UIL 5A Area F 2025

[PercDad4Life]

Centennial HS:  Favorite show of the day so far.  Great visuals with crisp movements.  The soprano saxophone soloist was fantastic. BC Drumline was fire. Still wish the brass had more consistent power but flexed their muscle in the closer to show that they can do it. Music was very enjoyable throughout. Definitely an area finalist and we'll see what happens tonight.

[PercDad4Life]

8 minutes ago, lythrum said:

is there any kind of rain delay going on? not near birdville yet, so have no clue how the weather is over there

No.  The contest continued on schedule. The rain has stopped at the moment.  Threat of rain remains with the majority of it just to the north of the stadium.

[Anthony V]

Birdville. "Riff Raff." Very 70s props, both front field and backfield. Backfield props are record player themed. And then we have a record player up in the front to start us off! It starts with symphonic metamorphosis. Almost peacock coloration in the guard uniform. Nice turn-around ensemble statement. Lovely ensemble sound. WW feature carrying forward "riffs" of the theme. Now a marching baritone solo on the record player. The records on the backfield props are spinning! A very small lack of tempo communication moving here into full ensemble moment, but we recover. Great energy in the end of that movement. Now we've got riffs from a clarinet soloist and baritone soloist (Beethoven) moving us into the ballad. Clean music ensemble execution for the most part.  Swing flags look like spinning records a bit!  Now the drumline and pit taking us into the closer. Maybe a little visual dirt here, or otherwise it was intentionally staggered and I couldn't tell. Great job with the drill here at the closer.  

[Anthony V]

Lightning delay. Thirty minutes per uil policy. Lightning strike right at the end of Birdvilles show!

[turflover16]

20 minutes ago, lythrum said:

is there any kind of rain delay going on? not near birdville yet, so have no clue how the weather is over there

there was just some lightning and small rain after birdville. The next band is most likely in a delay

[PercDad4Life]

9 minutes ago, PercDad4Life said:

No.  The contest continued on schedule. The rain has stopped at the moment.  Threat of rain remains with the majority of it just to the north 

Looks like I spoke too soon. Lightning struck right at the end of Birdville show. 30 minute weather delay at minimum.

[Anthony V]

Birdville show content with lightning and thunder 10/10 😂

[GasBabyOfficial]

Thundervlille ahh show 

[Anthony V]

We're getting back up in the stands, trying to get warm and settled with a dry seat.

Sorry the tail end of Birdville's commentary was a bit lackluster! I was busy trying to find out if we needed to vacate the stadium! Here's some closing thoughts. We really liked rotating drill that was a nod to the record player. Musically, sounded great overall. Good energy throughout. They feel like a possible finalist to me. 

[Bandlife]

1 hour ago, Anthony V said:

Burleson Centennial. "The Golden Touch." Pretty almost marble pattern with teal and gold tones. Some gold stair props of the same style. There's also a gold multi-tiered stage up here next to the pit. Wonderful fanfare opening. Lovely articulation, tone quality, and balance. Our balance is really good even when we're stretched from 20 to 20. WW feature starting us off with Shostakovich #10. Noodling passed on to the brass. Really consistent  with tempo maintenance. Ends this movement with a guard member on the golden stage in a golden uniform. THe ballad begins with a soprano saxophone and flute duet (and flag duo) in said area. Passed now to the WWs. Guard is all in the gold now, and the swing flags are white/gold with a few touches of dark green. Another very delicate, sophisticated show. Here in the closer, all of the props are turning golden. Meanwhile, drumline and pit break. Good job passing the theme from section to section, and now with the full ensemble. And here comes the soprano sax solo. Some dirt here in the closer drill. There's one guard member who is non-golden, being approached by a Midas-type figure, who is now donning the guard member with a golden cloak.

Overall, a well-executed show. With only some exceptions, it's executed very consistently. Would be surprised to see it out of finals.  

Considering they had to stand in the rain with equipment and instruments.. They did well. Hoping they get another chance to perform even better in finals. 

[Anthony V]

3 minutes ago, Bandlife said:

Considering they had to stand in the rain with equipment and instruments.. They did well. Hoping they get another chance to perform even better in finals. 

Oh yes, I'm pretty sure we'll see them again in finals.

[GasBabyOfficial]

1 hour ago, Anthony V said:

Birdville. "Riff Raff." Very 70s props, both front field and backfield. Backfield props are record player themed. And then we have a record player up in the front to start us off! It starts with symphonic metamorphosis. Almost peacock coloration in the guard uniform. Nice turn-around ensemble statement. Lovely ensemble sound. WW feature carrying forward "riffs" of the theme. Now a marching baritone solo on the record player. The records on the backfield props are spinning! A very small lack of tempo communication moving here into full ensemble moment, but we recover. Great energy in the end of that movement. Now we've got riffs from a clarinet soloist and baritone soloist (Beethoven) moving us into the ballad. Clean music ensemble execution for the most part.  Swing flags look like spinning records a bit!  Now the drumline and pit taking us into the closer. Maybe a little visual dirt here, or otherwise it was intentionally staggered and I couldn't tell. Great job with the drill here at the closer.  

Where was the tempo miscommunication 

[Anthony V]

Next up, Midlothian Heritage. Their uniforms have different astrological emblems on them. Their color guard are in gold sequin outfits mimicking a star. On the back of the wind/perc uniforms, there are allusions to constellations, as well as on the props. On the skrims, we have stars, a treeline at night, and definitely a night sky vibe. (Right as the sun comes out lol.) There are also big stars hanging in tumbler/wheel type props. Drum majors in guard uniform (but with white gloves). It looks like we'll have a WW quintet at some point, maybe to start us off. Show title: "Celestial Nights."

Short full ensemble statement followed by WW feature. Then the brass come in with a fanfare. Next, a brass quartet. A little nod to "somewhere over the rainbow" here at the last statement of the opener. Flute solo bringing us into the next movement. Meanwhile, there's a "shooting star" moving across the field (a guard member carrying a star prop with streamers behind it). The swing flags come out, and they have moonlight on them. Make that double swing flags. Drumline is pulling us into the closer with the piece entitled "celestial nights." The guard has golden flags and... comet props? They're golden spheres with streamers. Rifle work as well, thanks for that. Now golden cape flags in the guard. From a design standpoint, the ending felt a little rushed compared to how beautiful and flowing the rest of the show was.

Overall, a great performance, bringing us back the sunshine through a nocturnal show. Thanks, band!

[GasBabyOfficial]

1 hour ago, Anthony V said:

Birdville. "Riff Raff." Very 70s props, both front field and backfield. Backfield props are record player themed. And then we have a record player up in the front to start us off! It starts with symphonic metamorphosis. Almost peacock coloration in the guard uniform. Nice turn-around ensemble statement. Lovely ensemble sound. WW feature carrying forward "riffs" of the theme. Now a marching baritone solo on the record player. The records on the backfield props are spinning! A very small lack of tempo communication moving here into full ensemble moment, but we recover. Great energy in the end of that movement. Now we've got riffs from a clarinet soloist and baritone soloist (Beethoven) moving us into the ballad. Clean music ensemble execution for the most part.  Swing flags look like spinning records a bit!  Now the drumline and pit taking us into the closer. Maybe a little visual dirt here, or otherwise it was intentionally staggered and I couldn't tell. Great job with the drill here at the closer.  

Where was the tempo miscommunication 

[Anthony V]

Azle.  We're getting inferno/firebird vibes. The guard seems to be in two-part uniforms, so it'll be interesting to see what happens there. There are fiery front field skrims and backfield props (fire-shaped as well). There's attention to color range (some blues in there, even) indicating different temperatures. The opening set looks like a flame. Their uniforms also look smoldery.

"The Fire Within." Selfishly had been hoping for Stravinsky, and it sounds like we'll get it. Fluid body work here in the beginning reminiscent of a flame. Solid opening musical statement. Okay, we've got more Shostakovich #10 today! Loving it. I appreciate Azle's evolution in sound over the past few years; they've got projection and good tone quality. A teensy bit of roughness from minor stick-outs (really, it's slight enough to just be a balance issue), but this is definitely the best I've heard them. Great job brass with that articulation feature in the Shostakovich section. Lovely flute, trombone, and clarinet trio bringing us into the ballad. Guard is on sabres. Here comes the swing flags, which have -- yes, both the blue and red fire, overlaid interestingly by a pair of eyes, symbolizing "the fire within." Good Really clean with this follow the leader drill in the first part of the closer. Good consistency from member to member. We move into a saxophone quartet, a small tear but we recover in time to bring in the full ensemble moment with consistent and well-communicated energy. There's the Stravinsky. These closer flags have a single eye on them, and the eye is blue while the surrounding texture is red. Some red streamers pop out at the end up front at the skrims.

Overall, the story was definitely in the color guard flags with the eyes. Might have liked  more than a nod to Stravinsky (but that's sheer opinion), but overall well-designed with the fire motif. Great job, Azle! Another plausible finalist. It's just hitting home that we will have so many of them. 

[Anthony V]

11 minutes ago, GasBabyOfficial said:

Where was the tempo miscommunication 

It was slight, more of a minor issue that resolved almost as quick as it came up. I couldn't tell you from memory.

[Anthony V]

Creekview - "Neon." Thanks to our French horn soloist for kicking us off. Moving now into the Daft Punk section, from full ensemble. Thanks to our sax soloist - turn sax quintet. Echoed now by full ensemble. Intonation and balance was particularly good on that last note. Picc (?) solo brings us into the ballad. Echoed now by full band. I hear you tubas! And we're moving into the closer with our sax quintet turned soprano solo with a funky percussion groove. Now a trumpet soloist giving us what is probably the final theme, again, echoed by full ensemble. Interesting rotational drill and some minor chords bringing us into the "NEON" opening set once more.

Overall, fun technopop music pieces which highlight the pop of the neon colors. A fun analogy there. Thanks, Creekview! 

[Anthony V]

Timberview. Is this a nod to the movie Dune? Probably not Tatooine because there's only one sun on the back field props. No skrims to tell us more but we have five circle stages, tan-colored on the left-side of the field and a rocky stage on the right with some oil cans, maybe to be drums in addition to being part of the aesthetic. Funnily, the sun is coming out now in full midday force, as if it never rained to begin with. Some body movement with scarf headpieces to open things up. Beautiful flute solo. "Mirage."

Flags are almost shimmery, embodying that mirage theme. Fanfare-ish statements here from the brass. A little bit of energy loss in our sound as we increase our speed in the drill. Good centering of sound there at the end. A saxophone  quartet is bringing us now into an oasis. The backfield props have turned oasis and the dune hill props have become flowers you might see in an oasis pond. More shimmery flags, this time copper with some silver accent there at the end. Some tight rotating drill in this show, and now again in the closer. You don't get to see that as often these days when so much is polycentric and pod-focused. The oil barrels are indeed drums, being used now in the drum break. Solid energy throughout the closer.

After the mirage sequence, a flute soloist went over to one of the dune hills and "turned it" into an oasis flower. Is the oasis real, or is it a mirage? Great job, band.

[Anthony V]

Brewer. Underwater skrims, maybe a sunken pirate ship. The band looks ocean-like with their blue uniform tops. Yes, we have a sunken ship on one of the skrims, next to a coral reef. Looks like we're setting up a quartet (including a bassoon!). Someone up at the front has a wave-maker sound instrument. "Lure of the Deep." The ship looks like it's called "El Oso." 

Starting off not with our quartet but actually with a sousaphone from the ship! Now clarinet solo into our opening ensemble statement. Marching is pretty clean. Ocean-y drill, lots of waves. Bassoon solo accompanied by brass jabs and then a WW feature. Now we're at a brass feature, trombones giving us the gliss energy. Good job overall with that, brass. Next section opens up with a saxophone solo from our sunken ship, followed by a mello duet up at the front. Now we're moving into the full band statement. Some rippling body movement here in the winds. A little bit of brass punchiness and edge from the brass here in the closer, followed by a WW feature and then full band statement. Now we're at the company front, moving into the tag. Lot's of rotational drill and wavy body movement. Great job! Nice finish. Here's our hypothesis: The ship is called "El Oso" because these are the Brewer Bears! Definitely a different vibe than initially we thought; it was a bit more "dark." The blue and purple of the flags conveyed the visual idea well. Just saw a show shirt -- yeah, it's definitely spooky looking. Thanks, Brewer!!

[Anthony V]

Lunch break update. Here's how things seem to us so far. 

Standouts: Richland, Burleson Centennial. Neither of us are sure how to make them commensurate  quite yet. My intuition is to give the edge to BC right now.

Azle and Birdville seem pretty high on the bubble. We'll probably see them both again. Joshua feels like fairly high bubble.

Mid-bubble: Cleburne, Colleyville Heritage, Brewer. 

Very enjoyable contest so far! Thanks to all our performers. You spoil us. Some bands we are now able to see for a second time this season, them having performed already at BOA Waco.

[fruitiestflute]

Helloooo area-goers! We just now are pulling up, thanks lightning delay (we had several alarms going off at the end of rehearsal this morning, so thats fun!), but were more than ready to put on a helluva show for yall!! Good luck to all the bands about to perform and great show to all those who've performed already!!

[Anthony V]

Saginaw. City Lights and Arabian Nights." Modern Arabian feel with the techno blue/red colored backfield props. Front field is a golden moon on a platform resembling the theme colors of the skrims.

Great job with that opening statement. A nice balanced sound from the full ensemble, and now we're moving into our different features -- low brass, WW, high brass. Generally good intonation, but could be cleaned up a bit for a more finals-worthy sound. Clarinet solo takes us into the theme of the ballad, followed by WWs. Now brass comes in. We're building to the impact. Out come the yellow swing flags in the guard and it looks like some weapon work. Our closer gets started by a snare yelling out "1, 2, 3, 4," giving us the tempo. Some "You've got a friend in me" allusions. Now we're back to Schaherazad (sp?) with full band. It seems like we're taking this to the end. A guard member on the stage with the crescent moon throws her flag out to the side, and brings out the golden swing flags from the ballad.

Overall, cohesive theme. Also, there may have been a fun nod to the Nutcracker suite in there at some point.   

[Anthony V]

Burleson. "No Winter Lasts Forever." Now for a winter themed show. There's definitely the blues and icy colors, but also a touch of light pink in the uniforms, both for the band and the guard. The backfield props look like windows with frost on them. Is that Frozen in the repertoire I hear? We're starting out in a snowflake set, moving into our first opening statement. Guard has umbrellas with snowflakes on them that they are using as props. There's also a central stage with some frost on it like the backfield "windows." Some rifle work in the guard, now. Catch! Great job, rifle soloist. People really liked that. Maybe we're having some mic issues, making it a little difficult to hear a flute solo. In the ballad, a guard member doing solo dance work has what seems to be a lantern, perhaps signaling the end of winter night? Out come the WWs with lanterns, doing body work, too. Out come some swing flags, with colors reminiscent of the aurora borealis. Bass line starts us off in the closer. It was great to have a completely exposed drumline feature. Thanks for that energy!! Followed now by some brass jabs, doing a difficult side 1/side 2 alternation. Some rotating box drill here at the end, leading us into a band member holding up flowers, signaling the arrival of spring! Thanks, band. 

[Anthony V]

Next up, Arlington Heights. "A Seat at the Table." Some fancy wallpaper themed props, both front skrims and backfield props. And we also have what looks like a walkway or stage down the 50. Interesting ripple effect right off the bat. Add a battery feature, as well as pit. 

Ah, okay, so these stages are actually tables I think. A wall of sound from this ensemble. Don't let their numbers fool you. Brass and WW passing the theme back and forth, punctuated by full ensemble statements. Sustained mello note there at the end of the opener, pretty good intonation. Beautiful flugel/mello duet here in the ballad. Out come some white oversized flags (that's the best I can describe them right now, sorry!). Here in the next section we've gone jazzy. This ensemble opts for an edgier sound on the whole, which fits with this jazzy bit quite well. Yeah, they had a lot of fun with that. Great energy!! It's moments like that -- where performers and audience connect -- which are my favorite in the marching arts. Great energy to the finish. The energy was definitely finals-worthy. That's the kind of performance to have if you want to vie for a finals spot. Maybe technical inaccuracy will dampen that, and the bubble for finals is already packed full, but this ensemble's energy was definitely on point.

[Anthony V]

Paschal. "Balance." We have large see-saw type props that can function for body work. We start with a gentle flute solo, followed by a clarinet solo. Backfield brass builds until clarinet solo brings us into the first statement. Rifle line. Lots of rifles. Percussion feature leading us into a WW statement, followed by brass response. Big moment now on full flags as band does a passthrough. Here in the ballad, the guard doesn't stop; they pick up some sabers . Now the backfield guard (yes, there's more of them) do some swing flag work. As the melody shifts from phrase to phrase, the see-saw props move back and forth. Close the ballad with a lovely backfield ensemble sound. Battery takes us into the closer. WW feature -- and he guard goes ahead and grabs those rifles again. There was a particularly effective couple of tosses here before we go back to all flags and rotational drill. Some more guard on the back see-saw props! Thanks, band!