packwick

oooo, me likey. pretty freakin' polished. guard is super n'sync. i bet they place very well here based on the little i've seen. if i were fairy godmother for the day, tho, i'd snap my fingers and every band's front sideline flap things would disappear and their flat rectangular painted backdrops would all miraculously transform into pieces that are actually interesting and help create whatever 3D space the bands are trying to make. this core set design structure is so common these days it's starting to remind me of all the guard shows from the 80s and 90s with the ever present rectangles lining the perimeter. just my preference. easy way to distinguish yourself from the other bands too.

Oak Ridge was really good. looks like they had some sort of hot air balloon motif going on. Up, Up, and Away? was that it? spiral-y dresses like Broken Arrow 2013. i'm thiiinking strong finalist here. no frills drill + music. they do it well. they have a fabulous concert program. def one of those Houston groups i'm waiting to see burn up the marching scene. the talent is there, gotta make use of it. twhs is looking and sounding better. def feeling the energy now. the sound cuts right through, which is good. guard was like "we want our WGI costumes from last season, buuut in blue with fringe." def seems more screwball Austin Powers spy than James Bond spy. until the upcoming ballad i guess. cute little woodwind interlude. still waiting for some fast moving fire, less spirit show look, but the tradeoff is it's one of visually cleanest shows i've seen. guard deeefinitely helps, just so much cleaner and more together than the other guards. it pops upstairs.

i had to go over to the TMEA site to look up last year's flute and clarinet all-state results for Coppell and Westlake like a stalker. sometimes it's just flamingly obvious when you're listening to a top placing all-stater. aaand my suspicions were confirmed. both schools had top 10 performers with all or mostly seniors placing ahead of them. might not be them soloing, but proooobably.

Grand Oaks is doing the Batman theme, and it's giving me life. also, twhs' opening woodwind choreo.

the clarinet soloist for Westlake is amazing. like wow. one of the cleaner visual programs i've seen as well. brass sounds are a liiiittle thin at times, but the music is refreshingly different from most of what i've heard. more fun, less serious. this will be a good pairing w/ twhs' Mad Mod and Go. Cedar Ridge's show seems like they're going for a Broken Arrow style. drill = lots of isolated simpler shapes with a lot of flags around them. not quiiiite as interesting to me as BA's, go figure, but they're solid performers.

they do, but it's a big deal! very few bands are selected for it. def an honor. can be a nice change from the typical marching competition scene, which can be toxic. of course personally i always haaated parades. hahaha. actually i think the whole band might have. off topic, i just remember our director calling all the student leaders for a meeting and he was like, "i think maybe we're getting too wrapped up in competition and we should do what Kennesaw Mountain did and take a step back and not compete and do something like Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade instead." and we're like, "NOOO! f*** parades! we wanna do Grand Nats!" i'm projecting, but clearly our minds were warped by then. hahahaha.

yep yep, very Vanderkolff for sure. all those blocky lines and curvilinears. underlined lines as i call them. a surprising amount of single file lines too tho. hahahaha. Bach's Chaconne in D Minor is one of my favorite pieces, which helps. i guess technically not the original one but the piano arrangement.

oh they'll be up there for sure, maybe in 1st. they're definitely louder and projecting more energy than Vandy at least. but design? not quite convinced. Vandy's has more layers, more depth. Vista Ridge actually has the most interesting show of these Austin groups, musically and visually. buuut it's rather messy right now. diiificult for sure. the layering when it picks up the pace, during the clarinet solo etc. is faaabulous. super effective and in the contemporary style.

awwww, how uncharacteristically sweet of you. if only i were still demure. alas! i lost that circa 2015 after grad school. u can find it searching for CTJ band on YT and sorting by date.

dooon't think so. maybe one hiding in private? can we expect accurate late season predictions from you on Oct 1st again? juuuust curious.

their opening movement is straight up the best thing i've heard so far this season in terms of music performance. huge, rich, sonorous, controlled brass sound. great intonation, great clarity, dynamic. and that flute soloist is just awesome. that's Texas musicianship right there. scary thing is that they may not win music performance here given the competition. y'know, Hebron and such. hahaha.

still really liking CTJ's opener music. actually creative, unlike most music arrangements for band. like who else actually plays around with source music this significantly? Guidry and Saucedo for sure, but hard to think of others who do it so regularly. after watching the high cam the visual program is difficult to read, moreso than last year. not much is clicking right now in the opener. chaaallenging stuff for sure. wondering what shape they'll be in on October 1st. clean enough to overtake Reagan? they could be rewarded for the difficulty too, like i think they prooobably were at SA last year.

yes to all of this. supposedly got some interesting set pieces on the way. they're the frontrunner here imo, just like last year. would be fun to see an upset or some caption trading tho.

ah you're right. i see some isolated ponchos and umbrellas here and there. it was my first guess, i just didn't see any rain, + woodwinds.

Jordan packs quiiiite the punch for a somewhat smaller group. wow. was not expecting that. i absolutely love the energy. they're blasting away, but with pretty good technical accuracy. interesting bits of Metheny in the mix. i find Cy Fair's show pretty evocative. the contrast between the big, lush, sometimes angular brass and the more playful, delicate woodwinds is appealing for sure, in addition to all the dreamy percussion stuff. i wanna see this one from higher up. methinks twhs is already improving musically, if tonight's stream can be trusted. fewer unfocused stickouts, and they didn't fall apart at the tempo change w/ a metronome. hooray! ha. brass sounds quite good in parts, i like the very beginning the most. nice tones, nice blending, nice matching of the energy and articulations b/w the different voices. still could be bigger and more dramatic in those unison standstill moments, like the forte seems more like a mezzo forte, but making good sounds = 1st priority. no pit, odd, but at least i could tell what the drumline was trying to do after the first hit this time. still kinda hard to hear the woodwinds, but they seem to be doing a good job matching the brass stylistically. if you're gonna do a lot o' blocks, u need to make sure you're covered down. guard also needs to be more cognizant of intervals as they travel, as in the 3 rifle lines that move across from side 1. middle one in particular. tricky to mind your spacing as you're spinning rifles into the air i'm sure, but u gotta do it.

i like CTJ's opener music as well. interesting stuff, kinda like an Asian fusion. for some reason my mind went back to that classic Tae Bo moment in Reagan's 2002 show. hahaha. sounds kinda sorta classic Reagan, doesn't it?

yes, you are correct. my bad. it was Cinco Ranch.

ummm, hon, the correct term is definitely "flag soup." that's what i call it anyway.

agreeeed. both winds and percussion need some major polishing. winds need better blending, fewer heroes, and need to be more dynamic. design is.... i'll wait to see if all the fancy add ons help with the slow moving blockiness. hahahaha. def the show has character waiting to be unleashed. guard looks like they've even improved over last year, tosses at least seem consistently higher and trickier, but they aren't staged as effectively. not their fault. i hope they all make it work. it's very very very early. got my fingers crossed...

guard def not alone in that. i watched College Park last night and beside some dancing at the start of the show the guard walked from spot to spot. no equipment. maybe that's typical for a first show? dunno. first performances are hard to judge. i think Leander's aight. some issues but fixable especially this early. show is a little slow to start for my tastes, prob my main complaint. not everyone will feel that way tho.

darn this thread popping back up. i fell down another Center Grove hole. i think this is their '97 show. Joy. god i love it. filled w/ irony. seems like something i would do. when that girl runs out of breath and collapses during the big finish. hahahaha. love the petit allegro ballet part too. the rhapsody in blue one where everything is orange is pretty good too. hahahaha. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2EaUTDub6aQ

confirms what was discussed here. gotta invest in those middle school programs, especially when u can only practice 8 hours a week. one of the main reasons why Texas bands got so good. interesting that over a 3rd of the world guard was freshmen, compared to only 1 freshman in 2019. seems right. i also liked the bit about members using older members and Insta posts as models. watching some of the recent vids on their guard page i see them trying some Tarpon skills from last season and those scissor kick tosses. ideally they'd be creating some new ones too and putting equal effort into movement. c'moooon James Logan style double split leaps! they've got some exciting seasons ahead. maybe we'll see more guard investment across the state.

the drive, my dear, the drive! to hold you over. i fell down a 2005 hole a little bit ago searching for what i thought was Center Grove's CIA spy show. i had been saying "keep it a secret! keep it a secret!" in my head all day at work, it was bugging me. Conspiracy Theory, topical even today. about the FBI, my bad. the show concept and set design are friggin awesome though. the guard KILLED it. those facial expressions. hahaha. and when the flutes hold their instruments like rifles and do that military infiltration movement. hahahaha. kind of a subversive show, my taste. all the file cabinets, and the papers going up into the air at the end. god i knew i loved this one! this was the era DCI fans were flipping out over the single door in the Cadets show. they would have gone into cardiac arrest over this set design. hahahaha. "keep it a secret! keep it a secret!" the sound of band directors everywhere requesting you take down YouTube videos of their shows.

lemme add one more thing about my alma mater before i disappear. now that i know a little more about the show, i'm really pretty excited for this, the music selections are A LOT of fun but also meaty. def in Wayne Downey's wheelhouse as an arranger. ballad has the potential to be another spectacular moment that gets me on my feet like it did at Houston last year. so i've got my fingers crossed that they're able to execute, execute, execute and project that energy and excitement. guard will be awesome again. Instagram vids show that. large and in charge! or lorge and in chorge, as i say.

oh wow. everyone was FABULOUS. the top 10 all hitting 90 is a first i think. Phantom!!!! way to go! pushing toward the top of the bottom half as i thought! such a classy show with some really hummable tunes and clear drill. was never a big fan of that Cavies show, but it was waaaaay better than last time i saw it. gotta give em some credit for achieving that while overcoming COVID. and Bloo and Boston tying again?! what are the chances of that?! amazing! great comeback by Bloo. finally performed near the level of the design. all time best for Boston. i had a feeling about that one! and then the Devs, just an all around outstanding show. grips me right off the bat with the spooky soundscape and weird foreign voiceovers and the clothes going up into the air, followed by that brief fun cheesy Power Rangers rock, followed immediately by that slowed down, legato heroic brass stuff before the first big hit. they're constantly changing gears and it's so interesting. the visual is so clean and often very beautiful, like that curvaceous follow the leader with the rifles moving through it, just exquisite. super powerful brass sound. full, rich, exciting, emotional. well-deserved win. don't think it's an all-time best show, just a few too many reused Devs tropes for me and doesn't make 100% sense thematically, but still a great show.