Mash

On a more positive note, wasn't great to spend the whole day - Election Day, no less - enjoying the performances with no politics and no one in your face telling you how to vote?   

I’m a little late to the party, but let me add just one more...WOW! Vista. Freaking. Ridge. I’ve been saving that ‘wow’ because I’ve been pondering a lot of thoughts that I’ve held on to throughout the season that I felt like trying to put into coherent thoughts, namely revolving around-
 
1. How does a band that had spent most of its 15 years as a fringe finalist at most big competitions, had never finished in the top 20 of a 6A/5A UIL State completion, and had only (barely) made one BOA SA finals appearance (in a year in which I think they missed Austin finals mind you), put together a season as iconic as what we just witnessed?
2. Will this be a flash in the pan kind of season with a one of a kind show where we see VR take a step down next season, or is this a whole new Vista powerhouse that is here to stay?
 
Now the second question we obviously won’t know much about for a year (but I have a hunch), and it’s probably too early to think about it before celebrating that victory more. But the 1st one I’ve thought about a lot.
 
I’ve often compared this show (in my head) to Phantom ‘08. It’s a show that may not be the hardest, and may not be he cleanest, but it’s so darn moving and so well assembled that it was unbelievably easy to forgive a hiccup or 2, and you’re so busy being sucked into the show, that difficulty is the last thing on your mind. Phantom rode that wave of fan support to a championship, and Vista just did the exact same thing (look at their weekend - 7th-4th-2nd-1st). I like to compare it to what makes a good movie. For the best cinema in the world, you end up forgetting you’re watching a movie while watching it, only to be snapped out of the trance once the credits role. That’s how this show felt. For 8 minutes, the rest of the world didn’t matter. All that mattered, was the “Vista. Ridge. Ranger. Band.”
 
And the hype started slowly. As is typical, LISD south had their early season videos out before anyone else. I said something along the lines of Leander and Vandegrift looking unstoppable (and I believe I correctly predicted a Vandy medal), and may have tagged on that Vista looked “pretty good” too. It looked to be shaping up to be another year where the heavy hitters would keep hitting, and Vista would be looking to get over a hump and into finals. And then the show started to come together. Props started to appear. Uniforms made their debut, and Vista actually kept a bit more quiet than typical (posted less early season videos) up until BOA Austin. And then the secret was unveiled...
 
The Lost Chorale, that finally broke the typical “solo-buildup-turn and blow” that had become a staple of Vista openers to date, and instead grabbed your attention in a very nuanced way. The main opener, that said “we’re about to take you on an emotional journey, but we’re gonna show off some ridiculous technique while doing so.” And then that ballad. When I heard this ballad the first time, that’s when I knew this wasn’t your average Vista Ridge band. This was something else entirely. I honestly can’t name many memorable VR ballads over the years, but this one will stick in my head for a long time. The movement throughout is so subtle, but so intentional. The backfield chords are so haunting, and this is the part I probably regret the most that I live so far away and could never experience live. The sax/flugelhorn hand-off was NAILS every. single. time. And then the groove movement, which in my mind was Vista saying - we’ve arrived. Deal with it. The attitude in this part is just beaming, even through streams.
 
All of that was enough to get them up with the big dogs at BOA Austin, finally breaking into the top half. But it’s the closer that ties all the magic together. In other iterations of amazing grace on the field, there tends to be a lot of flowing mello runs, or nifty glissandos, but the version Vista does is just pure in your face brass. I think what makes this even more powerful is that there isn’t a lot of big long sustained notes throughout the show, so this moment feels like a true destination that everything has been building to(maybe like they were found...or something). And I don’t think any ending would’ve completed this show more than the push to the company front.
 
But obviously we’ve all gushed about this show plenty this year, so what I also want to delve into (if you’ve made it this far), is what other bands will take away from this show. And what’s crazy is, This show wasn’t able to do what it did because it was super progressive, or pushed the boundaries of marching band. We’re not talking Bluecoats 2016 here. What this show I believe will teach other bands, is the power of a design team where every single designed element and moment in the show is intentional and integrated. Every drill move is tied to the music, every visual is designed for maximum impact. What I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall in these design meetings, because this team put it ALL together. 
 
Vista obviously hinged a lot of their success this year on their visual package. They won the visual caption at BOA Austin, did pretty well in that category at boa SA, and swept the visual judges in area and state finals. Hinshaw's been doing Vista’s drill for a few years now, but I’ve personally felt like they’ve gotten a little bit of his b-side drill compared to what he has done with Avon in the past. This year was a whole other story. This was classic Hinshaw, where every set is intentional and had purpose. It’s also drill that looks good, without being too exposed to tiny mistakes. Combine that with a new director from Grain Valley, and maybe the lesson here is - people from outside Texas get marching more than we do? It’s well known that Texas bands generally struggle at the top level in winning visual captions in national events. Maybe we just need a bit more of an influence from them? I'm mostly joking, but seriously, the off season hire obviously played major dividends, show design aside. This band moved with more precision and more confidence than it ever had come close to in the past. Having a growing color guard that is finally becoming a force doesn’t hurt either. The move back to a color guard from a dance team was risky one that led to a couple rough years, but it’s definitely paying off now.
 
I actually don't think Vista changed too much from their usual musical formula (other than the surprisingly mature ballad and gentle opening). They've always done a good job of integrating music that is recognizable and often seen on the field, with unique music that I don't think anyone has ever put on the field. Ryan George has often done an amazing job at this (And on a side note I'm just now realizing he did the Boston Crusaders show that is often compared thematically to this one and who ALSO had a big season...what a year for him). The biggest difference, as some have pointed out as criticism, is the large number of solos in this show. I agree, they probably had more solos than most...but it's the layering of these solos into the ebb and flow of this show that was done to perfection. The trade-off of the trombone solo. The way the soprano solo soars over the band in the ballad. The way that these solos are featured visually, not just with the props, but with the way the band/guard directs focus to them. And the fact that these soloists were SO FREAKING GOOD. Sure, solos mean the whole band isn't playing as often as others, but these solos fit so well into the show that it's really hard to criticize them. 
 
But what this mostly tells other bands of course is that it just takes a collaborative design effort to create an integrated theme and a dedication and commitment to performing the heck out of that theme to make this kind of leap. What makes this jump so unprecedented, is that when you see these sudden rises to contention, it’s usually bands that are new and, after good years during the time that the school is filling out, they finally get a full band and emerge as much anticipated contenders. Vista ridge has been around for 15 years. This isn’t a band that grew up into contention. It’s a band that made a few adjustments to staff and how they approach a show design and finally emerged from the thick of “good bands” in Texas to one of the greats. There’s a whole slew of bands that finished in the 15-30 range that can certainly be truly inspired by this, in thinking it isn’t impossible for next year to be special, just like Vista’s was. I think this was the parody TX bands has lacked the past few years. It’s been generally the same finalists and the same medalists for the past 5+ years, and it’s been even worse at UIL. Texas marching band is more fun when there are surprises and the season is full of the unexpected. There are plenty of diamonds in the rough that sometimes just takes a little push in the right direction to be found. Expect more of that next year.
 
That went on a lot longer than I initially set out for...The fact that I had all that to say about a marching band show is probably more of a testament to how good this show was than anything i said about it...what a season! Let’s hope this motivates them to finally make the leap to grand nationals. It’s time to introduce themselves to Indianapolis! This will be a show that I will always regret never seeing live. But I thank everyone here for painting the picture for me so vividly. As I mentioned before, this has been an unbelievably active season for this board, and I love it! 

Dan - Thank you so much from this member of the Vista Ridge family. Very kind words there and I'm so happy the show had such an impact for you.
 
I can confirm that the band will be performing the show at halftime of our game tomorrow against Round Rock at Gupton Stadium. This is only our 4th home game of the season and the complete show has not been performed for the home crowd yet.

I just got home from almost a week straight of marching band.  I hope everyone enjoyed the live blog, feel so fortunate to get to contribute to that!  There were so many fun moments over the past week, but these five stick out above for me.  
Rouse blew me away in BOA San Antonio prelims.  They’ve always been really solid but when they hit that first Rocky Point Holiday impact…….wow.  They sounded like a finalist and fit right in when they performed in exhibition after finals.  Incredible improvement this year, they’re gonna be formidable in 5A next year at the state marching contest.   Vista Ridge winning their first state championship, shooting up from 24th in 2016 to 1st in 2018.  Their performance was one of the most emotionally captivating high school shows I’ve ever had the pleasure of sitting through live.  This was so special to watch unfold in 2018.  And to make that even more special, Claudia Taylor Johnson and Leander absolutely bum rushed Vista Ridge when they were told to break ranks at retreat.  There was a band wearing brown uniforms, and then they were GONE.  Kudos to CTJ and Leander on the incredible and wholesome display of great sportsmanship.   Shiner high school finished their show in 2A.  And then they kept playing as they exited the field.  And exited the tunnel.  And kept going.  Some say they’re still playing to this day.  It was so fun and unexpected, it came after an electric finals run as well.   The colorguards in 4A HOLY CRAP.  Kennedale came on and had flags flying in perfect unison the whole show, and we're not talking little tosses either.  Paris also had some insane flag work as well.  But MELISSA.  That opening flag feature was one of the best things I saw from from a colorguard all week.  And their rifles.  Just wow.  I don't know what is in the water but those north Texas small school guards holy wow.   I went to Canyon High School, graduated in 2012.  After being out of 4A/old 3A so long I wasn’t sure how Canyon would do moving back down, 2007 was their last year before moving up to 5A/old 4A.  Was so so so happy when they were announced as a finalist for the first time in over a decade.  Glad to see that they’re still holding their own.  Proud alumni.   All in all it was an incredible week of (IMO) the best high school marching this country has to offer.  The sheer depth of amazing bands in this state is no less shocking this year than it was last year when I went to my first BOA San Antonio.  Thanks again to the Dans for giving me the opportunity to join them on the live blog, hope I was able to contribute as much as these opportunities have contributed to my professional growth as a hopeful future music educator.  Can’t wait to hopefully be back next year!  

On a positive note regarding UIL Judging, I now have a new favorite judging comment.
 
During Keller's Prelim run one of the Judges said, "I was enjoying your Color Guard so much that for a minute there I actually forgot I was judging this contest!"
 
That's high praise if you ask me. When my daughter told me the Directors had shared it with them she was practically glowing and said, "That's pretty cool for a contest where Color Guard doesn't even count." It made her day.

Here is the video, check out the very end: 
https://www.facebook.com/boxfivemedia/videos/509766196159176/?tn-str=k*F

When will this system change??????!!! Been band watching since 2002...

Just wanted to say congrats to all of the bands who performed. It has been a challenging season between early school start dates in August to rain. rain, and more rain. To put out shows of this caliber is purely amazing. Although in order to compete these days it appears I need to move from PISD to one of the LISD areas!

I remember those tapes, I seem to remember them saying good things about a certain soloist as well :-)  
 
I would love to hear the tapes, I bet they are interesting.
 
The difference between FloMo and VR was very close.  It could have easily gone the other way between the two schools.  Timing in finals could have made a difference, it also  could be other small factors.   The differences between the performances were just that close.   Both schools should be extremely proud of their program.

There are two quotes from Randy Pausch's "the Last Lecture" that I think applies here:
 
"The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people."
 
and...
 
"Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted. "
 
with 3 kids we have experienced all kind of situations on any kind of environments (the referee annulling a valid goal in state finals, a judge not noticing points scored in a tae kwon do sparring tournament or not making the dance team) they were powerful drawbacks that somehow defined their next steps...
 
I guess eventually a video analytics program will be able to analyze a marching band and score it in the most un-biased way... I'm not sure if we would want that. Music is like food or other artistic activities... are subjective in nature. It sucks when the subjectivity affect us but this is the life of the artists... and all the kids marching this weekend, putting countless hours on practice... they are all artists. They'll be hurt, learn and come back stronger.

Dragon dad, that seems very thorough and makes sense.  It sounded like Danpod had some connections that could help in the UIL committee.  My gut tells me the committee will just say "This has always worked, why should we change"  but I hope that they will look into how to continually improve the judging. 
 
I am not sure if there are any other ways to make this know in a calm and rational discussion like yours seems to be.   We obviously want to keep the human part of judging in so there has to be a fine line about what can change.  Hopefully they will be able to take your suggestions and from others to tweak the system for the betterment of all the kids in the future.
 
On a side note: Congrats to a great season this year.  The band should hold their head up high no matter what a single judge says.  I know a few kiddos in the Dragon band and I know they are upset and confused about the situation.  

Since we were the 12th place band in prelims, I've been reluctant to comment. I also have my biases, and I will clearly state that in my opinion Round Rock should not have been in finals over us this year. We were fully expecting that going first with such a deep field in 6A (and I recognize that Cedar Park won 5A last year going first, but 5A lacks the depth of 6A) would be almost problematic. So what's the answer? Take 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th and have a march off on an even playing field? Top 2 advance? That gets rid of the timeslot issue (and it is an issue - going first will always push a score down in a strongly competitive contest), and allows direct comparison to get the right bands in finals. Congratulations to Round Rock for a very strong push at the end of the season. I've been a fan since I started paying attention to marching band again in 2015. It was especially great to see your program make finals at GN last year - the excitement from your kids was a sight to see. I was excited that our kids put a strong enough performance out there from the 1st slot to stick in the top 12 throughout prelims, and back that up by jumping to 9th in finals (interesting that we were 12th after both prelims this weekend, and jumped to 8th at BOA and 9th at UIL after finals). Everyone did a great job, and it was a pleasure watching the programs put out their best efforts.

The vista ridge band disappearing is awesome! Reminds me of 5A last year when Rouse kids ran across the field to find Cedar Park.

These kids really know how to march AND play!

I love that! How awesome that they have supported each other so fully this season. Timber Creek will bounce back from this unfortunate streak of barely missing state finals, and when they do, they will be a force!

We made it home a couple hours ago. Now it's after one o'clock in the morning and we're with a large group of parents waiting for the kids buses to arrive.
 
Of course it's raining. A perfect ending for this crazy season. Could anything make it better?
 
Yep, Timber Creek Band kids and parents are here too!

Spirit of Waxahachie Indian Band.
2005 - #11 at 4A State Marching Contest Prelims
2007 - Didn’t make 4A Area Finals.
2007 - #14 at TMEA Honor Band Finals
2009 - #8 at 4A State Marching Contest Finals
2009 - #3 at TMEA Honor Band Finals
2011 - #6 at 4A State Marching Contest Finals
2011 - TMEA Honor Band
2013 - #8 at 4A State Marching Contest Finals
2015 - #7 at 5A State Marching Contest Finals
2017 - Bronze Medalist at 5A State Marching Contest Finals
2017 - TMEA Honor Band
2018 - #12 at 6A State Marching Contest Finals
 
Congratulations to all the finalist and especially VR. We are so proud of our kids and our programs progress, but it was humbling to be in n the big dance. Hopefully we can do better in two years.

This is what it is all about!   Wow, what a memory.

Maybe it’s a little late, but WOW. Every single one of those finalist bands was amazing! Congratulations to every participant in the SMBC and congratulations to Vista Ridge on their win! I will never forget the smile on the trombone soloist’s face after he played in finals. It perfectly captured just how much joy this activity brings to us all!
One final note: to every band that made finals, very well deserved. You proved that you are the best of the best! But to those who didn’t make finals: scores are not everything. Participating in a competition as competitive as this one is an accomplishment all in itself- every band that made it this far should be very proud!
Thank you all and congratulations once again. What an ending!

Here is the video, check out the very end: 
https://www.facebook.com/boxfivemedia/videos/509766196159176/?tn-str=k*F

We are just starting to come down to Earth in our household,  I think the band buses may just float home on I-35 :-)  We knew they were good, they always seemed to get snakebit at sometime by another band so we couldn't believe it when they actually called out Vista.  I remember the love they got from the Leander band when they got 4th in state 3 years ago, just so nice to have that closeness between the bands.  They push each other but love each other too.
 
As far as what changed?  Well... a lot...  and not that much.  They have a solid middle school program that feeds them and they work really hard just like everyone else, our band supporters are enthusiastic, no matter what the results are.  We have have 3 years with three band directors, it looks like we have found a good fit.  Our color guard is three years old and they continue to get better.  I wouldn't say we are special, we are very proud of them and their hard work.  We are big supporters of all the other bands and hope for the best shows from everyone.

I love this. Literally I love band kids!

Omg that's hilarious! It's pretty normal for the winning band to freak out when they break ranks, but I've never seen the other bands swarm the winners like that! Even the Woodlands were getting in there! In that moment you can tell all those kids forgot they were in different bands and spent the whole season trying to beat each other. I think Vista Ridge would have been swarmed by all the bands if they were in the middle! This is one of the best marching band moments of all time and truly epitomizes everything great about this activity. Congratulations to everyone!

Oh my goodness! You were not kidding that they just swarmed them immediately! That was awesome!

We are just starting to come down to Earth in our household,  I think the band buses may just float home on I-35 :-)  We knew they were good, they always seemed to get snakebit at sometime by another band so we couldn't believe it when they actually called out Vista.  I remember the love they got from the Leander band when they got 4th in state 3 years ago, just so nice to have that closeness between the bands.  They push each other but love each other too.
 
As far as what changed?  Well... a lot...  and not that much.  They have a solid middle school program that feeds them and they work really hard just like everyone else, our band supporters are enthusiastic, no matter what the results are.  We have have 3 years with three band directors, it looks like we have found a good fit.  Our color guard is three years old and they continue to get better.  I wouldn't say we are special, we are very proud of them and their hard work.  We are big supporters of all the other bands and hope for the best shows from everyone.