Hm, I have a few things to say about the bands at Area. Keep in mind I'm currently a band member at RRHS, so my opinions might be a bit biased, but I'll try my best to keep it fair.
Bowie- great show, great impacts, completely deserved what they got. Their band must clean in a very talented way, because they caught up to and beat Round Rock by a long shot in only a few weeks. Congrats to them on their first Area win!
Reagan- I did not get a chance to see their show, considering my band performed directly after them in both prelims and finals. I've heard from people that they aren't all that, but considering that isn't my opinion, it will not be regarded in this. Also, I have been hearing rumors that they use an amp for their entire band? If that's true, it's a little foul. Obviously a good band based on their placement in finals.
C.T. Johnson- wow, I had never even heard of them before Saturday! Wonderful show!
Anderson- another great show. Congrats to this band (sorry I don't have much to say on this one ): )
Westlake- geez I really enjoyed this show. They have an outstanding drill, but their execution of said drill might waver a little bit. Music was alright, but I honestly couldn't keep my eyes off of them! Jazz running pass through at the end of the show was spectacular.
Round Rock- I feel like we didn't perform as well as we could have, and definitely weren't focused. The announcement of bands advancing to finals was delayed by about 15 minutes, but the first band's (us) performance time at finals, however, was not. We were a little crunched for time (buses were hellish, ;P ), but that's no excuse. Some people have said we don't play much while we're moving, and to be honest, I don't really understand where they got that. We have all of one 16 count hold in the opener, and it's at the very end. We were all shocked at the news of us dropping to 6th after getting 3rd in preliminaries, but we're thankful for the opportunity to go to state for the first time since 85.
Churchhill- hhhmm, I'm not really sure what to say here. Musical impacts were strong, and I was surprised with their outcome in the finals. Personally, I felt like the props they used (black swirly things) were a little too much, but hey, I guess I'm just a bit more of a traditional band-er. Colorguard was good.
Akins- I'm not sure if I saw this show. I'm very sorry that I think I might be confusing the shows of Akins and Churchhill ):
McNeil- their show is pretty cool in my opinion. Definitely a step up from past years. Their band has improved a great bit, and I'm looking forward to seeing how they do next year. They had a good rank at BOA, and I feel like they're on a road to success (:
Westwood- hhhmmmmm. Their music was alright, but marching was definitely sub-par. It was nice having 3/4 bands in my district advance to area finals though (:
Oh geez oh my I just typed a ton. I'm sorry if anybody doesn't agree with any of this, and none is meant to offend. I agree with everyone about the music judge, Judge 1 in prelims if I remember correctly. 1st, 5th, and 21st? Ouch. He certainly hit Round Rock the hardest in prelims. There were some strange scores for all the bands from all judges, and I hope the judges at state better know... what they're doing? Idk how to word that. I know one of the judges from area D is going to state, let's just hope it isn't music judge 1!