Area B 2018

[Xenon]

 

Lopez HS from Brownsville won 6A Honor Band the previous cycle.  Their marching record is less successful but they were at the State Marching Contest last year for 5A and in 2016 for 6A.

 

Brownsville is a border town and Lopez has a 100%+/- Hispanic population with 99% Economically Disadvantaged.

 

Also, North Shore is 71% Economically Disadvantaged and made 6A State Finals in the previous cycle.

[LostChoirGuy]

Haltom is 67.5% economically disadvantaged.

 

The important point here is that fantastic educators can make a difference in a program and then fostering a culture of excellence over a long period of time will grow a program to become one of the best. You cannot throw tons of money at a lower quality program and expect them to perform even an excellently designed show at a high level. In fact, it would only be more disastrous. The level of design growth must match the growth of the band fundamentally or they will fail. We have all seen shows that have bitten off more than they could chew with tons of props and flags flying everywhere but when it came to producing a quality piece of art was lacking.

[BandGuy2]

How long was LD Bell’s streak of making state finals? I mean that’s impressive in itself. LD Bell is a great program and I hope they can come back in 2020 and make state again.

[meursault]

How long was LD Bell’s streak of making state finals? I mean that’s impressive in itself. LD Bell is a great program and I hope they can come back in 2020 and make state again.

They broke the streak in 2014 when they didn't make state I believe. Hopefully they can rebuild their streak of being as fantastic in UIL as they have consistently been in BOA.

[aaron067]

Honestly I feel bad for Waxahachie. It takes away from their awesome area victory. I really love the way they perform that show and hope they make state finals.

 

Waxahachie is not allowing this to affect them either.  In fact, the staff was aware of the placement situation prior to the announcement and had no problem conceding to Keller in this instance.  The unfortunate part of it all is that Dr. Kent couldn't be reached prior to results being announced to clarify.  All that really matters is that both bands are attending State and they'll both give even stronger performances next week.

[AbcBand2019]

Mansfield got screwed. They only got placed so low because they went between waxahachie and Keller

[eeman0201]

Mansfield got screwed. They only got placed so low because they went between waxahachie and Keller

Screwed seems a little bit too harsh

[AbcBand2019]

With that run they had, I give them 6th maybe even 5th. My big problem with a lot of these higher up bands is that they all never march and play. It is park and bark at every full ensemble moment. Then a majority of the upper bands will just abuse one soloist and a few members to create a small ensemble that play the whole time rather than it being a full band effort. It’s marching band not stand still and play band. It’s a BAND not marching small quintet

[LostChoirGuy]

Why don't you tell us how you really feel?

[BOAHEB]

With that run they had, I give them 6th maybe even 5th. My big problem with a lot of these higher up bands is that they all never march and play. It is park and bark at every full ensemble moment. Then a majority of the upper bands will just abuse one soloist and a few members to create a small ensemble that play the whole time rather than it being a full band effort. It’s marching band not stand still and play band. It’s a BAND not marching small quintet

Have you even watched Keller or Coppell?

[AbcBand2019]

 

Have you even watched Keller or Coppell?

I respect those bands, my comment is more targeted towards duncanville and LD Bell

[BandFriendzz]

 

With that run they had, I give them 6th maybe even 5th. My big problem with a lot of these higher up bands is that they all never march and play. It is park and bark at every full ensemble moment. Then a majority of the upper bands will just abuse one soloist and a few members to create a small ensemble that play the whole time rather than it being a full band effort. It’s marching band not stand still and play band. It’s a BAND not marching small quintet

I do agree with the not matching and playing . Bands like coppelll, haltom , Mansfield and Keller all are able to match and play beautifully. I did realize that bands like Waxahachie, bell , prosper and duncanville all sort of march and then stop and play really loud . I will agree on that but I don’t think mainsfield got screwed . I would of placed them 9th and no higher .

[AbcBand2019]

 

I do agree with the not matching and playing . Bands like coppelll, haltom , Mansfield and Keller all are able to match and play beautifully. I did realize that bands like Waxahachie, bell , prosper and duncanville all sort of march and then stop and play really loud . I will agree on that but I don’t think mainsfield got screwed . I would of placed them 9th and no higher .

I can respect that, I’m not associated with Mansfield. I just always enjoy their programs. Glad you agree with me about the other thing though

[BandoFando]

I actually think Keller and Waxa marched and played the most. Simultaneous demand is a good thing and it set them apart. Coppell had a good mix albeit they did sound noticeably better standing still. It’s pretty glaring that Bell rarely marched and played at the same time.

[brassclass]

I respect those bands, my comment is more targeted towards duncanville and LD Bell

Umm I march the Duncanville drill and I guess I’m clearly marching a different show than you’re describing....

[BOAHEB]

 

I actually think Keller and Waxa marched and played the most. Simultaneous demand is a good thing and it set them apart. Coppell had a good mix albeit they did sound noticeably better standing still. It’s pretty glaring that Bell rarely marched and played at the same time.

Uhhhhhhh waxa hardly marched and played from what I saw, it was all, put a foot on this bench, play, take foot off of bench, horns down, march, repeat

[BandFriendzz]

 

Umm I march the Duncanville drill and I guess I’m clearly marching a different show than you’re describing....

I watched the duncanville show and he’s describing the right show.

[josephbandfan]

With that run they had, I give them 6th maybe even 5th. My big problem with a lot of these higher up bands is that they all never march and play. It is park and bark at every full ensemble moment. Then a majority of the upper bands will just abuse one soloist and a few members to create a small ensemble that play the whole time rather than it being a full band effort. It’s marching band not stand still and play band. It’s a BAND not marching small quintet

I hadn't seen Mansfield until Saturday and I was pleasantly surprised. But I did not have them higher than 9th.

[BandoFando]

I think Keller and Waxa set themselves apart with the difficulty of their show, especially musically. On the live blog I think they said Keller started the show with 2+ minutes left on the clock. That’s a long show. A 10 minute show. Keller and Waxahachie were achieving really hard music which takes a lot of stamina. And I think it’s not about marching vs. standing still. It’s about how well can you move and play. Keller and Waxa moved and payed better then everyone else with harder music which set them apart.

[Tyreid1]

With that run they had, I give them 6th maybe even 5th. My big problem with a lot of these higher up bands is that they all never march and play. It is park and bark at every full ensemble moment. Then a majority of the upper bands will just abuse one soloist and a few members to create a small ensemble that play the whole time rather than it being a full band effort. It’s marching band not stand still and play band. It’s a BAND not marching small quintet

I agree with this, however, if you read a judges sheet marching and playing only counts for points under the drill section. Marching and playing for the most part are not judged together, therefore, whether a band is marching and playing or not does not matter as much, what matters is the execution of them separately.

[Bass2Bass]

I watched the duncanville show and he’s describing the right show.

I have to disagree. Yes, there are quite a few points in the show where the band stops and plays, but literally the entirety of the ballad hit is playing/ dynamic shaping and marching various formations. It's not the most difficult show by any means, but to describe the whole show like that is a bit of an exaggeration.

[Bandouts149]

 

I agree with this, however, if you read a judges sheet marching and playing only counts for points under the drill section. Marching and playing for the most part are not judged together, therefore, whether a band is marching and playing or not does not matter as much, what matters is the execution of them separately.

That’s the sad truth... Duncanville sounded great, but they were more “band” than marching. IMO, I feel like Timbercreek should’ve taken 5th place, because they had the best of both worlds. At the end of the day, all 3 of the music judges preferred Duncanville musically, and that is what stands.

[Brassy]

WOW, Waxahachie is known for playing ridiculously difficult music and marching at the same time. The program has a philosophy that kids should move and play. I’m almost certain that except at only a couple hits, at least part of the kids march in the entire show. Good Lord, some of those poor kids low crawl half way across the field, stand up and play. This thread needs to be deleted. FYI, the Waxahachie kids will tell you Keller beat them fair and square, regardless of what UIL says. They also felt bad for Timbercreek because in 2009 they missed state because of the scores of one judge and have heard this story numerous times. Hachie staff helped Ducanville with their sound board. I hope UIL never looks like BOA because it isn’t about the music as much as the extravagant.show. Stop whining it doesn’t reflect you or your band in a good light. We will see how all this pans out at state with brand new judges. Good luck to all Area B bands.

[Bandozer]

So many salty people...

 

Unfortunately marching band can only be judged based on opinion. It's not an activity where distance can be measured, or goals can be scored. It's judges who have a rubric and they score using their opinion on who best fits the criteria. It's not a perfect system, but it is what it is. A judge can be looking at side one and totally miss the hardest drill move on side two. Or they can miss a kid falling over. They can miss a musical tear because they don't know the music. Or they can even not understand how difficult a part of a show is. It happens all the time, even in DCI (I would argue it happens more in DCI, because the judges know every corps and have more biases).

 

If there had been different judges, it could have gone another way. But those judges judged the way that they felt was correct. If you're upset, I understand. I've been on both extremes. But you can't base your season or happiness on the opinions of 5 people. You'll never enjoy the activity if you do. You need to judge your success on how you felt about your performance. Trust me, having an amazing performance is much more fulfilling than coming in first place.

[Knf102577]

 

WOW, Waxahachie is known for playing ridiculously difficult music and marching at the same time. The program has a philosophy that kids should move and play. I’m almost certain that except at only a couple hits, at least part of the kids march in the entire show. Good Lord, some of those poor kids low crawl half way across the field, stand up and play. This thread needs to be deleted. FYI, the Waxahachie kids will tell you Keller beat them fair and square, regardless of what UIL says. They also felt bad for Timbercreek because in 2009 they missed state because of the scores of one judge and have heard this story numerous times. Hachie staff helped Ducanville with their sound board. I hope UIL never looks like BOA because it isn’t about the music as much as the extravagant.show. Stop whining it doesn’t reflect you or your band in a good light. We will see how all this pans out at state with brand new judges. Good luck to all Area B bands.