LostChoirGuy

Have they never gone? I know they don't most years but thought they had gone once or twice recently.

Finally made it to the stream for the last few bands. Wow Wakeland continues to impress me. I think they are going to be one of the next bands to emerge into San Antonio finals within the next few years. Closer was pretty dirty but this show has a lot of potential!

Wow! I bet those kids from Foster are very excited

When the schedule for finals is available, will someone post? I want to try to watch some of it.

I'm so excited to finally get a feel for some of these bands that I have heard nothing about all season!

Not to mention Westwood, Owasso, Keller Central, Forney, maybe even Rock Hill... this is a pretty deep contest. Also, Grapevine had a great showing last week so can't forget about them.

I don't think many groups here are going to San Antonio. Maybe a couple, but not most.

I'm not sure if I understand correctly but I will try to answer this- All bands listed here still have to receive a 1 at region to attend this contest. The draw has just been predetermined so if a band gets a 2 they will be skipped in the order.

I agree that the Mansfield schools tend to be overlooked. They are very strong programs but often have to compete with the likes of grand nats caliber bands. I appreciate that some have begun to travel to other regionals.

Keller uses her too

I haven't seen CTJ so I'm not commenting on them, but in general I'm not a fan of vocalists in marching band performances.

No surprise to see Clovis winning this one, but shoutout to Grapevine for giving them a good challenge. They will be a fun one to watch this season!

Rough draw for Keller (and Carroll) but they should hopefully be able to still make finals.

Does this contest use BOA classifications?

I would say only include our of state contests if there are Texas bands competing but would also be ok with including any contest featured by hornrank (BOA and major local contests). That means some random contest in Idaho or California or Massachusetts would probably not be all that interesting to make predictions for, but BOA Grand Nats would!

Unfortunately, it would take some serious gerrymandering because Area B is also ridiculous.

This contest gets better every year. In the past I would have said that Austin always showcased a half dozen or so extremely amazing bands and then a dozen or so decent but not standout worthy groups. Whereas the DFW and Houston competitions have a handful of top tier but a ton of competition in the next tier down, just knocking on the doors of greatness. The bands that attend this regional have been really improving though and I would now say that it matches any other regional in the number of excellent, competitive bands. So many groups that deserve to be a finalist here!

How is novice/ advanced determined? I don't follow drumline much but I'm surprised by some of them.

Keller and Cedar Ridge are two of the most consistent bands in terms of music quality and performance. Last year Cedar Ridge had a great show design to match and Keller has had some glimpses of that on past years. I think it's only a matter of time before one of them medals at a major event (state or BOA super regional). Keller has never placed in the top half of finals at BOA San Antonio despite being there consistently for about a decade. I'd love to see that change.

Y'all are great! You are making the idea of planning a solo trip across the country seem less daunting.

Do general admission tickets for prelims typically sell out? I'm considering waiting to purchase these tickets at the gate when I enter, but I don't want to run the risk of not being able to get one.

This is going to be a really good contest. So many great bands and none of the usual top 6 or so bands from DFW. Could be anyone's contest to win.

Thanks for the advice! I think I want to be closer to the center and higher up where I can see everything better. I don't mind a little workout climbing the steps haha

Thank you! Do you find it is worth getting a reserved seat in the upper deck?

Is the event general seating, or do I need to purchase a specific seat/ in a specific section?