2025 BOA Waco (Oct. 18)

[tay_3den]

finals predictions 

 

1. Cedar Ridge

2. Westlake 

3.Mcneil

4. westwood

5.james bowie

6.timbercreek

7.  aledo

8.ld bell

9.hendrickson

10.wylie east

11. JET

12. SFA

[JFNDOWBFAN]

If Area B winds up only able to send 3 bands to state, would LOVE to see LD Bell make a run for finals and push top 5-7

[Anthony V]

Assuming we don't get rained out, I'll be boots-on-the-ground here today, folks. I'll try and make the occasional update. Haven't made it to the stadium yet but hoping to do so by Aledo.

[WanderingTraveler]

Akins euph/bari soloist was extremely impressive, go you!

[WanderingTraveler]

I underestimated Hutto, what an opening statement, absolute brick wall sound. Also, really liking how this group does articulation.

[fruitiestflute]

Happy competition day yall!!! Good luck and congrats to bands already there and about to/have just perform(ed)!!! See yall soon, knock em dead out there, bands!

[jetliner]

Confirmed with a security guard, no upper deck today

[Anthony V]

Timber Creek - Controlled opening statement. Nice cleaning marching here in the opener during the flute trio. Great job with that triple tonguing by the way.  A little bit of side-to-side balance issues in the brass now that we're spread out from 15 to 15. Some foot timing issues while we have this half time/double time marching in brass and WW. Good job saxophone quartet. Now we're on to a clarinet + euphonium + alto saxophone trio. Some body work in the winds. Good job weapon line. Beautiful balance in the big ballad hit; great job centering in that sound with the resolved chord. Soprano sax solo and weapon line is getting after it with the drum line. Great energy to start off the opener. Trombone feature, WW feature, then fll band. We're mostly carrying through that energy. Final chord fully matches the energy.

Good technique overall, maybe we'll see more energy tonight under the lights.

[Anthony V]

James Bowie - "War of Art." Strong opening. Nice ensemble sound overall. Some minor front-to-back phasing (IIRC), but consistent ensemble energy. Nice clean marching overall. I expect to see this back in finals, probably top half performance. We remember the Paint it Black! Cool uniform neon pops/additions that will look cool under the lights tonight.

Wylie East - "Your Brain on Art". Another strong program. Good use of brain props and grey of the uniforms as "grey matter," which they quick transition into an explosion of colorful sashes. And the parents join in too! Heart-touching moment. May have shed a tear or so. The use of "Zombie" by The Cranberries was also a clever way of talking about how art transforms the brain. The big trombone hit was memorable for sure.

Edited October 18, 2025 by Anthony V

[Anthony V]

LD Bell - "The Longest Night".  We've got some tree cut-out props and a 10 to 10 starting setup. Some body work, and then we move into the the first statement. Great clean sound in the first hit, my favorite so far. Another flute triple tonguing solo! Very clean. High brass statement, while they're separated by tens of yards, and yet super balanced and in-time. Kind of stole my heart a tiny bit. WW feature with a cute plume *ding* at the end. Good job on that articulation feature brass. Trumpet and sax duet? Can't find the saxophonist. Good job with our foot technique. as we do this side-to-side marching. A little overplaying in the brass at times -- we're losing that wonderful ensemble sound -- but definitely consistent energy. Guard's body work here in the ballad and before quite good. Beautiful ballad so far. WW statement not only is audible and clear but has dynamics. Thanks! Great job trombone solist pulling us into the big ballad hit. Some tuning issues here in the upper brass, but we're doing great with balance.  Okay, balance and energy is just great...  We've got our trumpet soloist again, beautiful, lyrical, pulling us into what is probably the final statement before the tag. Great dynamics. Company front. Lovely matching sounds. Here comes the tag. Showing off that side-to-side marching and some jazz running into a final set. Good closing energy. (Side-note. Wife points out that wind took down 10 tree props!, but we always recovered.)

[Anthony V]

McNeil - "The Same Old Story." We've got velvet and a slight gothic feel, some velvet curtains as well. Generally balanced sound on this first hit. Good energy. Be careful on the tuning of your sustained note mellos! We've also got these neon jumble of chairs adding some postmodern accent to the neo-romantic, gothic style. Great job with these articulation features brass. You sound even better while sitting down! 😜 Drum break into mello solo here on the main prop. Sampling some footwork, wife notes pretty consistent. Good job on full ensemble piano forte consistency; it's easy to stick out with that. Now the neon yellow-green is starting to appear more in the ballad as we are greeted with a clarinet solo on the stage. Appropriately, the ballad is jazzy, so you can see how the colors represent different styles -- neon = jazzy, velvet red = neo-romantic. Some pops of pink too on those flags. They're roses in appropriate neo-romantic mode. We're doing great on the ballad with these softer dynamics. Now we've got an alto sax soloist on a neon chair bringing us into the closer. I'm looking for an answer to how these two styles reconcile here in the closer. The keyboards in the pit are great (both synth and mallets). "Seasons of Love" from the keyboards by the way, which the WWs pick up and then brass continues. Some brass matching issues, but we're moving towards that style reconciliation. The flags for the closing statement are all of the colors from the show! And a little riff from "Seasons of Love" in the closing hit. Final thoughts: show design still developing, I think. Maybe some more content will appear late seasons to bring everything together even more.

[BbMarching]

Thoughts on Wylie East?

[Anthony V]

I'll try and fill in some details here during lunch break. 

Re: Wylie East. They look like a possible finalist to me. I thought the show design was pretty cohesive, in fact one of the better repertoires so far (even over Timber Creek and McNeil). 

[Anthony V]

Hendrickson -- "Emergence." Some Phantom Regiment vibes with the sheets.  Looks like we also have stained glass, maybe crystal or multi-colored mosaic. Several pillars in the back of that kind. We also have several pods of band members in the center field with sheets over them. And then we have some sort of prop in the middle of the field which I can't quite discern. It has a sheet on the front (?) and a colorful panel behind it. Now onto the performance. Starting with some guard body work. The sheet is pulled off the drum line pod, which kicks us off. Now the pit joins in.  Our pods are removing their sheets and breaking apart from the center now.  Winds still have sheets on them individually, but not as pods. First hit consistent energy.  Out come the weapon line during the WW feature. A little legwork issues as I sample here and there. Great job guard. Very strong. Clean sound from the winds. Thanks for that. Generally balanced, nice tuning. Flute soloist moving us into another phase/movement. Trumpet soli -- a little rushing but great ensemble sensitivity overall. Euph solo. The guard has metamorphosed into a butterflyish uniform. Thanks euph soloist. The main prop reveals itself as a sort of spiral shape. As It turns around the mosaic color is revealed. Bit of back-to-front phasing here as the drum line comes in. We've now taken off the sheets from the individual members to match the guard metamorphosis. Good job swing flags. I'm really impressed with the guard. We're now going back to the spiral thing where we see a guard member emerge as a butterfly. Drumline break with some great synth sounds reminding me of the mid-late 2000s. Now comes the alto sax solo it supports. Good job, soloist. Transformative work. Great repertoire cohesion here, very cinematic, mature-feeling. I wish I had a bit more dynamic contrast but  but part of this is the stadium's acoustics.   Lot's of emerging butterflies. Strong energy. Okay, a smaller ensemble, but some really special design and musical maturity. I hope to see this program again tonight. Very enjoyable.

[Anthony V]

SFA - "Pipelines". Blue knights vibes! Flugel soloist over here on the right 40, and a WW quartet on the left 40. Ope, flugel putting the horn away. We'll get that later. Starting with fast-paced noodling from the woodwinds and pit. Quirky, guard prop work with these "pipes". Slow noodling build-up. First hit generally clean from the winds. Lots of noodling and good technique. Good balance, but again, as with Hendrickson, a little dynamic contrast missing. I appreciate the tone quality though. Some side-to-side marching, decent technique. Generally, good leg work. Moving into the ballad now with a WW statement. Ope! Not a ballad! It's a low brass feature lol. Add now some funky beats from the high brass. We've definitely got that quirky vibe. Moving back now into quirky WW technique.  Brass now plays similar lines with a few mello rips thrown in. Trombone glisses that take us into a final statement. Generally, we're looking pretty clean. A pop of sky blue with a sash s the flugel solo begins. The poles are, by the way, now on moveable stands, up and down almost like a gate. Wind support from the flugel soloist. Beautiful, a little lilt there into the main hit from our soloist. GREAT balance here on the main chord. That's the best you've sounded all show! Lovely suspended chord there. Now the drumline is taking us into the closer with some quirky but slightly joyous notes, followed by WW statement and brass, and full band statement. We're in a large pod now, moving in a circle, jazz running. Looks like the guard added striped skirts here at the beginning of the closer, and to good effect.  Overall decent run. If we see this again tonight, I think we'll see a jump up in energy. 

[Anthony V]

Westwood - We've got more trees! We've spotted a little red riding hood in the guard. The plumes on the winds are trees! lol. Ohhh, the drumline looks wolf-like! Never liked percussion anyway (JK). The fewer but denser trees gives a great forest vibe, sophisticated from a prop standpoint. Most of the guard has got red pants and a blue top. Front ensemble has also gone lupine on us too. They must been warm, though; it's a fur vest! I'm baking out here myself. Now onto the performance. SHOW TITLE: "Red". Opening wind statement is cinematic arpeggios or trills from the WWs. Move into a brass statement. Guard work is on point. Very energetic sound from full ensemble. Great playful flute and pic solo, followed by an extended brass articulation feature. Includes light body work and sensitivity to dynamics. Now woodwind responses, moving again into an impact featuring side-to-side marching technique.  Some tuning issues here in middle brass. Looks like we've hung lanterns on the trees. Spooky. Drumline feature! And a wolf howl. Music suddenly much darker. Great job weapon line. No drops! (That I saw, anyway.) Good job percussion, both in the drumlin feature and in the keyboards up front. We've got a French horn duet with WW accomp... now adding a euph into a trio. Wife says this is "Children will listen" from Into the woods. Oh, now it's a euph solo. Nice backfield sounds from left side brass.  Flag change , we're about to go into the big hit for the ballad. Flags are colorful but eery. A mixture of bright and dark chords from the winds, moving back to the brass trio, and then to a full band forte piano. GREAT job euph soloist. Very talented and reliable over the course of the whole ballad.  Another drumline feature as we move into the closer here.  We're back to flag now (red) with weapon work. Some brass hits/chords for feature ensemble cohesion and articulation.  Energy is pretty consistent, pretty high. Some problems with brass stick outs and over-playing. But overall, It'd say we have a good design, pretty strong visuals, great soloists and articulation. Feels like a possible finalist to me.

[JazzRun]

1 hour ago, BbMarching said:

Thoughts on Wylie East?

I love East’s show this year! Really hoping they make finals. 

[Anthony V]

Grapevine -- We've got some abstract skrims (blue) and props (yellow, look like sunlight, yellowish crystals, something). Also have a couple prop stages up in the front that match the backfield props. We're sorta back to traditional uniforms. SHOW: "Solet" ?. Oh man, the heat is getting oppressive out here. But here we go with some body work in the winds/guard and a flute solo accompanied by pit. Moving now into the first big hit. Staggered turn-around. Generally balanced sound; I appreciate that. WW noodling now over softer brass playing. Definitely a controlled sound, we're pretty focused in here.  Lots of symmetrical drill. Now we're starting to get some weapon work from the guard.  Great job. And a WW trio (bass clarinet, clarinet, and flute). Sudden dynamics from brass. Again, good blending; we're really listening. Clarinet solo accompanied by good full-band dynamics. A little bit of tempo issues and tuning issues. I wish we had a bit more energy from the brass. Oboe + trombone duet here in the ballad, into a lovely suspended chord. Great flag work with the swing flags, matching the yellow props.  Good open-throat release there, winds. Warm backfield sounds to end the ballad, with a little oboe noodling. Beautiful.  Now for the closer. Some playful drumline beats with front ensemble accompaniment. Now the technique gets passed to the WWs. And the brass echoes, with some understated double-tonguing.  Now into the final statement(s). Company front, some rotational drill. Great run overall. 

[Anthony V]

Chisolm Trail -- "FInding Balance". Another potential area F finalist (along with Aledo, Grapevine, might be one other). We've got light blue and pink ombra all over. Starting here with a flute solo, turning into a WW quintet. Turn around to present our brass statement and full ensemble statement. We've got some tuning and balance issues, but I'm wondering if a bit of it is to do with this heat. It affected the past couple bands. Now moving into a mixed small ensemble moment. Brass articulation feature, great job getting that out there. Guard bringing us some exposed weapon work, and a soloist (who caught, effortlessly).  By the way, there are these see-saw things (for want of better term) that soloists and guard are doing body work on. Now we're onto the ballad.THe melody begins here with the pit, then carried to a flugel? or trumpet  and mello duet. Now passed onto the WWs in a more technical  technical variant. Building up now to the full ensemble moment, guard on swing flags.  Drumline feature. We keep going back to side-by-side lines with some body movement in the winds. Flags coming in from the sides here in the back. Now clarinet solo into full ensemble moment. A bit of a tear, but we're adjusting. Not quite able to recover the energy... that is until the next statement, which sounds much better. The see-saws are being moved onto the 50 now. Mello + flute duet. And the see-saws are pulled up, revealing a blue underside. I'm not sure that's the full show, maybe missing some design content to bring resolution. Thanks, band! 

[Anthony V]

Creekview - "Neon". Lots of colors, lots of shapes on skrims and props and uniforms and probably flags (but we haven't seen that yet). Starting off with some body work from the winds, and a French horn solo. They spelled "NEON". Moving now into the opening statement. Surprisingly balanced at times, I like it. WW feature and rotational drill.  Next up, a sax solo, about to move into a sax quintet. Yes, that's what we get, fun quirky, almost like at first almost reminding of the Star Wars Cantina song. Okay Creekview... I need y'all to sound like that at all times and you will have a finalist placement in music here. Flute soloist with mello echoing. Guard on swing flags. Brass, you are so close to being really good with that blending. I just need it consistently instead of in little pockets. Lovely backfield ballad movement overall. Now we're back to quirky saxophone ensemble.  Visually, there's a bit of dirt still to be cleaned. Closer filled with melodies from... is it "Bright Lights" by The Weekend?... until we end in a "NEON" set again with minor chords. Maybe some design content to be added here at the end for resolution sake. Thanks for impressing me, Creekview! This might have been my first time seeing you.

[Anthony V]

Midlothian - "Neon Underground". We've got pink and blue-green-grey subway skrims, some sort of abstract urban backfield props, and a graffiti-ish stage with some stairs (two levels, not super high). And it looks like our bari sax player is raring and ready, smiling a bit if I saw correctly. Starting off with some train sounds and little musical doodles from our soloists (probably a check).  Great bari sax solo start, and we've got some perc accompaniment with guard work (body + weapon). Now add a trumpet to the bari melody. Full ensemble starts by echoing the musical line. High energy start, great job guard with the swing flags. Sudden transition into a different statement by brass. Now back to the bari solo. Some great technical noodling around by the brass. Stellar job overall (some stick-outs on the far left pods). Great energy on these chords. Tuning off a bit, chalking some of it up to heat. Trumpet screamer at the end of some statements. Now we're onto the ballad, I think, with a trumpet solo and three others on stand-by. Some might be flugels, can't see the lead pipes well enough from the glare. Generally good blending, band. The colors are great. Back to the quartet, and now building up to a full ensemble moment. Decent cut-off. And now onto asphalt cocktail. Great tempo consistency overall, band, especially when we're passing that theme across to so many different sections. Thank you trombones for that feature, now in the hands of a trumpet trio. Let's hear the full ensemble jam statement now... yup, that's about right!! And then the bari solo which I don't think was in the original piece but suddenly transforms it into something unique to Midlo here. Definitely a high energy performance. I have a feeling we will see it again in finals. This program has been evolving greatly in recent years. Cool! Fantastic repertoire. It has break-out energy for them.

[Anthony V]

Kaufman - "La Mere, [sp? it sounded like FR rather than ES]: Beyond the Sea". We've got some Neptune/Poseidon trident props along the performance perimeter, and some possible ancient Greek inspired ocean skrims up front. The trident motif is found again on the uniforms for the winds, whereas the guard echoes more the colors (white, blue, gold). Starting with some body movement. First statement starts off with some fanfare-esque statements from the full ensemble, highlighting upper brass. Now onto more aggressive brass playing, and then a brass feature. Tubas, I can hear you up here! An eerie sounding flute solo brings us into the next movement. The melody is passed to a clarinet solo with some WW accompaniment on the other side of the field. Now back to the flute. Body work in the winds meanwhile. And now the brass come in for the first time in the ballad, leading up to the main statement. Again, tubas, y'all are great. Some percussion rhythmic energy to push off the closer which... is "Under the Sea" lol. Passing the melody from tenor sax to trumpet soloist and back until we get to our full ensemble moment. Guard is on red-yellow ombre scarves right now. Fun final full ensemble jab at the end of the tune. Next, some brass hits and WW technique, into a high brass feature. Now the low brass is carrying the melody subtly as we build back up. Company front, with guard on flag. And we're getting two tridents wheeled out onto the 50. Looks like we have a Neptune/Posiedon figure coming out from the tridents, holding up... yes, her (sic) own trident! I rarely get to say this, but great energy and confidence from the drum majors! 

[Anthony V]

Bastrop - "Your Move." It's chess themed all the way around. The uniforms are checkered,  the back props are chess pieces, and the front skrims are abstractions of chess pieces/strategy. Starting with a flute solo and some backfield ensemble playing into a full ensemble moment. Some mic issues, sadly, but you could hear the flute solo at first. Guard is high energy this run, I have to say. The flag work in the opener was energetic, and now we're doing a great job with the weapon work. This second movement has some aggressive back-and-forth stabs between high and low brass. Drum break. Tilted snares -- I see you! Thanks, mellos, for emphasizing your noodling there at the end. It was crystal clear, in tune, you all fit together. Now we have "hallelujah" in a minor key (!), introduced to us by a flugel soloist. Out come the swing flags, a teal-green gradient which contrasts nicely with the reds, browns, and yellows. Closer starts with some upbeat melodies from the front ensemble and upbeat grooves from the drumline. Next, a clarinet solo, accompanied by a smallish brass ensemble, then into a full ensemble statement. Now we're passing the melody back and forth between the clarinet soloist and the full ensemble. Lots of call and response between sections too, here. Nice closing full ensemble statement. Thanks!

[Anthony V]

Lake Ridge - "From House to Home". You need blueprints? They've got blueprints. The skrims and backfield props are blueprints and  so are some of the mid-field props. Some of them are also doors, which is kinda clever. Alright, starting off with an alto sax solo and keyboard arpeggios, now picking up a clarinet soloist for call and response, beginning to build to full ensemble. Good clean sound overall at our best, some interesting arrangement there with 1st mellos matched by 2nd or 3rd trumpet. Lots of glissandos, growls, jabs from the brass here, with the trumpets on mutes. WW feature, passed back to brass for an articulation feature.  Trombone feature -- so much and so many trombones. Some phasing issues on those brass jabs. Beautiful melodies here in the ballad. We've got some persistent tuning issues. Again, partly chalked up to heat. Now the props are coming together to form a house. Brass small ensemble to bring us into the closer. High energy statement from the trumpets, echoed by  WWs. I say statement -- it's really a feature because of the technique. Okay, the tag has started, and you can tell because of the wild noodling from the soprano sax and the French horn soloist again. Okay, overall, we've got some dirt in the drill and marching, some tuning problems, some other minor issues. I can't speak to how the judges will weight the good against the bad. But they're on the bubble for me, so it's possible we see them again tonight. Very sweet show. Some happy tears and sniffles from someone sitting next to me. 

[Anthony V]

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.