Vidal28

I was just referencing the several DFW bands missing today from OP’s post haha Pearland has been a consistent finalist like every band I mentioned the last several years and are fantastic again this year, can’t imagine how much more difficult this contest could’ve been👀

All in all, with each judge playing an impactful role in giving a ranking, not just a score at UIL, the volatility of that probably gives more credence to the disadvantage of going early at UIL, it’s something I believe, and if you ask anybody, they would definitely rather go on later than very early on.

We know Coppell, Hebron, Flower Mound, and Keller would’ve made these judges’ jobs infinitely harder I’m sure👀👀

Told ya😂

“BOASA will look much different than UIL”, they said🙃

That “almost certainly” is hard to say, they’ve been doing really well competitively, very much in the race still. Just like Leander.

I don’t think, even with the significant challenges Cedar Park and Wakeland present, that there should be any other outcome imo. Anything can happen any given run of course haha

They are definitely a contender for finals, strong bubble band, things can easily swing their way to where they make it in, no doubt.

Rouse is a contender for the music caption, imo. Even if everything else is tilted towards Vandy and other groups in other captions. I think it’s enough for them to contend for the podium, “pulled away on all fronts” is too strong for me imo

It is definitely criminal that I didn’t put the namesake of the district on there(Lewisville’s worth some discussion too haha) It wasn’t a omission to slight them i promise! The post was already getting too long and I wanted a more even discussion of both districts haha

Definitely have lots of respect for Vandy, I wouldn’t say any of their recent shows have been favorites for me, even though they all have great standout moments. Their style isn’t really my cup of tea, but they do deserve the accolades they receive, they’re very much a fantastic all-around program that hasn’t really buckled or wavered in their ascension. They’ve already got a GN title and 2 6A titles now so they’re continuing to build their resume even further! For all of LISD South, those feeder programs they have are going crazy, I think Vista’s Feeder won Middle School honor band this year iirc with Cedar Park’s right behind them so there’s plenty of evidence right there. The growth of their bands isn’t stopping anytime soon and there’s plenty more to come. For LISD North I did find it weird that OP says that they are just immediately better and more proficient musically than LISD South, like you said. I think it’s apples to oranges in the styles that the schools bring. Hebron’s electric, versatile wind players carry the musical demand, could listen to their woodwinds and high brass all day, the latter especially are remarkable and exceptional in the activity the last few years. They are usually my favorite to listen to year in and year out, jury’s out this year though, not my favorite program put together by them. Flower Mound is quite contemporary and imo fairly “blocky” and LOUD in the way they go about ensemble sound, more so diversifying their sound output with their strengths in individual players(notably their woodwind soloists, pretty fantastic every year without question). I think this year is probably the best ensemble sound they’ve had in years, I definitely feel that’s been a weak spot for them as of recent and definitely hasn’t been on the level of the other two LISD North bands and several notable LISD south bands. Marcus is traditionally known for being *traditional* and safe musically, but still being the most safe and controlled group in the whole state pretty much every year. They definitely mixed it up a bit with much more saucy, risky repertoire this year and it’s paid so much dividends for them! You can always count on them for very creative percussion features, moments that are sparsely produced here in Texas lately, which is always appreciated. For LISD South: As for Vandy, like I said I very much respect them, they always sound great. I feel like their sound profile doesn’t change much from year-to-year in that they are very explosive, but also one of the best groups in the state when it comes to dynamic contrast and intricate detailed phrasing. Percussion is always laying it down, one of the best units in the state. I feel that when I listen to videos of them though they kinda sound like an amalgamation of *generic drum corps* lite. It’s so hard to put my finger as to why that is, it sounds like hating, but that’s really all I can do when I haven’t been able to see them live in years. They have a distinct sound but it also kinda feels a bit familiar! Vista, you feel there’s an inviting openness to their sound, very pure, precise and controlled but can also have a flair for the dramatic. They’re kinda like Crown Jr. if you wanna look at them that way, I love their trajectory of where they’re going, would definitely love to see their numbers increase some too I forget how big exactly they are but iirc they’re one of the smaller big boys in the state! Cedar Park, just as explosive sounding as the other two, but also probably a bit grittier, darker sounding as well. The percussion is always quite spectacular, not gonna talk about every LISD south band, just one more after this, but they’re mighty, fantastic feeder programs are gonna continue this in the future. But they are very much a fantastic all-around program, I think maybe being a bit too UIL-centric probably hinders them a bit in regards to a bit more of an emotional congruity with their show structure, hard to explain, but oftentimes it’s just hard to latch on to their shows completely. The last band I’m gonna talk about doesn’t have this issue for me… Now Rouse…they are elevating and continue to elevate for a reason, they are one of the groups you want to listen to all day every day if you could, quickly becoming an emulator for a more classical, expressive sound, coming from their beginnings when they were small but still mighty!! They are controlled, explosive, colorful, light, and effortless. Quickly becoming the total package musically, and definitely leaning into more my cup of tea of having that emotional force of your program really coming through with their musical performance. They are about to unseat Cedar Park for the 5A crown, that’s hard to do, and they’re about to! That’s how good this band is becoming. Last I’ve heard from some people on here is their school growth is still continuing, very exciting to see where they go in the future. They are quickly becoming one of my favorite groups to listen to!! My last thing to add is to simply say that both LISD’s have great bands that have plenty to praise about, to say any of them are doing easy things would be pretty silly. If I were to rank the bands I talked about here, *purely* from personal preference here’s where mine would be currently! 1. Hebron 2. Rouse 3. Marcus 4. Vista Ridge 5. Vandy 6. Cedar Park 7. Flower Mound

I say that Marching band comps are as a whole more fun and varied than most Drum corps events and I’ve gotten flamed by it before, I mean when I say I’ll take Hebron 2021 as a spectator experience against any drum corps show I’ve seen the past several years and I mean that, it’s been hard to beat!! You could say the same thing about shows like Reagan 2019, several others that were the “lightning in a bottle” peak shows for respective programs. Glad I’m not the only one with the same take!🙃

My only rhetorical question here, just as absurd to ask as the contention being thrown out, they have all these objections to Vandy, if they’re not the winner in your eyes, where would you rank them? They have all these failings apparently, should they even be in finals at all?😂

I would say, if there were 3-4 massive 6A Frisco schools instead of 10+ 5A schools, the rest of the state would ABSOLUTELY need to look over their shoulder. For 2/4 at least, if not better. I don’t know exactly how that would play out, but at least one of them would be a powerhouse and as large a program a Woodlands or Hebron/Flomo. Schools of that size with massive numbers in their bands!

Score compression and congestion will probably cause scores to stagnate for some groups going that went to St. Louis and SA this week and next. It happens all the time. Unless the top 4-5 break 95 or 96. Not much higher the scores can climb. That doesn’t meant they won’t have improved in the time between Grand Nats and now, would be hard not to!

At the same time, building up the culture a program would want takes time, support of course matters in being able to fulfill potential and all that, but it all takes time to develop. Size can only fix so much, but if the students aren’t developed enough to succeed, it doesn’t really matter. Positive growth in any form requires the cultivation and planning to make happen

I’m being a bit greedy, I know, do you have prelims?👀…

Every music judge at area judges percussion, there are specialized percussion judges at State that many say are a lot better at being “accurate” or at least calling it like it is with what they hear!

I think Hebron can do cinematic really well, especially during their Grand Nats years, their shows have more room to breath and develop and I expect there to be some elongation still of their show apart from their UIL product, like was mentioned here recently!! The full version probably isn’t out there until Grand Nats if I were to guess.

Does anyone have the ordinals sheet, not the one posted on UIL but the more detailed sheet? Very curious to see that one

From my HR post, more thoughts on the advancing groups: Had an inkling that Berkner’s show would get rewarded, had them 8, just outside of state in my predictions, great run from them, a very smart and well executed show with lots of difficulty involved and they played really well. They definitely deserve it!! As some folks mentioned, also Duncanville felt me wanting a bit, the theme was cool but everything else putting it together was all just a bit too underwhelming for them to make it out of Area. I had Haltom out by some distance, 10th in my predictions. They definitely played it safer with their control and sound output, but they also presented out onto the field with all the kids they had out there, and had a really fantastic look with their wind and guard costumes, they moved well, had challenging movement including a very difficult pass-through cover down drill move to end it! Very creative in those regards, even though they played it a bit safe for me musically and left me wanting a bit, that’s not a bad strategy at all for UIL!! The two bands that got the short end of the stick in KC and Carroll yet again were radically in contrast to them, many explosive moments to be had, and I was definitely rooting for KC to make state, probably my favorite of the night for me! Both bands now are able to focus on their only contest remaining, BOASA and St. Louis, respectively. No doubt they wanna make some noise and end their seasons on a high note, I believe they can! Keller is rounding into form again, a 5th place finish isn’t too alarming considering they comfortably made it in and aren’t too terribly focused on UIL this year. They had a bit of a rough start with the bugle feature right at the very beginning but they pulled it together and they definitely gave me several chills with the Mahler to end their show especially. There are moments where they go too heavy on synth buildup, especially with their transition away from their ballad where there’s lots of synth buildup only for it to abruptly end and stop before moving on to their closer. I’d highly advise them to just remove that, because that is one unnecessary moment of audience whiplash in an otherwise very beautiful show!!

With the site moving slower than a bleeping snail the last several hours!!…. Finally able to get back on the site and post my thoughts. TC- as solid of a start as you can ask for when you’re up first!! There was a plague of electronics failures for many bands tonight and they were lucky not to have dealt with any iirc. Very solid in all respects. Ambitious movement, varying and challenging spacing environments where nothing went off sync or wavering timing-wise. My only complaint, which is simply a different preference for the sound palette and balance of the group, very good, but I just felt the high brass, specifically trumpet were swallowed up by the middle voices a bit too much, I felt there wasn’t enough variance and brilliance to the sound. Minor preferential complaint that isn’t super impactful ultimately, great job TC! Guard was very good too, almost forgot to mention! Berkner- Really enjoyed y’all’s show, becoming more and more consistent as a finalist in this area is a great place to be, very challenging show and very smartly staging ensemble and section features at critical moments, the soloists were great, lots of demand both visually and musically in this show for sure!! Very curious to see where y’all place! Wax- very fun pre show and announcer, it’s 1849 and we know it with all they have going on staging/costuming wise! Love all of the soloists, my only minor complaint is that I feel there may be a bit too much reverb with their feedback to us, I don’t really think they need it, they all sound great! Very strong all around in all sections. Always enjoy that one major 7th chord in the ballad, look forward to that warmth every time it comes up. Same with Rocky Point which is becoming a staple for this band to play, I have definitely heard you guys play this in the recent past and you guys do a great job with it! Very much deserving of a state spot, best of luck to y’all. Duncanville- Solid, all-around program, they definitely make their show feel very complete and whole with the time allotted, many exposed section moments, mentioned earlier in the thread there was that cool trumpet fanfare opener, many in the area are evoked of another show notably using that tune(✈️) pretty much every section having a color, team to call their own is pretty cool. I feel that with some bands tonight, not just Duncanville, they felt pretty in-the-pocket, risk-averse with their sound, which with UIL is of course not a bad path to go on, but it left me wanting a bit for more impactful moments musically. Still though, great job as a whole, very deserving to have made it this far! Coppell- This one hurt me, one of the electronics failures affecting Coppell’s opening woodwind ensemble, loved hearing it the first time at BOA DFW prelims with it all working, y’all were nails there and I’m sure that hasn’t changed!! I just wasn’t able to hear the opening tune that well! They were definitely my prediction for Area champion going into the contest and they still confirmed my belief, despite the bits of bad luck that happened. Coppell has a habit of reprising one of their tunes right at the end and they did so again, really enjoyed that! Haha KC- unfortunately yet again another victim of the electronic failures, especially when it’s a show where the featured soloist is pivotal to the show, and yet they still made the crowd incredibly excited and entertained with their stellar brass section, they have definitely elevated over the last several years in the ambition and difficulty department. I loved the intensity and intent they brought to everything they did, the ballad was unique with the muted trumpet feature always being an interesting part of the color in that moment. The closer definitely had some folks moving in their seats, great contest to premiere it in too. I definitely want them making state and also making noise at BOASA, they’re trending upward as of late, I think they can! I’m going to do a “to be continued” with the second half of finals, my predicted state finalists are the ones I expected before the contest: 1. Coppell 2. Waxahachie 3. Timber Creek 4. Keller 5. Keller Central 6. Bell 7. Southlake Carroll - - - - - - - - - - - - - 8. Berkner 9. Duncanville 10. Haltom 11. Pearce 12. Lake Highlands Let’s see if I’m right!!

Not everything about their program is encompassed by their marching band, saw Region 5’s concert band UIL and much of the Non-Varsity and Varsity group’s performances throughout the several few days. Mansfield’s Varsity group was probably the group that I enjoyed the most, that included Lake Ridge, Legacy, and a couple of other good groups. I thought they performed really well last year and thought they were scored too harshly imo don’t really think there’s a fall off here, more so an ebb and flow with what they wanted to do for marching band, ambition wise. It isn’t everything.

Did that last year!! You’ll definitely be in for some regional differences, I definitely experienced it last year. Curious what you’ll have to say when you experience it!

The way I outwardly show my expression are mainly lots of “sheesh!!”, “wow that’s really cool”, “didn’t expect that!”, phrases of that nature coming out of my mouth, and I usually reserve that for when I see shows live. It’s hard to move me more than that but it has happened! The way you describe this show, haven’t seen it before or heard a second of it, but it definitely gets me rooting for it more come Grand Nats, holiday shows are great and lots of good fun! being distinct from the crowd in that regard do help them stand out and be more memorable too. Best of luck to them!