Vidal28

Coppell: more to say, but off the bat, should be a medal contender, even if they fall short! Great start for them!!! A bit of an abrupt ending, but of course they’re not done with that show! That piccolo trio and accompanying prop was incredibly unexpected!😂 Loved how each section played, fantastic across the board, and that opening woodwind ensemble and recreating that opening song’s soundscape so faithfully was really really cool. Probably the highlight of the show for me personally. Due to some Hallelujah fatigue the ballad was probably the least engaging for me, but it was still a great show and can’t wait to hear it again!

Forney: got here in the middle of their performance, right around the bassoon and clarinet solos. Immediately I notice how much more restrained and in-the-pocket they were compared to last year, and that can be a great thing for cleanliness, y’all had some high expectations today, and yeah great ensemble sounds, the hinting of Pines of Rome was fun! both in the soloists and ensemble I’ve heard that be mentioned too. So fun! The arena design with the columns was cool! Hope to see the performance in full next time! Krum: Love how the woodwinds were able to project with their limited numbers, props to the kid marching out with the cast on his arm, being vital for drill and everything! Lovely trombone and soprano solo back-to-back and the vocal part in the end with all the candles was a pleasant surprise! I forget if there’s another class representative for 1A, but I’d imagine we’ll see them perform again too!

As long as the cool front comes in sooner than expected, which it’s looking like it is, now with it coming in, the cooler morning temps shouldn’t be much to contend with at all, gradually warming up to a very comfortable temperature throughout the day and stable conditions on Saturday. It’ll be a fantastic performance setting for the students and spectators I believe!

HEB is a great vibe, the majority of the contests I go in the year happen to be there, so it’s been mainly good times haha

Of course, I’m definitely not saying it doesn’t happen, and it absolutely can sour others’ experienced hearing malice and bitterness like that. I’m just fortunate to not have experiences much of that at all at contests I’ve gone to!

Haven’t really had any overheard interactions of that kind when I’ve gone to contests every year for a decent bit now, at least ones I can remember, maybe I’ve just been lucky. I’m sure they do happen though, no doubt.

Good to know I wasn’t alone with these technical difficulties, most definitely was getting frustrated with it!!

I definitely think they’re in finals here, they’ve already made it on several occasions previous and don’t seem to be regressing, haven’t seen any bit of their show, but I’m pretty confident in them

I am praying for a cooler October, if not that at least clouds on the day to prevent sunburns!!!

Here are mine, list is a mix of “best” but also some personal favs as well. it’s obvious which group have me excited every time I hear them, and which one is my own HS but I enjoy that show so much ok here we go!: 1. Hebron 2021: Penstriped- One of my favorite and best live experiences of the marching band/arts activity, period. SCV 2018 is up there too so I guess I just really enjoy dark, gritty, explosive brass haha. Won’t ever forget that Church Windows opening 2. James Martin 2013: Elegy for a Young American- neither of my most fondly remembered shows my high school did were anything close to perfect, but I still love both nonetheless. The 2013 show was my first ever marching show I ever saw, at the hs’ junior high night! It was an eye-opener for me, many beautiful moments, stirring emotional beats, a strength of that show remains what makes me enjoy it so much to this day. 3. James Martin 2014: Midnight- Another Cinderella story🙃if the previous year opened my eyes, actually being a part of creating this show and the whole process made me love band even more. My enjoyment of the repertoire for both years is up there with some of my favorite pieces of music to listen to this day, lots of awesome classical repertoire from some of the greats(Prokofiev, Debussy, Chopin, Tchaikovsky). Anytime a group today plays any of the pieces of these few years, I definitely get a big smile on my face😊 4. Flower Mound 2016: Leonardo’s Dream- Hard to beat this one, those kids were definitely on a mission that year, another one I saw live at a local BOA in my HS days haha. Not one of my favorites, but definitely one of the best productions I’ve seen. Someone flew✈️ 5. Hebron 2019: Among the Stars- This one is a favorite, love the variety of sound that all the various sections of the ensemble got to contribute that year, mellophones were fantastic especially that year, and of course, that Million Dreams ballad is fantastic, loved the sax ensembles they had. My favorite viewing of it is definitely the one video where they performed a practice run in that indoor field in Indy, quite fantastic.✨✨ 6. Reagan 2019: Secret World- didn’t see this one live but, boy if it’s a marvel to listen to and view from the high cam, you can bet it’d be a fantastic show to watch live. Lapping the competition that year, truly dominant, very unique and it has a ton of stand out visual and musical moments. The best band in a year full of great ones! 7. Castle 2017: Fly to Paradise- I can’t stress enough how I believe this fits the OP’s prompt. If this one’s not in my 10 shows I can only keep, I would be left wanting. A very beautiful tribute for one of Castle’s members, healing the band and the community who lost a young soul and their family far too soon, and potentially some were healed in the audience as well. I very much loved their performance of One Day I’ll Fly Away and Benedictus, have it in my mind as I’m typing this. 8. Hebron 2015: 360- My last Hebron inclusion, but yes, another one of my favorites and one of my early favorites especially, only my second year of HS at this point. Of course, you have the standout ballad, the opening and ending oboe solos are fantastic, more to mention, but anyways! spinning around in circles is cool 9. Vista Ridge 2022: Divisi- if there’s eye candy, this is music to my ears. One could imagine they do just as well this year, if not better. Really hoping this is the case because they KILLED last year. Every section was fantastic, woodwind and brass ensemble stuff, section features, drum features etc. a show stopper of a closer. Everything fundamentally was so good for this group🔥🔥 Gonna stop at 9 for now because I am tired😴

Living in and going to a school in the same region as them(woo region 5) I’ve never thought of them as bad, they do quite well for themselves with their efforts in concert band, individual student achievement in the region process, etc. etc. I think it’s more solely a marching band perception of what they are, and they’re improving in that department as well. They very well are a contender for State in a tough Area B this year, in my estimation.

This contest is shaping up to be as difficult as it’s always been, hard to predict, all of that. Some bands are slower burners and may only have half of their show to perform while others have near everything out there at that point of the season, gonna be a fun one!

News to me being an alumni seeing it now😂 Arlington is also going so it’s good to see both schools going to a strong early contest, hope they do well!

I definitely disagree that this contest isn’t comparable with Austin and DFW. You can start off with the simple fact that there are 3 Grand Nats finalists from last year(!!) attending the contest to start with! Not even trying to be facetious because I know that the Austin contest has 10 bands of their 12 finalists that you could say can make Grand Nats finals every year, we get that! But you have recent State finalists, Super Regional finalists, consistent Area and regional finalists into the 20’s here at this contest. Many talented schools to be had. Wakeland and Keller don’t separate as much from the pack as one would think here. I’ve said before, this is basically combining much of UIL area B and C together for one contest, it’ll be tough for every band competing!

Hebron is mighty consistent, and even more so with their placements at the top lately, so you probably won’t see them falling to a 6th, 7th finish like some groups traveling on an “off” year have. The Woodlands has some great momentum, and I see them contending for medals, super solid 4th place in 2021 and being the best of that year’s Texas contingent bodes well. I’m really curious to see what the ceilings of CTJ, Round Rock, and Keller could be and what they do with their shows that could get people asking if they all merit a top half showing in finals. It’s gonna be hard with the Indiana bands, Mason, Blue Springs and other Texas contenders right there, of course. It’ll be very dependent on the show for them how far they’re able to go. In 2019, Texas pushed CARMEL out of the podium…Avon hasn’t placed below top 3 in 15 YEARS!! Will this group be able to do that to one of the Indiana bands again? We’ll see!

So much congestion in the contest schedule, love and hate to see it at the same time ‘cause I just want stacked contests right off the gate, and this is a favorite of mine to go to, but the roster still looks good so far!

Vandegrift also probably excutes in the phrasing department better than anyone in the state, very musical and effective in their performance and we see it in their shows year to year!

I really do wonder how they’ll each both max out their kids in that regard. Hebron will more than likely tear the house down at Indy with their steady improvement, even of their own standards year-to-year, I think they’ll be hard to catch in that music caption for sure, though I’m sure Avon, Carmel and Mason won’t be slouches either. It’s promising already that the woodlands’ kids are in a better place to start with, but to have a really good idea of where they’re at, all performing elements have to come together and that’s not ‘till band camp😮😮 very excited to see both groups at Grand Nats and earlier. Much buzz will be buzzing around all 8 TX groups that are going! Lots to talk about haha

By October 14th I would imagine most bands at the contest would have a significant chunk of their closer on the field(tag endings still possible) if not all of theirs on the field. Especially with Area being just one week out after this and Region being sandwiched in there somewhere haha…except for Keller!! They may still have quite a bit to go for their longer Grand Nats show to be completed haha

One would imagine the winds can get as much grace as the guard does, considering it is May!! I trust they’ll flesh out and make their arrangement and performance of it more dynamic! No one is performing marvelously as of now👀

Definitely curious to see what rep they use for this!!

I still wonder what will happen with the grand nats groups and their incoming decisions to either attend state, SA, both, or neither. I know that there’s been some apparent decisions made to where some districts have decided not to have their bands attend SA for the sake of focusing on UIL, which is interesting. I wonder for The Woodlands, are they gonna do all 3 this year? SA, State, and Grand Nats?

I’ll probably make mine after DFW, considering the bit of overlap there is with the bands attending here and there. Apparently there are STILL some groups yet to be announced going haha

I cannot wait to be in attendance just to write down “I love what I’m hearing!!” Over and over, so many awesome bands at this contest! I won’t comment on placements until the listing is finalized haha

I BEEN SAYIN!!!! Funny enough, Keller and L.D Bell just check all of those accolades in recent times haha, there’s gonna be a lot of GREAT, not just good, but GREAT performances on the day.