josephbandfan
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Posts posted by josephbandfan
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Flower Mound and Vista Ridge have won state before so it wouldn’t be a shocker if they did again.
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It's true that Keller was 2 away from finals, but their performance captions were by far their worst ones, with their GE captions higher. That's a total reversal from their usual profile. With UIL being more performance-based, I could definitely see them on the outside looking in.
Let’s be real, those prelims performance captions were all over the place. Pearland 18th in music, Ronald Reagan 15th, McNeil 25th. In visual, seven lakes 20th, Round Rock 22nd. And that’s just the bands that made finals
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Yeah...😅 I went up the elevator and ended up a half a level lower than judges and decided to walk back down for concessions. Immediately got confronted by security questioning how I got in and whether or not I was a spectacular or student. It's also odd how the away side is off limits.
When I went in 2019, I was able to walk inside without a ticket. I was just able to walk right in, so I assumed that the ticket area was further in somewhere. But next thing I know I’m walking around towards the seats. Not complaining though 😅
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Keller still has quite a bit to add including another minute to their closer. Like every year, just have to hope they can clean enough by area. Especially with only 4 or 3 bands advancing to state
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So who is making finals?
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One judge really didn’t like Keller in the content and design cause why is k.miller and B.Ash scoring a lot different from each other
Ben Ash was actually judging color guard. Understandable since Keller’s guard program has been rebuilding from all the guard director changes they’ve had and drop in numbers. 9th may have been a little harsh though
On another note, it seems BC and Sachse actually tied in finals
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No major disagreements with results. Just thought Sachse would get 2nd and win color guard.
Unless I’m remembering wrong, I think Colleyville Heritage only had 6 color guard members and ended up winning the caption. They did utilize non varsity band members with swing flags as well and the woodwinds at one point of the show.
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ExpandI think we're going to have to agree to disagree. It may come down to a matter of personal opinion, but I noticed some strange things at BOA San Antonio last year and a few other competitions.
Can you list these strange things?
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Theres always going to be some bias, that’s impossible to escape. But nothing on a major scale where I would call it a systematic problem
- bandfan102 and Nny14
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Does anyone know why these bigger/ more successful schools are going to the Birdville comp rather than BOA Prosper? Just curious, some of these schools haven't been at Birdville the past few years : )
At least for Keller, they tend to stick to 2 BOA competitions a season, usually Bedford and San Antonio. Last year when they attended Prosper, they skipped out on Bedford.
BOA competitions cost more to attend. Double or almost triple other local contests. This is also only a 20 min drive vs over an hour to Prosper.
They usually compete at the HEB marching contest but looks like they took that out this year and added this contest. Maybe just wanted an extra week to learn their show before competing.
I vividly remember this contest the last time they attended and can’t wait to be back!
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With it still being relatively early in the season, I wouldn’t be surprised if BC wins. Haven’t seen them this year yet but they’re always great and Keller’s shows don’t usually come together until later in the season.
- Guardmom07, lost and Tubalord11
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Expandso basically just music and visual? there’s already judges for those. and for these categories I feel that it is more of a solid judging ground than the GE category. there’s ensemble and individual judges for both so feet in time and completing phrases are things that are already judged and can provide a solid reason for their scores. For GE on the other hand I feel it’s a little bit more opinionated. If you say a band executed better than an other you have to back it up with the music and visual (which we already have a category for) so there’s not really a point in it in my opinion. And if you say I feel like said band executed better because their their show sounded and looked better that’s more opinion based than student production based. GE to me feels like a glorified combined visual and music score but with added things like design which again, the kids can’t control.
The music and visual caption judges on difficulty, range of skill, techniques, and their execution. The GE captions judge on whether the content they’re performing is effective in supporting the theme, if it’s interesting or innovative, and its execution. A band successfully executing music that supports the theme will be more effective than a poor performance of music that supports the theme. Basically, vis and music is purely execution of the technical aspects. And GE is execution of design, which execution of the technical aspects plays a part in.
Yes, that does allow a little more room for opinions, but even the music and visual captions also have some degree of opinions as one judge may reward a specific technique more than another. Yes, the design of a show is mostly out of the student’s control.
The GE captions is basically to help promote innovation and encourage unique exploration of ideas. If we wanted to judge solely on the performance of the students without any outside factors such as a non performer’s design, wouldn’t it make more sense to have every competing band perform the exact same show? Having more resources can definitely make being innovate easier. But, many would argue that most innovation in the world was a direct result of limitations.
Some may argue about how much of the score should GE be responsible for which is understandable. But when you really break down what GE is, you understand that execution of a show is still the majority of the score. You don’t have to personally agree with it. You don’t even have to agree that it needs to be an entirely separate caption. But BOA and DCI use it for a reason. And no one is forcing band directors to attend these regionals, but many do. If a director only wants to participate in a circuit where only performance is judged and not design, they have free will to do so.
How much money comes into play in student activities is always a discussion but it’s just the truth of life. Take out the design aspect, money still has a direct effect on music and marching when considering private lessons, well decorated educators, opportunities, etc.All that being said, a band can be successful in BOA without all the bells and whistles! Wakeland has been one of the top DFW bands for the past few years and their approach to their show themes has been some of the most basic I’ve ever seen that I could write it in my sleep. 2023 show was Sense of Direction and they just had a ton of arrow sets. 2024 show is Where the Heart Is. Stick figure family set here, house set there, heart set there. No props. But their performance ability has been so high in combination with the music and marching they attempt. Some people say the original GE is cleanliness. A well performed difficult show will have an effect on you. You could then say what’s the point of GE then if a band can just perform well and still succeed? How I think of it is that a well performed difficult show with basic theme still trumps a less impressive show with an amazing theme, as they should. But if it’s a well performed difficult show with an amazing theme, then they take the cake. It can suck that there’s an aspect that is out of the performer’s hands, but this is a creative art after all and there needs to be some level of subjectivity.
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Flower Mound’s show and design was by far the most interesting here. Can’t wait to see it again in San Antonio
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Keller - incredible opening statement by Keller! The organ has made an appearance! Interesting use of silence throughout. Great performance!
Some of that was actually due to all the electronic failures they were experiencing 😅
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Keep in mind that visual GE is only 1/3 of the entire GE score. While props and costuming can contribute to GE, it isn’t even necessary as propless shows succeed on a yearly basis.
Southlake Carroll’s show was filled with backdrops, props, bubble machines, theme specific uniforms, some guard members had glittery lobster hands, and was 7th in Vis GE. But was 12th in Music GE and 11th in GE overall.
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This is the draw order posted on the official Area B site. Same one that is posted on page 2 of this forum
https://www.uilregion24music.com/_files/ugd/2a9078_b15e7b302534413ca1a5ff844c69fd8b.pdf
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Forney Will win Here.
Oh, is that so?
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Why does this thumbnail remind me of the meme of the little girl looking devilishly at the camera while a house burns down in the background? 😂🔥🔥I know it’s early season but you didn’t have to call their show a house fire 😭
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Any updates on this contest? Only info I can find online is last year and that was cancelled.
The only thing I was able to find was the list of judges on Duncanville’s band calendar, and I also saw that James Martin and Waxahachie have this on their calendar.
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Vandegrift's performers are just flying around again, while playing a billion notes. This is going to be a major flex when they clean it. Chasing Infinity. I definitely see the infinity symbol pop up a couple of times. They've got the speed and the follow-the-leader drill for the "chasing" part, although it does look a lot like their previous drill programs.
What's it about?
Apparently TW’s show is called Fantasia on Frenchman Street so I’m imagining a lively and jazzy New Orleans street scene.
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2025 BOA Grand National Championships (Nov. 13-15)
in Non-UIL: Upcoming Contests, Events, and Festivals
Posted
Flomo also won SA in 2015 and 2016, before dropping to 6th at SA and 5th at GN in 2017. Consistently holding the top spot in Texas is so difficult.
But Flomo taking home the eagle is one of my top wishes for marching band history. Listening to their video last year explaining their approach to design definitely gives me high hopes