packwick

i think those judges would have to be preeeetty inexperienced (at the HS level at least) to not be able to tell, for the top bands anyway.

yeeeah Austin is staaaacked again, even w/o Origins. twhs A is also attending this one, since Houston doesn't have a regional anymore lol. Dayton list needs updating. some additionss is tarpon not doing any WGI this yr?? no Orlando, Tampa, southeast, or Dayton. kinda surprising. unless they've signed up for a fresh location and i just missed it.

blind contest attempt would be iiiinteresting, don't think it would end up being all that blind tho, at least at the top. actually don't even think it really works in tmea either, cause the reps are easily viewed. bands have very characteristic sounds and styles that are easy to pick up on, eeeven if the name of the band isn't suggested anywhere. i think if u blinded me on all the top tx bands this yr, id have no problem telling you who they are. likely true for many other ppl.

yessss, i remember that lol. not to single her out bc she often does nail it imo, but it is a good example of why doubling the effect panel could be a nice change for BOA!! a little less "luck of the draw" when it comes to panels.

could those bands dealing w/ the crappy times/football games get permission to have their middle schools or junior highs perform at the games instead?? while they travel to SA to check into the hotel the night before?? not sure districts allow that.

lol wut? don't all the TX bands that are nowhere near the top 6 at SA but then make Nat finals cast serious doubt on this? granted calling Nats a joke is stupid, but there's a kernel of truth to the latter part of that poster's statement, depending on the yr, and if those non finalist SA bands attend Nats in isolation as opposed to all at once, 'cause then they'd start giving each other the boot.

oh also i think w/ Reagan what we might maybe get is a woodlands '22 situation, w/ the new director + ppl not as gung ho about the show right away. then we get to late season, and bam, like, woah, this really came together!!

tbf, most bands' perfs are pretty "loose" right now LOL. also this show from Reagan seems waaaay harder than usual, going off my patchy memory. AND they had a director change!! Reagan's kinda sorta maybe reminds me of their 2005 show, the way it jumps around. kinda classic Reagan. maybe not as baked into the theme this yr, but at least all the melodies u hear one after another are "angelic", like Ave Maria and amazing grace.

yah, looks like United and Wylie East are in the same or similar boats w/ Friday games, others in the 1st block have Thurs games. heart goes out to em! gonna be a test of resilience.

just wanted to say that i finally watched bridgeland's show on YT, bad angle, but i really liked the music selections, pretty interesting. u can tell the millennials and younger gens are taking over in the design process based on all the Japanese anime/video game music we're getting these day lol. like, Escaflowne music?!

there should just be a pinned thread about GE at the top of every band forum lol. like, first, here are the manuals!!

i feel for em, aaand any of the other bands dealing w/ the same!! somebody has to get the short end of the stick every year. full day of school, football game done at like 10pm+, packing up, 3 1/2+ hour drive depending on how fast the buses go, then truck lot arrival time just before 6am for prelims. gonna have to try get a few hours of bus sleep methinks, only a couple extra hours of wiggle room in there. i wouldn't be able to sleep on a bus, not an easy sleeper. id just have to be a zombie for my prelims perf!! lolol. i have faith in them tho!!!

💯 still a lil concerned about woods' prelims perf time combined w/ the foozball game the night before, won't get much sleep, gonna be a rough 24 hours, but hopeful they'll pull thru.

all that said im thrilled p-land overcame a nearly 3 pt deficit in prelims to win in finals. like... slay! wish i had watched any of it.

some of these shifts tho.... wild, imo. even granting that these kiddos are not as consistent perf to perf as DCI performers. hope the boa SA participants get panels that are more locked in with each other for prelims.

personally i would have preferred more immediate praise for Cinco after they made finals as opposed to the wtfs, but even the ppl expressing surprise and saying they wanted Wylie E didn't really come across as haters to me. they just had a different opinion. when i think of hater i think more like the jealous ppl who pile on the Blue Devils every yr and say they're overrated or formulaic or whatever, the same ppl who refuse to clap for them.

i hope so!!! i think i said somewhere that they sounded like they'd do well on the old UIL system. w/ the new one, they seem to hire more BOA-type judges at the state level. ofc the sheets are different, but they still bring some of the same perspective w/ them.

they really did slay!!!

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.