Mmalpica9

Great job Vista Ridge, Vandegrift and Leander! Leander ISD is a powerhouse for TX marching band

Great Show Vista Ridge! It came throught beautifully.

Hi: I'm as well struggling to understand what your point is. I just watched Hendrickson 2015 "Lost" show and I think you are using the phrase "tightly copied" a little bit too liberally. Indeed they share the word "Lost", the compass and that's pretty much it (I couldn't find "Amazing Grace" on it but probably I need to re-check it). The drills, the pace, the emotions are very different and unique on each show. A good exercise could be to watch the shows back to back. About original ideas... stories are always talking the same ideas. This is the very concept of archetypes from Carl G. Jung. If you review the many shows you'll always will find similar stories: exploration, discovery, heroism, space, opposites, dreams, fears, struggle, conviction, circus, great classics, arabian, spanish, russian, etc. Just this year 2 shows talked about "Blueprints". Amazing Grace probably is one of the most used pieces of music on marching shows but the same can be said about other pieces like "Rhapsody in Blue" (most schools with a very good soloist will try this as Hendrickson did this year, this guy was amazing). Those are pieces that are natural generators of emotions. The important thing on marching band, in my opinion, is execution not originality. The very same piece can generate very different emotions if they are interpreted by different performers. The way one piece of music follows the next one also generate unique reactions. For instance, the great finale of Vista's show is not Amazing Grace but the return to the "Lost" theme in a triumphant way as a finish of a build up that started probably at the beginning of the ballad in the second movement. The way both bands told the story about being lost and back is very different. I wouldn't categorize bands for it's ability to create "original" shows (as I mentioned this claim is very hard to prove... however I believe "Iditarod" was a very fresh idea probably not too much explored in the past. I think your point in favor of originality clash with your opinion on Iditarod. It may have flaws in execution but I believe it was a pretty original idea) but I'd categorize them by their ability to generate new reactions using known elements. I saw the mountains of Iditarod show being re-used for one show on BoA San Antonio. This doesn't demerit the actual show given by the band. If a band has to buy a known show due to lack of resources, that does not demerit them. I'd judge them by their ability to take that and provide an amazing performance that will put emotions to the crowd. That will take them apart as Vista Ridge did on 2018.

The ability to put together winner shows year by year is far from boring... It is called consistency and I'd say mastery. These schools have been able to create programs that attract more students every year. Middle schoolers are counting the days until they can join their HS programs so the HS programs are well fed. Is not repetitive, is just a natural result of the efforts done over the period of years. I'm sure other school districts will arrive sooner or later, they just need to take the steps in the right direction

I actually didn't reviewed the results of the election until next day I didn't want anything to take me out of my state of elation from such a great competition.

There are two quotes from Randy Pausch's "the Last Lecture" that I think applies here: "The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people." and... "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted. " with 3 kids we have experienced all kind of situations on any kind of environments (the referee annulling a valid goal in state finals, a judge not noticing points scored in a tae kwon do sparring tournament or not making the dance team) they were powerful drawbacks that somehow defined their next steps... I guess eventually a video analytics program will be able to analyze a marching band and score it in the most un-biased way... I'm not sure if we would want that. Music is like food or other artistic activities... are subjective in nature. It sucks when the subjectivity affect us but this is the life of the artists... and all the kids marching this weekend, putting countless hours on practice... they are all artists. They'll be hurt, learn and come back stronger.

Great run for Vista Ridge... 4th. place in BOA and 6A State Champions! is incredible what this program has accomplished in just one year and they have set the bar high for next year. I'm betting they'll have a good go for BOA again

VISTA!!!!!!!!!!!

Amazing job Vista Ridge!

wow!!! great expectations for Vista! this is going to be an insane final!

There are not missing moments in Vista Ridge show... every part has a reason and support the next one. I love the passion these kids put into this show!!

Is FloSports broadcasting this?

Leander ISD schools are rocking! Ican't wait to see Vista Ridge tonight

Vista, Reagan, Hebron, Leander

Vista Ridge!!!! just fenomenal!!!