Leaderboard

First performance minus preshow. Looking good so far!

First performance minus preshow Looking good so far!

woodlands show is cool. music had a jazzy promenade vibe, like a stroll down a street. visual - hard to tell w/ the camera w/in the 40s and a lot of the action outside of the 40s. maybe started partway in, not sure? no benches tonite. some interval issues w/ the drumline right away as they marched out to side 2, but overall solid from the winds/perc for a first show. guard: challenging skills don't even seem to challenge them much. freakishly clean for first show. loved the 6 or 7 into the ground w/ the rifle kick. i like that they've made it a little harder for me to tell when their phrases begin and end, something Avon and Carmel do very well, could still be a little bit "spinnier" as they travel to their next dot, like full 360 rotations as opposed to just kinda posing w/ the weapons. minor complaint tho, i mean they're so far beyond where they need to be for a field show quality-wise. gives the whole thing a sheen of visual clarity.

oh ive known what inspired the show for weeks now. my choice of words there was just to indicate that it matches the theme well, which is great!!

just saying to keep an eye out for JET.. you may or may not be surprised 🙏

Predictions *=State MBC Qualifier 1st-2nd Bubble 🥇Frisco Wakeland HS*: This is one of the most consistently good programs in the state. I've seen snippets of their show and the brass sounds great. Woodwinds sound like they could take their respective caption at state again. However, I don't think their show is something any more innovative than years past, and they may experience a slight plateau or even dip in their competition season results compared to last year. Other than that there's not much else to say. They're Wakeland. 🥈Frisco Lone Star HS*: Drove to their community preview in Frisco. Certainly a noticeable step forward in design. They sound PHENOMENAL for this early in the year, brass section is cranking more than ever before, and it's already cleaner than most, with a tougher book. I think they will once again be a crowd favorite, just from their opener alone. That said I think these top 2 are pretty locked. Lone Star's had nothing but an upward trajectory since 2020. They won here in 2022, though Wakeland was famously not there because of a UIL disqualification. There is also questions on how valid their win in Area Prelims last year was, what with spread-out performance times. However, I think the fact that Lone Star's had their foot in the door for a while there says that Wakeland is no longer untouchable in Area B. I see Wakeland still a little ahead, but I think they could definitely swap some ordinals with each other this year in finals. Lone Star could maybe even be a poor finals performance by Wakeland away from a more "undisputed" Area Championship. 3rd-5th Bubble 🥉Frisco Lebanon Trail HS*: I haven't seen LT yet, but they are a great program with some 5A state experience under their belt. Their show "Fascinating People" appears to be a step in the right direction this year, with a more "outside the box" show concept. I feel like that has been a consistent hold-back for this program, and it took them several years to escape their trend of safe, classical, albeit clean shows. I see some Chick Corea in their repertoire and that makes me excited. What the band staff does in terms of design with the show they've got, is what will make or break them against bands like Argyle, who are pretty heated up after last year's 4th to 5th place movement in finals. 4 McKinney North*: Not seen them yet. A lot of people talk about how this program gets "underscored" in UIL competitions because of their more BOA-oriented show designs. And while I see why people see it that way, I think North has gotten some pretty justifiable UIL scorings over the last few years, maybe even higher than expected. They've been a pretty consistent program since 2022, placing 3rd the last two years at Area, and making the SMBC last year for the first time in a while. I think they've found a neat identity with their jazzy shows and they remind me a lot of the Mandarins in terms of recent show design. I think they could be anywhere in the 3-5 bubble, but we'll see as the year plays out. 5 Argyle HS: I put this program in 5th because I don't think I'm quite sold on them being fully on par yet with the big 5A bands. What they do have going for them, is lots of historically great state runs and I'm guessing some fired-up students after 2023's Area Finals. While this band IS similar in size to McKinney North, I feel like they still have a bit of 4A blood left in terms of show design, and North uses what they have far more effectively in my opinion. However, I would love for Argyle to prove me dead wrong, because I think they have found the top 5 bubble nice and comfortable these last two years, and are ready to make a swing for a possible top 4 or 3. I think this top 5 is pretty set and will not be disrupted. 6-10 Bubble 6 Frisco Independence HS: I think last year was a fluke. They have a great big sound for a smaller band, and they remind me a lot of Argyle, but a little louder. 7 The Colony HS: To be honest I don't really know where this program's headed. They never seem to attract a lot of attention in competition season leading up to this event (but I think they should get more credit), but always seem to end up in the middle-upper finals bubble. I think they'll stay there for now. I see them literally anywhere 6-10, or they could just randomly give Top 5 a small run for its money. 8 Frisco Emerson HS: They really surprised me last year. I thought early on they'd be a dark horse for finals and ended up right. Lots of talent for a medium-size 5A band, especially being so new. I see them in the 8-12 range. 9 Anna HS: Another 4A band moving up, another with some good state experience. I think they will hover in the 8-14 range. 10 Lucas Lovejoy HS: This band is a lot like The Colony in terms of placement history, but has definitely been more volatile, with some historical 5th, 6ths, then 9ths and non-finals finishes. They consistently do very well in the prior competition season then get snubbed come Area, but I don't think they will break that Top 5 bubble. Anywhere from 6-12 for me. Finals Bubble (In Descending Order): Frisco Memorial HS, Frisco Centennial HS, Frisco Reedy HS, Frisco Liberty HS, Prosper Walnut Grove HS HUGE GRAIN OF SALT FOR THIS POST: It's August. 95% of these are going to be wrong.

Welcome to our Annual Predictions Game! It is me, J-Mike, one of the admins for the game, here to announce the start of the chaos that is about to ensue. If any of y'all would like to participate, please feel free to either click on the huge box with the text "Marching Predictions" or click on the Predictions tab at the top in between Forums Activity and Donate. For anyone who did not play last year, we admins introduced a badge that is given to the top 10 Predictors. This year, we will have a similar badge but just different colors. ***NEW*** This year we are implementing a weighting system when it comes to the competitions and the number of predictions submitted to each event. I would go into detail on what it does, but I will let you all see it for yourselves in the "Learn More" tab in the Prediction Game. ----- Just to let everyone know, I will be accepting event submissions IF the competition is already confirmed on who is going and the schedule is out. Lastly, I wish everyone the best of luck as we enter a bloodbath of Amazing Texas HS Marching Bands waiting to just blow us all away!. Let the games begin!!!

Date: November 2, 2024 Location: Mesquite Memorial Stadium (most likely) Well, as if Area C hadn’t been more competitive, it seems like its going to be even more competitive than it already was, now that Forney is in the mix (let’s just see if they are ready to compete with the big dogs in 6A). This has always been a fun one with just about every single band having finals potential and the top 15 having state potential. This is arguably the toughest area in the state of Texas and truly no one is safe (except the LISD trio of course) but you get the idea.

They do not use field mics or amp their ensemble. The show wouldn't work with it given how separated their ensemble is throughout the show. Also, BOA highly discourages this and have some recommended changes to better clarify it. Current BOA: However, when amplification of only specific individuals during full ensemble passages leads to an intentional misrepresentation of the band sound as a whole, the instructional leadership has strayed from the core values and beliefs stated above. Such misrepresentation of acoustic qualities, by enhancing the performance of only a few players, is unacceptable and must be selfregulated by the participating bands. Proposed Changes: In consideration of the Bands of America philosophy, we recommend the following be implemented for the 2023 BOA season and beyond. • Amplifying individuals (wind players) through a soundboard during tutti sections leads to an intentional misrepresentation of what is being performed by the total ensemble. This misrepresentation of acoustic quality by enhancing a few individuals is unacceptable. • Soloists and featured ensembles may use microphones during their feature section but must be muted from amplification when not being featured. • Where a participating band has a limited number of performers (e.g., one player to a part), the use of individual microphones is acceptable.

If anyone wants to check out how the Wylie ISD shows are coming along pre-Area J, both Wylie High and Wylie East will be at BOA Prosper, along with all of McKinney ISD and Prosper ISD

Marcus at BOA Prosper, Hebron and Flomo at BOA Bedford, and all 3 at BOA San Antonio + USBands Southwestern Championship

Hey everyone, should we include out of state competitions? I was thinking contests with a Texas Band competing would be fine.

skip to 0:37 for the show

They should really rename the txbands.com to 5A6Atxbands.com lol

Apparently TW’s show is called Fantasia on Frenchman Street so I’m imagining a lively and jazzy New Orleans street scene.

haven't missed a beat. another beast of a show. look at all that marching and playing!! 👀 almost like the 90s and early 00s. nostalgiaaaa... gonna be a hard one to clean, but they always get cleaner than i think they will.

vids of moe and gene and cedar ridge (no audio tho)

Excellent visually by Paetow!!!

I’ve heard Cypress Springs and will happily say do NOT count them out of your finalists predictions.

Marcus' show is called In a New Light. Keller's is called Distant Voices. Not sure if either has been posted yet. There's a football game video with both performances on YouTube. It seems like Marcus is keeping with the more aggressive style this year. Actually, the pacing of the music is quite similar to last year as well. Front ensemble and mello solo build-up into the first big hit, which kind of sounds like a pop tune (I'm not sure about that), followed by fast, belligerent single-tongued and double-tongued brass features. I'm really enjoying this style for them. I think they could have success similar to last year. Keller also has a solid show. Like Marcus, a slow-burn start. Wonderful flute solo, with lots of expanding circles on the field. It didn't seem like they had as much of their program on the field as Marcus, although it may just seem that way because they stopped right after the first full-ensemble hit. Strong starts overall!

I caught a snippet of Westlake last night, and WOW--they are stunning visually already. They seem, to me, a notch above last year. It appears director changes were what this group needed to push to the next level. I have them as a sleeper pick for top half here, especially with this being so early in the season.

Was looking around for halftime shows and ran across one from Hendrickson: I’ll keep looking for more, but most bands haven’t had their first game yet

Yeah this is real. Yeah it’s real. They’ll post it in an actual schedule format soon but these are the draw times. But Ik yall are gonna do great regardless of the results!!

Quite the band district, for sure. Maybe when I retire from the day job I can convince Dave Campbells Texas football to do a band edition and let me write for them.

Hey y'all! Posting this topic as a genuine question to gather more information and data from as many people as possible, and see if anyone can explain it more to me. According to the UIL guidelines, there are specific ranges with the WBGT that dictate groups limit their practice time & increase breaks, or flat out can not be outside in any capacity. Which is honestly a good thing. Back in my day we just had to deal with it and only went inside when kids started puking or falling out from the heat. Here's where I scratch my head and wonder what the heck is going on with this system. I'm down in the Houston area, and the other day the WBGT according to multiple weather apps and a monitor that a neighbor has was anywhere from 95.6 to 97.2 for the WBGT. That is CRAZY hot and humid to get a reading that high. Now here's where it gets fun, guess what was also occurring at that time? Tennis matches, football scrimmages, etc. at the high school campus that's down the road from me. When I asked around, apparently the WBGT guidelines DO NOT apply AT ALL for contests, matches, games, etc. I looked it up, and it says the exact same thing! This is directly from the UIL website: WBGT practice guidelines and limitations do not apply to UIL competitions, but it is recommended that schools monitor WBGT conditions prior to and during the game and use appropriate emergency action plans for high temperature and humidity. Pardon my french, but how the heck does that make sense?! It's ok to limit practice time when the reading is too high, but when it's a competition, when students arguably push themselves harder because it 'matters more', it's ok?! Can ANYONE provide a reasonable justification to this reasoning? Additionally, it seems the WBGT MASSIVELY effects groups down in Houston, San Antonio, etc. more than other groups. I called a friend who lives up in Dallas, and their WBGT temps were within range to hold practices and rehearsal times the other day when all of Houston was considered the surface of the sun. Seems like these guidelines are greatly disproportionately effecting some groups more than others, and make it impossible to compete with groups who can actually get outside and rehearse. Would love to hear others perspectives and experiences with these new guidelines as well.

First off, do we know where this comp is being held, just wondering? I’m guessing the new Prosper or McKinney Stadium, and yeah, this is gonna be a bloodbath of an area. Area B, C and J are just now like 5A area B, and things are just now more competitive than ever. I think it’s safe to say we know the first 3 spots, thank the lord there is a 4th, which could do to either of the Wylie, McKinney or Prosper schools. We should have 10 to finals, so here’s my way to early predictions: 1st-3rd: LISD schools an any order 4th-7th(any order): Wylie/WE/Prosper/Mckinney Boyd 8th: Rock Hill 9th: Mckinney 10th: Braswell/Byron Nelson/Lewisville

Thank you so much! I greatly appreciate your help. But are we sure it isn't by the dartboard method? lol..

They are going to get smaller. Just how the school district is zoned. Vandegrift will be dropping down to 5A in the future.