whitewing09 Posted November 5, 2015 Share Posted November 5, 2015 There's been a bunch of talk about Cedar Park (which is well-deserved; don't get me wrong), but I'm curious as to what people thought of Vandegrift. Unfortunately, I did not see them in-person or on the webcast. Based off of the results, it seems that they had stepped their game up since BOA San Antonio. Vandegrift's show was one of my favorites of the season and probably my favorite at the state contest. They take a very well known suite, offer a nice variation, and play it VERY well. From the livecast pov, I thought that they were going to take the championship. They came close! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitewing09 Posted November 5, 2015 Share Posted November 5, 2015 While I can't personally speak for possible grudges, inconsistency of judging in uil in my opinion stems from the fact that they choose currently employed Texas high school band directors as judges. This means that the odds of a judge not already having an opinion on a bands show or worse yet having already seen it are very low. I'm sure no one would openly admit to this, but certain directors have preferences in terms of shows and how they teach thier bands and many of them don't seem to be able to let that go very well when judging a contest. This is why I'm glad boa chooses long retired heavily experienced people or people who teach out of state far removed from the bands they are judging. Allows for a cleaner read in my opinion To that point, not only is there the possibility of a director having an opinion on a show, there is also the possibility that directors already have an opinion regarding other bands. This is definitely possible in BOA given that a lot of top bands are nationally known, but the network is smaller in Texas, so the probability of knowing a band and judging them on preconceived notions is greater. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justabandkid94 Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 There's been a bunch of talk about Cedar Park (which is well-deserved; don't get me wrong), but I'm curious as to what people thought of Vandegrift. Unfortunately, I did not see them in-person or on the webcast. Based off of the results, it seems that they had stepped their game up since BOA San Antonio. I said it in my predictions early on and I'll say it again. Vandegrift has an incredible ensemble blend and nuances quite unlike many of their opponents, which combined with their marching skills (they sweeped both rounds of the contest) is why they nearly went back-to-back this year. It seems to get more credit in UIL than BOA, for whatever reason. It also should be mentioned that they lost the TMEA State honor band title by merely 1 point. They are just so incredibly well rounded. I view Cedar Park, Vandegrift and Marcus and Hebron to be the top 4 musical bands of the state. but that's just me. I'm excited to see how they do in 6A The incredible ensemble blend and refinement can also be attributed to Cedar Park, although they have a more electric, DCI-esque sound, if you will. Sometimes they are too powerful for their own good, but when it's on lock... it's unreal. I think this years' show finally dethroned their 2008 show as my all-time favorite Cedar Park production. The top two were clearly a cut above the rest...which was a field of 8 more amazing bands!! What a contest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natertater21000 Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 The reason why Vandegrift's marching gets more credit at UIL is due to the fact that at UIL difficulty of the drill is only very slightly taken into account, all that matters is how clean it is. There are also no field judges so that changes things a great deal. Those are the two leading reasons that wakeland beat both CP and Vandy in visual at San Antonio pre lims and it's why Leander was consistently far ahead in visual throughout the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justabandkid94 Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 The reason why Vandegrift's marching gets more credit at UIL is due to the fact that at UIL difficulty of the drill is only very slightly taken into account, all that matters is how clean it is. There are also no field judges so that changes things a great deal. Those are the two leading reasons that wakeland beat both CP and Vandy in visual at San Antonio pre lims and it's why Leander was consistently far ahead in visual throughout the season. the recognition comment was about Vandegrift's music, but okay. Nothing I saw about Cedar Park or Vandegrft's drill was "easy"? There has been MUCH easier drill go through past UIL contests. I could pinpoint other bands but I'm not going to attempt to undermine other groups' hard work just because I thought their show was "easy" I was answering a question about what people thought of Vandegrift. Sometimes its okay to give another band credit for a post or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natertater21000 Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 good lord calm down I see I hit a nerve with you and also "which combined with their marching skills (they swept both rounds of the contest)". I'm simply stating what the numbers have already said, did Vandegrift beat wakeland in visual at BOA san Antonio? no they did not.I didn't say their drill was easy but that it was not as challenging or "showy" as other schools drill hence the lower scores all season aside from UIL. Also to undermine their hard work would be to say they were not clean, not that their drill was not the most difficult. The only person to blame for that would be the drill writer not the marchers. Vandegrift deserved every bit of that silver medal on Tuesday and I was not taking any credit away from them by saying what I said. you can disagree but the numbers all season long are what I based that post on so... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dylan123 Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 good lord calm down I see I hit a nerve with you and also "which combined with their marching skills (they swept both rounds of the contest)". I'm simply stating what the numbers have already said, did Vandegrift beat wakeland in visual at BOA san Antonio? no they did not.I didn't say their drill was easy but that it was not as challenging or "showy" as other schools drill hence the lower scores all season aside from UIL. Also to undermine their hard work would be to say they were not clean, not that their drill was not the most difficult. The only person to blame for that would be the drill writer not the marchers. Vandegrift deserved every bit of that silver medal on Tuesday and I was not taking any credit away from them by saying what I said. you can disagree but the numbers all season long are what I based that post on so... I hate when people get defensive about there own schools :/ they just come on here to read and write great comments about their own bands :// takigan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jade1 Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 This contest and judges were such bull. Look at Centennial's music scores in Prelims: 27, 14, 2 Tell me at least one of those judges isn't holding a grudge. Look at the prelims scores, they're all over the place for a lot if not most bands. Nice to know that State* judges like to hold grudges and take it out on kids who have been working hard all year. My band didn't make Finals but that's not what I'm even mad about, it's the fact that these judges were so inconsistent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jade1 Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 I agree with you!We need a different system or judges who are not prejudiced against a band. We need fair clean judging. I want to see marching bands march not watch a full musical theater production. It's frustrating to me that the more stuff you have in the show the better rating you get. We hat happen to just marching? There's needs to be two separate competitions. One for marching and one for theatrical. TexasTromboner 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natertater21000 Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 Oh my gosh would you people stop, please stop assuming that just because a band has props and visuals beyond squating once during a loud note means they don't march and play better than bands that don't. Some to more extent in this group than others but the lisd schools are the ones I assume you are referring to and they all marched and played better than the other 6 bands they competed with, regardless of show design or theatric visual elements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincentlee1220 Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 @jade1 I assume there's salt about how my (former) district took the top four places again. I wonder what was so "theatrical" about the LISD bands' shows? The fact that CP's show was about OPERA ITSELF? Or that Vista Ridge used a couple pyramids? I'm willing to bet as much as you want that they would perform at the exact same level in UIL if their shows were just raw marching and playing (see: Cedar Park 2011). Their excellence stems from their extreme levels of musicality, not from the props. Blaming excellence on props and "theatrical production" is such a dead horse. Stop beating it. It's just a style of show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coolcatlolz Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 Anyways, I wouldn't be mad at a band for a "theatrical production." I would be more upset that an entire woodwind section sat down in part of the show, but still made state. While I disagree with the scoring system of UIL(a lot), the LISD schools definitely earned their medals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasTromboner Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 @jade1 I assume there's salt about how my (former) district took the top four places again. I wonder what was so "theatrical" about the LISD bands' shows? The fact that CP's show was about OPERA ITSELF? Or that Vista Ridge used a couple pyramids? I'm willing to bet as much as you want that they would perform at the exact same level in UIL if their shows were just raw marching and playing (see: Cedar Park 2011). Their excellence stems from their extreme levels of musicality, not from the props. Blaming excellence on props and "theatrical production" is such a dead horse. Stop beating it. It's just a style of show. Either way you can't deny that some judges will give you a few extra points for just having visuals and props. I don't have any problem anymore with visuals and props, but when I see top notch programs only marching about 3 minutes of their show, that's when I get frustrated.You might not see any problem with that cause you were in LISD so you enjoyed all the successes, even retired 70-year-old judges know you guys are the best of the best, but when other bands are getting a much lower rating by younger judges who don't seem to realize that not every band likes to have theatricals in their shows and some have different style shows, something needs to be fixed. I'm not taking anything away from LISD by the way, I can honestly admit my band is nowhere near their level and they have some of the best band programs in the country. But when bands like mine are put anywhere from 1st-4th from most judges at some competition and then get 11th by one of the judges because he doesn't like our style* of show, I get pretty pissed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasTromboner Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 Agreed that LISD earned those medals and spots Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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