Bandwoww

between now and October is when a show is polished - a "Boring" or Basic" show concept does not change with polish

Yeah both the Leander and Coppell videos are from the back that I saw.

Very solid so far! Love that power coming off the front stands!
My only complain is that the props kindof convolute some of the drill but they’ll get that cleaned up.

People need to watch out for Timber Creek this year. They are more capable of advancing to state this year than people give them credit for.

My initial first guess was Flower Mound.

Waxahachie will be at Waco that day, as well.

Leander's fall show announcement is tonight I believe.  But the title never really tells us much about a show, do you think?  I always crack up at how many parents turn out just for a show announcement (including myself!) when in fact, we are truly learning NOTHING about the show other than the theme.  The title of the show could be, "A Trip to the Garbage Dump" and the kids and parents all lose their minds jumping up and down in glee once it's announced like we just KNOW it's going to be amazing!.      I just find it so amusing!!  

I like to classify marching band as a very physically intensive art.
 
I don’t really know the definition of a sport but marching band is much more physically demanding than any sport I’ve played.

Firstly, congrats to our Texas groups this year, what an amazing representation for the state! There were three medalists in three classes with one champion, thirteen finalists across all six classes, and twenty one semifinalists across all six classes. Amazing representation! Texas groups placed as follows:
 
Scholastic A:
Leander – Champion, 99.4, record highest Scholastic A score and 3rd highest score ever recorded in WGI Guard History. Keller Varsity – 6th Place Finalist, 94.275 Westwood – 20th Place Finalist, 86.04 Westlake High School – 42nd Place Semifinalist, 84.82 Georgetown High School – 45th Place Semifinalist, 84.585 Cypress Falls High School - 62ndPlace Semifinalist – 82.63 Katy Varsity High School Clements High School Keller A High School Paris High School Robert E. Lee High School Independent A:Black Gold A – Silver Medalist and Fan Favorite, 95.445 Eagle Mountain Independent – 29th Place Semifinalist, 82.74 ATX Winterguard BriA Independent Scholastic Open:McNeil High School – 4th Place Finalist, 93.75 Eastlake High School – 5th Place Finalist, 93.6 Klein Oak High School – 18th Place Finalist, 82.8 Tompkins High School – 24th Place Semifinalist, 85.7 Cedar Park High School Aledo High School Independent Open:CGT Denton – Silver Medalist, 96.9 Origins – 5th Place Semifinalist, 92.85 Spirit Independent from the University of Houston – 18th Place Semifinalist, 84.4 Insignia Scholastic World:James Bowie High School – 13th Place Finalist, 82.35 Independent World:CGT Dallas – 4th Place Finalist and Fan Favorite Award, 95.75 Cypress Independent – 13th Place Finalist, 82.15 Black Gold – 14th Place Finalist, 81.6 Invictus – 22nd Place Semifinalist, 80.1 Redemption Guard This is my second season following the winter guard activity, it was nonexistent up here where I am from until very recently (which is awesome to see it taking a hold up here) so my exposure was limited to say the least. I haven’t had a chance to see much live, but I’ve thankfully gotten the opportunity to watch a lot online. I’ve watched relatively a lot of indoor percussion over the years but as someone interested in visual design I thought given the presence it has in this realm of the marching and performing arts it is something I needed to be aware of. Well, it’s not just something I’m learning from, it’s something I’ve fallen in love with. I’ve always gravitated towards the visual side of things, there is something about music being expressed through visual mediums like color, equipment, dance, movement, and so much more that’s unlike anything else out there. I’m still learning what to look for in terms of technical and critical things but man, what an activity.
 
Here are some of my favorites separated into some different categories. There were over 350 performances over the last few days and I couldn’t juggle all those with school but I’ll try to touch on as many of my favorites as I can!

I loved Bluecoats Indoor and Juxtaposition in Independent World, FIU Winterguard in Independent Open, West Broward Tarpon Springs, Northview, and James Bowie in Scholastic World, and Eastlake in Scholastic Open for their incredible energy and insanely entertaining shows. Watching those kids and young adults having the time of their lives performing is one of my favorite things about anything under the umbrella of fine arts whether that’s marching band in the fall, DCI in the summer, or guard in the spring and man........ did these groups have FUN. Shows like these really remind me why I love this little world we’re all apart of and man I miss performing! Shows like UCF Pegasus in Independent World and Independent Open, Interplay in Independent World, Shenendehowa in Scholastic World, Park Vista, Oviedo, and Tompkins in Scholastic Open made me and I’m sure many others think and be impacted in ways that can be tricky to discuss and tackle but that they did masterfully. It’s a crazy world we live in right now and being able to express stances on some of those things through art so essential and important in a society that values freedom of expression so much. It’s encouraging to see groups, both scholastic and independent, be brave and have a voice on things that are paramount in our society right now. I have so much respect for that. Stories and narratives are such a tricky thing to portray in the scope of less than fifteen minutes within the marching arts let alone eight or so minutes in a gym and groups like CGT Dallas in Independent World and their counterparts CGT Denton in Independent Open, Klein Oak in Scholastic Open, and AA Stagg and Flushing in Scholastic A were enthralling in that regard. Their respective stories and characters portrayed in their various ways were so well presented and incredibly entertaining to watch. While I love shows that tell an amazing story, have an important message, or are just flat out entertaining sometimes shows that are stripped back down to the essence of what the activity is and just being beautiful are so refreshing. I certainly don’t mean simple though, they challenge in sheer simultaneous skills being demonstrated, stark exposure, and requiring absolute precision to really project. I’m thinking about shows like Blessed Sacrament, Onyx, Pride of Cincinnati, and Black Gold in Independent World, Trumbull, Flanagan, and Stoneman Douglas in Scholastic World, El Dorado, McNeil, and Bentonville in Scholastic Open, Pacificaires in Independent Open, and Leander, Newsome, Keller, and so many more in Scholastic A. Congratulations to all groups this year, one of my goals next year is to try and make it up to Dayton, and at least some Texas events to see this activity live.

Well I was bound to miss something, fixed!  Thanks for bringing that to my attention.

Congrats to Leander, Keller, and Westwood on advancing to Scholastic A finals!  Leander won by over two points!

For prelims Scholastic A out of 128 groups Leander finished in 1st and Keller Varsity finished in 4th!!!
Go #TeamTexas !!!

I’d love to see a Texas version of this same sort of thing for those of us not really up on all the history of all the other states.

Moved to "Everything Music"

Puppies are cute.

That’s unfortunate.. with a little bit of cleaning their show could have been top half at nats, imo. It’s really amazing to see how far they’ve come. Their show this year was pretty unique and refreshing.

The info came directly to me from the highest source. The tentative 2017 plan changed before it was made public because of the 2018 Macy's Parade invitation after the 2016 marching season. Trips of this kind (BOA Nationals, Macy's Parade, Rose Parade, etc.) are typically scheduled years in advance due to issues like cost, travel logistics, and district approval requirements. All of these host organizations also work years in advance for their major events. Even so, there's just no point in telling all the kids and parents in 2015, "We're going back to Nationals in 2017 and 2019 and...", when all that could change quickly when you get an unexpected significant invitation. So long-term plans remain flexible and out of the public view until they are firm and require public action. More happy surprises and fewer disappointments that way.

Based on this I think Avon would have won, since I think performance really hurt The Woodlands after losing that time. The difficulty of that show would have been right up Avon's alley. Marcus would also do very well with Cedar Parks show as it was very UIL oriented.

I think there’s a very good chance we’ll see the same top 5 (flower mound, Hebron, Marcus, vandegrift and Keller) as they stick out to me as the most UIL friendly programs in the state. I could see CTJ spoiling that top 5 ala 2014 if they’re as polished as they were this year. I also think there’s a good chance we’ll see Bowie back in finals.

I understand that the Grand Nationals brings a different crowd -  and that SA is not the ideal location to compete
I also understand that is a week later than SA - but for most bands, that week is spent in travel - not rehearsing
 
in 2013
Round Rock went from 10th in SA to 4th in GNats
Marcus went from 8th to 5th
 
in 2014 Flomo went from 13th in SA to 6th in GNats
 
in 2015 Hebron, TWHS, Round Rock and Keller all moved up in GNats finals compared to SA finals 
 
in 2016 Cedar Park and Reagan both moved up in GNats
 
in 2017 Avon, Marcus, FloMo, TWHS and Round Rock all moved up in GNats finals - including Round Rock not making finals in SA but finishing 12th in GNats.
 
Just throwing it our there that San Antonio has become more competitive without the title of Grand Nats - will there be a time that winning San Antonio becomes more for a band than the GNats
 
If there is any value in the Hornrank - which there is with kids that are not going to GNats - #1 and #2 last year did not attend GNats
 
appreciate your thoughts

Uh did they accidentally call Flower Mound Round Rock?

WOOOOOODLANDDSSSSSSS AHHHHHH!!!!! Absolutely Amazing!!!!!!! I’m running out of words to describe all of these bands!!!!

Facts. 
 
Marian is amazingly consistent and have some of the most different and unique shows year after year.

Facts. 
 
Marian is amazingly consistent and have some of the most different and unique shows year after year.

Round Rock made Lucas Oil Stadium its own personal Minotaur and bashed its head in.  GO ROCK BAND!