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

[Tubalord11]

Lubbock-Cooper: Super cool preshow drill, love the guard member running through the WWs and they lay down. Great work from the Sax solo with the backfield playing into the opening hit of Rapsody in Blue. Solid sound from high brass and WWs under the trombone solo. Good form control during the Sax solo, little bit of dirt form battery, good work in the pods. Good job with the different attacks, cover downs clean for the most part, much better going into the ballad. Great job again from our sax soloist, really cool effect having the guard run through the doors that are in that front row. Great dynamics here in the ballad, not over playing and keeping good balance with the sax solo. Good WW and brass features, love the flag work throughout, clean Mello run. Effective drill spelling "Get Out", very solid ending chord, ending visuals add a nice touch to the end. Great job LC! 

[jetliner]

That's the second Area A band interview to mention a new director. Been a crazy director carousel out there recently?

[Argyleauntie346]

Argyle aunt here, I’ve been in the marching scene for a long time, since around the 70s. I wanted to share my expert opinions and predictions. Wanderingtraveler and Tubalord seem to be a bit too young to make predictions at this level of competition. Here’s my prediction: 

1. Argyle 

2. Cedar Park

3. Leander

4. Wakeland

5. Rouse

6.  Anderson; They could be top 5.

7. Aledo

8. Lone Star

9. Hendrickson

10. Friendswood

11. Midlothian

12. Burleson Centennial

For my maybes: Maccallum, I know their director personally, they’re great; Lebanon trail; A&M Consolidated 

This is based on extensive experience. I hope you like it. I wish all bands good luck 🤞. 

[WanderingTraveler]

Aledo: From cars last year, to planes this year…Boats next year? 👀 Effect for this show has been fun this year. Guard with the glow sticks controlling the planes. Front flats are nice, with some of the flats spilling onto the field. Cool way to fly from the straight lines into the field. The drill for the show is well done, starting with this expanding flag set. Drum line seems out of sync with this front field strong ensemble. First few full impacts, what a great sound. Loud and balanced. Trumpet solo accompanied by these woodwinds that are running through these notes. The fly over to get the band from off the group to set is super well done from an effect perspective. Forms have been consistently pretty strong, but sometimes when visuals are introduced its throws it off a bit. Drums in an exposed section with this trumpet mello duet, both were nails. Some great power behind these rhythmic punches. Great powerful sound quality to end the show. Best run I have seen this season, so much energy. Good job.

[Tubalord11]

Aledo: Really great work from FE and Bone and Trumpet Solos to get is started, love the airplane sound effect. Huge sound with Caves, love the Top Gun call, great flag work, drill is super clean. Great sax quintet and Bone solo. Rotating circle from WWs during this awesome high brass feature is so cool. Wow, they have seriously cleaned up so much since I last saw them. Mic seems to be not working for trumpet solo, but you can still hear him, great blend from WWs. Supper effective with the WWs going between the brass with the plane prop, Wow the ending to that movement is so cool, love the tarp going across. Grend blend from full group during the Flute and C-net duet, big bomber plane set is so freaking sick, I am in love with this show. Again, Top Gun call back, love it, big form is very clean. Clean trumpet duet, high brass feature is nails. WWs as well, wow they are not playing around. Star set with the moving planes is great GE.  Yeah, I'm losing it; just super entertaining, drill is super engaging, and they sound so good. I do not envy those judges because wow it's going to be tight. Amazing job Aledo! 

[neverplayedaninstrumentmom]

Anyone know the size of the band and the guard (separate numbers) from LBHS? Band and guard both look massive compared to some of these other 5a bands

[WanderingTraveler]

College Station: I spy the Phantom Regiment 2023 props! I like the color that was added. Drumline to start the show, and I am impressed. Strong brass statement to start the show. Sousa solo sounds good with the strange rhythmic work alongside. Front ensemble was getting into it while there was a sync solo. Most of the show so far has been fairly full ensemble. Unable to make any comments on the WW. Flue solo into french horn, both with great tone. Trombone joined in for a few notes, and absolutely warm texture. Dynamically, the final chord of the ballad gave me chills. Down to super soft and so balanced, great take. Props coming together in the closer to reveal these nice stained glass windows. Getting some help here at the end to fill the field with flags. Nothing super exposed in this show, outside of solos, but beautifully balanced ensemble, and sole great musicianship here. Good job College Park.

[Tubalord11]

College Station: Strong opening hit, great job tuba soloists! Great pod movement during the high brass feature, a little bit of tone issues in trumpets but they locked in at the end. Lovely Flute and bass C-net duet, good form control with the moving lines. Great dynamics in the big form at the end of the movement, nice flute solo into ballad, beautiful playing from that horn solo, WWs balancing very well under them. Great Mello sustain, cover downs were clean. Ooo watch that entrance, timing was a bit early from some members, good recovery with the release. Good low brass and perc feat, good writing. Great mello solo, oop, was worried that prop was gonna hit that pit member. Very thematic drill in the closer, great flag work with this last chord. Great job College Station! 

[OGFISD99]

I know im a bit late posting my predictions for today but here is my take... 

Prelim results 

1. Rouse

2. Cedar Park 

3. Wakeland 

4. Leander 

5. Lone Star 

6. Argyle 

7. Aledo

8. Lebanon Trail 

9. Burleson Centennial 

10. Hendrickson 

11. Friendswood 

12. Midlothian 

I'm probably wrong.... but it worth a shot..... 

After tonight's finals announcements I'll  update for finals.... 

 

[WanderingTraveler]

Liberty Hill: Cool Concept! These are some dope props, which definitely help sell the effect here. Smaller band but powerful sound to start the show. Seems a trumpet lost a shako, swiftly recovered by an on field judge. Cool visual interaction with the pinball. Some saber work from the guard midfield during this ballad solo work. Bari sax helping the sousas a bit with the lowest voicing of these chords. Few stick out trumpets as we pick back up. The lights on these mid field props are simple but I like them! Great sounds from the ensemble coming off of the Daft Punk portion. This show was fun, a theme committed to and done super well.

[Tubalord11]

Liberty Hill: Lovely playing from Flute and C-net with Son Lux, snare blend is great. Super impactful opening hit, flag work is great, really mature sound. No, we lost a plume! And a whole hat.... Love the pinball moving through the brass, good visual GE. Little bit of dirt in drill, nothing major, good job with the rifle ripple, effective visual. Great trumpet and Euph, FE blends very well. Good runs from the WWs and we pick up the tempo. Good ballad hit, could be a little louder, also watch the pitch trumpets. Prob micing but sound was covered but a little in the softer section by perc, don't crescendo to early brass. Great Bari solo and trumpet quartet. Great effect with the pinballs in the back as we call back to the opener, strong impact, great closing chord. Yeah, I see why they did so well this past weekend, really great job Liberty Hill! 

[OGFISD99]

Wow.... Harlingen.... great wave of sound... 

[OGFISD99]

Harlingen great  colorguard.... choreography amazing  the dance and point feet and nice upper body control with all the dancers nice fully exsentuated arms and hands... wow..  

[WanderingTraveler]

Harlingen South: Yall have a lot of trees! Pre show effects with these members in white, grey and black is done well! Reminds me of Hebrons opening last year. Great opening woodwind ensemble. EXCUSE ME?!?! Y’all sound phenomenal on this first hit, good sound quality. Enjoying the skirts on the guard unis. Technical passages in thr high brass to start, well done. Nice drum wraps to match the uniforms. WW runs perfectly executed. MELLOS ripping through this texture. Few fracks in these technical passages, but nothing major. First tree flips around to reveal blue. WWs are super audible in their portions. Butterfly wings to end the ballad is a super cool effect. Few moments where the ensemble balance is shrill in the moving portions. All the trees have flipped to show color now. Spacing in full forms is falling in on itself in the closer for a few sets. Individual visual is excellent in this ensemble though. Great balanced chord with a great release to end the show. Visually what an incredible show, theme and moving parts were super effective. I was not familiar with this bands game, this might be the shock of the day for me. Great job.

[Tubalord11]

Had to take a call during Harlingen South but still them in 1 ear and wow that was great! A lot of familiar music but executed very well. Soloists were great, really enjoyed their blend and that guard was fantastic! Visually very good, some dirt at times but overall a really enjoyable show, great job South! 

[Tubalord11]

Alright block 2 rankings. Other than Aledo it’s a complete guess, so many good performances:

Aledo 

Lake Belton 

College Station 

Liberty hill 

Kaufman

Harlingen South 

Cooper 

LH and Kaufman is the biggest unknown, especially with how LH did at the SR

[jetliner]

33 minutes ago, WanderingTraveler said:

College Station: I spy the Phantom Regiment 2023 props

So funny thing. There's now MORE of these in circulation than were in Exogenesis. Gonzales has 8 of them too. 

[jetliner]

Thoroughly impressed with Harlingen South's body of sound. Was NOT expecting that. And of course, the Ara Batur ballad gets to me. And the mello sustain! Was good! Well done!

[jetliner]

On 11/3/2025 at 1:27 AM, jetliner said:

Calling Lone Star parents: Do you have a spare The Journey show shirt sitting around? Perhaps a sibling's that wore it to the one home contest and will probably never wear it again? I will buy it off your back at State. 

No but seriously I saw the parents with it at Prosper and thought it was the best show shirt I've ever seen and I really want one of my own and apparently it was well past sold out at that point in the season

Re-upping this!!

Edit: I have $1 in cash today. Oops!

[BearMom]

1 hour ago, Argyleauntie346 said:

Argyle aunt here, I’ve been in the marching scene for a long time, since around the 70s. I wanted to share my expert opinions and predictions. Wanderingtraveler and Tubalord seem to be a bit too young to make predictions at this level of competition. Here’s my prediction: 

1. Argyle 

2. Cedar Park

3. Leander

4. Wakeland

5. Rouse

6.  Anderson; They could be top 5.

7. Aledo

8. Lone Star

9. Hendrickson

10. Friendswood

11. Midlothian

12. Burleson Centennial

For my maybes: Maccallum, I know their director personally, they’re great; Lebanon trail; A&M Consolidated 

This is based on extensive experience. I hope you like it. I wish all bands good luck 🤞. 

I hope this posting is in jest because these two “youngsters” have proven their knowledge with exceptional accuracy for a while now. Specifically, Tubalord knows his stuff and I have trusted his insight and predictions for the last few years.  No one comes close to his opinions and predictions regardless of age. 
 

 

[MikeKyu]

1 hour ago, WanderingTraveler said:

Aledo: From cars last year, to planes this year…Boats next year? 👀 

They are sneaking in a Planes, Trains, and Automobiles reference. 

[Tubalord11]

LET'S GO LONE STAR!!! 

[WanderingTraveler]

Lone Star: ANNNND we are firing on all cylinders right off the bat. Crazy huge sound right off the rip, and we have some woodwinds borderline sprinting across the field. Way to make a statement. Cool visuals as sorrunding the props as they move onto the field. Got some impressive mello runs in the opener, along with some trumpet articulation features. Backfield spread out woodwind arcs spacing is questionable right before the ballad. Great projection from the Woodwinds in their feature to open the ballad, into a very artistically done flute solo. Great backfield playing by the brass. Good clarinet solo to lead us into our ballad hit, well done. Guard work here is simple but effective. Ensemble visual work is good, few individual stick outs. Articulation, especially in the high brass is great in the closer. Great use of the field here, spread across the whole field. Bones really warm timbre in the final chord before running backfield and spreading these road tarps all the way backfields. This show definitely doesn’t lack content. What a journey. Definitely in my top 5 conversation, good job.

[Tubalord11]

Lone Star: BRASS....OMG!!! My jaw was on the ground for that opening impact, it's so much louder in the dome, and no overplaying, just one massive sound. Great job muted trumpet, so much taste in that tone. Wonderful runs WWs, love the Mello callback to last year. MELLOS, yeah, they are locked in oml. Great sax quartet, Cover downs are clean, and wow, this separate way's part is def my favorite part of the show, so impactful. Great job again Mellos with the 16th note lick, some small spacing issues in the bigger forms but nothing crazy. Love the partner work in the brass during the WW feature here in the ballad, flute solo is so pretty, backfield brass playing is layered on so well. Great stuff from the C-net solo and wow, what a gorgeous ensemble sound, soloists over the full group is great, very thematic with them playing towards each other, great release. Great tuba feature, thank you for dialing down the battery during it. Nice flag work with the WWs, yeah trombones. Great C-net feature, love the rotating pods, and just wall of sound at the end. That imo was their best run of the season, some minor visual things at times in the big forms but I mean wow, great from the C-net as they run backfield, last set is almost perfect. Amazing job Lone Star, I can't wait to see that tomorrow! 

[ThatOneRandomGuy]

WTF Lone Star 😭 sounding like a full 6A out here! That last set absolutely blew me away, almost flawless and so powerful. The flags and rotating pods throughout the show really made the visuals pop, and the tuba feature was just epic, especially with the battery pulling back at the perfect moment. The ballad had such beautiful moments, the flute solo was stunning, and the brass partner work added so much emotion and depth. Soloists over the ensemble sounded incredible, especially during those moments where they played toward each other so thematic. The opening brass hit was massive and clean, just one huge wall of sound without ever being over the top. Muted trumpet had such a smooth tone, and the mellos were locked in all the way. Woodwinds were crystal clear, and I loved the small callbacks and textures that added so much personality to the show. Small spacing things here and there, but nothing that even comes close to taking away from what was easily one of their strongest runs this season. Lone Star is seriously next level this year!