dryyellowmangos

will reedy and wakeland move up? They're both really close and I see the possibility of them moving up. Same thing with Walnut Grove, and Mckinney North, many of the bands in 5A Area B are on the fence and I'm curious to see how this area will be affected next year, maybe a potential complete revamp of state spots? If wakeland, reedy, Walnut Grove, and Mckinney North move up, 4 5a Area b finalist spots are now open, with the potential of even more depending on how it goes, please let me know with any updates.

Does anyone have the score breakdowns from yesterday?

wait what where they dq'd for? I'm so sorry to hear that!

With no disrespect to all of the bands in our area, there are some bands that are being severely underestimated, and some bands that I think are being placed a lot higher than they might really fare. All of the band programs in this area are frighteningly good, each being able to contend for a state spot in any other area but regardless, there's an issue. Independence. I've seen the word's Wall of Sound from Independence dozens of times on this forum, it's become a meme at this point. They've made vast improvements and they do sound amazing, and I'm not trying to judge them based off of their previous contest placings, but I do think that placing them above bands like Heritage, The Colony, Walnut Grove, and Liberty is a little unfair to those band programs. At Mckinney, they placed really well, but one judge (the same in prelims and finals), had them a few spots higher than all of their other judges in both rounds, placing them a little higher than what the average of the other judges had. Obviously this was earlier into the season and they've made significant progress since then and are a wonderful band program overall, but I don't have them as high as most people are putting them., Reedy. Another very amazing band program that's made leaps and bounds since last year. However, people consistently have them contending for a state spot or top 5. Although they may have had an early performance time, they were beat both visually and musically by Liberty at BOA Prosper. They have the hunger to do good, and have an excellent band program that will undoubtedly place high, but I feel like there's more wiggle room that could be given to some of the bands that are consistently placing below them. Heritage. This band program has a cool show theme this year and is incredibly clean. Their percussion is splendid and musically really clean too. Only gripe I really have with this band is that at Region the other day, they did not receive straight 1's. I can't recall what for, but they received a '2' in one of their captions, making them one of two bands in Area B to not receive straight ones. It could have been a poor run or a strict judge, but that's something to take into account Now for the bands that I think are facing a little unfairness, their efforts are being a little overlooked. Liberty. They went from placing 14th two years ago to placing 7th last year with their new director. They are on the smaller end, closer in size to Walnut Grove but I believe they've been doing amazing work. Visually there are some messy forms and they have some individual stickouts in their brass sections but overall they're musically really clean and getting their visually too. With two more weeks of cleaning, I think they could beat their 7th place finish last year, especially taking into consideration that they beat Reedy (without GE) and Mckinney North at BOA Prosper., Walnut Grove. Another smaller band program that's doing amazingly this year. Individual stick outs were there a lot, but they received a score of 17.4 for individual music at BOA Prosper, putting them on par with the likes of Wakeland and Coppell for that caption. Their ensemble scores didn't reflect that, and maybe the judges really enjoyed what they were listening too, but by no means are they weak in any sense. Their trumpet screamer is crazy good too, throwing around those high notes like candy, and I really love their closer. They are super clean visually and their music is really nice too, and I definitely think they can be a 5-8 contender for this coming contest at area, way to go Walnut Grove.

BOA Prosper sure was crazy! There were quite a few unexpected results (Mckinney North at 20?!) with General Effect. But I think a few of these are actually in the wrong spot. I just rechecked the math, and there were a few slight, but surprising errors, here's the updated math with all the bands that participate in Area B! 1. Wakeland (33.85) The same (Blinding props, my Lord. Amazing sound and clean as always) 2. Lone Star (32.45) The same. But wow, what powerful sound. I love their theme and the soloists are fantastic. 3. Lebanon Trail (32.325) Above Walnut Grove. (Such fantastic visuals, I love their show.) 4. Walnut Grove (31.725) BELOW Lebanon Trail, not above. (Interesting theme, definitely a dark horse.) 5. McKinney North (30.8) (Slightly below their last score, very surprising placing but maybe I understand it a little? Excited to see how they do at area.) 5. Liberty (29.85) Above Reedy (Another very surprising band. Outperforming Mckinney North on the BOA Sheets and beating Reedy without including GE is fantastic! Love to see it for this band, can't wait to see how they do at Area.) 6. Reedy (29.45) BELOW Liberty, not above. (Haven't seen much of their show but I've only heard good things. Clearly doing well under their new director and I'm eagerly waiting to see the results in this bloodbath of an area.) 7. Melissa (28.6) The same. (Hello Melissa! Very visually clean and packs a very nice brass sound too! Definitely a dark horse.) Pretty small changes but really surprising. Way to go Liberty! Walnut Grove also did really well, with their individual music score being top 5-6 overall. (Wow!) Obviously, BOA scoring is different and this isn't accounting for GE and the other subcaptions that UIL accounts for, but even with the inclusion, there were definitely a few shockers.

After seeing the Frisco Showcase, how are predictions looking like? A lot of bands seem to be bringing the heat this year more than they have in the past. Independence, and Reedy really surprised me. Wakeland and Lonestar were amazing as always. I don't really like Lebanon Trail's theme but they performed it beautifully, I'm excited to see how these shows turn out at the end of the season. Liberty, Memorial, and Emerson were really cool too and I hope they can make finals this year. Here are mine. 1. Lone Star (Wakeland is really clean this year too but Lone Star really wowed me and I really want to see them at the top) 2. Wakeland (It's Wakeland, cmon) 3. Argyle (Really interesting show theme, can't wait to see it performed) 4. LT/MN (I think LT has the edge this year, especially considering their defeat last year) 5. LT/MN (Either or) 6. Reedy/Walnut/Liberty/Emerson (All four of these bands I've heard great things about and I honestly think it could unfold any way with new judging and more balanced sheets.) 7. Walnut/Liberty/Reedy/Emerson 8. Liberty/Walnut/Emerson/Reedy 9. Emerson/Reedy/Walnut/Liberty 10. Independence? Memorial? The Colony? Heritage?(This was a coin toss but I've heard Independence is really bringing it this year. Heritage could bring it back another year, same thing with Memorial, and the Colony has a really good chance of placing well too. Let me hear y'alls opinions and what y'all would change.

In my opinion, Liberty had a wonderful show last year but having both Celina and Liberty over Mckinney North is interesting considering MN was a State Finalist last year and have been somewhat dominant in Area B for the past few years. I know they're doing another jazz show this year and that could drop their placings, and I'm wondering if you've seen anything from Liberty or Celina this year to put them above. (No shade to Liberty or Celina, I would like to see them above I just haven't heard much about either of their shows this year and am quite interested to see how Area B plays out )