Area I 6A 2023

[Sideswiperr]

15 minutes ago, ChristopherRoden said:

I could be wrong but I feel like different groups have peaked/are peaking at super different times. that could throw a wrench in all our predictions! 

I was thinking the same thing, Cy-Woods coming out at 1st place out of everyone from area i at state was a bit of a shocker, they tend to do better late season so that makes me think that they could upset some bands here and end up medaling.

[ChristopherRoden]

Just now, Sideswiperr said:

I was thinking the same thing, Cy-Woods coming out at 1st place out of everyone from area i at state was a bit of a shocker, they tend to do better late season so that makes me think that they could upset some bands here and end up medaling.

Exactly. They just added a new movement on the field for region that will undoubtedly be cleaner by state than by area this week! Looking at the different echelons of programs it really is all about who cleans the most this week and who has the best run! 

[Sideswiperr]

4 minutes ago, ChristopherRoden said:

Exactly. They just added a new movement on the field for region that will undoubtedly be cleaner by state than by area this week! Looking at the different echelons of programs it really is all about who cleans the most this week and who has the best run! 

100% agreed! Most groups will try to do lots of cleaning this week, but usually it comes down to the run the day of area. Sometimes all it takes is one bad run and that can be the end of a season for a band.

[ChristopherRoden]

some of the most recent videos for presumptive finalists: 

 

[TigerJ948]

12 hours ago, ChristopherRoden said:

some of the most recent videos for presumptive finalists: 

Thanks for posting! Katy has made tremendous strides in just the few days since that run and are trending in a good way for Saturday. It's an incredibly tough Area to advance from and it's cool to see our kids in the conversation. 

[ChristopherRoden]

I believe 27 bands will compete at area this weekend, making for 10 finalists and 5 state spots 

[oddlynormal]

27 indeed will be competing.  

 

This area is very competitive, but has yet to produce a state finalist.  I have been all over Houston this year and I think we will likely see the same finalists as last year, with a possible few surprises just inside or outside finals.  The Katy ISD bands are starting to grow and improve really reallllllllly fast.  Tompkins is great and Paetow could make some noise.  Katy is surging and Seven Lakes is doing great things.  I was also quite impressed with Mayde Creek, an often forgotten school in the district.  They are an entirely new band this year and I expect them to be rising in the near future.  

I call Cy Fair, Bridgeland or Seven Lakes to win.  The rest will be a fight.  Taylor is a dark horse for a possible state move again this year, but who knows.  

[ChristopherRoden]

block 1 having potentially half the finalists is crazy! 

[nightlife]

I think the only 3 locks to state are Cy Woods, Cy Fair, and Bridgeland. 

Cy fair is a STUNNER this year. They have such an exciting show and they're performing the heck out of it. They are playing well, clearly, and aggressively. Same goes for their marching. I've thoroughly enjoyed the past 2 shows from them and I look forward to their success!

Design wise both Bridgeland and 7L are musically being held back (for now?) by the difficulty of their books. I love the writing but there are some uncharacteristic sounds, balance issues and timing issues in both of them. 

Cy woods and 7L seem to be dirty visually. Cy woods more so at the end of their show, new closer it seems. They'll be fine. Shockingly though, 7L still has spacing issues, foot timing issues, undefined and unrefined visuals. The content is certainly there but as of this past weekend there wasn't a noticeable improvement between BOA Katy and Katy Marching. I like both of their concepts though, but I think 7L is definitely more BOA focused with a UIL color palette.

Katy has a complete package. They're performing their music and visual quite well. Perhaps not perfectly, but they'll get there I bet. Just a bit of dirt in the feet and sound at times. I also wish there were more dynamics in their music. Whenever everyone is playing it's just always a FF. Nothing more, nothing less. Their drill isn't super exposed or varied in my opinion so I expect to see that cleaned up by Saturday. I must say though, their soloists are FANTASTIC. Kudos to them!

Jordan had a huge glow up from last year. Regardless of their early season BOA results, they have vastly improved. They have a much bigger and refined sound, and although their drill may be written a bit close together, they're performing it quite well. Everyone seems to be on the same page and marches and does choreo exactly like each other. I love the music book and I especially love how varied the music and the drill is. Blocks, circles, curvilinears, no 2 pages look the same by any stretch of the imagination. Music wise, they have the emotion, the technical and the dynamics that I know UIL looks for. 

Tompkins and JET are wildcards for me. They've been close all season, and close to Jordan. Tompkins just has a super bright sound for me, shrill at times and hard to listen to at others. However, they're super tight visually and they do have their good musical moments. (beginning of the opener when the brass comes in for example). 

JET seems to be a step down from last year. It may the placement of the props but I dont get a sense of visual clarity. The peg legged technique is creating a lot of bounce and you can definitely hear that in their sound when they play on the move. They have a very rich sound, especially in the WWs but I'm not hearing nearly the musical clarity that I am from other groups. 

JV and Cinco Ranch are also seemingly a step down from last year. Both seem to be doing easier shows and are less aggressive on the field. Both look good and sound fine but I'm missing that shine that you need to do really well in finals here. 

I haven't seen Cy Ranch or Langham so I can't speak to them.

That all being said I predict the following: 

1.  Cy Fair

2. Cy Woods

3. Bridgeland

4. Jordan

5. Katy

-----------------

6. Tompkins 

7. Seven Lakes

8. JET

9. Cinco Ranch

10. Langham Creek 

[Sideswiperr]

2 hours ago, nightlife said:

I think the only 3 locks to state are Cy Woods, Cy Fair, and Bridgeland. 

Cy fair is a STUNNER this year. They have such an exciting show and they're performing the heck out of it. They are playing well, clearly, and aggressively. Same goes for their marching. I've thoroughly enjoyed the past 2 shows from them and I look forward to their success!

Design wise both Bridgeland and 7L are musically being held back (for now?) by the difficulty of their books. I love the writing but there are some uncharacteristic sounds, balance issues and timing issues in both of them. 

Cy woods and 7L seem to be dirty visually. Cy woods more so at the end of their show, new closer it seems. They'll be fine. Shockingly though, 7L still has spacing issues, foot timing issues, undefined and unrefined visuals. The content is certainly there but as of this past weekend there wasn't a noticeable improvement between BOA Katy and Katy Marching. I like both of their concepts though, but I think 7L is definitely more BOA focused with a UIL color palette.

Katy has a complete package. They're performing their music and visual quite well. Perhaps not perfectly, but they'll get there I bet. Just a bit of dirt in the feet and sound at times. I also wish there were more dynamics in their music. Whenever everyone is playing it's just always a FF. Nothing more, nothing less. Their drill isn't super exposed or varied in my opinion so I expect to see that cleaned up by Saturday. I must say though, their soloists are FANTASTIC. Kudos to them!

Jordan had a huge glow up from last year. Regardless of their early season BOA results, they have vastly improved. They have a much bigger and refined sound, and although their drill may be written a bit close together, they're performing it quite well. Everyone seems to be on the same page and marches and does choreo exactly like each other. I love the music book and I especially love how varied the music and the drill is. Blocks, circles, curvilinears, no 2 pages look the same by any stretch of the imagination. Music wise, they have the emotion, the technical and the dynamics that I know UIL looks for. 

Tompkins and JET are wildcards for me. They've been close all season, and close to Jordan. Tompkins just has a super bright sound for me, shrill at times and hard to listen to at others. However, they're super tight visually and they do have their good musical moments. (beginning of the opener when the brass comes in for example). 

JET seems to be a step down from last year. It may the placement of the props but I dont get a sense of visual clarity. The peg legged technique is creating a lot of bounce and you can definitely hear that in their sound when they play on the move. They have a very rich sound, especially in the WWs but I'm not hearing nearly the musical clarity that I am from other groups. 

JV and Cinco Ranch are also seemingly a step down from last year. Both seem to be doing easier shows and are less aggressive on the field. Both look good and sound fine but I'm missing that shine that you need to do really well in finals here. 

I haven't seen Cy Ranch or Langham so I can't speak to them.

That all being said I predict the following: 

1.  Cy Fair

2. Cy Woods

3. Bridgeland

4. Jordan

5. Katy

-----------------

6. Tompkins 

7. Seven Lakes

8. JET

9. Cinco Ranch

10. Langham Creek 

I could see langham creek over JV.

[ChristopherRoden]

53 minutes ago, Sideswiperr said:

I could see langham creek over JV.

I could see that, didn’t they beat them early season? 

[ChristopherRoden]

3 hours ago, nightlife said:

That all being said I predict the following: 

1.  Cy Fair

2. Cy Woods

3. Bridgeland

4. Jordan

5. Katy

-----------------

6. Tompkins 

7. Seven Lakes

8. JET

9. Cinco Ranch

10. Langham Creek 

Interesting insights. I do agree with a majority of it. 7L did still decisively win over all of the katy groups at the Katy Marching contest though. in the performance captions it was:

Music

1. 7L

2. Fulshear

3. Tompkins

4. Jordan

5. JET

6. Paetow

6(tie). Cinco Ranch

8. Katy

visual

1. 7L

2. Tompkins

3. JET

4. Jordan

5.Katy

6. cinco ranch

 

 

[Displayed name]

Cy-Fair

Bridgeland

Seven lakes

Cy Woods

Katy

Jordan

JET

Cinco ranch

Cy falls

langam creek

[crunchycookie3]

 I’m thinking Cy-Ranch really has something special this year. I saw them at Conroe and was blown out of the water (lol) by the commitment to the visual ripples in that show. Super high level of performance happening over there!

[Sideswiperr]

I was going to drop my predictions, but I don’t know who to place in this 10th spot. Langham Creek held a victory Over JV at some contest, and this year it seems like JV has dropped a level. Not to mention langham has been looking pretty darn good. Then Cy-Ranch had some very nice musical scores at BOA Katy, while also placing ahead of Cinco Ranch and katy. But Jersey village is also a consistent finalist in this area. 

[crunchycookie3]

1 minute ago, Sideswiperr said:

I was going to drop my predictions, but I don’t know who to place in this 10th spot. Langham Creek held a victory Over JV at some contest, and this year it seems like JV has dropped a level. Not to mention langham has been looking pretty darn good. Then Cy-Ranch had some very nice musical scores at BOA Katy, while also placing ahead of Cinco Ranch and katy. But Jersey village is also a consistent finalist in this area. 

And knowing Area I, there’s someone not even being discussed right now who’s gonna advance to state. I love/hate this time of year!!

[Sideswiperr]

1 minute ago, crunchycookie3 said:

And knowing Area I, there’s someone not even being discussed right now who’s gonna advance to state. I love/hate this time of year!!

Area I while not producing state finalists(😉) always has the most interesting results IMO.

[ChristopherRoden]

1 minute ago, Sideswiperr said:

Area I while not producing state finalists(😉) always has the most interesting results IMO.

Bridgeland and/or Cy fair have a good shot!!

[crunchycookie3]

1 minute ago, Sideswiperr said:

Area I while not producing state finalists(😉) always has the most interesting results IMO.

So true- I’m hoping with 14 state finalists this year we’ll see that change finally!

[nightlife]

1 hour ago, ChristopherRoden said:

Interesting insights. I do agree with a majority of it. 7L did still decisively win over all of the katy groups at the Katy Marching contest though. in the performance captions it was:

 

True actually, however, watching how these groups have cleaned in the last week before area, I stand by my predictions  

[nightlife]

9 minutes ago, crunchycookie3 said:

And knowing Area I, there’s someone not even being discussed right now who’s gonna advance to state. I love/hate this time of year!!

I totally agree… thinking back to 2018 it’ll probably be:

Cy Woods misses finals, bridgeland last in to state, katy winning the area decisively, Cy fair in 8th and Cy Tree (a cy school yet unbuilt) in 2nd!

[Sideswiperr]

45 minutes ago, crunchycookie3 said:

 I’m thinking Cy-Ranch really has something special this year. I saw them at Conroe and was blown out of the water (lol) by the commitment to the visual ripples in that show. Super high level of performance happening over there!

I think the last time they were performing like this was in 2018? I member when I had looked at those results and was stunned that they had beaten cy-fair in prelims. 

[aer06]

1. Cy fair

2. Bridgeland

3. Cy woods

4. Seven lakes

5. Jordan

6. Katy

7. Tompkins

8. JET

9. Cinco Ranch

10. Jersey Village

The bottom half will probably end up being super inaccurate but honestly the bottom five bubble bands have all moved around a ton since last year’s area so who knows

[Sideswiperr]

5 minutes ago, solyxx said:

1. Cy fair

2. Bridgeland

3. Cy woods

4. Seven lakes

5. Jordan

6. Katy

7. Tompkins

8. JET

9. Cy Ranch

10. Jersey Village

The bottom half will probably end up being super inaccurate but honestly the bottom five bubble bands have all moved around a ton since last year’s area so who knows

That top 3 I completely agree with, I definitely see cy-fair winning the area just like last year

[11BandMan11]

10 hours ago, ChristopherRoden said:

Interesting insights. I do agree with a majority of it. 7L did still decisively win over all of the katy groups at the Katy Marching contest though. in the performance captions it was:

Music

1. 7L

2. Fulshear

3. Tompkins

4. Jordan

5. JET

6. Paetow

6(tie). Cinco Ranch

8. Katy

visual

1. 7L

2. Tompkins

3. JET

4. Jordan

5.Katy

6. cinco ranch

 

 

The top half of Area finals seem pretty locked up with the usual groups. The 6 - 10 spots could literally be any one of 10 - 12 different groups who have either been in area finals before or groups who have been on the outside looking in. 

Paetow has been progressing a ridiculous amount this year! They took the percussion caption at Katy Marching this year and have been cleaner musically and visual than the past. 

Cy Ranch has continued to improve throughout the season and has put up some great runs of their show at contest.

JV always seems to show up at Area contest and thrown down and bump people out of finals. 

Langham has been throwing down the last three weeks of the season and improved their show musically and visually a ton.

Each group from 6 - 15 can be described like any of the above, literally anyone could be in those Area finalist spots. 

1 - 5 will be cool to see who advances to State, fingers crossed for an Area I state finalist this year, but I'm almost more interested in what's going to happen with 6 - 10 with how many groups have improved this year!