Band2021

Vandegrift much stronger than Area and you can tell they are fighting to medal! I love the demand of the show I am glad their directors know how to push them.

ahhhhh liberal arts and science academy that was amazing! I am really impressed with the musicality of this group. Never heard of them before.

Round Rock is so clean which is great! Musically they are so on it this year! so happy for them I was a bit worried as their recent shows have not been my favorites but this year it looks like they are finding their footing. Only issue is GE I am thinking that they are targeting UIL and that's why it is a bit on the low side.

I sadly missed Bowie trying to watch while working from home so missed a few sadly. I miss the days when I was a kid marching out there lol!

for me its also close for the bands that have went so far Cedar Ridge - Vista Ridge Westlake Dripping Springs JBA Pflugerville

very interesting I do love the design but they seem not as visually clean like their Area performance but musically they are something else. I love the musical selection this year. GE seems to be lacking so strange that a band their size only has 20 guard members. No matter will definitely see them in finals!

yeah JBA was really impressive a lot of GE in this one which may help them out. I know they tend to get hit on music every year so hopefully this year they place a little higher.

Dripping Springs was great! I think musically they don't have the same impact as Cedar Ridge. For example that last note needs to be held for at least 8 counts with crescendo. A little change like that can really make a difference.

Cedar Ridge is always setting the standard when it comes to this contest! Their show is designed like a DCI show but also somehow has elements of UIL show design if that makes any sense. Their percussion is Steller I mean the left hands!! you can tell these kids have a great percussion director. Cedar Ridge is GE like crazy a lot of acting going on out there great work! I am a fan of this show and what it has morphed into since the beginning of the season.

This is great news i selected 14 so now i should be able to keep all 14 and just guess placement which right now seems hard because I have a few bands in the bottom half that don't look right.

Said the same thing! Keith Dye wasn't to kind in finals or prelims for CR. I was surprised by CR visual score they tend to struggle there but seemed strong tonight.

https://www.uiltexas.org/music/marching-band/area

Not making any final predictions until i look at scores from tonight. But i am working with the following: The Woodlands H.S. Vista Ridge H.S. Vandegrift H.S. Westlake H.S. Cy-Fair H.S. Ronald Reagan H.S. Claudia Taylor Johnson H.S. Cedar Ridge H.S. Pearland H.S Hebron H.S. Flower Mound H.S. Marcus H.S. Coppell H.S. Waxahachie H.S. yall let me know if i should be considering another dark house. So far my uil predictions have been dead in the water lol 😆 so maybe some more hope will help.

It should be 12 unless it changed

Agreed great performances all around!

Correct! I made the foolish mistake of forgetting this. I am sure we can all agree that UIL has a different standard then BOA when it comes to visual performance. I am not saying one is better than the other but uil targets cleanliness of drill over general effect. The more your band moves the better at UIL you will place as long as your clean. Speed means nothing here if your band is on the slower side it doesn't really matter. Music is very similar between the contest but UIL favors more classical approach as it shows a bands musical ability. I am sure Dripping Springs will continue to be a contender in the future as long as they follow that formula. Great Work!

Yup they need to go in tonight with their head in the game. Look at Westlake they are a serious threat also.

Vista Ridges show is cleaner and more refined then Vandy. No surprise here UIL can be easy to predict based on show design.

What will be interesting is where leander will place. We will see if they can make it in top 14 this year. Based on the chart they would be the most vulnerable band that has made it in 100% of the time since 2016.

My picks for top 5: 1. Cedar Ridge: this seems like their year and they currently have the momentum. I really think musically they dominate here. I think other groups could take visual but it might not be enough. 2. CTJ: They are always a threat for gold at this contest. A lot of cleaning should be done by the 29th so it depends on how they compare to CR. 3. Reagan: This year Reagan if they clean can be a force visually but is lacking in music which can be a hard factor to overcome at a UIL contest. I think the other RR will be a challenge for them this year. 4. Round Rock: They are doing so much better this year. They are clean and ready for a return to state. I think that musically they can top Reagan but they need to really perform strong in finals. 5. Westwood or Bowie: The fifth spot will be hard to predict but I think these bands hold the higher cards. DS is good but this is a 6A contest so the difficulty level is way up. I always go in thinking any thing can happen so I hope for the best for everyone. It will be one heck of a contest and can't wait to be there for finals.

A great band night last night! A few things I will say: Vandegrift still very strong which is no surprise at all nothing really sticks out as a huge change but they are not moving back which is all you can hope for when your 1st place at each contest! Ronald Reagan is doing better but you can tell that this show needs more refinement. Their show in my opinion is more demanding than any last night. When you have a maxed out design it can be hard to clean which will take time. Vista Ridge huge improvement! I can see why they took visual they sound great as well, which really helps their placement. This show is obviously designed for UIL which is where I think they will prosper. GE wise not really there yet which will hurt them at BOA. If you look at Vandegrift and Reagan their guard really stands out. Vista for their size has a smaller guard than Cedar Ridge which really hurts them in GE. This is something you can't change in a season but I would recommend investment in that area next year.

That is devastating I wish Leander the Best. This can be truly performance changing. They no longer score on missing marchers but we all know that visually it can have a high impact not to mention musically. 25! Wow

Very close! It's hard because when you look at both Reagan and CR they are 2 completely separate groups. Different sizes and styles but both fantastic it will be tough

Agreed, the competition is tough tonight. A few years back there was always a clear winner but now bands have to expect that other groups are becoming stronger and harder to beat.

Cedar Ridge is electric so much energy in such a small group! Each performance gets stronger they are fighting hard to walk away with gold. Good job!