david19c

I went to a smaller, lower-income school in Austin but got to see Vista Ridge come into the spotlight in 2018. I am not affiliated with the band but was inspired by their growth and change and had become a fan of them. I do not lie when I say that Cedar Ridge parents have been disrespectful to me and my program. I do admit that my comments concerning Cedar Ridge and Rouse were out-of-hand, and that my concerns about the microphones are founded from a jealousy that my program could not afford shotgun mics to also enhance our sound. Once again, I am not affiliated with Vista Ridge and apologize for any harm to their reputation.

I vividly remember many comments circulating on these boards in 2018 calling them “Vista Freaking Ridge” when they had their crazy stretch to win state, so it actually originated with them. They just didn’t have the arrogance to print it on their shirts and then fail to make state or SA finals the next year. Call me salty, but Cedar Ridge parents were so cocky and pretentious last year and I’ve personally witnessed many of them bringing down other programs at competitions.

I noticed other bands too but almost none of the other upper half bands had mics set up in that fashion. I’m just saying that it feels weird to credit a band for having a loud sound when they’re practically playing into mics linked up to giant speakers. I will admit that the quality of their music is great, but so is any other band at this level.

I noticed that Rouse had mics on each side of the field (not soloist mics, it looked like they were directly picking up the band). Is this not just a cheap way to artificially increase their sound? Seems like they’re less of a “small band with a big sound” and more of a “small band that can afford good microphones”. Especially since they only really have big hits when they’re at the front of the field.

Man, if only we could’ve had Vista at full strength. What could have been. Still insane to me that they used to be a bubble band that was more often out of finals than in, and now they have the best brass and ensemble sound in the state of Texas with less members and money. It’s inspiring to see the growth of this program since placing 24th at state in 2016. I hope this puts more respect on Vista’s name in future years.

From what I’ve heard from a lot of Vista Ridge parents, A LOT of students (around 20ish) were out with the flu the past week which was seen through all the holes ever since BOA San Antonio. It seemed like most of them came back in time for State Finals, but I’m sure those students weren’t at 100% yet since they missed time or are still recovering which I’m sure impacted their marching technique. Looking at the ordinals, if they were in the 5-6 range for individual visual instead of 9 then they’d be looking at a medal. Regardless, insane grit and perseverance for that band to place 5th even with all their health issues.

Vista Ridge went from a bubble band and 16th at BOA SA 2017 to winning gold at 6A State 2018.

Happen to visit any bakeries around Vista Ridge?

Perfect way for Vista Ridge to show people that last year wasn't a fluke. From 20th (2015), to 18th (2016), to 16th (2017), to 4th (2018), and finally to 3rd (2019). Absolutely insane. All of the other bands were amazing but I wish people would talk more about Vista Ridge other than how it's worse than Lost and Found or how they stole the Mandarins prop or how the soprano soloist is a weak link. Additionally, there were numerous people on the HornRank forums talking about their "brass sound is inconsistent" and that their "HornRank placement inaccurately placed them higher than they should be". Everyone has been putting them at the 6th to 9th/10th range, but they surely Turned the Tables on us. Can't wait for them to go to Grand Nationals next year.

Anyone get a recording of Vista Ridge prelims???

The Vista Ridge video guy just posted a super cool hype/highlights video for the band and is absolutely worth checking out! You can find it on their YouTube channel: VistaRidgeBandVideo Amazing stuff as always! IMO, VR has had some of the most impressive highlight video reels from competitions and football games, props to who ever is in charge. Excited to see them this weekend.

Noticed through a lot of videos on YouTube and Instagram of bands ditching their shakos for their show... perhaps picking up on Vista Ridge's style from last season and DCI trends? I know VR didn't wear shakos so they could exemplify their facial expressions to the press box, but I wonder if other schools are able to do it too.

I highly doubt Vista Ridge is going. The directors have not mentioned anything about grand nats, which is something that would at least be brought up by now. The band also goes on out-of-state-trips every other year to save money, and is going to New York this spring for their “pricey trip”. It’s very unlikely that they will go on an expensive trip 2 years in a row.

FloMarching is holding a type of Award Ceremony for the 2018 season, and there are a bunch of different categories. One of them is the "Best Tooter/s", which is basically the best soloist or duet or trio or whatever. The nominees are mostly DCI performers, but FloMarching actually put Vista Ridge's trombone soloist on there too! I know that myself, as well as many others, were impacted tremendously by Vista Ridge's show and all of their soloists, so I believe that this is a very good way to show our appreciation for this young performer. Also, this trombone soloist is the only nominee from Texas, so we should show some #TeamTexas pride too and vote for him! There are no limitations for voting, so you can vote as much as you'd like. Here's the link: https://www.flomarching.com/articles/6293680-the-2018-flomarchies-vote-on-the-best-tooters-of-2018

I was also talking about both 6A and 5A competitions too. 2010: Marcus 2011: Cedar Park 2012: Marcus 2013: Vandegrift 2014: Marcus 2015: Cedar Park 2016: Flower Mound 2017: Cedar Park 2018: Vista Ridge Pretty cool that two school districts have been at the top of the state for so long.

Sorry to revive a dead thread, but I just realized that LISD (Lewisville or Leander) has won the State Marching Championship every year since 2010. Very funny that their names are the same.

Is 6A state not being factored into Hornrank? Doesn’t make sense for them to use area results but not state results, as I believe that Vista Ridge should be higher than what they’re currently at.

I’m still in absolute shock of how much Vista Ridge has improved in a year. From being in the bottom half of Leander ISD and 16th to being the best performing band from their district and 4th place. How does that even happen in a year??

Do y’all think Vista Ridge can win class 3A? It would be their first time as class champions.

Anyone else getting up early to watch Vista Ridge in the first block tomorrow? I know I’ll be up!

Here’s Vista Ridge’s show from area finals if anyone was wondering where all the hype was coming from: I saw them at area H last weekend and I was absolutely blown away.

I know that UIL and BOA are very different, but based off of the recent performances and results at area yesterday, specifically Area H (*ahem* Vista Ridge), are there any new predictions or opinions for San Antonio?

Any more thoughts on how the LISD bands will stack next saturday?