FEDude

Anyone know if Brandeis did alright? I didn't catch prelims. I had them in finals for sure though. I know they'll be back even stronger come area time. They're starting to reach the caliber of many great Austin bands.

My personal favorites of the night were: Reagan - Is this a Lucifer show? Can someone better at interpreting shows explain this to me? Regardless it was awesome: The religious overtones, the dancers, the soloists. Such a well designed show. If they can clean it, I think it could become one of the all time "classic shows". Cy Wood - Had me hooked start to end. So clean as well. Rouse - I love hearing high caliber bands take on Toccata and Fugue. Marcus definitely set the standard (and a very high one at that). I'd love to see where this show goes in a couple weeks. Also, those were the nicest guard outfits I've ever seen. Round Rock - I was getting very Phantom 2008 vibes from the show and the uniforms. Strikingly clean despite exposing themselves with the white outfits

My favorite shows from first half were Cy Woods, Westwood, and McNeil. Westwood was very good all around. They do look smaller than I remember them being though. Anyone have any insider info?

Up until the closer, Cedar Ridge's music was giving me some early 2000s Reagan vibes. Everything in that show seemed to melt beautifully into the next section, even with the pauses.

I believe all NISD bands will get 1s. At least NISD used to have a soft rule that your band gets a 1 or else you'll get a new director the next year. I wonder though, did Jay drop down to 5A?

I was in the Taft band (front ensemble) and graduated 2017. I joined this board a year after graduating. I was a lurker since freshman year though. My band had a fairly strict social media policy, and as upbeat as this site normally is, to be able to post anything interesting, I needed to be free to speak my mind. I did try out for the Blue Knights in 2017 (who were actually in discussion for being top 5 or 6 then), but was quickly cut. I couldn't afford any other camps, and wasn't studying music, so I decided to just forget about it. I ended up studying at BYU for civil engineering and am now attending UT Austin for my masters. I consider myself very lucky, since I can catch the best bands in America just 30 minutes away. That being said, when I was in high school, I could watch any band shows for 12 hours non-stop. Now, I can't last more than 3 hours at a competition. I do like to follow how my old band and related groups are doing though. My favorite bands to watch are Taft (obviously), Churchill (2 of my old directors switched over there), Reagan, and Brandeis. I do love music, and often practice piano. I even play it at church. I broke my wrist a few years ago though and never fully regained strength; I can't really drum or play mallet instruments anymore.

Maybe. That's kinda the thing with NISD bands (and I'll lump Del Rio in since they're around the same caliber). Early season you may see very high scores only for other bands to peak right around area. This makes NISD kinda hard to rank (apart from Brandeis which consistently outranks schools in the district at UIL). I'll probably check out the US Bands Austin competition this week. Maybe I can form a more educated not based on last year.

Anyone know the size of NISD? With Sotomayor, I think it's 12 6A schools. Is that 3 or 4 advancing bands (assuming everyone advances)? My predictions: 1. Vandegrift 2. Vista Ridge 3. Westlake 4. Lake Travis 5. Brandeis 6. Del Rio 7. Brennan 8. Steele 9. Taft 10. Harlan Im pretty confident about 1-4. If Brandeis happens to have a spectacular show, and Lake Travis has a bad run, there could be a big shake up. Honestly though, Brandeis is the only band I could see breaking into the 4. 6-10 could be anyone. I do think Del Rio has been proving themselves more and more each year, so I'd consider them a lock for finals. If they have an awesome run, they might even grab the alternate spot.

I suspect the law of decreasing marginal returns would come into effect after 8 hours. Would a Texas band be able to put up a visual package that can compete with Avon or Broken Arrow? I think they could and have with the time restriction. Is the time per week really what's holding Texas back visually? I'm not personally convinced. LD Bell's and Reagan's shows from the 2000 proved Texas can do demanding drill with an 8 hour restriction. TWHS has stunning guard work every season. I personally think Reagan would've swept every caption had they gone to nats in 2019. I think the answer is prioritizing the visual package more than is currently done. Also, relating more closely to the discussion, the 8 hour rule kept me sane in high school. My grades were not the best, I wasn't in any other extracurricular activity, and I only squeaked out 5 hours of sleep a night. There are a lot of people that managed their time more effectively, and at many schools the valedictorian is often a band kid. At my school though, from my graduating class of 700, not a single active band kid (there was one that quit earlier in high school) was in the top 10. I don't regret being in band. It enriched my life in a great way. I'm glad rehearsals were limited to 8 hours though (considering my Fridays and Saturdays were taken up by football games and competitions).

I loved concert season! For anyone planning on doing anything music related in college, concert season is kinda when you build your resume. I had several friends that went to or at least auditioned for UNT (my first dream school when I wanted to become a band director). It seems like no university (or drum corp for that matter) cares how successful your school's marching program is. It seemed like making región band, getting a 1 at state solo and ensemble, and their actual audition pieces was a much bigger deal. I didn't do music after high school. But if I were a high band director, I'd probably still stick to the 8hr rule even if it got repealed. I don't believe they're being paid anything extra for their work (maybe techs are), and I like my family enough to want to see them more than a couple hours a week. NISD paid teachers 50K starting when I was a student. That is definitely not enough for 12 hour work days.

Good for Vandegrift! My freshman year was 2013, so I remember hearing about a new school winning 4A state. That year, everyone was talking about CTJ (the acrobats!), Hebron, and especially The Woodland's shows. Vandegrift kinda flew under my radar. I'll admit, it was a gorgeous show, especially on the music side, but IDK if it would've made state finals today. Vandegrift is making the same levels of growth as Marcus did from 2006 (where there could be a legitimate debate over who the champion should be) to 2012 (where there was honestly no question). So basically they're going from already at the top of the UIL latter, to even further up the latter. Great time to be a Vandegrift student!

Looking at scores, the top 4 is ceiling region 11 and 29 just aren't reaching. I don't think I saw a single judge in finals rank the schools in 5-10 in the top 4. Normally there's at least 1 break through. I think they'll get there some day. Brandeis looks like the most likely to do so, though Lake Travis continues to make their swift rise from upper mid tier band to BOA SA finalist contenders. The gap is just getting wider. To me it's exciting seeing a band rise like that; I can imagine it's a bit frustrating for the kids though. I was hoping my old school, Taft would do a bit better. 8th was actually what we got in area when we qualified for state in 2014. They were doing very well throughout the season, but I guess they had a weaker performance come finals time, especially comparing music scores between prelims and finals. Could anyone there tell me what happened to O'Connor? Looking at this season, I saw no reason they shouldn't have been up there with Brandeis. I guess area is just a different ball game.

Vandegrift could have one of the worst runs they've had in weeks and I'd still be shocked if they were out of the top 2. Vandegrift is such a powerhouse, where even a bad run is ahead of most of their competition. It reminds me of state finals last year. Hebron had arguably a "bad run". They still beat every band besides 1. Or even the Woodlands 2006, where they had severe tech issues, but still got 4th in the country. That being said, I'm not there today. I had to travel for work. I might catch the tail end of finals if time permits.

Wow, that was not close at all! This is Secret World level dominance. I will say, I didn't enjoy Vandegrift's show much at UIL. Tonight they pulled out all the stops and the show was a million times more enjoyable. It's a wonderful show. Cedar Park's show is my personal favorite of the season. It's my dark horse to win state. I got to sit next to some Rouse parents. They were so supportive of the other bands in their district and were so excited to be "on the map" in terms of national rankings. It's a gorgeous show everyone needs to see in person. Edit: I guess calling the reigning champion a dark horse is pretty dumb. Oh well!

Just got out. I think top 3 will be 1. Vandegrift 2. Rouse 3. Cedar Park To be honest, 3 will probably be Round Rock. I just really really like Cedar Park.

DS (in my opinion) is the best sounding band thus far. Sounded like a concert band in some places.

MG Johnson's kinda reminds me of a pre 2013 Carolina Crown show (a good thing definitely). I'm sending a video to my fiancée. Michael Jackson is her favorite American artist.

I love Westlake's ballad so much. They're 100% making state. Their guard appears to be especially strong.

I just adore Leander's music selection. Cadets 2005 is my favorite DCI show of all time, so whenever I hear anything from that show I get really excited. Also how did they find anyone talented enough on the sousaphone to do a solo that good? I honestly thought the sousaphone was only brought out during marching season and no one is supposed to sound that good playing it? Yeah, there needs to be a bit of cleaning, but I really like this show an lot and wish it placed a bit higher.

Brandeis's sound is great! To be honest, they probably have the best sound in NISD. Some timing issues, especially in the opener, but they put on a great show! At the end where the colorguard girl is doing lasso tricks, I was hoping she'd lasso a band member's plume off. The guard was stunning though.

As a former Front Ensemble person, wow, Cedar Ridge's front ensemble is small but very very talented. I couldn't see one person with lacking technique. Color guard was absolutely gorgeous as well.

My predictions: 1. Vandegrift 2. Vista Ridge (1 and 2 may change) 3. Lake Travis 4. Westlake (I really don't see any other band breaking in this year) After this, it's kinda a tossup 5. O'Connor 6. Harlan 7. Brandeis 8. Taft 9. Brennan 10. Del Rio Bubble: Clark, Judson I put Vandegrift first just because UIL is so music focused, and when I saw them at UIL, they were (to me) the most perfect band musically of the night (and their marching was not far behind). Westlake's show is absolutely gorgeous, and I think the show may even break into state finals. It still needs cleaning though. Still, I do think there's still a large enough gap between 4th and whoever gets 5th. To be honest, any of 5-10 could be higher or lower. Taft had an impressive show at Vista and Brandeis had an equally impressive show at BOA Austin. Harlan actually beat Taft earlier in the season, and they've been in area finals before. Brennan has had some amazing seasons recently and I can see them even higher than that.

I decided to come to Region 32. I don't know why they do these on school nights. I am exhausted. I can only imagine how the kids feel. Oh my gosh, Cedar Park's show has the most stunning dance moves I've seen in a high school band.

Looking at the numbers, it's 4 advancers if everyone listed gets a 1. I don't think anyone doubts Region 32. I don't live too far away. I might catch a peak of what these bands are doing this Wednesday. Region 29 is NISD. Recently, NISD has been quite strict about UIL the last couple of years; You get a 1, or you get a new band director next year. Harlan, Taft, and O'Connor seem to be having especially great seasons. Brandeis is still doing very well, but not at the level that they were last year when it was a genuine question if they'd beat Lake Travis. Any of those 4 (or even all of them) could be in Area finals. Still don't think they'll make state, but in Texas, anything is possible. Region 11 will probably be fine. There are a couple bands that haven't been consistent with getting a 1 I'm a little nervous for, but I know they're all working hard. Del Rio is probably the strongest band in the region. They're doing pretty well this season as well , just barely missing Vista Ridge finals.

Wow, Taft did a lot better than I thought they would. Good for them! Great to see my old school finding their form.