MarchingBandNerd

Congratulations to Ronald Reagan for taking the gold!! I’m so proud of them Their show was absolutely amazing - even though I ended up being torn between them and Vista Ridge for my favorite show (that sound!!!) Besides those two, my personal favorite was Leander - I always enjoy their shows so much!! The rest of my quick thoughts: Marcus always has such beautiful visuals; Keller and Hebron’s music was outstanding; James Bowie, Round Rock, and LD Bell were obviously having so much fun with their shows (and it showed in their high level of execution!); and Claudia Taylor Johnson, Flower Mound, the Woodlands, and Vandegrift’s shows were just all-around a fun treat to watch. And of course it was awesome seeing Pearland in finals for the first time! TL;DR: All of the bands tonight had such wonderful performances. There was so much energy in every show and it was obvious the kids were really enjoying every minute out on the field too! You band parents definitely brought the hype (I was sitting near some Reagan and Leander parents, and hoo boy!) Regardless of placement (I agree that many of them are strange...), congratulations to everyone who performed this weekend, and best of luck to those moving on to Grand Nationals!

Congratulations to all the bands (finalist or not)! As a former Houston-area band kid, I’m especially proud of Pearland for finally breaking into finals. It’s been a long time coming for them, let me tell you! Ronald Reagan has always been a favorite of mine as well, so the very real possibility of them taking the gold made this weekend that much more awesome! I haven’t seen any of the finalist band performances yet either, so I’m super excited for tonight! Best of luck to everyone!

It’s been almost one year since I last posted on here but I’ve been silently following this topic through my e-mail Just got to San Antonio yesterday, spent the rest of the day walking around the city, and now I’m ready for a great day of watching marching bands!! Cy-Fair (my alma mater) did amazing considering our change in direction this past year! Please feel free to let me know what y’all thought of them

Random thought, but I can’t be the only one who would totally pay Flower Mound to have one of their whiteboard drawings.

I’ve always loved Ronald Reagan’s uniforms. The bright green stripes and plumes look so cool when they’re paired with the darker green turf! You can’t miss that band.

I couldn’t agree more. I went from one middle school to another in CFISD; private lessons were highly recommended at one of them, whereas at the other, they were almost unheard of. It astounds me knowing how much the LISD middle schools stress lessons in comparison, but it’s obviously paying off. So many of us want to be as good as the bands like Leander, and we know we have that potential, but it’s unfortunate when the directors don’t seem to realize that it really starts even before you enter high school.

I saw the video of the Leander and CTJ kids swarming Vista at retreat last night. It made me smile knowing how supportive band kids are towards each other, even when they’re from competing schools!

Wow! Huge congratulations to Vista Ridge and all the other bands that performed this weekend. Although Cy-Fair didn’t place as high as we’d hoped, there was no better way to end my senior year. We stayed to watch the majority of the finalists, and man, they are just out of this world! I’m so proud of each and every one of them. Celebrations (somewhat) aside, Vista was completely out of the conversation last year. Is anybody aware of any changes they made to help them jump so high? They were just incredible!

Everyone I’ve talked to about the judges possibly being fired or that some students marching were ineligible have said it’s just a rumor. Like what jetliner and Danpod said, it apparently shows up every year when scores don’t reflect what was predicted.

A lot of y’all are predicting Waxahachie to do really well. I’ve never seen any of their shows and we’ve never had to compete with them though, so I can’t make much of a judgement. Just out of curiousity, what makes them so good?

I’m pretty sure that was Flower Mound.

I agree that the reputation of some bands definitely helps them placement-wise. However, those are usually the bands that place high at State and BOA competitions anyway, so it’s not like those placements are undeserved. I have noticed this helps out some bands more than others though. I wonder why?

Even though most of the excitement has died down, I’d like to thank everyone who came out to support us band kids, whether it be live or not. Personally speaking, placing in the top five is an awesome achievement for the Cy-Fair band! It really shows how much our hard work has paid off throughout these past few years. Even with all the rain we’ve been getting, we’ve been able to show up this season and I couldn’t be more proud. As a current senior, I’m so thrilled and am looking forward to seeing how far we can go! Congrats to everyone who competed, and good luck to you all throughout the rest of this season

I noticed that too. I’m sure there were some finalist bands watching though - just before, there was an announcement telling them to get ready for the Finals ceremony.

I remember seeing y’all in exhibition! As a freshman, I was blown away that a high school marching band could sound that good! Definitely my favorite show that year.

I know it's been a week, but between all the band rehearsal and homework I haven't had time to reply to this thread! It's about time I do it. I'm a junior and this has been by far my favorite year performing at the Alamodome! Our band didn't make Finals (wayy too stacked), but I don't think a single person was disappointed because we all know we performed our very best; plus, we received a record high score for our band! In the end, the impact of that last show means a lot more than numbers. We were given most of Saturday to watch other bands, and I absolutely loved each and every one of them. Hebron, Vandegrift (my favorite!), and FloMo were just a few off the top of my head that I really enjoyed (didn't get to watch CTJ this year). Avon was such a treat - their show was so similar to the top bands in level of energy, yet the way they executed it was otherworldly! I sure hope this won't be their last time performing here. All in all, I had the experience of a lifetime! Good luck to all the bands competing at Grand Nats!!

I know I said I was going to be watching the live stream on FloMarching...but I wasn't aware that you had to pay a monthly subscription. I was hoping to be able to pay it all up front. YouTube doesn't seem to be streaming it either, so if anybody has an idea of where I can watch it afterwards, please let me know!

If all goes according to plan, I'll be watching the Finalists live (probably via FloMarching). I usually never know where everyone's stacked until BOA Conroe, so I'm looking forward to getting an early glimpse this year. It's going to be fierce!

These are the preliminary placements for UIL 6A and BOA Conroe. Final placements: UIL 6A: 7 The Woodlands 11 North Shore Stephen F. Austin, Brazoswood, Cy-Fair, Friendswood, Cy Falls, Dawson, Clements, and Spring did not advance to Finals (UIL 6A only takes the top 14). BOA Conroe: 3 The Woodlands 6 The Woodlands College Park 8 James E. Taylor 9 Oak Ridge 10 Pearland 7 Cy-Fair Brazoswood, Klein Oak, Seven Lakes, and Langham Creek did not advance to Finals (BOA Conroe only takes the top 10).

I'd like to thank everyone thinking of us Houston-area bands. It's been a crazy two weeks but we've all been working hard to earn back that lost time!