Nosagi

I respect your opinion, but I disagree, I think LDB will have trouble with top 5, much less medaling. Will they be cleaning like crazy? Of course, but it may not be enough and every other band is cleaning just as much as them. Their show this year just isn't a UIL favored show. I can see 2 completely different results for Bell in a 3 day span. Duncanville *should* have no trouble with finals, but this UIL season has been crazy. That being said either of these bands could make a complete 180 and medal, I just don't see that happening.

I haven't seen their show this year, just speculation, but could they just be a band that peaks early?

Metallica* You're welcome.

Revealing in a good way or a bad way? EDIT: Here is the list of participating bands Keller El Paso Coronado Keller Central Fossil Ridge Marcus Hebron Plano East LD Bell Richland Duncanville Coppell Berkner Rowlett Bowie CT Johnson Reagan Westlake Lake Travis Hendrickson Clements Langham Creek Seven Lakes Cy Fair Spring Pearland The Woodlands Brazoswood Clear Brook Dickinson Clear Lake United Hanna Harlingen Harlingen South Donna San Benito Lopez O'Connor 38 Bands for 10 finals spots

I can agree about Johnson, their show this year is a great BOA show, not quite about the precision marching and perfectionist music that UIL goes crazy about, nevertheless I see them in top 6. And 2006 TW certainly was... interesting as far as contest results from that season

I would not hesitate to include The Woodlands, CTJ, Hebron, Duncanville, and LD Bell. TW has had an undoubtedly great season so far, barring catastrophe I have them in top 3 with a good chance at winning. LD Bell had a bad showing at area (considering it is LDB we are talking about) but I think they will be in finals, no idea how they are going to rank though. Duncanville hasn't missed top 3 in what? 8 years? They were first in prelims at their area so it may have just been a bad finals run. Will they medal? I don't know, but they'll be up there nonetheless. CTJ is good, no doubt, and they're only getting better. It would be HUGE if they missed. Hebron has had a great season so far, state finals worthy. I would be both surprised and disappointed if Reagan missed finals but this has been a weird UIL season so it could happen. Finalists *In my opinion* (Random order) The Woodlands Marcus Bowie LD Bell Duncanville Hebron CTJ Reagan (Hopefully)(Favorite Reagan show in years) PESH Spring/Berkner/Westlake/Richland (I think they could all be the 10th finalist, and yes the list is in random order)

When will they release recaps? SO MANY UPSETS! I need to make sense of all this!

I was looking at MFA Videos from 2007 and SFA's video is only 2:21 long. Was there a problem with sync rights or something like that? Where's the rest?

This is a valid point, and I can agree that the LSP results shouldn't have been given that much weight in my analysis. I *of course* wasn't trying to attack your school by any means, but I do want to retract my earlier statement about the LSP results I mentioned in my initial post. That being said, I still believe that Spring could place anywhere in finals. I really wish they had been at Conroe, that would've provided us something to compare them to. I do think that Brazoswood will do better at area given their time to clean, and I highly doubt that College Park would miss finals, or State. They've had good season so far. I would like to see Westfield at state but I am not prepared to put them in as a lock yet.

I have absolutely no idea how Spring is going to do. First Friendswood misses finals at BOA Conroe, then next week they beat Spring handily at LSP, I know the logic is a little flawed but couldn't one infer that Spring would've also missed finals at Conroe? Of course things changed over the weeks, but I haven't been sure about how Spring will do in a season since... I can't even remember! They are just all over the place! I'm having the most trouble predicting the placements in this area out of all of them, not because there aren't enough State spots, because there are almost too many! Every one of these bands deserves to go to state of course, yet a large amount of them are on the same level which happens to be the 4-7 range. I have no doubt that TW will get first again but beyond that, I have no clue.

Saturday, October 27th, 2012 Galena Park ISD Stadium 8:15 Alvin 8:30 Dobie 8:45 Pearland 9:00 Klein Collins 9:15 Brazoswood 9:30 Sam Rayburn 9:45 Aldine 10:00 College Park -----BREAK----- 10:30 Atascocita 10:45 Conroe 11:00 Eisenhower 11:15 Clear Falls 11:30 Pasadena 11:45 Clear Creek -----LUNCH----- 12:30 Spring 12:45 Channelview 1:00 MacArthur 1:15 Clear Brook 1:30 Dickinson 1:45 Nimitz 2:00 Oak Ridge 2:15 Klein Forest 2:30 Sterling 2:45 North Shore Senior 3:00 Pasadena Memorial 3:15 Clear Lake -----BREAK----- 3:45 Deer Park 4:00 The Woodlands 4:15 Kingwood 4:30 Klein 4:45 La Porte 5:00 Dekaney 5:15 West Brook 5:30 Klein Oak 5:45 Westfield SHSU BEARKAT MARCHING BAND Drum Major Retreat Announcement of Finalists Dinner 8:00 Finals 35 Bands = 7 Bands Advancing to State

I'm starting to think that we are experiencing an end of an era, think about it: for the first time in years 2 of the strongest bands in Texas (LDB & Marcus) do not have a firm grasp on the top 2 going into the final weeks. Last year Marcus even finished fourth. I don't think they are getting worse, everyone else is just getting to their level. The Woodlands, Bowie (I know they aren't coming to SA, but they are a Texas band), now perhaps even CTJ and Hebron are all coming to the point where they could win an event like BOASA. The top bands are faltering, new ones are rising up, even the lower echelons are in a bit of a change up! SFA moved down, Spring is a little out there, TWCP is moving up, CEDAR RIDGE IS COMING OUT OF NOWHERE, even Reagan could be making a comeback. There are bands I have not included because there are just SO many changes happening, it'd be difficult to get them all! Times like these are perhaps the most exciting in marching band because no one has a solid idea of whats going to happen. What do y'all think? Is this the beginning of a new age of Texas Marching Bands?

Spring is the band that is using the tents, biggest distraction by props I have ever seen, and I LOVE props. This season I have seen plenty of bands use props effectively. Hendrickson's Doctor Atomic wouldn't have had the same feel that it got it 5th place at conroe if they didn't have the giant clocks counting down, was their chalkboard a little useless? Perhaps, but it set the mood. The Woodlands has their letter tarps as well as a rocking chair and some crates, minimal and it gets the point across, but their show doesn't even necessarily need that. Now imagine a Tarpon Springs show without props. None. I can't even fathom that cause that is just not the style they do! Now Marcus has gotten to the point where you can expect a huge set of props to be used, it is their style now. The candelabra's, the ferris wheels, the gates, it just makes you wonder whats next for them. When I mention Marcus what comes to your mind? Cause what I think of is giant 'wow' props and well played music. I'm not saying I don't like Markus' props, I loved the ferris wheels and I think the Gates adds an interesting dimension, but I would LOVE to see what kind of show they would have without the props. I have not seen LD Bell's show so I am not a liberty to write a whole paragraph about how this giant girl affects the show because I don't know, but I will watch eagerly in SA. I am SO excited to see SA this year, this is the first time in a long time that LD Bell and Marcus do not have a stranglehold at the top! The Woodlands can win it, CTJ can win it (maybe), I wouldn't be surprised if another band won it because the level of excellence in marching band is just getting so high! EDIT: Using students to move and operate props is the best argument for props there is, it gives an opportunity for everyone to be able to say they marched in that show rather than standing behind the soundboard. Would kids prefer to be marching in spots? Almost definitely, but the fact that they can't have everyone in a spot creates competition to be good enough for a coveted spot, which means more practice, which means better individuals. At the school I graduated from the members that didn't have a spot took pride in their status as 'Sentinels of Death'!

Are there no 3A bands in Regions 5 and 19?

It was because of an ineligible marcher. Funny thing is....[Not really that funny--Takigan][i guess it is hard to convey sarcasm over written text - Nosagi].... It was a nightmare for both TW and NS. But if I'm not mistaken, the directors at TW started some harsh list checking every year henceforth, if you were anywhere remotely close to failing you got a stern talking to.

Yes, for this contest that score was accurate. It really isn't comparable to UIL or BOA scores, seeing as it is a local unaffiliated contest.

I don't think I would put Cedar Ridge in locks just yet, I've seen their show, I loved it, but it kinda stuck me as a show that will peak before SA, which will hurt them. Are they a bubble band in my opinion? Oh yes, one of the strongest. And I can't wait to see them again! There are so many good bands in this bubble! I think Spring will be higher in the bubble and I'm a little hesitant to put SFA in it at all, their show needs some major improvements. I don't know if their new directors are up to the task, the kids definitely are, but unfortunately the kids don't make design decisions. Oh and College Park.. that's an interesting one. They do so well in BOA Conroe then fall a little flat at LSP. Yes, they did get the same placement at both (I believe) but I expected them to ride a wave to a higher placement. TWCP, like all the bands on these lists need to CLEAN. I do have TWCP for a strong bubble band though. Can't wait til SA!

Their show this year sends mixed emotions through me, I love their rendition of Queen of Sheba, but I do not like the tents much... I realize it is a little late to change it much seeing as the whole show is built around them (The band starts out hidden behind them), but they distract visually and I think that the decision to use them will hurt the Visual GE score. The elegance of drill forms are broken and it just breaks everything apart when you want to see it full! Will they make finals at SA? I think they have a 70% chance, but this is San Antonio and as we have seen over and over again, never expect anything to be simple and expected!

*I was not at this contest, I'm just trying to analyze numbers, not performances* That being said, Dripping Springs placed 9th in Finals at BOA a week before and rose to second place at this contest AHEAD of Hendrickson. This goes to show 2 things, the differences in how show design can affect different judging systems (DS has been a UIL band for a long time, rarely venturing into BOA (Yes I am aware this wasn't a BOA or a UIL contest)), they probably had a much better run this week then last week but still their scores were consistent last week. They may have added something to change everything completely but I believe their show just appeals to a different system more. The second thing it shows is how the scoring is very different, I mean DS had a 20 point rise in 7 days. If these scoring systems were consistent that would be the first time I have ever seen that much of a difference in that week. All this being said, I feel the need to say that I AM NOT ATTACKING ANYONE OR ANY BAND, I don't believe I have but looking back at this thread there seems to be some tension. Congratulations to all the bands that performed this weekend, and I personally can't wait to see how Round Rock and Anderson fits in this season, as well as Spring and some of the other bands we haven't seen in the BOA scene yet this year! The point I am trying to make in regards to the above post is, RR's and Anderson's shows may have thrown all the rankings into chaos by how unconventional they were! Unfortunately they weren't there, and thus we will never know... But they will be at BOASA, THERE IS STILL HOPE! TL;DR: Yay! Music n stuff!

I have talked with the good people at UIL and they assured me that the prerecorded narration I was planning on using is NOT allowed, no matter if it is operated and controlled by an eligible student. Back to the drawing board...

Hello, long time reader, first time poster! I just graduated from high school this past semester, having been in band all 4 years I definitely want to stay involved. Now I have a particular set of skills in sound engineering and with the band I was in I always felt we lacked in sound innovation (i.e. no sampling, standard micing setups). I've talked with the directors of the band explaining to them that I want to help and how I can help, and they are interested. This year the show this band is putting on involves narration, now I know what a lot of people would say about narration and I understand completely and I have my ideas on how to spice it up without taking away from the show. This band competes heavily in both UIL and BOA, so they have to comply with both rules. The real problem I'm having is with the interpretation of UIL's rules regarding electronics. Is that saying that PRERECORDED narration can be used if it is triggered by a student? I know it can in BOA but UIL can be very uptight sometimes regarding their rules.