MoMoneyMoProplems

Yay AISD! I think there are four AISD bands in the competition (LASA, Anderson, Bowie, and McCallum). As a newish band parent I am starting to think urban high schools just don't have much of a chance at BoAs and should maybe focus their efforts elsewhere. Bowie doesn't really fall into that category since they are decidedly suburban schools that happen to be in an urban district. There are only a few schools in AISD that have a prayer of being competitive (Austin, Anderson, Bowie, McCallum, and LASA). These bands (besides Bowie) don't get much discussion on these boards so as a marching band novice parent it's hard to tell where they are lacking. Is it size? Visuals? Musicality? I can't think of any big heavy hitters out of DISD, HISD or San Antonio, but I could be wrong. These big suburban bands are amazing and I love watching them, but I am wondering if these smaller urban bands are wasting their far more limited resources on these competitions. They definitely do better at UIL. I really admire how much Leander invests in/supports their programs and wish AISD could make the arts a priority.

Thanks for the feedback everyone! I was worried I might get slammed for being critical. Another question...one of my kids' bands have several people out sick this week, some taking SAT during the prelim performance, or I suppose some may have been intelligible due to grades. The holes are obvious, but this is bound to happen. If a band has a couple kids missing, can that affect the scoring or are the judges more likely to think, hey, they must have a sick member? Speaking of eligibility. At my kids' schools they are on 9week grading cycles. UIL grade checks are at the 6 week mark. Since most competitions are not UIL, do most bands let kids who fail still march in non-UIL events? A potential problem I see with UIL checking eligibility at 6 weeks for schools on 9 week grading cycles is teachers not posting grades in a timely manner...or kids with IEPs and 504s who have extended time for assignments. Unfortunately, lots of teachers don't grade assignments until weeks after the are submitted and they sit in a gradebook as a 0. This may be a unique problem to my school district. It's a mess, the grading software system is the worst, and teachers are overwhelmed.

I get it was about more than paper, but I guess it felt corny or overwrought or something. Idk. At a competition last week I didn't realize that I was sitting in front of the judges. I almost turned around to shush them for talking during the show and then I realized who they were and what they were doing. That would have been embarrassing! Anyway, I joked with another band parent that they should add an unscored category/commentary -the "Random Band Parent with No Experience and Lots of Opinions" judge. How many directors would bother to listen to that commentary?

I'm a relatively new band parent. My kid's band had a great run last year and I learned a lot. I did deep dives into how judges score performances, the differences between BoA and UIL etc. I know what *I* like, and I'm curious to understand what makes a show "good" and if there are different strategies directors employ to woo judges. I saw A LOT of great marching bands last year and so far this year. I played music as a kid, but I never marched. To be clear, I am not dogging on any of these bands and I am not trying to insinuate anyone is overrated, but I want to "get it." I know these kids don't get any say in their show design and they just march the drill and play the music they're given and they are all hardworking musicians and athletes. 1. Something I noticed last year, and I've seen some of this year so far is that some larger bands seem to really "clutter" the field with props and other things. (i.e. Bowie's show this year, Dripping Springs last year, the school with the Papyrus show last year, Leander last year with the bus). Hopefully that illustrates what I am talking about. Is credit given by judges for how much space a band takes up on the field? 2. Do big bands automatically have an advantage? Vandegrift was amazing last year, don't get me wrong, but with all of the hype I thought I'd be completely blown out of the water...and I was, they were loud and they sounded great...but I didn't think their show was particularly special...but again, I don't know exactly what makes a show "special." 3. Themes - so obviously the goal is to tell a story, but some of the themes are just strange to me. See Papyrus noted above. It was the "story of paper." The band sounded great, the visuals were nice, but I wasn't necessarily entertained by the "story." Paper? On the other hand Hendrickson's show was energetic and entertaining and sounded great, but there didn't seem to be a cohesive story/theme. It also fell flat for me. Is this just the result of different styles and preferences? 4. Props - so what I was told by experienced band parents last year was that it is all about props, even more so with BoA. Obviously wealthier programs can afford more props. How much of a factor is this REALLY? I've noticed some pretty good bands in Austin don't have props at all this year (Austin High, LASA) and it doesn't seem like they plan to add them. Those schools don't have the biggest budgets or anything, but they can probably swing some props. Don't get me wrong, their shows are entertaining...I just wonder if that is a tactical thing. Is there a move away from over the top props? 5. I've gathered that bands pay consultants or whatever to put together drills and music for them. Do all schools do this? How much does it typically cost? Are there any bands that are great and known for doing this "in house"? Anyway, I hope I am not offending anyone - I just want to understand the marching band world!

Where can we find the raw scores?