2014 BOA Grand Nationals

[LKendrick]

Also, my surprise of the weekend is Wando, they were AWESOME!   Really enjoyed Lawrence Township as well.  

 

And my negative surprise was Marian Catholic, pretty shocked to see them that low, had them 4th myself.  One of my absolute favorites of the year.  

[LKendrick]

Wow, Marian Catholic went 14th, 6th, 10th.

Union went 15th, 12th, 11th.

 

Lake Central went from 11th, to 24th.  I fell really bad for them, always a really good band that I think will make finals, and they just miss out.  Last years "A World of Her Creation" should have been in finals.........that was a beautiful show.  They've been right outside looking in every year since 2011 it seems.  Maybe next year.  

[joshscan]

Hope the Eagle flies back to Texas next year.....I hear there's some major firepower headed up there in 2015.    

 

 

Speaking of that "Major Firepower" who all is going next year?? Iv'e only heard rumors of 5 (CTJ, TWHS, Bowie, Cedar Ridge, Round Rock) but I'm sure a few others might take the trip, anyone know?

[bandamonium]

Speaking of that "Major Firepower" who all is going next year?? Iv'e only heard rumors of 5 (CTJ, TWHS, Bowie, Cedar Ridge, Round Rock) but I'm sure a few others might take the trip, anyone know?

 

From what I've heard 7 Texas groups have applied for the 2015 Grand Nationals already.

-The Woodlands (They usually go during non-UIL years)

-Cedar Ridge (I know for a fact that they are going again)

-Bowie (There is still skepticism with rumors that their London Trip will keep expenses too high for them to make a return, but they've traditionally gone every 3 years so we'll have to see if they end up going or not)

-Claudia Taylor Johnson (After the big year they had this year, I think there's a good chance they make a return after 4 years)

-Round Rock (I haven't heard anything, but after placing 4th, I could see them making the trip again)

-Marcus (They haven't historically gone every other year)

-L.D. Bell

 

-Hebron (Perhaps their first appearance?)

[BlackJesus]

How much does it cost a school district to send a band to GNs?

[Nny144]

I know Round Rock almost certainly is.

[Donezo]

Last night was a good contest, but I spent the whole livestream thinking about how much better Texas State Marching Contest was. Several of those GN finalists would have trouble hacking it in the Lone Star State - especially musically. 

[itsstephenyo]

Heard from some Marcus parents that Hebron is supposed to go to Nats next year. Apparently LISD has approved this every other year thing between Hebron and Marcus (holy crap I wonder how Flo Mo fits in now?!?!?) to finance the bands to go to Nats. 

Next year is apparently Hebron's year! Oh, man, I'm crossing my fingers. 

[TX_Band]

Great, great showing by both Texas bands at Grand Nationals!!  Congrats to Flower Mound on their final appearance and three great runs this weekend!!  And Wakeland with a 3rd place finish in AAA and High Visual in their class and 5th, (yes 5th!!!) overall in visual in semis and 15th place overall!!  Both were 1st time participants at Grand Nats and both had great outcomes.

[Statebound]

I checked with my Lewisville ISD folks and was told that Hebron, Marcus, and FloMo are going to rotate and that Hebron is in for next year.  The thought of TW, Hebron, and CTJ there next year gets the heart racing.  Is it too early to get excited?

[snares]

Definitely not. I was excited the minute I heard Hebron is entertaining the thought. I think next year will be a year of the underdogs, like Cedar Park (I shouldn't really put them in the underdog category but I'm sure you guys know what I mean). Cedar park had a fantastic show, I loved the church bells and everything. Very well put together. I'm just waiting to see how they will stack up.

I really hope Hebrons show is more like their World of Wonder show. The music for this year was much harder. Two years ago it was pretty loud, but absolutely gorgeous.

The same goes for the woodlands. If they put together a show like their Grand Nats winning show, it will be crazy.

[~ME~]

I checked with my Lewisville ISD folks and was told that Hebron, Marcus, and FloMo are going to rotate and that Hebron is in for next year.  The thought of TW, Hebron, and CTJ there next year gets the heart racing.  Is it too early to get excited?

Oh my goodness. TW, Hebron, and CTJ ALL IN ONE YEAR??? It's probably not gonna happen, but can you imagine if Texas bands swept the top 3 at Nationals? That would be something! If they both do indeed go, I especially hope either CTJ or Hebron take the Eagle (Hebron in particular, seeing as how it would be really cool to see them become the first band to win Nationals on their first trip). If CTJ puts out a show like this year's, they'll obviously have a very strong shot. I'm curious to see if they'll keep the uniforms as I feel like they could be used for many other interesting show themes. CTJ seems to put out a better show every year, so I am unbelievably excited to see what they'll bring to the table next year. It may or may not be next year, but I expect CTJ to eventually win the Eagle some day. I also think Hebron is more than capable of taking the Eagle as well. They've got the talent to do it and they've got Kevin Nix. It will just depend on if every thing comes together for them or not (i.e. if Nix outdoes himself and writes another masterpiece, resulting in Hebron putting out their own "Beyond Perimeters" or "You Never Know"). They also can't afford to have the visual struggles they had this year. Hebron's obviously going to be taking a very good crack at that Eagle if they do indeed go to Grand Nats. We'll just have to wait and see if it's a homerun or a miss (and by miss, I just mean placing outside the top 3. Even if that happens, I obviously still expect them to do quite well). And really, the same goes for the Woodlands. They have the talent and design staff to do it, it will just come down to whether or not it all comes together for them. Even though I would prefer one of the other two bands to win simply because The Woodlands already got their first National Championship, I would still be super pumped to see TW take their second one. I think they'll have to top even their 2013 show to win next year (and if they do... wow, that will be one heck of a show to witness). Can't wait to see what next year brings! 

 

And concerning this year's Grand Nationals, I have to give a huge congrats to Flower Mound and Wakeland on representing Texas so well! Wakeland was a well-deserved semi-finalist, and I've got to say that this is the strongest I've ever seen a Wakeland band. I'm also very excited for Flower Mound! 6th place in their first appearance is amazing! All those kids should be very proud of themselves! And finally, it was great to see Tarpon Springs finally get their first championship! As you can probably tell, I love seeing bands get their first win. 

 

Well, another season is done. Here's to next year being just as amazing!

[bandamonium]

With the feedback Ive gotten this is the list of participants for next year.

 

Likely to Attend-

The Woodlands

Hebron

Cedar Ridge

Round Rock

 

Possible-

Claudia Taylor Johnson

Bowie

L.D. Bell

 

And of coarse this isn't anything close to being final as it is just a compiled list of the groups that appear primed and ready to take Indy by storm next year.

[NTXBandFan]

How much does it cost a school district to send a band to GNs?

LISD doesn't pay for the schools to go to the BOA competitions. They only pay for the UIL comps. The booster clubs are the ones footing the bill for BOA.

 

Heard from some Marcus parents that Hebron is supposed to go to Nats next year. Apparently LISD has approved this every other year thing between Hebron and Marcus (holy crap I wonder how Flo Mo fits in now?!?!?) to finance the bands to go to Nats.

 

Next year is apparently Hebron's year! Oh, man, I'm crossing my fingers.

Hebron wanted to go this year, but their principal wouldn't approve it due to the extra time off in such a short period after UIL State. FM doesn't want to do the every other year thing, they'd rather keep it to once every 4-6 years.

[RickyRick]

Looking at recaps, Wakeland came in 15th in semi's. Only about 1.5 points out of finals! That's the first visual award a Texas band has taken home from GN since Stephen F. Austin tied in semi's for visual in 2004. Great job Wakeland!

 

And of course, great job Flower Mound. I'm willing to bet they would have scored closer to William Mason had they performed in the second half of finals. Regardless, 6th place on a first showing? Amazing. Glad they showed everyone San Antonio was a fluke.

 

Coincidentally, our old director from SFA is now at Wakeland.  I'm happy to see them doing well.

 

It's great to see some newer bands like Flower Mound and Wakeland make a strong splash at Grand Nats.  All us Texans are proud, showing that the strength of Texas runs deep.  I, like everyone else, can't wait to see how Texas represents next year.

[rach98n]

LISD doesn't pay for the schools to go to the BOA competitions. They only pay for the UIL comps. The booster clubs are the ones footing the bill for BOA.

 

 

Booster club= parents of band members..... Lol. Fees are vastly higher BOA years

[LKendrick]

Flower Mound Finalist feature:

 

To the DM in tears at the end, I know those feelings, know them very well, reminds me of my last performance.

 

 Looks like they had an absolute blast.  

 

[snares]

Looking around Twitter I've noticed a few coincidences that other band kids hve noticed;

Hebron and Flower Mound both took 6th with a score of 90.05

 

CTJ, Tarpon Springs, and I think one other smaller band had music from Hebron's Bar Code show or whatever that was. Hebron didn't even make finals, but both Tarpon Springs and CTJ won their respective competition.

 

Almost all of the bands in Grand Nats had big flashy props. Like props that tool up half the field. Ginormous props. I wonder if that at all affects scores? Probably not.

 

I also just now noticed that Flower Moundwas using the same props they did last year (don't judge me).

 

And here are my continued thoughts regarding next year:

I'm gonna focus on CTJ, Hebron, and TW.

For me it just comes down to what kind of show Andy Sealy and Kevin Nix put together up there in Carrollton. I think they will be the outlier. Last year I don't think they had a very good run through from prelims to finals, I think that they could've taken it home possibly with a better run through. Yes the Woodlands were fantastic. And yes it is possible that the woodlands could've had a better run through. But for hebron, .05 could've come from anywhere. I definitely think that next year hebron and TW will have BOA heavy shows. So I'm expecting them to be back at the top.

As for CTJ, I'm just not sure. I haven't been paying nearly enough attention to them over the past 4 or 5 years to know what to expect. Heck they could be the ones who bring home the Eagle. But hopefully over time I will be able to tell what to expect from them.

Anyways these are just my thoughts, and just like this year, I'm probably completely wrong.

Question:

Do we know about any of the other bands from out of state and who's all going to grand Nats next year?

[principalagent]

All of the Indiana bands will come of course. (And I hope this includes Homestead!) One can expect Mason, Centerville, O'Fallon Township and Marian Catholic as well. Broken Arrow is likely to come back, and Owasso and Union are less likely, but possible. Tarpon will likely not come back and Kennesaw Mountain won't, but Harrison may come back. Franklin and Dobyns-Bennett will both probably return. Blue Springs apparently is coming back as well. PCEP is taking next year off. Wando probably won't come back - I think they're on an every three or so schedule. I think Ayala is also every three, but American Fork is on every two if I remember correctly and should be back next year. 

 

Fun fact: The first band from Hawaii is coming in 2015!

[itsstephenyo]

Ah geez I'm so excited for next year's marching band world!