TWHSParent

Absolutely, however all streaks do end. Is this the year? I think it is the most possible this year than it has been for at least 10 years. I like the show, but it is missing a spark the ones I would rank higher have. I don't see an Eagle for them this year based off this performance, but they will be right there at the top. I think 4th right now.
 
Good bet? Probably not -they'll adjust the show over the next few weeks so by Grand Nationals it will be awesome.

yeaaaah i hear ya, but u know im of the judging hive mind, the borg, or BOArg as i call it lol. Wes' shows still check a lotta boxes.
i was soooo so very fortunate to see that westfield show live several times in 03. goooosebumps galore, u knew they had something special. my instructors were gushing too, like Steve Bond my private lessons guy at the time, now head director at Tompkins, during the lessons he'd be like, omg, did u see Westfield, did u hear the double tonguing bassoonists and trumpets and yada yada lol. like, um, yeah, and it's arousing a lot of insecurities!!!
but u know you always work harder when u have such stellar programs like spring and westfield just a little down i45, even if the honor band process was always frustrating lol. we actually had a sash or something from the Spring 93 uniform taped to the top inside of our truck as a good luck charm. probably acquired illegitimately lol, just like in 04 when Brett was pissed at us bc someone acquired a rose plume from Lawrence Central and Randy Greenwell was calling him LOL. good times.

I agree, but they are still mostly solid shows and typically performed by strong, solid groups. But you are right, I would like to see some really new and different shows from him. Mainly because they would be really good and further highlight the talents of the performers. 

I would love to hear Water Night again, but you know it would never be as excellent as Westfield's version! (Yes, I am majorly biased, I know. 😄)
My frank opinion is that these Wes shows have a little bit of a diminishing appeal the more of them you've seen over the years. There are just so many similarities that I frequently find myself thinking, "Oh, that's just like that show from 2013! Oh, that's just like that show from last year!" I just want more imagination. I know Wes is capable of it. He's produced some truly creative, epochal programs in past. Reinvention can be a good thing!

lovely show from Mason, thank goodness the cloaks didn't end up black like in earlier performances, woulda been ugly lol. very colorful and eyepopping but they're smart to remove the cloaks halfway through, was startin to overload my senses lol.
a liiittle slow for me in spots, but overall solid again. ill admit i like Pearland's Wes show more. bigger and more frequent impact moments. buuut Mason's does have a sort of elegance to it.

I'm adding Brownsburg to my list of strong contenders for finals. Quite an impressive performance in prelims at the Indianapolis super regional. Still a lot of dirt to clean up, but the gems are stacking up already.

lol okay so is Wes doing the music of all the TX champions that won in a yr ending in 3 this yr, all the Houston ones? Lol, now im just waiting for Water Night or something.
B-burg was solid, music still needs a lot of work tho. i think i thought they were musically weaker last yr at Nat finals too but they still ended up near the top of the bottom half, so u can take my opinion w/ a grain of salt. better in vis than music, guard was fab too. not the most inspired Wes program for them this yr, pipe dream, so here are some pipes, lol. id have them just outside of Nat finals right now, but we'll see!!

I think I will have to drive down and go see this in person. 5A as well. I simply can’t abide another year of watching UIL 5A and 6A state finals on that infernal football streaming service!!  

welllll speaking of affluent schools and personally biased rankings, i think twhs is going to slay the rest of their season after watching their region vid lol. well technically still need to see the ending from high up, but music overall is much improved. way to go trpts!! better tuning too! no major weaknesses and a lotta major strengths. just some little things. can't wait to see this one indoors, just sucks that the first time will be that crappy crappy crappy UIL state stream lol. not gonna buy it, just will wait for the YT leaks.
college park, klein oak, and north shore should be up there at area F also but i haven't watched everyone in some time. shout out to Tomball memorial too, i just love their show, had me cracking up at BOA Katy.
[insert fair and unbiased commentary of other schools here]

I would have much preferred dealing with a watermelon....

Updated schedule along with presumed classes of bands has been added to the original post

I haven't been to Indy for a few years (2019 was the last time). I found this map of downtown https://www.icclos.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/downtown-indy-skywalks.pdf
There are quite a few things around the skywalk (which is a great thing if it is really cold). Circle Center Mall has shopping, and there are many restaurants around, including in many of the downtown hotels. There are some museums and the Indiana state capital in the vicinity. So I don't have any specific recommendations, but there is plenty to choose from.

He also recently joined on to be the 2024 drill designer for The Cavaliers (DCI)!

https://cavaliers.org/staff-bod/mason-daffinee

Their drill writer is one of their former band directors, Mr. Daffinee. I heard he started writing their drills several years ago while he was assistant band director. He does a great job! 

Another regional in the books for this season! Saturday truly was a lovely day all around. The weather was such a rare pleasant event that everyone made sure that the mood felt sweet for all. I also had the lovely pleasure to finally bump into a few folks off the HR forums (4 years in the making!).

Very rarely do I get competitions that are just really simply uncomplicated. Katy is such a great venue suited for band, not just because of the logistics, but also the ample amount of volunteers throw themselves into the role belatedly without question from the experienced (and excited) to the curious first-timers. Thank you to the Morton Ranch, Cinco Ranch, and Seven Lakes parents that gave their time to volunteer for this weekend (and sharing some of your stories with me. Some were very special.).

A soon-to-be-favorite anecdote from this past weekend: In the morning, a father and his toddler appearing to be on a leisurely walk had strayed off their ordinary route after the toddler was curious about some of the bands near former stadium. They ended up watching bands for a decent amount go through their flow with the toddler wowed. The father was equally impressed too! I don't know if that kid will be in the activity one day, but I like to think the pop too would wholeheartedly jump in, head-first.

Cy-Fair: Knew the name, never gave another thought. Not anymore, holy smokes! Shenandoah might've been downplayed fairly early on in comparison to other competitions, but Cy-Fair this year brought distinguishment to this title on par with being a single-digit SA Super finalist. Many bands took their shot at My Body is a Cage, but I've found only Cy-Fair as iconic as the original SCV 2018 version. An absolute shame this isn't going to SA this year.
 
CTJ: I'm a bit of a stick in the lake this year apparently, because I find this show to be quite pleasant this year. This feels more of a proper spotlight at the capabilities of the band instead of overwhelm with every relevant thread of thought into 13 min- something I thought the mid-'10s CTJ shows had a lot of tact and style with. Admittedly, the standard for those shows are so high that asking CTJ to meet that with this show is a bit too inappropriate. It is still a nice change of pace for the program.
 
TWHS: Uh..... Holy smokes? Nah, holy blazes!!! You're telling me TWHS missed a majority of summer camp and still had this on the field??? What an absolute treat to get Chick Corea and treat the material with so much respect and detail not just musically, but the integration of drill, props, percussion, body choreography, color guard, and beyond. TWHS is hitting such high marks in achievement and performance in every aspect in this activity in ways other bands aren't. This is exactly why I'm a fan of this activity. What an honor to see TWHS 2023 live.
 
We may be looking at yet another Texan dynasty if this design team keeps pumping up these shows over the next few years. It will be a travesty for this activity on par with the winless Hebron years if TWHS doesn't win any BOA SA, GN, or UIL comps or with this team.
 
 
And.... That's it! That's all I got to see at Katy this year 😀.

my top 3 future projection for Nats has been Carmel, TWHS, and Hebron since that Kentucky regional in mid Sept, buuuut i gotta say that betting against Avon for top 3 is like betting against Meryl Streep not getting an Oscar nomination every time she's in a movie. prob will be wrong lol. twhs could "flatline" as well.
ughhhh im just so happy happy happy for Bridgeland. ive been sounding the alarm on them all season so far!!! and. they. deeelivered!!!

Seeing Cy-Fair, Pearland and Bridgeland sandwiched amongst TWHS, Reagan, CTJ & Bowie makes me wonder if Houston finally has some new powerhouse groups in their midst aside from just The Woodlands.  We'll see...

I think when the best band at a contest has an incomplete show and everyone else has a complete (or seemingly complete) show, it probably does depress the overall high score a bit. To be honest, The Woodlands' ending was a little bit of a buzzkill!
That said, my overall impression is that we're probably looking at a rematch of 2013 at Nationals with Carmel and The Woodlands, but with Hebron following TWHS up to Nationals this time, which should make things quite a bit more interesting, given the extraordinary strength of Hebron's music program. That's definitely an area where Hebron very handily beats The Woodlands right now!

WOAH CY FAIR!!! YESSS! AND BRIDGELAND OVER CTJ!!!
the scores may seem low but i wanna point out two things 1.) i think the shows here have a lot of room for growth and 2.) the early season scores, like at Austin, were really inflated. when i left Katy prelims i told myself, if i were scoring this id prob give the champ an 86ish. exactly what happened!!!
can't wait to see these late season!!

Not just finals, but top half. You guys have a great show!

Not just finals, but top half. You guys have a great show!

sorry im just a filter-less child w/ an iq too high to be accurately measured!!! it's a strange place to exist... i won't continue!

Eh, I thought it was funny. 🤷
Indeed, they do! One of my favorites this year! I heard they had *quite* the electronics issue. I think it shows great perseverance to be able to put on a finalist caliber show when something like that goes wrong. 👍

Not just finals, but top half. You guys have a great show!