2021 BOA San Antonio Super Regional (Nov. 5 & 6)

[CTJBandPops]

WOW – what an amazing couple of days at the dome.

Congrats to Hebron on their sweep of captions and first place finish. Their show was amazing and it was well deserved. I do not envy the task of the judging panels for this event and I know that it is said every year, but this year was by far the most talented pool of programs I have ever seen in one place. – I only wish that Flower Mound was there as well. Loved seeing our CTJ program back in the medals in San Antonio.

It would appear that the Texas programs are back stronger than ever, and has put Covid behind them (can we bring back the full retreats now?)

It is still a bit of a strange year with UIL State for all classes, but even that shows the strength of the Texas program to overcome and surge back.

Now we turn our focus to UIL state particularly for 6A. It will be interesting to see how placements play out on Tuesday and if there big the variation from the BOA placings. Of the top 5 in the dome, we will lose TWHS this week, but will gain Flower Mound. We won’t have to wait long to find out.

As for Grand Nats – I think that our #teamtexas participants will again have a strong presence at Lucas Oil Stadium. In 2019 we sent 3 bands from the top 5 and a total of 6 from the top 12 in San Antonio to Indy. This year we will again send 3 from the top 5 and 5 from the top 12 (would have been 6 if Flower Mound was in San Antonio.

I think that we have an amazing team of 6A programs heading to Indy this next week and I wish them all luck.

[AlphaOmega]

8 hours ago, Nny14 said:

Musically Round Rock is a finalist caliber band. Those visual scores are just brutal though. Can't say I disagree with them either. I hope they get that sorted out in the future soon, these kids can freaking play.

I've always noticed that Round Rock peaks right at the end of the season. Because they're doing State and Grand Nats they probably don't have much rehearsal time left, but I've seen schools get a lot done during those Nats ICC rehearsals. You're right, though. Those kids really can play! 

[AlphaOmega]

What a weekend! Congratulations to Hebron for their victory! Y'all's show was undeniably incredible. Congrats to the rest of the finalist bands. Making finals at BOA San Antonio is crazy hard, and you should all be proud of yourselves! 

Now onto 6A State! Students doing both State and Nats this week, take today to rest up. This week is going to be jam packed, but I promise, it will be the best week of your lives thus far. Students doing just Nats, also rest up, and maybe take Monday and Tuesday to catch up on school. 

I've been to Grand Nats three times, once as a spectator and twice as a performer. I'll post my advice and a recommended packing list on the Nats forum. 

[cjm715]

8 hours ago, BandMom75 said:

I actually preferred Reagan's music to CTJ and Vandy. Their woodwinds feature is amazing. 

As did I, Ctj’s music placement was accurate in my opinion. If I had been a judge I would’ve definitely had Hebron Reagan Vandy in the top 3. However marcus sounded phenomenal and the woodlands played thee HECK out of their show.

[Hard Core Band Fan]

9 hours ago, Nny14 said:

Musically Round Rock is a finalist caliber band. Those visual scores are just brutal though. Can't say I disagree with them either. I hope they get that sorted out in the future soon, these kids can freaking play.

This has long been their weakness. They are battling with bands that don't play near as well with visuals that are much less than the caliber of their music. Something has to change or this will once again be their roadblock next year. So many bare spots in their visuals where absolutely nothing is happening. The students are killing it musically and just aren't being given the rest of the tools they need to succeed. Directors, are you listening? Time for major change in your approach.

[MikeKyu]

6 minutes ago, Hard Core Band Fan said:

This has long been their weakness. They are battling with bands that don't play near as well with visuals that are much less than the caliber of their music. Something has to change or this will once again be their roadblock next year. So many bare spots in their visuals where absolutely nothing is happening. The students are killing it musically and just aren't being given the rest of the tools they need to succeed. Directors, are you listening? Time for major change in your approach.

I do not believe the directors need to change their approach. I think the way BOA judges bands needs to change. Remember this organization is named "Music for All" but it operates as "General Effect For All." I believe all portions of a performance should be weighed equally allowing a band to shoot their shot for the optimum score. 

The following is copy pasta from MFA's adjudication page. 

"Similarly, more emphasis has been placed on the effectiveness of the general effect judges than on fine-line perfection of the performance judges. The weight of the numbers places 60% of the value on music and 40% on visual, as well as 60% on general effect and 40% on performance."

 

 

[Vidal28]

9 hours ago, Origin said:

My biggest surprise of the whole competition was Johnson! The visual design stands out against the other top Texas groups in such a good way. If they continue their trajectory I don’t see why they can’t make finals here within a few years (or maybe next year 👀). My other big surprise was honestly Leander. That finals performance was one of the most impactful performances I’ve seen, ever. They maxed out at the perfect time. 
 

Since seeing Westlake at Austin, I had this feeling all season that they would make finals here. How unfortunate is it that they had that big electronics delay and fell .1 short of finals. 
 

Also props to the Area B bands for giving the Austin LISD bands a run for their money to finish in the top ten! There was a lot of hype (which was deserved) for Cedar Park, Vista Ridge, and Rouse to the point I was convinced they were locks for top 10 or even top half. DFW is still holding things down even without Flo Mo.

DFW!!! WOOOOO

[Hard Core Band Fan]

42 minutes ago, MikeKyu said:

I do not believe the directors need to change their approach. I think the way BOA judges bands needs to change. Remember this organization is named "Music for All" but it operates as "General Effect For All." I believe all portions of a performance should be weighed equally allowing a band to shoot their shot for the optimum score. 

The following is copy pasta from MFA's adjudication page. 

"Similarly, more emphasis has been placed on the effectiveness of the general effect judges than on fine-line perfection of the performance judges. The weight of the numbers places 60% of the value on music and 40% on visual, as well as 60% on general effect and 40% on performance."

 

 

When your VGE score places you 33rd, you need to make some major changes.

 

[Tubalord11]

If anyone has vids of Coppell and Marcus, can you plzzzz dm me. 

[BandDad4]

The whole dance off of BOA needs to change respectfully. It is a marching competition and I've noticed many bands never march more than a minute or so of the entire show compared to the dancing portions.

[vistaridgefan42069]

nah, it’s 2021

let em do the cool stuff

hebron marched basically more than anyone last night and won

[Franus]

16 minutes ago, BandDad4 said:

The whole dance off of BOA needs to change respectfully. It is a marching competition and I've noticed many bands never march more than a minute or so of the entire show compared to the dancing portions.

Couldn't agree more. Loved all the performances but over the years I've seen them move away from actually marching to dancing and theatrics.The theatrics are great but it should be more about marching and the music.

[BandFan59]

30 minutes ago, BandDad4 said:

The whole dance off of BOA needs to change respectfully. It is a marching competition and I've noticed many bands never march more than a minute or so of the entire show compared to the dancing portions.

Respectfully, I disagree. Of the finalists here all of them had significant portions of their show where they marched with fairly difficult drill and certainly a difficult music book. More than a minute to be sure. I do understand where you’re coming from with the idea that BOA shows are seemingly more about the theatrics than the fundamentals of marching, but I think the beauty of it is that bands are free to create their own productions based on their own visions. Hebron had one of the more traditional shows in the state yet they just gave one of the best performances we’ve seen in some time. Vandegrift is right up there with them in that sense. 

[Hard Core Band Fan]

43 minutes ago, BandDad4 said:

The whole dance off of BOA needs to change respectfully. It is a marching competition and I've noticed many bands never march more than a minute or so of the entire show compared to the dancing portions.

If you are relatively new to this art form, this is what we called corps style 40 years ago when distinguishing it from military and show bands. This style follows the trends set by DCI and as it has changed to more music and dance theater productions, so has the high school bands participating in BOA. If you want something more marching-centered, you will like UIL better. There is less emphasis on the visual in that regard. It is what it is and the game is made by those providing the competitions. Either like the game, or don't play it. It is a choice each band gets to make for themselves.

[CTJBandPops]

1 hour ago, BandFan59 said:

Respectfully, I disagree. Of the finalists here all of them had significant portions of their show where they marched with fairly difficult drill and certainly a difficult music book. More than a minute to be sure. I do understand where you’re coming from with the idea that BOA shows are seemingly more about the theatrics than the fundamentals of marching, but I think the beauty of it is that bands are free to create their own productions based on their own visions. Hebron had one of the more traditional shows in the state yet they just gave one of the best performances we’ve seen in some time. Vandegrift is right up there with them in that sense. 

I agree with you. we have watched every year as many Texas programs plan for a BOA show VS a UIL Show. we continue to see and hear that UIL is changing their rubrics to be more like BOA.

There are basically 3 types of marching bands in Texas. they are

• Military - think East Texas bands and they now have their own UIL class to compete in
• Traditional Style - Think those schools that will not move fast on the field and use a lot of leg and body movement while standing in place and playing. they play while moving but the movement is stationary and includes upper and lower body movements. then then "march" to their next position 
• Corps Style - This style has is a fast moving pace, moving quickly and having multiple speeds across the field at the same time by different groups

BOA and UIL generally includes both Traditional and Corps Style programs. it is seen as traditional style does better with UIL and Corps style does better with BOA. but there are many programs that I would consider traditional programs do well in both BOA-SA as they use a cross-pollination of the 2 styles.

in my opinion - this weekend we saw -

Hebron is a more traditional style - they are a concert band on the filed that plays amazing music,

Vandy is a mix but still leaning towards a traditional style, they play music extremely well and are just as diligent on their marching process but not at a corps speed or design

CTJ is a mix who clearly leans to a corps style program. at the end of the day, they engross an extremely difficult drill that has won their fair share of music captions in the process as they play well and move at a very high speed. 

I will leave it to each of you to decide where every band falls in that spectrum of Traditional VS Corps. 

 

 

it comes down to what the judges want to see, and those judges change for every event.

 

[BandMom75]

Have a question. At BOA Katy, I remember a band with an alien theme and had a Katy Perry song featured. There were also dancers behind some sort of plexiglass screen. Was this Vista Ridge? I saw them at the SR last night, but their show was completely different. If not them, does anyone know who that band is?

[lhbenlee]

Anyone have recordings of Leander in prelims and/or finals? They were up and now they’re not. Thanks!

[Asaiah]

Remember to copy the links of youtube videos you find and plug them into a youtube-to-mp4 downloader!

[SoundOff]

 

JBA repping the valley!!! The music from Strauss, Halo, Katy Perry, and Elgar is such a beautiful mix!  956 at the end!!! Amazing job to all bands and huge shoutout to the valley bands for absorbing every piece of criticism and taking every opportunity to get their games to the next level!!! 

[SoundOff]

2 hours ago, BandMom75 said:

Have a question. At BOA Katy, I remember a band with an alien theme and had a Katy Perry song featured. There were also dancers behind some sort of plexiglass screen. Was this Vista Ridge? I saw them at the SR last night, but their show was completely different. If not them, does anyone know who that band is?

John B. Alexander HS! They are actually using Vista’s props from their field production Turning Tables! You may have seen them at McAllen or TMC. They did not participate at BOA Katy.

[BandMom75]

5 minutes ago, SoundOff said:

John B. Alexander HS! They are actually using Vista’s props from their field production Turning Tables!

Yes!l Thank you! I could not remember who that was. Great show!

[Vidal28]

9 hours ago, Franus said:

Couldn't agree more. Loved all the performances but over the years I've seen them move away from actually marching to dancing and theatrics.The theatrics are great but it should be more about marching and the music.

I was going to be very glib and say “well thanks to those dance sections in this year’s show and the very blatant drumline dance break a la SCV 2018, 2019 or any BD show, in 2019’s show, Hebron finally *learned* BOA visual performance and GE!!! *biggest eye roll*🙄” I wholeheartedly agree, and Hebron has definitely proven they do both playing and marching just as good as anyone out there, particularly with what they put on the field every year for their music program🔥🔥🔥

Edit: I wanna make clear I’m not getting on Hebron for playing the game either, and I’m not going to knock any group for having a style that caters to the more towards the corps style that is more prevalent nowadays, I’m just not moved by it particularly.

[justabandkid94]

I think we can talk about differences in design approach in a way that doesn't pick one group up while diminishing the achievement of another. We continually say Hebron this, CTJ that, but each one of these school names have real people behind them. Realize that the kids performing the sh*t out of these shows have no control over the way their school's design team chooses to navigate artistic expression -- they simply take what they're given and infuse every ounce of their being into it. Whatever the method, it has merit purely because of the dedication behind it

[jarrettlipman]

@justabandkid94 You are wise - many kids and parents read the posts. Most do not comment. While it is good practice for all to learn to embrace critique and praise simultaneously  - it is always helpful to remember just about everyone is working towards the same thing - being great at marching band. The variance of opinions is exciting - it is no different judging. The mix of adjudicators with different opinions - the audience reaction - all of it keeps a contest interesting.

 

There is also a great benefit in not taking anything too seriously - or too personally - when it comes to rankings, ratings, opinions, etc. It’s an art form, it will always be subjective - there will always be some who love, some who hate - but … as long as they’re talking? Well, that’s pretty cool!

[justabandkid94]

6 minutes ago, jarrettlipman said:

@justabandkid94 You are wise - many kids and parents read the posts. Most do not comment. While it is good practice for all to learn to embrace critique and praise simultaneously  - it is always helpful to remember just about everyone is working towards the same thing - being great at marching band. The variance of opinions is exciting - it is no different judging. The mix of adjudicators with different opinions - the audience reaction - all of it keeps a contest interesting.

 

There is also a great benefit in not taking anything too seriously - or too personally - when it comes to rankings, ratings, opinions, etc. It’s an art form, it will always be subjective - there will always be some who love, some who hate - but … as long as they’re talking? Well, that’s pretty cool!

Well said yourself, and completely agree! Best wishes during this final week of rehearsals