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BenedictCucumberpatch

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Posts posted by BenedictCucumberpatch

  2. 2019 BOA Grand National Championships

    in Past Contests, Events, and Festivals Archive

    Posted

    Please don't be offended, but has band become "win at any cost"? People used to say things like "well, that's the best college football team that money can buy". Has that same attitude permeated into HS band so deep that we are willing to overlook any transgression "for the win"? 

     

    I think that is a mindset, as a lot of the kids in the programs are playing to have fun. I won't deny that the best programs have the most resources, but that is all due to circumstance. And of course all these top programs care about winning, but that isn't the point that directors are trying to make to their students. I was part of a band that had MANY resources, and I wanted to win every competition I competed in. But that's not why I went out onto the field. I went onto the field to put on a show, to feel every brass chord, and to show just how much I loved my band. Now I'm sure there are some band students who only play for the gold, but I'm not sure that is a bad thing as long as those students don't forsake what truly matters.

     

    Also, the phrase "the best team money can buy" wouldn't work here, as High School Bands don't buy/sign students "onto the roster". 

  3. 2019 BOA Grand National Championships

    in Past Contests, Events, and Festivals Archive

    Posted

    We were very fortunate to get our entire stadium rehearsal in this evening here in The Woodlands!  Weather for rehearsal and Send-Off Performance tomorrow night is going to be dry but FRIGID (wind chills in the high 20s).  The last time a TWHS Send-Off was this cold …… 2013.  Hmmm.

     

    Safe travels to all!  Looking forward to meeting many of you.

     

    How did it go last night?

  6. 2019 BOA Grand National Championships

    in Past Contests, Events, and Festivals Archive

    Posted

    We are 6 days out, so I will lay out my predictions for the Texas Takeover.

     

    Music: Vandegrift

    Visual: Vandegrift

    General Effect: TWHS/Leander

     

    1. Vandegrift

    2. Avon

    3. The Woodlands

    4. Leander

    5. Carmel

    6. Hebron

    7. CTJ

    8. William Mason

    9. Homestead

    10. Round Rock

    11. Ayala

    12. Union

     

    I still see TWHS as a sleeper pick for the eagle. Obviously the likely outcome is Vandegrift coming away with the eagle, with both Hebron and Leander in the hunt as well, but I see TWHS surprising a lot of people. And maybe if it isn't the Eagle, I see them breaking top 3. TWHS has always been the type to make insane improvements the last couple weeks of the season, and for the first time in a while, there is almost a two week gap between BOA SA and Grand Nats. I have a strong feeling that TWHS will be taking advantage of that 10 fold. If cleaned up well, their show could be a GE monster.  

     

    I also see Ayala returning to Finals this year, or at least being the first band out of finals.

     

    I was really hoping to have 5 TX bands in the top 6 this year, but you just can't count out Carmel and Avon. However, (and someone please correct me on this if I'm wrong), we could be seeing the first time where all Texas bands that attend Grand Nats make finals. 

     

    I really wish I could be able to attend Grand Nats this year, but college takes priority, even if Indy is only an hour away ugh. GO TEXAS.

  9. 2019 San Antonio Superlatives

    in Past Contests, Events, and Festivals Archive

    Posted

    What was the phrase the TXBands bloggers used? Something like "Best Jam Session"? That would be The Woodlands. I've loved that section of the show even when I was just hearing it on the poor quality football stream. And I really like that they extended that section a bit more, and made the transition to the closer less jarring.

     

    And BenedictCucumberpatch, I'm with you (surprise? Not!). I think the show has the potential with the crowd appeal of repeating Hebron 2015's unexpected catapult up at Grand Nationals. Who was talking about them before GN's that year?

     

    That "Best Jam Session" is my "Best feature" superlative. Every time the horns started going up and down I began to headbang to 40s swing.

     

    And couldn't agree more, I just hope the same fate doesn't befall TWHS that Hebron experienced that year in Finals.

  10. 2019 San Antonio Superlatives

    in Past Contests, Events, and Festivals Archive

    Posted

    Best general effect: Ronald Reagan
    Best visual: Ronald Reagan
    Best music: Vandegrift
    Best visual concept: Ronald Reagan
    Best show idea/concept: The Woodlands
    Best solo: CTJ/Leander
    Best feature: The Woodlands
    Best musical selection: The Woodlands
    Most innovative show: Ronald Reagan
    Most original concept: The Woodlands
    Best crowd appeal: The Woodlands
    Most underrated: LD Bell
    Most improved: Pearland
    Best colorguard: The Woodlands
    Best pit: CTJ
    Best drumline: Ronald Reagan
    Best brass: Hebron
    Best woodwinds: Vandegrift
    Best prop: Leander
    Best uniforms: The Woodlands
    Best guard uniforms: Vista Ridge
    Best overall pre-show: Ronald Reagan
    Best overall opener: Ronald Reagan
    Best overall ballad: The Woodlands
    Best overall closer: Leander
     
    Yes I understand the caption awards are the same as the results in finals. I agree with them.
     
    Leander is the "guilty pleasure" of the year for me. I mean, imagine watching a closer on a normal day, when you have never seen the closer before. Then, imagine what would happen when after a nuclear countdown clock finished, 1812 Overture blasts in your face. That is performance perfection. And I can't stop listening to it.
     
    I seem to be one of the few people that considers TWHS as an Eagle contender this year. I'm not arguing they deserved a better placement in SA finals this year, in fact, I agree with 8th 100%. However, this is a band that ALWAYS makes insane cleaning strides the last couple weeks of the season. And this is the first year in a while where there is a two week gap between SA finals and BOA Grand Finals. Of course I'm not denying Vandegrift as the clear front runner, or even Avon for that matter. TWHS's show this year is a banger, and I see it making headlines in Indy.
     
    And gg Reagan.
     
     
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