packwick

private discord director chat has the deets, if u still go there, incl the full letter from the school admin. to sum it up, in a word: dRaAaaaMaaa!! *hangs upside down crucifix on wall and prays*

maybe bc Avon did the Which is Witch show w/o any problems the staff thought this one wouldn't cause a stir?? lots of "demonic" imagery in that one, with pentagrams and whatnot. also one of avon's coolest and most thought-provoking shows. def important to keep parents in the loop as you're designing the show, not just after, if you're doing something a lil risky and think there might be pushback. that's, like, 50% of my ideas LOL. "you mean you're not thrilled with this show, that's inspired by the movie, Showgirls? philistines!"

le gasp!! protesting against something? administration? staff? didn't like the way they were being treated? they rehearse like 12-17 hours a week during the guard season, so that would make any poor treatment extra miserable. there simply won't be the same degree of competition w/o them at Dayton. will feel incomplete. on the flip side, this provides a bigger opening for a first-time champion w/ either arcadia or woodlands winning (if it's not just Carmel again). could see some others up there, too.

also find myself wishing yet again that winter guard international had a bit more... ahem... international representation. does Aimachi even exist anymore?!!! still better than DCI in that regard, but that's a loooow bar to clear.

curious about dripping springs' chances in A class here. they're not strangers to major wgi success. didn't love their marching show this past season, but the guard def stood out in a good way. Pearland won't be out of place in open. not sure about finals chances. American fork another that really impressed me on the field. had forgotten they had medaled in open, so was surprised by them looking so ~*world class*~ LOL. maybe a finalist right away, iiif the show's right. not always great overlap b/w field and indoor quality. Centerville, don't know if the skills are there to achieve world class finals yet, but i love their weird, outside the box approach to design, so looking forward to them no matter what. El dorado and kiski again ones to watch. really have developed that top-to-bottom strength we see from the well-oiled machines near the top. El dorado nearly matched Carmel last yr in finals. seems ripe for a medal opp, but also seems like a strong possibility that Avon, arcadia, and woodlands all return to the podium. actually arcadia wasn't all that impressive on the marching field this year, but neither were they last year, and they still pulled it together for WGI, sooo... *shoulder shrug* great design + a few months of rehearsal go a long way!! curious to see where Carmel ends up, bit of a "scare" for them last season at wgi after prelims. evidence the high school scene is really getting very competitive. def liked the SWs more than the IWs last season!! seriously missing Tarpon and Origins, but nothing we can do about that.

hope that we see broken arrow join Choctaw in driving down to this event. very curious to see what their new guard looks like, but the streaming schedule is very limited. the ba girls were quite good on the marching field this past season, def a step up from usual.

i still don't understand why neither comes down at least once every 4 yrs. it could be their equivalent of a fun out-of-state Nats trip! winning BOA-SA is a huge accomplishment, only maybe slightly edged out by winning Nationals. even just making finals at SA is huge. do they really just spend all that money on designers?? are theirs just that much more expensive?! je ne comprends pas!

you were in color guard?!!! that's so cool!! a lil different in that era tho, for sure. LOL. it's also neat that u went on to win Nats as a director for the same program. a bit delayed, but you still got a championship!!

i just want whichever band wins BOA-SA next season to be one of the ones attending Nats. it's been waaaay too long since that's happened.

Kennesaw Mountain tho... established in 2000, made National Finals in 2002... some others as well. CTJ opened in 2008 and made finals in 2011.

didn't have a horse in the race, but some of these judging inconsistencies are... oof... kinda understand it, considering all the relative newbies to BOA they have to train, but still. and when, oh when, are we gonna get a doubling of the effect panels?? feel like that might help at least a lil w/ the inconsistencies. boa is really behind the other marching arts orgs in that regard. frankly makes me look forward to wgi even more. easier to predict at least. lol.

well that 2A has already won Nationals, so...

not quite!! they were 2nd to perform in the top half in 2021. only reason i remember that is bc i recall watching woodlands and thinking, wow, they set the standard really really high! then watching broken arrow and thinking, welp, woodlands just got two-pointed lol. alas, i was correct.

team Texas slays once again!!! hoping for a BA upset in finals, too, but Avon's vis will be hard to top. overall finalists were exactly as expected, even w/o watching any of semis!! LOL

also what's w/ the extra panel of judges??? just now noticing there are too many names. BOA finally doubling their panels for major contests, like every other major marching arts organization?? esp w/ GE being 60%, that shoulda happened a looooong time ago.

so w/ a lil more wiggle room, finalists prob something like: bridgeland, a. fork, prosper, tarpon, avon, ba, carmel, dobyns, cp, leander, mason, and castle??? can't shake the feeling b-burg has a huge surge upward, but it'll be hard. also, homestead thru prosper cluster will be good for the judges to get a direct comparison.

congrats to all 6 tx bands!! 4 in the top 22!!! give it your all tomorrow!! it ain't over til it's over!!! brownsburg out of top 22 is a surprise based on reputation at least, haven't seen em since the beginning of the season tho. penalty?? at the same time, b-burg WAS memorable for me when i attended finals last yr, bc they seemed really outclassed musically by the other finalists, excepting Fishers, who was also a lil iffy musically. both strong visually, however, w/ great color guards. strong designs as well.

yah, unlike wgi and dci scores, which are supposed to be kinda sorta comparable for the seeding processes, boa scores dont have the same consistency. ppl might be concerned for Leander after yesterday. im not concerned at all. one place out of finals at SA?? seems almost like a guarantee for Nats finals on a "tx-lite" yr. music counts for most of the score which usually elevates the tx ones in the bubble. all of cp, Leander, bridgeland, and prosper checked the "nats finals" quality boxes in my head last time i saw em. ofc im not as familiar w/ the out of state bubbles. i know castle is strong. also, guessing top 3 will be ABC again. maaaybe even in that order, not sure. 🎵A-B-C, 1-2-3🎵 well maybe more like acb 123.

well i sure hope the adults in the room give twhs world guard the proper vehicle (staging, choreo, etc.) to get gold at WGI this season, 'cause that full fall season guard absolutely steamrolls over everyone else in the country this yr. best hs color guard ever. like, obviously so. really they've had the talent for gold for at least a couple yrs now, at least in equipment skills.

forgot to mention em, but how exciting for 7L too!! they may need to make a Nats trip.

Lewisville ISD reigns supreme!!! full pointer for flomo in the end. i thought all of 1-5 would be tight. just 2-5 tho, that was a dogfight. Marcus was a pleasant surprise for me in prelims, at least after seeing them at prosper. they were def hangin w/ woodlands again. managed to watch Hebron in prelims. thought their music might give em the edge here. they sounded sooo unbelievably good!!! Pearland is def my biggest disappointment placement wise, but i absolutely get it after watching some of finals. not quiiiite as clean as i had projected.

ok, im going back to bed now. too early for me for a Saturday. these first few bands were all great. Texas is blessed.

cp (college park) will always have my heart. seem to be understanding the marching side of things more and more each yr. really doing a better job of getting that sound up to the press box. they could prob just hire some vis and design consultants and be done w/ it. guard still strong. A class now?? also is that miss dillard's daughter?? ugh, i've gotten olddd...

fab run from Marcus too!! having the full prisms really brings a visual pop to the show that was missing before.

unexpectedly stellar run from tw despite performing so early. very effective show, too. wonderful tapestry of moods and colors. bravo, kiddos!!