Best 4A State Marching Contest?

[rhcp]

I think this year (2013) definitely has the potential to be one of the best, if not the best 4A state marching contests of all time! Do you agree? What year would you put as the best?

[jmatthews]

Yes, I think this year will turn out to be the best 4A marching contest of all time. In my opinion, 2011's contest is currently the best as far as talent is concerned. I think the bands this year will take the contest to the next level, with the top 5 being unprecedentedly close.  

[takigan]

I think 4A gets better every year, even more so than 5A.  It's kind of amazing how many bands there are that have won a medal in the last 2-3 SMBCs that could likely get phased out of Finals (or even booted out at Area) entirely due to the competition being so high!

I've been seriously following this activity since 2005, and it's only been since 2009 that there's actually been a committed interest in the 4A contest on this site.  I think this is because the quality of the finalists has gone up....and I think the quality has gone up due to the aggregate of 4A schools slowly acquiring the same socioeconomic and cultural landscape of the 5As.  What I mean is more and more rural 4As are dropping down to 3A as the enrollment barline gets raised, and they're purposely building new schools in the cities that have a capacity that's barely within 4A limits (the slowing economy likely has prevented them from building larger schools with a 5A capacity.....and since growth has slowed down in said economy, they don't have to build as large of schools to accommodate that growth, thus we get more 4A schools in wealthier socioeconomic areas than the usual 5A schools).

So what we're getting is a flux of Max-Size 4A schools (especially in South DFW and North Austin) whose capacity is barely within 4A limits.  You also have several schools (Cedar Park, Vandegrift, Leander, Connally, Mansfield Legacy, Mansfield Lake Ridge, Mansfield Summit Waxahachie, Friendswood?, several others...) who've either spent time as successful 5As, or have split from a school that was successful as a 5A.  For all intents and purposes, these schools have the same resources and perform at the level of some of the best 5A bands....except that they're 4A.  The number of schools who fall under this category is extremely unusual this year, thus making for a more competitive contest.

TL;DR - The contest will be the best ever because there have been tons of rich 4A High Schools with maxed out enrollment getting built in the "epic band districts" (Leander etc.) instead of the usual 5A ones....because economy.

[titancoaster]

^Just for clarity Friendswood is a one high school district and has never been 5A, it is a suburb that is slowly growing was 3A in either the 90s or 80s and keeps working its way up enrollment wise, it looks likely the school will become 5a (well 6A) in the next few years.

 

It is very exciting to see this years 4A contest. I know it will be a dog fight for the top five spots but what a great finals dvd it will make

[takigan]

Wasn't sure.  Thought they might have been 5A at some point (hence the ?).....it's hard to keep track sometimes.

[redhotchilistump]

Speaking of Friendswood how do you think they will do? We always hear about Cedar Park, Vandegrift, etc..... Not that's it's a bad thing!! Because they're amazing schools:) But, Friendswood has been undefeated the whole season and has been undefeated in the GE category the whole season as well! State this year is going to be amazing!

[Abbie123]

GE doesn't play an explicitly stated role in UIL judging so that won't help them, but they will probably do well considering it takes more than just GE to win a competition and they are undefeated so they are doing something right.

[jmatthews]

Speaking of Friendswood how do you think they will do? We always hear about Cedar Park, Vandegrift, etc..... Not that's it's a bad thing!! Because they're amazing schools:) But, Friendswood has been undefeated the whole season and has been undefeated in the GE category the whole season as well! State this year is going to be amazing!

 

RHCS, I have been pretty vocal about Friendswood this year. I think the key for Friendswood is the cleanliness of the music. Right now, and especially with the UIL judging sheet, music is the weak point of Friendswood's show. If they can get their music clean, Friendswood will not only be a medal contender, but in my opinion, also a contender for the state championship.

 

Also, it seems like you are a student at Friendswood. If that's the case, best of luck!

[Keykalove]

Anyone at mesquite Area C marching Contest??

[jmatthews]

Frisco Centennial, Hays, Legacy, and Birdville are already out. Ouch!

[Amusicman]

Best 4a State Finals - 1999

 

1st Coppell

2nd Keller

3rd Grapevine

4th Fossil Ridge

5th Dickenson

6th Colleyville Heritage

7th Poteet 

 

I have never seen 4a bands at that level before. Those finalists in 1999 could have competed with 5a's and truly held their own. IMO 1999 was also Poteets best show and performance, and the fact that it came in 7th tells you something about how great all finalists were. On a side note in finals for the first and only time to date their was a 4 way tie for 4th place. Something else to note the next year Coppell, Keller, Grapevine, Fossil Ridge and Colleyville Heritage all moved up to 5a.

[wwgarfield]

Best 4a State Finals - 1999

 

1st Coppell

2nd Keller

3rd Grapevine

4th Fossil Ridge

5th Dickenson

6th Colleyville Heritage

7th Poteet 

 

I have never seen 4a bands at that level before. Those finalists in 1999 could have competed with 5a's and truly held their own. IMO 1999 was also Poteets best show and performance, and the fact that it came in 7th tells you something about how great all finalists were. On a side note in finals for the first and only time to date their was a 4 way tie for 4th place. Something else to note the next year Coppell, Keller, Grapevine, Fossil Ridge and Colleyville Heritage all moved up to 5a.

 

I was hoping someone would reference the 1999 4A finals. I was a freshman in the Keller band that year. It was truly an amazing experience. I remember that finals performance like it was yesterday. Really wish I had a video of it. Finals announcements were very nervewracking. Was a little disappointed to get 2nd, but Coppell did deserve their 1st place title. Aside from being 2nd at 4A State Marching in 1999 we were also the 4A State Honor band. As a freshman in the wind ensemble, that was a lot to be thrown at me at once, but I wouldn't trade those experiences for the world. I just wish that we had had as much success in 5A as we did in 4A. Although, I'm proud of the current Keller band as they have improved a lot over the last several years.

[tautry]

Waxahachie, like Friendswood, has never been a 5A band.  We also are a growing subarb of DFW area.  The band has grown tremendously in the past eight years due to the strength of the program under the leadership of Mr. Rich Armstrong.  They were the 4A state honor band the last cycle, so ineligible to compete in the current competition.

[Josephle2014]

#R.L Turner

[TxBlueBariXD]

2013 - THE BEST!  Hands Down!

[jmatthews]

This was definitely the best 4A contest ever. No other 4A contest holds a candle to this year's contest. The musical performances especially were absolutely spectacular.

[jmatthews]

I really enjoyed seeing all of the bands in finals performance. I generally agreed with the judges' decisions, but I would like to argue one small point. In my opinion, while Dawson and Friendswood were not as loud as the Leander ISD bands, they did a great job shaping their phrases with musicality. I am not saying the Leander schools were not musical; they clearly did a great job as all three schools received medals. My personal preference is an emphasis on dynamics, and I feel Friendswood and Dawson let their music build a little better than Vista Ridge and Cedar Park, who I believe lost quality of sound as they played louder. For that reason, I actually would have placed Friendswood 2nd and Dawson 5th. The other medals would have gone to Vandegrift (1st) and Cedar Park (3rd), with Vista Ridge receiving 4th. Please understand I am not attacking any band's objective placement, but rather I am pointing out my subjective opinion for further discussion. My opinion seemed to match closer to prelims results rather than finals results.

[TSP01]

Could someone please educate me on how the UIL judges score these competitions?  By posting this question and the following observations, I am not trying to take anything away from any of the finalists in the state competition.  They all put on awesome shows and I commented on a couple of the top 3 that they were going to be hard to beat. Like the post above, I agree that Friendswood and Dawson should have placed higher and am confused on how these competitions are scored.  My observations from the finals are as follows:

 

• The top 3 bands played very loud at various points in their shows.  This is great for a show band but, as mentioned above, I too feel some of the sound quality is lost as the music gets louder.  It is my understanding that UIL judges score more to the technical side of the music.  I feel the louder music is geared more towards the show aspect of BOA competitions.
• The color guards of two of the top 3 bands only used flags, pillows, fans, scarves and their arms as equipment with no tosses in their shows.  Only Cedar Park's color guard did a technical show.  The other two were beautiful shows full of pageantry and I enjoyed watching them but, here again, their shows appeared to be geared more towards a BOA competition.
• Two of the top 3 bands placed reasonably high in the BOA competition this past weekend.  How do their shows move so seamlessly between the BOA and UIL worlds when, as I understand it, the judging is different between the two?

As I said above, my comments are in no way intended to detract from the performances of any of the bands.  I applaud them all. I will be the first to tell you that our band's prelims performance was better than our finals performance but that seemed to be the case with most of the finalists.  I think the effects of nerves, excitement and exhaustion naturally caught up with most of the kids in the finals.  I am just curious how the judges arrived at the final standings because, having grown up playing sports and not knowing anything about marching band until my son got involved a few years ago, it would appear to me that the finals judging followed a stricter BOA interpretation rather than a UIL interpretation.  If this is going to be the case going forward, this would be useful knowledge for most band directors to know so that they can fashion their performances accordingly.

[Loudsaxes1]

I also am getting tired of boa intermixing with drum core. Soon marching band will be boring and filled with costumes, props, and singing. Y can't we just have normal drum core bands that play loud execute their MARCHING and add in cool visual effects....not walk seemlessly on the field or dance around a giant Swan or oak tree for gods sake

[Loudsaxes1]

I also am getting tired of boa intermixing with drum core. Soon marching band will be boring and filled with costumes, props, and singing. Y can't we just have normal drum core bands that play loud execute their MARCHING and add in cool visual effects....not walk seemlessly on the field or dance around a giant Swan or oak tree for gods sake

[Bandislovebandislife]

Politics?

I don't know about yall but I watched all these bands in finals... And how did friendswood not get in top 3 if not win?? I'm not saying the other shows weren't good but friendswoods show was more difficult, better executed marching and music! It was honestly one of the greatest high school shows I've seen! I just don't see how they weren't first in music at least because the dynamics and the non distortion of sound as they got loud was honestly extremely impressive! I just wanted to know where yall think friendswood should have been placed and how bands that should obviously done better in competitions (not just this one) not get credited

[whitewing09]

I also am getting tired of boa intermixing with drum core. Soon marching band will be boring and filled with costumes, props, and singing. Y can't we just have normal drum core bands that play loud execute their MARCHING and add in cool visual effects....not walk seemlessly on the field or dance around a giant Swan or oak tree for gods sake

 

I hope this isn't an attack on the top three bands. Although they do bring more to the field than marching and music by using props or whatever, they still play very well and march very well. 

 

I think it's an insult to insinuate that these bands relied on anything other then their pure musical and marching talent to win the top three spots.

[stoli]

Politics?

I don't know about yall but I watched all these bands in finals... And how did friendswood not get in top 3 if not win?? I'm not saying the other shows weren't good but friendswoods show was more difficult, better executed marching and music! It was honestly one of the greatest high school shows I've seen! I just don't see how they weren't first in music at least because the dynamics and the non distortion of sound as they got loud was honestly extremely impressive! I just wanted to know where yall think friendswood should have been placed and how bands that should obviously done better in competitions (not just this one) not get credited

 

Friendswoods show was beautiful and well executed, no doubt. I've watched Friendswood's show develop this season and think their performances at state were some of their best.   I think Friendswood's placement was a testament to just how competitive this competition really was.  There were a lot of really good bands competing yesterday.  

[trumpetmom14]

I was at the contest all day and I was a little surprised of the outcome at Prelims and Finals.  After watching Vandegrift, I did consider them the band to beat and I congratulate them on their win. That said, State seems like it has turned in to a competition of who can play the loudest and the fastest.  I would love to see a band do it's show without a set that has everyone turn away and then turn back around blaring their horns.  This is High School UIL.  Not BOA and not DCI.  

[LHSax]

I don't know why there's suddenly a huge complaint of loud "blaring" music all of a sudden after last night. Yeah, I think the LISD schools were some of the higher volume schools, but I didn't hear any of this blaring? What impressed me the most about these groups is that they were able to play loud and with balance and clarity, which in my opinion is hard to do. Just because something is loud, doesn't mean it's not good?  I don't think these bands won because they were loud, I think they won because they play loud well and are impactful when they do so. Not to mention they countered these big moments with some amazing contrastingly soft and elegant moments (Vandy with their delicate Ballad, CP with those crazy intricate and technical woodwind runs, and VR with their multitude of impressive solis and solos).

 

And on a personal note...I love loud, in your face music when played well. Those are the moments that remind me why I still love marching band to this day. Those are the moments  that send shivers down your spine and get the adrenaline pumping! But again, these bands didn't do well because they were the loudest, they did well because they played the best...while also playing loud, exciting music.