Dave609

with that, the preliminary round of BOA McAllen! I really enjoyed all the bands that performed today and can't wait to see who advances to finals! Below you will see my personal rankings of all bands (remember, this is my opinion and doesn't reflect the actual results)- Roma John B. Alexander Edinburg North Edinburg Los Fresnos Robert Vela PSJA Harlingen South Del Rio Sharyland Pioneer Valley View Rio Grande City Harlingen RGC: Grulla James Pace Economedes McAllen Memorial Glady's Porter McAllen McAllen Nikki Rowe Santa Rosa (could see them placing a bit higher) thank you to all the bands today and see ya'll at the rewards portion!

Roma HS- Nox Immortalis The final school of the day and the reigning BOA McAllen champion, let's end the preliminary competition right! Best of luck Roma HS! Great job to the soloist who opened the show. HELLO ROMA!!! Roma is here and they are letting everyone know! Great marching techniques! The woodwinds sound great and blended together very well. The brass sound's fantastic and are help mesh the wall of sound together with the woodwinds. Their spatial awareness is really good and shows why this band was a state finalist last year. The musical selection is very good. Great job to the flute soloist! The slow movement sounded fantastic! Them and John B. Alexander have a wall of sound that is SOOO good! I could see them take the win again this year. AMAZING job Roma HS!!!

Hidalgo Valley View HS- Mambo Great first hit in the opener! Great marching techniques and they sound well balanced. Love that they are using contra's. Also fantastic job to the trombone soloist and the guitarist! The flute soloist sounded fantastic and the build up to the big moment in the slow movement was executed well! I could see this band be a potential state qualifier in 4A Area E this year. The guitar/drum line moment sounded really good. Great job to the trumpet soloist as well! They have a really good wall of sound and utilize it well throughout the show. Hope they make finals! Amazing performance Valley View HS!

Santa Rosa HS- Desperado The smallest band of the day, best of luck Santa Rosa!! They brought out a wooden guitar for the opener, and I love that! Great job to the trumpet soloist! I'm really enjoying the music selection for their show! Great musical balance throughout the band. The spacing is also looking decent. I will say though that the electrical guitar seems to be louder than the rest of the band. I could see them sneak into a state spot in 3A. Overall, nice performance Santa Rosa HS!

John B. Alexander HS- Beyond the Break Great first hit from John B. Alexander! They sound fantastic! The sound balance is great and each instrument doesn't seem to be out of place in the sound. Their marching set's look amazing, especially for how early in the season we are, and the spacing awareness is great! I love that the big circle prop they have breaks into multiple pieces throughout the show. Their wall of sound is amazing! Fantastic job to all the soloists!! AMAZING Job to the John B. Alexander HS Band!

McAllen Memorial HS- Colors In Sound The band sounds really good, but sad there wasn't any big hits. I could see some band members that seemed out of place marching wise, but overall, the band did well in keeping together. Great job to the flute soloist! The band sound balance is really good throughout the show. I really liked the hour glass set they did in either movement 3 or movement 4. Overall, I really enjoyed the performance. Great job McAllen Memorial!

Del Rio HS- Unrequited Love the opener! Great first hit. The big and loud was a great way to say hello! Great job to the trombone soloist, even with a mic issue, could still be heard. Good space awareness! Love that they move the props around to help build the story they are trying to tell. The balance of the band is fantastic and their heart set in the slow movement was executed well! I really enjoyed the performance! Fantastic Job Del Rio HS!

McAllen Nikki Rowe HS- Equinox Good start on their show opener, but wish there was more of a hit in the beginning. They sound really good! I do feel that there were moments, especially in the opener, where I feel spacing awareness need's to be worked on. Good job to the drum major who was also the trumpet soloist! Overall, the band did sound really nice and had good marching techniques. Great Job Nikki Rowe HS!

Sharyland Pioneer HS- Omnia Nice job to the duet in the beginning! Nice job on the opener. Love the tuba solo! The band sounds well balanced and are marching very well! The slow movement sounded good, but still need's some work. The show is put together well, and should do well this season. Overall, great job Pioneer HS! stream decided to buffer right on their big hit in the slow movement...

Harlingen South HS- The Butterfly Effect Haven't seen Harlingen South since 2020, so can't wait to see how they do! I like that they have a quartet open up the show! I love their opener! Great sound and great set design! They look fantastic marching wise and their balance of sound is really good! Great job to the trombone soloist in the slow movement! The build up to the rest of the band sounded really good and well balanced! The butterfly they have roaming on the field during the slow movement was a really nice touch to the show. I like the fact that the tree's change to a new color. The duet sounded really good! Overall, I really enjoyed their show and could see them as a potential contender for state this year. Awesome job Harlingen South HS!

McAllen HS- Atlas! They have a giant earth prop. I liked their pre-show song, which I believe is weight of the world by Self deception. Their opener is Fireflies by Owl City, which I like! Great job to the flute soloist in the opener! Wish it could of had more of a hit, but it was still played well! I did enjoy the show. Overall, nice job McAllen HS!

thanks for posting on this competition! Watching BOA McAllen this time.

I really enjoyed the first half of this competition and can't wait for the second half! Normally, I have done either BOA Round Rock or BOA Las Cruses, but I'm glad I did this competition this year, because it has been fun to watch all these fantastic bands that I wouldn't get to normally see. Now its time for a break :). Also, I'm switching to High Cam for the 2nd half because the Multi-Cam is glitching like no tomorrow.

Edinburg North HS- I Know a Place The final band of block 1, can't wait to see what Edinburg North brings to the table! Great job to the opening flute soloist! WOAH, HELLO Edinburg North!! That opening it took me off guard xD. They have a great wall of sound, and making their presence known to all! Spacing looks great and marching techniques look to be in good shape as well. The balance of sound in the band is very good!! Love the Sousaphone/Euphonium duet in the slow movement! Can't wait to see more of their show this season, even a potential state qualifier? Amazing job Edinburg North HS!!! Side note, the camera was having many glitches during their run...

Rio Grande City HS- In Full Bloom I already like the opener! Hello RGC!!! Definitely a great use of loud sound to really captivate the audience early. They sound really well balanced and look fantastic! I believe the song name is Flower Duet From Lakme, but anyways, it is always nice to hear the song. Great job to all the soloist's! This band has always been the underdog's in my eyes, but this show is REALLY good! Its put together well. I really hope we see them in finals! Overall, fantastic job Rio Grande City HS!!!

Los Fresnos HS- Wayfarers Love the woodwind feature in the beginning! That first major hit sound's SOOOO good! The sound balance of the band is really good! Their marching techniques and spacing are really good. I'm never a fan of the circle set because of how difficult they are, but Los Fresnos did a fantastic job on it! The flute soloist did fantastic! Their music list is really fun to listen to! The 2nd movement is so far my favorite part of their show, the music and marching set's look and sound amazing! Great job to the saxophone soloist in movement 3! I would love to see Los Fresnos make state this year, their show is really good and already looks great this early on in the season. Fantastic Job Los Fresnos HS!

Brownsville Glady's Porter Early College HS- Luminous Waters Technical difficulties always suck. Great job though to the soloist for pushing through the mic issues though! Great opening sound. There are moments where I feel they are out of time, but then it builds up into a moment and they sound fantastic! The brass sounds amazing! Great job to the flute soloist! Their marching looks really good! The saxophone quartet sounded really good! Always great to see a tuba solo, fantastic job! It's the first competition of the season and there is plenty more to come, and I know that this group will be strong by the end of the season. Nice performance Glady's Porter HS!

Robert Vela HS- The Langue of Bloom I liked the opening for their show! The props are flowers, and they open up to reveal a soloist, that is different, and I like that! I like the way they are sounding right now, they are definitely not messing around this year! The use of deep in the meadow was nice. They are marching very well and have great spacing awareness. The snare having an echo style mic is unique! They are very well balanced and I could see them be a potential state qualifier if they keep this up. Overall, really nice show and I hope it does well this season! Amazing job Robert Vela HS!

Edinburg HS- When the Circus Came to Town I've heard a lot about this show, so can't wait to see how it does! The trombone soloist at the beginning did awesome! The intro sounded good! Their music selection is definitely great! They are doing well with spacing and marching techniques, and the balance of the band is very good! I can see why people like this show. It's fantastic! The bugle horn soloist did fantastic in the 3rd movement! I really like the 3rd movement, the balance between the soloist and the rest of the band is amazing, especially for how early in the season we are. I could see Edinburg make a return to state this year if they keep up the momentum. Overall, a great show! Awesome job Edinburg HS!

RGC- Grulla HS- UnderGround I can't wait to see what Grulla has in store! Great first hit! The pre-show really built up well to the big sound that they brought. Good save from one of the tuba players (out of time in marching)! I liked their use of midnight city in the 2nd movement! Great job from the trio in the third movement! The band sound's well balanced! They are doing well in their marching techniques and spacing, but there is still some places that need to be worked on marching wise. Like to see the use of a base in a show. The trumpet and trombone duet sounded really good! This show is really fun to listen to. I hope they advance to finals tonight. Overall, fantastic job Grulla HS

Economedes HS- "RADIOACTIVE" First off, THEY ARE USING ONE OF MY FAVORITE BANDS OF ALL TIME....RAMMSTEIN!!!! (A German metal band for those wondering). I like the uniform design, matches the show theme very well! They sound good, but I can see some spacing issues. I can't tell, but I think the snares have lights on them. The percussion using the barrel props to drum on was really cool! The use of Ohne Diche (without you) was not something I would have ever expected in a marching show, I really love this! The marching still has some spots that need to be worked on, but they sound fantastic! Amazing job to the flute soloist! Great job Economedes HS!

PSJA Early College HS- TRANSCENDENCE Their props look really shiny. Their first set looks really unique. The pre-show sounded nice! Opening with a guitar (Hard to see them due to camera angle but their is a guitarist) and a clarinet duet was unique! Great first hit! They sound really good early on in the season! I believe one of their set's is in the shape of a bird, which looked really good! They didn't have their full show out yet. Overall, they are a band I could see doing well here, and I wouldn't be surprised if they sneak back into the state championship this season! Amazing Job PSJA HS!

Brownsville James Pace Early College HS- Unveiled A show about sculptures, how unique! Also had a big opening and it sounded really good! There was a point where it felt like spacing was an issue, based on the camera angle that I saw. Fantastic job to their bugle horn soloist! Their final note was held very well! Ended after the third movement. Fantastic job James Pace HS!

Harlingen HS- Valkyrie I haven't had the chance to watch Harlingen in a few years and I have to say, their intro was really good! Big and loud and saying hello to all! They sounded really good and each section blended together very well! Their flute and bassoon soloist's did fantastic! Their final movement was definitely filled with excitement. Their marching seemed to look good, but watching Multi-Cam, does make it a bit more difficult to see the marching side. Overall, they did an amazing job and I could see them possibly sneak into finals. Great job Harlingen HS!

Good morning everyone! Harlingen HS should be taking the field soon and kick off the 2025 McAllen BOA Regional! Best of luck to all bands today!