Raydurs

L.D. Bell Band’s History (based on notable statistics) First Division Ratings at UIL since 1959 (61 years as of now!) 1988: FIRST 5A State Appearance 1991: 6th BOA FW 1992: 3rd BOA Denton 1995: 7th BOA SA 1996: 5A State Prelims 1997: 5th BOA Houston 1998: 3rd BOA Houston, 5A State Prelims 1999: Courage and Honor - 2nd BOA SA 2000: King of Kings - 5A State Champs, BOA SA Champs, BOA Houston Champs 2001: Exodus - 4th & First BOA GN Appearance, BOA SA Champs, BOA DFW Champs 2002: Binary Systems - 2nd 5A State, 2nd BOA SA, BOA DFW Champs 2003: Convergence - 5th BOA GN, 2nd BOA SA (Now Super-Regional), 2nd BOA DFW 2004: Blue - 5A State Champs, BOA STL Champs, BOA DFW Champs (Finals canceled) 2005: Ascension: Light of Gold - 3rd BOA GN, 4th BOA DFW //Start of Trilogy 2006: The Remaining - 2nd BOA GN, 2nd 5A State, BOA SA Champs, BOA DFW Champs 2007: Transcendents - BOA GN Champs, 2nd BOA SA (thank you marcus), 2nd BOA DFW //End of Trilogy 2008: The Quest - 2nd BOA GN, 2nd 5A State, BOA SA Champs, BOA Pearland Champs 2009: Prayer for Light - 2nd BOA GN, BOA SA Champs, BOA DFW Champs 2010: Honor We Remember - 3rd BOA GN, 2nd 5A State, 2nd BOA SA, BOA DFW Champs 2011: The Circle’s Edge - BOA SA Champs, 2nd BOA DFW, 2nd BOA Houston 2012: This Bitter Earth - 3rd 5A State, 3rd BOA SA, 2nd BOA STL, 3rd BOA DFW 2013: Siren Song - 10th BOA GN (Last GN Appearance), 9th BOA SA, 4th BOA DFW 2014: Vertical Meditations - 8th BOA SA, 5th BOA DFW [Became 6A, No State Appearance] 2015: Immortal - 2nd BOA Atlanta, 5th BOA DFW 2016: Beyond the Veil - 9th 6A State (Last State Appearance), 4th BOA DFW 2017: Dawn of Life: 15th BOA SA (thanks avon), 4th BOA DFW 2018: Wherever You May Go - 14th BOA SA, 5th BOA DFW 2019: Break Away - 10th BOA SA, 3rd BOA STL, 5th BOA DFW 2021: Hold Fast to Dreams: 6th UIL Area B (thanks uil), 6th BOA DFW [Covid Recovery Year] 2022: The Renewal - Awaiting BOA DFW, STL, SA, and UIL!

bell confirmed and hosting 😈

Confirmed attending: L.D. Bell

CONFIRMED: L.D. Bell, TX

Bell seems like they're taking a new step. Very excited for them this coming year, especially with the contests they will be doing.

so help me god if bell doesn't make state again. hopefully those poor kids [especially the seniors] don't have to go through what their seniors had to go through in 2018.

Here's my take on what happened (congrats to everyone) 1. FloMo: deserved and everyone saw it coming (congrats on the 3-peat, just don't choke late season). was so surprised to see more of the show and MAN. THIS IS GONNA BE AMAZING AT NATS 2. Hebron: music was a given, didn't get to watch it but i'd assume it was great. (as reflected with scores) area c will be a tough one [on a random note: i was in the lot with ld bell as hebron was on the field. LET ME TELL YOU THEY WERE SO LOUD AND I COULD AUDIBLY HEAR THE ARTICULATION FROM THE LOT. THAT WAS JUST SPECTACULAR] 3. Marcus: that horn player was legendary. and LOUD MARCUS? HUH? AND THEN THE VISUAL CLEANLINESS HOLY 4. Keller: they clearly stepped up since heb. a lot of improvement has definitely paid off. 5. Coppell: interesting show idea. cool mandies/vista prop; though, it's implementation in the show could be better 6. L.D. Bell: they just need to clean more and get their closer on the field. had they did, i would've had them much higher but great job to the kids. [also, finals run was much better than prelims according to the kids. leave it up to the performers to say about it.] there's a lot of room for improvement for this group and hopefully, it will pay off by area 7. Wakeland: boa judging WTF. 8. Carroll: man. rip music scores. but i still love them either way 9. Timber Creek: man. same thing with carroll but the visuals... man. 10. Lone Star: boa judging WTF part 2. also rip music scores (deserved higher imo) 11. Forney: great performance! and also shoutout to micah [the wheelchair trumpet player] and tomoki [the blind flute player] 12. Aledo: boa judging WTF part 3.

Bell in top 6 ?

Sorry folks. just went over this again and completely forgot to add Keller; thought I italicized it. Entirely my fault, before y'all Keller fans hang me. I'll assume they'll have the full show on the field by Area but judging from what I saw at HEB Marching: they didn't have a ballad on the field yet and the run was alright. I'm sure they'll greatly improve from then and soon. Again, it is still early-mid season. Nonetheless, this area is too much of a brain game to talk about. [imagine talking about area d and area i] *Here's something to note: Carroll pretty much has their entire show on the field, all they gotta do is clean. They've also gotten a lot better in recent years.

I'm sure they'll allow you to bring only water into the stadium.. not 100% positive on that.

That's definitely the toughest part to predict DFW with. My only problem with Flower Mound is that they might have a visually dirty performance over Hebron. And then music is expected to be handed to Hebron, and trust me I'll lose my marbles if a show that insane doesn't win that caption. Though their show is "incomplete" in your words, they definitely have more than Flower Mound, from what we saw at Wylie, and what I heard about at the FloMo v. Hebron game. This is definitely a step up from Vitrify, in terms of music, visuals, and GE (which is going to be their biggest advantage).

Agreed, this contest will us a lot on how these bands will perform in the following weeks leading up to the grand slam at Area, State, San Antonio, and Nationals. Very excited to see how Marcus and Flower Mound will do, praying that they will represent us very high at Nationals!

Saw a glimpse of what the closer should look like. I'm very excited for them. They're likely make state in Area C, given what we've seen so far and who's making it here. Again, depends on cleanliness and so far, Prosper has been doing a great job at that.

Thanks for the insight! Hoping to see more Houston area representation at SA Finals, or at least making it pretty high this season!

good intentions, bad execution. birdville 2021's show is even worse. design wise**

Perhaps... they're doing pretty good this season. I'm expecting them to win Lone Star Preview. Then again, this season has been chaotic for everyone. Hoping the 2nd place (82.70) at Conroe will translate to hopefully clutching finals at SA. Will be exciting to see them too!

Potential Finalists (no order): Martin, Bell, Coppell, Duncanville, Waxahachie, Timber Creek, Keller Central, Haltom, Carroll, Lake Ridge?, Berkner Not sure about Berkner but they could make it. Didn't even know Lake Ridge was 6A but they have an interesting show this year. If they work hard and make the show look clean, I think they'll make finals. Only question is... who's gonna make state? The max that Area B can take is 7 but realistically, would be 5-6. Potential state representatives: (italicized = most likely) Coppell, Keller, Duncanville, Waxahachie, Bell (if they can't make state in their own house. hecc uil), Timber Creek, Haltom, and Carroll. Hoping that every band makes a 1 at region so... and the fact that this contest will be also difficult to judge because UIL judging is just bad. Only a miracle and legendary performance can happen at Pennington Field...

This contest is going to be the most difficult contest to predict. If you're looking into doing so, wait until BOA DFW and TMC for happen for early predictions. For the most accurate, wait until Area and after BOA Waco. Potential finalists (No order): Reagan, Vandy, CTJ, Vista Ridge, Woodlands, Marcus, Hebron, Cedar Ridge, Cedar Park, Pearland, James Bowie, Round Rock, Seven Lakes, Leander, Rouse, Waxahachie????[chances are slim b/c uil moment], and Keller?? This will be toughest competition for anyone competing.

and that's a lock for stl. probably will place higher than carroll and MAYBE coppell.

"Fearless" but just the closer. ??

Their uniforms are so cool. Ignore what people say about the smiles, their show is so wholesome. BUT THEIR CAPES. THE COOLEST PART. AND THEN THEIR CHEESE PROPS. Also I got to see and touch the cheese up close before finals. [I probably gave them good luck... just kidding unless]

As we become closer to the biggest competition in the DFW area so far, my scouting crew and intelligence team have allowed me to change what rankings we could possibly see this Saturday. 1. Hebron/FloMo: same reason as before. their visuals are getting better for typical hebron! music is insane. their part 4 music >>> but the props tho! 2. Marcus/FloMo: they're so clean, musically and visually. but they'll make 2nd on the conditions if the judges lean more on cleanliness rather than ge. so happy to watch them sweep heb marching, congrats marcus! cool props, great musicality, the show design is typical marcus. 3. FloMo/Marcus: same reason as before. g.e. is insane so expect them to win in this caption. you want to listen to this live and from the 50. they are LOUD. This show is so fun. Hoping FloMo will have a great run. 4. Wakeland: Dear Wakeland kids, I'm so sorry for putting y'all so low. That HEB performance was AMAZING AND CLEAN! I'm absolutely so excited for all of you! 2021 5A State will be INTERESTING! It's honestly up in the air and the top contenders right now is Wakeland and Cedar Park. 5. L.D. Bell: Trust me. I'm begging you, give Bell a chance. I've heard rumors about Bell's performance at HEB Marching and what the judges said about it... give 'em a chance, even if it's a "recovery year". Oh yeah, how about that TROMBONE SOLOIST? 6. Coppell: Honestly the toughest placement between Coppell and Bell but this show is interesting. Saw a rehearsal recording and they look honestly alright! Classic Coppell drill design, and musicality. The staff change has not impacted them too much in my opinion, that Coppell energy still feels the same. 7. Keller: Depends if they wanna be good or bad. Also one thing to consider, their entire show is not on the field yet. Their GE is gonna be hard to determine this year. Great performance at HEB Marching! 8. Waxahachie: Still haven't heard anything about how they are at the moment. I've heard the show music and sort of idea but I honestly don't know how they will do... 6A Area B will be quite interesting... [this is also a uil-based show in my opinion, from a show design on the outside perspective] 9. Southlake Carroll: I honestly thought they would score much higher at HEB Marching after Mansfield POC but the judges said otherwise. I hope they can make finals here, especially with how competitive this contest is this year. Definitely a finals lock for STL. Still in love with that ballad. 10. Timber Creek: Big surprise at HEB Marching. Their show is interesting and I hope the best for this program. 11. Keller Central: BOA Conroe and then HEB Marching. Their prelims run was quite weird with the restart... but that opener was cool! I'm excited to see how they will do this year. Best of luck to Keller Central! 12. Aledo: What even is this show, from what it is overall. These kids are great, they sound incredible and march pretty well! But this show... are you serious? "Walk Like an Egyptian" in the show... are you serious? Who's idea was it to put this in the show! But that Imogen Heap part, cool arrangement but... why are the woodwinds playing that little part instead of the brass..? Come on man! 13. James Martin: hard to place them in terms of the previous DFW contests... Mansfield POC scores were absolutely scuffed. They still got lots of things to work on but DFW is gonna be pretty difficult for them to make finals, unless they've fixed a ton of their major problems I mentioned like a week or so before. I'm praying for a miracle for them to make it. 14. Haltom: yeah haltom. they sound okay and look okay. their show is easy to clean but the show isn't as difficult as 2019 in my opinion. you can read my rant above but i think their music and visual scores will be alright. could possibly place higher. 15. Lone Star 16. BCent 17. PESH Captions: Hebron: music 100% Marcus: visual FloMo: general effect 100% 4A Champs: Hebron/FloMo???? 3A Champs: Wakeland and you can't change my mind. 2A Champs: Forney (I think they're 2A not clue) 1A Champs: KRUM I don't know where to put everyone else, and I will apologize for that. My "rankings" are probably very inaccurate but this season has been very difficult to predict. Best of luck to everyone competing in my home stadium. All I wanna say is, with what I've seen so far. I wish I could change my predictions right now. And dear Prosper, y'all should've signed up for this. Would've been great to see y'all again. I absolutely love the ballad solos and this show overall! <-accurate representation of my face after watching prosper

So proud of you guys! Was really hoping y'all could make finals, and did more than what I had originally expected! I love hearing y'all's arrangement of "Fly to Paradise" live! Such an incredible show to watch!

Think of it this way: it's "Year of the Dragon", except it's not even the year of the dragon [it's the ox this year]. The show is a Chinese themed show, and the props are pretty much a generalized and stereotypical Chinese/oriental design. In fact the props AREN'T EVEN CHINESE; THEY'RE JAPANESE TORIIS WITH A DRAGON THROWN ON TOP OF IT. The music isn't even close to Asian, from what I've heard so far. The uniforms are with the Chinese theming too, which literally looks like this [minus the scroll]. And then the guard uniform's look like the Cobra Kai logo, replacing the cobra with a dragon of course. And you can see why someone can possibly be offended with this show design. I am well aware that Haltom has a good number of Asian students, most notably Southeast Asians (Laos, Thai, Cambodian, and Vietnamese), but I'm not sure if this is the best way to represent them. You could possibly argue the same thing with their 2019's show.

My personal take on Team Texas rankings: This is all based on recordings, music I've seen, the contests we've seen so far, and what would generally be expected, as well as expecting for Nationals to go ballistic over "GE". This will definitely change as soon as we get later into the season. Reagan: absolutely cracked. nothing else. just cracked. CTJ: what can i say, those judges will lose their minds when they see how the opposites attract. their props are so cool but the music is throwing me off so much LOL. not the biggest fan of their arrangement style but hey they'll probably go crazy at nats Woodlands: will probably be a fan favorite show? great job at conroe guys! Flower Mound: the most fun show you'll see. guard sousa props woo! go tubas! Vista Ridge: the balls. i really do not like the e.t. music but hey it's vista! they could possibly go above flomo. Marcus: if they do more with props imo, judges would go crazy over this. they could maybe be placed higher just because of music scores. i expect marcus to definitely do better than flomo in music. Round Rock: yeah no comments about this. i really don't know what to say. great job at austin guys!