Fata1

Yeah, Connally wasn't doing so well a while back. I think people were questioning whether they would even advance from Area.

Yeah. That's true. I hate inconsistent judging. Especially when the scores turn out to resemble those of Roma, Azle, The Colony, or Centennial. Where two judges seem to agree while the third seems to be on drugs.

Poteet takes the win for the second time in a row. Well, not much to say. Good job to all the bands the competed.

It's UIL, what did you expect?

Well, I mean, drill was hard and entertaining but it just seemed kind of boring. Drill-wise was good, though. It just didn't have that flare that I've come to expect from bands that play and march as amazingly as these kids do.

Wow. That's amazing. The double tongued with extreme power while they were practically dancing around on the field. Something even most Grand Nats bands would have trouble with. And they made it look like it was nothing. If they were competing here in the States, they'd beat just about every band as far as music and marching goes. Show design, as someone previously said, isn't wonderful. I wasn't visually entertained. Musically, though, this show rocked.

I did my predictions earlier today. I honestly had no idea what to do. I ranked Poteet first and Dripping Springs pretty high. I know I had all Area B bands in finals. I can't wait for the results tomorrow.

My favorite performance last night behind Bell was Churchill. I'm not one for patriotic or memorial shows or whatever because they always seem to turn out kind of cheesy but what Churchill did on Saturday was beautiful. After Churchill and besides Marcus, I really liked The Woodlands, Richland, and Westfield. The preshow Euphonium (I think) solo was pretty cool. I need to rewatch Bowie's show. By the time Bowie came on I was getting impatient for the results and wasn't paying enough attention.

I think my favorite shows were Bell and Churchill. Bell gave me chills throughout the entire show. Particularly in the spots that the little girl had the solos. Churchill left me speechless after playing Amazing Grace and then having the moment of silence during which the guard performed. So quiet you could hear the flags. It was great. Anyway, I asked this before and never got an answer. Maybe I'll have better luck this time. Anyone know when the videos from finals will be available in the On Demand area on MFA?

Honestly, with the way Marcus is performing this year, they could do it. Though I'm pretty sure Bell would triple their work effort between now and finals. Especially if Marcus was going. I'm sure they're tired of coming in second to them. You could see on their faces when they announced the results over the webcast that Bell's band was not happy. Their guard looked about ready to kill.

Ah. That's what I was thinking when I was watching their show.

That must've been hilarious. On a slightly related note, now were the kids inside the ladybug able to see? Were there holes or were the black spots see-through or what?

As far as Marcus goes, keep in mind that their scores weren't the same from prelims to finals. Just the total. I'm pretty sure the scores were higher for music in finals and higher for visual in prelims. As for Reagan, they were good. Their show didn't entertain me though. I think that may be why people aren't very happy with them. I personally thought Richland did better. Anyway, does anyone know when the finals will be On Demand on the MFA site?

With the exception of Churchill, I think I agreed with your placements more than the actual placements in finals. Great pictures and everything too. Nice job.

No, never mind. I didn't read his original post correctly. I missed the prelims part. It's just finals.

I think it's bull. I'm in band and I have time to make straight A's, put an hour to an hour and half past required band rehearsal each day to practice All-State music, and hang out with friends. Eight hours a week is not too much at all. I can see how the twenty or so hours they mentioned could be a bit too much but the eight hours here in Texas is just fine.

Not from San Antonio yet. They should be at some point. They have the Atlanta and St. Louis competitions up.

I strongly disagree. Compare L.D. Bell's videos from 30 years ago to now. The precision and quality is about the same but the music and drill now is so much harder than back then. Quality hasn't changed though. http://dfife.com/archive.htm

What about Richland?

Oh my God. That standstill colorguard part during the moment of silence left me speechless. You could hear the flags move. It gave me chills.

Last I checked, Bell has amazing marching. They hit set after set near flawlessly and their technique is amazing. Bell never took away the march out of marching, they just added theater to it.

Marching band is considered a fine art elective if I'm not mistaken. Bands like Bell and Marcus are taking their immense marching and musical skill and using them to bring out the fine art aspect. You could take away the theatrical part of their shows and they would still be able to throw down an amazing performance.

That's exactly the way it is with me.

I would agree. Musically, I think Marcus did better than Bell. The music caption was actually the only one I fully agreed with. GE? Should've been Bell's in my opinion. The little girl and the walking corpse thing gave me chills throughout the entire show. The ending sealed the whole show. It was great.

Oh my God. I didn't even notice The Colony. Sherman definitely didn't do as well as I had expected.