BlueCircle

Hebron - Band looks ABSOLUTELY MASSIVE on the field, holy crap. Contemplative opening set...almost like looking at the stars and seeing the stories of all the constellations. The opening is so innocent and beautiful...about to change lol. Cool opening drill and great sounds. WOW MELLOS. Props now inching in from the side. Front ensemble killing it. Everything really blends together color wise. TRUMPETS, FULL BRASS. AAAAA BLUE FIRE. CRAZY TONGUING. love the percussion book. Idk if the ballad does it for me musically.... Ugh the percussion book is so creative. Ugh Hebron was so good I reallllllly want that to win tonight.

Forney - what a cool opener!!! WOW guard! Trumpets!!! Forney surprised me in every way, what a show for them!!! I couldn’t look away.

Liberty’s props look like air pods...

Trinity - Some good old Festive Overture! Some really nice playing throughout! The visual design is extremely simple. Cool drill moments and they are clean! Great job Trinity and I think they can be pushed with a harder visual package because it’s being performed so well already.

I was going to watch some replays during the break to catch visual moments I missed but they only have 6 seconds of Keller’s show in the replay

Waxahachie - love the show title. I think we’ll be seeing a lot of panache in their music playing! It’s already so fun with that piano!! I love their almost dreamy flute solo. The gorgeous piano returns for the ballad. Waxahachie is going all out on this jazz! Waxahachie wasn’t as clean as Wakeland but the demand certainly makes up for it, there’s a really good chance we’ll see both in finals tonight.

I definitely see Wakeland in finals! Just a super well rounded show.

Wakeland - I was focusing on the guard the whole time, they are really good. Wow Wakeland really exceeded my expectations, I think we’ll see them tonight.

Keller- I’m biased so here are my probably biased thoughts. I think the props are a little cheesy but they do add color and tell a story. Usually not a fan of voice overs but I actually really like how they used the voices of the drum majors and soloists and not just some random person. Love the field coverage at the beginning. every moment is presented so clearly visually and musically. I really like how the ballad starts off small (musically and visually) and then grows and grows to become absolutely massive. They are using the space at the front of the field so much and in such an effective way. The high cam misses some stuff happening all the way in the end zones with some sabers in the ballad. I think the pit placement isn’t meshing well with FLO’s audio placement so things sound a bit weird in the pit. Too bad Hebron will overshadow any other musical performance today because Keller plays extremely well. And I thought they gave a really impressive visual performance too.

No one will know till after all of the region contests.

I think it’s odd considering they moved Keller to #13 on the top 32 and kept Marcus at #16. I think they are just anticipating some surprises...

I’m excited to see how things play out between Hebron vs FloMo and Keller vs Marcus. I’m hoping that Hebron can prove themselves from last years technical difficulty disaster.

Hopefully, because <5 minutes at the end of September is really strange.

I believe they were exhibition for a competition.

There’s a pretty good video of Owasso out there (very high quality but the angle is not great). It’s from this past Saturday. Less than 5 minutes of the show on the field (or only performed less than 5 minutes) but still concerning. The show is pretty good and the guard really stood out to me. I could maybe see them in finals but that super short show length is a huge problem.

The Woodlands’ BOA season is about a month longer than Seven Lakes this year. Seven Lakes could beat TWHS if they have a really competitive show that can peak really early, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

There’s about 3 minutes of clips out there. Some cool brass moments.

When I went to nats In 2015 we bussed.

I know the students will be extremely motivated and hard working. They have a lot of talent built up over the years. I wish them the best.

I hope you are right but realistically I see Vista running away with it. I would be surprised if Timber’s new staff gave them a show as competitive as last year.

I heard something about a staff change. They still played with confident sounds but it was overall a messy performance probably caused by mediocre design and leadership.

I noticed that too. The person that made that obviously didn’t understand Texas cities!

Regarding money, I thought this was REALLY interesting. https://twitter.com/momentsboa/status/1177591716083167232?s=21

I’m excited that the weather (so far) is looking good and there will hopefully be finals this year! It’s looking to be just as hot as last year so maybe those really early performance slots for some of the usual finalists will be a good thing. Just some thoughts from a week out: I expect to see the usual top contenders round out the top half this year. FloMo, Hebron, Keller, Marcus, and LD Bell. All 5 Bands made SA Super Regional Finals so it’s hard to bet against any of them being in the top half. I saw an early video of FloMo before it got taken down and no surprises there. Super clean, clear visual focus, and especially fantastic weapon work. Love the call back to Surreal (possibly my favorite show of all time) I saw an early video of Hebron that was very low quality. The band is MASSIVE. They’ve got to have the most winds on the field of any AAAA BOA Texas band. Again, no surprises here. The theme is extremely straightforward and they mainly focus on their insane music and visual capabilities. I’m biased towards Keller but I have seen high quality videos so I can give some objective information. They seem cleaner earlier than they were last year (probably due to no rain and no Macy’s preparation). The show (design wise) was very incomplete at HEB (unfinished props, flags, etc.). This show is very “Keller” and they certainly know it. They seem to get a step better every year. I haven’t seen Marcus’s show but I am very excited to (at least online through FLO ). Marcus is one of my favorite bands and are just so respectable. Based on HEB results (which I know are not entirely indicative of BOA results), they should have a strong showing. The only piece of LD Bell I’ve seen is an indoor stand still music run of the whole show. They definitely seem to be “break[ing] away” from their reputation a little this year. The guard has a rifle line this year! The music has tons of power and volume but not as much exposed playing or demand as I would like. Bell tends to get the full show out there by this competition and that could give them a competitive advantage to challenge for a medal if it is clean enough. I see Waxahachie, Prosper, Wakeland, and Coppell probably taking spots in the bottom half. Timber and Owasso are wild cards but could very well be in finals as well as Keller Central. Aledo and Forney did well at HEB but those results don’t always correlate to BOA. Trinity could also be a surprise finalist here. The bubble is always pretty big and unpredictable. Cedar Park and Union aren’t returning this year BUT Marcus and Owasso kind-of fill those roles.

Marcus really closed the gap in finals! Keller was almost 1.5 points ahead in prelims. Can’t wait for BOA DFW.