FEDude

That I've seen live: Reagan 2014 They made state prelims really cool that year In general: Either LD Bell 2004 or Reagan 2003 or Churchill 1997 (would love it if anyone told me what their opener was called) My favorite moments in band history are that Hebron 2015 sax solo and and the Red Cape Tango in PCEP 1999

Never say never! More surprising things have happened. The last NISD band that was even close though was O'Connor from 2010-2012 (In recent history at least). Anyway, I'm hoping Reagan can win this. They always have my favorite shows.

Good luck to Taft. With a "new" director leading them, I'm excited to see what direction they take. It feels weird because the freshmen from when I was a senior are the seniors now. Won't predict them higher than the 40-50 range unless I see some very pleasant surprises (I do know what Mr. Mills is capable of though so it's not impossible). Nice to see other NISD bands as well. I wish good luck to all of them. Maybe this can be the year an NISD band breaks into finals.

Reviewing prelims scores, looks like Brennan is very strong musically and visually this year, more so than JP Stevens. It seems like the only thing that held them back at vista was color guard, percussion, and GE. I'll for sure put them in my finals predictions for a UIL style show. I saw Taft got 11th, which I guess makes me feel a little better. Taft, at least when I was there, had a very bad ego problem. It took the disastrous 2014 season to fix that. It started when we had an absolutely terrible performance at a football game. I looked around the front ensemble and saw everyone with their mallets above their boards, not playing; we were all too lost. At Capital City, we got last place. Anyway, this culminated in us losing a competition we had for a long time had a winning streak at. This was the catalyst for us making state that year: getting over our egos and realizing judges didn't owe us good scores. There's a different director and different set of kids now, but please, let this slap on the face push you guys if the 11th place at Area 2016 didn't do it.

After the Vista Ridge competition, I'm gonna remove Taft from my finals predictions. I have a very heavy heart doing this as I love my old program. Please prove me wrong y'all. The show is gorgeous and a step up design wise from 2016. I believe half their closer is new and still needs quite a bit of cleaning. Hopefully their sound overall can improve as well, very rough in some parts. There's also the very small percussion presence and color guard presence to overcome. It's possible, but it'll take dedication I don't know if they have because I never knew the bottom two classes. I'm gonna say O'Connor will take that finals spot based on BOA Austin. Or maybe Warren. I'm almost tempted to say Brennan, but I honestly haven't checked them out this season and I'd just be predicting based on reputation. Unfortunately this is my last week in Texas so I won't be around to see Area H. Good luck to all participating bands, but especially NISD, and double especially to Taft my alma mater. Y'all really did make those years worth it.

Dang, that's way more clever than what I thought of.

Ah I see. I wish the areas were more even in the number of bands they had. It's better than it used to be (8 advancers in Area G, but only 4 in Area C), but still could be better.

Front Ensemble Dude? Yeah I never learned how to march. Looks like Brett Kavanaugh's is the most contentious Supreme Court hearing of all time. I'm surprised anyone even responded anymore. Even I would probably shy away from this contentious subject. Anyway, I helped someone in calculus again. I've always marketed myself as a calculus tutor, but nobody ever latched on. Closest thing was helping my ex with precal and her little sister with algebra. Well today I was just helping a coworker. Felt weird to get back in the math game. Thank God I never have to do Calc 3 again. I'd never cried from studying until I took that class.

With the ratatouille soundtrack I suppose

Brandeis is the best UIL band in Northside right now. As for BOA, I thought they'd do better, but they just don't. I don't get it.

MacArthur looks pretty good this year. I won't be attending, but sounds fun. On a side note, NEISD games are way more fun than NISD games. I went to Reagan v Johnson this year and: Free hotdogs, a giant stadium, and a great Reagan performance. Unfortunately CTJ chose not to perform. Only thing is NEISD sure does choose weird names for their schools.

Did you forget Wagner in region 11?

Why can't Area H have just 1 more band? Not Cedar Park though; I want another spot for state, not one that's pretty much decided.

Right now, I can see Lake Travis taking that 5th place spot behind Westlake. I don't know if 5th will be enough to advance this year. NISD and SWISD added high schools but I don't think they're 6A yet. Of course it all depends on who is cleaner on that day. I don't wanna say Lake Travis has gone up a league just yet.

I was there to support Taft for Prelims. I second that placement announcements were terrible. I blame the announcer 50% for going slowly, but also why would only the top 3 be announced at finals? I think Taft got 4th just based on prelims placement, but I don't know for sure, and results aren't posted anywhere, so I just don't know. Anyway, congrats to Taft and Warren. Both bands did magnificently.

After BOA Austin, we can say O'Connor is back in consideration for finals. Also, I might have to predict Lake Travis a little higher than 9th. Warren also did pretty well at Capital City, besting Taft. I don't want to base what we will see at Area on these first competitions for these bands, but there may be some interesting developments.

I have my bias toward NISD, you have your bias toward Del Rio. 8th in prelims and 6th and finals at midland is for sure lower than I saw them. I predicted them in 3rd. Since it was a slightly less competitive year at Midland, I expected Del Rio to come out flying. Looking at last year, at Vista Ridge, Del Rio didn't make finals, whereas Taft and Brandeis both did. I don't call that bias, I call that history. Looking at two years ago at Area H (where Del Rio was "clearly the better band," knocking Taft out of finals by judges preference) Del Rio wasn't able to move up from 10th place between prelims and finals. There were two large gaps between bands: Between Vista Ridge's score and Brandeis's, and between Lake Travis's and Del Rio's. Just because I cheer for NISD the loudest doesn't mean I don't recognize problems. Stevens is never very clean and doesn't perform as maturely as other bands in their league despite being a level above everyone in show design. That's why they're a force to be reckoned with come Area, because then they are clean and mature. I don't have a personal vendetta for 2016. I'm sad about it, but I realize it was weakness in Taft 2016 that kept us back. I don't blame you guys for keeping me from performing at night. I'm just not convinced y'all have outgrown Stevens, Brandeis, Taft, Lake Travis, and Judson, or Westlake like some predictions have said.

I assume you're working with Mr. Solis! Since I love that guy and I'm biased, I won't share my opinion. Good luck though.

I just looked it up. Someone has already mashed up Total Eclipse of the Heart and Fur Elise on YouTube. Not exactly how I imagined it though.

I always wanna write a show but I just don't have the musical talent. Anyway, I thought it'd I'd make a post so we can all share what songs we'd play and what overall theme we'd write. So mine would be about rejection and obsession. There'd be a female guard member following a band member at the start. The band member would grab the guard member's hand and shake their head and the guard member would fall to the ground very dramatically. Then the show would start. Book 1 Für Elise by Beethoven Starts with just piano, joined in by rest of front ensemble, followed by several solos. Never going past the b section. Book 2 Stan by Eminem Female guard member picks up microphone and sings the intro. Transitions into band smoothly playing Every Breath you Take by The Police. Book 3 Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler mashed up with Für Elise. It feels like they'd fit well together. Female guard member sings along with band. At the "Every now and then I fall apart," it is very emotional and wins many awards. Show ends softly with single euphonium solo. Guard member reaches for soloist but fails in getting him. I'd call the show "Desire: Music for the Rejected." Post your own dream shows below

You're right. I happen to like Leander's shows a lot and I hope they'll get first, but realistically Vandergrift will win. Here's hoping for a non DFW band to win state.

Well with competition season starting, my predictions are: 1. Leander 2. Vandergrift 3.Vista Ridge 4. Westlake ---------------- 5.Judson 6.Stevens 7. Taft 8. Brandeis 9. Lake Travis 10. Del Rio Of course, 1st could be either of the top 2, and any of the 3 NISD schools I mentioned could be higher or lower. Judson has had some very good years lately. Warren I believe is a serious contender for finals, but after Dripping Springs, it doesn't seem like their drum line is at the level we're used to seeing.

Thank you to Mr. Lipman for a quick analysis of the show. We can all assume it has deeper meanings, but thank you for pointing us in the right direction. Please remember what this post started as before people began to be offended and angry: a discussion, a question, an interpretation. None of these are discouraged on the board as far as I know. If I behaved inappropriately, please message me and I will apologize. Perhaps civil discourse really is dead. No one who brought up the Trump interpretation insulted any of the kids performing. Quite the opposite actually. Johnson tops TMEA Region and Area lists, frequently contends for honor band, has set the standard for visual performance in Texas, and has won two BOA SA's with shows that have received nothing but praise. Everyone who brought up the Trump argument had that tight in their minds, knowing the kids were talented, and classy to top it off. You guys have raised America's finest and have reasons to be proud. With the exception of a few though, some parents connected to Johnson's name have visciously responded. Specifically that soap box comment. I'm gonna let whitewhing respond to that specifically, but wow. Like ctjbandmom said, it's International Peace Day. Let's take a chapter from her book and be kind.

Politics isn't new to the marching arts.This board has been getting way too offended by politics, and not even by specific beliefs, just the concept of politics in general. Controversy isn't inherently bad and it's largely how programs like Northmont Color Guard 1996 and Churchill 2008 (though this was also a really really good show) live on in people's memories. Once again, no one is doubting the kids are performing the heck out of this show. It's Johnson after all. Not a single person on this board has insulted anything within your childrens' control. We formally and most cordially apologize for interpreting art. We will never commit that sin again.

Nobody is shaming the band. The kids are taking what they get and performing it very well. There's a tweet going viral in the SA area that shows off how well they're playing. If they are taking the Trump angle (which I'll be honest is the best explanation I've heard so far) then it could be genuine or ironic. On the other side of the coin, Johnson might've chosen this theme to spark intense discussion in the band world.