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   I love how so many Texas bands have such distinct identities. Flower Mound has become known for impressionistic shows about art and artists, ctj are the innovators who excel in both traditional marching and their own brand of experimental visuals, and now the woodlands seems to be leaning into Broadway-esque big band music. I’m really excited for them, they’re a group that’s always just one great design away from the podium.

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At the end of the day, as much as I love (increasingly rare) original concepts, a band show is more about how it's done than what it's about.

Re-reading my earlier comments, I'm wondering just how suggestive a high school group can be. ? And I'm thinking of that Lyman guard show from 2019, Love Triangle, and chuckling to myself. The sax music gets me every time. To think, people thought that the tame Broken Arrow 2011 show was too much. They'd go into cardiac arrest over this! ? The comment about Lyman needing to have been disqualified is making me lol. I think they ended up in or around the top half of finals that year with a score over 90, and it was their first trip in the World class! I mean, it's pretty great. And not sexy, like, every single moment. Props to those girls though. I would have felt a bit awkward for sure!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_8_38A2MbY

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So, Vandegrift doesn't seem to have missed a beat this year. Holy cow! Such an incredibly powerful sound! And the visual program is again more interesting, more layered than it has been in the past -- though I occasionally had trouble finding a spot to focus my eyes. Very, very impressive overall. One additional criticism: be careful not to let that power overwhelm the clarity of the music. Some of the articulations were a bit muddy. Very early, but still.

LD Bell's show, Hold Fast to Dreams, reminds me of that Blue Devils show that had all the step ladders in it. Was it the fairy tale one? I think it was 2015? Wes Cartwright is designing for them again. I'm impressed by how much they already have on the field. Some of the music is a bit rough right now, but give it time.

 

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On 8/27/2021 at 3:18 PM, Rubisco said:

At the end of the day, as much as I love (increasingly rare) original concepts, a band show is more about how it's done than what it's about.

Re-reading my earlier comments, I'm wondering just how suggestive a high school group can be. ? And I'm thinking of that Lyman guard show from 2019, Love Triangle, and chuckling to myself. The sax music gets me every time. To think, people thought that the tame Broken Arrow 2011 show was too much. They'd go into cardiac arrest over this! ? The comment about Lyman needing to have been disqualified is making me lol. I think they ended up in or around the top half of finals that year with a score over 90, and it was their first trip in the World class! I mean, it's pretty great. And not sexy, like, every single moment. Props to those girls though. I would have felt a bit awkward for sure!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_8_38A2MbY

Lol I thought you were talking about a marching show!  

This was indeed a phenomenal winter guard show and definitely over the top in the sultry department (it is after all, Sade). I do have a complaint tho and this may just be me, but it bothered me that there were several girls who were obviously only in the show for their dancing ability (and it was terrific). Not once did they pick up a piece of equipment. So while I enjoyed the gorgeous dancing, I felt like too much of the focus was on them and not much at all was on the actual guard. Does that make sense?  Of course I’m sure it’s just my own (probably wrong) opinion, but it was just too much dance and not enough of anything else for me. ? But wow, that was a talented group for sure!

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28 minutes ago, LeanderMomma said:

Lol I thought you were talking about a marching show!  

This was indeed a phenomenal winter guard show and definitely over the top in the sultry department (it is after all, Sade). I do have a complaint tho and this may just be me, but it bothered me that there were several girls who were obviously only in the show for their dancing ability (and it was terrific). Not once did they pick up a piece of equipment. So while I enjoyed the gorgeous dancing, I felt like too much of the focus was on them and not much at all was on the actual guard. Does that make sense?  Of course I’m sure it’s just my own (probably wrong) opinion, but it was just too much dance and not enough of anything else for me. ? But wow, that was a talented group for sure!

Yeaaah, there's definitely part of the "guard" in that video that doesn't execute any equipment skills at all. And most of the difficult weapon stuff is done by a very small number of members, despite having a sizeable guard. That's why I always "ooh and ah" when I see guards like Carmel's and Avon's on the marching field, where they have like 15+ members tossing 5s and 6s. Overall effect of the Lyman show was great for sure, but yeah, they did cut some corners.

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1 hour ago, Rubisco said:

That's why I always "ooh and ah" when I see guards like Carmel's and Avon's on the marching field, where they have like 15+ members tossing 5s and 6s. Overall effect of the Lyman show was great for sure, but yeah, they did cut some corners.

Absolutely NOBODY can match an Avon or Carmel guard on the marching field. ??? At least not yet….

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I'm not going to post a video of them because there were some issues but I will say Lumberton is off to a great start. Already there are sections that are at State level sound/marching. I can not wait for the addition of props/the rest of the show.

*edit* I just found out Lumberton changed their show name to "For Every Season"

#Letsgetthatbread #Lumberton2021

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Saw Hebron perform their show yesterday for their halftime performance and it was quite interesting!! Definitely a much darker sound than is expected from them, usually, they have a more brighter “hopeful” sounding show and program as a whole. They immediately begin with a huge impact that startled the home crowd and the people around me, they were shocked?? I wasn’t able to catch the name of their show, can’t recall if they announced it, and along with the darker sound, typically with Hebron you expect the MIGHTY Hebron Mello sound to be at the forefront, but right from the start you had to put a hand out in front of you, ‘cause the trombones brought out so much sound!! The whole band sounded wonderful as we all expect, and while what was performed wasn’t terribly difficult visually, they have 2 more months to build what they have already and add the rest of their show, it’ll be great to see more as the season goes on!

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I live in Cedar Park. My son has graduated and I have no "horse in the race" as I write this. 

 

My wife and I have watched the top 4 heavy hitting Leander ISD bands in person already. The status quo, based on early season development is quite different this year than recent years. Not sure if we are seeing adjustments for UIL and BOA in the same year or if bands are struggling with missing a year developing younger students. It's going to be a fun season. Having TMC and Leander Festival of bands within 3 days of each other is going to be fantastic to see how the bands are developing. 

Leander: great show and I believe there's a ton to add. Right now it feels vacant. Still have my favorite trumpet section in Texas. The show theme is refreshing. Excited to see where this show can go. 

Vandergrift: holy moly they are marching a lot of students!! They are really playing together really well with the very defined Vandy sound. Kevin is proud! This show is starting off very well. 

Vista Ridge: I think they are taking development slowly. It's nice to see them in uniform. Not really jumping up and down about the show yet. They will improve drastically as the season progresses. At this point it's pretty bland. LISD directors will all step up and pitch in to get this show into Nats finals. The production seems tentative right now and it's tough to hear any section that's really laying it down. That will quickly change. 

Cedar Park: OH my! New uniforms. This is a very aggressive show. Marching more students than in recent history. They are being rewarded with a much bigger sound. They need to contain it and will as the season progresses. As always the percussion section is fantastic. Crazy work happening in the pit right now. The brass is up a few notches from the last 2 years.  Show design is complex and being marched at a high level. They need more GE to really break through. 

Very early season power ranking:

 

1. Vandy

2. Cedar Park

3. Leander

4. Vista Ridge

Remember: these are not even set in mud yet. The real work is beginning on the the show. This is just some extremely early season feedback. 

 

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Just going to wake up from the dead and comment on how amazing CTJ is this year. 

Mr. Lipman just declared Claudia Taylor Johnson a world class Drum Corps, it's official I'm calling it. They as always have their full show on the field by this point but this year they also sound like a late-october ensemble. They sound amazing already. I am excited for the cleaning. 

CTJ going for the throat. I haven't seen too many of the shows from the big name shows but CTJ is definitely a contender for the eagle this year from what I can see. I need two investigations into the Claudia Taylor Johnson High School Marching Band:

The first one into how much they practice. Make sure that t hey are following the eight hour rule. (/s)

The second is if the students are really just a bunch of BAC members disguised as high schoolers. 


Whatever it is I am loving what is coming out of CTJ this year. I am very excited to see what they have for the field in LOS this year. 

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9 hours ago, josephbandfan said:

Why does it feel like everyone else has already seen CTJ this year except me...

Probably not everyone, but several of us have either via private video or apparently in person for some (not me as I now live in Arizona, so a little tough to be in person, plus I'm still convalescing). They have a show with lots of growth potential and will be very tough to beat, especially as they grow into the show.

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13 hours ago, MadisonBandMan1 said:

Mr. Lipman just declared Claudia Taylor Johnson a world class Drum Corps, it's official I'm calling it. They as always have their full show on the field by this point but this year they also sound like a late-october ensemble. They sound amazing already. I am excited for the cleaning.

I just love how ballsy this group is. The drill difficulty is insane, reminiscent of the 2018 program, which also had me picking my jaw up off of the floor when I first saw it. Nobody else attempts stuff like this in Texas, or really even outside of Texas, besides Avon. Exciting, exciting stuff. (And holy cow are they LOUD!) Now, is it clean yet? No, lots of dirt. Is it coherent from start to finish yet? Not really. But the sky does seem to be the limit for them. I think they'll have a great season.

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2 hours ago, Rubisco said:

Oh, also, are they doing two different colored uniforms this year, something like Marian Catholic 2001? It kind of looked like it, but they were wearing regular shirts, so the black and white might just be a coincidence. I do think it was mixed up a bit at times, so maybe I'm just overthinking it.

I’m not sure about them wearing two different colored uniforms. I am nearly certain that they’re going to be wearing their original BOA uniforms this year, and when they turn one way it’s black, and when they turn the other way it’s blue. A very cool effect. 

82D7F290-57F9-487F-A7D2-7C7C8177A63B.jpeg

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Just saw a video of CTJ, and I am stunned. They have a complete show on the field and it's amazing how polished it seems already for this point of the season. The drill is easily the hardest of any group I've seen so far, and probably will be the hardest of any band in the state. They already sound fantastic, and it's still over a week until BOA Austin. I think they're edging on having another season similar to 2017's Forest Through the Trees, which is one of my favorite shows of all time.

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1 hour ago, BandFan59 said:

Just saw a video of CTJ, and I am stunned. They have a complete show on the field and it's amazing how polished it seems already for this point of the season. The drill is easily the hardest of any group I've seen so far, and probably will be the hardest of any band in the state. They already sound fantastic, and it's still over a week until BOA Austin. I think they're edging on having another season similar to 2017's Forest Through the Trees, which is one of my favorite shows of all time.

I will state up front that I am biased (as those that have been here awhile know) I love this show and while it is looking good now, it has a very high ceiling and I am looking forward to what it will nook like in the Alamo Dome and at Lucas Oil in a few months. I agree that "Forest through the Trees" was an amazing show. it set record scores in Austin. Midland and San Antonio, I am very excited that this could be a year to take that kind of show to Indy.

We seen far too many years that Texas Bands have phenomenal shows in San Antonio that never get to Indy. The Woodlands HS won San Antonio in 2013 and went on to win Grand Nats, Vandegrift came in second in San Antonio in 2019 and went on to win Grand Nats - yet we still hear "if Reagan went they would have won" - 

Think of all the shows that won San Antonio since 2013 and never took those shows onto Lucas Oil Stadium - CTJ 2014, FloMo 2015, Flomo 2016, CTJ 2017, FloMo 2018 (5 year run of Jaguars) - 2019 Reagan - too many to list pre-2013

This year, we will have 7 Texas 6A Bands that will represent the Lone Star State in Indy - in that group we have Texas UIL State Champions from the largest (5A/6A) classes since 2004 - and the BOA SA winners for every year since 2012. I am hopeful that this will be the year of Texas dominance in Indy. 

I have no doubt that we will see some amazing shows from all of our Texas bands, as we always do and that our #teamtexas group will work hard to represent our state well in Indy and I am comfortable that we will have a number of the #teamtexas bands in the top half of the finals at BOA SA that will then head of to Indy and hope to see Indy medals going to our Texas Bands and I hope that Kevin gets a return trip to Texas for some chips and Queso.

Go #teamtexas

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