2013 BOA Grand Nationals

[sax_man 2007]

Finals Recaps!

http://www.musicforall.org/images/stories/pdf/Fall/2013/Recaps/2013.11.16.GN.Finals.pdf

Semi-Finals Recaps!

http://www.musicforall.org/images/stories/pdf/Fall/2013/Recaps/2013.11.16.GN.SemiFinals.pdf

Friday Prelims Recaps!

http://www.musicforall.org/images/stories/pdf/Fall/2013/Recaps/2013.11.15.GN.Prelims.pdf

Thursday Prelims Recaps!

http://www.musicforall.org/images/stories/pdf/Fall/2013/Recaps/2013.11.14.GN.Prelims.pdf

[whitewing09]

Was Cedar Ridge's performance really that off between finals and prelims? 

[knoxisawesome348]

  On 11/17/2013 at 5:41 AM, whitewing09 said:

Was Cedar Ridge's performance really that off between finals and prelims? 

Well I didn't watch semi-finals so I can't say for sure. It looks like Music GE judge 2 in semis liked them as much as I did though. He gave them a 19.5, which was only behind The Woodlands who scored a 19.8.

[ILovdBand3456]

Im pretty much happy with the placements tonight. Although I am suprised that Round Rock got as high as they did, but I have to remember that bands like Broken Arrow, Tarpon Springs, James Bowie, and Reagan didnt go either. Good job to RR though nothing against them.

[justabandkid94]

What happened with Blue Springs?

[knoxisawesome348]

I'm going to play the "what if" game. In semi-finals, the lowest placing Texas band was LD Bell in 8th place. IF Hebron, CTJ, and James Bowie had attended this year, Texas could have had 8 finalists! (you know, assuming every other factor stays constant with the judging).

 

But really, I can't imagine what would have happened if Hebron had gone. I think they could have possibly been the first band to win Grand Nats (or be the first runner-up too I think) on their first trip to Indianapolis!

[knoxisawesome348]

Also Round Rock was just .05 in semis from tying with Avon for the visual performance caption. Would they have been the first Texas band to ever win visual performance in either semis or finals?

[justabandkid94]

We need to get CTJ, Hebron, Bowie and Vandegrift up there next year for another nationals of Texas domination!

[titancoaster]

Ok, official prediction for the 2023 Grand National Contest...Eagle goes to a Texas Band (more than likely a Houston band, but officially I will stick with the state as a whole).
 

In realness a huge congratulations to the Woodlands band for an incredible performance and showing the world Texas bands know how to play!

[bchorn]

  On 11/17/2013 at 7:03 AM, knoxisawesome348 said:

I'm going to play the "what if" game. In semi-finals, the lowest placing Texas band was LD Bell in 8th place. IF Hebron, CTJ, and James Bowie had attended this year, Texas could have had 8 finalists! (you know, assuming every other factor stays constant with the judging).

 

But really, I can't imagine what would have happened if Hebron had gone. I think they could have possibly been the first band to win Grand Nats (or be the first runner-up too I think) on their first trip to Indianapolis!

 

Can you imagine how much Texas bands would dominate Grand Nationals if the event was held in a Texas city like Dallas?  It would leave the rest of the nation calling unfair and demanding they move it back to Indianapolis so that the other bands would have more of a chance.

[Xenon]

  On 11/17/2013 at 11:26 AM, bchorn said:

Can you imagine how much Texas bands would dominate Grand Nationals if the event was held in a Texas city like Dallas?  It would leave the rest of the nation calling unfair and demanding they move it back to Indianapolis so that the other bands would have more of a chance.

 

But also they'd rightly want it moved back because Cowboys Stadium is a horrible horrible venue for Marching Band....

[Drum major]

  On 11/17/2013 at 7:03 AM, knoxisawesome348 said:

I'm going to play the "what if" game. In semi-finals, the lowest placing Texas band was LD Bell in 8th place. IF Hebron, CTJ, and James Bowie had attended this year, Texas could have had 8 finalists! (you know, assuming every other factor stays constant with the judging).

 

But really, I can't imagine what would have happened if Hebron had gone. I think they could have possibly been the first band to win Grand Nats (or be the first runner-up too I think) on their first trip

  On 11/17/2013 at 6:13 AM, ILovdBand3456 said:

Im pretty much happy with the placements tonight. Although I am suprised that Round Rock got as high as they did, but I have to remember that bands like Broken Arrow, Tarpon Springs, James Bowie, and Reagan didnt go either. Good job to RR though nothing against them.

 

So..... Unless you were in Indianapolis and actually saw, heard and witnessed how Round Rock performed I doubt Hebron , Bowie or Regan would have stopped them.... "Though nothing against them" . Those Round Rock kids deserved that placement just as any other band who would have marched and played as we'll as they did. The buzz that was created in the stands was like nothing I had seen or heard before from any another one band. This was their break out moment! Don't take that away from them.

Those 5 Texas Bands are the ones that went, they are the ones that performed and they are they ones that should be praised... Not this meaningless stuff about if "so and so" band went.. They would have"....

Everyone on this forum knows judging is subjective and personal, RR Never lost its placement from semi finals to finals... Hard to question that...

IMO.. I hope that RR starts to get the praise for the incredible band they are. And all this said. I have no dog in the fight... Just so amazed at the great job RR did last night and they way they represented Texas!

[ILovdBand3456]

  On 11/17/2013 at 1:57 PM, Drum major said:

ame="knoxisawesome348" post="86770" timestamp="1384671837"]I'm going to play the "what if" game. In semi-finals, the lowest placing Texas band was LD Bell in 8th place. IF Hebron, CTJ, and James Bowie had attended this year, Texas could have had 8 finalists! (you know, assuming every other factor stays constant with the judging).

 

But really, I can't imagine what would have happened if Hebron had gone. I think they could have possibly been the first band to win Grand Nats (or be the first runner-up too I think) on their first trip

So..... Unless you were in Indianapolis and actually saw, heard and witnessed how Round Rock performed I doubt Hebron , Bowie or Regan would have stopped them.... "Though nothing against them" . Those Round Rock kids deserved that placement just as any other band who would have marched and played as we'll as they did. The buzz that was created in the stands was like nothing I had seen or heard before from any another one band. This was their break out moment! Don't take that away from them.

Those 5 Texas Bands are the ones that went, they are the ones that performed and they are they ones that should be praised... Not this meaningless stuff about if "so and so" band went.. They would have"....

Everyone on this forum knows judging is subjective and personal, RR Never lost its placement from semi finals to finals... Hard to question that...

IMO.. I hope that RR starts to get the praise for the incredible band they are. And all this said. I have no dog in the fight... Just so amazed at the great job RR did last night and they way they represented Texas!

You're right, I shouldnt take anything away from them. I did watch the live stream and RR deserves everything they have achieved. But when you said the even if Hebron and Bowie went they wouldnt have been able to stop them....come on lets be serious. If Hebron and Bowie wouldve gone, it wouldve been deja vu.

[principalagent]

Cedar Ridge now joins two other Texas bands in making finals on their fourth year as a school, along with CTJ (2008 -> 2011) and Reagan (1999 -> 2002). Has any band done it more quickly than these three?

[Draak Vader]

  On 11/17/2013 at 2:32 PM, ILovdBand3456 said:

You're right, I shouldnt take anything away from them. I did watch the live stream and RR deserves everything they have achieved. But when you said the even if Hebron and Bowie went they wouldnt have been able to stop them....come on lets be serious. If Hebron and Bowie wouldve gone, it wouldve been deja vu.

 

Maybe, maybe not. We'll never know.....

 

It stikes me, though, that the big picture is being missed here.

 

This year, five Texas bands made the trip. All five of those bands made the final twelve bands; five for five, in a rigorous contest made up of 91 bands from around the country.

 

Five Texas bands were in the final group of 12; that's 43% of the finalist bands were Texas bands.

 

Four Texas bands were in the top 10; that's 40% of the top 10 bands were from Texas (with CR very, very close to being there as well).

 

Three of the top 5 bands were Texas bands; that's 60% of the top five bands were from Texas.

 

And, The Woodlands brought home the Eagle.....a Texas band.

 

That is truly an extrodinary, "one for the record books" year for Texas marching bands.

 

Before we all start picking each other apart with the "what ifs" and "woulda, coulda, shoulda", perhaps we should revel in what these five bands accomplished for their schools and how extrodinarily they represented the state.

 

What might have happened will remain a mystery....what did happen was incredible.

[scoobydoo]

  On 11/17/2013 at 2:32 PM, ILovdBand3456 said:

You're right, I shouldnt take anything away from them. I did watch the live stream and RR deserves everything they have achieved. But when you said the even if Hebron and Bowie went they wouldnt have been able to stop them....come on lets be serious. If Hebron and Bowie wouldve gone, it wouldve been deja vu.[/quot.

 

Do we really need to start going down this path of what if X Y or Z band was there???

[Xenon]

And in Semi's 5 of the top 8 were from Texas! That's ~63%!

[Drum major]

And in the top 4....2 bands were from texas! 50%

[psychohistory]

New member!  Longtime fan of BOA.  This was a fantastic year for Texas...so proud!  Here are my thoughts:

 

-Round Rock's closer got me misty-eyed (manly tears!) Glad to see them getting recognized for the powerhouse they are.  Parade invitation...nice!

-I feel the relative placement of TX bands (TW, RR, Marcus, LDB, CR) accurately reflects their relative strength.

-TW show was insanely powerful.  The part half-way, when they play 3 chords, and the 3rd is crazy aggressive...gives me chills each time.  Their victory was a long time coming.

-I'm calling 2023 right now -> James Bowie or Round Rock (region 2!)

 

Here's to hoping Hebron, Ronald Reagan, CTJ, Vandergrift, James Bowie, etc. get the chance to represent soon.

[knoxisawesome348]

I wasn't trying to diminish the accomplishments of any particular band with my comment, I was just trying to have fun and infer if Texas could have dominated any more than they already did. Round Rock had 3 outstanding performances across Friday and Saturday and they definitely deserved the placements they received. They really cleaned between San Antonio and Indianapolis and it paid off, winning the semis music caption and almost the semis visual caption as well along with Avon. If they had won visual performance in semis, like I said earlier, I believe they would have been the first Texas band to do so. 

 

I'm not necessarily trying to play the "what-if" game with these comments for no reason, but instead I'm trying to highlight the high levels of musical achievement so many Texas bands have realized. Didn't think I would instigate a debate in any way, as all I said was that "Hebron could have won or been runner-up." It wasn't a hit at the Dragon Band at all and I think it's simply amazing they and Cedar Ridge, two schools from the same district, proved a lot of people wrong (myself included) based on how freakin' well they would do their first attempt at grand nationals. It's not very common for a band to make finals their first trip to Indy let alone score in the top 5, and both of these bands really shut everyone up with their "on the bubble" talk. I guess we all should have known

 

Hopefully getting 4th place at Grand Nationals and a Rose Parade invitation was redemption for placing 14th last year at UIL Area. I know I would be ecstatic. Hope to see the two RRISD bands next year in the state competition!

[itsstephenyo]

Wow, this is just about the best outcome Texas could have hoped for with respect to the Grand Nats Finals. It kinda solidifies our spot in the hierarchy of the band world. We pretty much showed the rest of the nation that the Grand Nationals needs to be moved around to different places, although I'm sure Music for All have their contracts with Lucas Oil Stadium. 

 

Seriously, though, how much talent is missed at every GN because of location? This also doesn't include all the fantastic Florida and California bands. Tarpon Springs? Etiwanda? I found it impressive that Ayala also made finals as one of the few California bands there. 

Either way, super proud year for Texas bands! I can't wait til Hebron announces that they're going to Nats. I'm definitely booking tickets and hotel rooms early if they ever say that they'll go!

[LHSax]

  On 11/17/2013 at 6:17 PM, knoxisawesome348 said:

I wasn't trying to diminish the accomplishments of any particular band with my comment, I was just trying to have fun and infer if Texas could have dominated any more than they already did. Round Rock had 3 outstanding performances across Friday and Saturday and they definitely deserved the placements they received. They really cleaned between San Antonio and Indianapolis and it paid off, winning the semis music caption and almost the semis visual caption as well along with Avon. If they had won visual performance in semis, like I said earlier, I believe they would have been the first Texas band to do so. 

 

I'm not necessarily trying to play the "what-if" game with these comments for no reason, but instead I'm trying to highlight the high levels of musical achievement so many Texas bands have. Didn't think I would instigate a debate in any way, as all I said was that "Hebron could have won or been runner-up." It wasn't a hit at the Dragon Band at all and I think it's simply amazing they and Cedar Ridge, two schools from the same district, proved a lot of people wrong (myself included) based on how freakin' well they would do their first attempt at grand nationals. It's not very common for a band to make finals their first trip to Indy let alone score in the top 5, and both of these bands really shut everyone up with their "on the bubble" talk. I guess we all should have known

 

Hopefully getting 4th place at Grand Nationals and a Rose Parade invitation was redemption for placing 14th last year at UIL Area. I know I would be ecstatic. Hope to see the two RRISD bands next year in the state competition!

I'll back you up. All he's trying to say is we brought our 1,8,9,10,11 bands from Texas, and placed 1,4,5,10,11 at grand nationals. It's not hard to imagine that if we brought more of those 2-7 bands (minus Blue Springs) the result would've been even more impressive. I think it's just amazing that (and the results don't lie) in this particular year, the SA regional was harder than the grand nationals. I think that's a tribute to what an amazing year Texas had, and a tribute to a few typical bands missing from GN (but I think it's more so the first one )

 

Would also like to give props to the Woodlands and Round Rock for some impressive pacing of their show. I think they definitely had shows that were intended to peak at grand nationals, and they obviously did. Of course I think all these bands did, but I think it was most apparent for these two bands...especially the Woodlands considering their were able to win SA with a show that really hadn't even peaked yet. Major props to that staff for designing this show. It's a show that definitely grew on me over the year.

[whitewing09]

It was pretty cool hearing band after band being called and realizing that Round Rock was in the top 4.

 

My favorite part of watching the live cast was seeing the close ups of Marcus' show. Those kids really got into the theme. I'm also glad that they didn't have that perpetual mic issue with their sax solo at the end of the show in finals. 

 

Soooo proud of the TX bands. Texas was well represented!

[itsstephenyo]

  On 11/17/2013 at 7:45 PM, whitewing09 said:

It was pretty cool hearing band after band being called and realizing that Round Rock was in the top 4.

That WAS very cool. When it got to the top 5, I did a quick recap and figured, "Holy heck! RR is gonna be top 5!"

 

Man, this was an awesome year for marching band. 

[bandmomtx]

  On 11/17/2013 at 6:17 PM, knoxisawesome348 said:

I wasn't trying to diminish the accomplishments of any particular band with my comment, I was just trying to have fun and infer if Texas could have dominated any more than they already did. Round Rock had 3 outstanding performances across Friday and Saturday and they definitely deserved the placements they received. They really cleaned between San Antonio and Indianapolis and it paid off, winning the semis music caption and almost the semis visual caption as well along with Avon. If they had won visual performance in semis, like I said earlier, I believe they would have been the first Texas band to do so. 

 

I'm not necessarily trying to play the "what-if" game with these comments for no reason, but instead I'm trying to highlight the high levels of musical achievement so many Texas bands have realized. Didn't think I would instigate a debate in any way, as all I said was that "Hebron could have won or been runner-up." It wasn't a hit at the Dragon Band at all and I think it's simply amazing they and Cedar Ridge, two schools from the same district, proved a lot of people wrong (myself included) based on how freakin' well they would do their first attempt at grand nationals. It's not very common for a band to make finals their first trip to Indy let alone score in the top 5, and both of these bands really shut everyone up with their "on the bubble" talk. I guess we all should have known

 

Hopefully getting 4th place at Grand Nationals and a Rose Parade invitation was redemption for placing 14th last year at UIL Area. I know I would be ecstatic. Hope to see the two RRISD bands next year in the state competition!