jmatthews

I don't think the kids are all that different, and you do have tech on the south (NASA) side of Houston where Dawson, Pearland, Friendswood, Clear Brook, Dickinson, and North Shore are. My guess is that there is more ability to start from scratch in the Austin area, where a lot of the schools are new. The administrations there and in places like Lewisville ISD are also more willing to reach out to find directors that will help them reach the next level. The schools in Houston seem to pick directors from schools in the area. That's not to insult those directors, who are very good, but it is good to have a diversity of teaching. In my opinion, the creative process at these schools just moves slower.

Friendswood can't be counted out because they have done well when at this classification level in the past. However, they have lost a few major assistant directors and junior high directors and have started their decline. I'd be surprised if they performed at the level they were at from 2003-2015, when they were one of my favourite bands in the Houston area and state. Things could change for them if they find a director to whip them back into shape.

Friendswood's new assistant director is Doug Grice, formerly of Coppell and Pearland. I don't live in that area of Houston anymore, but I still have a few sources

Ryan Agard is stepping down as head band director at Dawson High School. He is being replaced by Aaron Brown, an assistant director at Friendswood High School. Interesting given the nature of the rivalry between the two schools. Friendswood has not announced a replacement for its assistant position as far as I know.

I have friends who went to Friendswood and have enjoyed their shows over the years. That said, it is frustrating as a biased outsider to watch the staff seemingly make the same mistakes every year. I will come right out and say it: Greg Dick is an amazing concert band director, but his marching band ideas are stale and behind the times. The level of difficulty of the shows has declined in the past few years, especially musically. That dilution is upsetting when you consider how talented those kids are (consistent Honor Band finalist). They also do strange things like play softer at the competitions at the end of the year, which has an unnecessary negative impact on GE. They had one beloved middle school band director leave a few years ago, but that shouldn't be allowed as an excuse at this point. To put it simply, Friendswood needs to modernize their shows. Or, if not, they need to play with more energy. I'm confident they've been given that feedback consistently over the years, and I hope someone over there eventually listens. Marching band is not concert band. The potential is still immense. Great kids and program. I won't only talk about Friendswood. I love the improvement I've seen at Pearland and Clear Brook. Clear Brook's show design was very interesting and fun to watch. Pearland tried something harder this year, and it was great to witness. Sorry to the bands I didn't get to see this year. I'm sure you were great too. Also, don't focus too much on the BOA SA rankings outside of the finalists and close outsiders because the judges have their hands full with the size of that contest.

They slipped off of my radar a bit to be honest, but that doesn't mean that they aren't performing at a high level. I just haven't seen enough from them recently to know for sure if they would be in the top 20. They probably would fit in there somewhere.

For 5A State this year: Tompkins Roma Barbers Hill Ridge Point Southwest

It's not a surprise that no one posts on here when people like the OP get berated for self-promoting their band. Yes, it can be annoying at times, but it also brings awareness to nascent band programs and their recent successes, if kept to a reasonable level. When people from less-known schools get suppressed, we end up getting the same discussion about the same bands in the Dallas suburbs and Austin, or worse, no discussion at all. OP, thanks for posting. I'm happy to hear that SA Madison is doing well. I'll try to listen for them.

I want to see improvement from these Houston-area bands: Cy-Fair, Friendswood, North Shore, and Stephen F Austin. All of them I feel like can take steps toward getting to the next level. Houston bands to me can generally be inconsistent from year to year, so I'll be interested to see how these four bands do this season.

I edited my list to reflect a few changes and bands I left out. It's tough to make a consistent list because there are some bands that I'm ranking based on potential, and others based on past history/established base of success. Houston is such a large city in terms of geographic size that a lot of these bands never compete against each other. No doubt I will have North Shore and Friendswood higher than most, but I value North Shore's state finals appearance last year and Friendswood's 15th place showing at BOA San Antonio in 2015 and its history in high regard. I used to live on the south side of Houston, so I saw bands like Pearland, Dawson, Dickinson, Friendswood, Clear Brook, and North Shore a lot more than the Cypress schools, Katy schools, and The Woodlands schools.

1. The Woodlands 2. Friendswood 3. Spring 4. Stephen F. Austin 5. Cy Fair 6. Cy Falls 7. North Shore 8. Clements 9. College Park 10. Oak Ridge 11. Brazoswood 12. Pearland 13. Clear Brook 14. Katy Taylor 15. Dawson 16. Tompkins 17. Klein Oak 18. Tomball Memorial 19. Langham Creek 20. Seven Lakes

Confused as to why Friendswood performed. They didn't make finals, but they still received an exhibition?

Anyone want to make predictions for finals?

This has to be one of the best years for 6A (old 5A) I've seen in a long time. There are so many bands I would consider to be "locks" that very few of them are actually locks. I've been watching as much as I can here in the Houston area, and I have a feeling 1 or 2 bands from Houston other than The Woodlands will make state finals, which is something I would not have thought before the season. Excited to see how things turn out, though all should be congratulated around the state for a lot of great performances.

When there are 40 bands in prelims, the judges are going to be inconsistent from one to the next. It usually becomes more streamlined in finals. I mentioned this above. Now, Clements might have been 1st after prelims, and then dropped during finals. Others might have just passed them up, or something else could have happened. It's just hard to tell sometimes.

Prelims scores are more erratic than finals scores, especially when there are 40 bands. Rather than actually giving very exact scores, most judges in this scenario will give an approximation and just make sure they get the right bands in finals. It's also possible that SFA was better in finals than prelims. It's also possible that being early hurt them a little bit.

I agree with the placements for the most part as well. The top 5 for sure seemed to be the best bands at the contest. There was some variation between judges in the scoring, though not enough to make me think anything should be drastically different. I don't agree with your assumption that Friendswood would not even make finals. Is something different this year than in previous years? My assumptions going in was that Friendswood would be 4th-6th if not very clean and top 3 if clean. It seems like 4th would make sense based on those assumptions.

Here's the website for Area E: http://www.uilforms.com/regions/13/AREA%20MARCHING/AREA%20MARCHING%20INFORMATION.htm More detailed scoring from prelims should be posted soon, hopefully tonight. I wasn't able to make it out to CFISD, so hopefully some of y'all have been watching all day today and can give us an idea of what's happening!

Clear Springs at 7:30 am and Dickinson at 8:00? Ouch. Both are at least an hour away from Cy Fair on the south side of town.

Great analysis. It's definitely appreciated!

I just don't think the draw matters very much anymore. There are just too many good great bands. If your band is not in the top 8 or so, it can vary extremely widely in terms of final placement. Finals, no finals, 25th place, etc.

No, I think the best way to look at this contest is by tiers. Each school in the tier could finish anywhere (e.g. 1-3 for Tier 1) within that tier. Don't take offense if you don't like where I put your band; I haven't seen everyone yet. Tier 1: Reagan CTJ The Woodlands Tier 2: Friendswood Churchill Hendrickson Tier 3: Cy-Fair College Park Brazoswood Dawson Bubble: Oak Ridge, Pearland, Seven Lakes

Respectfully, I don't think some of the bands listed there have the execution yet (or the show difficulty) to make finals at such a tight competition. Friendswood's 15th place finish at BOA San Antonio last year makes it impossible for me to leave them out, especially early in the year when their shows have had a tendency to be pretty clean. Hendrickson has improved a ton the past few years, so I will be following them closely. And Reagan is "back," which is awesome.

Didn't get a chance to see them but I imagine Friendswood will be a contender to at least make finals as usual. If anyone has a video of any of these bands, please post them.

Finals Schedule Seven Lakes 8:06 PM Clear Falls 8:18 PM Dawson 8:30 PM Cinco Ranch 8:42 PM Waller 8:54 PM BREAK 9:06 PM Stephen F. Austin 9:18 PM Oak Ridge 9:30 PM Pearland 9:42 PM Clear Brook 9:54 PM Clements 10:06 PM Friendswood H.S. 10:18 PM Finals Awards 10:30 PM Prelim Results Class 4A Outstanding Percussion: Little Cypress-Mauriceville Outstanding Auxiliary: Little Cypress-Mauriceville Outstanding General Effect: Little Cypress-Mauriceville Outstanding Visual Performance: Little Cypress-Mauriceville Outstanding Music Performance: Little Cypress-Mauriceville 1st Place Little Cypress-Mauriceville Class 5A Outstanding Percussion: Waller Outstanding Auxiliary: Waller Outstanding General Effect: Waller Outstanding Visual Performance: Waller Outstanding Music Performance: Waller 3rd Place Texas City 2nd Place Foster 1st Place Waller Class 6A Outstanding Percussion: Clear Brook Outstanding Auxiliary: Stephen F. Austin Outstanding General Effect: Stephen F. Austin Outstanding Visual Performance: Stephen F. Austin Outstanding Music Performance: Stephen F. Austin 3rd Place Pearland 2nd Place Clearbrook 1st Place Stephen F. Austin