natertater21000

They are one of the best at constantly improving up to the last possible second. I have full confidence that every single performance from now until finals at nats will be better than the last.

😉

Incredibly mature dynamic control and tone production from Rouse. They move VERY well and I think they are one of the best in the game at staging right now. What a show!

All but two of the bands that I would have making the top 6 have performed now and I expect a great run from the remaining two. Top 6 with ceilings and floors would be: Cedar Park- 1st-2nd. Personally I see them running away with the ordinals but I'm not going to rule out a come from behind win by Rouse Rouse- 1st-3rd. I mostly see them in second barring a surprise upset by them for first or by wakeland for second. Wakeland- 2nd-4th. Third is where I see them landing ultimately but Leander could overtake them for the last medal spot with a very locked in performance. Leander- 3rd-5th. It really depends on the quality of the run for them in my opinion, I would not rule them out of medal contention. Lonestar- 4th-6th. I really like what they are doing this year and they sound great! I don't personally think they can push the ones above them out of medal contention but we have all been surprised before! Aledo- 4th-6th. Best Aledo show in a long time, really excited to see them perform later today.

seems like a mega fan ought to know... They go on at 3:45 PM

He was referring to BOA SA, there was no 5A state contest in 2011.

The results would disagree, this is the best Leander has placed at Austin and TMC since 2021.

Just some food for thought, Westlake has not outplaced Leander at BOA SA since 2013. Even including 2022 when Leander missed finals, they were still 3 places ahead of them. If there is any band you can count on improving enough to make it into one of those last four spots, it would be Leander just based on past results and scoring trends. This is a stronger Westlake show than the past couple years, but the same could be said for Leander as well.

Didn't catch that! Bummer, thanks for the correction.

Now that we have seen everyone across the state we can start to narrow down the 20 or so bands who stand the greatest chance at making finals. Vandegrift Cedar Park Rouse Vista Ridge Bridgeland The Woodlands Ronald Reagan Hebron Flowermound Marcus Pearland Coppell Cedar Ridge Leander James Bowie Round Rock Westlake Wakeland Cy-Fair CTJ Cypress Woods Dripping Springs This is said every year but I truly believe this may be the most competitive (this does not neccesarily mean the best overall) top 20(ish) this Super has ever seen. I fully expect someone to be on the outside of finals by a margin less than a tenth of a point. The previous record for number of bands in pre lims breaking 90 is 15, and I could see that record being broken this year.

I find myself agreeing with the overall placements and margins in pre lims more than finals, but I think it’s clear everyone brought their A game in the night show. Razor thin margins all around, the race for those last 4 spots in SA finals is going to be VERY tight.

.125 seperating Leander, Round Rock, and Bowie is WILD.

It is corny/cheesey in ALL the right ways, and the kids are killing it!

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, even when that opinion is patently false.

It is 100% a very minor thing and nowhere near a genuine problem. I really struggle to see how people can say this given the competitive history of bands in Texas. If this were truly a genuine problem we would have never seen instances like LD Bell missing finals at BOA SA for multiple years, or Leander jumping from not in finals to 3rd overall, or Rouse winning Austin over Vandy, or Cedar Park dropping in and out of finals over the years, or Flower mound bursting into the upper ranks and becoming a mainstay powerhouse only to drop to 9th just a few years later, I could go on and on and on. It takes A LOT to keep a program consistently at the top. Parent and admin support, cooperation between the high school and its feeder middle schools, fundraising, private lesson staff, and so much more. To boil all that down to "obviously there is just bias towards the big names" is frankly disrespectful.

Marian Catholic, not a huge leap. they were 12th in music in finals after all.

True, the scores do reflect that. I'd argue they sounded markedly better than a certain perenial finalist that year though.

Other than the multiple times that a band that missed finals at SA went on to make finals at GN, I think one of the most obvious examples of SA being a more difficult contest top to bottom would be 2017. Avon has missed the "podium" of any contest (top three spots) only ONE time in the last 10 years. That was when they made the trip down to SA in 2017 and came in 4th behind Vandy, Hebron, and CTJ. There is the outlier example of blue springs in 2013 (made SA finals but did not make GN finals), but now that we are more than 10 years removed from that I think it's safe to say almost everyone would agree that that was an....interesting jusdging choice to say the least.

I've been on the forums talking band since I was a Junior in Highschool back in 2013. I am now in my 5th year as a middle school band director and mostly use the forums to keep up with the ebbs and flows of the marching world.

Yes it is! I often wondered why they never hosted a BOA there throughout my time at TXST.

Vandegrifts philosophy towards GE has always been the effect of being excellent. I that sense, it was VERY effective.

Jinx @packwick

It’s ultimately their decision but I think this worry that an errant YouTube video of a successful program will influence judges and cause a lesser result is silly. Some programs upload every week, some programs keep it hush hush. Some of the programs that never post place lower, and some of the programs that post weekly videos will win the same contest. The judges are smart enough to judge what’s in front of their eyes and ears on the day of.

Leander ISD was killer last year (as always) but I feel like this year is going to blow 2023 out of the water. Super cool products that are being performed at a much higher level in early September than years past. I haven’t seen Rouse yet, but I do get the pleasure of hearing their impacts echo across my apartment complex each day after work. They sound like they haven’t skipped a beat from last year as well. If anyone is able to make it out to BOA austin or lisd festival of bands you most definitely should go!

It’s not a rampant problem by any means but you’d be surprised.