Origin

Absolutely incredible run from Marcus. Perfection. Would love to see them win the whole thing, but the performance time is unfortunate.

Bridgeland’s guard stole the show. So clean!

Would love to see TWHS win the visual caption here. Super clean marching and the guard blows everyone else out of the water. I love the effect of having one leg black and the other yellow. That last flag feature was incredibly clean. There is still a level of musical precision that they have yet to unlock with this show, though.

Catherine Bush?? 😂

Marcus’ show might be my favorite of the season. It just all works so well! That woodwind book in the first part is so unique and cool. They nailed the percussion feature. Heard a bit of phasing in the opener but they’ve kinda struggled with that all season and been fine.

Flower Mound is the first band I’ve been able to see today. They were wonderful! Those bassoons are maybe my favorite soloists of the season. A great performance to end their season! I hope that student is okay.

Probably shouldn’t be talking about results, but…Marcus with the most judges having them in 1st 👀👀👀

Vandy’s simultaneous demand might be unmatched here. They just don’t stop moving, while playing, while being spread so far across the field.

Westwood plays SO well. I think visual is holding them back a bit, it just feels too contained. I wish they broke free from the cages and really filled up the field in the closer or something.

Keller is another that exceeded my expectations. That was way way way better than their football halftime performance from just a few days ago. I love how they play their most difficult technical passages on the move. The last minute is just so powerful, I just love that Mahler ending, ugh!

Hebron was insane!! They exceeded my expectations, which were already super high. My only complaint is the woodwind runs in the ballad we’re so overkill that it took away from the moment for me, lyrical playing is okay sometimes! Also shout out to the guard which has really stepped up and tackled all that crazy flag work.

I looove the first half of Flower Mound’s show. That bassoon ensemble is like my favorite thing ever. The second half of the show wasn’t nearly as interesting to me and it didn’t really take risks design-wise, but the execution is obviously there.

Marcus! Definitely my favorite show from them in a while. It’s edgy and weird but still has the beauty that we expect from them. That final ballad drill set with the prop and flags is goooorgeous.

Bridgeland is only the third band I’ve seen today, but that absolutely deserves to be in finals. This years show is just so much more aesthetically appealing than last year. And that guard is huge!

I love how much Westlake features their woodwinds

Coppell is the first band that I’ve gotten to see today, and they did not disappoint. Truly an impressive musical feat with all those time signatures. Definitely some iffy intonation in the ballad but I’m sure every group is dealing with that today.

That margin 😵

It’s crazy to me that they expect each music judge to score five different sub-captions 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

Very good for building houses and such, but harvesting too much can damage local ecosystems.

Carmel rifles showing why they are the defending WGI champs. That was pretty amazing. When did Carmel become such a music powerhouse? I swear they didn’t sound this good pre-covid.

That was bottom half? 😳 Thought Keller was fantastic Also McKinney North was so fun! Was not even on my radar going into prelims, oops.

Prosper was really great. Love how big the show feels visually. Kinda disappointed that the show is literally Broken Arrow 2019 with some different music.

LOVE Keller’s closer, that’s how a Mahler 2 show should end. So so difficult with all that technical playing and tempo changes on the move. Very beautiful throughout, and still with room to grow.

I don’t know that Keller’s highest score at HEB since 2019 can be considered a slip…but anyway, I think there’s a good chance that the top 8 from last year is the same this year, with Coppell, Keller, and Waxahachie being the safest locks based on consistency in the past. It’s gonna come down to who can have a clean, full show, especially since it’s a week earlier in the season. Performance time could play a role with how competitive this area is. I’m pulling for Timber, Bell, and Central if 6 advance. But I also really like Carroll’s show. Haven’t seen Duncanville at all.

This competition really is an Area B finals preview lol (minus Coppell), plus a lot of other great bands. It would be cool to see Keller finally get a regional win, but Wakeland is looking pretty dominant and has been performing their whole show since HEB, so they’ll only be getting cleaner. Maybe Bell, Timber, or Keller etc. will add the rest of their show and close the gap, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Wakeland sweeps like last year.