vacon3` Posted October 14, 2012 Report Share Posted October 14, 2012 I did not get to see all the bands but I did not think Spring scored that high. I had them at 4th (at best) in the 2nd block of performers. The Circus tents were a distraction to me and limlited the ability to march on the field. Leander, clear brook, and college park Performed better in my opinion...I was also surprised Dawson was not at least 10th.. I was at finals and I was pretty shocked by the scoring. I thought Spring had a great show, but it was really dirty and the tents were super distracting. I thought Friendswood was the best, but not by the amount the score reflected. I (and the people around me thought) Brazoswood would place higher. They were very clean and played beautifully, but they had no help from their guard. College park was much improved, and their closer has super hard drill, but their sound suffers during the difficult marching at the end. But it is a really fun show to watch. Morton Ranch was another surprise- I just didnt get it. All in all it was a great night of marching. Lots of good competition in the Texas gulf coast .Oh and one more thing- how shocking was it that Dawson didnt make finals? I saw a video of their show from this year and thought they looked and sounded great, so this was a big shock! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Posted October 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2012 I was at finals and I was pretty shocked by the scoring. I thought Spring had a great show, but it was really dirty and the tents were super distracting. I thought Friendswood was the best, but not by the amount the score reflected. I (and the people around me thought) Brazoswood would place higher. They were very clean and played beautifully, but they had no help from their guard. College park was much improved, and their closer has super hard drill, but their sound suffers during the difficult marching at the end. But it is a really fun show to watch. Morton Ranch was another surprise- I just didnt get it. All in all it was a great night of marching. Lots of good competition in the Texas gulf coast .Oh and one more thing- how shocking was it that Dawson didnt make finals? I saw a video of their show from this year and thought they looked and sounded great, so this was a big shock! Some observations from the contest: 1. I thought Dawson's show was unusually very dirty for this time of year, and they got 16th. Wow. But they stil have time. 2. Pearland and Clear Brook appear to be making a comeback. 3. Friendswood had an amazing prelims performance, then had an even better finals performance. 4. Morton Ranch was a big surprise. Congratulations to them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarinetbabe9696 Posted October 14, 2012 Report Share Posted October 14, 2012 Congratulations to Clear Brook! They have a great show this year and are on the rise again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellopwn1 Posted October 14, 2012 Report Share Posted October 14, 2012 Just a few things about this contest: Always a good way to spend a Saturday. The announcer is way above average (in comparison to most local competitions), the flow is always smooth, and the concessions never run out! All in all, Lone Star is probably the closest thing to a BOA contest there is out there when it comes to Scorings/rules, Judge quality, and retreats. So kudos to the organizers on that. -Brazoswood was MUCH improved from last week. Their BOA performance was a snoozefest compared to yesterday. The band sounds much better and is much more musical, and there were less issues with the soloists. Overall, the design is a bit tame in comparison to the last couple years (twirling snare drummers and dangling instruments are admittedly a tough act to follow), however there is nothing bad about "Up in the Air." It's a tad conventional, but a lot more refined. That's what has kept Brazoswood from scoring higher the past two years--a lack of refinement. -Morton Ranch completely came out of nowhere. Talk about a dark horse. I was taken aback at how these kids can play. Great, great things happening at this school. -TWCP continues to improve. Their visual could use some love, but they have a sound that might get them to State. -Pearland makes some great sounds, although the most impressive moments occurred when the brass was parked on top of platforms and belting it out. I think they can handle it while moving. C'mon directors! -I didn't catch Westfield, but they have new uniforms. They look a lot like their old 2003-era set. Mainly white and black. -Leander tore it up. These past two years have shown a huge uptick in performance for these guys. Some great sounding brass. -Friendswood was indeed impressive, but should NOT have run away with the contest like they did. No way there was a 3 point gap between them and Spring. Nevertheless, they sound and move like champions. The post-show is a little too drawn-out for my tastes, though. -Spring is performing great, but I will echo what others have said: WTF IS UP WITH THOSE TENTS. They could stand to lose the majority of them, in my opinion. A whole lot of Texas groups seem to performing last years concert rep. for their marching show (Marcus with the Bach, CTJ with Polvetsian Dances, Spring with Belkis), and it seems to be working well for all of them. Spring sounds much better than last year, and the show design is much less frantic. We'll be seeing them at the Alamodome on Election Day. -The Woodlands' exhibition was the cherry on top of the evening. They have added oodles of body movement since BOA and just sound tremendous. Such a gorgeous performance of Copland's "The Promise of Living." The high brass issues we heard in those early season videos are largely nonexistent now. These kids are going to make a splash in San Antonio, methinks. One problem with the contest: Is it me or are the Music Ensemble scores in finals disproportionately high? Friendswood and Spring with 18's? Those programs don't even achieve that kind of score at the END of the season in San Antonio. All in all though, a good competition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abbie123 Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 Just a few things about this contest: Always a good way to spend a Saturday. The announcer is way above average (in comparison to most local competitions), the flow is always smooth, and the concessions never run out! All in all, Lone Star is probably the closest thing to a BOA contest there is out there when it comes to Scorings/rules, Judge quality, and retreats. So kudos to the organizers on that. -Brazoswood was MUCH improved from last week. Their BOA performance was a snoozefest compared to yesterday. The band sounds much better and is much more musical, and there were less issues with the soloists. Overall, the design is a bit tame in comparison to the last couple years (twirling snare drummers and dangling instruments are admittedly a tough act to follow), however there is nothing bad about "Up in the Air." It's a tad conventional, but a lot more refined. That's what has kept Brazoswood from scoring higher the past two years--a lack of refinement. -Morton Ranch completely came out of nowhere. Talk about a dark horse. I was taken aback at how these kids can play. Great, great things happening at this school. -TWCP continues to improve. Their visual could use some love, but they have a sound that might get them to State. -Pearland makes some great sounds, although the most impressive moments occurred when the brass was parked on top of platforms and belting it out. I think they can handle it while moving. C'mon directors! -I didn't catch Westfield, but they have new uniforms. They look a lot like their old 2003-era set. Mainly white and black. -Leander tore it up. These past two years have shown a huge uptick in performance for these guys. Some great sounding brass. -Friendswood was indeed impressive, but should NOT have run away with the contest like they did. No way there was a 3 point gap between them and Spring. Nevertheless, they sound and move like champions. The post-show is a little too drawn-out for my tastes, though. -Spring is performing great, but I will echo what others have said: WTF IS UP WITH THOSE TENTS. They could stand to lose the majority of them, in my opinion. A whole lot of Texas groups seem to performing last years concert rep. for their marching show (Marcus with the Bach, CTJ with Polvetsian Dances, Spring with Belkis), and it seems to be working well for all of them. Spring sounds much better than last year, and the show design is much less frantic. We'll be seeing them at the Alamodome on Election Day. -The Woodlands' exhibition was the cherry on top of the evening. They have added oodles of body movement since BOA and just sound tremendous. Such a gorgeous performance of Copland's "The Promise of Living." The high brass issues we heard in those early season videos are largely nonexistent now. These kids are going to make a splash in San Antonio, methinks. One problem with the contest: Is it me or are the Music Ensemble scores in finals disproportionately high? Friendswood and Spring with 18's? Those programs don't even achieve that kind of score at the END of the season in San Antonio. All in all though, a good competition. How do you think BOA San Antonio is going to go? Since Spring, Friendswood, Leander and College Park... were all at this Competition, (and Woodlands if you count them in...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.Stechnij Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 How do you think BOA San Antonio is going to go? Since Spring, Friendswood, Leander and College Park... were all at this Competition, (and Woodlands if you count them in...) I am curious to know your opinions too! Especially after seeing Conroe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellopwn1 Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 (edited) How do you think BOA San Antonio is going to go? Since Spring, Friendswood, Leander and College Park... were all at this Competition, (and Woodlands if you count them in...) Gosh, I think I'll save the long version of my answer for the San Antonio Predictions thread that is inevitably coming. There are just SO many great bands attending, and I truly, honestly believe that (almost) every band is improving in a tangible way every year. I don't know the exact number, but probably upwards of 20 bands attending have been finalists at this competition in the past 5 years. That makes it a tall order to make any predictions. Spring has the highest chance of finalist status. They are perennial finalists, and that means their directors know what it takes to get them a performance slot on Saturday night. I also see the most potential in them. Friendswood....I don't know. I have a terrible feeling that they might peak early before the Super Regional. Their music and drill are both pretty clean, which is good early on. However, that's often a sign that the performers may have maxed out their show's potential before the end of the season. There is a chance for finals, but with such stiff competition, they are definitely lower bubble. They could place anywhere from 13-25, really. Leander has a glimmer of hope for finals. Last year I had them in my finals list (I thought they sounded hot, hot, hot!), but turns out the judges disagreed. It very well could end up the same way, but they could MAYBE sneak in at the bottom. College Park is really the same. It will be close, very close. If they want finals, they really need to clean their drill like mad. None of these bands are bad....far from it. It's just that there are so many other good bands! Plop any of these shows into this super regional 4-5 years ago, and they'd probably be in finals. But San Antonio has gotten way more competitive. Edited October 15, 2012 by mellopwn1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nosagi Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 Spring has the highest chance of finalist status. They are perennial finalists, and that means their directors know what it takes to get them a performance slot on Saturday night. I also see the most potential in them. Their show this year sends mixed emotions through me, I love their rendition of Queen of Sheba, but I do not like the tents much... I realize it is a little late to change it much seeing as the whole show is built around them (The band starts out hidden behind them), but they distract visually and I think that the decision to use them will hurt the Visual GE score. The elegance of drill forms are broken and it just breaks everything apart when you want to see it full! Will they make finals at SA? I think they have a 70% chance, but this is San Antonio and as we have seen over and over again, never expect anything to be simple and expected! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazy4disney Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 All I can say is, we are in shock that Pearland made finals, lol. I mean that in a good way! We are a UIL band -- we only do Lone Star Preview basically for the extra practice time. But the show must be a little weirder this year and appeal more on a BOA level... which I guess makes sense since we only got 3rd at Galena Park which is usually a very strong contest for us. We'll see what happens at the UIL contest next week. I have to say, the Leander show is my new favorite show I have seen in years. I LOVE it. It's different without being bizarre, there are no oddball props you're scratching your head at, the music is awesome, it's just a great show. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Posted October 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 All I can say is, we are in shock that Pearland made finals, lol. I mean that in a good way! We are a UIL band -- we only do Lone Star Preview basically for the extra practice time. But the show must be a little weirder this year and appeal more on a BOA level... which I guess makes sense since we only got 3rd at Galena Park which is usually a very strong contest for us. We'll see what happens at the UIL contest next week. I have to say, the Leander show is my new favorite show I have seen in years. I LOVE it. It's different without being bizarre, there are no oddball props you're scratching your head at, the music is awesome, it's just a great show. :-) Lone Star has a hybrid BOA and UIL judging system, in my opinion. Although GE is included, there is a focus on music performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
titancoaster Posted October 17, 2012 Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 Not true, LSP 100% uses the BOA sheets, no change in weights at all. They just add Drumline and Guard captions as an added award, but do not factor those captions into the total score. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drum major Posted November 10, 2012 Report Share Posted November 10, 2012 Has anyone heard of any results yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drum major Posted November 10, 2012 Report Share Posted November 10, 2012 Has anyone heard of any results yet? Oops I meant lone star Drumline contest today...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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