Marcus 2010: Illuminaries

[The Brass Messiah]

I know from a reliable source that the shadows were the band members that did not have a permanent marching spot in the show. So to answer your question, yes they are the alternates.

 

Thanks for this, I was as well curius about this.

[skill]

Actually, it wasn't self-indulgent; it was started by a student at LD Bell.

 

This doesn't surprise me in the least. I worked the entire weekend at San Antonio BOA and it was almost funny to see the L.D. Bell kids coming out complaining that yet again they were beaten by Marcus, and then this trash of bashing Marcus has started here. Which I think is awful! Personally (remember this is my opinion) I saw all 14 finalist shows and they were ALL great. But I did score most of the bands in the order they placed. I did not think that Bell's show this year had near the impact they had hoped for. The grave markers for me were too much and lacked in taste. Their music was well played and their marching wasn't nearly as clean as it has been in years past. Marcus, the show was great, got your attention, kept it, and they stayed VERY clean.

I know that these posts are supposed to be opinions, but the trash talking is wrong! Bands win some, and bands lose some. Look forward to the next competition and don't make yourself look bad by starting a post that is in poor taste.

[Band_Person]

Actually, it wasn't self-indulgent; it was started by a student at LD Bell.

The profile has a graduation date of 2014.

 

All current Bell students would graduate by 2013.

 

Whoever that is doesn't realize that Bell is a 3 year high school.

[TxRaider13]

The profile has a graduation date of 2014.

 

All current Bell students would graduate by 2013.

 

Whoever that is doesn't realize that Bell is a 3 year high school.

 

 

I learned something new..Bell is a 3yr school, so where do they go for the 1st year?

[whitewing09]

There middle schools go until 9th

[selby]

...Do I know you?

Adam - you make me laugh!

[Xenon]

The profile has a graduation date of 2014.

 

All current Bell students would graduate by 2013.

 

Whoever that is doesn't realize that Bell is a 3 year high school.

Sorry; You are absolutely right, that it isn't a Bell student, just an impostor. I will take a deeper look into this and find out what is going on.

[kingsmom]

I learned something new..Bell is a 3yr school, so where do they go for the 1st year?

 

The HEB school district which includes Bell and Trinity follow the "Jr. High" system which is:

Elementary: K-6th Grade

Jr. High: 7th-9th Grade

High School: 10th -12th.

 

Freshmen (9th Graders) are in Jr. High and not part of the high school or the LD Bell band.

[mrwood69]

I'm sorry...am I simply the only person in Texas (or rather out of Texas since I now live in Washington, DC) that thinks that Marcus is the most overrated band in the state? Do they have skill....yes. Are they great...no. There are three things that set a great band apart from the rest. Music, visual, and the level of difficulty of the two previously mentioned categories. In order to be a great band, you can't rely just on your music. Marcus has done this for years. They march extremely easy shows and pair it with excellent music. If I just wanted to hear music, I would go to their band concerts. I attend Texas marching competitions to be stimulated by the largest concentration of the best marching bands in the USA. I cherished my time in high school when I was competing against area bands like L.D. Bell, Duncanville, Haltom, Richland, Hebron, Berkner, Coppell, as well as the southern Texas bands, like Churchill, Reagan, Westfield, Spring, Westlake, The Woodlands, and James Bowie (wish their was a bigger distinction between the James Bowie and Bowie high schools). I hate that a simple band with great music has infiltrated to the top ranks of the Texas powerhouse bands.

 

I used to be in tune with what Marcus had to offer. I first became a fan of the Marcus band program several years back when they did their "Under the Sea" program. I thought it was a little too cutesy, but it was very clean and the music was phenomenal. But again, their drill was incredibly simple. You can only hide behind lobster claws, starfish, charging seahorses and giant clams for so long. And I didn't even mention a giant ladybug and the huge lilies from the following year's show, "Botanika."

 

Maybe DCI is to blame for all this hatred towards Marcus. DCI shows what truly is the gold standard of marching competitions. I would like to think that this somehow trickles down and directly affects the level of high school bands strive to achieve. I actually prefer high school band to DCI, but I feel the judging in DCI is very accurate. High school marching judges seem to be all over the place when you see the individual scores.

 

Now that I think of it, maybe it isn't DCI that is to blame. Maybe it is because I am a huge fan of the L.D. Bell program. As the years have gone by the Bell program has broken away from marching the same show over and over and over again. But it seems by chance that they passed all that repetition on over to the Marcus band. The year that Bell performed their first dark show "The Remaining," was the same year that Marcus did "Under the Sea." I looked at Bell and saw a band that was doing something very different. Of course, the next year they had one of their best programs to date "Transcendents."

 

Marcus's show this year was different, breaking away slightly from the same type of show they have been performing for the past 5 years. Very dark for them...bravo. But still nothing compared to other highly ranked bands, especially this years Bell show, "In Honor."

 

I realize I will be chastised for this from almost everyone that reads this. I just hope there is at least one other voice besides mine on this brilliant site that thinks that things should have turned out differently this year.

 

To end on a positive note, good luck to the 4 Texas bands competing in Indy. I remember being incredibly proud the year that 6 of the finalist bands at Nationals hailed from the Lone Star State. Here is to Texas band programs being the best in the country!

 

 

I completely agree. Marcus does play their music very well, and just like Coppell, their drill is incredibly easy, and I think that might be more because of their size, which a band can only do so much about, but I've seen Marcus a few times, and no time was I like "HOLY ****!"

[ThaximusPrime]

I completely agree. Marcus does play their music very well, and just like Coppell, their drill is incredibly easy, and I think that might be more because of their size, which a band can only do so much about, but I've seen Marcus a few times, and no time was I like "HOLY ****!"

 

I don't think Marcus is the size that would prohibit them from moving around. They are large, but they have plenty of room to move about. And not to bring this up again, but if they didn't have their massive props (which for the most part are interesting), they would have plenty of room. There is only one band I have ever seen that was too big to move around, and that is the Allen High School band. This year was the biggest I have ever seen, marching 646. That is just ridiculous. Even if they split their band in two, it would be larger than any other band. Here is their video for this year.

 

Edited November 5, 2010 by ThaximusPrime

[TxRaider13]

I don't think Marcus is the size that would prohibit them from moving around. They are large, but they have plenty of room to move about. And not to bring this up again, but if they didn't have their massive props (which for the most part are interesting), they would have plenty of room. There is only one band I have ever seen that was too big to move around, and that is the Allen High School band. This year was the biggest I have ever seen, marching 646. That is just ridiculous. Even if they split their band in two, it would be larger than any other band. Here is their video for this year.

 

 

Allen is the one band I would love to hear in the dome....Imagine the ring from them

[mrwood69]

I don't think Marcus is the size that would prohibit them from moving around. They are large, but they have plenty of room to move about. And not to bring this up again, but if they didn't have their massive props (which for the most part are interesting), they would have plenty of room. There is only one band I have ever seen that was too big to move around, and that is the Allen High School band. This year was the biggest I have ever seen, marching 646. That is just ridiculous. Even if they split their band in two, it would be larger than any other band. Here is their video for this year.

 

 

This is true.

[takigan]

There is only one band I have ever seen that was too big to move around, and that is the Allen High School band. This year was the biggest I have ever seen, marching 646. That is just ridiculous. Even if they split their band in two, it would be larger than any other band.

 

Well, I dunno about that. I don't have any enrollment numbers for this year, but Duncanville has consistently boasted a membership of over 350. Coppell and Berkner have as well. LD Bell cited 325 a couple years back. Back before Dekaney was built and back when Philip Geiger was still around, Westfield had a band that was solidly in the 300s, maybe even closer to 400 considering their HS itself had close to 5000 students during its peak. Plymouth Canton Educational Park in Michigan had over 400 in the late 90s and I believe Lassiter (Georgia) broke the 400 barrier at some point in the late 90s as well.

 

I'm actually kind of curious as to what other bands have in the upper 300s in enrollment or even broken that 400 barrier.

[TxRaider13]

Well, I dunno about that. I don't have any enrollment numbers for this year, but Duncanville has consistently boasted a membership of over 350. Coppell and Berkner have as well. LD Bell cited 325 a couple years back. Back before Dekaney was built and back when Philip Geiger was still around, Westfield had a band that was solidly in the 300s, maybe even closer to 400 considering their HS itself had close to 5000 students during its peak. Plymouth Canton Educational Park in Michigan had over 400 in the late 90s and I believe Lassiter (Georgia) broke the 400 barrier at some point in the late 90s as well.

 

I'm actually kind of curious as to what other bands have in the upper 300s in enrollment or even broken that 400 barrier.

 

Plainview is always a huge 4A band of 300+, but thats the only one not listed before that I can think of

[acsc1312]

Not to perpetuate this debate or anything, but I'll post a few of my thoughts.

 

First of all, I've been a fan of Bell for many years now, so at first it irritated me when Marcus just showed up and starting dominating in their own right. Marcus consistently plays excellently, but I'm left feeling like something is missing. Yes, it is the visual. This brings me to something someone I know said last year. I absolutely loved Marcus's show last year. But my friend said "It's a perfect mp3 show, but it's not one you'll want to watch on DVD over and over." That was it. I find myself LISTENING to Marcus more often than watching Marcus. I find myself LISTENING and WATCHING Bell's shows. There isn't a Bell show I don't like since 2000, and that's only cause I haven't really listened to Bell before then.

 

So yes, Marcus is brilliant at the music aspect. But they seriously (IMO) need to start upping their visual program. And by visual I mean drill. They may win visual captions at BOA, but that's because it's clean. Easier drill is easier to clean. That's all for now. Once Marcus matches their playing with their drill, just imagine how dominating they could be. It could also garner them higher placements at grand nationals. I know Bell doesn't have the hardest drill either, so Texas bands in general could bump up their visual programs . Then we could dominate every year at nats!!

[The Brass Messiah]

Not to perpetuate this debate or anything, but I'll post a few of my thoughts.

 

First of all, I've been a fan of Bell for many years now, so at first it irritated me when Marcus just showed up and starting dominating in their own right. Marcus consistently plays excellently, but I'm left feeling like something is missing. Yes, it is the visual. This brings me to something someone I know said last year. I absolutely loved Marcus's show last year. But my friend said "It's a perfect mp3 show, but it's not one you'll want to watch on DVD over and over." That was it. I find myself LISTENING to Marcus more often than watching Marcus. I find myself LISTENING and WATCHING Bell's shows. There isn't a Bell show I don't like since 2000, and that's only cause I haven't really listened to Bell before then.

 

So yes, Marcus is brilliant at the music aspect. But they seriously (IMO) need to start upping their visual program. And by visual I mean drill. They may win visual captions at BOA, but that's because it's clean. Easier drill is easier to clean. That's all for now. Once Marcus matches their playing with their drill, just imagine how dominating they could be. It could also garner them higher placements at grand nationals. I know Bell doesn't have the hardest drill either, so Texas bands in general could bump up their visual programs . Then we could dominate every year at nats!!

didnt you just contradict your point their?, on a side note did anybody see how much longer Marcus's column was at retreat @ san antonio, that band must be like 350 360 ppl.

[Joeyz]

Not to perpetuate this debate or anything, but I'll post a few of my thoughts.

 

First of all, I've been a fan of Bell for many years now, so at first it irritated me when Marcus just showed up and starting dominating in their own right. Marcus consistently plays excellently, but I'm left feeling like something is missing. Yes, it is the visual. This brings me to something someone I know said last year. I absolutely loved Marcus's show last year. But my friend said "It's a perfect mp3 show, but it's not one you'll want to watch on DVD over and over." That was it. I find myself LISTENING to Marcus more often than watching Marcus. I find myself LISTENING and WATCHING Bell's shows. There isn't a Bell show I don't like since 2000, and that's only cause I haven't really listened to Bell before then.

 

So yes, Marcus is brilliant at the music aspect. But they seriously (IMO) need to start upping their visual program. And by visual I mean drill. They may win visual captions at BOA, but that's because it's clean. Easier drill is easier to clean. That's all for now. Once Marcus matches their playing with their drill, just imagine how dominating they could be. It could also garner them higher placements at grand nationals. I know Bell doesn't have the hardest drill either, so Texas bands in general could bump up their visual programs . Then we could dominate every year at nats!!

 

Personally, I think this is about the colorguard. I mean, I love the Bell band, but when I find myself watching them intently, as you said, I can focus only on their guard. It seemed to me, this year particularly, that their drill was extrememly confined to the front area of the field - probably because of the Arlington Cemetary being built in the back. I did not find their band visually effective at all - however I could not take my eyes of the guard. Perhaps this is very different from you, but I do believe it begs the question, "Is this visual impact concept you refer to really about the marching drill, or does it come from outside the horn line?" I do agree, however, that marcus lacks significant visual energy that Bell clearly has in most cases. I just don't think it's about the drill, I think its about the quailty of the auxiliry guard.

[the_DRUM_MAJOR]

IMO this contest is done. On to the next one.

[TxRaider13]

IMO this contest is done. On to the next one.

 

I don't think people are talking about the contest, just about the show in general

[acsc1312]

didnt you just contradict your point their?, on a side note did anybody see how much longer Marcus's column was at retreat @ san antonio, that band must be like 350 360 ppl.

 

I was referring to out of Texas comps like GN. Their drill is more complex than Marcus's each year IMO. Again, I'm not saying Marcus didn't deserve to win state, just throwing in my two cents.

[NewMexicoBandsman]

Marcus is mostly music-oriented, but to me that makes sense, especially when competing in Texas. Texas as a whole seems to emphasize music over visual, so it just makes sense to do so when competing in that arena. It seems to me that they overstretched themselves visually by trying to up their game for Grand Nats last year, and their drill was much dirtier than their usual end product. Yet this same attempt to up their game seems to have created IMO one of the best musical performances in the history of high school marching band. SO it would seem that Marcus is a program with a much greater capacity for musical performance than for visual, and when they stretch themselves, it is the visual, rather than the musical, component which suffers. What's wrong with that? I'd take an incredible sounding marching band that can also march decently over an incredible looking band which also plays decently. (Why I like Carolina Crown more than I like the Cavies.)

[mrwood69]

(Why I like Carolina Crown more than I like the Cavies.)

 

 

I know this is veering off topic a little, but... Cavies beat Crown in music this year...

[NewMexicoBandsman]

Right, but Crown seems to typically emphasize music more, and I'm not speaking in terms of this year's result. If we judged every corp based on just what they put out this year, Phantom, for instance, would not have the huge number of supporters that it does. ;p. I think Crown typically takes a more music-centered approach, whereas Cavies tend to prioritize their visuals.

[Indianamarchingfan]

Interesting conversation, and like TXredraider I don't have a dog in this fight as an Indiana band fan. I am really surprised that any fan could fault either Bell or Marcus for their performance as I think both are outstanding. I think they bring different strengths to the table, but the few times I have seen them they were great. I think the argument about marching versus music is universal as here in Indiana we have the same debate about Avon vs. Lawrence Central. One considered more musically inclined (LC) and one more visual (Avon), however both are great and I would not criticize either for their shows. When I've attended the Grand Nats in Indy I always see the Texas band fans supporting and cheering for each other, so I am surprised by the hate/love shown on this thread. Again no dog in this fight but I think you all should be proud of both bands, as they represent Texas admirably.

[takigan]

I think the argument about marching versus music is universal as here in Indiana we have the same debate about Avon vs. Lawrence Central. One considered more musically inclined (LC) and one more visual (Avon), however both are great and I would not criticize either for their shows.

 

Your statement is somewhat valid, but the bit about "universalness" would have more validity if Texas bands hadn't been winning the Music Caption at Grand Nationals for like...what? 7 of the last 9 years? (just checked....yup. 7 out of 9. Lassiter won it in '02 & Carmel in '08....And L.D. Bell was leading the pack in Music by a landslide after Semis in '08, but their poor Finals run cost them the caption). You can argue between Marcus and Bell in Texas or LC and Avon in Indiana, but only in Texas can you make such a sweeping statement against the whole country.

 

Band is just better in Texas