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A little early to think about 5A state, but yes, it will be awesome next year. Im so glad the Alamodome has been chosen for all the major competitions so that its not to far away for me. As for going, I plan to be in the competition. We made Area finals last state year, and with all the improvements our new directing staff has made, I think we should be able to make it next time around.

Ooh, speaking of bass clarinets, one time during a rehearsal, the freshmen of the section was having troubles with some of the lower notes. We traded necks and mouthpieces and told him to play on mine, while I fell out and fixed on the sideline. After checking for lose screws (which bass clarinets are NOTORIOUS for) I checked for anything blocking the air stream. Well, I told him to wrap paper around the middle piece because the cork was so bad, at least until the directors could take it in to re cork it. Apparently I didn't tell him that he should replace the paper at least once a week, because that gets thin and nasty. Well, when looking through it, the bottom half including the bell (which the bell was the least of my worrys) fell onto the concrete...totally interrupting rehearsal and getting a few comments. Well it turned out to be fine, and a the paper was blocking some of the keys and air stream. So after I replaced the paper with fresh one (and telling him to replace it more often) the clarinet was fine.

Those Pasadena Memorial ones are pretty sweet. I love that type of hat.

I love and hate Tafts uniforms. On one hand, its exactly like the cavaliers, from the hat to the gauntlets, therefor they look awesome. Only difference is there color is bright red rather than green. On the other hand, its just like the cavs. A little originality would be nice.

Fantastic review! My band took an optional (yet highly recommended) field trip and it was so amazing that its inspiring people to practice now that the majority of us have seen the top bands in the state. The Monday morning after I walk into the band hall, my jaw dropped when I saw the hall filled with people practicing. I had an amazing time. It was awesome seeing so much talent on the field.

I never really noticed the ushers. Lucky me I guess. My only problem was the people who decided to yell out stuff during Westfields performance of One. It probably wasn't to much of a problem for some people, but I was near the group that was doing it. As a huge Metallica fan I was livid when they almost ruined the moment.

My grades are actually better during marching season. It almost as if I'm subconsciously trying to work as hard as I can on or off the field. In my school, theres many top 10% kids in the band. Last year, the valedictorian was a pit player, with a GPA higher than 100. We work about 7 and a half hours a week, and its really not all that bad. For the two hours a day I'm out working with the band, I would probably just be farting around the house instead.

Some awesome things that happened last night. About 65 kids from my band went last night because our director wanted us to see how the top bands in the state perform. And they performed! The general consensus of the group was that LD Bell should have won, just because they had a better show design. I agree with the show design, but I do realize Marcus was the better band that night. There sound was just so pure. Very fun night!

I can relate to that. My band in the 80's and early 90's would be the equivalent to todays Marcus, LD Bell, Churchill ect. From 85-93 I believe we placed no worse than 4th in state. However two things happened to make us fall. One, a school by the name of O'Connor really raided our talent. Of course, every organization in the school really took a hit (back then our football team was VERY dominant too). And two, probably the biggest reason, was us not being able to adapt to the marching band world. As for performances this year, I would say the game after UIL competition. We followed Holmes, and the announcer said we received or 47th straight first division 1 (which I think got some sarcastic ooo's fro the other band ). We decided to start in our 4th movement because of time restrictions. The only problem was that theres an 8 count transition from 3 to 4. The whole band was unsure where to start. So the whole band was discombobulated for the first 24 or so counts. But we recovered fairly good. But I know for awhile the opposite band was thinking "How in the world did these guys get a 1"

Fun, FUN day. Theres no shame in finishing behind Donna and Harlingen South. Most of these bands are probably still on the bus home. The group IV Open was... 5th - Kempner 4th - Johnny G. Economedes 3th - John Marshall 2nd - Harlingen South 1st - Donna

Ive rolled my ankle doing a drill once. The drill called for me to back step 8 yards in 8 steps then come to a halt. Coming to a halt with all that momentum can be hard sometimes, and I didn't quite plant my foot good enough. It wasn't to bad though, it was sore, but I finished rehearsal.

I too believe Hildreth is a great director. I think the root of some of the negetivity is that we have to work harder. Now, we actually make the most out of the 8 hours the state gives us to rehearse. And now we rehearse much, much more efficiently. Being teenagers, the majority don't want to work any harder than their used to. Once our standard as an ensemble reaches his very high ones, I think we will become great.

Our current problem is really trusting our new band directors (basically our whole staff left), and making the new transition. Many of the Juniors and Seniors find every little nick to complain about. They believe that because we haven't done things the way we have for 50 some years, its wrong. Personally, I trust our head director considering he was on staff of the Phantom Regiment and was an assistant at Churchill for awhile. Hopefully when all the negative attitudes graduate though, which kind of makes me sad considering I'm a Junior, we'll reemerge as the third great band in the city of San Antonio.

I actually lived in McAllen for a few years. About 10-15 minutes from Donna I believe. I would have gone to McAllen High, im sure you run into them every once in awhile. Of course that was before middle school. I doubt anyone is into techno when there in elementary.

Sounds like my kind of band.

Haha, funny you say that....I'm a bass clarinet =/, and there's 8 of us. Although 5 of them are underclassmen, and one plays like one. Ive always wanted to see a band do some crazy techno stuff.

For me its bittersweet. We got a Synthesiser when our new directors came in. Overall it makes our sound deeper and more full. However, due to my section not being able to play a fairly simple part as long as we watch the drum major, we got cut so the synth can play our part. Smart move on the part of the director, but as a musician, I want to play =(

San Antonio Marshall is 4-4, fighting for the last spot in the playoffs. Thankfully though, we beat Taft, who is currently 5th in our district. So if we were tied at the end of the season, we would make it due to the head to head record.

To bad I have school on the first day. I would consider skipping, but its a sure bet at least one of my band directors will be there. I guess thats the only downside for two day competitions. Guess my band will just have to make it next year to spectate the first day =) Making it on Saturday for sure though.

I go to Marshall in San Antonio, and we have Three new directors after Mr. Rey Meza retired after 27 years there. Our new head director is Mr. Brian Hildreth. He was an assistant at Winston Churchill for 8 years. And he also marched and was on staff of the Phantom Regiment. One of our new Assistants is Mr. Kent Summerour. He has worked with Cypress Falls, Pearland, and Ronald Reagan. And the last one is Mr. Kevin Tabb, the percussion specialist. He's had some success teaching band in Mississippi. With all their pedigrees, im very optimistic the Marshall band will begin to become a great band like we were in the late 80's and early 90's.