longhornsax

Just noticed that there were 8 state participants from the last 2 years...add Round Rock, Georgetown, and Pflugerville and you've got quite the contest. Pflugerville did very well in Houston last week, so I think they can make some noise here. Georgetown's show always seems to feature some very complicated musical combinations in which songs overlap and intersect, which sometimes make it seem slightly dirty, but I really like their theme this year. I'll agree with the fact that Vista usually does get off to slow starts. They've been to this contest 3 times and have gotten 11th all three times, so I'm hoping they can break that this year. Should be interesting.

No matter the reason for the order, this year will probably be very similar. Should be interesting between Bowie and CP after they switched places at Houston. Looks like another showdown.

hmmm, it seems that after the top two, there's a mess of bands for the 3-10 spots. Is there a reason they put Bowie and Cedar Park back to back at the end?

thought I'd get this conversation going again. Anyone know the schedule yet?

I was only able to catch the last two blocks, but that consisted of 7 of the 10 finalists, so I think I got my money's worth. Just a few notes from my point of view: -The Woodlands probably had the one of most challenging shows of the day from what I saw, and still have a ways to go as far as cleaning goes. The show has a lot of potential though, with yet another brilliant and complex idea for a show. They are definitely setting themselves up well for a great run. -Friendswood was very clean for this time of year. They didn't quite have as big as sound as some of the other finalists, but it was definitely a refined sound -Churchill definitely threw me a curveball. Definitely the opposite of dark shows I'm used to seeing from Churchill. After last years criticism of their insanity show as offensive, it's almost as if they're making a statement with the blunt and straightforward title of Joy. Definitely enjoyed the show though. -Stephen F. Austin. Clean, clean, clean as always. Opening statement was stunning! No surprise that they ended up winning in the end. -Cedar Park seemed eerily similar to last year, maybe just toning the drill down a little bit. It amazes me that Cedar Park can create so much GE just through their drill and music alone. They don't need the fancy story line or props, as they let the music speak for itself. The trumpet solo (and later duet) into the huge chord was spine tingling. Such a solid sounding brass line. Obviously they'll be fine without Spicer. It's been mentioned, but closers were definitely an issue today, but it did seem like most bands had the entire show on the field. The rain was off and on, but it didn't seem to phase the bands too much. It caused some fun for some of the guards though. As for the finals results, it definitely seemed like the top 4 separated themselves for the rest of the pack, and it also seemed like all four were pretty even, no one taking more than one caption. CP didn't even take a caption and still managed 2nd. I'm curious to see the overall prelims results to see how much mixing up there was here. The new AAAA class definitely added a new point of interest, as it really kept us guessing going into finals. The question is, can any of these four bands keep up with Bell and Marcus? Overall, had a lot of fun today. Definitely a different experience being a spectator.

Dripping Springs is consistently really good early in the year. They are normally at the top of the early season competitions such as this one, and at westlake. They get their show really clean, really early. I'm curious to see if they can really make a push at the end of this year for medal contention.

I'm really curious to see how Hebron stacks up against the big boys this year. New director or not, this is a program that continues to improve with each passing year. And if the ToC was any indicator, I'd say they're definitely taking it up another level this year.

Just a quick note about Vista Ridge, they are very small this year. I'm not sure of the exact numbers, but they have to be marching 110-120, maybe even less. But I will agree that they can make things interesting, as they definitely have the show to do so. I should be at this contest. Looking forward to it!

which movement are you playing? I'm playing the 3rd. Wanted to play the first but that upper range stuff was just brutal.

Vista Ridge 2003 - Home on the Ridge 2004 - Labyrinth 2005 - Illusions 2006 - Reflections 2007 - Doorways 2008 - Ray of Light

Ha, they've definitely done some planning on this...just glad I won't be going to these schools while this is all going on

Can you imagine Cedar Park as a 4A band?! Wow...that's all I can say. I think Vista will definitely go 4A again for a little while though. The 5th school is just planning in advance for the growth, so eventually all of these programs will be 5A again.

Well, the last couple of days were pretty intense, but I thought they were pretty succesful. We ended up 20th, which we were pretty content with considering it was our first time at the 5A level. Plus, we had our best musical performance by far of the year, something we couldn't say last year after 2 performances in the dome. Had a great time watching finals. Had already seen most of the bands from top at BOA, so was glad to watch the bands from the lower deck this time, to get the full musical effect. Here is my breakdown. All of this is just my opinion, and I in no way intend to insult any band... L.D. Bell - Like many, I was honestly rooting for L.D. Bell in this one, but knew their early draw wouldn't help them too much in passing up Marcus. I don't think their show is quite as difficult as Marcus's show, but everything they did was so finely tuned and defined. The ballad was a little slow and dull in my honest opinion, but the ending is amazing! It is simply hard to find flaws in this show. Hebron - Wow, I had heard about the eyes, but seeing them in person simply freaks you out. It's amazing how much emotion can be shown by such a simple prop. I really love Hebron's ideas, and it's good to see that they are able to back up their ideas with great playing this year. I had heard Hebron's ballad somewhere before...and it still bugs me that I can't remember where I'd heard it. Overall it seemed that they had a little trouble with some difficult playing and marching combos. This is definitely not an easy show, and it sometimes shows. I also don't think that being sandwiched between Bell and Duncanville helped their chances, but again, it's good to see this band in state finals, and I think it may be the first of many second performances at this contest. Duncanville - This is one of the bands that I had never seen before. I knew they had a very prestigious history, but did really not know what to expect. I found out after watching the show why they had medaled so many times at this contest. Everything was so clean and precise. The show lacked the flash that many of the other shows had, but I now understand why they were third after prelims. Coppel - Upon first watching this show, I sarcastically thought "yay, another planets show" but was pleasantly surprised by a very different take on it. They really showed off their dynamic contrast in this show, especially at their hits, where they start at a nice forte, and then just blow you away with a completely new dynamic...however this did get slightly repetitive. At the end of the ballad they also show off their softer side with a beautiful fading decrescendo. The drill was by no means as hard as some of the other bands, but its cleanliness makes up for it. The ripple drill was amazingly effective. I don't think it was quite as good as CP in '04...but it was close. Churchill - The Colorguard is STUNNING as usual. They always seem to steal the show from year to year. In my opinion there is no visual that wouldn't fit into this show, considering the theme is insanity. The spelling of the words on the field is highly risky, but Churchill executes this well, however, other moments in the drill aren't quite as clean. Bowie - Really like all the bell visuals in this show, especially the percussion in the beginning...this must of taken plenty of practice. Their first hit is stunning, as is their ballad. I've always enjoyed Bowie's selections when it comes to their ballads (of course the sax quartet only added to this). Just great sounds all around in this show. Marcus - Gotta love Marcus's parent section and their togas and chants. As I said before, I'm more of an L.D. Bell fan, but I really enjoy the theme to this show, as does everyone else. There's not much I can say that hasn't already been said about Marcus. I am gonna say that I would hate to be a visual judge watching this show, while somehow trying not to get drawn in by the gods and goddesses for too long. I'm not saying their a distraction, and I trust that the judges don't see it this way, but I do have a hard time watching the show as a whole, ha...I did manage to focus long enough on the music this time though, and really thought they performed a much harder show an even higher level than Bell did. As much as I was hoping for a Bell "upset"...i knew it would be difficult after this show. Cedar Park - I'll try to make this as unbiased as possible. After seeing this show for the first time months ago, I was soooooo relieved to see CP doing a much more Cedar Parkesque show this year. Cedar Park proved that you don't need props or a storyline to have a theme and keep the crowd entertained. The name fits the show perfectly, as I am literally on the edge of my seat each time I watch this show. The first hit - WOW!! This was the biggest sound I heard all night (maybe other than North Texas). I think Adagio for strings was a resting point for the band visually, and I don't condemn that. They make up for it with some great musical moments. Visually, the show is obviously highly demanding, and without a doubt the most difficult and exposed there. The drill has come such a long way since the beginning of the year. There were some upper body issues in some sections, but their 3,4 from the visual judges obviously showed some appreciation of difficult drill from the judges. It may be the bias, but I think this is my favorite show this year. Richland - Awesome opening hit with the arc spreading across the entire field. The show honestly lost my attention, as I had been awake for about 19 hours at that point. The show started out much cleaner than it ended, but the "believe" sheet stunned everyone. I think this was used very effectively. Westlake - I have seen this show SO many times this year, as I'm sure many people have seeing as they've been the last band to play so many times (Area finals, State prelims and now state finals). I think I've finally figured out all the tricks and sideshows to this show, but still don't quite understand the ending. The show isn't quite as clean musically as some of the other bands in finals, however I think the closer was much more entertaining than the opener. A lot of great ideas in this show, and it's good to see Westlake back at the top. As for the final results, I can't complain too much. I don't agree with 10's given to L.D. Bell and Duncanville at all, but the 10 didn't seem to effect L.D. Bell much at all. If it had dropped Bell to 3rd (which it almost did) there would be some chaos on this board ...The 10 and 1 given to Duncanville might be a little bit of a cause for alarm however. But in the end, I do think, after all the discrepancies in scoring, the judging panel got it right. I thought Marcus and L.D. Bell were the obvious 1-2...while the 3rd-6th place bands were all amazingly close, as the scores showed. As another compliment to the judging panel, the prelims results were amazingly consistent. Overall, yesterday was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed watching each and every band. Congratz to all the bands that competed yesterday.

Unfortunately I had to miss CP's show (again!!!) but my friends told me when I got back that about the falls. Actually, only about half my friends even saw the falls, proving that they weren't the most drastic things in the world. CP's show is amazingly challenging, and I'm sure they've experienced many falls before. Trust me, they know how to react.

Just a note about area D...6 of the 7 Area finalists that went to BOA SA made it into finals in San Antonio (the one not making it being Akins, which surprised everyone I think). Now I know BOA and UIL are two completely different scoring systems, but seeing Area D with 6 of the 14 finalists and 3 of the top 5, was pretty awesome last night.

Ordered some reserved tickets this time around...to someone who's gotten them, is it worth it? I'm really looking forward to just going to a competition and just watching and enjoying...haven't done this in a while.

yah, I thought that might have something to do with it....really curious to see the prelims results for this

Anyone have any info on Georgetown? I was surprised to not see them in finals...

When you have great bands like the ones at finals last night, it's really hard to have consistent judging between them because they are all at such a high level. Yes, you can argue Connaly's 3-4-9 in music...but you can also argue Vista's 3-8 in visual. I really don't know how the judges score all these great bands. Another though...what happened to Churchill? Was their finals performance not that great? I expected them to be up there with CP. Anyway, yesterday was a pretty long adventure. After the final results, the Cedar Park students came over to our section and congratulated us, as we did the same. Most of us went to the same schools before, so it was pretty emotional. It was pretty awesome to see the camaraderie between the schools.

I wouldn't count P-ville out for a spot in finals either...I think they're doing a Hazo show like Leander if I remember right. They were 10th in Westlake finals, yes, but they were actually 6th in prelims in 5A, just a point or two away from Round Rock. I remember really enjoying their show too. A good place to look for results is here - http://www.worldofpageantry.com/scores/texas08-results.php

That's what makes these predictions so hard....there are so many bands flying under the radar this year. Yes, we all know Cedar Park, Bowie, and Churchill have proven themselves, and they are obvious favorites. Otherwise you have quite a few bands that have competed maybe once in a scoring competition, and even then its been against bands from different areas. You have bands like Westlake and Reagan who I don't think have even received a score this year. I think either one of these bands could easily steal everyone's thunder and surprise everyone. My predictions (i like how everyone is afraid to say "these six bands will make state"...just so hard) Obviously the big 3 Cedar Park Churchill Bowie Then a mirage of bubble bands Akins Georgetown Westlake Round Rock Connally Vista Ridge New Braunfels Leander Reagan Pflugerville Ha...fun times for the judges.

Correct...wow, what a mess. I think the best bands will make finals, then it will just be a matter of luck to get those advancing 6 spots.

Region 18 Akins Anderson Austin Bowie Conally Pflugerville Westlake rounding out Area D...32 bands i believe?

..........speechless

Got to see Cedar Park's show again tonight, this time from the side (slowly moving my way to seeing them from the front) Wow does their drill fly! It's obvious they've taken the difficulty level up a notch this year. There are still a few issues with keeping up with the tempo in a few people, but that is to be expected when they're moving like they are. Their music is so much better than it has been in years past also, and the show really does leave you "on edge." Such a creative theme! Also noticed (how could you not) that they played Metal Shop about 5-6 times for the crowd right after their show. Obviously a way to build endurance I'm assuming...