xeran

You're a percussionist, aren't you? Hebron's finals run was CLEAN. I don't understand the 5th place ACV score, but the 11th place CON score is egregious. Especially because they took 3rd (Percussion) in prelims. Hebron has prioritized improving percussion over the last couple years, but history suggests this particular chap judges to justify his preconceptions far more than the merits of the performance. I hope they brush it off and keep moving forward.

If you swap 4 and 5, I think you have a pretty likely breakdown of how this thing shakes out. There's a real chance 1 and 2 are swapped. Why? Hebron's music is somehow harder than previous years, but they're executing it better. More than that, the drill is MUCH, MUCH better (and cleaner) than previous years. They're also due for a higher percussion score based on what we've seen so far. GE score might not be as high and nobody will take Vis from FloMo, but they'll run away with music. Will that be enough? No idea. No crystal ball over here. I also think Coppell will crack the top 10, but that's entirely based on previous years -- oddly enough, I haven't seen their show. Aaaaaand now I've just realized this is the BoA thread, not the UIL thread. *sigh* Clicking the blue button anyway.

Yes. Still struggling with far too little information about how to handle Volunteers. They provide instructions for spectators and the band itself, but nothing in between. We use a massive parent crew for loading/unloading, Pit, and Props.

I need to clarify something for the folks crying foul about money. Some of the bands at the top are keeping their equipment together with zipties, duct tape, and a handful of parents who aren't afraid to cobble solutions together with a bit of welding or creative application of fasteners. Furthermore, 2 of the 3 LISD (north) schools -- maybe all 3 -- have a STUNNING number of kids on free/reduced lunch. Think 25%+. While money certainly helps, money is NOT buying these results. Money pays show designers, arrangers, field techs, lesson teachers, etc. It also buys props materials, extra uniform pieces, and other items which can contribute to Visual scores. But getting kids to practice and grind and sweat and shine under the pressure and the lights...money does NOTHING for any of that. Thus, money is simply NOT the answer you might imagine. Booster Clubs exist because the school is the school. Everything the school doesn't fund (they fund very little outside of instruments and UIL contest costs) is funded by donations, fundraising, and fees. All 3 of those things funnel through the Booster Club. The school owns assets and the Booster Club owns assets. Where that line is drawn can vary a bit. The school band program is an entity of the school and thus occupies a very particular legal territory. The band's Booster Club is a nonprofit structured a very particular way which is quite different from the public school component that is the band. If you want to understand this better, feel free to DM me.