The Devil's Advocate

Best show of the night. I grew up not liking Duncanville shows. They were slow, didn't move much, and lacked thematic unity. I take all of that back now. Duncanville was amazing. Marcus was fun to watch but Duncanville is the band I want others to model themselves after in the future.

Here's a question for those acquainted with the Marcus band program. Those kids playing the shadows were remarkable. Their choreography, staging, etc. were great. Here's the question: were those the band kids who would normally be the alternates? Usually, the kids who are alternates are freshmen who are a little too uncoordinated to march. The shadows had the poise and control of experienced performers. Were the shadows drill team members? (I'm not trying to slam any kids; I'm just very impressed.)

My Awards from 5A State 2010: Kids having the most fun - The Westfield bassoon duo (they did a great job of conveying the sense of "Yeah this is hard. So what? We've got this.") - The kids who turned the wheels on the Brazoswood vertigo props (I'd go with the snare drummers but they were probably a little sick afterward.) - The Marcus shadows Most moving performance - Donna. From "Goin' Home" from Dvorak 9 in the preshow to the closing at the heavenly gates, this was a touching show. Creepiest Show - Saginaw Coolest moment - Brazoswood finale - Watching the kids in wheelchairs from Donna and Coronado participate in marching band Worst moment - Listening to parents complain about the finalists on the way out of the dome after prelims. It's always going to happen but it's never not disappointing. Biggest surprises - Area G. Those kids can play! It sometimes feels like the schools not from major metro areas don't get much credit. There's a lot of great teaching going on down in the Valley. Many kids who can play their instruments very well! - Brazoswood and Reagan not in finals. I thought both of these bands played well enough to get in. Kids with the most poise - Any kid who had to play a solo while the guard messed with them. That takes concentration. - "The Queen" from Spring who had to maintain composure while processing very slowly across the field. That was impressive. Most awkward moments - Waiting for warmup time to be over for bands without a preshow. Sometimes up to 2 minutes. If we're going to embrace this pre-show thing, we've got to make things a bit less awkward for the bands that choose not to do one. For example, announcing prior to the 1 minute mark. - The clock during the Claudia Taylor Johnson show. It started early. - The clock during the Woodlands show. It appeared to start late. (It seemed like the show was about 15 seconds over the time limit.) (I'm glad no one was penalized for clock issues. That really takes the focus off of the kids on the field.)

I think there are several ways Coppell could theoretically get a 17. (Note: I wouldn't have given Coppell 17. I'm arguing possible scenarios.) 1) Coppell immediately followed Marcus in prelims. Besides Duncanville, I think anyone following Marcus would see their score a little depressed in music. 2) Look at the other prelim scores from the same judge. He obviously valued difficulty. (For example, Haltom at 2. IMHO, Haltom played the hardest book of the day by far.) 3) Coppell loses points from a music ensemble perspective because of individuals who stick out. (Bass Trombone, for one.) Also (IMHO) in general their brass blasted and didn't play with resonance (much like Bowie, who were also scored low by the same judge.) Here's the show if you weren't there/don't remember: I don't feel great picking apart the show, I really enjoyed it and had them easily ranked in the top 10. During finals, I pulled up the prelim scores and was shocked by the 17. I spent their finals performance trying to see how someone could come up with that ranking. It's possible. Music judges listen for different things (and that's okay). That's why there are three of them.