Liam Allen

Hendrickson HS - nuts flute/clarinet duo. Clarinet is like 3 cents sharp though. Great opening statement. Woodwind feature died a little in the middle. Brass feature is crazy. Great euph solo. Great power ballad. Beefy stuff from the hornline. Sax feet aren’t quite locked in. Good sax solo except it was 10 cents flat. Great ending. Love the narration throughout.

Sachse HS - good opener. Double E from the trumpets! Great low brass sound and sense of timing in Mando. Excellent small brass ensemble. Great ballad and soloists. Great depth on the woodwind feature. Great ending.

Keller Central HS - good timing on the intro. Nice opening. Good woodwind and brass features. Little F tuning issue in the mellophones. Great ballad and flugel solo. Good shape on the flute chromatic line. Great ensemble sound. Could use more power on the last big hit.

1A Exhibition - Meridian HS Cool show. Love the old-school hats, for some reason I can’t remember what they’re called.

Without participating in Prelims posting competition, I will be doing live posting for Finals. Prepare for a caption sweep.

We all have our moments lol. I’m sure I have some unpopular opinions regarding the way UIL judges certain contests, but at the end of the day it’s about giving the best experience to the kids and that’s all that really matters.

Everybody's sleeping on Krum, but I think there's Finals potential there out of Area B.

Had the privelege of seeing Krum at BOA Mid-Cities a week ago. Really good stuff, and really clean too. I think if they keep going at the rate they've got a really, REALLY good shot at the State contest. I'd even say they have a great shot at top 3 at Area. Brock will do well for their first year in 4A. Gatesville needs some cleaning but it's going to be impressive when it gets there. I unfortunately missed seeing Springtown do their exhibition on Saturday, so I don't have anything to report there. If they tend toward where they've been in previous years, they'll do just fine. Off of the one video of Panther Creek I've seen and seeing China Spring live on Saturday, I would put my money on Panther Creek. I will insert my usual CS bias disclaimer, but I know clean and stupidly hard when I see it, and Panther Creek's got it. Absolutely bonkers program for a 4A program to pull off, and they're doing it spectacularly. China Spring is cleaner than I've ever seen or heard them at this point, but they're leaving the door open in terms of higher-level achievement, especially in phrasing(both small and over the whole show) and a few balance points.

I agree with the finals results for the most part. I would have put Heritage in third, Arlington Heights in fourth and Creekview in fifth. I think Gatesville, Canton, and Alvarado are all pretty interchangeable at this point in the season. We’ll see who pulls ahead. Other than that, pretty accurate. Usually I really demolish China Spring but I don’t actually have too many complaints and the ones I do have are really specific things that could be done better.

The official rankings lol Forgot to do a ranking but I’ll go back over my notes in a minute.

Didn’t see it I got caught up at Braum’s lol ill see if I can’t find a bootleg video somewhere though!

Having seen one bootleg video of Panther Creek: They are going to win State, and it’s not going to be close. The demand is off the charts for 4A and they’re pulling it off pretty well for early October. I can’t imagine the horror of any band going after them in the Alamodome. Having also just seen China Spring live: Possible medal incoming. All the usual tiny nitpicks I have are pretty tiny. The biggest problem I have is phrasing and the occasional balance issue. There’s some tuning stuff, but that’s always there.

Creekview - like a few of those rep choices. Pretty clean up front. Woodwinds are playing scared. Double tonguing was pretty dirty in the brass. Good ballad. Trombone doing Crown 2016 was fun. Flute doing Bluecoats 2016 was also fun.

China Spring - great sound; could use some more trumpet at the beginning. High brass kind of flubbed the second double tonguing phrase. Woodwinds are faking the sixteenth runs hard. Great ensemble sound to end the opener. Great ballad feel; pit felt a little off. Sax quartet good, the tenor Bb was a little sharp. Great sound from the brass; release was late in trombone. Good backfield sound. Lines are nonexistent. Some phrasing issues in the closer. Low brass intonation on Bb is a little suspicious. More trumpet when they have the melody. Balance halfway died at the end.

VR Eaton - obscenely loud electronics are covering up what I’m sure is a great ensemble sound. Woodwind feature was pretty dirty. Brass double tonguing could be cleaner. Great push to end the opener. Ballad pretty good. Really disappointing volume at the end. Probably pretty gassed from the rest of it but you still have to play as loud as your electronic glass shatter sound.

Heritage - I see shotgun mics on the sideline and that worries me. Synth bass is absurdly loud. First Circle is always nice to hear. Cycle Song is also nice to hear. Some good rep choices. Little rough in the woodwinds there. Balance is a bit shaky in the ballad. Good closer.

Alvarado - love the visual design with the metal. Lack of traditional uniforms sets the vibe immediately. Good use of interesting instruments(EWI). Woodwind intonation is an issue. Good ending.

Dabbling you say? What kind of dabbling are we talking here, winds, percussion, visual? Fellow dabblers(me) would be happy to give you feedback!

If you don’t understand that go watch FloMo lol

Arlington Heights - singer/french horn great at the beginning. For some reason the only clarity I’m getting is from the mello section. Solid woodwind and brass features. Dancer in the Dark is always welcome on my football field. Everybody’s got their take on Paint it Black and this one was pretty clean. Finally unleashed the hornline at the end and it left me confused as to why it didn’t happen the whole show.

They beat all the 4A bands here. That’s as much as I know.

Brock - casually pulling out the Hebron 2023 soprano sax solo I see. Good confidence in brass for their size. Absolute monster soprano sax solo. They’ve got some players for sure.

Gatesville - nice balance. Cool Bari sax solo; shame I couldn’t hear it over the synth. Very abrupt ending.

Canton - good balance. Mello intonation a little high there lol. Underground was shaky on balance and woodwind intonation. Tuning seems to be the main problem throughout.

North Crowley - solid woodwind sound at the beginning. Mellos consistently louder than the entire ensemble. Clearly the brass had power but they’re not using it. Good low brass sound in the gliss. Alto sax soloist’s middle D was sharp(huge surprise lol) which I’m allowed to comment on as a sax guy. Good ensemble sound at the end of the ballad.