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Posted

Almost time so I will give my predictions:

Top 3: It will be difficult to beat these 3 even with a few wild cards I just think these groups are on another level and with CR coming off a silver medal you can bet they are more confident than ever. 

1. Claudia Taylor Johnson 
2. Ronald Reagan
3. Cedar Ridge
-----

Next three are a little bit all over the place because SL has not competed yet so they are the wild card here
4. Cy-Fair
5. Seven Lakes
6. Pearland
-------

Bottom Half: Lake Travis is the only other band coming from Austin Finals. I think they will challenge Clear Brook for top spot in the bottom half. 
7. Clear Brook
8. Lake Travis
9. Friendswood
10. Oak Ridge
11. Dawson
12. Stephen F. Austin

After reviewing the scores from North Houston and watching some videos it gave me insight.  The Woodlands dominated GE compared to 2nd Place finisher Cy-Fair. Over the years I have noticed Houston groups tend to struggle in this area and the top 3 will no doubt be dripping in GE on Saturday. 

Posted
  On 9/30/2022 at 1:30 AM, Band2021 said:

Almost time so I will give my predictions:

Top 3: It will be difficult to beat these 3 even with a few wild cards I just think these groups are on another level and with CR coming off a silver medal you can bet they are more confident than ever. 

1. Claudia Taylor Johnson 
2. Ronald Reagan
3. Cedar Ridge
-----

Next three are a little bit all over the place because SL has not competed yet so they are the wild card here
4. Cy-Fair
5. Seven Lakes
6. Pearland
-------

Bottom Half: Lake Travis is the only other band coming from Austin Finals. I think they will challenge Clear Brook for top spot in the bottom half. 
7. Clear Brook
8. Lake Travis
9. Friendswood
10. Oak Ridge
11. Dawson
12. Stephen F. Austin

After reviewing the scores from North Houston and watching some videos it gave me insight.  The Woodlands dominated GE compared to 2nd Place finisher Cy-Fair. Over the years I have noticed Houston groups tend to struggle in this area and the top 3 will no doubt be dripping in GE on Saturday. 

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Honestly probably the most accurate and what I would have as my predictions! Could possibly seeing CR take 2nd over Regan but I wouldn’t put my bets on it simply bc Regan is Regan, but everyone is just on fire this year already!!! Gonna be one heck of a contest! 

Posted
  On 9/30/2022 at 1:50 AM, Tubalord11 said:

Honestly probably the most accurate and what I would have as my predictions! Could possibly seeing CR take 2nd over Regan but I wouldn’t put my bets on it simply bc Regan is Regan, but everyone is just on fire this year already!!! Gonna be one heck of a contest! 

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I would agree, I saw the CR show last week in Austin and was impressed with their growth. I saw the CTJ stadium dress rehearsal last night with props and the new uniforms to include the guard costumes. Love where that show is going. Drill is even cleaner than Tuesdays NEISD Fallfest after making some adjustments based on the adjudicators comments on Tuesday. Can't wait to see CTJ on the field on Saturday and while I am confident they will medal - I believe that medal will be gold. Lets Go Claudia!!!

Posted

I think Reagan's show has some pretty spectacular visual moments. Maybe the most of any show I've seen this year. But I'm a little less convinced about the show around those moments. I think it's mainly the pacing. The slower moments, some of which are interspersed with the faster stuff, seem to drag a little. Some of the visual is also a little bit busy, with ever so slightly too much going on at once, which makes it more difficult to clean. There's a balance with the simultaneous events that's hard to strike. But then I also appreciate that their drill seems less simple than in years past. I've never quite thought that this current iteration of Reagan has captured the visual magic and inventiveness of the early 2000s shows, despite regularly having better performance clarity; however, they seem to be inching closer to it.

Overall, there's a ton of very cool and clever stuff to like here. And this style of show is one that has resonated with panels in the past. Enough to win here? I was a little more confident about Vandegrift winning at Austin, and even that one ended up close in finals despite the caption sweep.

Cedar Ridge could throw a wrench in. I think their show is the most cohesive of that presumed top 3 group and has great visual clarity, which they were rewarded for in the upstairs visual captions at Austin. On the flip side, I personally don't think the show quite reaches the thrilling and creative heights of either of the NEISD powerhouses. Maybe it's that the Shostakovich is a little too repetitive for my tastes and I want more variety, although the percussion break is cool. B)

So, as always, every group has its strengths and weaknesses.

Posted
  On 9/30/2022 at 1:30 AM, Band2021 said:

Almost time so I will give my predictions:

Top 3: It will be difficult to beat these 3 even with a few wild cards I just think these groups are on another level and with CR coming off a silver medal you can bet they are more confident than ever. 

1. Claudia Taylor Johnson 
2. Ronald Reagan
3. Cedar Ridge
-----

Next three are a little bit all over the place because SL has not competed yet so they are the wild card here
4. Cy-Fair
5. Seven Lakes
6. Pearland
-------

Bottom Half: Lake Travis is the only other band coming from Austin Finals. I think they will challenge Clear Brook for top spot in the bottom half. 
7. Clear Brook
8. Lake Travis
9. Friendswood
10. Oak Ridge
11. Dawson
12. Stephen F. Austin

After reviewing the scores from North Houston and watching some videos it gave me insight.  The Woodlands dominated GE compared to 2nd Place finisher Cy-Fair. Over the years I have noticed Houston groups tend to struggle in this area and the top 3 will no doubt be dripping in GE on Saturday. 

Expand  

I don’t think you should count cywoods out for top6

Posted

It isn't done yet, but I don't think I'm vibing with this year's CTJ show. Feels like it's missing some of the personality I've come to expect from their music writing.

They're still some of the highest level performers around though! And they're absolutely booking it for a lot of the show, so I have to give plenty of credit for that! 

Posted

I really enjoyed CTJ. It's a little more stripped down than their usually very extravagant productions but I think the performance level and quality is still exceptional. The last movement with the tenor sax solo was wonderful to listen to, but it had me a little perplexed with how it fits with everything before it. Hopefully once they complete the show it will start to mesh more for me. Still think they have a great shot at winning the regional!

Posted

I love CTJ’s band and guard uniforms. The overall visual presentation of the show is really nice. The opener is a lot harder than they make it look. Ballad is growing on me. After ballad transition was weird. The tenor sax solo was excellent and brought the right amount of fun that we expect from them before diving back into the holst. The arrangements are super interesting.

Posted
  On 10/1/2022 at 6:56 PM, Nny14 said:

Cedar Ridge is special this year. I hope they make their long overdue return to Nationals soon.

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Unfortunately the band was ready for the idea but parents voted no :( Hopefully things change in the next year! 

Posted
  On 10/1/2022 at 8:23 PM, jalokoba said:

Not all of us voted no; I would have loved to see my boys (trombone and percussion in Cedar Ridge) marching at grand nats! Hopefully we'll get enough parents wanting this to happen in coming years to make it happen. I know Grand Nats are a huge financial investment as well as time investment from the bands and their families.

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True, not all of course! Congrats to your boys to an amazing start of the season thus far, my partner and I are amazed at their work this season as recent alumni. Nats is definitely a major financial investment for alot of families even with the band being on an incline in fundraising as of recent years it's definitely costly. I'm just happy it's an idea that's back on board after not having been mentioned for a few years, the direction CR has been going as been very exciting 😄...also...if you know where parents are buying those horns and wings...lemme know I want some too lol

Posted

After Reagan’s probably disappointing Grand Nats finish last year, I wasn’t expecting them to do something this ambitious. What they are attempting visually is insaneeeee. I love it. 

Posted

Wow, Reagan was really good. Much better than the NEISD stream on Tuesday, really got to hear how the music came together today. Some challenging technical passages that were executed very well, and visually although the drill is still reminiscent of their recent shows, they're matching that with some great moments that really wow you. Can't wait to see this again in finals.

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