Shadow Weaver

Well good for Sherman. I'm sure Sherman's band will do wonderfully at State. And I'm sure you do them proud with your representation of the program. Troll rogue, indeed. *shakes head*

The first major step towards State Marching Band glory has been taken and the UIL Region marching contests are now behind us. Now those bands drawing superior ratings at the regional level advance to the seven major area marching band competitions taking place Oct. 27. Seven Area Champions will be named and 23 total bands will receive a berth to the prestigious UIL Texas State Marching Band Contest at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Indeed, the 4A band world is buzzing with anticipation for this coming Saturday. As the first UIL sanctioned head-to-head competition of the season, a lot is riding on these area performances. The competition is a prelims/finals format with at least two bands advancing from each area onto the state level. For those unfamiliar with the process, 2 bands automatically advance from each area. However, in areas of more than 15 bands, one band for ever 5 bands in attendance will advance to state. The number of finalist spots at area and state is also determined by the amount of bands in attendance at each respective competition. If there are 15 or fewer bands in prelims the bands ranked in the top 5 places will automatically advance to the finals. In addition any band below fifth place that receives a ranking of three or higher from at least two of the music judges and one of the marching judges will also advance to the finals. If there are 20 or fewer bands in prelims the bands ranked in the top seven places will automatically advance to the finals. In addition any band below seventh place that receives a ranking of three or higher from at least two of the music judges and one of the marching judges will also advance to the finals. If there are 21 or more bands in prelims the bands ranked in the top ten places will automatically advance to the finals. In addition any band below tenth place that receives a ranking of three or higher from at least two of the music judges and one of the marching judges will also advance to the finals. So who can we expect to see in San Antonio Nov. 6? A run down of the areas gives us a clearer picture: AREA A: the candidates Amarillo Caprock Amarillo Randall Azle Big Spring Denton Ryan Dumas El Paso Andres El Paso Del Valle El Paso Mountain View El Paso Riverside Ft. Worth Boswell Hereford Keller Fossil Ridge Pampa Plainview Saginaw San Angelo Lake View Springtown Wichita Falls S.H. Rider Wolforth Frenship Advancing bands: 4 Area A consists mostly of the Northwest Texas panhandle area. With 20 bands in attendance at this area competition, we can expect to see seven finalists and four state qualifiers. In 2005, state qualifying bands included Frenship, Plainview, EP Andres and Springtown. If all hope to advance they will have to overcome some new additions to Area including former 4A finalist Fossil Ridge as well as traditionally strong Big Spring and newcomer Saginaw. EP Del Valle performed strongly this year at the BOA EP regional and should also be expected to contend. My picks: Area finals: EP Andres, Fossil Ridge, Plainview, Springtown, Frenship, Saginaw, EP Del Valle State qualifiers: EP Andress, EP Del Valle, Fossil Ridge, Plainview AREA B: the candidates Aledo Arlington Heights Arlington Juan Seguin Birdville Brownwood Carter-Riverside Centennial Crowley Everman Ft. Worth Western Hills Frisco Ft. Worth Eastern Hills Joshua Lake Dallas Little Elm McKinney Boyd McKinney North Sherman Stephenville The Colony Advancing bands: 4 Area B will be one of the most competitive areas if not the most competitive area in 2007 as befits a Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex area. Some of the states top groups reside here, including Birdville and 2005 bronze medalist Sherman. This area will have a finalist field of seven bands and it will be a down to the wire race for the four coveted state berths here. With a former 5A SMBC finalist, 3 2005 SMBC finalists, and 2 2007 TMEA Honor band finalists, it

as far as recently published scores and rankings from competitions, I would say the biggest surprise hands down is the strength with which two year program Cibolo Steele has burst onto the scene. Skunking 3 time Area E Champion and perennial SMBC and TMEA Honor Band finalist New Braunfels is no easy feat, and to do it so convincingly at the most recent USSBA Centex regional speaks volumes about the quality of the program. Steele will be the dark horse group at the highly competitive Area D competition. Both Hendrickson and Dripping Springs have been behemoths at their most recent comps and are also frontrunners for a 4A SMBC berth.

well best of luck to the Dickinson band. IF they can make finals, it will have been the first time since 2001. I believe that goes for Honor Band as well. And I'd let your marching do the talking. That's a whole lot of smack to be said about some respectable programs.

Connally placed 7th overall at the USSBA competition

http://www.txbands.com/forums/index.php?ac...f=23&t=2536 TxBands.com Forums -> Replying in The fertile ground of Texas 4A Some results and some thoughts: USSBA Centex Regional, Bob Shelton Stadium (Kyle, TX) Group VI Open 1. New Braunfels H.S. (88.00) (High guard, percussion, visual, and music) 2. New Braunfels: Canyon H.S. (87.25) (High effect) Group V Open 1. Cibolo Steel H.S. (89.5) (High guard, visual, music, effect) 2. San Antonio: William H. Taft H.S. (87.1) (high percussion) 3. San Antonio: Tom C. Clark H.S. (86.75) 4. Copperas Cove H.S. (85.85) 5. Pflugerville: John B. Connally H.S. (85.75) 6. Austin: LBJ H.S. (82.25) Group IV Open 1. Austin: McCallum H.S. (85.1) (High guard, percussion, visual, music, effect) 2. San Marcos H.S. (83.0) 3. San Antonio: Alamo Heights H.S. (81.25) 4. San Antonio: John Marshall H.S. (80.95) 5. Waco: Midway H.S. (80.45) Top Three Overall Bands: 1. Cibbolo Steele: 89.5, 2. New Braunfels: 88.00, 3. NB Canyon: 87.25 So this was an interesting competition with some surprising turns. First, we had Cibolo Steele taking the overall championship. Their performance was clean and polished, both musically and visually. They will be a strong contender for the Area D championship and a state berth. With a whopping 1.5 point lead over fellow Area D rival New Braunfels expect Steele to continue making leaps and bounds, particularly considering that last week it was New Braunfels over Steele at the Rocket Review. NB Canyon's strong showing was also a pleasant surprise. They will be in the hunt come Area D. Now the shocker. Connally has been struggling so far this season, but this CenTex regional has placed some serious doubts on the defending Area D champions' shots at a repeat title and a state berth. Their score is still solid and only time will tell. Best of luck to them. Elsewhere, McCallum continues to perform strongly, but has lost some of the pacing it had earlier this season. Still a strong band.

Some thoughts on the recent week's competitions. Austin McCallum seems to have really lost some steam. I'm wondering if the show is peaking way earlier than necessary for a state year. Dripping Springs is on an upswing. Last week they were neck and neck with Connally and this week they outscored Pflugerville Hendrickson, picking up high guard and visual awards along the way. New Braunfels and Hays both netted top awards at their respective comps. Both seem to be progressing nicely. Over at the Birdville competition, it seems that Sherman outscored Poteet's exhibition performance. Sherman may be shooting for a State Championship this time around. Over at the BOA Houston competition, The Woodlands College Park was the highest scoring 4A band, ranking 13th in the competition with a 71.55. It's interesting to note that Friendswood came in 20th at the same competition with a score of 61.85. I would say that a whole lot of eyes are going to be focused on how TW-CP. With such a sizeable gap over such a strong 4A State Marching Band contender, one can't help but raise an eyebrow.

Austin, Texas - Capital City Music Festival Results -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here are the results of the Capital City Marching Festival on October 6, 2007. Please note that the classifications used to group bands in this festival are not the same as those in the UIL classification system. Numerical scores and total possible points follow in parentheses. AAAA High Music: Round Rock (288/300) High Percussion: Hendrickson (210/250) High Visual: Round Rock (242/300) High Guard: Canyon (126/150) 1. Round Rock (854/1000) 2. McNeil (848.5) 3. Hendrickson (845) 4. Westwood (840) 5. Smithson Valley (829) 6. Canyon (826) 7. Austin (767) AAA High Music: Akins (290/300) High Percussion: Georgetown (211/250) High Visual: Dripping Springs (249/300) High Guard: Dripping Springs (137/150) 1. Akins (872/1000) 2. Dripping Springs (868.5) 3. Anderson (848) 4. Georgetown (842.5) 5. Vista Ridge (834) 6. Lake Travis (828) 7. William Taft (804) 8. McCallum (790) 9. Lehman (766) 10. Lockhart (729) 11. San Marcos (650)

I didn't take it like that at all! Area D will be fiercely competitive, and Hays will have their work cut out for them.

check my post under the 4A thread.

Floresville is Area G with Roma...there's room in that area to advance three bands, so it's not entirely out of the realm of possibility that could be a contender in that area. I also think it would be wrong to count Hays out completely. They are a program with a lot of history and are no strangers to 4A state finals. I think at the very least we can expect to see them at the Area D finals.

Judson Rocket Band Review 4A- 1. New Braunfels HS 2. Cibbolo Steele HS 3. Schertz Clemens HS Guard: Cibbolo Steele HS Percussion: New Braunfels HS 5A- 1. Seguin HS 2. SA MacArthur HS 3. SA Wagner HS Guard: Seguin HS Percussion: Seguin HS Festival Grand Champion: Seguin HS 84.75

Some week old contest results from San Antonio's East Central Hornet comp. 5a 1. Taft 2. Smithson Valley 3. Southwest (don't know who won the caption awards.) 4a 1. Hays (Buda) 2. Floresville 3. Calallen 4. Fredericksburg 5. Fox Tech Drum Major - Floresville Guard - Hays Percusion - Floresville 3a 1 Hondo 2 Crystal City 3 La Vernia Drum Major - Hondo Guard - Hondo Percussion - Hondo 2a 1 Randolph 2 Jourdanton 3 Junction (don't know the placings for the others) Comfort Odem Nixon-Smiley Drum Major - Randolph Guard - Jourdanton Percussion - Randolph 1a 1 Falls City 2 Woodsboro Drum Major - Falls City Guard - Falls City Percussion - Falls City

Thanks for that bit of info! I may need to do more marching band hunting...most of my count was based on 2006's UIL marching contest, which only listed 15 bands in attendance. The Colony made it 16, but clearly there are more in the area that I have managed to miss, somewhat dubiously. That should make for a larger Area B with (hopefully) more than 3 advancers! Poteet will have their work cut out for them, but it would be rather interesting to see them win. Their 2005 show was a nice cut above the rest, but this year is stacking up to be wildly competitive. Best of luck to all the bands! You make a good point with King H.S. I had not considered that. I may also want to retract my early Fredericksburg pick. I stand by my Boerne pick unless their progress so far this season has somehow stunted itself. They have consistently done well in their former Area. I would also expect some fight in Alice and Floresville.

since monday? Pfun Pfestival of bands by the way. I found Pflugerville's community pfestivities (and the announcer) quite amusing!

There are a lot of 4A bands...I can't talk about everyone, as much as I'd like to try. This is not the Southwest school based out of San Antonio we're referring to eh? If you have a band competition your band will be going to that a correspondent of mine might be able to catch, let me know. Your work on the field will speak more volumes to me. That is what I generally go by. History doesn't hurt either, but I've seen nearly every single band I've talked about.

Best of luck at the Central Texas USSBA regional! Feel free to prove me wrong As the defending Area D Champions, I cannot discount the band completely, and y'all have already topped Dripping Springs at one competition this year.

If I'm not mistaken, they had a new director last year, who was the former assistant at the school. He is still the same head band director this year.

well that's annoying. Thanks for the heads-up on The Colony's actual area. That makes for an even meaner Area B (unfortunate for the top tier bands in that area). Duly noted. I guess a couple of bands have to slip through the cracks

MAKE OUR GARDEN GROW With Regional Champions, Grand National Finalists, and Grand National and Class AAA Champions in its stead, the bright light of 5A Texas Marching Bands tends to cast a large shadow on the field of 4A bands in Texas. To be sure, there is a disparity in the performance level of the elite 5A vs. the elite 4A bands. However, one cannot discount the fact that Class 4A has produced some strong 5A champions. Within the past 10 years, three 4A State Champions have gone on to be 5A SMBC finalists; 1999's Coppell, 2001's Cedar Park, and 2003's Richland, the latter achieving elite GN Finalist status. These respective bands have done admirably at BOA Regional competitions across the state. Yet another former 4A State Medalist in the more distant past, Leander, has also achieved elite GN Finalist status and in its heyday became one of the top 5 bands Texas had to offer. To be sure, 4A has proven a fertile breeding ground for eventual 5A powerhouses. Even now, 4A bands continue to make their mark at BOA competitions. While not dominating per se, bands like TW College Park, Pflugerville Hendrickson, Pflugerville Connally et. al have made strong impressions among some of the best competitions Texas has to offer. Suffice to say, I believe that UIL 4A SMBC is a significant event for Texas marching band enthusiasts to watch. Which brings me to the basis for this article. It is time to take an early look at what we can expect from the bands that will be competing in this year's SMBC as well as the Area breakdowns. There have already been a few early festivals and Oct. 6 marks the big day when most major local competitions start taking off. We've had the opportunity to glance at a few of this classification's major players and the next couple of weeks will start laying the course for who will advance to the Alamodome come November. IT ALL STARTS AT REGION Region seems like an afterthought to many major bands. Most are looking ahead to area and others even further to State and State finals. Nevertheless, Region is where it all happens. Region is, in actuality, a headcount of how many bands will be in attendance at State Preliminaries. For those unfamiliar with Texas Marching Band, at the Region competition, all bands are rated against a standard, with a division I being the highest standard. From there, all bands achieving the highest standard advance on to their respective Area competitions, seven in all. What many forget is that the more bands that advance to any given area competition, the more slots are made available for advancement to the state competition. This is because as a default in the large band classifications (4A, 5A), only two bands are required to advance from each area, regardless of size. However, if 15 or more bands advance to the area competition, for every five bands, one will advance to the state competition. Thus, an area with 20 bands will advance 4 to state, 25 will advance 5 etc. This poses particular problems in areas aching for bands. DISPARITY Let's take a look at, for example, Area D. Area D is comprised mainly of the San Antonio/Austin area schools and is the largest Area in the state with about 38 4A bands. Theoretically, if all bands made I's in this area, 7 bands could advance to state. Now of course this won't happen, but it certainly does increase the possibility for any given school to advance to state. This Area stands in start contrast to Area E, which has only about 9 bands in the entire area, or Area B (in my opinion the hardest area in the state, comprised mostly of a part of the Dallas/Ft. Worth area) with about 15 4A bands and four former State Finalists (Aledo, Birdville, The Colony, and Sherman) as well as a 4A State Honor Band finalist in Centennial. Former 5A and 4A State finalist The Colony finds itself in a rebuild after losing Dick Clardy in 2001. They have steadily been improving, placing 5th at the most recent TMEA 4A State Honor Band competition. They will not make this area any fun to advance out of. In order to advance three bands, every band in the area will have to make a one. Even one default could be costly for that third band aching to advance. WHO'S WHO There are of course certain bands that by tradition emerge as front-runners. All eyes are on Keller's Fossil Ridge HS, a 1999 former 4A State finalist before a stint in 5A. Traditional powers in the area include Azle, Big Spring, and El Paso Andress and will look to give the latest member of the area a rough time.Though this area has about 25 bands, my guess is that they will be able to advance only 3 bands to state. Area C is another Dallas area with one of the most storied programs in Texas 4A: Poteet HS from Mesquite. They are coming off two consecutive State Championships (2005 Marching, 2007 Honor Band) and are the heavy favorite for a repeat, though if history is any indicator, this will not happen. Both Friendswood and Richland have attempted the same feat unsuccessfully. Look for Poteet, JJ Pearce, and Waxahachie to be the frontrunners in this area. Area D is the glutton with a wealth of strong bands. Given my locale, I have had a chance to see more bands from here than anywhere. Hendrickson and Connally are the annointed fronrunners, but don't expect them to be the automatic 1-2 finishers at area this time around. Austin McCallum, AISD's Fine Arts Magnet, is putting on some impressive music and at this point in the season has the finesse and cleanliness to be a contender. Hendrickson has great depth in their show and are my current favorite to win Area. However, neither of the above groups can discount Dripping Springs or New Braunfels. New Braunfels is a former three-time Area E champion that has now been moved into titanic Area D. Of the favorites, Connally is looking the most behind at this point, so my early nods for State (assuming 4 advance) will be Hendrickson, Dripping Springs, McCallum, and New Braunfels. Area E is a hard one to call. There aren't a lot of bands here, but two stick out above the rest at this point: former State Finalist Brenham and former state participant Foster from Richmond. They are my current picks for this area. Area F is home to another group of storied programs in Friendswood and Dickinson. I must go out on a limb this time around. I'm calling Friendswood to be the future 4A State Champion. They have been too strong too long to come up short. Having said that, this area will likely advance two and Dickinson is no shoe-in. They will have trouble getting past Honor Band finalist Nederland and state perennial Santa Fe. Area G, the Valley area, Roma stands out as the clear front-runner, with numerous State Honor Band and Marching Band finals appearances. This area will likely advance three...going on that assumption, I shall give Boerne the early nod with the third spot a toss-up between Fredericksburg's Battlin' Billie Band and former 4A power Gregory-Portland. We shall see who emerges as a dark horse in this large race. It's still so early, and if one thing is certain, it's that 4A is a volatile field. Bands have come out of nowhere more than once. I look forward to seeing the final bands remaining in November. -The Shadow Weaver AREA A Amarillo Dumas Amarillo Hereford Amarillo Palo Duro Azle Big Spring Boswell Caprock Denton Denton Guyer El Paso El Paso Andres El Paso Capt. John L. Chapin El Paso Del Valle El Paso Horizon El Paso Jefferson/Silva El Paso Mountain View El Paso Parkland Keller Fossil Ridge* Pampa Saginaw San Angelo Lakeview White Settlement C.F. Brewer Wichita Falls Wichita Falls S.H. Rider Wolforth Frenship AREA B Aledo* Alvarado Arlington Heights Arlington Juan Seguin Birdville* Brownwood Centennial * Crowley Denison Everman Frisco Ft. Worth Eastern Hills Joshua Little Elm Sherman* The Colony* AREA C Dallas Highland Park Dallas Justin F. Kimball Dallas Lincoln Dallas Seagoville Dallas South Oak Dallas Thomas Jefferson Ennis Forney Greenville Hallsville Heath Rockwall Henderson Jacksonville Kilgore Lancaster Longview Pine Tree Marshall McKinney McKinney Boyd Mesquite Poteet* Mesquite West Mesquite Mt. Pleasant Paris Paris North Lamar Red Oak Richardson J.J. Pearce* Sulphur Springs Waxahachie* AREA D Austin Crockett Austin Johnston Austin Lanier Austin LBJ Austin McCallum Austin Reagan Austin Travis Burnet Cedar Park Vista Ridge Cibbolo Steele Copperas Cove Del Valle Dripping Springs* Elgin Hays Killeen Kyle Lehman Lake Travis Lampassas Lockhart Manor Marble Falls New Braunfels* New Braunfels Canyon Pflugerville Connally* Pflugerville Hendrickson* SA Alamo Heights SA Brackenridge SA Burbank SA Edison SA Fox Tech SA Jefferson SA Lanier SA Sam Houston Schertz Clemens Waco Waco Midway Waco University AREA E Brenham El Campo Houston Ross Sterling Houston Waltrip Katy Seven Lakes Richmond Foster Rosenburg Lamar Consolidated Rosenburg Terry Waller AREA F Angleton Beumont Central Medical Magnet Conroe Caney Creek Crosby Dayton Dickinson* Freeport Brazosport Friendswood* Galena Park Houston C.E. King Houston Forest Brook Huffman Hargrave Huntsville La Marque Little Cypress-Mauriceville Livingston Lumberton Mont Belview Barbers Montgomery Nederland* New Caney Ozen Port Neches Grove Santa Fe Texas City Vidor AREA G Alice Beeville A.C. Jones Boerne Corpus Christi Calallen Corpus Christi Flour Bluff Corpus Christi Miller Corpus Christi Moody Corpus Christi Tuloso-Midway Edcouch-Elsa Floresville Fredericksburg Gregory-Portland Kingsville H.M. King Mercedes Mission Mission Veterans Memorial Port Lavaca Calhoun Robstown Rockport-Fulton Roma* Weslaco East

This is a very old thread, but having been at state and seen these bands, I feel I must interject. No doubt Waxahachie and Dickinson had great shows. However, it is in verrry bad taste to downplay the achievement of bands like New Braunfels, Aledo, and Roma. All three bands are top notch programs (Roma and New Braunfels are TMEA State Honor Band Silver and Bronze medalists, respectively). I should also point out that, having seen prelims and finals, it was also clear that quite a few bands had less than stellar finals performances, which can even be demonstrated in score analysis. The band that had the biggest performance difference (clearly demonstrated in scores) was definitely New Braunfels. While not their best performance in prelims (I have acquired a tape of their Friday performance before state as testament of that), they were nonetheless a solid Top 7 (check the scores) going into finals. Finals was a whole nother story, and the band fell apart with phasing/tempo problems. The band was deserving of their 9th place finals ranking. You can't have a bad performance at state finals and expect to rank higher. However, there is a distinct difference between a bad performance and a bad band, and New Braunfels was definitely deserving of their finals position. Aledo showed complexity of music/drill, and though dirty, still performed their show at a high level. Roma was impecably clean and were solid finalists in prelims and finals. To my knowledge, Waxahachie has never made state finals in the past. Both New Braunfels and Roma have. Not only that, but Roma and New Braunfels have two of the elite 4A wind ensembles in the state and are perennial TMEA Honor Band finalists. Aledo and Hendrickson were the only real newcomers. Do not insult the success of other programs simply because your program did not achieve what it would have liked to achieve. Suck it up, congratulate the hard-working finalists (you know how hard your band worked to get their ranking. These bands worked just as hard if not harder. They deserve your respect) and move on.

nnelsonbsn use of the word **** as a pejorative term is unacceptable and rude. Just in case you missed the memo.

To see so many of the best marching bands in the nation...I'm sooo incredibly envious right now!

I have a very rare file of one of the most underrated Texas shows: Westfield's 2000 show "Hemispheres" performance: State prelims I love this show. Maybe you would like it? AIM: AlexT4L

What's up with the trash talk surrounding the La Joya regional??? A weaker regional than most Texas regionals, yes. But, so what? That the regional is weaker than most Texas regionals doesn't make the bands that go to the regional bad (in Texas, bands are usually anything but). So, again, I want to ask, what's with the groans and trash talk surrounding the La Joya regional? Or are we a bit elitist when it comes to appreciation of the activity past the creme de creme?