Hard Core Band Fan

Seeing Round Rock's area finals performance makes me feel much better about their chances for GN finals. They have improved greatly in the last few weeks. I love the trombone feature towards the end and the soprano trombone glissando is a very effective and tasty treat. Also, the Woodlands show is really coming along nicely and their guard is just fantastic.

Absolutely! There are major discrepancies every year. I've seen music judges have the same band 1st and 22nd. Insane!

I think they use black magic to determine the schedule.

Yes, NFHS is the worst platform for marching band events. They truly don't care. Playing a commercial in the middle of a performance is no big deal to them. These are sports people and all band stuff is just background noise. They almost make me appreciate Box5 and FloMarching. Almost. It's cheap, though. $12 a month. And it's cheap because it sucks.

Carmel has some very spry old ladies in their guard (gray-hairs)!

You are correct. It's also like a tradition which seems will never be broken. But like Marion Catholic's streak, it can be broken. I am looking forward to when that happens, whenever that is.

To be honest, I wasn't wowed by the show overall. The guard, yes, but not the show in its entirety. I do think it will score well, though. I'm maybe seeing room for one or more Texas bands to surpass them. There have been a few shake-ups this year and hopefully this will be one of them.

I know it's off-topic, but I just have to mention Marcus HS winning 5 times in a row from 2006-2014. That is an amazing feat.

I agree, but they are still mostly solid shows and typically performed by strong, solid groups. But you are right, I would like to see some really new and different shows from him. Mainly because they would be really good and further highlight the talents of the performers.

I'm adding Brownsburg to my list of strong contenders for finals. Quite an impressive performance in prelims at the Indianapolis super regional. Still a lot of dirt to clean up, but the gems are stacking up already.

I did and agree that they are doing much better. But they are still missing many scoring opportunities in the first half. There are a couple of instances where they are playing to the backfield and when they turn toward the front, their volume is the same or near the same with no impact. The first half is still flat, which it doesn't have to be. There is much potential not being realized.

It used to be much more competitive when Leander ISD and Westlake used to be in area D.

Yep. I jumped over to the Texas Marching Classic on FloSports and it is way worse about this. At least Box5 is better than FloSports. Not really saying much there...

10 89.20 L.D. Bell H.S., TX 2013 3 96.05 L.D. Bell H.S., TX 2010 2 95.25 L.D. Bell H.S., TX 2009 2 96.50 L.D. Bell H.S., TX 2008 1 96.10 L.D. Bell H.S., TX 2007 2 96.35 L.D. Bell H.S., TX 2006 3 95.60 L.D. Bell H.S., TX 2005 5 93.00 L.D. Bell H.S., TX 2003 4 95.85 L.D. Bell H.S., TX 2001

LD Bell's post show credits are very humble. They mention the regional and super regional finals participations and grand national finals championship, but they don't mention the total of 9 grand national finals participations. These span the years from 2001 to 2013. Amazing!

The costs vary depending on the event. Regionals are $17 for prelims and finals (each) or $28 for both purchased together. Super regionals are $20 for each prelim, $25 for the finals only, or $38 for the prelims and finals purchased together. The best value is the Pro Pass for $165 and you can watch the whole season's events, both prelims and finals.

It is if you're hundreds of miles from any of the competitions! Live is always better, but it's less expensive than going even just a few of the competitions.

Good to hear!

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!

CTJ may not be having their best year this year, but I don't see them being below Dripping Springs.

Doesn't look like they learned anything from the catastrophe at Grand Nationals last year. They are regularly crashing with just regionals with a much smaller viewership. The super-regionals are going to be a real pain and I fully expect a repeat of last year's GN's. I guess their solution was to charge more money.

I did think they are gearing the show more for UIL. It's the first thing I thought about when seeing it. Not so much safe, but more of what the UIL judges will like. Nothing wrong with that!

They were solid and just good enough to get 2nd with no captions. And this was a really different show for them. The ballad was beautiful, as usual, and their brass quartet was top notch. Oh, and can't agree with Hebron below Flower Mound. Close, but Hebron just above.

Pearland definitely has a Grand Nationals show. With a month to clean it up, they should have no problems making finals.

Meatriding? Kind of a crude statement.