2023 BOA San Antonio Super Regional (Nov. 3 & 4)

[Keenoid]

On 8/29/2023 at 7:49 AM, LeanderMomma said:

Ummm hello. Leander did it in 2016!  😜

Marcus also did this in 2021. 

[Origin]

Reviving this thread to share my disappointment in finding out that Cy-Fair is not attending.

[packwick]

sucks that we're missing a good number of DFW + Houston contenders but the contest is still ludicrously competitive.

sooo ive seen everyone now. i count 9 bands id be surprised to see miss finals. Cedar Park, Round Rock, Vista Ridge*, Cedar Ridge, Rouse*, Vandegrift*, Ronald Reagan*, Marcus*, and The Woodlands*. asterisks next to the 6 strongest bets for top half finalists.

weird weird weird for me not to include CTJ as a lock, im betting they surge late season tho for a comeback and make finals here. iiif that happens that leaves only 4 spots for a ton of good bands which totally sucks.

id give the edge to the Austin and DFW bubbles for now. they just sound better than the Houston ones atm and music counts for more of the score. it's harsh to say but not a single band i heard live at West Houston sounded like a really really top-notch Texas band, besides maybe twhs, but they had issues w/ trumpets struggling in the upper register, Mello and flute tuning, and that really weirdly balanced/phrased small woodwind ensemble where it sounded like every instrument was doing their own thing lol.

so yeah, Houston groups need to get those music scores up to match the vis if they wanna make a splash here, reeeeally pulling for Bridgeland. at the same time some of the scores at DFW and Austin were a bit inflated, not gonna sugarcoat it, almost all of which came from relatively inexperienced BOA judges, so id be even more cautious than usual comparing scores across contests.

gonna be interesting for sure. always is.

[Rubisco]

32 minutes ago, packwick said:

sucks that we're missing a good number of DFW + Houston contenders but the contest is still ludicrously competitive.

sooo ive seen everyone now. i count 9 bands id be surprised to see miss finals. Cedar Park, Round Rock, Vista Ridge*, Cedar Ridge, Rouse*, Vandegrift*, Ronald Reagan*, Marcus*, and The Woodlands*. asterisks next to the 6 strongest bets for top half finalists.

weird weird weird for me not to include CTJ as a lock, im betting they surge late season tho for a comeback and make finals here. iiif that happens that leaves only 4 spots for a ton of good bands which totally sucks.

id give the edge to the Austin and DFW bubbles for now. they just sound better than the Houston ones atm and music counts for more of the score. it's harsh to say but not a single band i heard live at West Houston sounded like a really really top-notch Texas band, besides maybe twhs, but they had issues w/ trumpets struggling in the upper register, Mello and flute tuning, and that really weirdly balanced/phrased small woodwind ensemble where it sounded like every instrument was doing their own thing lol.

so yeah, Houston groups need to get those music scores up to match the vis if they wanna make a splash here, reeeeally pulling for Bridgeland. at the same time some of the scores at DFW and Austin were a bit inflated, not gonna sugarcoat it, almost all of which came from relatively inexperienced BOA judges, so id be even more cautious than usual comparing scores across contests.

gonna be interesting for sure. always is.

I haven't seen everyone yet, but this seems solid. 😄 Agreed on the inflated numbers. That said, it's always a bit of a mug's game to compare scores across contests anyway.

I think I'm most curious to see if Rouse holds on over Vandegrift and Vista Ridge here. That would be so awesome for them! And it would maybe ensure a top 3 placement overall, too.

Speaking of top 3, who will that be? There's more wiggle room than usual. I think Vista Ridge, Rouse, Vandegrift, Reagan, Marcus, and TWHS will be fighting it out. For winner, my gut says TWHS on the strength of visual and effect, but I can see others taking it as well.

I'm also hoping we see Leander back in finals. I think they have the show for it. I'd also like to see more than one Houston band in finals! Without Pearland, that may be tough, but I have faith.

[Rubisco]

Also, it feels really strange to me that this contest comes after UIL State. I'm not used to this timeline! It also makes me wonder if that changes the calculus at all. For example, it seemed like Marcus got a bit of a second wind after their success at State in 2021, going on to win the music caption in semifinals at Nationals and placing over bands that beat them handily at BOA San Antonio.

[Hard Core Band Fan]

6 hours ago, packwick said:

sucks that we're missing a good number of DFW + Houston contenders but the contest is still ludicrously competitive.

sooo ive seen everyone now. i count 9 bands id be surprised to see miss finals. Cedar Park, Round Rock, Vista Ridge*, Cedar Ridge, Rouse*, Vandegrift*, Ronald Reagan*, Marcus*, and The Woodlands*. asterisks next to the 6 strongest bets for top half finalists.

weird weird weird for me not to include CTJ as a lock, im betting they surge late season tho for a comeback and make finals here. iiif that happens that leaves only 4 spots for a ton of good bands which totally sucks.

id give the edge to the Austin and DFW bubbles for now. they just sound better than the Houston ones atm and music counts for more of the score. it's harsh to say but not a single band i heard live at West Houston sounded like a really really top-notch Texas band, besides maybe twhs, but they had issues w/ trumpets struggling in the upper register, Mello and flute tuning, and that really weirdly balanced/phrased small woodwind ensemble where it sounded like every instrument was doing their own thing lol.

so yeah, Houston groups need to get those music scores up to match the vis if they wanna make a splash here, reeeeally pulling for Bridgeland. at the same time some of the scores at DFW and Austin were a bit inflated, not gonna sugarcoat it, almost all of which came from relatively inexperienced BOA judges, so id be even more cautious than usual comparing scores across contests.

gonna be interesting for sure. always is.

Of those 9 you mentioned, I see Round Rock as having the toughest time making finals. They got hammered on visuals at Austin and this is historically their weakest point. The show just lacks excitement with no impacts musically and soloists mic'd too quiet, which is also a persistent issue. This is not a criticism of the kids, but rather one of the directors. Also, there are a lot of contenders for spots this year that have been moving up. I hope they do make it as they definitely have the potential and the ability, but much has to change for that to happen. I think excitement is the key word here. I wish them the best! 

[itsstephenyo]

7 hours ago, Rubisco said:

Also, it feels really strange to me that this contest comes after UIL State. I'm not used to this timeline! It also makes me wonder if that changes the calculus at all. For example, it seemed like Marcus got a bit of a second wind after their success at State in 2021, going on to win the music caption in semifinals at Nationals and placing over bands that beat them handily at BOA San Antonio.

I was hyper confused when looking over the schedule to find that BOA SA was the first weekend in Nov and that State Finals was end of October. Seems like it's a combo case of BOA SA being a bit late in the year and State final being a bit early. 

I think this competition is also wide open for the win this year. Marcus is coming along super nicely. Rouse took a narrow win over Vandegrift and TWHS is cruising along. Tons of contenders for a win. 

[BandFan95]

On 9/20/2023 at 10:09 PM, Samuel Culper said:

Panel 1 - Cedar Park, Cedar Ridge, Westlake, Rouse, Vandegrift, LD Bell

Panel 2 - Round Rock, Vista Ridge, CTJ, Leander, James Bowie, Ronald Reagan, Marcus, Wakeland, The Woodlands

Looks pretty unbalanced to me.

Flip flip Westwood with Westlake. Westwood beat Westlake in Austin. And they will be fresh from St. Louis as well. I also wonder about Bowie. 

[packwick]

2 hours ago, Hard Core Band Fan said:

Of those 9 you mentioned, I see Round Rock as having the toughest time making finals. They got hammered on visuals at Austin and this is historically their weakest point. The show just lacks excitement with no impacts musically and soloists mic'd too quiet, which is also a persistent issue. This is not a criticism of the kids, but rather one of the directors. Also, there are a lot of contenders for spots this year that have been moving up. I hope they do make it as they definitely have the potential and the ability, but much has to change for that to happen. I think excitement is the key word here. I wish them the best! 

i just recall thinking that Rock looked like a solid Nats finalist this yr and that i thought their ens vis scores should have been higher. maybe im just expecting the late season judges to agree w/ me about the vis which may not happen LOL.

 

8 hours ago, Rubisco said:

Also, it feels really strange to me that this contest comes after UIL State. I'm not used to this timeline! It also makes me wonder if that changes the calculus at all. For example, it seemed like Marcus got a bit of a second wind after their success at State in 2021, going on to win the music caption in semifinals at Nationals and placing over bands that beat them handily at BOA San Antonio.

it's kinda weird yeah. i think the Marcus thing may have just been a diff panel at Nats strongly disagreeing w/ the SA one. maybe the UIL result made an impression?? buuut the scoring of the two circuits is very different obviously.

[DeadMascot]

I’m just excited for any potential upsets! I really want my valley schools to perform well! please no more 58/82 place for JBA😵‍💫

[TWHSPercDad]

On 9/20/2023 at 10:09 PM, Samuel Culper said:

Panel 1 - Cedar Park, Cedar Ridge, Westlake, Rouse, Vandegrift, LD Bell

Panel 2 - Round Rock, Vista Ridge, CTJ, Leander, James Bowie, Ronald Reagan, Marcus, Wakeland, The Woodlands

Looks pretty unbalanced to me.

Well, maybe BOA heard the discussion. According to the most recent schedule release (10/3), The Woodlands is now in Panel 1 (after the final break at 1:00 pm). 

[Samuel Culper]

16 minutes ago, TWHSPercDad said:

Well, maybe BOA heard the discussion. According to the most recent schedule release (10/3), The Woodlands is now in Panel 1 (after the final break at 1:00 pm). 

That helps

[lhbenlee]

5A UIL State is after BOA SA. With UIL State now every year for all classes, they are alternating which weekend the odd and even classes perform. It will flip next year, then back, and so on. All the odd classes went before BOA SA in 2021 when they held state for all classes post  COVID. 

[Band2021]

With so many names missing from this contest it looks like a few groups will get an opportunity to make finals for the first time this year! After watching BOA Katy I can see that it is highly competitive this year. However, it looks like momentum is still on the side of frequent finalists. 

Top 7: 
The Woodlands
Ronald Reagan
Vandegrift
Marcus
Rouse
Vista Ridge
Cedar Park

Bottom Half: 
Cedar Ridge
Claudia Taylor Johnson
Lake Travis
Leander
Bridgeland
Round Rock
Westwood

This is somewhat how I see things playing out. We could see CTJ getting better by the end of the season but that really applies to all groups. I am interested to see if Rouse keeps the momentum this year we have seen them place high before then other groups leapfrog over them which I hope isn't the case. I think Bowie has an outside chance but on this list, I have them 1st out. 

[LostChoirGuy]

I think Wakeland will be in finals. LD Bell and Timber Creek have good shots too.  We will see how they do this weekend.

[AWildAltoSax]

1 hour ago, LostChoirGuy said:

I think Wakeland will be in finals. LD Bell and Timber Creek have good shots too.  We will see how they do this weekend.

Cy woods could also come out of the blue regarding that they peak in their late season when it counts.

[Vidal28]

1 hour ago, LostChoirGuy said:

I think Wakeland will be in finals. LD Bell and Timber Creek have good shots too.  We will see how they do this weekend.

I definitely would rate Wakeland to have a much higher likelihood of making finals here than either Bell or TC at the moment, much of what they have is out there and already being performed at a fantastic level, the demand they display in the other captions is high. There is still quite the large bubble at this contest as always so there will be some deserving groups that just miss out!

[Vidal28]

14 hours ago, packwick said:

id give the edge to the Austin and DFW bubbles for now. they just sound better than the Houston ones atm and music counts for more of the score

Watching many of the top DFW bands this past weekend was a treat, all-around fantastic performances from the finalists, the same should be the case for many of the groups attending Prosper this weekend! 

[crunchycookie3]

1 hour ago, LostChoirGuy said:

I think Wakeland will be in finals. LD Bell and Timber Creek have good shots too.  We will see how they do this weekend.

I agree- I think the DFW and Houston bands will have Austin area bands like Leander and Westwood on the outside looking in

[TenorSaxMan16]

4 hours ago, Band2021 said:

With so many names missing from this contest it looks like a few groups will get an opportunity to make finals for the first time this year! After watching BOA Katy I can see that it is highly competitive this year. However, it looks like momentum is still on the side of frequent finalists. 

Top 7: 
The Woodlands
Ronald Reagan
Vandegrift
Marcus
Rouse
Vista Ridge
Cedar Park

Bottom Half: 
Cedar Ridge
Claudia Taylor Johnson
Lake Travis
Leander
Bridgeland
Round Rock
Westwood

This is somewhat how I see things playing out. We could see CTJ getting better by the end of the season but that really applies to all groups. I am interested to see if Rouse keeps the momentum this year we have seen them place high before then other groups leapfrog over them which I hope isn't the case. I think Bowie has an outside chance but on this list, I have them 1st out. 

I think it was interesting that the two week difference between Austin and DFW only resulted in a 2 point difference between these top 7 bands. 

[LostChoirGuy]

6 hours ago, TenorSaxMan16 said:

I think it was interesting that the two week difference between Austin and DFW only resulted in a 2 point difference between these top 7 bands. 

I might be dense, but I'm not following what you meant in this comment.

[TenorSaxMan16]

6 hours ago, LostChoirGuy said:

I might be dense, but I'm not following what you meant in this comment.

That there wasn't more of a difference in points considering The DFW/Katy bands had two more weeks to clean.

[crunchycookie3]

9 minutes ago, TenorSaxMan16 said:

That there wasn't more of a difference in points considering The DFW/Katy bands had two more weeks to clean.

Yes- however, comparing scores cross-contest almost never works. In fact, I don’t think it’s uncommon for groups to get a higher score at Austin prelims than San Antonio prelims, despite having a much more polished product.

[TenorSaxMan16]

6 minutes ago, crunchycookie3 said:

Yes- however, comparing scores cross-contest almost never works. In fact, I don’t think it’s uncommon for groups to get a higher score at Austin prelims than San Antonio prelims, despite having a much more polished product.

I disagree, I'm looking through scores from last year and I'm seeing 15 points differences in a lot of these programs. But I think that comparing cross-contest goes both ways with who will do better or worse depending on Austin/DFW scores. which was my original point. 

[natertater21000]

1 hour ago, TenorSaxMan16 said:

I disagree, I'm looking through scores from last year and I'm seeing 15 points differences in a lot of these programs. But I think that comparing cross-contest goes both ways with who will do better or worse depending on Austin/DFW scores. which was my original point. 

It is usually not worth while to compare scores from one contest to another due to scores being contextual. Higher scores at the top of a contest usually have more to do with how high of a floor was established with whomever is in 12th or 14th place. There are outliers to this of course (see Marcus 2012) but we tend to see a roughly 9-12 point spread from bottom of finals to top of finals.