2025 BOA Waco (Oct. 18)

[JustAnOldBandMom]

9 minutes ago, Anthony V said:

Plano East - Didn't catch the show title. It's rock/mountain themed. Some conspicuous TNT on a mountain, as well as a mine entrance.  I'm happy with the full ensemble opening. Looks like a miner just activated the TNT and blew open the entrance to the mine. Enter percussive, jabby, high-articulation music. The winds have got pickaxes now, including the trumpets while they do their articulation feature. Prop work from the winds with the pickaxes as this turns into a drum feature. Now back to the percussive jabs from the winds. At some point, we laid a cart and rail leading into the mine. We're in the ballad now, some nice backfield sounds from the left side brass. Did I mention they're marching with a full bend in the leg? And they're doing it pretty uniformly, too. Good cut-off there in the major ballad statement. There's a certain maturity to this ensemble. Another sax quartet! Ahh, we've found colorful gems in this mine. Joyous melodies from the full ensemble, and stage crew (?) holding giant gems dancing about on the field. A little bit of dirt in the drill; we're hitting all of our sets, but transitions are a little messy. Okay, my wife is super amused by the people dancing around with the gems. (And now they're taking them off the field in the cart, which cracks me up.) At the end, you hear all the concert band accolades from the announcer... yeah, doesn't surprise me. This is another possible finalist for me.

"The GEM Within" is the name of the show.

[Anthony V]

Westlake - "Urban Jungle". Jungle + jaguar backfield props. Band member capes are also appropriately spotted, which they immediately show off as they come out from behind the props. Gritty feel as we start to add music layers. The guard is doing body work in bright orange tops/bottoms (biker-ish?). Lovely opening statement from the full ensemble. Consistent energy all the way through. WW features, a little bit of left to right tearing. Passing the same thing back to the brass, which they manage with some extra double tonguing here and there for good measure. Great job with the articulation, brass. Tenor sax soloist leading into seemingly effortless rifle line work! Nice clean jabs from the brass. I wish we had a fuller tonal body from the brass, but I know that's also subject to opinion. Lovely alto* flute solo! How fun. Backfield brass ensemble WITH dynamics that are audible front field. Okay, trombone soloist giving us all the energy... and then after the turnaround the brass delivers equal energy. Minor tuning issues at max volume. Great job guard there with that saber work. Flag work now into the closer during the opening statement. Lots of WW/Brass back and forth. Next up, clarinet quartet, lots of noodling! Great small ensemble energy, which is totally matched by full ensemble. Well then! Huge sound, possibly biggest so far today. It translated pretty well into music achievement from up here. Definitely a finalist for me, probably top half, maybe vying for top 3.

Note: Wife advises that these are leopard spots, not jaguar spots. 

*Originally wrote "bass"

Edited October 18, 2025 by Anthony V

[Anthony V]

JET - "Beautifully Broken". Expanding drill into a first opening statement. Brass is listening to each other well, generally good blending. Clarinet + WW features and small ensemble work, topped off with bass clarinet low notes. Articulation feature from the brass, really well done. Great balance and centeredness. Some stick-outs here and there, but y'all sound great. I'm already leaning towards thinking you'll be in finals. Euph solo now, joined by a trumpet. Some light drum kit work as the guard (which, by the way, is performing great, great, great) takes up some saber work. And now we're on to swing flags (blue and gold). Drum break bringing us into the closer. Some slight timing issues here in the closer, but quick recovery. Good, almost more impressed by the quick recovery and no tear to begin with.  Gold flags now for the guard, leading into a full ensemble moment. Some tuning issues in the high brass, but the sonority is definitely there. I love it! I think its very possible we'll see JET in finals.   

[Anthony V]

Cedar Ridge - "Eye of the Beholder". Hopefully my phone will make it through CR. Last prelims band. Some Crown vibes from the red color guard uniforms and some spiky black props. But we also have big creepy backfield eyes -- 11 of them, to be exact -- staring us down. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," says the also creepy narrator. Add creepy chanting. Starting off with... drumline feature. Add a sax soloist somewhere?  Okay, starting to add wind layers. Clean body mvt from the brass. Yeah, that's a good brass sound. Wonderful. Effortless rifle work. WW feature. Good job with dynamic contrast from the brass. The core of the sound hits directly up here, no surrounding blat. Definitely some musical allusions to Crown here and there. So far, no tuning or balance issues at the level of the other bands that I've heard. Some body movement here in the ballad form the winds, but the real treat is the guard work, quite clean.  Soprano sax solo to close us out for the ballad. Now onto the closer. Another drumline feature. The drumline has some sheer black mesh over them. The spiky things have ladders behind them, with some wind members climbing up them. Again, the effortless guard work. Some minor phasing issues with this really tight articulation on the Respighi (sp?).  I'm trying to focus on sampling the marching here but I keep getting distracted by how good this band sounds -- and it's consistent! Besides that, just not a lot of marching/visual errors to speak of.  Very clean visuals. There's a design idea there with the shrouding, but my phone's about to die so I'll have to try again in finals. We'll be seeing them in the top 3, I think. I think they also take the music caption for 4A.

[bandfromplanoarea]

where’s my goat tubalord

[FaultLineBlues]

There are a lot of stupidly talented bands that won't be in finals. Every kid in every band in prelims should be proud of themselves. 

[flutefanatic59]

42 minutes ago, Anthony V said:

Westlake - "Urban Jungle". Jungle + jaguar backfield props. Band member capes are also appropriately spotted, which they immediately show off as they come out from behind the props. Gritty feel as we start to add music layers. The guard is doing body work in bright orange tops/bottoms (biker-ish?). Lovely opening statement from the full ensemble. Consistent energy all the way through. WW features, a little bit of left to right tearing. Passing the same thing back to the brass, which they manage with some extra double tonguing here and there for good measure. Great job with the articulation, brass. Tenor sax soloist leading into seemingly effortless rifle line work! Nice clean jabs from the brass. I wish we had a fuller tonal body from the brass, but I know that's also subject to opinion. Lovely bass flute solo! How fun. Backfield brass ensemble WITH dynamics that are audible front field. Okay, trombone soloist giving us all the energy... and then after the turnaround the brass delivers equal energy. Minor tuning issues at max volume. Great job guard there with that saber work. Flag work now into the closer during the opening statement. Lots of WW/Brass back and forth. Next up, clarinet quartet, lots of noodling! Great small ensemble energy, which is totally matched by full ensemble. Well then! Huge sound, possibly biggest so far today. It translated pretty well into music achievement from up here. Definitely a finalist for me, probably top half, maybe vying for top 3.

Note: Wife advises that these are leopard spots, not jaguar spots. 

It was an alto flute solo lol

[Anthony V]

2 minutes ago, FaultLineBlues said:

There are a lot of stupidly talented bands that won't be in finals. Every kid in every band in prelims should be proud of themselves. 

Ditto. I can't even really offer an explanation of what it's like as a spectator. To all the band students out there, we're so, so spoiled by your excellence at this event. 

[Anthony V]

2 minutes ago, flutefanatic59 said:

It was an alto flute solo lol

Thanks! I'll correct.

[cheeto2401]

L.D. BELL OVER CEDAR RIDGE???? 

[cheeto2401]

2025 Waco Regional Prelims Awards

Finalists

- Plano East Senior H.S., TX
- James Bowie H.S., TX
- Midlothian H.S., TX
- L.D. Bell H.S., TX
- Hutto H.S., TX
- Stephen F. Austin H.S., TX
- Timber Creek H.S., TX
- James E. Taylor H.S., TX
- Westwood H.S., TX
- Cedar Ridge H.S., TX
- Aledo H.S., TX
- Westlake H.S., TX

Class Awards

AA

1st - Grapevine H.S., TX
2nd - Kaufman H.S., TX
3rd - Creekview H.S., TX

Outstanding Music Performance - Grapevine H.S., TX
Outstanding Visual Performance - Grapevine H.S., TX
Outstanding General Effect - Grapevine H.S., TX

AAA

1st - Aledo H.S., TX
2nd - Midlothian H.S., TX
3rd - Robert E. Hendrickson H.S., TX

Outstanding Music Performance - Midlothian H.S., TX
Outstanding Visual Performance - Aledo H.S., TX
Outstanding General Effect - Aledo H.S., TX

AAAA

1st - L.D. Bell H.S., TX
2nd - Cedar Ridge H.S., TX
3rd - Westlake H.S., TX

Outstanding Music Performance - Cedar Ridge H.S., TX
Outstanding Visual Performance - Cedar Ridge H.S., TX
Outstanding General Effect - L.D. Bell H.S., TX

[bandfromplanoarea]

PLANO EAST😤😤😤😤😂😂🙏🙏😁😁😁🥶

[ChristopherRoden]

Wow Midlothian, JET, PESH!!!

McNeil and Wylie East.. what a huge bummer

[ruben_f]

6:30 p.m. – Gates Open for Finals
7:00 p.m. – National Anthem and Special On Field Welcome

7:30 PM — Midlothian H.S., TX
7:45 PM — Westwood H.S., TX
8:00 PM — Aledo H.S., TX
8:15 PM — Stephen F. Austin H.S., TX
8:30 PM — Hutto H.S., TX
8:45 PM — Timber Creek H.S., TX
9:00 PM — L.D. Bell H.S., TX
9:15 PM — James Bowie H.S., TX
9:30 PM — James E Taylor H.S., TX
9:45 PM — Westlake H.S., TX
10:00 PM — Plano East Senior H.S., TX
10:15 PM — Cedar Ridge H.S., TX
10:30 PM — Class AA Exhibition: Grapevine H.S., TX

10:45 p.m. – Finale and Presentation of Awards

[ChristopherRoden]

Wow JET and PESH top half even, what a cool surprise! 

[FwefewF]

We might've lost the plot today

[symphbee2]

The difference in the depths of bands at each competition in Texas is always so fascinating to me! LD Bell placed 9th at BOA DFW and beat Wylie East (whose show I ADORED so so much, y'all should be so proud) by 1.1 points and 2 placements and now here - there are at least 11 bands between them!

I always tell myself I'm not gonna buy the finals livestream but with Hutto's and LD Bell's storylines this season... I may have no choice but to watch.

[JustAnOldBandMom]

Is it just a random order for finals, or is it bottom 6/top 6?

And what is your experience using that Box5 Tv?

 

[FwefewF]

3 minutes ago, JustAnOldBandMom said:

Is it just a random order for finals, or is it bottom 6/top 6?

And what is your experience using that Box5 Tv?

 

The finals schedule is bottom six then top six, the announcements are in random order

[dullbanddad]

34 minutes ago, ChristopherRoden said:

Wow Midlothian, JET, PESH!!!

McNeil and Wylie East.. what a huge bummer

Did McNeil have a ban run? That's really surprising 

[LostChoirGuy]

I guess we know who the top 3 in prelims were since all of the top 6 are 4A.

[dullbanddad]

34 minutes ago, ChristopherRoden said:

Wow Midlothian, JET, PESH!!!

McNeil and Wylie East.. what a huge bummer

Did McNeil have a ban run? That's really surprising 

[ChristopherRoden]

23 minutes ago, dullbanddad said:

Did McNeil have a ban run? That's really surprising 

I agree, I didn’t see them but I have to imagine that all the scores were really close 

[fruitiestflute]

Congratulations to all the finalist bands!!! Yall worked so hard and I hope everyone has an even better finals run!!! Im headed home from this competition, but I had a blast sharing the kindness and love with yall!!! Knock em dead out there, finalists!

[jetliner]

Word on the street (talking to security) is that a band has reserved the club level. So enjoy it if you're with that program, I guess...