Anthony V

Speaking as a Richland alum: I will always be over-the-moon to see great results from Richland. This is the manifestly the best Richland has been since 2016, and I sincerely hope they get very soon to the level of competitivity they were in 2005 and 2007. I personally think it is possible within the next year or so. That said, what I have been less excited to see lately is hype that approaches the level of cringe. I have zero authority here, but I would kindly ask alum, parents, fans, &c., to consider whether their support for Richland on a public forum is constructive to the conversation. If your point has already been made, indeed made several times, I promise you that insisting upon your point will not augment other persons' perceptions of Richland -- but will in fact deteriorate them. For better or worse, people will generally remember the negative interactions better than they will positive interactions. If Richland is your home team -- whether as an alum, parent, fan, &c. -- I think it makes more sense to let future results do the insisting. I'm pretty sure they'll get here soon enough.

In the quick recap format, that's: 1. Burleson Centennial (Visual, GE, Perc) 2. Aledo (Music, CG) 3. Colleyville Heritage 4. Sachse 5. JJ Pearce 6. Chisolm Trail 7. Burleson 8. Brewer 9. Summit 10. Timberview Also, some notes: - I watched all of finals and was not particularly surprised with any of the placements. - Burleson moved up a place in finals (over Brewer). - Sachse moved up a place in finals (over JJ Pearce). - I have seen Timberview, Summit, Brewer, and Colleyville Heritage several times this season, and think that they have all made great progress. I feel that Timberview and Brewer have achieved the most self-improvement of those groups. - Regarding Burleson Centennial, Aledo, Colleyville Heritage, and Richland in looking forward to Area F: I think that right now Burleson Centennial and Aledo are competitive with one another. I'm having a hard time seeing how Colleyville Heritage surges upward and into that mix, but perhaps there is something my unpaid, non-professional eyes and ears are not understanding. Richland's exhibition performance felt pretty flat in terms of energy, and I think if they were ranked they would have been in the top five, at most being competitive with Colleyville Heritage. On the other hand, Richland, to my ears, very clearly had the best winds sonority. If energy is what they lacked, I don't see how they couldn't be competitive with any of Burleson Centennial, Aledo, and Colleyville Heritage.

I'll be there for finals. I'll also try to post prelims results here.

I wanted to point out how Aledo, Burleson Centennial, and Colleyville Heritage will be at the BISD contest this Saturday. (Richland will also, but will be in exhibition.) Several other potential finalists for 5A Area F will be at this contest, too.

As of 8/17/23 per the website: Aledo HS Azle HS Byron Nelson HS Coppell HS (JV) Forney HS Fossil Ridge HS Haltom HS James Martin HS Keller Central HS Keller HS Krum HS L.D. Bell HS Marcus HS Saginaw HS Southwest HS Stephenville HS Timber Creek HS Trinity HS W.E. Boswell HS Wakeland HS Finals will be really stacked, maybe more than ever at this contest.

All 3 music judges had Birdville in 5th place. This the strongest they've been musically in a while.

I don't understand the Legacy piece quite yet. How the judges would interpret Azle's approach was perhaps from the beginning a bit of a wildcard draw. Comparing prelims placement might help here. I do think the top 4 is certainly within the range of reasonable, especially once those two other pieces are accounted for.

To add to the complexity, Birdville's run was really locked in. I don't see why it couldn't compete with Burleson Centennial or Legacy tonight. I would be surprised if they're top 4, though. Top 4 seems right now to be something like Aledo, Azle, Summit, and Colleyville Heritage. After that, Burleson Centennial, Legacy, Birdville, and Midlothian are competitive, with Richland and then Brewer trailing a bit. Those are my undereducated guesses at rankings.

My guess for finalists, no particular order: Azle Colleyville Heritage Burleson Centennial Richland Summit Midlothian Legacy Birdville Aledo One of: Brewer, Cleburne, Burleson I think the top 5 is filled out right now by Azle, Colleyville Heritage, Burleson Centennial, Summit, and Aledo.

I don't blame you. I think I'm turning into a lobster - maybe for a long time!

I wanted to second the comment on Midlothian. They held together pretty well and are much improved since BISD last week. They might be tangling with bands in the 5-7 range.

Azle had an energetic performance this morning. They're still a wild card I think in terms of whether they place middle of the top 10 or up near the top, but they should also show up again tonight. Colleyville Heritage sounds great and they were notably clean. They're doing well with their bent knee marching style too. You can certainly see the positive impact of Gary Barnard on the program. They might be the strongest band so far today. Burleson Centennial had a solid performance. I'm looking forward to see them in finals again if they advance, as I suspect they will. Both their guard and brass were fighting the wind a bit. Richland's performance was a little bit timid and shaky. I would be surprised if they are top 5 in prelims, though it is possible in finals with a good performance. Otherwise, they're pretty clean, though not as clean as Colleyville Heritage. They're also sensitive to musical expression throughout, although they were a little imbalanced from unfocused side to side listening like Burleson Centennial. All these bands are within striking range of each other, I think. Cleburne deserves an honorable mention. Brewer had a decent run. Burleson had a bit of a flat performance, but they have a shot at finals. Congratulations to all the bands so far. Now for lunch!

See my response to Band_dad_of_2:

Yes, they did perform well. I'm glad they came.

I thought they were trading tone quality for volume. I'm never good at gauging how the judges will interpret that. As for Area F bands, I think Aledo is great, BC is also good but less so, and Richland is less good than BC right now until their closer is tightened up and their trumpets fit in. Richland sounds pretty good though for their size. Other than that, I'm not sure what to think yet.

Not sure I understand the Azle placement. But then again, I am not a judge!

Results: 10. Burleson (744) 9. Midlothian (757) 8. Chisholm Trail (757.5) 7. Brewer (760) 6. Burleson Centennial (784) 5. Sachse (799) 4. Rockwall (812.5) 3. Aledo (823) 2. Azle (829.5) 1. LD Bell (861) Music: Aledo Visual: LD Bell GE: LD Bell Percussion: LD Bell Color Guard: LD Bell

LD Bell was pretty strong visually. For about half of their show I was underwhelmed with their music performance. I think it was partly the cold, though, since it did get better as the show went on. Still, they did not sound that much better than, for instance, Aledo, which is what I was expecting. Haltom was in exhibition at the end of finals. They were visually a bit of a mess, although at their best they sounded better than Bell. They also beat the cold better. Unfortunately, their sound has holes in it! Not enough people know their music. So, their output was inconsistent. If they were competing, I would put them somewhere in the middle.

Azle's show was fun. I think that their brass is overplaying their capacity, though, at the cost of a thin sound. I place them just over Chisholm Trail and under Sachse.

Chisholm Trail was rough, though they had good energy in the first couple movements. I suspect they will place towards the bottom tonight. Rockwall is good this season. I'm not sure of the last time they've been at this level. They play a bit more subdued which let's them listen better side to side than Sachse, but not, I think, Aledo. They don't always use that to their advantage, though. They're pretty clean. Glad I could see them this year!

Sachse is about twice the size of anyone who has performed tonight. They held together pretty well, but they sound more unfocused than BC. I can't remember if finals order is reverse order or top half / bottom half, but it would make sense if not random. Aledo is pretty strong with their hieroglyphics show. They have numbers in their favor this year too. They are generally clean and sound fairly focused. They'll do very good at state if they make it, which I think they have a strong shot at doing.

I'm here at the event. Will send periodic updates. I warn that I am not particularly good at evaluating performances in real time. ? The first exhibition band was Argyle, who won 4A Iin prelims. They sound fairly good at times, but they're a bit of a mess visually right now. Then Richland performed in exhibition. Their show is haunting but beautiful, and I was happily surprised with the package as a whole. They're pretty small -- about the size of Argyle -- but they're performing pretty well. I think they have a good shot at being middle of the pack in Area F finals. They clearly need to clean their closer though. And their first trumpets need to play in the ensemble, not just in tune. ? Burleson had a fun bee themed show. They're sounded rougher than Argyle and Richland, but had some good music ensemble moments. They performed at a level above Argyle and just a bit below Richland. The guard was fairly good. Midlothian's show was ballet themed with a gem motif. They wore tux uniforms! They performed weaker than Burleson tonight, though I think some of this comes from show design weakness. Brewer performed just below the level of Midlothian. They had a patriotic themed show. I missed the name of Burleson Centennial's show, but visually it's themed graffiti on brick. They have several large props like this which some of the kids go on top of. They have a lot of stage presence tonight! I feel pretty comfortable placing them above Richland. Their show feels state-worthy, but they need to make it through Area F. Great show!

I'm somewhat surprised about Duncanville, although, as with many other programs this year, their situation could perhaps be easily explained by the effects of the pandemic. Also, The Colony's absence from finals is notable, even if this is consistent with their bottom-of-finals finish at HEB finals this year and their early-ish performance time today. My guess is that they are the first out. I'm most surprised by Summit's lower placement, though, given their BOA Midland placement last week. Of course, Midland was not an incredibly deep contest, and this is not BOA scoring. Additionally, Summit had an early slot today, although that is not by itself a strong explanation in this context. Highland Park seems to be securing their program's upward trajectory. Since they were not in contest with Wylie for captions in prelims, it is difficult to say how close or far the two are. Movement in finals will be interesting. I think Summit is most likely to move up, and Highland Park most likely to not move down (apart from Lewisville).

The longer I'm connected to this activity, the more I realize how little anyone can understand from the outside-in what scores mean. I'm somewhere between being connected and being on the outside, so I feel hardly in a place to say anything about any particular scores. But speaking generally on the matter (and perhaps more briefly than... usual...) is something reasonable. Is judging subjective? Yes, and it must be, since judges don't have access to an objective, Platonic world of forms against which to evaluate performances. Does that make it entirely unscientific? No. Why? Because not all subjective viewpoints are tolerated. What viewpoints are tolerated? From educators, designers, or others with acceptable credentials. Is that sufficient? Generally and for the most part. Does that mean there is still bias in judging? Yes. Can judging be more scientific? Yes. How? Most generally, by the removal over time of viewpoints which do not reflect the tolerable range of scores a performance in a given caption is, according to present standards, deserving of--as well as the invention of new viewpoints which better and more consistently reflect the tolerable range. And how does that occur? A incalculable number of ways, but all of which put judges in positions in which they must rank-order certain novelties or excellences over others. Are there other necessary conditions? Yes, and a vast number which have yet to be determined, but one of which is the aggregate continuity of judging experience within the community. Okay, they're kicking me out of the coffee shop now.

Shout out to the N.Crowley band. You've improved so much since Mansfield POC! Good for you!