T.Stechnij

That means that one of the two school from Region 18 that made twos last year have to make ones. It seems more likely for them to take 6.

Lake Travis sounds amazing, if they do not make state I would be shocked. They have great soloist and their winds sound better than they did last year. I have no idea what everyone is talking about and why people are leaving them out. A decent recent video It is so hard to predict for Area D now- honestly, with one more region to go it will either be 34, 35 or 36. In my opinion I think that the only bands that will certainly go are Bowie, CTJ and Lake Travis. It is going to be a blood bath.

Region 26 Cedar Ridge I Lake Travis I McNeil I Round Rock I Stony Point I Westwood I

Just to add something new to the conversation: Round Rock.Oh My God. I was just getting find with performing and watching them from out side of the stadium. Wow, they sounded really good from my angle. The Mozart took me away. The visual package is kind of boring but they added these enormous white and black panels that are suppose to be windows I guess? There is a ton of them am it was almost over kill. Guard and guard soloist look phenominal. The percussion is awesome. They have a pretty effective voice over too. Very very good. There were a couple of tears, especially with pit, but wow. Wow. It was REALLY good. I feel like if one panel were to watch the same performances of these groups over and get again there would not be even close to consistent scores. There is so much good going on this year.

Oh no. It is hard. It is really hard but at the end of the day who cares if it is hard? It is all about performance. In my opinion Owasso is about as strong as they were last year...

It wasn't that bad. I thought they sounded good for Bell. I thought Owasso was all around better truthfully.

The flow is odd but there is a lot that can be fixed with that. Within a couple weeks my band was able to design transitions that seem to be very effective. LD Bell really has done a lot of work in the past week; it is really shaping up, yes I still feel like I am missing a part of the Bell from the past years, which is neither a good or a bad thing. First they used some huge props! Their was a good vs. evil feel that were very well represented in two guard solos. I felt that these didn't really go anywhere but I think they have a huge potential for the end of the season. Second, there was a flute soloist in the first movement and the last movement- that was the only real soloist. There was a ton of ensemble playing which is something we don't always seem from Bell! Their is crazy woodwind parts throughout the whole show and in my opinion it is the best LD Bell has sounded this early, that being said their was some clarity issues. Visually, I think it is weaker than it has been but it also is really hard, definitely one of the hardest shows I have ever seen. That being said, the color guard was obviously not a Cartwright guard, they were still good though. I honestly cannot predict how this show will go. It is so demanding and there is a lot of room for improvement. Either way it is LD Bell; there is no way it won't be phenomenal. I am going to keep my original top 5 as: 1/2. Woodlands and Marcus 3. CTJ 4. Hebron 5. LD Bell. Those last two spots could easily flip; last I saw, they both suffered from insanely hard shows.

I am completely with you! They have the effect to do and they sound amazing-- only rivaled with Marcus, Woodlands and Bowie. There were a couple tears at TMC Prelims but it was surely a fluke. They really can take that top three. LD Bell seems to be really different than what we are used to from them. It will pay off eventually but I think this will be a transitional year for the. I am basing that off of a decent recording from last week. A band can do a lot in a week.

Honestly, I think it could be seven hopefully:1. Bowie 2. Claudia Taylor 3. Reagan 4. Cedar Ridge/ Round Rock 5. Cedar Ridge/ Round Rock 6. Westlake 7. Anderson 8. Pflugerville 9. Hendrickson 10. Lake Travis/ Churchill

I am curious to know your opinions too! Especially after seeing Conroe.

I saw Conally and I remember them having a big band for AAAA but 220 sounds like a stretch. They are very good this year!

Finals; first band is on at 7. Full retreat at 10:15

I think that the judging seems much more "on" than BOASRSA. I watched everyone in finals and I was so impressed by CTJ, with 4 years of exsistence and I say they are in competition for top 3 and San Antonio and State, Hebron, for coming back and fighting and being ready for an AMAZING season and Vandergrift for being very comparable to those top 5. There was so many oboe solos in finals!

Don't get me wrong! It was certainly the right thing to do, BoA is a very responsible organization. Safety is always priority number uno. It was my fault for begging my dad to keep on driving even though I had a bad feeling. At least I have my MFA subscription, second best thing, right?

I am curious about this too. I am sure that bands such as Hebron and Vandergrift would have been very happy after seeing their scores as they placed MUCH higher than last year. Reversely, I would have expected Cedar Park to really want a finals after not being so late they weren't able to even get in uniform but they were eager to leave. At the very least I wanted a finals. I drove 2 hours and 45 minutes from Austin to make it to said finals. Needless to say I was very put off that I had turn around in Mansfield.

Okay. Sorry about my bad sources. I bet it would be VERY different with a finals.

Interesting. I am interested to see how it will work out.

I was equally surprised by Berkner- the weather was not beneficial to them as they reportedly had a very electronic second movement. They got fifth at this contest last year, right? It is really fun to drive from Round Rock out three and half hours to see finals only to be told three hours into the dive that it was cancelled, this was an evening of disappointment. On a positive note I am very curious to see those middle four. I bet it will be:6 Richland, 7 Reagan, 8 Coppell, 9 Flower Mound

From what I have heard: 1. Marcus- GE, Marching 2. Bowie 3. CTJ 4. Hebron 5. Cedar Park- Music 6-9 10. Vandergrift 11. Berkner

Woah! What happened to Bell? I saw Bowie tonight and I they have a top 3 lock, but I would not go as far as saying top two. Locks: 1-3, Marcus, CTJ, Bowie Ronald Reagan, Cedar Park, Berkner Bubble: Hebron, Richland, Flower Mound, Legacy, Plano East, Coppell Dark Horses: Wakeland, Cenntenial,

Here are my preseason predictions- Area A will more than like send 5. Keller will for sure be one. Area B will send 4: Bell and Marcus are definites, Hebron, Haltom and I have a feeling Flower Mound will be in the toss for 3rd and 4th. Area C will send their amazing sounding groups: Berkner, Duncanville, Coppell and Rowlett. Area D will send 6, possibly 7. Bowie, Reagan, CTJohnson and Round Rock are locks and I say the bubble is Chruchill, Anderson, Westlake and Cedar Ridge <- Gotta put my school up there. Area E will be Clements, Cy Fall, Cy Woods, and Langham Creek. I am going to be out there with Area F: The Woodlands, Spring, Westfield, Brazoswood- yeah yeah. BUT I think Clear Lake, The Woodlands College Park and Klien Oak are doing great things! Area G is a another area I do not follow, Harlingen will make it

Do you think we can get a predictions thing going? I will be tuning in for finals (hopefully) but I would like to make some predictions of who will get there. :3 Thank you.

Sadly, Wakeland's Final performance did not live up to their prelims performance. Just a note.

I really want Centennial in the top three.

Well that us embarrassing, I guess I should know what I am talking about before I talk. I also am happy to see that this LD Bell and Churchill decline thing really is nothing as they both did phenomenal by the end.