BandFan59

It'll be interesting to watch how Vandegrift performs now with Lipman in as the new head director. He's about as good of a choice as anyone could hope for to step into a program with the pedigree of Vandegrift, so I've no doubt they're going to continue to stay on top.

Absolutely agree. When I used the phrase "old school" I mainly refer to those directors that have a tendency to get verbally aggressive, threatening, and downright nasty towards their students without any of the positive reinforcement, all for the sake of trying to create a successful band program. I know there are plenty of older band directors out there that have not resorted to this type of culture under their direction and I applaud them for helping to set the standards that high school marching band is at today. As someone who marched for a director that was very much similar to Cartwright in their teaching practices, I absolutely do not think that is necessary or acceptable to run a successful band program and I'm glad that nowadays we are seeing less and less of that mindset in the marching band world.

This appears to be true and would be a massive shift in the marching band world considering how essential Cartwright has been to Broken Arrow's rise over the past few decades. That said, if what I've heard about the culture and instruction at Broken Arrow under him are true then I'm not surprised that they've decided to move on from him, especially in this day and age where that "old-school" teaching mindset really isn't acceptable anymore.

None of those Texas bands will be at Grand Nationals next year. Hebron goes on a four year rotation while the Woodlands, Round Rock, and CTJ are on two year rotations. Marcus' next trip is in 2025, and it's highly unlikely that Keller and Dripping Springs will go two years in a row. Should be interesting to see which Texas bands attend as the contingent tends to be lighter on even numbered years.

I think they'll almost certainly make their first trip within the next two years at least. They've long been rumored to want to attend and their St. Louis trips were specifically meant to build up to a Grand Nationals trip. Their Midwest Clinic invitation pushed things back a bit but they'll be in Indianapolis sooner than later.

Hebron's placed third with the music caption at all three of their Grand Nationals appearances. Certainly impressive and a feat worth applauding! While I thoroughly enjoyed their show this year, I do feel that 2021 and 2022 were probably stronger productions, albeit not by much. Congratulations to all the bands!

Final Results: 1. Avon H.S., IN 97.475 2. Carmel H.S., IN 97.275 3. Hebron H.S., TX 95.700 4. Blue Springs H.S., MO 95.075 5. The Woodlands H.S., TX 95.025 6. William Mason H.S., OH 94.350 7. Pearland H.S., TX 91.800 8. Round Rock H.S., TX 90.625 9. Bentonville H.S., AR 90.450 10. Keller H.S., TX 90.200 11. Brownsburg H.S., IN 89.350 12. Fishers H.S., IN 88.900 Outstanding Music Performance: Hebron H.S., TX Outstanding Visual Performance: Avon H.S., IN Outstanding General Effect: Avon H.S., IN Al Castronovo Esprit de Corps Award: William Mason H.S., OH 2025 Tournament of Roses Parade Invitation: The Woodlands H.S., TX

Jarrett Lipman, their longtime head director, left the school after last year. Though schools like Vandegrift and the Woodlands have been able to weather head director changes very well, the first few years after a change are always difficult, especially for a school moving on from someone as influential as Lipman has been.

Massive congratulations to Vandegrift on their first BOA San Antonio championship and setting a new record score! Even with Mike Howard moving up to a district-wide position they haven't lost a step these past two years and I'm sure everyone is ready for them to return to Grand Nationals and see if they can potentially win a second national title.

Wow, very impressed by LD Bell breaking into the top half!

Congratulations to all the finalist bands! I haven't been keeping up as much this year as I would have liked but it's exciting to see two new finalists in Bridgeland and Cy-Fair! That said I feel for the students over at CTJ being the first ones out. It's certainly a punch to the guts for a program of their pedigree and history, even in a transitional year, but I've no doubt they'll come back strong at San Antonio and Grand Nationals.

If anyone in the DFW area is interested in seeing some of the top bands perform live before state, Coppell is hosting a Show of Shows at their stadium on Saturday, October 28th at 5:30 PM as a send off for state. Hebron, Coppell, Keller, and Flower Mound will all perform and admission is free, though they're also taking donations for homeless shelters. None of these four will be at BOA San Antonio, so if you're not able to attend the state marching contest this will be one of the only opportunities to see them live before the end of the season.

Prelims Results: Class A: 1. Whitesboro H.S., TX Outstanding Music Performance: Whitesboro H.S., TX Outstanding Visual Performance: Whitesboro H.S., TX Outstanding General Effect: Whitesboro H.S., TX Class AA: 1. Lovejoy H.S., TX 2. Grapevine H.S., TX 3. Walnut Grove H.S., TX Outstanding Music Performance: Lovejoy H.S., TX Outstanding Visual Performance: Grapevine H.S., TX Outstanding General Effect: Lovejoy H.S., TX Class AAA: 1. Wakeland H.S., TX 2. Rock Hill H.S., TX 3. Azle H.S., TX Outstanding Music Performance: Wakeland H.S., TX Outstanding Visual Performance: Wakeland H.S., TX Outstanding General Effect: Wakeland H.S., TX Class AAAA: 1. L.D. Bell H.S., TX 2. Prosper H.S., TX 3. Keller Central H.S., TX Outstanding Music Performance: (3-way tie!) Prosper H.S., TX, Timber Creek H.S., TX, & L.D. Bell H.S., TX Outstanding Visual Performance: L.D. Bell H.S., TX Outstanding General Effect: L.D. Bell H.S., TX Finalists: Keller Central H.S., TX Waxahachie H.S., TX Azle H.S., TX Rock Hill H.S., TX Forney H.S., TX L.D. Bell H.S., TX Keller H.S., TX Wakeland H.S., TX Prosper H.S., TX Southlake Carroll H.S., TX Timber Creek H.S., TX McKinney North H.S., TX

Have not been able to keep up with marching band very much this season, but wow seeing CTJ in sixth is a real shock. I'm sure they're still adjusting in the post-Lipman era but I very much hope to see them bounce back and finish this season strong, I have always been a big fan of that program.

Final Results: 1. Rouse H.S., TX 85.15 2. Vandegrift H.S., TX 85.00 3. Vista Ridge H.S., TX 83.50 4. Cedar Park H.S., TX 83.15 5. Cedar Ridge H.S., TX 82.00 6. Lake Travis H.S., TX 80.25 7. Round Rock H.S., TX 79.20 8. Westwood H.S., TX 78.50 9. Leander H.S., TX 78.10 10. Westlake H.S., TX 78.05 11. Dripping Springs H.S., TX 76.05 12. James Bowie H.S., TX 75.55 Outstanding Music Performance: Vista Ridge H.S., TX Outstanding Visual Performance: (tie) Vandegrift H.S., TX & Rouse H.S., TX Outstanding General Effect: Rouse H.S., TX

Five finalist spots from last year are open with Hebron, Flower Mound, Coppell, Keller, and Pearland skipping this event. The bubble to make finals ought to be exciting with the variety of potential first timers and established names that'll be competing to fill those spots.

Tarpon usually goes on even numbered years, so I'm guessing they won't be at Grand Nats this year.

It would be great to have Grand Nationals a little more centrally located so that other bands could afford to attend, but there isn't really a location in the country close to as good as Lucas Oil Stadium when it comes to marching band. They have the massive convention center connected to the stadium with tons of warmup space and indoor fields, plenty of hotels in the proximity of the stadium itself, and lots of practice fields at high schools close to the stadium. In addition, MFA is headquartered in Indianapolis, so I'm sure it makes it easier for them to have Grand Nationals located close to them.

As of right now I believe we have: The Woodlands Round Rock Claudia Taylor Johnson Hebron Pearland I think CTJ is going to be every other year now along with the Woodlands and Round Rock, and Hebron has confirmed internally for a while that they will be back in 2023. Pearland has confirmed a trip, and I think there are a few other bands that are rumored, some of whom would be first-timers.

Box5 has released a statement on their social media regarding a rebroadcast of Grand Nationals: "I wanted to let our friends know, that we at BOX5 are extremely devastated over the events that happened @ Grand Nationals yesterday. Having been on phone calls all day, we finally believe we have a solution, we hope will alleviate at least some of the sting of last night for our customers and band families out there. Pending approval, we plan to rebroadcast the Bands of America Finals broadcast @ 7pm eastern, central, mountain and pacific every day this coming week (Mon. Nov 14 - 18). We are waiting for final approvals from BOA and we are working feverishly to encode and upload the uninterrupted broadcast to our streaming platform. While this solution is not "ideal", it does have a silver lining. The incredible performers I saw in Lucas Oil last night will be able to watch their amazing accomplishment this season. And we can celebrate alongside them as much as possible. We will reach out to all finals customers via email with instructions on how to watch. This email will contain other important information. Be on the lookout for this email. I hope, from the bottom of my heart, you can find a way to forgive us and I guarantee we are already working on ways to improve our web infrastructure so this doesn't happen again for any of our performing members, friends, families and fans. Sincerely, Tim Snyder"

I had Avon down in my predictions to win, but I did have a feeling that Carmel would pull it out. I liked their show a lot better this year than I normally do with their shows, and they always seem to make that late season push nowadays. That said, if they had come to San Antonio, I think Hebron, the Woodlands, and Reagan would have all topped Carmel.

I like Carmel's show this year more than I usually like their shows, but a caption sweep and 1.35 point margin win seems excessive, even without having been able to see Avon, Broken Arrow, or Tarpon Springs.

#JusticeForWilliamMason

Box5's owner is giving a live apology on stream. Appreciated, but more transparency about what was going on would've been better. Everyone spent 45 minutes not knowing what was going on until they just started another stream out of nowhere.

I'm glad they got a stream working again before Mason. This show is just beautiful both musically and visually, and those woodwind soloists have to be some of the best I've heard. Really hope this is enough for them to win that Eagle, this was a stunning performance for me.