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

[DahSyllable]

2 hours 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 🤞. 

Where Tarpon Springs Outdoor Performance Ensemble at?

[WanderingTraveler]

BC: Mid tempo start with a perfectly balanced fanfare, with this incredible BC drumline already showcasing their chops! Minor spacing issues in these opening forms. Brass double tonguing feature went well! Another drum break, so clean. Interesting rendition of shost 10. Individual visual responsibility is high, and pretty clean. Some mud in the brass book here before going into this flute and sop sax duet. Enjoying how this woodwind opening for the ballad is scored, good balance — into good sounds from the brass. Duet had great tone and tuning to end their moment. This drumline is legit so impressive, great break again. Field is full gold as the backdrop’s have now extended and rolled onto the field. Huge sound as the winds scatter around into some pretty fast and complex drill. Soprano floating above the ensemble in this huge moment to end. Visually a beautiful way to end the show with the guard and the gold! Great job.

[Tubalord11]

Burleson Centennial: Great opening fanfare from high brass, the best I've heard it this season, snares killing their parts. Yeah, that battery is still insane, love this faster paced section, really sets the pace for the show. Huge and controlled chord, lots of sound despite their "smaller" size. WWs killing those technical passages, C-nets killing those repeated articulations in Sym 10. Brass articulation is clean, a little fuzz in the decrescendo. Lots of dynamics, really great visual moment with the rotations into the big set. Beautiful work Flute and Sax duet, WWs playing so lovely, great flag work as we move into the big hit, kneel timing is very together. Basses, wow, so clean as we move into Golden Hour. Supper cool moment with the tarps, really feels like were coming into a big closer moment. Great job with the moving block WWs, some minor spacing issues moving the curve forms. I'm really impressed with their dynamic contrast, soprano just ringing over this last major chord, incredible performance, love the outro, fantastic job Spartan regiment!! 

[Tubalord11]

Friendswood: Super pretty Sax quintet, the 4 balance so well under the Sparano. HELLO brass!! Wow what a sound, not over the top, drill was clean. Funn little WW duet with the drum set, sets the mood of this groovier section. Great WW feature, great guard work with it. My goodness brass, we are jamming out, just a huge sound. Wow, this ballad is just gorgeous. Tone in brass gets a little lost at times, but the ending was much more locked in, lovely flag work. Wow, they are moving those big forms so well. WW feature was nails, great rifle work to go with it. Awesome perc feature really handled the tempo change with no pause really well. And we are jamming again, great closing moments, love the Mello trills, such a fun show, can't wait for that one tomorrow, great job Friendswood!! 

[WanderingTraveler]

Friendswood: Im assuming these props were the ones last year, with alterations to this years show them! They look nice. Starting with some opening, ensemble work into a very tasteful opening hit. Shout out mellos! Enjoy the visual pallet here with the colored flags. Bit of instability right before this sectioned work. Okay woodwinds, killed those runs. Same with the brass feature, nice! Some slight stick outs on side 1 in the curve cosine looking form. Great power and balance to end their opener. Visual package in this show is very strong, especially individually. Great playing the ballad, not a super loud dynamic, with a very carolina-crown ending to the chord (7-1-2-1 I think). Coming out of the ballad, nice articulation high brass. Again, individual bent leg technique is great. Another great drumline, good features. Mellos are the highlight of this show, wow. Great way to end. More to say, but great power, good balance, and a great visual package. Goodluck!

[Anthony V]

Thanks so much @WanderingTraveler and @Tubalord11. I deeply appreciate these updates!!

[WanderingTraveler]

Amarillo: Im assuming before it’s announced this has something to do with caterpillars?! Cool guard costumes. Cool visual movement to start the show, into some back field playing, while a solo snare stacks to full drumline. Drill writing is nice, soke pretty exposed things right off the bat. Well done. Good sounds in these full ensemble moments, with there only being 6 tubas, ensemble texture sounds a hit top heavy, but they adjust very well. Forms are solid, not seeing much from a spacing perspective rn to fuss about. Cool costume change for the winds, the tarp effect over was cool. ++ GE Guard looks good, fairly strong showing here. Transition to the butterfly wings was cool. Musically the momentum is slowing a bit, but these members are doing a great job of execution. Nice! Welcome back after a few decades!

[Tubalord11]

Amarillo: Solid work form percussion to get us started, some minor dirt in the snares. Great backfield playing from the ensemble, cover downs are clean. Big opening statement, nice hearing WWs under it all, good sound on the release, great WW quartet moving into the next movement. Spatial awareness is great with the moving curve. Trombones shining through that big hit, great crescendo into the release, Mellos sound really good. Good horn solo, unfortune misses on a couple notes but solid otherwise. Triplets in the trumpets were clean, second horn solo go was much better, ohhh wow what a cool moment with the tarp and uniform change, was not ready for that!! Horn ringing over the full group. Great job maintaining the form in the jazz run, great brass moment with the quintet. Butterfly set is super effective and clean, wish the FE had some more technical runs before this solid WW feature. Again, great form control moving the big block, love the guard costumes with the wins, great GE, go Mellos. Congratulations to Amarillo on their first state run since 1998, great run!! 

[WanderingTraveler]

Anderson: These props are well done! The howling from the parents to set up the preshow was hilarious. Trumpet duet killed it, those two sound good. Liking what I am hearing from this group. Some cool visuals while playing this opener. Nobody seems to be playing past their best sound. Some of the group visuals don’t seem fully adopted by the whole group timing wise. Liking these guard flags. Super dark sounds from this ensemble, nice. Always enjoy when theres prop interaction and they are not static, so nice on that front. WW lyrical feature was super audible. Watch the tuning on your entrance trombones! Drumline exposed during this ballad hit, and then a feature right after, good chops! Nice…uh…rifle(?) work from the guard. Some minor spacing issues with the moving forms as the tempo picks up. Trumpets and mellos displaying some crazy talent in the closer. Great chord to finish the show. Really enjoyed this show, especially from an effect perspective.

[Tubalord11]

Needed to take a break from extensive writing but still very much enjoyed Anderson!! The theme is portrayed throughout very well, they look and sound great, some really great moments throughout. Super happy to see them back after a minute, great job ya'll!! 

[Tubalord11]

Rouse is in the house

[WanderingTraveler]

Rouse: Good defined ripple visuals to start the show as we transition from the back field. Trumpet quartet sounds great to open the show, with a slow build to a great sound. Extremely balanced and powerful here with a great handle on releases. WW shredding in the back. Great front ensemble runs as we have this transition. Great tonguing feature from the brass, however a bit of fluff surrounding it. Great handling of that slow down from the ensemble. Y’all sound like an organ on these long sustains (shout out Opus ). Few spacing issues that were not there at BOA SA. Guard work in this ballad is great. These BARITONES sound so good in the texture. Individual visual receives no complaints from me, very well defined. Spread 15-to-15 and theres no phasing. Trumpet book in the closer sounds difficult, few stray note, but nice! Fun way to end, nice. Great job! Good luck gunning for gold.

[Tubalord11]

Rouse: such mature sounds form the trumpets in the opener; they are killing those dark chords. Huge ensemble sound, great job moving into those forms, very clean, great 8th note runs from low brass. Great job rifle solo during the intro, form control moving the big triangle is top notch, great release. Nice FE moment, timing with the visuals in the brass was very together, great brass feat, solid rifle work, clean double tonging at the end. WWs killed that feature, amazing job with the tempo change, lovely Basson solo, they are really showing off their musicianship in this movement, wow. Beautiful WW trio, the rest of them blended very well, same with backfield brass under the oboe solo. Huge ballad impact, great dynamics and flag work. Fanfare-like ending is amazing, so much going on and it's seamless to them. Visually so appealing as we pick up the pace, amazing flag work in the last chord, just wow Rouse, what a show!! 

[WanderingTraveler]

Rio Grande City: Flower show! Cool touch with the flower on the wrists. Super audible WW section, good feature at the beginning. Nice trumpet solo, and the whole section seems locked in with dynamic direction. Enjoy the flags with this major impact, cool ripple. Visual assignments across the ensemble are solid. Pretty good form awareness overall. Low brass punch impacts, followed by trumpet/mello technical portion. Some stick outs in the cover downs (during this brass ensemble feature) in the WWs on side 1. WW technical passage followed, overall good with some slight stick outs on the runs. Great finish.

[Tubalord11]

RGC-Great opening flute duet, huge opening sound, little over the top at times, watch pitch brass. Good WW and Brass feats, trumpet solo was great, nice WW runs under. Good ending chord, some holes in the form but I'm guessing that's missing people. Great Flute quartet moving into this waltz-y feeling ballad, some tuning issues in Mellos, much better in the impact, good sounds from 1st trumpets moving up. Fun sax quintet during the perc break, nice injections from low brass, perc is solid, cool moment there. Good ending, nice visual moments, great job RGC! 

[jetliner]

Shoutouts to the Rouse guard member that recovered a fallen plume and then managed to keep it in hand through a bunch of flag work. Can't say I've seen that before lol

[jetliner]

Welcome to the field, Pearland in red.

Okay but seriously, Colleyville Heritage is Cartwright, isn't it?

[WanderingTraveler]

Colleyville Heritage: Nice drum wraps to match the backfield props. Digging the uniforms. Cool visuals to spread out while the preshow is going. Slight feet in the sound at the beginning, quickly recovered. Good full ensemble sound, not pushing it. Good marching technique, seems consistent. Good form awareness while on the move. Nice brass sound going into the ballad, not overwhelming to make room for the soloists. Good mix of flute technique and slow melodic ensemble sounds. Great tag to end the ballad. Love that this sounds like it was pulled straight from the concert stage to the marching field for this Hindemith march closer. Some of the woodwind pitch in the exposed portion is slightly off. HECK YEAH BONES. Best part of the Hindemith march, and now it’s on the field. Challenging show, well done!

[Tubalord11]

Colleyville Heritage- Not a ton to say. I've heard this piece a million times by now, no hate, as they played it exceptionally well! I like how they added some stuff to make it unique while not taking away from the more enjoyable parts. Soloists throughout were so good, they are still killing that backwards marching technique. Some tunning issues in brass at times but very minor, visually really impressive. Really great comeback for them after how they did at local comps, amazing job CH!! 

[Tubalord11]

Well, that's it for me today! Good luck to the rest of the bands, I'll probably take a RR break at work to listen to results, and great job to everyone who has performed! It's been an insane day of runs, super happy I got to a apart of it. Here's my block 3 rankings: 

Rouse

Lone Star 

Centennial 

Friendswood 

Anderson 

Colleyville Heritage 

Amarillo 

RGC 

[Tailgate88]

7 minutes ago, Tubalord11 said:

Well, that's it for me today! Good luck to the rest of the bands, I'll probably take a RR break at work to listen to results, and great job to everyone who has performed! It's been an insane day of runs, super happy I got to a apart of it. Here's my block 3 rankings: 

Rouse

Lone Star 

Centennial 

Friendswood 

Anderson 

Colleyville Heritage 

Amarillo 

RGC 

Thanks for your commentary! You too Wandering Traveler! You were right about spying the Phantom props btw! 

[WanderingTraveler]

Poteet: Nice sideline choral to set the tone. Preshow I am enjoying the staging, with flowers spread about and the panels not closing off the field too much. Guard uniforms are fun. Show starts very Bluecoats 2016, with some clapping. Super dense and warm woodwind feature to start the show. Great first impact, bass bone slightly sticking out of the texture. Guard in pods across the field. Brass technical feature went well, followed with an articulation feature that had a little fluff, but still good! Sousa solo, heck yeah! Good stuff. Stylistically, great opening movement! Flutter visuals across the field, as we got this trumpet / sax duet that was super pretty. Followed by a ballad hit, great sounds from the ensemble. Guard spread across the field with pink swing flags, visually stunning moment. Now we are groovin’! Excellent solo, followed by some section ensemble work. Nice job bones, stylistically in-sync except for a few notes. Bit of feet in the sound as we run up front for the final impact, but locked right back in afterwards. Great showing. Go Pirates!

[jetliner]

Barbers Hill really has design for EVERYTHING. The director(?) shirts are POLICE. And the parent volunteers are PRISON INMATES. 

Also rocking the same shiny shoes as last year (and probably more but last year was my first time experiencing them.)

Immediate edit: and each drum major has different color gloves and plumes from each other.

[WanderingTraveler]

Barbers Hill: Haven’t seen this show yet this season, but assuming this has something to do with The Joker. Really cool staging for this city and centered circle prop. Drum majors with different colored plumes/gloves (purple, orange, and green). Now the staging has split and members have fallen into HA HA HA on the field. Great preshow! Starting with some flags reading HA HA as well. Nice technique from the woodwinds. Nice sax quartet. OH LOW BRASS. Nice sounds coming from yall. Like the hammers in the guard. Drumlines go some chops, along with these runs in the front ensemble. Full ensemble grove section, some great stylistic buy-in from the gull ensemble. The band is selling the effect of the show very well, great contributions from all corners. Some visual work on side 2 while the woodwinds have a feature moment. Pretty good spacing so far, few curves flattening out a bit, not too noticeable. Speaking(?) solo into trumpet duet. Now we got some brass technique, executed VERY WELL. Great way to end. Theres a lot going on in this show, a bunch of random stuff, but it works! Very enjoyable and great design. Good job band.

[WanderingTraveler]

Argyle: The 2A (BOA SA) champs! Starting with the tuba and euph duet, great job. Visually already know this is very clean. Forst impact, and YALL BRING SOUND!!! Individual visuals are super locked in. Slight hiccup in the trumpet feature today. Another great example of using space effectively, especially in phrasing. HOLY MELLOS! Great way to bring it. Slight spacing issues going into the ballad on side 2. Great sax solo while the ensemble does some fluid visual work across the field. Woodwinds join, followed by the brass, handled super delicately. Great job. Great moment from the guard to finish out the ballad. Ends playing backfield as the guard member with the wheat (?) finishes out front. Visual package baked into this program is great, maximum GE Cool high step marching getting into the hit of the closer as they play Mahler. Very visual inconsistencies individually at the end. Great sound at the end! Good job.

 

Unfortunately my commentary will be limited for the next few bands as I head out of the stadium and resume watching from my phone for a bit. But hope to get something out for each band.