Vidal28

Best general effect: Ronald Reagan Best visual: Ronald Reagan Best music: Vandegrift Best visual concept: Flower Mound Best show idea/concept: Reagan Best solo: Coppell Trombone and Flugelhorn Best feature: Hebron’s brassline in opener Best musical selection: Coppell/Vista Ridge Most innovative show: Reagan Most original concept: TWHS Best crowd appeal: CTJ/Leander Most underrated: Coppell Most improved: Pearland Best colorguard: Bowie Best pit: Reagan Best drumline: Vandegrift/Vista Ridge Best brass: Hebron Best woodwinds: Flower Mound Best prop: Leander Best uniforms: Coppell Best guard uniforms: TWHS Best overall pre-show: Marcus Best overall opener: Reagan Best overall ballad: Coppell/Marcus Best overall closer: Reagan Taking some time to talk about some I felt quite strongly about, and also as a disclaimer that I wasn’t sure about a few, from not paying as much attention to say guard uniforms or just maybe not sure about the originality of a show concept, stuff like that. But boyyy did I enjoy Coppell’s soloists and their ballad, a really beautiful, ethereal sound with the whole band joining in and the delicate sound of the flugel on top! A sound I didn’t hear from any other group that weekend, I do wish they had another chance to perform at finals! I also enjoyed Vista’s selections of Swan Lake and also personally, the Prokofiev Cinderella Suite, with that being music I played in my first marching school back in high school, that just made me feel warm inside when I heard them play it.

I very much agree that there isn’t a definitive ceiling that Texas bands have to reach to be able to compete with the likes of Avon and Carmel but the very floor that the talent of our bands demand to say, even make finals at BOA SA, much less win it. It’s not something the field of bands going to Grand Nats from here isn’t used to, from always having to improve and perfect their shows to be able to compete, and with the week and a half break in between SA and GN, it’s a great opportunity to actually have the time to implement the cherries on top that’ll make their shows really shine in Indy!

I will say the discussions here are great in having people get what the landscape of marching band, well, the marching arts in general, is at the highest level and the demand in all aspects, music/sound design, and visual design that is also fully encompassed in GE and all that. With all that being said, I know what I, as an individual really enjoy and that is just being on the spectating ground level musical aspect of marching shows, to me all else is secondary, as ultimately, that is what I will always take away from a show that sticks with me long after their last performance is played. I know that’s how I ended up loving marching band and band in general and now doing music Ed in college, it’s an exciting prospect for me in the future to be able and be a part of designing a show that potentially can have an impact on others as shows that I’ve been a part of myself and the many that I’ve gotten to see here in the state of Texas. It’s something that I’ve truly appreciated over the years compared to what I‘ve seen elsewhere. And not to say that a great visual design or overarching story, concept or theme to the show can’t augment the music we hear even more! Of course it can! hearing a lot about how the best bands that do that are the Indiana bands and other notable out of state groups, however, I wouldn’t want to sell our bands short, hopeless and left in the dust to match that. Still a month that all these incredible performers going to grand Nats have to show what the state of Texas is truly best at, in their music performance and ability to leave crowds truly speechless in the way I know they can, it’ll be amazing to see.

There is a run of their show from the front, alumni here, it’s always nice to hear them get mentioned on here, hopefully this video reflects more what they’re doing this year, and I’m hopeful they do well at the contests they are going to this year

One comparison my friends have in the past, being in high school band in DFW, despite the dominance of Flo Mo and the awe-inspiring shows from Hebron musically, the one band a lot of groups probably didn’t wanna see was Marcus. they probably had the most BD vibe, not in their style, but just the aura of dominance and consistency they bring every year, a band that the very best in the state can lose to on any given day(being that band more often than not)which showed in their 5-peat of UIL and many contests over the years, even though they’ve lost a bit of that dominance over the past few years they still always can pull out a win at any contest

Hello hello, I’m also rooting for the raptors, they’ve got a heck of a team! Also I’ve gone to several tournaments here too, looking to improve this summer and do better in the locals. Ness main here haha

Ohhh yeah can’t forget my Cowboys, I don’t know how I could’ve forgot them! I don’t know who you root for but go ahead and reply and we’ll find out!

I haven’t been following liga MX as much as I used to but it’s awesome when you find someone who follows. My family’s teams are Cruz Azul(mom’s side) and Pachuca(dad’s side). They both didn’t do well in the liguilla but hey they still did pretty well

CT Johnson 4 Flower Mound 12 Hebron 3 Keller 12 Leander 12 The Woodlands 16 Vista Ridge 12 +1 Hebron -1 Leander -1 CTJ

+1 Hebron -1 The Woodlands -1 Keller CT Johnson 12 Flower Mound 14 Hebron 13 Keller 15 Leander 15 The Woodlands 15 Vandegrift 5 Vista Ridge 16

-Vista Ridge +1 -The Woodlands -1 CT Johnson 13 Flower Mound 16 Hebron 14 Hendrickson 8 Keller 18 Leander 15 Ronald Reagan 6 The Woodlands 17 Vandegrift 9 Vista Ridge 11

Wow, hearing the “Cinderella Mindnight” from Prokofiev, I was not ready for that, brought back a lot of memories from HS, probably my most favorite anything I’ve done on a marching field! Seeing the scores from that, they could’ve easily made finals had one judge scored them a little more favorably. They sounded like a finalist band for sure

That it was that it was. Coldest contest I’ve ever been to for sure, I thought I had enough layers, boy was I wrong

One of many topics that have a great variety of opinion which is cool to see, my eyes were opened to some shows that I wouldn’t have even considered making me think like “oh yeah I did really like that show a lot!!” Makes this harder to pick for me, some shows stick out for because of how musically astounding they were, Hebron 2017, 2015, FloMo 2016, Woodlands 2013. Marcus’ sustained reign of Texas in terms of cleanliness, 2007, 2012 and 2014 being the headliners. Vandegrift(2017) Leander(2014,2018) and now Vista with their tremendous pace and power their shows have. I’m a Texas homer, believing that we have the best of the best performing in this activity despite the limitations placed on us that most of the country really doesn’t have, the tonality and power that a lot groups project being on a different level imo which is really the most important thing for me, and the show that did for me was Hebron 2017, it warmed me up on the cold cold night I got to hear it near the end of that season and it’s one of my favorites for sure as well.

Going back to the enduring debate of Grand Nats vs. BOA SA, I got a unique take from my head director currently at my alma mater, got to go back with friends and watch the Grand Nats stream, and I asked him which contest do you prefer, GN or SA, he said SA by far, and I was curious to know because my former head director before the current, only had him my freshman year is an adjudicator at many contests, including DCI, Grand Nats, etc. This year he judged BOA SA, and I take this to heart when my band director told me that he said that Grand Nats already happened the weekend before. I think it’s very telling from that perspective alone that BOA San Antonio is potentially surpassing the level of a contest that spans the entire nation in one state. As far as I’ve gotten to take part in competing at this event for the past several years, it’s been getting better and better, every time us spectators thinking “how can this contest be topped?”The next year it gets even better! Even when it was supposed to be a “down” year due to it being a state year, thinking bands were gonna play it safe, the rain epidemic, many band went all out anyway pushing their kids to be better than ever, because that’s the only way, the only way you can compete in this state, whether it’s UIL or BOA, and that just drives competition to new heights every year. Personally I can’t wait to see how crazy bands will be next year, UIL not being a limiting factor besides the 8 hour rule, and with many bands it looks like going past the first weekend of November into Grand Nats, I can’t wait to see how Texas represents, showing the band world how it’s done. Props to Prosper showing everyone how to do that trip two years in a row!! Both on state years, this year adding BOA SA to that gauntlet of travel, rooted for them all year, showed a lot of heart and I’m really glad they made finals

I have to say I was pretty shocked too seeing that, with them having praised Prosper a few days ago, you have to be consistent at least

Maybe the reactions to Prosper and Keller as to how they’ll do at DFW this coming week have less to do with how they placed at HEB but more on their performances and how solid they were so early on. It’s definitely not out of the realm of possibility for either Prosper making top 5 or Keller winning or medaling, as in previous competitions LISD has dominated the top 3 with most of the finals pack being considerably behind them. BOA DFW does have a lot of depth in with all the finalist quality bands that attend, but it does get top heavy at the medalist spots. It got more interesting for sure with Marcus not going this year and they’ve placed in the top three for years now at BOA, Keller’s been gettting better and better for years now and they beat a consistent medalist in Marcus in both prelims and Finals at HEB, and I would fully expect the result to be the same had Marcus gone to DFW this year, and Prosper wasn’t far behind Marcus. Both groups sold me in that they’ll do incredibly well next weekend from their performances alone. I don’t think it’s an overreaction to say that Prosper in particular will do better than people expect, I see them as a finals lock, potential top 5 finalist that I didn’t see them being weeks earlier but their performance sold me.

Oh yeah, I’m very proud of the great all-around fine arts department we have there, even prouder to have been a part of the orchestra that was chosen to TMEA this year even though I won’t be a part of it, can’t wait to see all of my friends taking part in that AMAZING TMEA experience next year!

Trust me, I wasn’t happy about it either, but still we got to watch the awesome finals that SA definitely was, and state years usually tend to be better for Martin, so Im looking forward to how they grow this season!!

That they have, kind of a reoccurring thing these past few years! personal favorite use of strings was in our “String Theory” show having a string quintet up front. That show was a blast!

That would be a violin yes. Being an alumni now seeing them perform from the other side is a strange thing, still settling in!! But being there the last 4 years I can definitely say this is the strongest first performance they’ve had since I’ve been there, really looking forward to how the season plays out for them, i know for them they really wanna get to that top 5-6 for State, really hoping they can!!

Would anyone have the complete results for Area B, I’m curious to see how the finalists stack up with each other

That's what I'm asking. Hearing them in the warmup lot, and on the field I thought they sounded like a legit finalist. There is no way they deserved that low of a music score

Listening to a video of Summit from prelims, there was a real head scratcher of a decision made from the music judge giving them the lowest music score of the day. They played with such power and confidence, and they had some really technical stuff in the brass and woodwinds. I just don't see how it's possible they got the score they got. Being there in the warmups with my band, they had their hit at Swan Lake, it sounded amazing. They sounded right about the same from the video I saw of them. I just don't know what that Music judge was thinking, and with the larger impact the music judge had, it knocked them all the way down to 20th. No way a band that powerful and technical should get 20th in anything hopefully other folks in this thread agree with me

This section needs some more traction. My predictions are: 1-3: FloMo 1st, Marcus 2nd, and Hebron 3rd. LISD stays dominant with two of those groups going to Grand Nats, they're all gonna be amazing already early on. 4-6: It might be interchangeable between Bell, Vista Ridge, and Keller. It'll be easier to pinpoint after BOA Austin with Vista. Keller's had an amazing last couple of seasons and I expect them to do even better this year at BOA since it isn't a State year. 7-10. There are a lot of wild cards with Duncanville doing BOA again, and some finalist bands from last year not attending this year. Bands typically in finals(Coppell, Wakeland) slipped a bit last year and didn't make finals, but a year can make a world of difference in terms of staff cohesion, so maybe they rebound and make finals? I say Coppell makes the rebound enough to make finals somewhere in this range, along with Duncanville, James Martin, and Timber Creek makes finals after being really close last year. Bubble Groups- Wakeland, they can definitely rebound enough to make finals, but I'm gonna keep them just out of the finals group...for now. Summit can definitely make finals as well, they are really good musically and I would not be surprised if they squeeze into finals Waxahachie-finalist last year, they should be in still since Bowie and Winston Churchill aren't at DFW this year, but I'm counting on Vista Ridge, Duncanville, who's always very solid at UIL(betting it'll still be enough to make BOA finals), and resurgences by Coppell and Wakeland to push them out of finals Keller Central-they'll be aiming to make finals, but I suspect that Duncanville and Coppell push them out of finals