2023 BOA Grand National Championships (Nov. 9-11)

[Tubalord11]

And best of luck to our #TeamTexas bands competing today: James Bowie, Pearland and CTJ!!! 
 

 

I will be doing live commentary but unfortunately only over semis/finals as I do have class to attend 🥲

[crazy4disney]

1 hour ago, Hack said:

We just got in last night. First ever Grand Nationals. Exciting to see so many TX bands picked high in your predictions. Proud Pearland parent of a freshman here. We will be at Lucas Oil shortly after lunch today. 

Awesome that you get to be there!! Proud former Pride of Pearland band mom here, and beyond excited to see the band doing so incredibly well. My son and I both are excitedly following the competition this week! 

Big thanks to everyone here who keep us all updated on everything!! 🥰

 

[Samuel Culper]

2 hours ago, Hack said:

We just got in last night. First ever Grand Nationals. Exciting to see so many TX bands picked high in your predictions. Proud Pearland parent of a freshman here. We will be at Lucas Oil shortly after lunch today. 

It's such a fun experience.  Enjoy!

[Josegjr]

Let’s go team Texas! Hoping all the Texas bands make finals! 

[Josegjr]

Question how many advance to semifinals?

[18Saxophones]

11 minutes ago, Josegjr said:

Question how many advance to semifinals?

1. The 11 highest scoring from each panel, 22 bands total, regardless of class.
2. The next 8 highest scoring bands, regardless of panel or class.
3. The highest two scoring bands in each class, if they are not already in the group mentioned above, will also advance.

So a minimum of 30 bands will advance.

[littlejaw]

28 minutes ago, 18Saxophones said:

1. The 11 highest scoring from each panel, 22 bands total, regardless of class.
2. The next 8 highest scoring bands, regardless of panel or class.
3. The highest two scoring bands in each class, if they are not already in the group mentioned above, will also advance.

So a minimum of 30 bands will advance.

And usually 32-34

[Josegjr]

42 minutes ago, 18Saxophones said:

1. The 11 highest scoring from each panel, 22 bands total, regardless of class.
2. The next 8 highest scoring bands, regardless of panel or class.
3. The highest two scoring bands in each class, if they are not already in the group mentioned above, will also advance.

So a minimum of 30 bands will advance.

Thank you

[Txpharmguy]

On 11/7/2023 at 6:33 PM, BandFan59 said:

Jarrett Lipman, their longtime head director, left the school after last year. Though schools like Vandegrift and the Woodlands have been able to weather head director changes very well, the first few years after a change are always difficult, especially for a school moving on from someone as influential as Lipman has been.

Saw them at Area D competition and they looked smaller than what I've seen in years past. One of the parents said they had 75 to 80 seniors last year and about 40 incoming freshman. They were still very, very good just not as dominant as they were 5 years ago. 

[crunchycookie3]

I also think that people get hung up on “bands not being as good as they used to be” when in fact the activity is moving SO fast that groups with a certain “brand” may find it hard to maintain the level of success they’re used to. CTJ has absolutely pushed the activity from a performance and design standpoint, and now everyone in the top has caught up to them. It’s the mentality of “a rising tide lifts all boats.” If you get very good, everyone around you will also get good-which is a GOOD thing! It’s not unique to CTJ- this has happened to Spring, Westfield, LD Bell, and to an extent Cedar Park and Cedar Ridge from time to time. CTJ still has an incredible product and brand and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them surge once again in a season or two like has happened for a few of the previously mentioned groups. It’s one of the best things about TX bands!

[Hard Core Band Fan]

Brownsburg not as strong as I thought they would be. Hopefully more room for a Texas band in finals. 

[ChristopherRoden]

51 minutes ago, Hard Core Band Fan said:

Brownsburg not as strong as I thought they would be. Hopefully more room for a Texas band in finals. 

I really want to see them because there are a lot of contradicting thoughts on them 😆 

[Hack]

James Bowie did great! Pearland next Texas band in this panel. Very early but we should show very well.

[TrebleMaker2]

7 minutes ago, Hack said:

James Bowie did great! Pearland next Texas band in this panel. Very early but we should show very well.

Agreed! May be Bowie’s  best run of the year! 

[crunchycookie3]

8 minutes ago, Hack said:

James Bowie did great! Pearland next Texas band in this panel. Very early but we should show very well.

Very excited to hear this about Bowie! Hoping to see them in finals on Saturday- I was unable to catch them this afternoon! Everyone is raving about their flugelhorn soloist on other forums. It must have been fantastic!

[Hard Core Band Fan]

Beautiful show by Mason. Mesmerizing. 

[packwick]

anyone know why there are 10 vis judges listed for this event??? usually would be 9, right?? 3 for each of prelims and 3 for semis, then finals a mix of the prelims ones. substitute judge?

[packwick]

@Rubisco check your dms pls!!

[Warehouse314]

2 hours ago, Hard Core Band Fan said:

Brownsburg not as strong as I thought they would be. Hopefully more room for a Texas band in finals. 

Not sure if you were watching Box5 but in person that was Brownsburg's best performance of the year... without a doubt.  They will be performing in Finals Saturday night.

[Hack]

I am extremely bias but Pearland just showed out! Fan support was wild and the band brought it. Think they have to go through but I’m ok judge or expert. So proud of them! So much work to get here and sacrifice 

[nightlife]

Okay so it looks like we’ll have probably at least 3 Cartwright shows in finals. 
I cannot personally stand the design, but each band performing those shows is doing so extremely extremely well, so kudos to the staff and performers for that!

As for the design…

these shows lack emotion, story, diversity, etc. It seems like they pick an Emoji with one or two colors and build a show around that. And it only seems to work with larger bands. Block here, curvilinear there, pods there, etc. 
Pearland: 🌕 

brownsburg: 🪈

Mason: ✨

Prosper: 🇨🇱 

broken arrow: ➰ 

Bentonville: 🌻 

Honorable mentions:

Pearland 2022: 🦄 

broken arrow 2019: 🤠

Prosper 2022: 🪑 

I will, however, reiterate that the kids and the staff are doing WONDERFUL things with their shows and each of the aforementioned bands moves and plays like the top bands they are  

 

 

 

[crunchycookie3]

19 minutes ago, Warehouse314 said:

Not sure if you were watching Box5 but in person that was Brownsburg's best performance of the year... without a doubt.  They will be performing in Finals Saturday night.

I just caught a recording of it off of someone’s Box 5- I thought they were performing quite well! I thought the ending was the most impactful part of their whole show: the idea that what if everything we just watched was a pipe dream? Outside of that, I felt some big disconnect between the music and GE that I think some TX groups can cover (Keller specifically comes to mind) and I felt that the field design was a bit too familiar to other Cartwright shows in recent memory. All personal taste! I think they could be in finals, but if we’re calling that a full on lock for finals, I fear we will see at least 20 “locks” by the time the last band performs on Friday. All of these bands are about to throw down with stellar performances in hopes of finals!

[packwick]

17 minutes ago, nightlife said:

Okay so it looks like we’ll have probably at least 3 Cartwright shows in finals. 
I cannot personally stand the design, but each band performing those shows is doing so extremely extremely well, so kudos to the staff and performers for that!

As for the design…

these shows lack emotion, story, diversity, etc. It seems like they pick an Emoji with one or two colors and build a show around that. And it only seems to work with larger bands. Block here, curvilinear there, pods there, etc. 
Pearland: 🌕 

brownsburg: 🪈

Mason: ✨

Prosper: 🇨🇱 

broken arrow: ➰ 

Bentonville: 🌻 

Honorable mentions:

Pearland 2022: 🦄 

broken arrow 2019: 🤠

Prosper 2022: 🪑 

I will, however, reiterate that the kids and the staff are doing WONDERFUL things with their shows and each of the aforementioned bands moves and plays like the top bands they are  

 

 

 

LOL ok the emoji thing is pretty great.

i think more effort went into Mason's staging than Pearland's lol, buuuut Pearland > Mason musically. tho i also come from the Eddie Green school of thought, tone quality having supremacy.

[ChristopherRoden]

1 minute ago, packwick said:

LOL ok the emoji thing is pretty great.

i think more effort went into Mason's staging than Pearland's lol, buuuut Pearland > Mason musically. tho i also come from the Eddie Green school of thought, tone quality having supremacy.

Yeah I agree with the staging thing.

both Pearland and Brownsburg are in the tier of shows that have the sameeee exact drill moves: 

clump with squiggle attached

block on front hash with guard/dance in front 

block on the 50

huge arc across the front

random pods? 

arranging the props in small triangles or circles 

 

[nightlife]

1 minute ago, ChristopherRoden said:

Yeah I agree with the staging thing.

both Pearland and Brownsburg are in the tier of shows that have the sameeee exact drill moves: 

clump with squiggle attached

block on front hash with guard/dance in front 

block on the 50

huge arc across the front

random pods? 

arranging the props in small triangles or circles 

 

it’s just so formulaic these days. 
give me an emoji and 3 overplayed pieces of music and I gotchu 🫡 

🦊: The Quick Brown Fox

🌲: Amongst the Arbor

⭐️: Starstruck

🥭: A Tropical Escape