MikeKyu

Both Austin and Bedford will be exciting. Luckily I live about a 15 minute drive from Kelly Reeves. Having spectated this for years and I feel blessed. It's been a golden era for HS marching bands in an area. Bedford is a great show for a top half/bottom half contest. It's also a great place for fans to comfortably watch the contest. Much better than Kelly Reeves for the people in the stands all day. Plus the PA at Kelly Reeves is possibly the worst in all of Texas for a contest. You'd figure that the Round Rock ISD could fund a new PA system but I guess that's not on their radar. There's only 1 show and it's non-BOA in the country that has a higher band for band performance level and fortunately it's even closer to me than Kelly Reeves. That show is the Leander Festival of Bands. Last year was a madhouse like I've not seen before. It's not a contest but it's a celebration for the middle and high school programs. Plus getting the hear and feel: Leander Vandegrift Vista Ridge Cedar Park Glenn Rouse and all of the middle school bands play together at the end of the show is almost as powerful as when DCI finalists all played at finals award ceremonies.

This is the strongest regional in the country. Band for band, throughout the day, there is no contest that can touch the quality that can be seen here.

I'm not sure I fully understand the Texas preferred sound of trumpets where they are not the deep Italian sound that I was raised playing with but it's amazing on the field. Old man. Not in school. Not in anything of consequence. I did not play much from 1997-2021. Small stints where I played with guys like Sam Rivers and multiple local brass bands in Seattle and backing on recordings. Bb Bach Stradivarius 43 lead pipe 43 star bell. C Bach Stradivarius 37 lead pipe star bell mouthpiece: 1 1/2C 31 bore (I'd play a 3C if I had one that wasn't bent) range on the Bb: pedal C - double A (still really thin but I'm still rebuilding my chops using a huge mouthpiece and a massive lead pipe) chair: N/A Favorite practice routine: 30 minutes long tones (chromatic low G to High F) , 30 minute Schlossberg slurs Favorite solo to practice: Arban's arrangement of the Carnival of Venice https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycw3i7xjlxA or Haydn Trumpet Concerto Favorite arrangements I've ever played: Anthony "The Boss" Pasquarelli's arr... of Bugler's Holiday (TPT 1 through TPT 3) Most fun trio: B. Britten: Fanfare for St. Edmundsbury (unique key and time signatures for each trumpet). Played this on 3 balconies separated by 300 feet each. Always wanted to play and record this in a mountainous area.

It's part of the culture and directive of the administration. Academics, Athletics, Arts are all given equal weight. With the arts programs you also have a group of boosters who are dedicated to not only the students but also to the community with an eye to how the community views the organization.

Argyle is going to be a wildcard. Their UIL success cannot be overlooked even if they are new to 5A. They didn't look or sound out of place at the SA Super.

I should have prefaced that. I worked with Stevie several times. When he first came into my then live room he was amazed at the engineering we did to make a 9 foot ceiling sound like a 24 foot ceiling to him. When I gave him the answer of "No, it's a 9 foot ceiling" he retorted with "well, I didn't see that coming." He also made several other jokes in the time he was at my studio regarding his sight. After a few weeks it just became normal to me to make or join in on Steve jokes. That show was amazing. My wife and I sat in rapt attention to Arch Bishop Alter and them bringing something so courageous and stunning to the stage.

I wonder if Stevie Wonder watched that performance

Where are all of those people who were moaning about BOX 5 doing the UIL broadcast now? And here's the quote of the evening. Proof why Broken Arrow cannot win this contest

It's great to see Henny, SLC, and Prosper all make finals. I believe that Johnson was harmed by their placement behind Broken Arrow and Avon. This is going to be a nail biting finals.

This could possibly be a weird year where the winner wins no captions.

I'd like a little of whatever they have had. That was an eagle worthy performance from Tarpon Springs.

Every single Grand Nationals not attempts.

Hendrickson with their best run of the year. They may have just pushed into finals. Other highlights for me: Mason's show is absolutely gorgeous. Castle's show is wonderfully fun. Considering they are 40% freshmen this year they are setting up well.

Johnson has a rough pull. Following Avon and Broken Arrow. Luckily the Texas gauntlet has them prepared.

Yeah, Broken Arrow is great. Brass sounds are fantastic and they move well. They have only done one show recently that I can really connect with. And that's why this activity is an art. It's okay to not connect with some of it but still be able to understand why it's so good.

O'Fallon's low brass feature is a blast. This is the 3rd time I've seen them this year and show continues to make me smile.

There was some dirt today but that will clean up as the contest continues I believe. I see them taking American art forms to the top 4 this year.

Prosper had a good run. They will be through to semis and IMO are at the top of the finals bubble if they can clean up a little bit. Their strong point music had a little dirt that when they clean up will help them tremendously to getting to finals. What a gorgeous and delicate ballad. Tarpon Springs. I hope I never get tired of being surprised by them. Every year they come out with a high demand visual treat. They sound AMAZING! That fluegelhorn and bari sax soloists are FIRE! Holy guard accuracy batman. Incredible.

M&G Johnson had a fantastic run today. They will be representing Team Texas in semis for sure. Prosper is up in about 5 minutes followed by Tarpon Springs. Tarpon Springs is a 2A school (technically). 2A is a meat grinder this year. My guess is that they will win it but Kiski has put out what is my favorite show from them since the early 90s. Mustang's show this year is another wildly fun presentation. I think they cleaned up a lot since St. Louis.

2014's battle between Cedar Park and Vandegrift was immensely fun.

Now do it using the BOA 60/40 weighting

I'll be there, but I'm not footing the bill to bring a backing band 🤪

I know it's part of the activity for the foreseeable future. There are a lot of things that can be done with electronics on the field and it hasn't even begun to be explored yet (I've got some remarkably terrible ideas). The organizations have not invested in having proper techs set ups. With discussions I've had with staff and volunteers from multiple organizations tech is always an afterthought. I ran a professional 25,000 sq ft recording studio for many years and am quite familiar with recording electronics dying at the exact worst time possible. Actually after a few years I expected it and always had a WTF just happened backup plan. Unfortunately, I have not seen one organization have a back up plan on field. They may have them and so seamlessly integrated them that we never knew it happened but I have my doubts.

This is why I'm not a fan of so many electronics in shows.

Why not have a State Marching band festival then?