packwick

ooof. well based on what i saw coming into the contest, Dawson in 11th is a surprise, thinking they must have been quite different at this contest. buuut i will say the collective judges' rankings of the 9 bands i saw live is literally perfect, exactly how i would have ranked them. haven't looked at recaps. thinking cyfair may have taken a couple judges from woodlands to only be a point off the top. pleasantly surprised to see tw crack 84. i was thinking 82 or 83. their scores are in line w/ last yr, despite clearly being behind schedule. will be eeeenteresting to see their show develop.

decided to drive up at the last minute, so i got to see Klein Oak to the end. none of the top 6 seemed out of place, tho i reeeeaaally wish i had gotten there in time to see Dawson. SFA and Tomball Memorial were both really really pleasant surprises. liked both of those quite a bit. woodlands will likely sweep again. i thought they were on a different level tonite. still some musical mud, esp w/ those tricky rhythms, but overall very strong. guard friggin killed it. that sequence of 12 7s at port w/ the partner spin in front was just nutty. nobody else can do that. kinda botched it in prelims, nailed it tonite.

college park in top 3, too!!! way to go!! thought Dawson might snag that 3rd spot. and frankly maybe even music perf, after watching a YT vid of woodlands' prelims performance. woodlands seems about a week behind their norm in both mus and vis execution. not bad, but not great, w/ some poorly blended sounds and rhythmic tearing. but then their content is ofc top shelf. i mean vis and GE were sure things.

Cinco Ranch!!! yaaasss, gurl, slayyy!!!

good luck to all the bands later today! ive got my niece's birthday, so i prob won't see any prelims, but might tune in for finals on flo!!

lolol. the shade of it all.

woodlands w/ a major glow up as well. really colorful this yr. too much gain on the mics tonite, unless they're suddenly overblowing way more lol. 1st part clearly getting cleaner. ballad is super duper cool, very Hebron-ish actually, when they do one of their cool ballads. can tell they just learned it tho, prob the dirtiest ensemble flags ive seen from them in years. even so, could be worse LOL. could also use more build-up into the tutti moments in the ballad, seemed kinda sudden. still waiting for some genuinely cool drill moments. like it's all high quality, just nothing wowing me yet, outside the guard.

didn't even recognize Tomball Memorial tonite. major glow up w/ the full set and costuming. feast indeed. looks like they'll be doing part of their closer.

round rock has been added in A and timber creek in open. no origins at all is really sad, no tarpon either, but looking forward to pride of cincinnati's return.

lol well my own reasons are that im picky with them. caaan't speak for others, but i think it may have to do w/ not being as musically dazzling, at least from a number of notes perspective. they don't just throw woodwind runs in for the sake of having them, for example. also the things they have been good at the last few years are less well-understood by general fans than by judges, like the entire visual side of things and some aspects of the music sheets.

i think it's possible, not in love w/ their show yet, but it won't likely be cedar ridge that gives them the boot from the "top 5." drill so far seems closer to 2022/pre-pandemic levels than 2023 for twhs, not quite as compelling. i like the music a lil more than '23 so far tho, bc they're availing themselves of the color of the woodwinds more. takes me different places. having the best ever guard will likely elevate their vis scores, too.

the top of panel 1 is yiiiikes. entire top 3 from last yr is on it, plus FloMo, Reagan, and Pearland, all of whom look like potential top halfer finalists this yr if they can get their shows clean. Hebron will be an easy 1st place for panel 2 methinks. panels might be more even in terms of overall finalist split, but im having trouble seeing that too. but then the way that the system is set up will force some parity.

are they all gonna get to eat at Tris??? lol. maybe i shouldn't plant that idea bc it's expensive. but it is maaaaybe the best restaurant in the entire Houston area, which is saying a lot bc H-town has a fabulous food scene. i lived in NYC, and in my experience Houston's food is *gasp* better!! 👀

judges/general commenters have been announced for this. Chris Alexander - currently on Phantom Regiment visual staff, previous caption head for SCV Dena Anderson - longtime T&P judge, previous contest coordinator for WGI and TCGC. also has worked w/ bands in the area Jay Bocook - composer and arranger, famous for work w/ Cadets. director of athletic bands at Furman University Josh Brenneis - previous visual caption manager for Cadets, visual designer for STRYKE Wynds, visual instructor w/ SCV Curtis Costanza - longtime BOA, DCI, and WGI judge. currently the chief judge of WGI Dave Glyde - music director and arranger for the Blue Devils KC Michel - previous visual coordinator for Phantom Regiment and Madison Scouts. taught high school guard at Pomona and Westfield Seth Murphy - previous brass caption head at Pacific Crest Michael Raiford - scenic and costume designer, currently with Bluecoats. has worked with many, many others, including Fantasia winter guard Ray Ulibarri - longtime percussion arranger and teacher for many programs, including Crossmen and Ronald Reagan HS

this clear brook show has some really cool moments in it, also their guard is a cut above most. when i heard The Thing tho i was thinking more like the John Carpenter horror film The Thing, and im not really getting that, so im wondering if it's some other Thing. really, im just waitin' for the spider head to crawl across the field...

imma rework these silly band arguments into LSAT prep for my students lolol. decided to add that test to my rep recently (after getting yet another perfect score to add to my collection, wut wut). Kopek Band Student: The only reason Nancy High School band beat us at the Texas Marching Band Classic is because it was too hot, and we didn't have time to prepare. Nancy Band Student: Nonsense. We live in the same area, and it was every bit as hot for us. Nancy Band Student's response to the Kopek Band Student is flawed in that it... (answer choices) and then the correct answer choice would be something like, overlooks the possibility that not all band directors are willing to rehearse their bands in the same weather. ugh i love it.

results look fine. Vandy win has been obvious. the only change i would have made would be Rouse over Cedar Park. recaps up. looks like Rouse was indeed 2nd in effect, tied w/ CP in vis, but then lost to CP by too much in music perf. judging upstairs vis, i don't think i would have scored anything higher than an 82, maybe 83. in agreement w/ Jackie on that tonite. def some room for growth there. ofc the awful wind didn't help. those poor flag girls!!

i love how CR somehow managed to turn Wrecking Ball into a lovely ballad. that alone is worth the price of admission!! def a step up overall for them this year.

leander's music has sooo much personality. stands out from your usual marching band book. i feel like they always have such fabulous brass soloists, too. those pitch bends, ugh, i love them. def some room for growth in the visual, i want them to get that half of the show as cool as the music.

staaaahp. lol. u shut yer mouth. vandy clearly tries to make up for the challenge by having pre-2010 levels of marching and playing, which works for them.

yesssss and Westlake in top half!! don't underestimate what a great guard can do for your vis program!! not to mention all the other great things the band does.

no surprises yet. watched cedar ridge last night, and they look waaay better than last year, emphasis on look. guard is def on an upward swing too. congrats to all the class champs.

they might!!! they have a great show this season. although i become less convinced of this the more of woodlands' show that i see and hear. just saw a fab hicam of them from TexanLive!! endzone to endzone shot, and they're dominating the full space of it. def woodlands is behind in the amount they have publicly fielded (yet again), also the use of metronome + out of step marchers in the opener isn't a great look, but i strongly suspect their content scores will be... quite big. visual content alone will be hard to top.

returning to this after watching Dawson. they should prooobably be top 5 here, w/ the caveat i have a few left to see. the music is very technically accurate again. easy to hear why they won 6A honor band. seems like a show that would do well in UIL, if they still hired ancient TX band directors for judges as opposed to the out-of-state BOA/DCI guys that they now hire lol. musicality and GE-related stuff could still put a damper on those scores. they sounded quite good last yr too, but only Dave and Bryan rewarded them for it early season. speaking of, the judging here last yr wasssss... awful. super inconsistent, lots of box disagreements. if im gonna be a lil snarky, ill tell u i could see it coming based on who was judging. 👀 Richard being the chief judge will hopefully help a little, he's experienced and successful enough that i feel like the other judges will really reconsider their scores when he asks them to.

was wondering why they didn't just do Roman Festivals, which was the s*** back when i was 12, and is a lil darker and more aggressive than pines. now im watching again and realizing they ARE playing Roman Festivals lmao. oopsie. the backfield trumpet lick at the end of the ballad during that lovely flute and clarinet duet. great arranging there.