TX_Band

Congratulations to all of the 5A finalist bands as well as those that competed in prelims on Monday. What a great couple of days showcasing some of the best bands that Texas has to offer. Special congratulations to our 3 medalists Cedar Park, Highland Park and Wakeland!!

I think the problem here and why results vary from contest to contest is the fact that there is not a consistent criteria or judging rubric used across all contests and that will yield different results. If Duncanville was using a UIL sheet then it all comes down to who is cleanest period and end of story. The UIL sheet doesn't take into account anything other than execution. It doesn't care about entertainment, effect, difficulty or any of the other factors that actually make the activity interesting and entertaining. It focuses solely on how clean a show is musically and visually period. I happen to think the UIL sheets don't fully reward the marching band activity as it is today, other will disagree and that's ok. Stop worrying about results and just enjoy the performances.

3 of the top 4 from 2017 in the 1st block.

I'd more look at the system used to judge the bands than the adjudicators. If they used a UIL sheet then content, variety and effectiveness don't matter, the only thing that matters is that it's clean.

Your board and you can do as you wish but I'll say that it certainly has not been discussed. The fact is a clear UIL violation occurred and the UIL decided not to act. Just shows the inconsistency at the top of UIL and how they enforce the rules they put in place. I don't think the post was meant as a slight to the kids of that program but at the lack of consistency at the top of UIL and also a defense of the kids that may have lost an extra opportunity to perform due to someone that broke clearly defined rules. I mean if I were Roma I'd be furious and I'd use this a prime example of the issues that are rampant at the top of UIL.

A Twitter post from a band showed that they had started to learn drill on 7/31 one day prior to the strict UIL rule against starting to learn drill before 8/1. No need to not have this out in the open. It happened and can and should be discussed.

The UIL judging system and its antiquated rubric and lack of relevance to the activity as it is today is a discussion for another thread.....

I agree that post was a big WHOA. Don't know if it was real or not so understand why the mods removed it but if it was....well UIL needs to know about it.

I thought it was clear that Wakeland was at the top of the lower half of finals, In fact I thought the spread between them and Bell was too large.

What really stinks is that is there would have been one more band in prelims, 36 instead of 35 they would have taken 12 to finals. If Area B would have had one more band make a one at region they would have advanced 5 instead of 4 to state getting the number to 36 at State prelims. I know it's tough but hold your heads high you all had a fantastic year!!! What a great year for 5A!!, Maybe the deepest top to bottom in terms of quality ever.

Odyssey from Arlington, TX was Independent World Champion in 1986.

My opinion is that Texas has the best and most competitive band scene in the entire world. While places like IN and FL may have a few very good bands if you were to take say the top 25 from BOA SA they would be a finalist at any of the other super regionals in the country. It ain't bragging if you can back it up and Texas bands can back it up.

Wakeland was 11th at BOA Plano missing finals by .3 and beating Coppell by a point with BOA judges and finishes 9th at this contest? I'll take the opinion of the BOA trained judges I think.

You never know who will rise or fall in two years. A little too early to say that for certain. Lots of great bands in 5A still.

Round Rock according to BOA schedule is out due to weather. Will not be performing.

And UIL just proves again how far behind the curve they are when it comes to this activity. Unreal.....

1. Cedar Park 2. Leander 3. Wakeland 4. Vandegrift 5. Vista Ridge 6. Dripping Springs 7. Frisco Centennial 8-10 Toss Up

1-2-10 Should never happen. Ever. You can't have two judges tell you you are 1st or 2nd and one 10th out of 10. That is an impossibility, yet it happens all the time with UIL. They need to drastically overhaul the system and some of these retired band directors need to go away. Good thing it didn't keep a deserving band from advancing but it could have and the fact the UIL continues to allow it to happen over and over again and not address it is a travesty. Congrats to all the bands who advanced.

I'm sorry but that schedule is the stupidest thing I've seen in years. Breaking up prelims for the 5A class like that is really dumb. Start them at 7AM fine but do all of 5A and then start 1A. Dumb...dumb....dumb....

I'm hearing that Area B has been moved to Monday. I would suspect this will happen in other areas as well.

So what do they do if Saturday AND Sunday are a complete wash out? Saturday is not looking very good at all at this point and Sunday isn't a whole lot better.

Wakeland from UIL region competition. They added their fourth movement. This show is just non-stop GE moment after GE moment both visually and musically. Lots of really great shows in 5A this year....this may be the best. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVOKrKRpXMI

Always great to see HS music programs get the publicity they deserve. Pretty neat article in the DMN on FISD bands heading to UIL with focus on the Wakeland program. Frisco bands march into UIL contest: Wakeland High

Latest from Wakeland....ending still needs cleaning but also harder than anything else I've seen a HS band attempt this year. Those kids are FLYING.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zttZcuD8h8o

Wakeland from Friday night. The ending drill when its clean....whoa.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXKMvgB2sE4