meursault

Such a shame the Age of Discovery show didn't go to Grand Nats. I honestly think that would've won, easily. Probably one of the greatest modern marching shows ever put to field. Such an insanely athletic, gorgeous, and challenging show. I could go on and on.......... what were we talking about?

the last time a significant amount of Texas bands attended gnats was 2017. they all rose in placing from SA to Gnats: Avon: 4th SA, 3rd GN Marcus: 6th SA, 4th GN Woodlands: 11th SA, 7th GN Round Rock: didn't make finals in SA, 12th in GN just saying.

try since 2006 - Marcus had an 8 year winning streak! Then FloMo, then Vista.

That's true, but at the end of the day, BOA and Music For All are about music education first and competition second. Going to Grand Nats is a HUGE draw for a lot of smaller programs and attending such a huge, prestigious event can be amazing for the growth of any organization. I don't necessarily disagree with you, that maybe having a more UIL entry system to Grand Nats could help, but eh. I don't mind it having smaller programs attend because of the gain they get from it. I personally think that Grand Nats should rotate around a couple stadiums that could handle it - primarily the Super Regional stadiums. Lucas Oil and Alamodome could handle it for sure - not sure about the other venues. Obviously MFA will prioritize Indy because of where they're located, and because of the DCI influence, but I honestly don't see many downsides (the organizational side non-withstanding). Edit: I hopped on to the conversation a little late and I think someone mentioned the rotation already - love that others agree

Of all bands, the Woodlands has nothing to worry about. I can’t really imagine a scenario where they don’t advance. Coppell, Westlake, Cedar Ridge, and Bowie will be hurt by their draw time in the first block. They’re all bands on the bubble for finals, and will now be pushed even further into the bubble compared to bands like TWCP, Pearland, Prosper, Hendrickson, etc etc.

This year’s a different beast than years before, though. And that super early performance time doesn’t help anyone.

I marched 4 years at a successful 6A program and study music at an ivy league university. Most people on this forum have marched, or are marching. My background, and your background, by nature, doesn't make my argument any better or worse than yours (that is, in fact, a well-known logical fallacy: the argument of authority). The points you presented, combined with the tone of your argument, are what I'm refuting. And you have been snarky, and downright rude, to members of other bands without providing any sound information to back it up. I highly doubt the staff at Bowie and CP are telling their kids, or the parents, "the only reason we didn't advance to finals is because of the new judging system." That's not how highly successful programs operate. They'll be back and better than ever next year. Never mind, indeed.

I'm gonna go ahead and say Vista deserves most improved, because.... wow. Coppell is my vote for best percussion out of any band I've seen this season. That tenor feature is so tasty, and the pit absolutely kills it as well.

@BandWatcher: I think you missed the point as well. CP was in panel 1. Bowie was ONE SPOT out of finals, by a small margin. Both bands should be proud of their achievements over the year. To not only imply, but blatantly say, that Bell and Westlake somehow didn’t deserve to be in finals in favor of the other two bands, is absurd. Your point about questioning the judging methods without impugning the quality of the students is 100% valid, but your tone, objections, patronizing tone, and general lack of respect completely invalidates your point. Please be more aware of the general tone your posts have been giving off. EDIT: I just went back and reread your original post and I thought it might be worthwhile to break down why some of your other points are problematic. >Nothing against LD Bell and Westlake, but they were in finals because of lucking into panel 1. Finals scores back that up. Again, CP was also in Panel 1. Bell went from 14 in prelims to 14 in finals. Westlake went from 11-13. Neither of those are suspect at all. >Either BOA needs to get their judging panels to be more consistent (not sure how you do that since they’re people and prone to subjective differences) Seems like you answered your own question there. >you cap the contest at 60 bands and go back to one panel over two days. Sorry, who does this help? The opportunity for so many bands to attend such an elite super regional is an absolute privilege. Marching band and MFA are about one thing - music education. Competition is secondary. To impose a cap now would be ridiculous. >What’s been communicated today is that luck is every bit as important as show design and skill. I mean, yes, that's correct. Show time is a huge factor in how well bands do - it makes and breaks bands every year, and that's that. There's no way around it, we participate in a subjective competition of the pageantry arts. It's an unfortunate reality. >Cedar Park not getting to perform at Waco might have factored but Bowie’s trajectory all season has been higher than Bell, Westlake, even Cedar Ridge and Hendrickson. Not sure what your point here is. I didn't get to watch SA, but perhaps the judges saw things differently than you did? Perhaps the other bands simply had better performances? Bowie is a phenomenal band and has faced extreme adversity with a brutal staff change in 2016. They've bounced back. They'll bounce again. >Both CP’s and Bowie’s prelims runs were plenty good enough. I'm sure they were! They're phenomenal bands. But that's your opinion. The reality is, the judges saw something different in Bell and Westlake, also phenomenal bands. One performance, one contest, will not ruin a band. Keep in mind Bowie has another huge competition they're gearing up for, which I'm sure they're going into with an added intensity.

The director explained the whole show on a different thread under “music marching and more”

WOW! What a beautiful sound. Seriously, that's awesome.

Don't forget Hebron in 22 and Marcus in 29, lol

Yeah, every year the visual side of top programs gets harder and harder. Especially with the amount of rehearsal all the kids put in, it can cause a lot of stress injuries. It's become a lot bigger problem in DCI especially, and most programs have dedicated trainers to helping out. Coppell especially has a TOUGH visual program with all the ramps and slides and what not and it does not surprise me that they're having injuries. My heart goes out to those kids and I'm hoping for a speedy recovery! On that note - if you're a student from any program, TAKE CARE of yourself this week! Extra stretching, rest, whatever it takes - I'm sure your band director has already addressed it, but seriously. It happens every year, a kid gets injured the week before state, and it's awful. Take. Care. Of. Your. Body!

The same can be basically be said about every other band though. I’m confident about Keller and Hachie (newly learned that slang!) making finals, and mayyyyybe Coppell can slide in there, but they’re going to have a lot of competition from Cedar Ridge, Hendrickson, and some other bubble bands.

They broke the streak in 2014 when they didn't make state I believe. Hopefully they can rebuild their streak of being as fantastic in UIL as they have consistently been in BOA.

agreed. I'm excited to see them bounce back from Area.

Coppell has always been a band that peaks very late in the season, and usually starts slow. I don’t expect them to make finals, but I would not be shocked to see them in the 15-20 range.

money helps, but it’s not the deciding factor between a good and a bad program. The wealthiest area in Dallas is arguably Highland Park. NOT Lewisville. To imply that money is what separates great programs from good ones is absurd and damaging to the activity as a whole. I understand you and your children are upset, but come on. You’re really gonna come on this forum and say FloMo is only better because they have more money?

It doesn’t.

Finals Schedule: 7:30 - Timber Creek 7:45 - Waxahachie 8:00 - Mansfield 8:15 - Keller 8:30 - Haltom 8:45 - Prosper 9:00 - Summit 9:15 - LD Bell 9:30 - Duncanville 9:45 - Coppell

You're definitely right - perhaps I misworded what I meant. Not that you shouldn't be allowed on the forums, or you shouldn't ever read, but just to take everything said (or not said!) about your program with a grain of salt! At the end of the day, your show will be as good as you and your band can work to make it.

Love this. If you're a a current band kid of any program, it's my firm belief that you should NOT be on these forums. Good luck Round Rock!!!!

It seems you missed a lot of what happened earlier in this thread as well. The majority of the first 5 or so pages of the thread were taken over by a lot of Haltom hype from a couple accounts. I think people are just a little bit tired of constantly hearing about Haltom, as it really started to drown out the discussion before I, and many others, asked people to calm down a bit. There's nothing wrong with being excited about a band you support, but to constantly hype them as the best in the area, and then become very defensive when people question you is a bit immature in my opinion. And for the record, I have never seen a band on this forum receive close to the amount of hype as Haltom has this year. Again, I mean no disrespect at all, just trying to add my two cents.

yes