justabandkid94

anyone have commentary on the bands?

If memory serves me correctly, I believe they didn't sign up for the 2008 Super Regional for this reason. They intended to go to San Antonio for UIL State only, but then fate had other plans :/ But I agree, what a shame. Their kids only get what, 3 contests during Nationals year? Not many local competitions (besides their own one...) to go to like in Austin/DFW.

Yeah I've just read one too many bad posts across sites today. I'll sit this one out. I know how much it p*@@3d me off to see people judging my show back in my days early on so I'm going off of that. Sorry boys

"once it meshes properly with the music, it will be an extremely formidable show" so its okay for your alma mater's school's drill to "not mesh as well with the music" quite yet, but for other schools who have that same "issue," their shows are suddenly inferior and not capable of being as "formidable"? It's September 22. Give all these kids a chance to breathe, grow and prove themselves. BOA Austin hasn't even happened yet. I'm sure you know exactly what it feels like to have people criticizing your show early in the season. Think back to 2013. UIL and BOA were totally unpredictable between Cedar Park, Vista Ridge and Vandegrift. Now with Leander in the mix, consider how all over the place it's going to be. I usually refrain from ranting on here, but I'm tired of seeing posts like this.

Holy moly cedar park. Its all incredible already but that woodwind tonguing run deal at 2:19 just had be laughing and shaking my head. Wow. Hope I get to see that live this year. Saw a video of Vandegrift on Youtube, can't find it anymore. Looks like a new drill designer maybe? Not sure, but either way.. Beautiful visual package. They finally really fill the field this year. Beautiful dancers as we have come to expect. Music is INTENSE and much more challenging than past. Early season struggles but this is by and far the best, most complete and demanding show they have put out by a long shot. They move and move and play and play. Really interested to see the LISD bands compete at BOA and UIL. Gonna go ahead and call a LISD state advancer sweep. Just my two cents

Anyone been to the region recording hearings? Who's good this year? Any good video links? I'm looking at you, Rubisco

didn't want to start another thread for this, but does anyone know what the preshow music for Hebron was this year? It was gorgeous

1) The Woodlands 2) Hebron 3) CTJ 4) Bowie 5) Leander 6) Marcus 7)Flower Mound 8) Round Rock 9) Vandegrift 10) LD Bell 11) Ronald Reagan 12)Cedar Park 13)Westlake 14)Hendrickson GE: Leander Visual: The Woodlands Music: Hebron or Vandegrift You may call me crazy to put Leander as the GE winner and in 5th, but I truly believe the placements are going to be very small margins this year. Leander is my favorite show this year, but I don't think their playing is as strong as the rest of the "big guys." As for Visual, I think its a pretty easy call.. The Woodlands looks absolutely stunning as they move across the field. The music caption. Probably my toughest prediction. I believe the overall success of Hebron and Vandegrift rely greatly on their music performance. Both have incredibly exposed books--especially Hebron, as we all know. I have seen performances of both groups where everything locks in and it is jaw dropping; but at times when it doesn't...you can really tell they aren't together. That being said, if both of these groups nail their music book, I believe Hebron could snatch the first place from The Woodlands and Vandegrift could join Leander in the top half of finals.

If anything, the visual didn't take away from the taxation of the show but rather added to it. Any time we weren't flying across the field playing super hard sheet music, our "break" was the visual or choreography.. Not much of a break. I wouldn't say its fair to think of it like its some excuse to not play music-- many, MANY hours of body-only rehearsal were held. Despite this, I think it made the show very fun.. In the years where we had less visual, it was more of a mind game with keeping up at the constant tempos and music, rather than having to being conscious of all the body movement. I think it all evens out.

As of now I have a hard time seeing anyone touching Hebron at UIL. I just saw a new video of them with faster tempos, even cleaner articulation and just a downright insane sound. Seems like still have drill to add-- they stopped in the same place as in Denton. Can't wait to see this monster in the dome. I will echo everyone else and say the remaining two medals go between Coppell, Bowie, Marcus and The Woodlands. We will get a better idea after Conroe this weekend.

*dramatic gasp* Can anyone reliable confirm/deny this?

the top 3 at state will be Hebron, Marcus and The Woodlands, in some order. I'll go ahead and call Hebron champions, but they won't beat The Woodlands at BOA. I'm not quite sure if TW has.... ever... medaled at UIL, but if any year it should happen, I'd say it'd be this one. As Rubisco has commented, they are unbelievably visually strong for so early. Maybe that, combined with their signature, electrifying brass blend, will help them finally make that medal push. I think Marcus will be back in their normal form. Last year was definitely an "off" year for them, but you can't just completely eliminate them from the running. They ARE the 4-time state champion, after all. And they won the individual performance captions at nationals, as many before have commented... Good design or not, they still rep that Marcus standard. All that matters to me though is how insane the competition is now. Long gone are the days of LD Bell and Marcus just swapping places each year. This is a MUCH more exciting time for band in Texas, if you ask me.

The Woodlands isn't listed under Region 9, did they not submit a recording this year?

Even though I have obviously voiced my fanboy love for The Woodlands this year, I just wanted to add that Round Rock left me speechless. Like others have said, RR at SA and RR at GN were like two different bands! So much improvement!! Their show left me in awe at the amount of energy they brought to the field, and I was especially struck by their gorgeous music selections! I don't think any show has ever evoked this much emotion from me (maybe LD Bell 08 or Broken Arrow 06...idk). Best part of the show is easily the closer with "Ice Dance" from Edward Scissorhands. Chills through the roof. Truly remarkable. Stuck with me all night. Can't wait to see what this band does in the future.

We need to get CTJ, Hebron, Bowie and Vandegrift up there next year for another nationals of Texas domination!

What happened with Blue Springs?

This show is just flat out incredible. It has the "IT" factor and vibe, more than any other show this year, IMO. GE is through the roof as everyone has stared numerous times. Visually, they knock 2011 out of the park and I think they are on par musically. The biggest thing that I think could be an issue is that section of SUPER exposed brass articulation building into that "W" set. But. Wow. The show is more thrilling everytime I see it. I really, really hope they finally pull off the win.

Best of luck and safe travels to all of our Texas bands attending Nationals this week! Cherish every second you have in Lucas Oil, it's something that will stick with you for forever.

You can do all of that, even with the production factor. Take all of the props away from Marcus, Hebron, or Woodlands, etc and you would still have marching band... Let's stop complaining about shows, ok? all of these kids work hard, regardless of the style. We should be using this forum to praise the displays of excellence we saw at BOA and UIL the past few days.

it's private now.. your thoughts on the show?

Question. Totally sincere. I noticed that you crossed out "2011" in your bio. I understand that 2011 was somewhat of a misstep for Hebron, but why does the program seem to act like it doesn't exist? What exactly happened? There is no trace of a free video of the show on the internet and I always see band members comment things like "2011. never again." on youtube. Was it just that it was a bad year? or did other things happen? Big fan of you guys

Now, let's not forget how CP and Vandy barely made the Area night show in 2011, but pulled through in finals and managed to advance.. And then, a little bit later, CP was crowned UIL champions. Area is not necessarily indicative of state performance. And I'm not saying Vista did not deserve their win... I'm saying its going to come down to who performs the best. ALL 3 groups are equal contenders for the gold. How cool would it be if gold, silver and bronze went to LISD!?

The only thing I'm for certain is that Vandegrift, Vista Ridge and Cedar Park are on a different level, at least on a UIL sheet. First things first... It's just INSANE to me that all three of those schools in the same DISTRICT have equally unbelievable marching ensemble sounds (especially brass). In prelims, Vandegrift was insanely gorgeous and was a clear first. They are starting to have a blend that reminds me of Marcus. However, in finals, they lost some of their momentum and dropped to 3rd but were still fabulous. In finals, Vista brought their refreshing energy to the field and it too was absolutely jaw dropping. Just some insane, rip roaring chords. Cedar Park in both performances displayed their signature field confidence and in your face sound, and ended up the middle man both times. Love how lush their ensemble sounds on that Barber and Tchaik. It's ultimately going to come down to the performance.... I'm confident one of these three will be the state champion next Tuesday, folks

After watching Marcus and Bell, agreed. The only thing that could hold TW back is the visual, but it seems like they are cleaner at this point than they were with Uninvited two years ago.

just curious