at Nats, but the show was polished enough to where they could've won with the right panel (a 1.2 point gap from 1st-4th). They won Outstanding Music that year as well as placing 1st in Vis GE, and it's clear why. But more than that, this is the most intense show I've ever seen as far as the level of buy-in from the kids is concerned...it just oozes passion and energy. Their dance team always had a sense of poise and stage presence back then that is similar to bands like Broken Arrow in the modern era....that rare feeling just from looking at their eyes that the kids really know what they're doing and why they're there.

This has been talked about before, but I love gushing about it so I'll go over it again -Good admin support. There are a lot of band programs out there that although come from very wealthy areas, still get $0 funding from the district. Leander ISD creates a solid economic foundation in staffing, facilities as well as annual outlay for upkeep and travel....a luxury in this day and age even in Texas. Boosters don't have to fund as much as in other districts.....though....the boosters still do some incredible work on top of that regardless. - Solid elementary music teaching from K-6 (not just "singing songs" but learning notes and rhythms, learning recorder/orff percussion and being exposed to orchestral music from an early age. Some districts don't even have elementary music, or it's not taught by a specialist.) - The best middle school bands in the U.S. (Seriously....Leander ISD middle schools have made Honor Band finals and been invited to Midwest more times than every other school district in the country) - Quality high school programs that strongly emphasize student leadership while also promoting friendly competition amongst themselves - The 5A/6A flip-flop. Leander schools do ubiquitously well in 5A State finals because they think and play like high-level 6A bands...because they're so often exposed to that level of competition with how their enrollment numbers fall.

That would probably have to be the Cedar Ridge mom at BOA Conroe--what was it, 2013? It's one thing to be "that parent" who makes sure every last person within earshot knows which baby it was on that field that came out of her body, and to continuously drive that point home during every "crowd response" moment during the show....But the parent that goes the extra mile is the one that starts asking the names of other parents' kids from other schools so she can go ape**** for them as well .

On that matter, I should take this opportunity to welcome you to txbands.com .

So are we talking epic like "Macho/brassissimo/Metal AF" power chords? Or just sections of shows that were really really AWESOME? Going with the latter...but it includes the former-- Musically: 1. LD Bell '10 [Honor: We Will Remember] - 'New World' Clarinet solo in closer. 2. Leander '15 [Choral Works] - Entire Opener 3. Reagan '02 [The Journey Within] - The "drop" Honorable Mentions: LD Bell '00 [King of Kings] - Suicide closer. Reagan '03 [beyond Perimeters] - Every moment of this show. Richland '05 [inside Out] - Sleep ballad. LD Bell '06 [The Remaining] - First big impact during the opener. Duncanville '08 [The Journey]- Big arrival moment in the Barber. Been done plenty of times. Avon even did it in '09, but Duncanville did it better. Marcus '09 [A Midsummer Night's Dream] - English Horn solo. The Woodlands '09 [Amen] - Drum Circle breakdown in Strange Humors (Taa, Taa, Taa...Ta-ki-ta-ki-ta-ki-taa). The Woodlands '11 [uninvited] - The sections where Uninvited plays in tandem with Beethoven 7. Broken Arrow '12 [surrender to Hope] - Opening hit. Probably the only real memorable part of this show :/. CTJ '14 [Chameleon] - Fly to Paradise opening hit. Reagan '15 [Every(One)] - Vocal solo in the ballad Hebron '15 - Pre-show oboe solo, jazz ballad Sax solo. Visually: 1. LD Bell '10 [Honor: We Will Remember] - GN tag ending with the flag and field drum. 2. LD Bell '06 [The Remaining] - The "Sea of Death" in the epilogue in their Nats ending (where the full field silk kills off the Remaining, and the lone guard girl emerges from the silk and is dancing around on the silk as the show closes). 3. Tarpon Springs '10 [Paranormal] - RISE! Honorable Mentions: LD Bell '00 [King of Kings] - Suicide closer (it looked as cool as it sounded) Reagan '02 [The Journey Within] - Plumes. Yeah. LD Bell '07 [TranSENDents] - Frozen in Time. Where the whole band is frozen in place and Ophelia moves around between them. I need to watch Pan's Labyrinth (still haven't seen it) Brazoswood '07 [Rain] - Visual utilization of the props to form "rain" or "lightning bolts" using the band drill. LD Bell '08 [The Quest] - Reverse Double-Time Snaking Follow-the-Leader Company Front Blind Pass-Through Closer Drill.

The person who started this thread was 14 when they posted it. They're now 26. And people are still posting in it. In reality it died a long time ago. We just keep bringing it back from the dead.

Literally my exact same thoughts. I have Cedar Park in 15th-- just outside of finals as well. When I realized that I remember thinking "Wait...that can't be right, they got 5th at Grand Nats last year, were 5A state champions the year before that and made Top 5 at Austin earlier this season...where did I mess up?". Except that I didn't mess up...that's just where they have to be with all the other strong bands that are showing up. It's crazy...

A band that always makes finals will not be making finals at this contest. They will have made finals at every contest before for the past several years (including Nats), and will make it at any and every contest after for this season....but not this contest. They will have the performance of their lives....everything will work and lock in. They will walk off that field feeling like they absolutely sold it! (and they did) ...yet they still won't make the cut. It's crazy. Year after year this contest keeps increasing in notoriety....Texas keeps building all these new high schools that field these ginormous bands and they all want to test their mettle at the Roman Coliseum of marching band. But there's still a 60(ish)-band limit...So the quality keeps increasing and the competition level keeps increasing....The bands keep pushing each other. The top 12 bands from this contest will be a higher quality group of bands this year than the top 12 bands in the state finals at UIL 6A last year. Which you would think would be impossible....but it's more or less the same 12 faces, plus you've got the best 5As from Leander ISD knocking a couple of those 6A heads out of the mix....and then there's Avon increasing the quality even further. That band that ends up 15th...and they'll be a big name (GN Finalist material)....will feel like the judges had it out for them. I hope their directors will say the right things to cushion that blow....or those kids will see this or listen to the podcast. To help them realize that there are just way too many finalist-tier groups and not enough spots for everybody at this particular competition.

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/rec.arts.marching.band.high-school Happy digging. Goes back to November '94. Some results are on there, some aren't. I couldn't tell you which years to be honest, but most of them dating back to that year are on there. Use the filter button to narrow the range of dates. There are other interesting things on there as well. I've seen posts by guys who are working as prominent head directors now in their late 30s/early 40s that they made when they were still in HS.

There are plenty of shows out there that are "better" than this one (as in better performed), but this is my favorite show to watch....ever. I think some might find it campy, but whatever....it's brilliant writing and tons of fun. I feel like it truly tells the story of a band rising to the national stage. Sort of like: "this is the story of our journey here....please watch and listen, and be inspired..." I've watched the breakdown from 6:40-7:20 probably a hundred times by now and I still haven't gotten tired of it.

If this were true, Houston ISD bands would slowly improve year after year. You build programs by creating attainable victories that are just enough out of reach that they have to reach out....Not throwing a chihuahua into a pen of Rottweilers and magically expecting it to rise to the occasion.

The highest I see them is #25, in which they would knock Ridge down to 26, but considering Ridge already has a sizable reputation, they'll probably be a little lower. I think it's more likely we see them on the "Next 10" lineup along with Park Vista, who Haltom and Ridge ranked right above at ATL.

Excerpt starts about a minute in.

I saw this show live at area (well....we couldn't see it very well from where we were waiting outside the stadium, but we could definitely hear it). I remember sort of spacing out and then I hear this rapper come out of nowhere "Awww Westfield! Conroe UIL!....2K2!". That was around the time the top bands were starting to try and outdo each other in concept year after year, and the concept of having "rapping" in your show was "edgy" and very controversial. Westfield was one of the flagship bands leading that charge. I think by 2002 I'd say only a half dozen of the bands in a 30 band area contest had sound systems in their front ensemble. We didn't have one when I was at G-town in 2000-04 (I don't think G-town had one until 2007). Nowadays pretty much every band has one. I remember trying real hard to find a video of San Antonio BOA for the longest time. When I finally did find a video (in like.....2012?), I remember sitting down for a solid hour replaying the rap section over and over trying to figure out the lyrics. There were a few lines I still couldn't make out when all was said and done, but I still put what I had in my signature for this site for an entire season. Anyone know the show arranger and drill designer?

2015 Atlanta thread - 9 replies, 1,576 views 2016 Atlanta thread - 2 replies, 947 views This year's thread: 296 replies, 12,755 views. I can't help but wonder how a non-Texas contest with only 3 TX bands going managed to garner such huge interest. It's even got more views and replies than the Grand Nats thread this year.

Tomball - Advanced to state last go-round. Has made finals each year since they dropped to 5A. Tomball Memorial - Likewise. Placed 17th at 5A State in 2013. Waller - Placed ahead of Seven Lakes at Katy, Placed ahead of Cinco Ranch at BOA Conroe. Been to 5A State in the past with their previous zoning. Brenham - Regular advancer to state during their previous zoning. Will likely achieve the same here. Bryan - If they can make finals in 5A Area D (like they did in 2015) with all those strong CenTex 5As, they can do the same in this area. Barbers Hill - Made it to 5A State in 2015. Got unanimous 1st place scores from all 5 judges at Area Finals as well. Crosby - Made it to 5A State in 2015 Huntsville - One of the state's strongest military-style bands. Came very close to being the 3rd State advancer for 5A State in 2011 behind Friendswood and Dawson, and made Area Finals in both 2013 and 2015. Lumberton - Were one away from State in both 2013 and 2015. They'll be out for blood to make sure it doesn't happen a third time. Elkins - Would've tied Waller at 5A Area E last go-round if "bad judge" rule had been in effect.

Frito Pie rage intensifies

Well that much would justify Prosper being ahead of Coppell and Wakeland but how do you justify them being ahead of Keller?

Caps up. Westwood 4th in prelims over OWASSO! Man....sounds like they've really stepped up the past few weeks. EDIT: Also 2nd in MPI in Prelims behind Broken Arrow, 2nd in MPE in Finals behind Broken Arrow.

1. If it was completely relative, there wouldn't be any reason to have the high scores be in the 70s during the early season and 90s during the later season. So I do think the scores have concrete values that only loosely gain or drop weight/value depending on where the contest is. I don't think they're based on "perfection" the same way DCI scores are either....but yes, I do think they're somewhat relative (larger contests are going to have a wider spread purely based on the size of the contest). 2. There is a panel switch for every regional....For GN they use entirely different people/panels for each round....for Regionals the same judges switch roles between prelims/finals. For Supers....I can't remember what they do for Supers. One of the resident uber-nerds who still pays attention would have to clarify that one, I don't feel like looking it up, lol.

You can still create a very modern looking and sounding product without having tons of props, staging and theatrics. Part of the reason Vandegrift gets a pass despite looking "old-fashioned" is because their drill has a sense of difficulty, complexity and artistry to it that other bands don't and is performed with a strong sense of confidence and poise.

Some of the band directors in Brownsville make in that range as well. You also see that in some 1-school 4A and 5A towns that have the head band director on the admin pay scale instead of the teacher pay scale. Get in on a district with a high base ($55K+) and a high ladder ($1,000 per year for 20+ years), rack up said 20+ years ($70K+), then stack that on top of a 235 day 12 month contract (instead of the standard 187/ 9-month) plus a competitive $10-20K stipend on top of that PLUS a Masters/Doctorate stipend, it'll start crossing over into the 6 figures.

Tears don't hurt as much as you might think. The symptoms behind what causes those tears will affect your score FAR more than the tears themselves; lack of full ensemble unity in listening back and too soft of an internal pulse (or lacking one entirely)....often further exacerbated by poor staging from the designers. Judge flukes certainly do happen....there are also judges out there who really have no clue what they're doing and only got into their position by knowing the right people and winning contests with a band someone else built for them. This is more common in smaller contests. But....for the most part, peoples' hate towards the judges are mostly unfounded (X band won because they had this prop or that much money). The narrative often resembles this, but the logic deep down is more often "We worked this hard, put in this many hours, spent this much money and we still weren't successful....something must've occurred underneath the table to thwart us, otherwise we should've achieved success." I wish people would be more willing to give their rivals their due credit (as you have been willing to do). Hard work is measured in the quality of hours, not quantity.