TWHSParent

Granting the Avon clip is a month old - where's the MGE? Pachelbel's Canon is not a MGE monster.... Beautiful music of course, and Avon will figure out something I think. Visuals alone won't be enough, as I think we have some TX groups that will be close enough in visuals. I'll dissent further - I think the Carmel show is very good, but it reminds me more of 9 Lives level of show (only level, not content of course) from 2015. They could be as low as 5th or 6th (or could pull out 4 in a row). Avon will probably be in the top 5. I think it is possible we'll have enough top level TX bands with outstanding shows (i.e. top half SA finalists) to put Avon's run of top 3 finishes at GN in jeopardy. Of course, there are still several weeks to go, and lots of cleaning and changes. Should be a fun season end. One band we haven't seen/heard much about that may be rebounding is William Mason. Are they making a full comeback? @LeanderMomma - gauntlet dropped!

Porter's prelim scores MPI 15.2 MPE 15.5 VPI 16.0 VPE 14.2 MGE1 14.6 MGE2 14.9 VGE 14.4 Perc 167 Aux 123 Total 74.35

I'll cheat a little: Oak Ridge Prelim scores MPI 16.9 MPE 16.1 VPI 17.1 VPE 16.3 MGE1 15.1 MGE2 16.8 VGE 16.7 Percussion 174 Aux 161 Total 81.8

They will be eventually. Not completely sure on the timing.

So when I saw it for the first time last week, the ending had the same effect - it seemed to be over a few times, but in reality it wasn't. I am guessing that is by design - the crowd reacts like they do for the end, and do it several times. Now that many of us have seen it multiple times, that won't be as unexpected. As a design choice, I think it is effective. Not going to comment on anything other than that element.

Every GN program has pros and cons. My perspective: Hebron and Vandegrift both have such strong music, but do lag in visual design. I worry if they have enough visuals to get over the top. CTJ has struggles getting their show clean enough, but the concepts and designs are great. Round Rock has had so many challenges in recent years - they are on the road to recovery, but it takes time. This GN trip should be educational and helpful for their rebuilding. Leander is actually pretty balanced. Good music, good visual, but they don't always have both going at once. TWHS has had design struggles in recent years, and have had difficulties with getting the concepts across with the judges. I think they've addressed that this year.

While I know there is rivalry, etc. I do want to give big props to Reagan for having this show so ready this early in the season. That is just a massive accomplishment, and I don't want to sound like that isn't appreciated - it very much is! Outstanding job to that program, and especially all the band members at Reagan!

Sure they can beat that. My opinion is that some of the GN shows have higher potential than Reagan's show, it just takes longer to get there. By SA, I will predict that there will be at least 4 shows that can directly challenge or beat Reagan's show, and that at least 2 of them will be going to GN. It's kinda fun to go out on a limb from time to time. There was a time when I would never put my thoughts out there in the world like that.

Since I was able to see the scores as they came in I couldn't post much about the bands today. Just want to say everyone did a great job. We had 3 sets of ties in prelims, including for 10th, and another tie in finals. It was a pretty tight contest with less than 10 points between 1st and 10th.

That was in response to SoartanMarcher. Phone isn't the best posting tool.

Auxiliary went to Klein Collins, not Klein Oak. But looks pretty good otherwise.

1 - 82.75 Oak Ridge 2 - 80.50 Brazoswood 3 - 79.20 North Shore 4 - 77.90 Spring 5 - 76.85 Pasadena Memorial 6 - 76.85 Porter tie broken by GE 7 - 76.40 Klein Oak 8 - 76.05 Klein Collins 9 - 73.95 College Park 10 - 73.50 Willis 11 - 72.15 Dickinson Outstanding Music, Visual, General Effect, and Percussion: Oak Ridge Outstanding Guard: Klein Collins Edited on my desktop to get better formatting.

Third place in AAA was Grand Oaks

They did well. It was pretty close. You'll see when the sheets are released.

Yes. Bottom 6 top 5 since there was a tie for 10th.

715 Porter 730 Klein Oak 745 College Park 800 Willis 815 Klein Collins 830 Dickinson 900 Spring 915 North Shore 930 Pasadena Memorial 945 Oak Ridge 1000 Brazoswood

Maybe they win, and maybe they don't. I remember when everyone thought Avon would come here and win going away. As the saying goes DON'T PANIC!

Watch them at Indy Super - that will be a strong indication of where they are and where the judges see their show.

BOA doesn't care about school districts. It is unlikely they could name very many or what schools are from which one if you cornered them. The language from the rulebook is "To best balance the championship, a historical record of that championship's past three (3) years of finalists will be distributed evenly between Prelims 1 and 2." There are some rules about getting either a Friday or Saturday performance date, and the rest is a random draw.

Starting with being darn sure the props are in the right place!

Also remember that was from 2 (almost 3) weeks ago at the Kentucky Regional on September 21st. Probably is significantly different now.

They were a late add to the contest, and I had already submitted the list.

I love the ending of Pearland's show this year. The counter-rotating rectangles that contract, rotate again, then contract into a full band square,then spreads out into the push to the finale. Great stuff!

That has never been my point - I'm not and have not been stating that any of the Houston bands is going to crash the party. I honestly didn't see anything this past weekend that would indicate that. I did see shows that, if the design teams build on what they have this year and add demand, could turn into special programs. But those shows are not here yet, and those schools need some stability and tenacity to weather the ups and downs. Pearland, Seven Lakes, Oak Ridge are programs that are pushing against the ceiling they are currently under. Clear Brook is up and down - they create fun, well themed shows (at least on non-UIL years), but they don't have the demand necessary to compete for San Antonio finals. But I really enjoy what they have on offer!. JET has been pretty consistent, but I don't notice that they are being anything but consistent, which is itself an achievement (consistency is under-rated). Cy-Fair dropped this year after pushing hard to bridge the gap to TWHS, and maybe they push back up again. I'm sure I'm not mentioning many schools (Yes, I saw you Tompkins!), but I don't need to in order to try to clarify my point. I'll be honest - I would much rather see a contest that has 25 bands that are good, with maybe 4 or so "great" bands, than a contest that is the same old, same old. If there is a churn of finalists, that really gives all the really good, but not great, bands something to push for, and rewards their hard work. Anyway that is a preference, and it doesn't mean I don't enjoy watching the great bands - that is what San Antonio is all about and it also has dozens of good to really good bands to boot. So Houston is a mini San Antonio in cross section in my view. Hmm, something like a double-stuff Oreo? A little crunchy on the top and bottom, but with lots of tasty middle.

I don't think that is what is at the heart of the discussion. Look at non-heavy hitters that come from Austin, San Antonio, and DFW and attend Houston - they typically are unable to make their way into finals. For every Vandegrift, Leander, James Bowie, CTJ, Reagan, etc. that come here, take a look at Richland, O'Connor, Pflugerville from this year, that have good shows, but end up in the high teens/low 20's at this contest. I think Richland would have been closer to finals at DFW this year, and maybe would have snagged a spot. So the big hitters have nothing to worry about, but any band that is 1 tier down is going to be in a massive donnybrook (think I used that term before the contest - still seems right) for finals. And we have a tendency to focus on the stars, and not pay as much attention to the next set of bands that are just waiting for their moment to shine. And Houston has more of those bands than any other region, perhaps in the entire country. But really, to be honest, lets address the elephant in the room - there is a sense of disbelief about how much Westwood improved week to week that is coloring how people are viewing the Houston contest this year, and I think, after watching them live and on Flo, that disbelief is not warranted. On October 5th, Westwood scored a completely earned 85.025. That score was not too high for their performance (not going to quibble about tenths of a point). Does that mean they will make finals in SA? No, but they are now on that track to get those 5 points to break 90, which seems to be necessary, but not always sufficient (LD Bell 2017). What do they have left in that show to get there? None of us know. But I would not be surprised if they, at worst, are top 20 with a score around 88 or so. And I think that is the worst case. But again, that is my opinion, and I've been wrong many, many times. But don't be surprised if the top 4 from Houston do very, very well for themselves later in the season. And I'm not slighting Clear Brook (or Pearland) - they have a full show, and will absolutely be bringing that up, but I think they'll top out in the 85-87 range. That makes finals at any other super regional but San Antonio. Note, I'm not trained in anything musically/artistically, so my opinion is worth what you paid for it!