Mellophone77

1) Former student 2) Live Blog and Predictions. I (obviously) use the forums but I find myself on those two pages more. 3) A youtube channel/media section would be cool (if possible)! 4) Everything is seems nice the way it is; maybe update/remove the txbpress since the page has nothing much on it (DanPodcast leads to a error, and the section itself has one but I'm sure you know that already ) 5) Thanks for running this site! It was this site that led me to BOA and to find my love for the activity. 6) I have! But none of them follow UIL/BOA as much as I do...

It was called "Trilogy" because it was based off of the Borne Trilogy but I agree it has a very similar feel to it. Its possible they could surpass Bell if they clean up the ensemble sounds like Danpod said, or if Bell has a bad visual run (see 06 )/can't quite clean the heck out of their show. To be honest, I think Bell could place around 4th or 5th this year (really hope I'm wrong) with all the good shows and groups that are going to be there. But heck, this is my second year following BOA. I have a lot to learn

I really like this show! Not my favorite but still, a lot better than I was expecting. The slow addition of the tombstones is a real nice add to the show and the show in general has a lot more movement than past shows. Can't wait to see it at GNs to see if they add another portion to the show (even if they don't, still fun to watch)!

That's what people are trying to figure out I wouldn't get any hopes up about going to state until you hear it from your director. I don't think this will happen, to be honest...I mean, only Areas B&C got finals canceled and if you add up the bands that didn't advance, you get 12...

I was just thinking earlier today that UIL should do a webcast of state or something but shrugged it off as something they would never do...Thanks for news Xenon! Made my day as well! It would probably be a better experience to be there live but my Tuesday schedule would not allow that xD

Was this Johnson's first try at state? (not sure if they competed at Area in '08) Very impressive! As for Churchill, that's a bummer. Hopefully things look up for them the rest of this season. Its also nice to see Reagan doing well again

The scores are pretty close. I wonder how the results would've been if finals could have happened... Nevertheless, Congrats to Marcus, Hebron, LD Bell, and Haltom for advancing!

Yay Area contest day

Agreed! Someone over at East told me that it was the coolest performance any of them had ever had.

Oh my. No one saw that coming xD...well, maybe not before the competition. And poor East D: Had West and Plano come this year they would've advanced...

Found this on Richland's website regarding the weather: Ladies and Gentlemen, All the weather web sites I have checked indicate there is a 60% chance of rain and/or thunderstorms in the forecast for tomorrow at Denton and Carrollton. Due to the fact that the State Contest is on for next week, we have judges coming in from all over, and we have no “wiggle room” in case of bad weather, we MUST go forward with the Area contest. If the rain and/or lightning becomes a problem, we will try to do whatever we can for the safety and well-being of the students and audience. If we need to have a brief delay, we will, but the contest must go on. Your directors, administrators, and parents need to be informed of all this and with the possibility of a rather late night ending. Will you please notify all the schools from your region that are coming to the Area B contests that the contest WILL go on regardless of weather. PRAY FOR GOOD WEATHER! Bob Copeland Executive Secretary Region 5 UIL Music Contests/Area B Marching Contests This could be a long contest...

Yeah...its gonna be like that in most of north Texas What will happen if an Area gets rained out before prelims are over?

As I see it only L. D. Bell and Marcus are locks. Richland has a really good chance of being band # 3 yet again but if they have an off performance they could lose it. That leaves Haltom, Hebron, Plano East, and Mansfield fighting for spot number 4. Colleyville Heritage and Legacy will probably be in finals but I don't see them quite contending for an advancing spot (but I could easily be wrong!). Then I'll go ahead and throw Allen in 10th place since they have a good history of making finals. Can't wait! Its going to be a good contest!

A little info on Plano West's 2...I heard that they didn't get the drill for the closer until the Thursday before UIL. Why they learned it in two days and tried to perform it is a bit beyond me.

So yeah, best of luck to every 5A band in Region 5 xD I originally wrote something else but I went back and reread only to discover that I misread what someone had said... As for Plano not going to Area: I've heard that the head band director wanted to take a break from it...but I also realized recently that they have Homecoming on the same day as Area, so that could be a key factor as well. Didn't SFA opt out of Area last state year for the same reason?

Thanks, and best of luck to every Region 5 band! It would be nasty to see Area B send four bands...

Yeah, does the number of bands that advance to state determined by the number of bands that ATTEND or by the number that ADVANCE? If its attend...every band in Region 5 will have to get a 1 for Area B to send 5. I'll be at Area B next week I'll probably get there on the early side after seeing what Region UIL's parking was like... And on a random/fun side note: At Region last night there were a few people in front of me wearing the Tarpon Springs High School band's 2009 show shirt. Really cool shirt

Just got back from Region 25 and a few thoughts: Plano East - From what I could tell, they were better this year than the last couple. I seriously think they can contend for a spot to state at Area. Well, maybe...not 100% on that but they have a cool show this year and they can perform it excellently! Allen - A little off from their usual. They had some issues with phasing and keeping their lines straight along with marching fundementals. They'll probably make Area finals but they may have a little bit more trouble doing it. Plano - Fun show, that's all I can say really. They had some issues with marching but what can you expect from all white uniforms and simple drill that highlites mistakes? McKinney Boyd - I was impressed. They were solid musically and visually but it needs some work. A few of those Guidry woodwind moments need some cleaning but otherwise it was very impressive! They may be closer to finals this time around (if not make it) Plano West - They just had an off run unfortunatly. The mic they had for the narrator didn't work, and musically and visually they were off. It probably didn't help that they were only marching 48 (or so) winds. Its really a shame that the 2 wasn't a surprise but it must be devistating to the students Going to Area: - Plano East - Allen - McKinney Boyd Hopefully the two not going won't hurt Area B's advancement numbers Doing some research...as long as every other band gets a 1, 5 bands will advance...if not...4 from Area B D:

Region 25 (Area B ) - Saturday 10/16 Clark Stadium - Plano, TX A 11:00 - Blue Ridge 11:15 - Collinsville 11:30 - Honey Grove AA 11:45 - Pottsboro 12:00 - Melissa 12:15 - Howe 12:30 - Whitewright 12:45 - Leonard 1:00 - Gunter 1:15 - S&S CISD 1:30 - Tom Bean 1:45 - Bells * Judge's Break/Announce Ratings - 2:00 AAA 2:15 - Community 2:30 - Bonham 2:45 - Princeton 3:00 - Whitesboro 3:15 - Prosper 3:30 - Van Alstyne 3:45 - Farmersville 4:00 - Lovejoy 4:15 - Celina 4:30 - Anna * Judge's Break/Announce Ratings - 4:45 5A-NV 5:30 - Vines 5:45 - Willliams 6:00 - Shepton 6:15 - Jasper 6:30 - Clark * Judge's Break/Announce Ratings - 6:45 4A 7:00 - Denison 7:15 - McKinney Nort 7:30 - Wylie 7:45 - Sherman 8:00 - Wylie East 5A 8:15 - Plano East 8:30 - Allen 8:45 - Plano 9:00 - McKinney Boyd 9:15 - Plano West * Announce Ratings - 9:45 Nothing really note-worthy in this region...chances are all the 5A schools will gets 1s but only 4 will be at Area. Plano's opted out of Area this year.

Uhh, you got the point: people have graduated and moved on. I wasn't meaning to imply that I thought they may get worse musically, just not the full ensemble that won Honor Band may not be marching this year. But I love Hebron's show this year! I saw it three times in a 24 hour span and I still love it

Don't expect Plano East to go at all. They're going to BOA San Antonio. ...but you could've just been using that as an example.

I'm going to be there most of the day and I'll try writing a review of it. Though that's kinda not the same thing xD

Coppell was fourth in prelims and first in finals (according to the scores here). And do judges in UIL really score to the thousandths place? I know the Area D music judge pretty much scored each band from 901-910 but I can't imagine a judge would go out of their way to make the scores that close... Allen's going to be there also, though they're in Area B. Always a fun group to watch My alma mater will be there and it should be a good show as well.

I'm not one of those three but I'm pretty sure they weren't signed up for BOA SA/GN that year. Newspapers can make things much more critical sounding than they should. I remember the article about WC's "Symphonic Schizophrenia" ended with "And they will not perform the show again" which was a no duh because it was halfway through November when they reported it

As for the two rubrics, one determines a rating (Region) while one ranks (Area/State). Why should a band not get a superior rating because of their show design? If a band can play and marching what they are given at a "superior" level (regardless of how "interesting" it is) they should get a 1. Once they are being compared to other bands, GE should be taken into consideration.