2022 BOA San Antonio (Nov. 4 & 5)

[Rubisco]

15 hours ago, Jackson1 said:

@Rubisco - Missing your input on San Antonio.  Any input?  You are usually spot on.

Oh, I wish this were actually true! You're very generous! 

To my mind, Hebron's sheer musical virtuosity will be hard to top. And since 2018, they've really upped their visual game as well. The show is also very consistently entertaining, even more than 2021. Last year, they swept the captions here, but if you look at the actual recaps, it was a somewhat messy sweep. Only 3 of the 7 judges had them in 1st. (That's actually one of the reasons I don't think they would have won Nationals last year, and probably would have landed 2nd or even 3rd, given how much the GE judges united behind Carmel in 2nd.) My bet is that Hebron increases that number of 1st places this year in finals. I'm thinking last year was their Flower Mound 2015; this year could be more like their Flower Mound 2016.

Beyond that, it's impossible to predict. The early season results were too close, and even more than that, just watching the shows I have trouble deciding what I think will score higher overall, if one person can even judge that. At the end of the day, the scores are the result of 7 different people's opinions thrown together, each seeking a sort of perfect, guided subjectivity.

Now, when I focus on individual parts of shows, I can see clear strengths and weaknesses. Reagan, just as an example, has spectacular visual moments, but the pacing of the show is a little off (maybe intentionally breaking the marching music mold) and causes parts of the show to drag a little bit, which may be why they've placed higher in visual effect than music effect. Vista's show is very thrilling and well-designed, but sometimes it looks like they may have bitten off more than they could completely chew, and the performance suffers a little. Things like that. I could do this for every band.

My hope is that all of the performers can put aside any of their anxieties regarding the mysterious scoring process and just go out there and do what they always do. Like I said to the performers last year, everyone is on your side, even the people judging! Nobody wants to see you fail!

[Rubisco]

On 10/31/2022 at 9:11 PM, packwick said:

like, honestly, i'm not going to tell as much upstairs if u lose your balance on a chaines turn, but i'm sure as f*** gonna notice if flags are going up and down at different times and rifles are dropped. waaay more exposed, waaay bigger risk.

Oh, you didn't know? They give upstairs judges binoculars before the start of the show! 🙃

On 10/31/2022 at 9:11 PM, packwick said:

maybe i'm not connecting w/ it as much as the others bc it's a little too simple for my tastes. but they can surely execute.

Ah, but the real reason you're not connecting with it is because it's too satanic, right? 😄

[cjm715]

47 minutes ago, Rubisco said:

Ah, but the real reason you're not connecting with it is because it's too satanic, right? 😄

Not the Cedar Ridge satanism banter again😭

[packwick]

lol, but the mental image of looking up at the press box and seeing a bunch of hoary old judges looking through binoculars like Rear Window creepers is actually amusing.

also CR's show simply isn't satanic enough. missed opportunity to have the gargoyles make a pentagram and sacrifice a goat in the middle of the field.

[LostChoirGuy]

OK, we are less than a day away from the start of this contest and I am so excited!  I haven't spent as much time actually watching videos this year as normal, so for most of these bands, this will be my first time seeing their show all season.  There is a lot of talk about who will make finals (rightfully so) but I wanted to give a shoutout to so many other great bands that deserve recognition.  I decided to create a list of my top 25 from each panel as well as a simulation for the top 11+11+8 if there had been a semifinals.  I do not know enough about the lower classification bands to guess the hypothetical advancers based on class so I did not do that.  If anyone knows how to create spoiler tags here, please let me know so I can make this wall of text appear nicer.

Panel 1 Top 25 (in alphabetical order)

Argyle
Bowie
College Park
CT Johnson
Cy Fair
Cy Woods
Del Rio
Flower Mound
Forney
Foster
Friendswood
Glenn
Hays
Hendrickson
Keller
Keller Central
Lake Travis
Leander
Marcus
O'Connor
Pearland
Reagan
Round Rock
Sachse
Timber Creek

Panel 2 Top 25 (in alphabetical order)

Alexander
Brandeis
Cedar Park
Cedar Ridge
Coppell
Dawson
Dripping Springs
Hebron
Highland Park
JE Taylor
Klein Oak
LD Bell
McNeil
Oak Ridge
Rock Hill
Rouse
Seven Lakes
The Woodlands
Vandegrift
Vista Ridge
Waxahachie
Westlake
Westwood
Wylie
Wylie East

Semifinalists:

Panel 1 Top 11 (in alphabetical order)

Bowie
CT Johnson
Cy Fair
Flower Mound
Hendrickson
Keller
Marcus
Pearland
Reagan
Round Rock
Timber Creek

Panel 2 Top 11 (in alphabetical order)

Cedar Park
Cedar Ridge
Coppell
Hebron
LD Bell
Rouse
The Woodlands
Vandegrift
Vista Ridge
Waxahachie
Westlake

Next 8 (in alphabetical order)

Brandeis (Panel 2)
Keller Central (Panel 1)
Lake Travis (Panel 1)
Leander (Panel 1)
Rock Hill (Panel 2)
Westwood (Panel 2)
Wylie (Panel 2)
Wylie East (Panel 2)

Finalists:

Panel 1 Top 5 (in alphabetical order)

CT Johnson
Flower Mound
Marcus
Reagan
Round Rock

Panel 2 Top 5 (in alphabetical order)

Cedar Park
Coppell
Hebron
Vista Ridge
Vandegrift

Next 4 (in alphabetical order)

Cedar Ridge (Panel 2)
Cy Fair (Panel 1)
Keller (Panel 1)
The Woodlands (Panel 2)

Top 40 (in order)

1. Hebron (Panel 2)
2. Vandegrift (Panel 2)
3. Flower Mound (Panel 1)
4. Vista Ridge (Panel 2)
5. Cedar Park (Panel 2)
6. CT Johnson (Panel 1)
7. Reagan (Panel 1)
8. Coppell (Panel 2)
9. Marcus (Panel 1)
10. Cedar Ridge (Panel 2)
11. The Woodlands (Panel 2)
12. Round Rock (Panel 1)
13. Cy Fair (Panel 1)
14. Keller (Panel 1)
15. Rouse (Panel 2)
16. Westlake (Panel 2)
17. Pearland (Panel 1)
18. LD Bell (Panel 2)
19. Timber Creek (Panel 1)
20. Waxahachie (Panel 2)
21. Bowie (Panel 1)
22. Hendrickson (Panel 1)
23. Leander (Panel 1)
24. Wylie East (Panel 2)
25.  Westwood (Panel 2)
26. Wylie (Panel 2)
27. Lake Travis (Panel 1)
28. Rock Hill (Panel 2)
29. Keller Central (Panel 1)
30. Brandeis (Panel 2)
31. Forney (Panel 1)
32. Seven Lakes (Panel 2)
33. Sachse (Panel 1)
34. Friendswood (Panel 1)
35. Klein Oak (Panel 2)
36. Cy Woods (Panel 1)
37. Foster (Panel 1)
38. Dripping Springs (Panel 2)
39. Oak Ridge (Panel 2)
40. Alexander (Panel 2)
41. Dawson (Panel 2)
42. College Park (Panel 1)
43. JE Taylor (Panel 2)
44. Argyle (Panel 1)
45. Highland Park (Panel 2)
46. O'Connor (Panel 1)
47. McNeil (Panel 2)
48. Hays (Panel 1)
49. Azle (Panel 2)
50. Churchill (Panel 2)

Please forgive me for the length of this post!

[josephbandfan]

15 hours ago, sogeg said:

Dear lord that was hard. I feel like my opinion on Keller *could* just be cope, but I was incredibly impressed by what I saw tonight compared to every other time I have seen their show.

I know it was their last public performance in Keller but they didn’t have to go off like that. Like geez, save some for San Antonio.

KC was also amazing. Expecting a great finish for the KISD bands. 

[Vidal28]

5 hours ago, cjm715 said:

Not the Cedar Ridge satanism banter again😭

SATAN!!!

[Vidal28]

2 hours ago, josephbandfan said:

I know it was their last public performance in Keller but they didn’t have to go off like that. Like geez, save some for San Antonio.

KC was also amazing. Expecting a great finish for the KISD bands. 

I fully expect the KISD triumvirate to be all within top 25, an interesting little prediction there haha

[cjm715]

2 hours ago, LostChoirGuy said:

OK, we are less than a day away from the start of this contest and I am so excited!  I haven't spent as much time actually watching videos this year as normal, so for most of these bands, this will be my first time seeing their show all season.  There is a lot of talk about who will make finals (rightfully so) but I wanted to give a shoutout to so many other great bands that deserve recognition.  I decided to create a list of my top 25 from each panel as well as a simulation for the top 11+11+8 if there had been a semifinals.  I do not know enough about the lower classification bands to guess the hypothetical advancers based on class so I did not do that.  If anyone knows how to create spoiler tags here, please let me know so I can make this wall of text appear nicer.

Panel 1 Top 25 (in alphabetical order)

Argyle
Bowie
College Park
CT Johnson
Cy Fair
Cy Woods
Del Rio
Flower Mound
Forney
Foster
Friendswood
Glenn
Hays
Hendrickson
Keller
Keller Central
Lake Travis
Leander
Marcus
O'Connor
Pearland
Reagan
Round Rock
Sachse
Timber Creek

Panel 2 Top 25 (in alphabetical order)

Alexander
Brandeis
Cedar Park
Cedar Ridge
Coppell
Dawson
Dripping Springs
Hebron
Highland Park
JE Taylor
Klein Oak
LD Bell
McNeil
Oak Ridge
Rock Hill
Rouse
Seven Lakes
The Woodlands
Vandegrift
Vista Ridge
Waxahachie
Westlake
Westwood
Wylie
Wylie East

Semifinalists:

Panel 1 Top 11 (in alphabetical order)

Bowie
CT Johnson
Cy Fair
Flower Mound
Hendrickson
Keller
Marcus
Pearland
Reagan
Round Rock
Timber Creek

Panel 2 Top 11 (in alphabetical order)

Cedar Park
Cedar Ridge
Coppell
Hebron
LD Bell
Rouse
The Woodlands
Vandegrift
Vista Ridge
Waxahachie
Westlake

Next 8 (in alphabetical order)

Brandeis (Panel 2)
Keller Central (Panel 1)
Lake Travis (Panel 1)
Leander (Panel 1)
Rock Hill (Panel 2)
Westwood (Panel 2)
Wylie (Panel 2)
Wylie East (Panel 2)

Finalists:

Panel 1 Top 5 (in alphabetical order)

CT Johnson
Flower Mound
Marcus
Reagan
Round Rock

Panel 2 Top 5 (in alphabetical order)

Cedar Park
Coppell
Hebron
Vista Ridge
Vandegrift

Next 4 (in alphabetical order)

Cedar Ridge (Panel 2)
Cy Fair (Panel 1)
Keller (Panel 1)
The Woodlands (Panel 2)

Top 40 (in order)

1. Hebron (Panel 2)
2. Vandegrift (Panel 2)
3. Flower Mound (Panel 1)
4. Vista Ridge (Panel 2)
5. Cedar Park (Panel 2)
6. CT Johnson (Panel 1)
7. Reagan (Panel 1)
8. Coppell (Panel 2)
9. Marcus (Panel 1)
10. Cedar Ridge (Panel 2)
11. The Woodlands (Panel 2)
12. Round Rock (Panel 1)
13. Cy Fair (Panel 1)
14. Keller (Panel 1)
15. Rouse (Panel 2)
16. Westlake (Panel 2)
17. Pearland (Panel 1)
18. LD Bell (Panel 2)
19. Timber Creek (Panel 1)
20. Waxahachie (Panel 2)
21. Bowie (Panel 1)
22. Hendrickson (Panel 1)
23. Leander (Panel 1)
24. Wylie East (Panel 2)
25.  Westwood (Panel 2)
26. Wylie (Panel 2)
27. Lake Travis (Panel 1)
28. Rock Hill (Panel 2)
29. Keller Central (Panel 1)
30. Brandeis (Panel 2)
31. Forney (Panel 1)
32. Seven Lakes (Panel 2)
33. Sachse (Panel 1)
34. Friendswood (Panel 1)
35. Klein Oak (Panel 2)
36. Cy Woods (Panel 1)
37. Foster (Panel 1)
38. Dripping Springs (Panel 2)
39. Oak Ridge (Panel 2)
40. Alexander (Panel 2)
41. Dawson (Panel 2)
42. College Park (Panel 1)
43. JE Taylor (Panel 2)
44. Argyle (Panel 1)
45. Highland Park (Panel 2)
46. O'Connor (Panel 1)
47. McNeil (Panel 2)
48. Hays (Panel 1)
49. Azle (Panel 2)
50. Churchill (Panel 2)

Please forgive me for the length of this post!

coppell over marcus and cedar ridge? what in the world is this?

[pancake]

1 hour ago, cjm715 said:

coppell over marcus and cedar ridge? what in the world is this?

idk about cedar ridge but there’s chance, small for sure, for coppell to overtake marcus

[RandomBandGuy23]

2 hours ago, cjm715 said:

coppell over marcus and cedar ridge? what in the world is this?

Coppell over Cedar Ridge might be a long shot if what I’ve heard about them this season holds true but I honestly would not be surprised at all if we happened to see Coppell over Marcus

[RandomBandGuy23]

This thing is impossible to predict but I’ll play based on what I’ve seen/heard:

Captions: Hebron

1. Hebron

2. Vandy

3. Cedar Ridge

4. Flomo

5. CTJ

6. Reagan

7. Coppell

8. Vista Ridge

9. Marcus

10. Cedar Park

11. Woodlands

12. Round Rock

13. Rouse

14. Keller

Accounting for the insanity of this competition, I’d say 3-11 are somewhat interchangeable.

[MrMusic5002]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFnYEWnZSJM 

I can definitely see this in finals this weekend!

 

[LostChoirGuy]

4 hours ago, cjm715 said:

coppell over marcus and cedar ridge? what in the world is this?

I assure you, no slight was meant towards Cedar Ridge!  As I said at the beginning of the post, I haven't seen most of these shows so I don't really expect my predictions to be very accurate.  I will say that I don't see a scenario in which cedar ridge doesn't make finals- I just struggled to figure out where to put them.  

Based on previous years, I know that CR has a really beautiful ensemble sound that can stand out as unique among so many of the larger bands they will be competing against in this contest.  I'd love to see them do really well here.

The other group that I couldn't figure out what to do with was Leander.  It seems absurd to me to place them in 23rd, but I couldn't really figure out who they would beat ahead of them based on what we have seen this year so far.  I expect that they will have a much more polished performance here and do much better than I predicted.

[cjm715]

11 minutes ago, LostChoirGuy said:

I assure you, no slight was meant towards Cedar Ridge!  As I said at the beginning of the post, I haven't seen most of these shows so I don't really expect my predictions to be very accurate.  I will say that I don't see a scenario in which cedar ridge doesn't make finals- I just struggled to figure out where to put them.  

Based on previous years, I know that CR has a really beautiful ensemble sound that can stand out as unique among so many of the larger bands they will be competing against in this contest.  I'd love to see them do really well here.

The other group that I couldn't figure out what to do with was Leander.  It seems absurd to me to place them in 23rd, but I couldn't really figure out who they would beat ahead of them based on what we have seen this year so far.  I expect that they will have a much more polished performance here and do much better than I predicted.

Unfortunately Coppell’s show lacks the ge needed to surpass a lot of these other bands. Sure they’re loud and it’s a good loud but that’s coppell for ya. They have these big moments that just make you say wow outloud, and then they bring out a canoe and try to be silly while there’s aggressive music playing from the winds. They’ve also scored alright in terms of visual proficiency this year. In my opinion, while it was a dorkier show I think last year’s show was much better for coppell.

Cedar Ridge on the hand is a ge monster, my only complaint about them is they don’t move and play much but when they do, man they look awesome. They sound bigger and better than any year they’ve had lately and this may be their hardest music book to date. If you enjoy shosty 10 then you’ll be a fan of this show but if not then you might not like this show as much. I saw them at katy and holy heck are they good.

As for Leander, great program that’s still reminiscent of what they were before covid. However their ge will probably tank them. I could see them placing anywhere from 14th to 23rd like you’ve ranked them at. I just wish they had a better show like the ones they were doing before the great plague lol, they were so awesome.

As for what I think about marcus, I think they have a tough job this year coming off of last year. I’ve heard so many people comparing this years ballad to last years. No, they weren’t going to top it and I don’t think they were trying to. However I think they’ll be the typical marcus where music will score very well and visual and ge will score decently. It’s quite a bit more contemporary in terms of visual design for marcus, I wish they’d just abandoned their old formula of using classical music and go full blown contemporary like everyone else. 

[cjm715]

Anyways, I just want to write a little post before I head to bed. Good luck to all performing students from all around the state over the next two days. This has been a great season to keep up with and everyone of you has put in a lot of hard work. This is your moment and you’ve all worked hard for it.

As for those of you that are watching, I’m looking forward to keeping up with it over the next couple of days and maybe even bantering with some of y’all😉 haha can’t wait for tomorrow!

[1998-2018]

10 hours ago, josephbandfan said:

I know it was their last public performance in Keller but they didn’t have to go off like that. Like geez, save some for San Antonio.

KC was also amazing. Expecting a great finish for the KISD bands. 

That run was really something special, wasn’t it?!? They certainly could have used that one at Area B Finals. You saw it, now imagine how that could have influenced the predictions being made.

Rest assured, Keller is still Keller and their process is fully intact.

[littlejaw]

It’s Happening!

[Fwguard17]

Anyone else struggling with the livestream before the contest beings? That worries me for the two days...

[MikeKyu]

Throughout this season the stream quality improves as the contest moves along.

[LostChoirGuy]

I'm here to watch!  So excited!

[MikeKyu]

Leaving Austin shortly. Will be having lunch at Cherrity then heading in for the afternoon and rest of the night. 

[snares]

James Bowie. Don't feel like I need to say anything more. This is an awesome show

[Origin]

Great job Bowie!!

[GeekBoy54]

Lots of great things with Bowie's show. The full ensemble moments and impacts in the opener and ballad is where they really shine!