jmatthews

There are some bands that I have no clue why they don't do as well in UIL vs BOA or vice versa. Sometimes it's show design, but I don't think that's the case for The Woodlands.

Finals Results 86.30 - Hebron H.S., TX 85.45 - Marcus H.S., TX 84.80 - Flower Mound H.S., TX 84.35 - L.D. Bell H.S., TX 81.15 - Coppell H.S., TX 79.95 - Aledo H.S., TX 79.05 - Wakeland H.S., TX 77.45 - Mansfield H.S., TX 76.60 - Richland H.S., TX 76.45 - L.V. Berkner H.S., TX Outstanding Music Performance - Hebron H.S., TX Outstanding Visual Performance - L.D. Bell H.S., TX Outstanding General Effect - Hebron H.S., TX Any reactions to the results?

Finals prediction (in random order): The Woodlands, Spring, SFA, Churchill, Reagan, CTJ, College Park, Friendswood, Dawson, Clear Creek

2014 Participating Bands Tentative Schedule as of: September 12, 2014 8:15 a.m. - Box Office Opens 8:45 a.m. - STADIUM GATES OPEN 9:15 a.m. - Southwest H.S., TX 9:30 a.m. - J. Frank Dobie H.S., TX 9:45 a.m. - Rouse H.S., TX 10:00 a.m. - Friendswood H.S., TX 10:15 a.m. - Tompkins H.S., TX 10:30 a.m. - Cypress Falls H.S., TX 10:45 a.m. - Claudia Taylor Johnson H.S., TX 11:00 a.m. - Ronald Reagan H.S., TX LUNCH 12:00 p.m. - James E. Taylor H.S., TX 12:15 p.m. - Waller H.S., TX 12:30 p.m. - Winston Churchill H.S., TX 12:45 p.m. - The Woodlands College Park H.S., TX 1:00 p.m. - Morton Ranch H.S., TX 1:15 p.m. - Pearland H.S., TX 1:30 p.m. - Clear Lake H.S., TX 1:45 p.m. - Stephen F. Austin H.S., TX BREAK 2:30 p.m. Jersey Village H.S., TX 2:45 p.m. - Conroe H.S., TX 3:00 p.m. - Dawson H.S., TX 3:15 p.m. - Alvin H.S., TX 3:30 p.m. - Brazoswood H.S., TX 3:45 p.m. - Clear Creek H.S., TX 4:00 p.m. - Spring H.S., TX 4:15 p.m. - The Woodlands H.S., TX 4:30 p.m. - Preliminary Competition Ends 4:45 p.m. - PRESENTATION OF AWARDS 6:45 p.m. - GATES OPEN for Finals 7:15 p.m. - National Anthem 7:45 p.m. - Finals Competition Begins

This is great! Not sure who was responsible, but the AD and head football coach at Hutto HS, Steve Van Meter, used to have the same title at Friendswood. He was always very supportive of the band/color guard/drill team/cheerleaders.

Great stuff, although I'm going to go in a slightly different direction. I think this is the year that Hebron takes home the gold. Their technical brilliance in music and visual reminds me very much of Reagan from around 10 years ago. That being said, I think this year is even more up for grabs than usual. It's going to be fun. I also really like Friendswood and Dawson's chances of making their first 6A (or 5A) state contest. I would put them in the top 15-20 range.

To be determined - registration is still ongoing.

1. The Woodlands 2. Friendswood 3. Spring 4. Dawson 5. Clear Lake 6. Brazoswood 7. Pearland Friendswood and Dawson will knock out Dickinson and Clear Brook, in my humble opinion. This is obviously an absurdly early prediction. Also, it's always a mystery how many bands will advance from Area F.

http://www.texasfootball.com/highschool-news/view/180673 Good article. It also lists the enrollment numbers for every high school in Texas.

How do you guys think redistricting is going to affect future state marching contests and marching band in general? Based on what I saw (mostly speculation), many of the large current 4A bands (Cedar Park, Friendswood, Dawson, etc.) will be placed in the 6A classification. http://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/2013/12/uil-releases-classification-cutoffs-for-2014-16-realignment/ Edit: Obviously no longer speculation. See the linked Houston Chronicle article. Two of the high schools likely moving up to 6A are Friendswood and Dawson. 6A: 2,100 and higher 5A: 1,060 - 2,099 4A: 465 - 1,059 3A: 220 - 464 2A: 105 - 219 1A: 104.9 and below

Friendswood and Vandegrift. Friendswood for their symphonic sound, Vandegrift for their refined marching.

I love loud music as well, but I also think that it is possible to play past your best sound. Overblowing did occur during some of the performances. Overblowing is not what I would consider balanced music.

I really enjoyed seeing all of the bands in finals performance. I generally agreed with the judges' decisions, but I would like to argue one small point. In my opinion, while Dawson and Friendswood were not as loud as the Leander ISD bands, they did a great job shaping their phrases with musicality. I am not saying the Leander schools were not musical; they clearly did a great job as all three schools received medals. My personal preference is an emphasis on dynamics, and I feel Friendswood and Dawson let their music build a little better than Vista Ridge and Cedar Park, who I believe lost quality of sound as they played louder. For that reason, I actually would have placed Friendswood 2nd and Dawson 5th. The other medals would have gone to Vandegrift (1st) and Cedar Park (3rd), with Vista Ridge receiving 4th. Please understand I am not attacking any band's objective placement, but rather I am pointing out my subjective opinion for further discussion. My opinion seemed to match closer to prelims results rather than finals results.

This was definitely the best 4A contest ever. No other 4A contest holds a candle to this year's contest. The musical performances especially were absolutely spectacular.

If you look at Connally's history, it's less surprising. Connally was the silver medalist in 2007.

If you guys want to see videos of the Area F bands, Friendswood, Dawson, Tomball Memorial, and Barbers Hill, refer to the "Area F" thread for the links. Just wanted to mention this on multiple forums so people know.

RocketFan's playlist should get you to the recent videos from Barbers Hill and Friendswood.

Dawson HS:

Tomball Memorial HS: This link will get you to their Area F performance. The other Area F advancers are also in this playlist.

Edit: formatting issues, post deleted.

In my opinion, Vista Ridge is a dark horse. I'll be honest: I didn't give VR much of a chance at the start of the year. However, the students have proven me wrong in a huge way. I really enjoy the power of the ensemble playing as well as the brilliance of the soloists. I think Cedar Park and Vista Ridge are the "favorites" to win next week, but of course anything can happen. And things do change from Area to State.

A dark horse is a relatively unknown, new, or up-and-coming band that could contend at the state marching contest. Contention could be defined as making finals, medaling, or even possibly winning the state championship.

I really enjoy the power of Cedar Park and Vista Ridge's music. That's more of a personal preference than my analysis of musicianship (although they are both outstanding bands). I think one thing about playing loud is that it is more difficult to balance.

What was the year and the name of this "stand band," Black Jesus?

One thing that needs to stop is people hyping up their own band. It is great y'all are enjoying your time in band, but we all need to stick (as much as we can) with objective rather than subjective argumentation.