UIL 5A State Marching Contest 2025 (Nov. 10 & 11)

[WanderingTraveler]

Midlothian: Visual tapestry across the field is really cool. Enjoying these guard uniforms. Preshow was simple but effective. Bari sax was groovin!! Seems snare and bari were in disagreement, but locked in after the trumpet joining. Ensemble sound is mature, and ensemble visual seems well defined. Some high brass inconsistencies, noticed in exposed sections in the opener. Flugel quartet super warm and BEAUTIFUL tone. Backfield playing is super effective in the ballad. Some slight disagreements in the battery heading into the closer. Guard in the closer was nice, and the entire closer was fun! Props to the bari soloist, great playing throughout the show. These guys killed it.

[utee94]

Had just a minute to stop by the house and watch some NFHS.  I hadn't seen Midlothian yet this year, heard a lot about their show, and now I understand why.  That was great, exciting, nicely designed and well executed.  They look like a Finals band to me.  Way to go Midlothian!

[WanderingTraveler]

La Porte: Some talented trombone players leading into the opening hit. I love Scheherazade so this show already gets brownie points, but very well done. Good opening statements from high to low brass trade off. Visual storytelling on the center stage is well done. Sax soloist sounds good, and I see a flute next to them, but not hearing that. Snare tuning is quite nice. Really enjoy that nobody is sticking out of the texture, everyone knows their role. Some inconsistencies in marching technique as we move into the closer. Great showing from La Porte, welcome back to the state marching contest!

[Tubalord11]

La Porte: Solid sound from the T-Bone quartet, huge and clean full ensemble hit. Great work WW duet and Feature, great dynamics. Brass sounds great going between the two sides, lovely WW trio. Form control very strong in that last set of 2nd movement. Really engaging bodywork from the brass during the Flute solo, both them and the sax solo sounded great. Lovely double flag work in this beautiful ballad, really mature and controlled sounds. Really nice WW feature/solos after the ballad, and while I don't understand the theme a lot, I am loving their musical selections. Wow, this flute soloist has been playing a lot throughout this show, but they have been nails every time. Great sounds from the brass coming out of it, last set is very clean. Yeah, really strong from La Porte, enjoyed that a lot! 

[jetliner]

I just want to point out that La Porte's main guard duo is INCREDIBLE. They, especially purple guy, move unlike anyone I've seen all week. Unfortunate drops today, probably since the dome is a new environment, but they are SO GOOD. I find myself watching them all show.

[WanderingTraveler]

Roma: Love the musical selections for this show. Opening up with a talented soprano sax soloist. Opening hit and I can already tell this ensemble does articulation well. Okay snares, great chops and not scared to give them some exposed sections, well done. Balance across the ensemble is good, even with some of these funky chords. Great use of dynamic range at the end of the opener, and that last chord had such a great release. Great flute solo. Some overall spacing issues in these forms we are sitting in for a bit in the ballad. Individual visual seems well defined. Writing in the closer gives the woodwinds a lot of responsibility to keep the momentum going forward, well done, but the writing felt thin — thats mainly a content comment. Talented players, great show, good job.

[Tubalord11]

Roma: Great sounds from this Sprano Sax, very thematic body work from the rest of the ensemble leading into this massive opening hit, huge sound!! Little bit of discrepancy from the brass, but very minor. Solid drum feature, great WW feature though some visual dirt in the triangle. Great back field playing, really good use of dynamics as they turn around, great ending form and chord. Such a mature sound from the Flute solo, love how they put the flags in the WW pods, brass back field playing is very nice, amazing form control with that rectangle. Huge impact on this ballad, great job with the slow down, almost perfect consistency from the trumpets holding out that note. Yeah snares, great work with that break. Love this arrangement of Dies Irae, great job hitting those cover downs in the half time. Really strong closer, loved the trumpet duets at the end. Amazing job Roma, def made a statement for finals! 

[WanderingTraveler]

Lakeview Centennial: Cool prop staging with the guard on top. One listen to this brass choral in the endzone and I am already excited to hear the sound from this group. Great visuals in the preshow. Liking the wraps for these drums, similar to the front flats. The visual in the opening hit was super creative. Enjoyable drill writing, with a good use of the field. Some high brass tuning issues during this opening. Good small ensemble work. Sole challenging music for this opener, especially with syncing with the feet. Despite this being UIL, visual in this show helps sell the effect. Danzon time! Great flute solo! Some exposed drumline stuff leading into the closer, with MAMBO!! For some of these ensemble moments the low brass has some foundation, but especially in the ballad, some chords felt top heavy. Super fun closer, with some great guard work. Super enjoyable show top to bottom.

[Tubalord11]

Lakeview Centennial: Super cute and thematic preshow visuals, love that dancer soloists in that circle, great job with the moving pods, pretty consistent. Good opening hit, 1st trumpet sticking out a little, really clean drill so far though. Great job low brass trio, good reentry from the brass. Really great WW feature, again bodywork is very thematic, great brass quartet, some dirt in the sound coming out of it, but very minor. Beautiful flute solo....is that Danzon I hear. Good ballad impact, just some minor balancing things. And now it's time for some Mambo! Really great percussion feature, super fun movement. Great handling of the tempo change, much more controlled sound in that impact. Really nice Trombone quartet, follow the leader is clean. Cover downs are clean during and coming out of the WW feature, might be micing but don't over push to much Bones. Great ending, really fun show, great job LC! 

[WanderingTraveler]

Wakeland: I need some sunglasses! Just kidding Cool opening form, with an impressive opening statement from both the ensemble and the guard. OK MELLOS!!! And that was just the preshow! Great drumline moment right here at the beginning, especially with the running around they are doing. Into a great duet. Excellent display of technique and articulation from the brass. Beautiful tone from the french horn soloist. Ensemble visual locked in during this sax ensemble, super well defined. Texture at the beginning of the ballad is well scored, and interesting use of silence here as well. Some spacing issues front and center to end the ballad, but fixed with a visual. Mellos ripping through the texture in a good way in some of these closing chords. Great defined releases. Beautiful and powerful to end the show, great job. Looks like a medalist to me, more to come though.

[Tubalord11]

Wakeland: WOW brass!! Huge opening impact, Mellos omg, loved the drop in sound into the crescendo, wow what a start. Great job break, visually memorizing during this WW feature, great job duet. Super mature sounds form that horn soloists during this slower section, everyone is hitting their dots, awesome sax quintet. Great job building into that hit, just so much going on and its being performed at an insanely high level. Such beautiful sounds from that trumpet during Creep, WWs sound so clean under her. Great sounds from horn soloists, brass sound amazing playing backfield at the perfect dynamic. Huge and balanced hit, flag work is super effective as well as lower body visuals, what a moment. Love how they have the trumpet playing into the mirror, great GE, great form control in that last ballad set. Synth a little too loud hear for my taste; wow that triangle move was so cool. Just let myself enjoy the last 45 seconds, absolutely insane. They continue to impress me more year after year, but yeah this is probably my favorite of theirs since 2019, I mean WOW! Amazing job Wakeland!! 

[WanderingTraveler]

Hanks: Why are we holding the Sousas like that coming on the field Visual backdrop is stunning and cool uniforms. Wondering why the Xs on the non-face + joker cards. Woodwind technique right of the rip, well done. Tasteful use of trombone in the opening statement, almost assuming the role of a mello. Good ensemble visual. Slight left or right phasing when the ensemble is spread 20-to-20. Good chord like sound, even in these punctuated rhythms. Cool visual run through from the brass during the WW ballad moment. Good ripple from the guard with these pink flags being brought out. Great ensemble sound at the end of the ballad. Heck yeah trombone solo! Trumpets with some work in the background, into a trombone exposed moment, nice. Great ending, good job!

[Tubalord11]

Hanks: Solid opening moment, despite their size, they are putting out some good sound. Lovely flute solo, very mature sounds. Great T-bone and trumpet duet. Really solid WW feature, minor spacing issues during the follow the leader. Love the musical variety here, lots of pieces I like. Can't tell if its micing or they are that loud at times but might be some over playing in low brass, clean drill in that last set moving into the ballad. Again, lovely sounds from Flute in the ballad. Super cool moment with the brass running in the middle or the WW arch, super effective and clean. Solid runs from the battery into ballad hit, ooo watch your tone trumpets. Very nice double flag work in this last chord. Great groovy Trombone solo, brass injections were very solid. Really good consistency in timing with that ripple visual. Yes, love the 4 suites being shown in the drill, very cool moment! Overall, very fun show, great job Hanks, see ya'll at the casino! 

[Tubalord11]

Leander: Amazing Sax Quintet getting us started with hunting wabbits, great form with the full ensemble hit, huge impact!! Great job with the rotating circles, clean and supper effective, cover downs are clean in the big rectangle. Great work from muted trumpet and Piccolo? Yeah, I see why they placed high in visual at area, because the forms are super clean. Gosh there is so much going on musically, love how they tradeoff between the different sections, yeah that movement was so fun, they are locked in. Some interesting body work during those lovely soprano sax solo. Great spatial control from the brass in that follow the leader. Super cool smile form in this amazing ballad hit, great flag work. Super cool drumline break loved that merging circle in the brass. Great job soloists, don't know what that instrument is called but we are jamming out. Super cool ending, and tbh screens weren't as distracting, probably really own sucks for those in the few front rows. Buy umm yeah, that top 5 is gonna be tight bc that was so clean, amazing job Leander!! 

[WanderingTraveler]

Leander: Alright, first time seeing the screens live, let us see. Love the sax quartet. Ok, theres a lot going on here. Great articulation cross-ensemble. Trumpets nice feature, with some woodwind sections intertwined. Call and response across the ensemble into some chunky chords. Good spacing in these forms. The guard soloist dancing with the screen person was cool. Good ballad hit with some nice guard work. Some great sounds from the ensemble, with an occasional high brass member sticking out of the texture. This section at the end is super groovy with this soloist. Lots of challenging drill while maintaining sound quality. Fun! 

 

Sorry my comments were limited, I was trying to catch everything. So the verdict: That was… a lot in person. It is incredibly hard to focus on any one thing while the screen is playing. The performance and these performers are all super talented, and I think it is distracting, but not to a negative degree. It’s just something new that I have not seen before. It’s pushing the envelope in a new direction, and I have respect for that. Wanna see this again in finals while trying to not write comments at the same time, before saying more. Still well done and good job!

[Tubalord11]

Wakeland 

Leander 

Hendrickson 

Midlothian 

Roam

Laporte

Lakeview Centennial 

Hanks 
 

Block one rankings, have a feeling that Wakeland and Leander could be closer than we think, wondering how lone star is gonna fit between the three of them

[ThatOneRandomGuy]

I haven’t been on here in a minute, but I just have to talk about Wakeland 😭 that show was unreal. From the very start, they had everyone locked in. the brass sounded huge, mellos were killing it, and the woodwinds were so clean. The visuals looked super locked in too, everything just flowed really well. There was this moment in part 4 where I couldn’t tell if it was an echo or part of the sound design, but either way it added such a cool effect. The ballad was beautiful, and that last hit… wow. Just pure power and emotion. Every year they find a way to top themselves, but this one might honestly be my favorite yet. Great job, Wakeland 👏

[WanderingTraveler]

Kaufman: Loving these props, super well done. Preshow opening visuals in this ripple are well executed. First thing that stands out is incredible horn carriage from this group. Nice brass sound cross group, especially from the trumpets. Sound compromises a bit when moving. Heck yeah woodwinds, getting active at the beginning. Theme today seems to be flute solos, and another great one for Kaufman. Really enjoy the guard work during this ballad impact, the flags are really cool. Loving the ‘Under The Sea’ as the closer starts, with the props now flickering. Tenor is ripping through these notes, nice job. Some of these curvy forms look like they have flattened out a bit. Nice trumpet feature. Final impact, with a huge sound. Few mellos cracking, but then locked right back in. Nice recovery. Way to finish, and congrats!

[Tubalord11]

Kaufman: Great opening hit, some minor tuning issues in high brass, much better blend in that closing chord. Very solid work with the two blocks visually, good attacks from the brass, love their arrangement of Niagara Falls, really solid opening. Beautiful flute solo in the ballad, FE is blending very well, thematic visuals from the brass, could use a little more sound from the WWs. Good spatial awareness in this big curve set, brass sound much more locked in here, great ballad. UNDER THE SEA, YES!! Great job Sax and Trumpet soloist. OKAY Sax. Also, pods are very clean, crowd ate that part up, very well done. Really strong Trumpet feature, love the WW runs under the brass, balance is very well handled. Wow, this ending is a really special moment, great form control. Mellos sustain is clean, amazing ending. Really great performance, congratulations on your first state run in 5A Kaufman, really enjoyed that! 

[jetliner]

Kaufman should be freakin' proud of that run. The show is written to their abilities and they absolutely achieving it today. Certainly the drum major interview reflected that. Super happy for them!

[snare]

23 minutes ago, ThatOneRandomGuy said:

I haven’t been on here in a minute, but I just have to talk about Wakeland 😭 that show was unreal. From the very start, they had everyone locked in. the brass sounded huge, mellos were killing it, and the woodwinds were so clean. The visuals looked super locked in too, everything just flowed really well. There was this moment in part 4 where I couldn’t tell if it was an echo or part of the sound design, but either way it added such a cool effect. The ballad was beautiful, and that last hit… wow. Just pure power and emotion. Every year they find a way to top themselves, but this one might honestly be my favorite yet. Great job, Wakeland 👏

What was the echo? 

[ThatOneRandomGuy]

4 minutes ago, snare said:

What was the echo? 

My percussion buddy to my right said it was actually a tear, battery and low brass got off for a second during that part. It wasn't bad I just didn’t notice it. It was a great show def top 3 hopefully will see them in finals tn! 🤞

[WanderingTraveler]

Lake Belton: Been looking forward to seeing this show. There is some REP in this show. Opening statement from these amazing french horn players. Amazing full ensemble visual contributions, with some super well done flag work in the beginning. Some outstanding WW technical passages here, into high brass feature, followed by low brass.  Few forms on side one are collapsing. Balance in this ensemble is super supported by the low brass, love it. Flute ensemble for Elsas was great, and the back field moment here is absolutely beautiful. Guard start spreading from their cluster to fill the field, while the brass deliver a heart wrenching impact as they turn around. Right back into some clarinet small ensemble work. Wow the guard for LB is good. The staging for this closer drill is nice, with a beautiful visual tapestry. Some slight degradation of sound at the end. Well done, would not be shocked if this is in finals.

[Tubalord11]

Lake Belton: Great sounds from the Horn small ensemble, love the body work in the pods with the guard. Great work from WWs leading into the opening hit; wow they sound so good. Huge, clean form with a very mature ensemble sound, I hear those trills flutes, great opening moment. Great Sax quartet, WWs are nailing those technical runs. Good high brass feature, low brass as well, great sounds from the tubas. Love the guard work in this brass feat in the open circles, Crown set in the WWs is very effective. Great sounds from trumpet leading into Elsa's procession, good work from the flute sextet. Huge sounds from low brass, great dynamics. Some minor spacing issues in this big form but nothing crazy, good release. Great work with 1812 closer, cover downs are clean. Love the rippling rifle tosses, great job with the rotating forms, big crown set is super effective. Great job Lake Belton, very strong run! 

[WanderingTraveler]

Lubbock-Cooper: Super effective preshow, and some cool visuals to get members in their starting position. Theres no way dragging that member through the door didn’t hurt Opener was great with some challenging rep. I like the props for this show, but the staging limits the use of the field. Great sax soloist, great vibrato. Part 2 (Im assuming) has some great full chord moments. Okay, doors are moving opening up the field a bit more. Great visual spacing across the ensemble, ending the ballad in a stunning curve set. Brass with some good articulation work, with some visuals thrown in. Cool experimenting with some stuff in the closer. The GET -> OUT drill was cool. Visuals to end the show were fun and add to the effect of the show. Thematically, super fun show. Great job LC!