NTXBandFan

Not released yet, but when it is, it'll be here first. http://www.musicforall.org/resources/directors-lounge/fall-final-packets

My main thing about FLower Mound, is that even though they did so well in Plano, can they keep the momentum? Do they have a lot more to add? How much do they have to clean? I'm sure they have elements to still add. But I don't know much much more above the competition they will be in San Antonio. They'll still score a lot of points, but That 4 point gap between 1st & 2nd will be closed. Keep in mind Hebron scored an 87+ in DFW a few years ago, only to finish in 2nd in San Antonio. I think the high score served as a wakeup call to all the contenders to step up their game, and come with their A game. I'll still put them as 1st, but not in pen. 1-5 Flower Mound Leander Ronald Reagan CTJ Marcus 6-11: Hebron Vandergrift The Woodlands L.D. Bell Round Rock Cedar Park 12-15: Winston Churchill Vista Ridge Hendrickson Keller Music: Marcus Visual: Flower Mound GE: Flower Mound

Indy is perfectly setup for Grand Nats, with the convention center across the street available for practice, and all the hotels within walking distance. There are only 3 large covered stadiums in the Texas. -San Antonio has hotels, but doesn't have the indoor practice space close enough, parking lot for the load & unload is a bit cramped. -Houston would be a good venue. It has ample parking and the practice space nearby. It just doesn't have the lodging, and the field is natural grass -JerryWorld has the turf field, and could be a nice venue, the parking lot is a good size, but the logistics of getting props and bands into the stadium could be a challenge. Plus there aren't many hotel options nearby, and zero indoor practice locations. Most importantly though.... the acoustics suck! Outside of Texas... -New Orleans... I'm sure people would love to go there. The superdome isn't quite the best location though. THere isn't any indoor practice location, the parking situation for trucks is non-existent. the hotel options within walking distance are limited, especially ones the you'd want to house a bunch of high schoolers. -Phoenix... Grass field, lack of indoor practice area, although you may not need indoor facilities as much there. No nearby hotels -Atlanta... THis is probably the best option. There's a large facility next door where the bands could practice. The hotels are a little bit of a long walk though. And there is zero parking at the stadium for loading and unloading. You could unload at the convention center and haul everything to the stadium I guess. With the new stadium being built next door, who knows how that will impact things.

So how do people feel now after the Texas area BOA regionals?

I see what you did there

I'm surprised to see Marcus isn't attending. They've been going to Birdville for a long time

Keep in mind FM won the prelims music caption in San Antonio, and not that it matters as much early in the season, but they also took the Finals music caption in Arlington.

I'm curious why Flower Mound is being written off musically compared to Hebron & Marcus. They produced the 2nd most All-stater in 2014 & 2015 (only coppell had more), they also had the most all-area and all-region qualifiers. Also, not that their wind symphony was very well received at the Midwest Clinic in 2015. A good portion of this year's seniors and juniors participated in the midwest clinic twice, once in high school, and once in middle school. Finally, their wind symphony finished in second and missed first by 1 point for the 2016 TMEA honor band. All of that tells me Flower Mound has the musicians to compete. Add to that 2014 was their first time ever competing at state, and they had a rough finals run with the electronics malfunction. I think they will surprise folks.

The goal Flower Mound had going to Grand Nats last year, and has carried forward to this year, was to sound like a Texas band, but look like a midwest band. Basically they wanted to combine the best of both worlds. Watching their progression over the last several years, they definitely have been doing that. Their sound is getting louder for one, like that big Texas brass we all know and love. The musicianship is there too. I think they had the 2nd most All-State qualifiers last year. They also started more varied movements as well as speed to their marching last year. Then of course the visual design has really improved too.

Don't forget Flower Mound in that equation. While they haven't been been considered the same level musically as the other two, they have taken the music caption over them a few times this year.

You have to take into account what skills parent volunteers have to offer. The Marcus props are primarily designed and built by one of the parents, who has had several kids run through the program, and I believe one more in it now. The guy is very skilled in what he does and has a pretty good workshop. FloMo has a lot of general construction skills, so they use a lot of wood frames. They also have some pretty good seamstresses, which helps with all the fabrics they use. The frames for the eggs this year were done with a CAD design, and cut out at one of the parent's business. The clouds were created by an artist the theater department uses, but painted by another parent. The show design actually evolves some based on the props and how they look on the field. Flo Mo uses their props to hide flags and other items.

SOmetimes it depends on the kids and their experience level. Last year FloMo went after Leander in BOASA, then 1st in finals at State. Then they were 1st in finals at Indy. In San Antonio, they were too hyped up, and it showed. In Indy, they were very business-like and ready to roll, and they put on their best show of the year. In San Antonio, they dropped several spots, while in Indy, they moved up from 9th to 6th. Several people said it might have been even higher if they had a later draw.

Keep in mind they are likely paying for a few people like the directors, drivers, and techs as well. There are other things like fueI for the trucks. I know LISD doesn't cover the cost of non UIL related events, so it's up to the bands and families to come up with those funds via fees and fundraising. The chaperones had to pay their own way, but the drivers didn't. Then you have to take into account things like driver changes on buses. That's pretty expensive too.

To clarify, this is for the marching division

Man I wish Flower Mound was going this year.

I think Hebron is busing it. I imagine how many kids per room also makes a difference. FM put 4 per room. Also to help cut some of the cost, they didn't use a hotel for San Antonio last year. I think one thing that also helped is that all of the truck drivers are parent volunteers. I know some districts, like Frisco ISD, have paid drivers.

Flower Mound's competition band fee was $1000 last year, and that included everything associated with all of the competitions, transportation, food, etc...

I'm amazed they fly there. The kids will be well rested, but I can't imagine it being very cost effective to fly that many people.

Yeah, the Ram kind of became our home away from home, especially for the Pit Crew. It could have been Flower Mound-North.

Flower Mound chartered buses last year. The only stops they made on the way were for driver breaks, and to eat. All of the practices were in Indy at the convention center.

Something similar happened to Flower Mound last year in finals. When they opened their box, they had terrible feedback, and had to kill the mics for the bassoons, and some of the soloist mics too. It affected the show big time, from the kids knowing what happened, and trying to recover, on down the line. I definitely think it was a huge player in their drop from top 3 to #9.

https://twitter.com/TheHebronBand/status/660883444499668992/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

What's ironic is that the former FloMo director you mentioned is married to the Marcus director. Also, Flower Mound landed a ton of kids on the All-State list (2nd most in the state at 6A I think). You mention money. Bands starting up will have more upfront costs as they have to purchase equipment and base materials for props. After that, they start saving some money by reusing props, and parts of props (see Flower Mound's columns from 2013 & 2014, then their box from 2014 & 2015). I'm sure the metal frames many bands use for their props and the graphics at the front of the field are reused for many years.

http://www.uiltexas.org/music/marching-band/eight-hour-marching-band-rule-qa

They didn't pull down their state UIL performance from last year.