Origin

I really like the content of Bowie’s show, they just need to clean clean clean. Great visual impact with those big red silks at the beginning.

I too am surprised to see Lake Travis in the top half, but I think they were (rightfully) rewarded for being clean early. Plus, performing towards the end of prelims usually helps. I think other bands below them will surge later in the season.

Very minimal with the props this year for Vandy, just letting the music and the marching do the talking. The whole breathless alleluia opener is so good and the glissando at the end of the ballad was instant chills! I’m always so impressed with how much they get on the field and how clean it is.

Dripping Springs making a solid case for finals. I think it’ll be them, Johnson, Hendrickson, and Lake Travis fighting for the last 2 spots in finals. But that’s assuming Leander and Westwood are in finals, who I didn’t get to see.

Hendrickson bringing the energy despite the 102 heat index 🥵 gonna be battling for those last few finalist spots I think

Lake Travis is great, I just wish that half the band didn’t stand there (or lay there) the whole time. In all seriousness, they always produce such great sounds!

Round Rock’s show is soooooo pretty. Very pleasant and uplifting vibes throughout and it was quite clean. Thought the ballad lacked some oomph, especially visually, but they sound so good. Not sure about the green feet though 🤔

Rouse once again starting the season off extremely strong. Hopefully they can keep this momentum up because they seem hungry to return to San Antonio finals. Thought they were maybe a bit stronger than Cedar Ridge even.

I love Cedar Ridge’s concept of trying to show us who Medusa was outside of the monster we know her as. I don’t think the characterization is coming through quite strong enough yet, especially compared to the gargoyle character they did last year, but still a strong and fun show!

I love how much Westlake features their woodwinds! I’m admittedly a little tired of Barber 1 but they play it well enough that I can’t complain.

Not Johnson and Vista Ridge going back-to-back with the same show concept 🙈. Vista sounds amazing! I really love their music this year. I thought the show would be more colorful, but I guess white, black, and red is their brand.

M&G Johnson is the first band I’ve seen today, so I can’t really attest to their chances for finals, but it was a fun show!

Carmel https://youtu.be/-STCtg4vKbI?si=zTdEeylqwTHU77v5 Very expertly designed as usual, but feels quite samey compared to last year. I’m really impressed with how clean a lot of the drill is. Not really feeling the music yet but it’ll probably grow on me.

I love TWHS’ music this year. It gets stuck in my head every time I hear it. The first measure of the second part sounds like the beginning of their 2013 show. Idk if that was intentional or I’m reading waaay too much into it lol. I think my early season favorite is Flower Mound, especially the second part of the show. It’s weird, abrasive, and kinda robotic (all in a good way imo) with crazy time signature changes. Plus the guard is on fire🔥

Saw Marcus, Keller, and Wakeland. All pretty impressive. No Coppell yet. Marcus is looking and sounding great, as usual. Guard is strong too. I think the show is called “Above the (something)”. Couldn’t tell what the third word in the title was. The show seems a lot edgier than last year, which I like. I think they had a Peter Gabriel song playing during the pre-show? Keller marched the first part and then stood and played the second part. The first part is a slow build that starts with a herald trumpet fanfare that leads to the first hit. Very very mature and kindof regal vibes. The second part is a lot faster and very technical. They didn’t march a ton of their show, but what they did have out there felt very put-together. Wakeland is like crazy super impressively clean for this point in the season and they marched a big chunk of the show. Lots of choreo & big powerful sounds…I think…the audio is too bad to really make any conclusion on the music lol. The drill does seem pretty significantly easier than last year and the guard isn’t carrying enough visual weight to offset that yet, which is something that bands like Marcus and Flower Mound do very effectively imo. Anyway, I think they could be a real threat at 5A state if Rouse and Leander aren’t back to their 2021 levels.

Saw Hebron’s before it was muted. The vibe of the music is very mature, not at all fun like last year and not as in-your-face as the beginning of Penstriped was. Still has the same technical craziness as usual. The opening fanfare sounded stupid good for august. Flower Mound’s guard looks incredible! I absolutely love how they are staged. Speaking of guard, Timber Creek’s is kindof insane this year. Rifles, sabres, and multiple flag lines on the field at the same time 😵. With that being said, their show was definitely the messiest of the ones that I’ve checked out so far. Quite a different vibe for CTJ. Seems like a shift away from their usual super high-velocity drill and choreo, which I think is smart with having a new head director and dealing with the heat. They sound great and there’s already lot of musical clarity despite the muffled audio. Reagan is Reagan! Always a treat visually, just gotta work on the timing and confidence in some of the brass moments.

I know the bands that aren’t doing BOA SA, but who is skipping state?

Vista Ridge’s and Keller’s caught my attention the most because both seem so different than what I would usually expect from them. Also excited for Coppell, The Woodlands, and Seven Lakes.

TWHS should be incredibly proud, medal or not. I don’t see how they could’ve possibly given a better final performance. They did Team Texas SO proud! Congrats to Avon on the bronze! I don’t think there’s any program in the country that knows how to deliver in finals like Avon does. Congrats to Tarpon Springs on the silver! 6th to 2nd in one year isn’t too shabby. I really thought they gave Carmel a run for their money. And congrats to Carmel on their World Championship win!!! The last time a group other than Avon won was in 2017, which also happened to be Carmel.

I feel pretty confident about Paramount sealing the win with that performance. I just wonder how it’s gonna go with Carmel vs. Tarpon…

Love Fusion’s fake out ending. That last movement is so much fun!

Onyx was definitely one I had to switch to multi cam for to see all their crazy movements. I love that they brought the weird this year. Always one of my favorites.

Ughhhhhhh I just adore Carmel’s show. I love how all the equipment is in the benches! It creates such a clean look. Not necessarily as perfect of a performance as the pervious three, but most of the drops were on small stuff. They nail every single big moment. I can not get over those sit roll tosses during one of the quietest moment of the show. Anyone else kindof annoyed by the audience clapping along to the music? Idk maybe it’s just me.

Wowwwwwwwwwww…….Tarpon Springs is the third group in a row that I don’t think could’ve had a better performance.

TWHS has been consistently ON FIRE for like three weeks. They have not had a single performance that wasn’t spectacular. I saw zero drops. Easily one of my favorite shows this year. So freaking good.