DeepEllum

I think what they’re trying to say is that since this is a season that is 2 weeks longer, they are going to approach it differently than they would if their last competition was next weekend, meaning they will be attacking things from a slower growth rate with more intricate difficulties in hopes that it can peak at the right time. The runs themselves differing between prelims and finals has nothing to do with pacing, nor does the success of Marcus over Hebron in this competition, but the overall cleanliness (and the fact that Marcus’s show has been finished for a few weeks and, from the looks of it, Hebron’s still isn’t) between Marcus and Hebron, two difficult shows for two different reasons, can be attributed to a differing in season lengths as one of the variables.

I think this contest proves that Marcus is a force to be reckoned with. I also think this contest is not reflective of how Hebron will be at San Antonio. In fact I think it upped them in my rankings.

Oh silly me I was thinking of a different part. I know exactly what you’re talking about!! XD maybe they’re saving choreography for Nats? Who knows.

Rubisco, I just have to ask about Hebron’s visuals, because I agree that they seem to be moving less while playing this year, but when the woodwinds are doing their insane technical runs they were moving a lot more (and rhythmically more interestingly) than Flower Mound was during their’s from my viewpoint, so I’m wondering what about it made it seem static? Just the lack of actual marching or the visuals themselves? Also again, thank you Rubisco for your continued wonderful insight this year!

But will that be enough to top the musical intracacies and engagement that comes in the Vandegrift, Leander, Hebron, TWHS shows? Or the easy to get, fun CTJ show? I think it comes down to the style of judge. Will the music GE judge weigh crowd reaction more for their scores or weigh the connection with the theme and that effect more? Will they factor in the difficulty at all or will it lean more towards emotional appeals? Will they be a fan of that “Texas Loud”? Or a combo of everything? It’s these interpretations that can make a big difference for every competition, but the band that can be the most appealing should prevail. Interesting to see how these bands continue to refine their sound and add more effect in this last month of the season.

Hebron chose to only perform their opener and ballad because they have a percussion feature that would have put them right at the 8 minute mark and it didn’t make sense to end it on that. At least, so I’ve been told. Also keeps some secrecy.

Also, as someone who has talked to some alumni who has hear some stuff, Hebron’s closer is supposed to be their strongest, most impactful movement of the show. Interesting to see when they’ll perform it.

As someone who is close to the program—the directors at Hebron are very very keen on making sure nothing of the show gets leaked or revealed, sometimes meaning that even parents around the program aren’t completely filled in on everything either. Just like their uniforms, they are extremely traditional and that also applies to making sure their program members aren’t on band forums. I’m sure many of them still view us here though.

I’m not gonna make any predictions about placements yet, but every band seems to be on top of their game this year...so I predict we’ll break the BOA record for highest score this year. At least for sure highest finals score

Clovis has made me realize that more bands should have purple in their shows.

((We have a grand nationals thread.))

^I think Hebron could fall under that too. Or maybe moreso the Bills (losing 4 Super Bowls in a row and having to live in the same “district” as the ever winning Pats)

So if... Patriots= FloMo Seahawks = Reagan then Rams = Vista Ridge (rising out nowhere to stardom and relatively “young” (on the elite marching scene) but steadily getting better) Packers= The Woodlands (once super on top and still good but looking to return to their eliteness by switching it up this year (new head coach=sailor uniforms?) Eagles = CTJ (consistently good and capable of winning titles while also tending to be the best performers and capable of coming up with so many new things (philly special)) Cowboys = Marcus (they won a lot back in the day and they always seem to be doing really well and in finals and resurgent as of late) Who is Leander? Hebron? Vandy? Am I too off topic? Just cool to find parallels

I know Hebron performs at the game the night before so they will be on a bus overnight and then immediately have to do prelims. That’s how they’ve always done it to my knowledge

For those looking to make predictions... Each year since 2012, the winner of the San Antonio Super Regional has also won a regional that year. 2018- FloMo wins Bedford and SA 2017- CTJ wins Midland, Austin, and SA 2016- FloMo wins DFW and SA 2015- FloMo Wins DFW and SA 2014- CTJ wins Conroe and SA 2013- The Woodlands win Houston and SA 2012- Marcus wins DFW and SA 2011 was the last year the Super Regional Champion (LD Bell) didn’t win a regional but won the Super Regional. (It also happened in 2009, 2008, 2007...) Does this, so far, narrow our possible champions to Vandegrift, Reagan, and FloMo, if trends continue for how they have for a majority of this decade? Or will a nats band like Hebron, Leander, CTJ, or the Woodlands be significantly better by SA and break the streak?

I’m surprised that collision didn’t affect Hebron more, considering how exposed and demanding their drill is at that time, and somehow it fixed itself by the end of their first movement. Props to those kids to be able to recover as well as they did, not sure a lot of bands could do that. (And they kept playing the whole time too! Not a break in the sound). There were definitely mic issues during Hebron’s show and they just seemed a lot quieter in finals too. If a bad run by their standards still got them 2nd place, imagine what a good run could do...

Considering Hebron had a massive visual gaffe in their first movement ( looks like a prop set wrong and threw off some marchers pretty bad) and was just slightly weaker, I’m not worried about them being that behind

I knew it was intentionally dissonant but it wasn’t good sounding dissonance to me.

After visiting some parent previews last weekend and scrounging online, here’s my predictions for BOA Dallas. 1.) Flower Mound- FloMo is already extremely clean visually. Their music still needs some work but they already have (what I would assume is) their full show on the field. They also have top notch visual effects once again this year that works so well with their theme. One of their props even has sand falling down in it! Clean is the name of the game early on in the season and I think that will give FloMo the edge here. 2.) Hebron- Hebron’s show has got to be the best one they’ve produced since their last Grand Nats trip. The music is downright insane (and really quite clean for how early in the season it is) and their show theme is so straightforward and yet so impactful. This is the kind of show that makes you both uncontrollably elated yet uncontrollably sobbing at the same time. In addition, it’s also the hardest visual book they’ve brought to date. That being said, they are not as clean as Flower Mound visually and still have some things to iron out, but they could easily win this contest if they are cleaner come October 5th. I’m sure they’re playing the long game this season and are going to be a force at Nats. 3.) Keller- I think this is one of my favorite Keller shows to date. That opening hit they have is so rich and has to be one of my favorite hits this season. I love everything about Keller’s visuals and their props (big fan of the pit being on the field too). If they can be super clean at DFW, I expect them to medal and exceed everyone’s expectations. 4.) Marcus- Marcus is on track to being back to where they were in the Drinkwater Era. This show is so much more ambitious than last year and they are exceeding my expectations thus far. At HEB they closed to .1 of Keller, showing that they aren’t to be written off this year. It would not surprise me if they were able to steal a medal this year. Their props are also so cool—I love the book props, they’re such a neat idea. 5.) Waxahachie- I know this is a surprise having them above LD Bell, but I absolutely loved what I saw from a video from their HEB performance. Waxahachie has slowly been getting better every year and I think this is the year they break into the top 5. 6.) LD Bell 7.) Prosper 8.) Wakeland 9.) Coppell 10.) Timber Creek (no explanations for them as I haven’t seen their shows.) Captions: Music- Hebron Visual- Flower Mound GE- Flower Mound

Hebron will also be bussing to Grand Nationals this year (like they did in 2015). They don’t have money to afford charter flights.

Wow 86.3 is a very high score for September.

They’re Still presenting medallions to class champions.

With how unpredictable this contest has proven, it wouldn’t surprise me if CTJ was first by over a point or if they didn’t medal. It’s just that unpredictable.

Man, I thought Rouse was really solid musically, am I placing them too high? Idk, they’re my upset pick right now.

Vandy was really clean but after watching all of the bands, these are my predictions. Vista Ridge Vandegrift CTJ Leander Cedar Park Rouse Cedar Ridge Lake Travis Westwood James Bowie It’s extremely close between the top 2. Vandegrift could easily win based off their cleanliness but something feels special about Vista for me today.