utee94

9/6: Vandegrift 10/4: Rouse 10/18: Glenn 11/1: Leander

Didn't realize you were at UNT. One of my daughter's best friends is now a freshman French Horn/Mello there with you, he's from Cedar Park. He's one of my absolute favorite kids of all time, just a really great person, and we miss him here but hear he's loving it up there.

Cedar Park is likely to move up, unless/until LISD can build a new high school between CP and Vista Ridge.

I really feel like they could move all of it earlier, but at least we won't have any crazy 5 AM call times at the band hall this time.

I don't have any specific knowledge of the topic but I will say that I really enjoyed watching the 1A-3A shows streaming last year. I really love the enthusiasm of the kids and the interviews are great-- so many 1st generation band kids at small schools who never dreamed they'd get to compete in the Alamodome, and other heartwarming stories.

I think Leander and CP are going to surprise some folks. I've seen over half of CP's drill and they're already about 1.5 weeks ahead of where they were last year. It should be very put-together by the time we get to BOA-RR. And the band and guard are much larger than the last several years, it's going to be a spectacle. Interestingly they're not doing TMC or Waco or any other non-UIL competitions in between Round Rock and San Antonio. Since they're going to Grand Nationals this year, the directors decided to give them back some time in October.

A friend who is a parent/booster at Austin-Anderson said they're having to withdraw from BOA-San Antonio because they can't find enough charter buses available that day. And AISD won't allow them to use yellow school buses on schooldays due to the driver shortage in Austin. They're not ever really expected to advance but it still sucks for them, not getting to perform on the biggest stage.

Well it's the same weekend as it has been the past two years. And the contest is completely loaded with top level talent so I don't think it'll be any less special. I think it's great that there is a new nearby option and more programs might get a chance at making it through to Finals. And as a pit pack parent that helps schlep the equipment all day, I'm not at all disappointed in the idea of avoiding the midday heat. JMO of course.

Yup selections from Sweeney Todd, plus excerpts of Samuel Barber Symphonies No.1 and 2, and Adagio for Strings. I heard parts 1-3 at the show reveal, and all I can say is, I'm in love with the arrangement. The ballad is very, very special. It's going to be quite memorable.

I think they missed a bet by omitting Corey Hart , but I'm sure it'll turn out fine regardless.

I'm surprised @LeanderMommahasn't posted it, but I guess I'll go ahead. Leander High's 2024 show will be called "Shades" Songs include: In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel In Living Color - Kayahj Copley (Human Heart) - Jacob Collier/Coldplay

SIAP, I didn't see a thread for this one but I might have missed it. I've been mostly offline and not sure when this was finally announced, a couple of weeks ago I think. This one is put on by Cedar Ridge High and is one of their annual fundraisers. https://texasmarchingclassic.org/ It often seems like just a BOA-Austin 2.0, but last year it was VERY lightly attended, only 15 or 16 bands in prelims and so the majority made finals. Cedar Park typically attends but it's not on the official band calendar yet and I've heard nothing from the directors/boosters about it.

Cedar Park reveal will be May 6th.

Looks like Dripping dropped the West Texas regional and picked this one up instead. Which would seem to support the theory that some of the Austin-area bands would like to get away from the extremely high level of competition at the Austin/RR regional and try to move up the placement stack at other regionals.

True but I suspect most of the major Austin/LISD/RRISD schools will still go to the Austin (Round Rock?) regional rather than go to San Marcos. So my friends at, say... Austin Anderson, who struggle to make finals at BOA-Austin when they're competing against a stacked slate like Vandy, VR, CP, Leander, Rouse, CR, Round Rock, etc. might try to move away from the Austin regional and see if they've got a better shot in San Marcos. Of course if every heavy hitter from SA decides to do the same thing, they might not fare any better, but it might be worth a shot.

Yeah I'm really curious as to who will end up going to San Marcos. I could see some of the San Antonio schools that have been going to Houston regionals, switching to SM instead. And perhaps some of the slightly lower-tier Austin ISD marching bands looking to get away from Leander and Round Rock ISD and secure a higher finish. But I'd be surprised if any of the major central Texas bands did both on back to back weekends, and I'd also be surprised to see any of them skip Austin and go to San Marcos instead. Just as an example, Kelly Reeves is 6 miles and 10 minutes from Cedar Park High School, while Bobcat Stadium is 50 miles and over an hour away.

The timing between these two seems so weird. I'd expect a lot of overlap if they were spaced out a bit more, but as it is I don't see many of the Austin bands repeating a week later, not do I see them skipping Austin to go to San Marcos instead. Maybe San Marcos will draw some of the SA bands that are currently planning on Houston-area regionals?

Not 6A Area I, but Cedar Park's official show reveal will be 5/6/2024 which is about the same timing as previous years. I'm sure the directors have let a handful of folks know, but I'm not nearly important enough in the booster club to get that kind of insider info.

*thorough

Yeah I hang out over there a little bit, too. It's really interesting seeing the videos of old performances from the 80s and how different everything was. That's the same era when I was in marching band at Anderson High, from 1986-1989. We didn't have any pit, all percussion including xylophones marched with the battery, and of course no props either. Everything was less sophisticated than it is now, but in a lot of ways that made it more accessible as well.

Wow that's cool! Things are getting pretty stacked...

The UIL site had a message saying it had suspended all other web pages and web traffic on its entire site between 9 AM and noon, and the only available page would be the new UIL Districts page. I guess high school football is kind of a big deal here in Texas... Anyway, glad to see that at least we won't have to travel from Cedar Park all the way to College Station for the next 2 years. Furthest roadtrips are Lake Belton and Killeen. In 2022, CP not only had to travel to College Station twice in the same season, but in back-to- back weeks in the middle of October.

I was just googling to find out some about the history of marching band competitions in Texas, and it led me here. I should have known just to start with this forum. Great info and summary, thanks @AlsoIntoSpace !

So what's a "normal" or "average" number of Texas bands that attend GN on a yearly basis? I know there were quite a few last year, which seemed "high" to me, but I also don't have much experience or historical knowledge here.