mellopwn1

Only if you subscribe to the MFA/BOA Fan Network...or whatever they call it nowadays. It has videos of all performances from prelims and finals at every regional available for streaming. TW is pretty good about getting any youtube videos taken down, it seems. To clarify, I viewed the Lone Star exhibition live.

I haven't seen Marcus live yet this season so I can't really disagree. Between Marcus' Denton video and watching TW's exhibition at Lone Star Preview (my most recent viewing of each), I definitely feel like Marcus has greater sense of blend and rhythmic precision. However, others who have seen Marcus live have said they are underwhelming in terms of power and effect. I can't really tell since Mr. Video apparently adjusted the audio levels on the Denton video, so I'll take your word for it.

Preach!

This is a valid point. The Woodlands stands a good chance of winning on Saturday but more than likely will not place in the top 3 on Tuesday. For San Antonio, I think Marcus and TW will be very close. Marcus essentially has music in the bag. They sound better than last while TW sounds about the same. Marcus will also probably be more visually polished than TW as well. I think it is going to come down to GE between the two.

I think Area E is one of the weakest areas right now and could use the extra competition from the San Antonio schools. This would also lighten up the competition at Area D if CTJ/Reagan/Churchill, etc. were to make an exodus to E.

I think he meant it in a "Little Engine that Could" sort of way. Everyone always counts them out, but they always manage to pull through to state finals.

Some wacky disagreements between judges there, for sure. I feel for College Park. They got "Round Rocked," although to a lesser extent. I am also very surprised to see Spring so seemingly close to The Woodlands. I don't think you can really make out much of a spread in the 1-1000 scoring scheme since every judge seems to do it differently (one guy has every band separated by only single digits! out of 1000!), but it is significant that they almost overtook The Woodlands in prelims. Is The Woodlands not as strong as we thought, is Spring much better than we thought, or is it simply a case of strange judging?

LED Boards and Fog Machine.....holy crap that is SO freaking cool. They definitely broke the mold on the whole "weather" show concept. But their visual still could use some love, and the muddy drill design is going to hurt them at BOA especially. I doubt top 5 at either (since the competition is so stiff), but definitely likely finalist. Don't let their literal smoke and mirrors (however awesome ) distract you from the performance aspects of the show

Rowlett for sure has some great musicians, however the show is lacking dynamic contrast. At this risk of sounding utterly pretentious, I would describe their musical performance as "aurally exhausting." They play tons and tons and tons of notes, however if you belt out a million notes at forte for eight minutes, you really aren't demonstrating musical shaping or expressiveness. So that might hold them back compared to other groups. They definitely have a shot, but I think this will be another state cycle where Rowlett ends up riiiight on the edge in the 11-20 range.

Can anyone (maybe Sanchez) give us an honest opinion on Duncanville? They are absolutely phenomenal in State years, but in 2009 and 2011 they were a huge notch below what you see in even numbered years. I watched a video of their DMI exhibition from last year and they sounded a little ragged. Are they doing better this season? I haven't caught a video or a performance of them yet.

It must have just gotten screwed up when MFA switched over from the fan network or something. I have the DVD and have watched it on the streaming service in its entirety before.

If you look at the Area E schedule, you will see that the Stephen F Austin High School Bulldog Band and Angels Dance Team will be performing first. I guess their new director is "crazy" enough to enter SFA in UIL events.

Don't you think 1,500 is a gross underestimate? I mean a lot of 5A bands have 300ish members. With 39 bands just in 5A competition, I think it's way more.

I want to say Clear Brook, but North Shore might have something to say about that. Oak Ridge just isn't clean enough, and unless Dickinson has some surprises this year (haven't caught them yet) I don't think they will make the cut. Clear Brook will probably be number 7.

Only a small handful of large, well-supported bands are capable of making those trips, and even they sometimes have trouble with expenses. Do you think many A, AA, AAA, heck, even AAAA or AAAAA bands can afford that kind of trip year after year? I don't think you understand how limited the resources of some communities are, and a band shouldn't have to have 10 car washes and sell cookie dough in order to have a chance to compete in their state competition. Super Regionals and Grand Nationals are a luxury. UIL State should be in reach of anyone who is willing and able to participate. There is something to be said about having separate competitions for each conference, but the extra costs outweigh the benefits. It's basic economics. I think the intention was to ensure that concert band receives the attention it deserves. TMEA Honor Band in alternating years forces bands to forget about being marching band champions for a year and focus on being concert band champions. Other than the rather anticlimactic UIL Concert and Sightreading contest, the only coveted title for Texas concert bands is "honor band." I think its important (as does UIL) to glorify this other aspect of music education that can sometimes go unappreciated. You do realize an annual state competition would cost parents more in fees? I don't think parents are angry with the current arrangement--especially when there are other options like BOA, US Bands, and local competitions to fill the fall schedule in "off" years. Yes, UIL isn't loaded. Yeah, they do "spend the least amount of money possible." It's called being efficient with public funds. UIL organizes a statewide circuit that hires outstanding judges and rents venues that are more than satisfactory (marching musics major league, DCI, sees these apparently hellish stadiums worthy of their events as well). They're really not cutting any corners.

I don't agree with some UIL rules, but I would never say Richard Floyd and company don't care about marching band. It makes sense to unify all the activities under a single body that has the resources and clout to take care of business. Aside from a few controversial rules, UIL really does an excellent job at organizing a marching circuit. Keep in mind that many, many programs participate exclusively in UIL because they dislike BOA. To each their own, ya know? The UIL has a whole page of their website explaining their rationale for the every-other-year system. They didn't just decide to do it this way on their own. http://www.uiltexas.org/music/marching-ban...ntest-rationale The State football championship involves two schools that rarely compete every year. The marching contest being every year involved over a dozen schools in each classification having to commit to the cost and trouble of getting their program to State every single year (if the were a regular advancer). This, among the other reasons listed on their website, is why it makes logistical and competitive sense for UIL to hold such a large scale event every other year. If the Alamodome is good enough for UIL, BOA, and DCI, it is good enough for me. The acoustics are NOT that bad. You would be hard pressed to find another venue that presents a similar price tag, infrastructure, and scheduling availability as the Alamodome. The Cowboy Stadium would require some big bucks, and Reliant has a natural grass field (and probably isn't too cheap either). You have to keep in mind these are not-for-profit organizations and that this is high school marching band, not the super bowl.

Bowie's reputation is certainly a factor, but Denton also proved that their show is more than capable of rolling with the big boys. We can all probably agree that CTJ and Bowie are the two top dogs in Area D right now, and I think a lot of people are siding with Bowie for first place because of their proven track record in UIL events. It's a question of who is executing better, and Bowie is the safer bet.

The Area G competition won't be over until Sunday. Insane!

Personally, I can't see Lake Travis placing ahead of Round Rock. But then again Cedar Park got 9th or 10th in Area D Prelims last year...so you never know at these things. 1. Bowie 2. CTJ 3. Round Rock 4. Reagan 5. Cedar Ridge 6. Lake Travis 7. Anderson 8. Westlake 9. Churchill 10. Hendrickson I would be way more sure of these if this was a BOA contest, but its hard to tell what shows will do well in UIL until after these area contests!

I don't think it's cynical to assume that. I agree with you that when a director decides to use props that they see "them as serving some purpose in the fabric of the show," but they DO intend them to enhance their score as well. After all, even if you acknowledge marching band's role as a "positively life changing experience," it is still a competitive activity. A director is going to try to produce a show that put's the programs best foot forward (no pun intended) on the competitive stage, and a lot of the time that involves props. However, some program's simply do not have the resources or design team to pull it off effectively, giving us situations where it seems there are "props for the sake of props." I think you're being a little idealistic in asserting that directors insert props on purely artistic grounds.

Props are probably one of the best things to happen to marching band, but props for the sake of props does no good--that's where you need to draw the line. So long as they add to the show, the more the merrier. Tarpon Springs from Florida is a great example. They are one of the top 10 bands in the country, and they use more props than Bell and Marcus combined. It's part of their identity, and it's why they're so memorable. Take my word for it: Marching Band would be a whole lot more boring if we went back to the days of straight marching and playing.

http://www.txbands.com/predict/rankings.ph...e=all&ties=

Here's a picture of LD Bell's comedically large hovering cone behemoth:

This might change a bit after area weekend, but these are my predictions: 1. The Woodlands 2. Marcus 3. Claudia Taylor Johnson (Top 3 could end up as any combination of these three. All three have potential to win it) 4. LD Bell (I think they are solidly below top 3, but still a level above everyone else) 5. Round Rock 6. Hebron (5-6 could swap if Hebron brings it) 7. Ronald Reagan 8. Vandegrift 9. Cedar Park 10. Cedar Ridge 11. Flower Mound 12. Winston Churchill 13. Spring 14. Hendrickson The top 3 is a TIGHT pack. One of the kids sneezing on the field might be the difference between 1st and 2nd. In order to win this competition, Marcus is going to have to be a little more exuberant in the dynamics department, The Woodlands is going to have to be really, really clean (something they often are not), and the GE judges are going to have to be thrilled with CTJ's show. Round Rock/Hebron are completely swappable at this point. Unlike others, I think Vandegrift is solidly in finals. They have a better product than Cedar Park/Ridge and perform at a comparable level to cross-town rival CP (this year, at least). They are no longer a "small" band that performs mediocre shows. Vandegrift is finally grown up and ready to play with the big boys. There are some serious design flaws in CP's show, but I still think they will pull ahead of Cedar Ridge based on sheer performance muscle. Their paint-peeling volume might be their saving grace this year. Cedar Ridge has a better show than CP, but there were some clarity and scoring issues that bothered me at Conroe that still concern me. I think the two will be pretty close, but CP will prevail. I think Spring will be in finals as well. This year's show is far superior to last year's (despite those god awful tents), and I think they will have a more-than-likely shot at performing Saturday night. The 14th finalist is FAR from definite. I chose Hendrickson, but it could just as easily be Richland, or Anderson, or Plano East, or College Park, or Leander, or......a whole bunch of other bands. It is going to come down to who has the best run that day.

Geez, the contest is going to have to start at 5 am to fit everyone in!