Origin

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.

Reviving this thread to share my disappointment in finding out that Cy-Fair is not attending.

I think the only non-LISD medalists in the last decade were LD Bell in 2013 (Flower Mound not in attendance) and Keller in 2018 (Marcus not in attendance)

This BOA DFW finals was seriously so good, like wowwww. Considerably stronger than last year, even with no Keller in attendance. Still sad about Forney missing finals, they were definitely just as good as some of the bands that made finals.

Hebron’s closer is so interesting. I really like that musical selection. It’s different than anything I’ve heard them play. We’re so used to this level of musical craziness from Hebron that I always have to remind myself that it’s not normal to be that freaking good.

Flower Mound back in their art bag. I think I enjoyed the first half of the show more than the second half. Those bassoons were incredible!!

Love Coppell so much. Tons of imagination visually and the music is so demanding with all those different time signatures. Feels light on the marching in some parts though.

Wakeland = pure power

Marcus 🔥🔥🔥 I’m not even a percussion person, and I still can not get over that feature! I think there was a tear in the brass, prelims also felt a bit rocky with the tempo, it’s really hard stuff! Maybe shaping up to be my favorite Marcus show since 2017.

Like Carroll, Timber Creek has a really great show and just needs to clean. I think they could be one to watch out for at San Antonio 👀

Carroll has a really great show, they just need to clean, clean, clean. That flute soloist at the beginning was awesome! Probably my favorite Carroll show ever.

Keller Central bringing the energy and intensity! Everything is very exposed and stripped back, lots of demand in that opener. It makes me a liiiittle nervous seeing some 6A schools without any part of their closers with area being a week earlier this year.

I like this niche that Waxahachie has developed with the cute historical shows. The attention to detail with the visual design makes it so immersive. Really impressive and engaging music performance as always.

Bell’s whole opener is so good! Some of the best stuff I’ve seen from them in years. The ballad is difficult with all those quiet, long phrases on the move, and there’s definitely room for improvement there. I wonder if they’ll have the closer ready for next week.