2012 BOA San Antonio Predictions

[T.Stechnij]

  Sousapwn10 said:

Have you seen Berkner?? Their show is NOTHING like it was at Denton. I feel like people are discounting them, because they are making predictions based off of their performance at Denton. In my opinion, they have potential for a top five spot.

 

I said the same thing a couple posts up. They sound so good. Top three ensemble music potential for sure.

Edited October 31, 2012 by T.Stechnij

[sax_man 2007]

  cfband said:

I have seen TWHS show 5 times this fall (Believe me, that is enough when you are competing with them). It is amazing.

 

Simple - Clean - Emotional.

 

I not much on Props just for props sake, but in Sept they had a 5th letter on the field that was not opened. NUMBER ONE question in the stands was - What does that letter say? It was killing my wife. That is how emotionally involved the audience gets.

 

They have removed the fifth letter, but still saw women wiping their eyes at area last Saturday.

 

To address your wife's curiosity on the 5th letter, it was probably removed from the UIL Area competition due to time contraints (capped at 10 minutes total I believe) and will probably be implemented/reappear at BOA SA, as they will have more time (15 minutes in total) to complete the last portion of their show, which I believe ends wtih the opening of the 5th and final letter. Pretty excited to see the whole thing come together.

[mellopwn1]

  Rubisco said:

I'm not sure I think Marcus sounds better this year than last, although the music they're playing is more impressive if done well.

 

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.

[Trumpet28]

  mellopwn1 said:

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.

 

Is there any video online of TW by any chance?

[mellopwn1]

  Trumpet28 said:

Is there any video online of TW by any chance?

 

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.

Edited November 1, 2012 by mellopwn1

[Trumpet28]

  mellopwn1 said:

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.

 

Darn. I saw TW at Area this past saturday.they were really good.

Musically:They are so much more technical. Im astounded by their brass sounds this year.They could really make a great impression at SA.

Visually: The tarps as props being letters is very interesting. I think what's cool is how one by one they open up revealing a message, following with another narration of "sarah's journey" this allows the audience to follow the story of the show. Overall this show is very emotionally driven. I can't wait to see the show at SA!

[mellopwn1]

  Trumpet28 said:

Darn. I saw TW at Area this past saturday.they were really good.

Musically:They are so much more technical. Im astounded by their brass sounds this year.They could really make a great impression at SA.

Visually: The tarps as props being letters is very interesting. I think what's cool is how one by one they open up revealing a message, following with another narration of "sarah's journey" this allows the audience to follow the story of the show. Overall this show is very emotionally driven. I can't wait to see the show at SA!

 

Tarps and narration are HARDLY new ideas but I will say that TW does a decent job of pulling it off without being corny.

Edited November 1, 2012 by mellopwn1

[Nosagi]

I have been listening to The Woodlands High School band for years now and I can honestly say that this year's music is by far the best I've ever heard them. They fixed the high trumpets sticking out in the end of the first act which was my biggest problem, the soloists are excellent (though at area the brass soloists did stumble but I'm willing to chalk that up to the cold). The end of the ballad is SO POWERFUL they've gotten standing ovations before the show was near done. I think musically they are just way more exciting than I've ever seen them before. Plus the GE this year is very high! Clean it up visually and this may be The Woodlands best season to date! (Too bad it's not a GN year). Yet, they are still The Woodlands and they do have that TW curse... Hopefully this year will be the end of that!

 

Marcus is THE classy band, both on the field and off (anyone who has ever stood next to them before retreat knows exactly what I'm talking about). Their shows tend to be high brow, if that makes sense. They just seem to not be as exciting and interesting to the common person as opposed to someone who is ALL about the music. I do love Bach and they perform it well, but they lack that edge that bands like Hebron, TW, and CTJ are made of. Now the judges of all people will appreciate their sound, but don't look to them for a fan favorite. Nevertheless they will be in the hierarchy for a little bit longer.

 

LD Bell. Where do I start... I don't think that Bell has lost their touch. They have lost Wes Cartwright and every contest this season (I think) but I don't see this as the end of their dynasty. Their show is confusing to me, but so was the Blue Devils show this year and look how that turned out for them. Their drill this year is insane which would work to their advantage if they could clean it up. I guess time will tell how this past week went for them.

 

Claudia Taylor Johnson is one of my personal favorite programs, I love their show this year and I think that they could be the 'Bowie 2011' this year. That being said, what I saw was from Denton, so they have added and cleaned and all that, I am most excited to see them this weekend. I only hear good things about them!

 

I can't make any predictions cause if I tried my head would explode. This Super Regional is The Grand Nationals of Texas.

[Trumpet28]

  Nosagi said:

I can't make any predictions cause if I tried my head would explode. This Super Regional is The Grand Nationals of Texas.

 

I couldn't agree more! If TW can elicit a huge GE score from the judges they could find themselves in first. Repeat from last year maybe like Broken Arrow? Avon had music and visual(tied w/carmel) and broken arrow had GE.

[billhankdale]

Hello, im curious about friendswoods chances? Ive heard some great things about their show this year from a family member who knows what theyre talking about, why so little mention?

[Anteok]

  Nosagi said:

I can't make any predictions cause if I tried my head would explode. This Super Regional is The Grand Nationals of Texas.

 

And if they cut the eight-hour rule, or other states enacted one, Grand Nationals would be the Texas Super Regional of Indiana.

[Drummantx]

  Anteok said:

And if they cut the eight-hour rule, or other states enacted one, Grand Nationals would be the Texas Super Regional of Indiana.

 

Yup, it would be insane.

[clarineticorn]

I'm really super-excited to see The Woodlands this weekend. I absolutely loved their show last year and from everything I've heard about this year's, it's shaping up to be at the very least one-and-a-half times as awesome as last year's. As for Johnson, I asked a friend there for a recent video of them. I ended up watching one from the UIL regional, and it was a lot cleaner than the Denton video, and they'd added on to the end. (I was happy that the stab chord before the School for Scandal bit in the final movement was cleaner, in particular.)

 

I'm still trying to decide how much of my excitement is from getting to see my kiddos this weekend and how much is from gettin' to watch me some marchin' band! I can't wait to actually watch a competition, for once. That'll be weird. heck, it was weird going to band camp and not being out on the field with them...but time passes and so do we and big names come and go but there will always (hopefully) be that same love for music we all have. Good luck to everyone tomorrow and on Saturday, and may the judges be fair and neither blind nor deaf.

[Islababe]

First of all BEST OF LUCK TO ALL THE BANDS that have made it this far...such hard work and determination!! I think THE WOODLANDS will dominate this competition...I have seen them perform on several occasions and their performance is second to none... its hard to believe that these are high school students!

[wikimancz]

Did anyone see Round Rock?!?

[TxRaider13]

  wikimancz said:

Did anyone see Round Rock?!?

 

You may want to.read.the live comments, but to me.they showed that they have a great drum line, brass, and guard but get dirty in some forms and.tuning issues at times

Edited November 3, 2012 by TxRaider13

[ch1k3n123]

  TxRaider13 said:

You may want to.read.the live comments, but to me.theshowed that they have a great drum line, great brass, guard, and drill, they show.flashes of.brilliance and also.whow.difficult the show.can get the band can get a little.muddy in.the forms and some sound and.tuning issues rear their head

 

having trouble typing there?

[TxRaider13]

Very big problems typing

Edited November 3, 2012 by TxRaider13

[TxRaider13]

  ch1k3n123 said:

having trouble typing there?

Big hands plus small keys equal bad typing.......... It gets annoying, I need.to let my wife fix it so it will stop.doing this crap... Or any female who.is good with phones

[Merkal]

So what are peoples opinions of the first day? Who was strong enough to get one of the coveted finals spots?

[Hard Core Band Fan]

  Merkal said:

So what are peoples opinions of the first day? Who was strong enough to get one of the coveted finals spots?

 

I was there all day today and think that Reagan and CTJ are in for sure. Also, the following bands have a really good chance:

 

Pflugerville

Cedar Park

Hendrickson

Round Rock

 

Several more have a good chance as well:

 

Westlake

Anderson

Churchill

SFA

Keller Central

Haltom

 

The difference between the first and second group to me was the the first group had slightly better performances today. They all did well, but I think the first group will score higher.

 

 

To answer an earlier question, Round Rock did well today. Much better than at Area. The guard killed it as did the percussion, and the horns did a fine job.

[Nosagi]

  Mal Payne said:

I was there all day today and think that Reagan and CTJ are in for sure. Also, the following bands have a really good chance:

 

Pflugerville

Cedar Park

Hendrickson

Round Rock

 

Several more have a good chance as well:

 

Westlake

Anderson

Churchill

SFA

Keller Central

Haltom

 

The difference between the first and second group to me was the the first group had slightly better performances today. They all did well, but I think the first group will score higher.

 

 

To answer an earlier question, Round Rock did well today. Much better than at Area. The guard killed it as did the percussion, and the horns did a fine job.

Couldn't agree more with this. Though I love Pflugerville's program, I'm worried it's not quite enough to make finals. Performance and program wise it was very nice, fairly clean musically and visually but are they on that level this year? Time will tell. So I guess I actually COULD agree more xD

[TxRaider13]

I could see Cedar Park in the top 14, but CTJ was by far and away the top band today, it's just hard to tell with what's coming to.the.field all day Saturday