gmtb617

Keller’s Show last year was definitely one of my favorites. Incredibly entertaining and had a well-thought-out message.

Shoutout to LHSax for correctly predicting VR’s stated rationale for their 2019 show design changes.

Yeah I was debating whether to put them in finals or not; I saw them at BOA Conroe 2018 and surprised they didn’t place a little higher. I agree they’re on the rise. Hopefully this season they can gain strong early momentum; reason I didn’t put them in for this contest was mostly due to McAllen 2018. Who knows; they can definitely turn it around!

Friendswood always seems to attract some of the best bands Houston has to offer! I’ll try ranking top 10: 1. Oak Ridge (If their sound and visual energy match 2018 early season, they’ll take this contest.) 2. Pearland 3. Clear Brook 4. JET 5. Dawson (never saw this band perform before; may underestimate them) 6. Clements 7. Jersey Village 8. Cypress Ranch 9. Clear Lake 10. Bubble Bubble: J Frank Dobie, Westfield, Dickinson, Clear Falls Unfortunately I don’t know enough about the bands I didn’t list to place them in the bubble or not. Anyone going to this contest can make finals, seriously.

I feel like he saw this message before writing the YT description. Although I actually like “20:18” better because that was the year of my last HS Marching season...

Cannot thank you enough for the ode to seniors that you included at the end of this. I really do owe it to so many excellent people during my 4 year tenure at the Seven Lanes Band; your reminder helped me understand that. I cannot wait to experience the 2019 marching season through the eyes of an enthusiast in the same ways that many of you all have been. I’m going to follow this activity for a long time, no doubt. Unfortunately some of the activities I wanted to see live won’t work out since I’m in college marching band (which I’m definitely excited about), but that’s what FloMarching is for! And this should go without saying but thank you for the rest of the podcast as well. So much excellent information packed in them as always.

This is going to be fun. Seven Lakes - Blue Bizarre Reveal video on Instagram/Twitter: @sevenlakesband Looking forward to seeing this production unfold as a 7L alumnus for the first time . (Also I still don’t know the central theme of the show...it’s out-of-the-box for sure)

What an awesome lineup! Even though the lineup is going to thin down, it’s evident this contest will differ from Houston contests in years past; this time, local schools are going to take up a larger percentage of the spotlight, as they’ve been getting much more competitive in recent years, and non-local heavy hitters are lighter in quantity this year. Bands fighting for places 6-10 are going to spur a massacre. My groupings (listed alphabetically): 100% Locks: Ronald Reagan TWHS Westlake Comfortable Finalists: Cy-Fair Oak Ridge Seven Lakes Winston Churchill Challengers for the last few spots: Brazoswood Clear Brook College Park Cypress Falls Dawson JET Pearland SFA Westwood Could sneak in with a milestone performance: Cypress Woods Friendswood Langham Creek OD Tompkins Pflugerville WB Travis Interested to see how they do: (would love to see a band in this list pop into finals) Bridgeland Churchill Fulshear Cinco Ranch Katy Lumberton Paetow Richland Sandra Day O’Connor Westfield I’m fairly certain I put 75% of all bands on the list in one of these groupings. History can be made at this regional, whether it could be a new medalist, or new faces in finals. I didn’t see performances from all the bands I listed, so I may neglect the potential of some schools; just understand I group these schools because it’s fun to speculate. So much talent from so many bands here (regardless of whether I listed them or not). Cannot wait to see what goes down here!

This...is actually a really great idea. It fits into an idea I’ve been thinking about on my own that I don’t feel like discussing yet; I’ll discuss it later. (It concerns regional classifications/new regional types).

Sweeet. I updated my OP with the list.

Also did Carol Brittin Chambers arrange for Westlake last year?

That’s what I heard as well. He has a lot of music that could easily fit into a marching show imo, but I’m still surprised that multiple bands are using his music since he was against his music being used outdoors during his lifetime.

We’re all in this together!

I, V, VI, IV

From yayband on Hornrank: Updated 04/21/19 Confirmed Attendees (16): Aledo H.S., TX Duncanville H.S., TX Forney H.S., TX Hendrickson H.S., TX James Bowie H.S., TX James Martin H.S., TX John Horn H.S., TX Keller H.S., TX LV Berkner H.S., TX Magnolia H.S., TX Mansfield H.S., TX North Mesquite H.S., TX Richland H.S., TX Round Rock H.S., TX Seven Lakes H.S., TX Waxahachie H.S., TX Rumored Attendees (1): Anderson H.S., TX

Very curious how John Horn will stack up against the competition. I admire their bold 2019 BOA schedule; I think it will take them very far this season.

And that’s not including finalists from the past year that did not go to SA, such as Brazoswood and CyFair.

I completely agree with you. In hindsight, we’ve always had games on SA weekend, but since they were on Fridays and our band contest schedules were lighter, we could make it work. However, with 2 other BOA regionals and less district support since it’s not a UIL year, our funds were going to be stretched thin, and spending money for the transport (2 full trips to SA) wouldn’t be worth it. Our only real options would be to not go to the game (but that’s barely an option), drop contests completely, or change contests, which we did. Even though we did the best we could to make up for not attending, I think this issue still reflects the long-standing tradition of football dominance in this area. This is a continuity of the norm. Missing a football game wasn’t an option, apparently, and I can easily see why given how much money our district has been shoving into football programs. I completely understand missing multiple games being an issue, as the band has ways to work around it and it is excellent support. However, missing only one game seems more than reasonable from a band student’s perspective. Oh well.

SA was on the 7L calendar until the football schedule came out. The one Saturday game on the schedule lands on 11/2, and all of the sudden we’re not in SA anymore. Feels oddly similar to the Woodlands situation last year at BOA Conroe finals. Not trying to throw shade on the football/band relationship in the district and in Texas as a whole (Actually I am trying to throw shade), but I find it interesting how quickly we pulled out after the district slapped a game on the most significant day of the contest. It’s as if the battle isn’t worth pursuing; not attending a football game is unfathomable, after all! If there’s any way I could find a way to get our school on board with confronting the district about it, I’d do it (even though I’m leaving the school soon). The football/band imbalance needs to be addressed again and again and again. For one football game to eclipse our chance to participate in and perhaps score really well at arguably the most competitive HS marching band event in the entire nation...seems unjust to me. This is my own personal opinion on the issue, and I don’t want my cynical attitude to reflect anyone but myself. I just hope this message reverberates somewhere.

Trend I’m noticing for this contest continuing in 2019: Less competition from non-Houston bands, however stronger Houston competition overall. Many bands that regularly attend this contest from Houston are rising FAST. It will be imperative for strong Houston bands to take advantage of this contest to really make a name for themselves in the BOA Sphere. Nice to see Richland as an exception to the non-Houston trend. Should spice up this contest a bit.

Sweet, thanks for updating me! I never got a chance to see them myself. I believe this upcoming year is their first year with 9-12 graders, so I’m excited to see what they can do.

I’m really hoping to see Paetow make a statement with their first year of eligibility for 5A state. They’re performing at 2 BOA events this year, so it’s reasonable for me to assume they’re taking this whole “marching band” thing seriously and will elevate their standards quickly this season.

I never posted anything over there myself, but I seriously enjoyed reading pages and pages of BOA history and insight. Really unfortunate no one at MFA considered entrusting the community to run the forums themselves and decided to shut it down instead. heck, they could have even changed domains to a community-run domain. I’m expecting to linger on the Hornrank forums once those go public Monday. Hope to see that community grow quickly.

Vista Claudia Leander Mound - Massive Matador Monsters

Paetow - Monsters