UIL 6A 2023 State Finals

[bsk]

6 minutes ago, Dallas Hobbs said:

Close. It was their 2006 show, “Coral Reef: Voices From Beneath the Sea”.

Thanks! I did okay considering half the time I don't remember why I walked into a room! 🙂

[tennertrumbow]

8 hours ago, zoomer said:

I can give you arrangers

Vandegrift - JD Shaw? I think

Marcus - Michael Klesch

Hebron - Dave Glyde/Michael Martin

Flower Mound - Wayne Downey

Vista Ridge - Ryan George

The Woodlands - Wayne Downey

Ronald Reagan - Aaron Guidry 

Coppell - Ryan George

Pearland - Jim Wunderlich

Bridgeland - Jim Wunderlich

Cy-Fair - Bryan Harmsen

Waxahachie - Evan Vandoren

Round Rock - Vince Oliver

Keller - Carol Britten Chambers (90% sure)

 

Pretty sure Vandegrift is Evan VanDoren unless that has changed since last year

[zoomer]

1 minute ago, tennertrumbow said:

Pretty sure Vandegrift is Evan VanDoren unless that has changed since last year

I'm sure they're not Vandoren since he normally posts about the bands he writes for on his Instagram.

[tennertrumbow]

34 minutes ago, zoomer said:

I'm sure they're not Vandoren since he normally posts about the bands he writes for on his Instagram.

Oh he never wrote for them I must be tripping, must have gotten it confused with the other LISD schools he does write for

[Vidal28]

4 hours ago, Samuel Culper said:

Two points I'll make

1 - If you question Vandy's ability to perform any music, you really are just showing your ignorance. Love them or hate them, they are an incredibly accomplished program with fantastic musicians. 

2 - Please stop referring to Lewisville ISD as LISD as if they are the ONLY relevant LISD in the state. There is another LISD involved here with even more numerous highly accomplished marching band programs than Lewisville ISD has, each of whom could play any piece of music you throw at them and do it with excellence.

Yeah, we're talking about, arguably, the top two school districts for marching band in the country.

Definitely have lots of respect for Vandy, I wouldn’t say any of their recent shows have been favorites for me, even though they all have great standout moments. Their style isn’t really my cup of tea, but they do deserve the accolades they receive, they’re very much a fantastic all-around program that hasn’t really buckled or wavered in their ascension. They’ve already got a GN title and 2 6A titles now so they’re continuing to build their resume even further! For all of LISD South, those feeder programs they have are going crazy, I think Vista’s Feeder won Middle School honor band this year iirc with Cedar Park’s right behind them so there’s plenty of evidence right there. The growth of their bands isn’t stopping anytime soon and there’s plenty more to come. 
For LISD North I did find it weird that OP says that they are just immediately better and more proficient musically than LISD South, like you said. I think it’s apples to oranges in the styles that the schools bring. Hebron’s electric, versatile wind players carry the musical demand, could listen to their woodwinds and high brass all day, the latter especially are remarkable and exceptional in the activity the last few years. They are usually my favorite to listen to year in and year out, jury’s out this year though, not my favorite program put together by them.

Flower Mound is quite contemporary and imo fairly “blocky” and LOUD in the way they go about ensemble sound, more so diversifying their sound output with their strengths in individual players(notably their woodwind soloists, pretty fantastic every year without question). I think this year is probably the best ensemble sound they’ve had in years, I definitely feel that’s been a weak spot for them as of recent and definitely hasn’t been on the level of the other two LISD North bands and several notable LISD south bands.

Marcus is traditionally known for being *traditional* and safe musically, but still being the most safe and controlled group in the whole state pretty much every year.  They definitely mixed it up a bit with much more saucy, risky repertoire this year and it’s paid so much dividends for them! You can always count on them for very creative percussion features, moments that are sparsely produced here in Texas lately, which is always appreciated. 

For LISD South: 

As for Vandy, like I said I very much respect them, they always sound great. I feel like their sound profile doesn’t change much from year-to-year in that they are very explosive, but also one of the best groups in the state when it comes to dynamic contrast and intricate detailed phrasing. Percussion is always laying it down, one of the best units in the state. I feel that when I listen to videos of them though they kinda sound like an amalgamation of *generic drum corps* lite. It’s so hard to put my finger as to why that is, it sounds like hating, but that’s really all I can do when I haven’t been able to see them live in years. They have a distinct sound but it also kinda feels a bit familiar!

Vista, you feel there’s an inviting openness to their sound, very pure, precise and controlled but can also have a flair for the dramatic. They’re kinda like Crown Jr. if you wanna look at them that way, I love their trajectory of where they’re going, would definitely love to see their numbers increase some too I forget how big exactly they are but iirc they’re one of the smaller big boys in the state!

Cedar Park, just as explosive sounding as the other two, but also probably a bit grittier, darker sounding as well. The percussion is always quite spectacular, not gonna talk about every LISD south band, just one more after this, but they’re mighty, fantastic feeder programs are gonna continue this in the future. But they are very much a fantastic all-around program, I think maybe being a bit too UIL-centric probably hinders them a bit in regards to a bit more of an emotional congruity with their show structure, hard to explain, but oftentimes it’s just hard to latch on to their shows completely. The last band I’m gonna talk about doesn’t have this issue for me…
 

Now Rouse…they are elevating and continue to elevate for a reason, they are one of the groups you want to listen to all day every day if you could, quickly becoming an emulator for a more classical, expressive sound, coming from their beginnings when they were small but still mighty!! They are controlled, explosive, colorful, light, and effortless. Quickly becoming the total package musically, and definitely leaning into more my cup of tea of having that emotional force of your program really coming through with their musical performance. They are about to unseat Cedar Park for the 5A crown, that’s hard to do, and they’re about to! That’s how good this band is becoming. Last I’ve heard from some people on here is their school growth is still continuing, very exciting to see where they go in the future. They are quickly becoming one of my favorite groups to listen to!!

My last thing to add is to simply say that both LISD’s have great bands that have plenty to praise about, to say any of them are doing easy things would be pretty silly. If I were to rank the bands I talked about here, *purely* from personal preference here’s where mine would be currently!

1. Hebron

2. Rouse

3. Marcus

4. Vista Ridge

5. Vandy

6. Cedar Park

7. Flower Mound

 

[Samuel Culper]

Omitting Leander is kinda criminal. They may be (slightly) down right now, but are still among the best.

[Vidal28]

44 minutes ago, Samuel Culper said:

Omitting Leander is kinda criminal. They may be (slightly) down right now, but are still among the best.

It is definitely criminal that I didn’t put the namesake of the district on there(Lewisville’s worth some discussion too haha) It wasn’t a omission to slight them i promise!
The post was already getting too long and I wanted a more even discussion of both districts haha

[LeanderMomma]

On 11/1/2023 at 2:07 AM, aaron067 said:

Their dance team exhibits the same level of skill in dance that the best guards exhibit in equipment work.  It's different, not lesser than.

 

I admit that I am often one who doesn’t understand how a dance team correlates to color guard but DANG that Viper Vision Company is so well trained, so articulate in their movement, such an integral part of the Vandy persona…you just can’t get that with a basic dance team. Vision is anything but basic and they are the PERFECT compliment to the Viper Band. Congratulations to Vandy AND the Vision Dance Company for their phenomenal performances at the San Antonio SR!

[Ninelets]

Not to change the subject, just something that came to my mind over the weekend.  Something not talked about much is the Leander PASA enrollment estimates over the next 5 or so years.  I didnt realize that Vandy is expected to see that much of a drop while Cedar Park and Rouse see the most growth (unless lines are redrawn).  Should see a natural shift in the growth of these programs too.

[Vidal28]

22 minutes ago, diddles said:

Not to change the subject, just something that came to my mind over the weekend.  Something not talked about much is the Leander PASA enrollment estimates over the next 5 or so years.  I didnt realize that Vandy is expected to see that much of a drop while Cedar Park and Rouse see the most growth (unless lines are redrawn).  Should see a natural shift in the growth of these programs too.

Vandegrift potentially falling into 5A potentially after these next two cycles is crazy to think about, especially when you know how massive that band is!! But yeah, who knows how school zoning might change in that time as well

[Samuel Culper]

24 minutes ago, Vidal28 said:

Vandegrift potentially falling into 5A potentially after these next two cycles is crazy to think about, especially when you know how massive that band is!! But yeah, who knows how school zoning might change in that time as well

Rezoning discussions will be contentious, to put it kindly.

[MilBandDude]

On 11/5/2023 at 6:47 AM, LeanderMomma said:

I admit that I am often one who doesn’t understand how a dance team correlates to color guard but DANG that Viper Vision Company is so well trained, so articulate in their movement, such an integral part of the Vandy persona…you just can’t get that with a basic dance team. Vision is anything but basic and they are the PERFECT compliment to the Viper Band. Congratulations to Vandy AND the Vision Dance Company for their phenomenal performances at the San Antonio SR!

They are so good because they have a dedicated Dance Department with credited Dance Classes. Dance at Vandegrift are considered career classes. They take their Dance Program outside of the band very seriously.

[LeanderMomma]

37 minutes ago, MilBandDude said:

They are so good because they have a dedicated Dance Department with credited Dance Classes. Dance at Vandegrift are considered career classes. They take their Dance Program outside of the band very seriously.

I can definitely see that!  🤩🤩