UIL 6A State Marching Contest 2025 (Nov 3-4)

[WanderingTraveler]

Good afternoon 6A! Super excited for finals. Assume this will be the most stable the website will be for a few hours, so goodluck to everyone!

[BandDad74]

I know I am picking at nits here - especially compared to years past - but can they just put the high cam on one shot and leave it there?  Stop panning and zooming in just a little bit here and there.  Its distracting from why we watch the high cam - to see the whole show

Thanks for coming to my Ted talk....

[waynet2010]

Looking forward to some great marching shows.

[WanderingTraveler]

Prosper: This show has definitely grown on me. Love the opening statement by the French horns into the full ensemble moment. It was really fun watching the left side French Horn player smile and laugh, just having a good time on their finals run. Really enjoy the contrast between the guard and band uniforms. Think there were some slight mic issues (could just be the stream) with the English horn solo, but still such a great moment and that player has extremely good tone. Really wish there was a bit more interaction with the props. Enjoying the percussion feature, some crazy good chops. Overall great run from these folks, hope y’all had a blast.

[slowbrass]

Prosper - love the brass and musical selections. Wish there was more woodwind presence throughout the show. But on the other hand, either Wes Cartwright is just mailing it in for them or he’s truly run out of inspiration. It’s a very bland and boilerplate visual design.

[HagsTPT]

WHAT AN AMZING START TO FINALS BY PROSPER LOVED EVERY PART OF THEIR SHOW just full of energy and pure passion for what they do across all captions WELL DONE

[TexDad23]

Hoping Vandy rocks it today. Those kids have to be mentally & physically exhausted...They deserve to feel like they left it all on the field after yesterday. 

[ScaryTrumpetMan]

No Prosper?... 😭

[homerchap]

3 hours ago, natertater21000 said:

I think it is always important to remember who is judging these events. It can be really easy for someone to watch a live stream and say that they know better than the person judging. The people judging this contest have degrees, and years of experience (sometimes decades) of both teaching and adjudicating these kinds of ensembles. That is not to say they don't make what some may call mistakes, but I think it is dangerous for anyone to flatly say they are wrong or can't be trusted. 

I may have disagreements based on pre concieved notions, but if Richard Saucedo was in front of my band you better believe I would be taking notes on every word he said and taking his advice to heart.  

The more I teach, and judge, and talk with qualified people, the more faith I have in the judging community as a whole. 

Also, if the field judges are next to some people who aren't marching in time and or not playing as well as some, then those schools may not get as good of a score from them as if they were somewhere else on the field at that time. For some reason I always find that aspect of the field judges fascinating. When I see scores all over the place for a school, it actually makes me feel like the judges are doing a good job because they are staying in the lanes of what they're supposed to be judging. 

[ScaryTrumpetMan]

nvm, saw Prosper got 13th. GOOD JOB PROSPER!!!!

[AWF2014]

12 minutes ago, BandDad74 said:

I know I am picking at nits here - especially compared to years past - but can they just put the high cam on one shot and leave it there?  Stop panning and zooming in just a little bit here and there.  Its distracting from why we watch the high cam - to see the whole show

Thanks for coming to my Ted talk....

Exactly what I was thinking! It is great to be able to have the option of the multicam, but I kept trying to watch the high cam and thinking how great it would be to see the entire field.

[WanderingTraveler]

Dripping Springs: Congratulations! Really enjoying the visual package being presented by this show. There’s a lot going on, so it’s hard to catch everything. Brass sounds strong, and really impressed with the high brass and their articulation. Fun clarinet Quartet! I love the engagement with the props throughout this entire show, adds a lot of depth to the overall shows effect. I can’t remember if I’ve ever seen more than one flugel on a field before, but the trio + flute is really beautiful. Minor intonation issues in the ballad. I enjoy that the band can be clumped on one portion of the field, and it doesn’t feel like any space is wasted based off the staging. Music in the closer is super well written, and love the power being brought here. Good job!

[slowbrass]

Dripping springs - a very flower mound - esque field design with the stark black and white with pops of color. It’s fantastic imo. Trumpets and mellos are on something else. The arrangements of the source material are so tasty. I wish they marched a bit more, but this is a well deserved finals berth for them. Looking ahead, they’ve got a great shot at having three performances in Indy as well.

[HagsTPT]

Love seeing dripping springs FINALY in the 6A state finals love seeing there show once again amazing soloists trios and quartets throughout especially that snare drummer going full out stealing the show there and just immense power brought by the brass amazing job dripping springs

[waynet2010]

Loved Dripping Springs

[WanderingTraveler]

5 minutes ago, slowbrass said:

Dropping springs - a very flower mound - esque field design with the stark black and white with pops of color. It’s fantastic imo. Trumpets and mellos are on something else. The arrangements of the source material are so tasty. I wish they marched a bit more, but this is a well deserved finals berth for them. Looking ahead, they’ve got a great shot at having three performances in Indy as well.

VERY Flower Mound!!

[HagsTPT]

YAY SEVEN LAKES 2ND TIME IN STATE FINALS very beautiful visuals throughout with there insane amount of color guard and just amazing articulation within the brass and just an amazing balled combined with amazing visuals BRAVO!!!

[waynet2010]

Seven Lakes has been one of my favorite shows the last 2 days.  May not be the best show or win but they are one of my favorites

[slowbrass]

Seven Lakes - best opening statement of the day so far. The musical and visual elements were so in sync and then boom, they punched me in the face. Really liked how that once piece from SCV 2014 was integrated throughout the show, finishing with that massive trombone sledgehammer. They must have had over 60 flags out on the field too. They got my blood pumping for sure! 

[utee94]

Fun show from 7 Lakes, I must have missed it yesterday.  I've always liked Scheherazade, and it's really cool hearing them use the same Shostakovich closer that CP is using, but arranged differently.

 

[WanderingTraveler]

Seven Lakes: Good job making state finals! At first glance, really enjoy when uniforms don’t have to be exactly the same with the different colored capes(?!?!). Opening hit was fantastic, into a really beautiful opening set. After that, ride into some impressive, woodwind technique, and tonguing feature for the brass. Balance seems a bit off after the features, but the full ensemble moments afterward were right back to being locked in. Stream zoomed into the props, and really enjoying the detail put into these. Great ballad hit! Overall, top to bottom really enjoy the composition for this show, but I’m also just a sucker for Scheherazade. The dark and powerful tones coming out of this ensemble at the end are just super fun to listen to great job again. I know this show was fun to march.

[WanderingTraveler]

Cedar Ridge: Thematically, I think this might be my favorite show of the finals spread. Great brass features near the beginning of the show, really highlights these strong players. I think having the red sheets over the guard and front ensemble players is such a cool visual touch. Enjoy this ensembles balanced approach to full ensemble moments. Just a bit of fluff in the percussion feature going into the ballad. This whole show kind of gives Crown 2015 Inferno. Always enjoy hearing this Oboe solo. I love how much the effect of the show changes from these simple, red and black sheets being taken on and off. The use of Pines in the closer was super fitting, but I was left wanting more trombone!!! Overall, great performance, and really enjoy the drill writing for this show. Good job!

[HagsTPT]

PINES OF ROME LOVE THAT BEING IN MARCHING SHOWS!!! CEDAR FREAKING RIDGE ABSOLUTELY KILLED IT loved the darkness vibes presented  and those amazing soloists performances just fabulous 

[slowbrass]

Cedar Ridge - this one felt fresh after the first three shows, which were great albeit a bit formulaic. Starting with a little battery feature and actually playing pines of Rome basically straight down was super fun. Year in and year out they manage to mash up two pieces of music that have no business being played together, and it’s great every time. Doing more with their numbers than most other schools could manage. Great great show.

[utee94]

I always enjoy the theatrics of CR shows and this one's no different.  Honestly it's somewhat subdued compared to past shows but I think it allowed them a little more dynamic contrast.  Gonna enjoy seeing this one again in person in SA in a few days.