itsstephenyo

Scores were actually relatively consistent across the board except the GE scores, which admittedly, can be heavily impacted by the judge's opinions. Here are a couple of my thoughts. I haven't been in a marching band in 6 years, and it's been 4-5 years since I actually saw any marching band live, so I drove down from Carrollton to watch the finals purely for fun, even though I was sick as a dog! Still well worth it imo! Favorite show of the night went to Round Rock. I'd never seen or heard this band until Saturday night and I was blown away. Their show was so fun and energetic, and I absolutely loved the music from Sweeney Todd, as well as their performance of it. I remember reading that this band was on the rise, and I absolutely believe it now! They were well deserving of their placement. Great job, Round Rock! Claudia Taylor Johnson is another band that wasn't around the BOA scene when I was still in band, so I was very interested in seeing them. They sound HUGE. Their wall of sound is incredible, and their show was wel put together in my opinion. They should do very well at the State competition. LD Bell... The last time I watched LD Bell was their 2007 Ascension show, which to this day remains my absolute favorite show, ever. Their Grand Nationals performance (btw does anyone have a recording of it they'd like to share? =D) was absolutely a tear jerker. I just don't know how I feel about their show this year. It might've been the medicine I was taking, but I just lost interest about halfway through. Marcus is still clean as ever and I still remember their gorgeous ensemble sound. Even with going 2nd, their win was well deserved. This band just needs to go ahead and win Grand Nats and be done with it. I'm pretty sure everyone realizes that they're consistently the best band in Texas. Now they just need to take the crown away from Broken Arrow and Avon and bring the Eagle back to Texas! Westlake opened the night up with a bang! Their show had so much energy that halfway through the show I was thinking, "Holy crap, this is just the first band! They're already so good!" Their closer had everyone on their feet even before the final chord was cut off. Just an incredibly entertaining show all around. And now to my alma mater, Hebron! The last time I was in band, we barely missed out on 4A State (this was in 2006), and we miraculously made Super Regional Finals that year. We were called out as the 14th band in a super stacked regional and we all went nuts. It's so amazing to see them as a top contender with the big dogs now. Their ensemble sound is ridiculously good. It's amazing that you can still pick out the woodwind sounds in chords on a marching field. It's somethign that not a whole lot of bands do these days. Despite the great music, I thought the show was a tad bit flat all around. I don't think they had the same amount of energy as some of the other bands, and there was a bit of tearing in the beginning of the closer with the woodwinds playing Young Person's. Hopefully they clean that up for state. Go Hebron!! I apologize if I didn't get around to your band! These are just some of the ones that stuck out to me. I was very glad to see Ronald Reagan back in the mix after a couple of tough years, and it was very weird for me to NOT see SFA and Churchill in Finals. SFA was always one of my favorite bands so that was a bit surprising. Hopefully they can rebound from this too. All in all, a great finals night, and a whole lot of fun, even though I was shivering and almost throwing up by the end of the night! I'd gladly do it again next year anyway =]

Marching works similarly to how the Honor Band process works. Bands are separated at the District, Region, and Area levels of competition. In order to advance to Area, a marching band must score a 1 at the Region level. I also believe that the band must have scored 1's at the previous year's concert band regional as well. Don't quote me on that though. It's been several years. At Area, the number of bands advancing depends on the number of participants. At least 2 always advance. Then at state it's just your normal marching band competition. Prelims/Finals.

I'm praying that this will convince Mr. Sealy to take the band to Nationals. He always said, during my years there, that he wouldn't take us to Nationals unless he was sure we'd make finals. I think they're on the verge of that now. Also, wow, Lopez played some incredibly difficult music. Rite of Spring, Tchaikovsky's 4th Finale, and Gum Sucker's March all on one program? Amazing.

Oh my goodness. Sealy will be ecstatic with that.

Do you know the music that the bands have recorded?

Flower Mound 2003 or 2004 did this, I believe.

If you're gonna try to use paper, you better make it cigarette paper. Now, I know some of you aren't old enough to buy some, but if you have some 18 year old friends that can, it's exponentially better than computer paper. It forms easily over the teeth and doesn't tear when it's wet. Still, like someone else said 2 year ago, Ezo is the way to go. It's what I used to use back then when I was playing 6-8 hours a day. That stuff lasts forever.

That's a heck of a penalty.

Wasn't it Centerville that placed in 13th place at Grand Nats for several years?

Also, cameras that you bring along can't be an SLR. You can't have a detachable lens, or they'll ask you to take it back to your car. Parking really isn't so bad. Plus, San Antonio is usually pretty nice around this time of year. The walk isn't that far.

Wow, never knew that about Luis Saldana (Mr. S as I used to call him). Hebron had a few other techs from SCV in the past few years as well. Richard Brindley used to tech, although I don't know if he still does. Marched SCV back in the mid 90s I believe.

Stop playing with their emotions.

That Dripping Springs show is really, really impressive! Edit: I'll be rooting for you guys to take State this year!

I believe Flower Mound used the Finale from the 8th symphony in their show a few years back. I remember cuz I went to my band director asking him if we could use Bruckner, and he said Flower Mound was using it that very year. I can't remember which year though... '04 or '05 I think.

Recaps have been posted for this competition. Here are links, if you're a lazy bum. Prelims Finals Some thoughts: Mansfield put up really solid numbers across the board. The only thing that really hurt them was a low GE score. Any input on Haltom? I know they typically bloom late, but wow. (finals) Individual Music : Bell Ensemble Music : Marcus Individual Visual: Mansfield Ensemble Visual : Hebron Haha, Mansfield and Hebron had almost exactly opposite ensemble/individual visual scores. Also, based on the score sheets, it looks pretty equal across the board. Nothing glaringly bad.

Oh, right. Shows how much I've paid attention to the band world in the last two years.

It just wouldn't load for me. Kept hanging, then would give me an error. Oh well, not a big deal really.

Woot Bell takes Arlington again! CG to Hebron for placing the highest they've ever placed at a regional! WOOT! .14 points separating 3-5. Wtf .09 Hebron. That's a really odd score at a BOA competition.

Live BLog is faaaailing =[

Awesome.

Give finalists order.

Reagan 09 = Crocket 93?? Kinda?

Wakeland from left field steals the show! Always nice to see new faces in finals. Good lookin finals group, too!

Apparently the current swine flu virus is a mild form but still highly contagious. You won't get as sick, but it's super easy to pass off to other people.

I just found it funny how you always said it as if you weren't in the band. "I didn't get a chance to see them." Hahaha that's cuz you were performing =P Btw, I am a Hebron alum. In fact, I talked to y'alls band before the ToC competition. Yes, that was me.