Hard Core Band Fan

Duh, knew that about LD Bell and spaced it off. Agreed about Wakeland. They did really well at Arlington.

If we use hornrank.com's current ranking for this week and transpose it to the participating bands at SA, this would be the finalists in this order: Ronald Reagan HS Hebron HS Flower Mound HS Claudia Taylor Johnson HS Leander HS The Woodlands HS Marcus HS Cedar Park HS James Bowie HS Round Rock HS Vandegrift HS LD Bell HS Cedar Ridge HS Owasso HS I wonder how close to the actual result this would be? I'm having more difficulty making a guess as to who will likely make the finals than any other year, ever. I can't even begin to speculate who will come out first or even the top 3 as this could be any of maybe 8 or so of these bands. I think we have way more finalist-worthy bands than spots this year than any other year since this competition started. This is going to be one crazy contest!

Yikes! I hope it's not like that for them this time.

Yep, it happens to everyone eventually. It can be even worse with competitons that are outdoors this time of year. I have seen outdoor competitions where the first bands have to play in temps in the low 40's in the morning and the ones in the afternoon playing in the upper 70's or low 80's when it's perfect. Being first and playing in the cold make it very difficult make the best impression in an all-day prelim. At least SA is an indoor competition which helps alot. Not ideal for the first bands, but better.

Looks like it was fairly cool there as everyone had jackets on. It's a nice show and sounds way better than the earlier videos I saw. Their guard is very impressive!

Guess not!

Hey! The live webcasts are returning for the Super Regionals and Grand Nationals! http://www.musicforall.org/blog/news/live-webcasts-announcement

Hey! The live webcasts are returning for the Super Regionals and Grand Nationals! http://www.musicforall.org/blog/news/live-webcasts-announcement

I think it actually says a lot for the bands with the short shows doing so well when going against the ones with their full show already out there. There's much less scoring potential for the guys with 3/4 or so of their show on the field. I don't know about you, but I was left wanting more from Round Rock when they stopped where they did. I didn't feel that way about a several of the top bands with full shows. They were good, but didn't leave me wanting more.

Oddly enough, we're probably the least informed this year in a long while since we don't have the videos or online streaming to watch to form an informed opinion. I think we're just going more off of guesses, the opinions of others, and historical data. I've seen Round Rock and I can tell that they are a totally different band than in the past. They are cleaner and better than I've ever seen them before, especially this early. But, I haven't seen most of the top tier bands going to Arlington this weekend and have no idea how they would compare to them. Only seeing them head-to-head this weekend will give us any real comparison. For the 4 going to the Grand Nationals, I hope they are all having an killer start of their season. I will make one prediction -- The finals are going to be fun to watch!

I expect the same thing next week at Arlington. That should prove to be an interesting show as well.

Yes, little did they know that this would happen 4 more times... in a row! An incredible feat! And impressive as well with LD Bell being 2nd 2006, 2008, and 2010 and Hebron being 2nd 2012 and 2014. Can't wait to see what happens next year.

I agree, nice show. They'll need to clean up their sound, but many other elements in their show are going quite well. I was impressed with them last year and am expecting them to continue to improve and be a real contender. I was pulling for them at the Grand Nationals last year and hated to see the semifinal performance just miss the cut for finals. Funny though, I thought their semifinal perfomance was as good as the bottom few bands performance in the finals.

Well, now Westfield has Mark Calima as head director. He did an excellent job at Cedar Ridge!

Maybe they were originally given a .5 penalty and it was halved due to being an early season contest. I have seen this before.

My guess is pretty close to yours: Music - Hebron Visual - Round Rock GE - Hebron or Round Rock, currently leaning towards Round Rock 1. Hebron 2. Round Rock 3. Marcus 4. Flower Mound After 4th, I don't really have a good guess. I do expect this to be very competitive in the top half. I would also expect to see Keller and LD Bell in the mix somewhere in the upper middle. I think Round Rock is charging out of the gates this year. They had their 3rd and 4th performances of the season in Austin this past weekend and did very well. Their show appears to have real potential. However it all shakes out, I think this is going to be a thrilling competition for the fans and I can't wait to see what happens.

Yes, quite a mystery with Round Rock. Their varsity band has had only one public performance this season and is having their 2nd tonight. Someone who was at a recent rehearsal said it was shaping up nicely. I guess we'll find out tomorrow at BOA Austin!

Don't get on the Music for All forums and say that. You'll have every arrogant Indiana jerk trashing you there in mere seconds! Even the moderators. As Texans, we're beneath them in every way. I found out the hard way just how unfriendly they are there. It's a real shame how insulting and vicious they are. I'm not ever even going to read or comment in those forums again. I made comments that were very flattering and just plain band fan friendly and was attacked full force as if I had said something against Indiana bands. I even tried to explain myself and was further pooped on. Nope, never again. On a humerous note, I was in a downtown Indianapolis hotel riding the elevator down to go to the GN finals in 2013. Several of the people on the elevator were band parents from different Texas bands and we were having polite conversation and wishing each other a great perfoamance in the finals. Right before we arrived at the lobby, one very crabby woman asked what schools we were all here to see. She stated that she was there for Carmel and that "Texas bands never win here". I guess The Woodlands ruined her night!

Anyone have any new information or any predictions to make? The GN's are just 7 weeks away!

Hey, go ahead and give it a try! You're usually pretty close to the mark, if I remember right.

With 4 of the 5 Texas bands going to the Grand Nationals competing in this one, I think this will be quite interesting. It could only be more fun if The Woodlands were there! Can't wait to see Marcus, LD Bell, and Flower Mound also...

I enjoyed all 5 shows. I think LISD should be proud of the programs they have. Not many districts have this many bands that are all working this hard. Kudos guys! I think it's too early to tell just who is going to come out on top and I expect they will all improve significantly over the next 4-5 weeks. Can't wait to see them then!

No doubt, they'll both do well!

Yep, txsmiley is correct. If you need further proof, go to their website and look on their calendar for November 11-15th (http://www.hebronband.org/p/calendar.html).

I think they'll do great there and look forward to seeing them perform in Atlanta. I'm sure they will make Texas proud as usual. Everyone going for the GN finals will be poking the hornets nest this year, probably worse than ever before. It will be fun for the fans, but tough on the participants.