whitewing09

Sounds like you should be content with BOA SA then. How do you propose to make it fair? Waving around a pitch fork demanding fairness won't get too far.

Initially I was shocked that Hendrickson fell so far, but then I thought, "oh look, who beat them." We can complain all we want about how bad the system is or how horrible the judges are. Fact is, Some of the most contentious results happened in situations where the bands all execute at very high levels. Like when everyone is beast in 6A area D, how do you really compare them. If you look at the top 8, they've all been at the top of BOA or UIL in the recent years. Having such a cluster of high quality will probably yield weird results.

There are plenty of other bands who could have placed very well at the state competition who didn't make past their area. It's sad to see some great bands miss out, but how could you possibly draw the lines in a "fair" way that would ensure that all the bands who "deserve" to go to state get the chance? What does "fair" even mean or "deserve" for that matter? I think it is fair to include bands from all of the regions of vastly different cultures and demographics in the state. I think it would be unfair to draw the lines that would marginalize certain regions.

I was pretty surprised that Westlake didn't make finals given their history, but I watched their show. It looks really difficult. It will be pretty great at the end of the season.

Will we get to make predictions this year? BOA Austin is around the corner and I noticed that there isn't an event for it.

What did they play this year? Specifically I'm interested in their closing music.

What did they play this year? Specifically I'm interested in their closing music.

I thought this video was super cool!

It was pretty cool hearing band after band being called and realizing that Round Rock was in the top 4. My favorite part of watching the live cast was seeing the close ups of Marcus' show. Those kids really got into the theme. I'm also glad that they didn't have that perpetual mic issue with their sax solo at the end of the show in finals. Soooo proud of the TX bands. Texas was well represented!

Was Cedar Ridge's performance really that off between finals and prelims?

Sorry for not being specific. I felt that at BOA SA Marcus sounded a little anemic or unsure when they played, but this morning they seemed more confident and their sound was stronger. Marcus added drill to the end of their show which was expected as they marched in place at the end of their show at BOA SA. Bell is a lot more dynamic! Man, they added some contrast to their show. They sound stronger both in terms of their woodwinds in their exposures and in terms of brass in their impacts. They added a new ending.

Seems like Marcus and Bell have made huge improvements. Bell had some really bad mic issues though that lead to small awkward gaps in the show.

So we can either conclude he has good things to say or bad things to say. That's great! On another note, wasn't there a time when this band was making area finals in the highly competitive Area B?

IMO what really got them down at BOA SA was their visual performance. I think it was a little sloppy. I loved their music and their playing and think that they can definitely do damage at Gnats.

Does anyone have any updates on the bands?

Did anyone notice that the music performance and the music GE judges did not agree on Marcus' performance in BOA SA finals? I'm really interested in seeing how Marcus is judged at this competition. Also, Cedar Ridge flat out beat Bell in Music performance. What got CR was their visual package, which definitely needed cleaning, so I'm interested in seeing how much they'll be able to clean up in the past two weeks. Given the scores at BOA SA, do y'all think we can forecast these bands' scores at G'nats or will the judging be significant different?

Thing that sucks: The fact that we don't still reply to this thread.

I hope this isn't an attack on the top three bands. Although they do bring more to the field than marching and music by using props or whatever, they still play very well and march very well. I think it's an insult to insinuate that these bands relied on anything other then their pure musical and marching talent to win the top three spots.

It seems like they're trying something new show wise. Apparently some people think that their musical performance isn't up to par with what they usually put out.

I really wanted them to medal! They had such a great show. Their drill is just amazingly difficult and they march it so well and they have such a big (but controlled) sound for the size of their band! I think everyone had low predictions for Reagan because of its BOA Conroe showing. Although, Reagan does seem like the band that makes leaps and bounds in terms of improvement from one week to the next.

It's really interesting to see the composition of finals. Area B: 3 Area C: 1 Area D: 8 Area F : 1 (Is this were the Woodlands is?) Out of State: 1

I thought that Hebron performed better in prelims. Regardless, they were phenomenal in both rounds. I think big surprises just happened because the overall quality of bands was just out of this world. You know that you have a stacked competition when a grand national finalist places last. Can you even imagine that? Cedar Park was 5th at last year's BOA SA and this year they place last and not because they're a worst band, but because the competition really turned on the heat. You can feel that the kids from CR and RR really want those spots in gnat finals. As for Bell and Marcus, I feel like their shows were a little awkward. Towards the end of both their shows, the shows started feeling more like partitions added on rather than complete shows. I remember multiple times thinking, "oh that's a cool ending," only for them to continue playing. I am really interested in seeing their complete shows! Will the Dans be heading up for Gnats?

I'm really interested in seeing what Bell and Marcus will do to redeem themselves or to see how another set of judges finds their shows.

I'm disappoint that I won't get to see Anderson in finals. I absolutely loved their show! I think that this is going to be a very interesting finals. I am very interested in seeing how the judge switch between prelims and finals will affect the placement. Placements aside, I have been waiting to watch this competition since the beginning of October. I am so glad that we get to see Cedar Ridge and Vandegrift perform in finals. lkdsafjlkdsajflkj <-too much excitement.

I think I had an emotional moment during Vandegrift and Cedar Ridge's performances, such beautiful music. CTJ marching is insane and their guard work is simply amazing! I was totally taken for surprise when Anderson's shakos lit up for the first impact. There are just so many amazing bands at the competition and the kids are really showing what they have! I commend all of the performers this weekend.