Donezo

I would say it all started in 07!

Prelim Placements: 1. Poteet 2. McKinney Boyd 3. Lake Highlands 4. Flower Mound 5. Wylie 6. Allen 7. Sherman 8. Naaman Forest 9. McKinney 10. J. J. Pearce Could be wrong about the 7-10 placements but I think that's right.

It will be so strange to not see Dickinson at 4A state marching contest. I think that makes Poteet the only currently 4A band to have won state in the past 20 years. My gut says that this is going to be Friendswood's year. They've been carrying around that "best band to never win" label for the past two state cycles. Hendrickson is probably going to be the biggest threat at the rate they've been improving. I think some combination of those two bands will be our honor band/marching champion duo. I have my doubts about Poteet's continued success in the 4A field due to a shrinking talent pool in Mesquite, but they proved me wrong big time this year. Maybe they will again!

It's a great show! I'll attempt to upload a video when I go home for Thanksgiving.

Everything from Poteet that I can remember: 1993: "Havendance," David Holsinger; Music from "Far and Away," John Williams 1994: Music of John Williams: "Cowboys," "Born on the Fourth of July," and "1941" 1995: "Africa" and "Ascension," Robert W. Smith; Music from "The Last Starfighter," Craig Safan 1996: Music from "Waterworld," James Newton Howard 1997: "Ballet Sacra," David Holsinger 1998: Music from "Lost in Space," Bruce Broughton 1999: The Music of Philip Sparke: "Dance Movements," "Year of the Dragon," "Celebration" 2000: The Music of Leonard Bernstein: "Chichester Psalms," "Make Our Garden Grow," "Slava" 2001: To Tame the Perilous Skies: "To Tame the Perilous Skies" and "Lithurgical Dances," David Holsinger 2002: "Vesuvius," Frank Ticheli 2003: The Music of Ron Nelson: "Rocky Point Holiday" and "Sonoran Desert Holiday" 2004: Galactic Empires: "New Century Dawn" and "Galactic Empires," David Gillingham 2005: Exaltations: "Senviak," Jay Glossup; "Ballet Exaltaire," David Holsinger 2006: "Cantus Laetus," David Gillingham 2007: Cityscapes: "Towards the Splendid City" and "Urban Dances," Richard Danielpour; "Lonely Town," Leonard Bernstein 2008: Pirates Unleashed: "Blue Shades," "Sanctuary" and "Apollo Unleashed," Frank Ticheli All drill by Scott Coulson. Music from 1993-2005 arranged by Pete Lengeyel, 2006-2008 arranged by Ryan Janus.

I'm rooting for Avon. They were kind of robbed last year. *ducks for cover* Didn't watch it live though so I don't really know what's going on. Can't wait to see what happens tonight!

This has got to be a sign of the apocalypse. Tom Shine is still there, right? Fantastic performance though! Can't wait to see the professional video.

Duncanville with narration! How was I not aware of this?!

Poteet at Centennial Marching Fest finals: Unfortunately it cuts off at the very end.

Well keep in mind that Friendswood wasn't in the 2007 Honor Band race because they won in 2005. In the years between they won the Sudler Flag and were invited to play at Midwest. No other 4A program has really rivaled them in the concert field over the past four years. But alas, this is a topic for another thread.

Oops! Looks my my prelims source from earlier was misinformed. Prelims results are surprisingly consistent. All five judges had the top eight bands in finals. Can't think of the last time that happened. There was a much closer 10/11 gap than usual and I find that a bit discomforting, but no judge really killed Berkner. I guess judge one helped Richland a lot but he also had Bekner in.

Not 100% sure of this, but this is the last I've heard of prelims rank: 1. Marcus 2. L. D. Bell 3. Duncanville 4. Coppell 5. Cedar Park 6. Bowie 7. Hebron 8. Richland 9. Churchill 10. Westlake I think Bell is going to have a hard time winning tonight going so far before Marcus. We'll see.

I am absurdly antsy right now. They'd better announce finalists before I leave work!

Yeah, the Sherman/Poteet things does go way back. However, it never held a candle to the Poteet/Coppell rivalry in the 90s. That was just ugly on both sides. As far as state next year goes, it will be very exciting to watch. This was a fantastic year for 4A bands. I kind of wish everyone (including Connally, Dickinson and Vista Ridge) had done these shows last year. It would have made state marching contest a lot more exciting. I'm not overly optimistic about a Poteet threepeat, but we'll see what happens. They lost a great senior class and I thought this would be an off year, but they wound up being even better than last year. Maybe they'll feel the hit next year, but I hope they keep plugging along. I would love to see Friendswood finally win it after being so close for so long. They'll be the favorite for the honor band competition and it would be great to see them win both titles in the same year.

No Wills Point.

Wow. I'm really in shock. This is the second time this season that an established program has gotten tripped up over a technicality. What is going on?

Geez! The Sherman kids' animosity towards the Poteet band has baffled me since I was in high school. Do they coach you guys to do that or something? I thought it would be better after the realignment put the two bands in different regions and areas but I was wrong!

Finals: 1. Poteet 2. Plano East 3. Wylie 4. Dripping Springs 5. Birdville 6. Wakeland 7. Sherman 8. The Colony 9. Rockwall Heath 10. Frisco Outstanding Musical Performance: Poteet Outstanding Visual Performance: Dripping Springs

Prelims Placements: 1. Poteet 2. Plano East 3. Wylie 4. Wakeland 5. Dripping Springs 6. Birdville 7. The Colony 8. Sherman 9. Rockwall Heath 10. Frisco Winds: Poteet/Plano East (tie) Marching: Poteet General Effect: Poteet Guard: Wylie Percussion: Plano East

Wow! Big congrats to Friendswood, Keller and Leander for upsetting. I'm surprised and disappointed to see Akins left out, but I'm sure they can rebound on Tuesday.

There just really aren't enough 4A directors right now with enough experience to judge state marching contest (and as much as I hate to say it, I think a lot of 5A directors would balk at the idea of being judged by 1A/2A folks.) Like I said earlier, Dickinson and Connally moving up to 5A really limits the Texas band director options. The only other director besides Greg Dick I can really think of is Scott Coulson and he judged the last three contests in a row.... I do think they should at least stick to former high school band directors if they can't get enough current ones. This is Greg Bimm's third state contest to judge this decade, so I think he probably has an idea of what's going on by now.

Keller has been a big name for awhile now though. In the 90's they won 4A honor band and made state marching finals. Then they were stuck in the hardest 5A area in the state and while they were always a threat to advance, they never placed quite high enough on area day. They've definitely benefited from the move to Area A. It's good to see them consistently advancing to state. I agree about Hanks. El Paso band used to be all about Coronado, but recently Americas and Bel Air have been thriving and apparently Hanks is as well.

It was indeed a stacked contest. Also, since 2006 Reagan experienced a head director switch and split into a new high school. They're in a transitional phase right now and I hope to see them back on top soon.

Yeah, I'm definitely thinking Bell, Marcus, and Cedar Park as the top 3, though you never know about Duncanville. I can also see a top 5 finish for Bowie. They really have the whole package this year. After that it's kind of wild. I imagine Churchill will make the top 10 despite a shaky performance at area. I can also see Westlake sneaking in with their great prelims time. Remember Akins in 2006? Berkner and Coppell also seem likely. For the tenth spot...hmm......I would love to see Brazoswood make state finals again and I think their late prelims time will really help. Of course there are about 10 other legitimate finals contenders. It's anyone's guess really.

Rowlett and Connally. Both were the best they've ever been this year. :-(