packwick

wellll it's supposed to be a Maximus show, like the guy from Gladiator, right? would have preferred music that hews more closely to that image than Pines of Rome, which is an exuberant (and overused) piece of music. still, it's clearly a well-designed show with awesome performers that will do great this season once it's clean.

well certain POCs i could def concede. i don't think Carmel does as much tricky playing while marching as Hebron or Vandy, for example, esp w/ the fast musical passages that im unsure Carmel could do even standing still. but then in the macro, when Carmel's show picks up, there's sooo much going on at once that i think any band w/ an 8 hr rule would have trouble cleaning it. hence the 12+ hrs a week of practicing, or whatever it is lol. don't think they'd do more than 8 hrs if they didnt have to, unless the staff gets paid by the hour lol.

ppl get so salty about the rehearsal stuff, but i think the fact that TX bands keep up so well despite the obvious handicap is a big feather in their cap. so, if you look at stuff from multiple shows from tx and compare it to one Avon show, then there's no difference? lol. not sure that's a fair comparison. personally, i don't think the complexity or difficult gap is big, not as big as several yrs ago for sure, but im also hard pressed to think of a band out of tx that has the same degree of layering, detailing, simultaneous demands, advanced choreo, and world class guard skills in one package. and if Avon's and Carmel's vis programs weren't so special, they wouldn't be winning those captions constantly.

Carmel looks fine, tho i thought they were Brownsburg at first bc they have lots of the same set piece allll over the field. actually maaaybe more like P-land's guard show from last season w/ the half moons. doing lots of the same stuff w/ them, rocking them back and forth and tossing over them, etc. super detailed and layered visual program, creative, maybe a lil busy, musically similar to last few yrs where they just take a single piece and give you the full tour of it. guard is excellent, imma say 2nd place bc they're cleaner than Avon rn. band demonstrates strong control of the form for Sept. music could use work but sounds pretty typical for them at this point in the season. Brownsburg is strong, performers are outstanding, but very much feels like a standard Cartwright show. there just doesn't seem to be much motivation to try new things from this design team, bc this particular style keeps getting rewarded.

Reagan's show, which u can find on Hudl, is WILD!! it's a lil "all over the map" musically but it's super exciting too. HUGE opening statement, then the angel falls, perc gets a lil off-kilter and clunky, humorously, then it's just like pure aggression for several minutes. it's familiar in many ways but also stands out as prob the hardest show Reagan has done in many years. just gotta cleaaaaan.

can i just say that i love the voter registration psa on the banner? not germane to the discussion or really the forum but loved it!!

and maybe the ppl who think it has mattered for them at some point are a little... delulu?? i guess that's my point lol. i won't harp on it tho.

i understand wanting to keep the element of surprise, and that's fine, we don't need to see the shows before a comp, but the effect on judges is overstated. vandy wins constantly, and their shows are always all over the internet, starting w/ their May camps and continuing throughout the season. a quality show will always be rewarded, even if a judge has already seen it multiple times.

yesss, Castle is on an upswing, looks like. verry very impressive. may make a strong case for Nats finals again. Avon fab as always. was wondering what the Russian connection to Piet Mondrian is lol, but think they're just going for the feel of the music. could look a little more Mondriesque methinks but will wait until i see it from a better angle.

well it's certainly there in bits and pieces. and i would agree that the overall package seems stronger, or at least more appealing than Vandy's rn. very very early tho.

went to a video game and star wars heavy metal cover band concert last nite, catching up on foosball perfs now. the partial h-town report: cyfair every bit as good as last yr right now methinks, maaaybe even better? maybe maybe?? we'll have to wait and see. loving their music, all the texture, evocative. sara bareyrrealuss, or whatever her name is. this perc writing is pretty baller. vis ofc needs some cleaning but whose doesn't? think it looks cool tho. thinkin they could snag a 1st place mGE judge or two again at the Houston regionals like they did at west Houston last yr? maybe?? will be tough. woodlands pretty clean already. balance and tuning issues w/ the complex chord at the end of part one, but fairly locked in besides that. gotta say tho, this first minute and a half looks easy besides the guard, think the winds march + play for like 5 secs. takin' the Big Easy too close to heart maybe lol. leaves em a lil vulnerable in certain POCs methinks. hope the rest brings bigger moments, more excitement. guard already cleaner than 99% of guards get by end season, with the hardest book. buuut i also think the equipment choreo could be more w/ the character of the music, more of a loose, jazzy swagger. Bridgeland looks fab again, haven't heard the music. bet they sound pretty good tho. probably, right? pure eleganza in this drill!! eleganza!! guard still huge, not quiiiite as clean as they were last yr at this time, but i think wind was a factor, rifle toss height seemed weirdly low, like they adjusted it for weather maybe?? cause the spinning phrases still looked open class. both them and cy fair are possibly gettin consistent, late season finals worthy like Pearland, cool to see. Indy, here they come!!!

Harmonielehre!! always makes for an effective opening statement, just BAM. really enjoying both the music and the vis so far. not super amorphous but it's very appealing.

many of the ones w/ sound can be found in the live streams at fan.hudl.com, including reagan, ctj, and leander. coppell and maybe avon are on there too but u need a subscription for those. ain't payin for friggin hs marching band!! baka!!! (unless my dear ol mom is paying...) assistant director is on staff at BAC. ive been told one of their captains was on BAC's weapon line this past season also, maybe returned w/ some new skills. def get the feeling Cyndi watched some drum corps this year and was like, eh, we can probably do that.

yesssss, it's quite crazy!! they have through their ballad and the very first part of their closer on the field. maybe taking the classic ctj approach of getting it all out there asap. drill writer is meeting his deadlines, that's for sure lol.

loving cy-fair's music book!!! tryin to put that together mentally w/ the visual i saw.

ctj maybe has their full opener? seemed pretty lengthy, w/ huge tempo shift to a slower part in the middle, couldn't hear that part, prob a woodwind ensemble. cool arrangement of Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra. pumpin' out some major volume. look and sound is i think more similar to last yr than before. too early to know.

reagan still great. might even like it a little more than this time last yr. hard to judge the quality of music tho 'cause the audio was streamed through a potato, but look and feel and energy is similar. huge full field drill w/ lots of bodies and symmetry. fallen?? like a fallen angel, maybe? kinda celestial sounding, maybe some angle wings in that opening drill? opens w/ symphonie fantastique chimes, then gets quite poppy/Reaganesque, before Verdi requiem kicks in.

oh ive known what inspired the show for weeks now. my choice of words there was just to indicate that it matches the theme well, which is great!!

haven't missed a beat. another beast of a show. look at all that marching and playing!! 👀 almost like the 90s and early 00s. nostalgiaaaa... gonna be a hard one to clean, but they always get cleaner than i think they will.

woodlands show is cool. music had a jazzy promenade vibe, like a stroll down a street. visual - hard to tell w/ the camera w/in the 40s and a lot of the action outside of the 40s. maybe started partway in, not sure? no benches tonite. some interval issues w/ the drumline right away as they marched out to side 2, but overall solid from the winds/perc for a first show. guard: challenging skills don't even seem to challenge them much. freakishly clean for first show. loved the 6 or 7 into the ground w/ the rifle kick. i like that they've made it a little harder for me to tell when their phrases begin and end, something Avon and Carmel do very well, could still be a little bit "spinnier" as they travel to their next dot, like full 360 rotations as opposed to just kinda posing w/ the weapons. minor complaint tho, i mean they're so far beyond where they need to be for a field show quality-wise. gives the whole thing a sheen of visual clarity.

cywoods def always on my mind as a potential finalist. rn they're like a consistent semifinalist at SA. just gotta make that last big push. tough competition this yr for sure.

congrats Bloo on your first undefeated season and highest score yet!! congrats to the other finalists too. some pretty great stuff in the mix this year. recaps, only thing that kinda annoys me is no perfect 10 in content for BAC's guard. like, c'mon!! 9.9s again. but other than that things look fine. congrats to the BAC guard on the first undefeated guard season since before 2013!!

thinkin BA would have to have a preeetty significant drop off to place out of the top 5, unless cp or bridgeland are way better than they were last year. losing design team could be rough for BA tho. wondering who's gonna replace Wes for them. they prob can get anyone they want.

phantommmm over crown after semis!! judges are giving "the people" most of what they want this yr, it seems. crowd rxn to phantom will be wilddd tomorrow night. blooooo on top again in semis. boring result but well-earned. undefeated season incoming. vis prof judge was a lil stingy overall, kept Bloo's total score just below a 98. think my og premiere prediction of a 98.5ish in finals will end up accurate, tho if im the one judging VA, MA, or GE, id prob have Bloo 100 in what, 99 in how, assuming a performance that isn't really obviously worse than usual, or a competitor's perf that's way better. BAC preeetty solidly in 2nd, GE should keep them there. very likely will earn their highest score yet. their best show ever, so go figure. guard still undefeated i think. a guard hasn't had an undefeated season since before 2013, as far back as results go on the DCI site. even BD's 2014 guard was beaten at a contest in Indiana by Bloo. 99-99-99 from the judge in semis. might see a perfect 100 for BAC in finals. will say it again, best guard ive ever seen in DCI, like Pride of Cincinnati but on the field, esp when viewed up close. holy vocabulary!! perc obviously doing something right to be slaying also, but personally not a big fan of the perc writing overall. too intrusive to the fabric of the music, 2nd mvmnt drags again for me. prefer Bloo's approach to perc writing, more dynamic and textured, fits with the brass better. think it's more effective that way. devils are obviously amazing performers but the show never came together. looking forward to next year for them. hope 2025's vis program has more of that clarity and balance they're known for. wanna be able to "hang it on a wall" the way @Rubisco says. also hope they do a theme that's more left-field for them. no more simply picking an artist or art movement or art work! i forbid thee!! wondering if heads will roll at Cavies after this season. currently in 11th. feel like the design team should be given at least a couple chances before being guillotined, but ppl in this activity are quite impulsive, actually frequently quite nasty compared to, say, the color guard side of WGI. but that's a diff discussion LOL.

i hope so, i thought their price is right show last yr was great. made me smile from start to finish. must have quite a strong music program, too, to have come out over both woodlands schools at the area level in honor band this past cycle. ofc not quite the same thing as marching music, but should have at least a little bit of a correlation lol.