2011 Marching Band Season post--already....

[golfgal]

I was surprised to find our band's show from last year on youtube. I know our colorguard director only puts our winterguard shows on youtube with a hidden link.

We are a small band, with a very dedicated band leader. He took the band from 17th place to 6th ? to 2nd at finals. He is trying to grow the band and added 31 new members this year while we only lost about ten seniors.

The show was called "the balance" and the music is from the lion king.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftt7cPRedNU

For a small band you march "big". You have a good sound too. We have about 185 kids in our band.

 

[Gina]

Technically our band doesn't allow YouTube postings-a lot of bands don't because their shows are proprietary and they don't want to give away trade secrets . A lot of bands are on there though.

Wow, really?? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ask anyone to divulge any secrets! That's so odd, though... I wonder if it's a regional thing? Because our band's videos are everywhere, and if I search for the other big state bands, they all come up on Youtube. The kids are always posting videos back and forth, it never occurred to me that that wasn't the norm...

We are a small band, with a very dedicated band leader. He took the band from 17th place to 6th ? to 2nd at finals. He is trying to grow the band and added 31 new members this year while we only lost about ten seniors.

The show was called "the balance" and the music is from the lion king.

Golfgal is right, your band sounds way bigger than it actually is! Really great stuff, thanks for sharing the link!

Here's the mighty Pride of Pearland band from their performance at State last fall. The show is called "Trickster."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Vq4HHV7iv4

 

[klj27]

I love watching the formations that larger bands are able to make. Thanks for sharing Gina!

 

[mickeymo]

Band camp for DS (alto sax) starts next Thursday and is all-day every day until school starts on the 22nd of August. No shot at going to State again this year, since UIL is every other year, so I guess they'll be focusing on the Bands of America circuit this year. Do any other band parents (or former band members!) have any insight on the whole BoA thing? Like how their judging is different than UIL?

I'm so excited for football & band season!!

hi Gina - in a nutshell, the scoring is much different. Strong UIL shows don't necessarily do as well in BOA & vice versa. I know the UIL rubrik is on the UIL website. UIL contest has a shorter time limit too.

 

[mickeymo]

Wow, really?? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ask anyone to divulge any secrets! That's so odd, though... I wonder if it's a regional thing? Because our band's videos are everywhere, and if I search for the other big state bands, they all come up on Youtube. The kids are always posting videos back and forth, it never occurred to me that that wasn't the norm...





Golfgal is right, your band sounds way bigger than it actually is! Really great stuff, thanks for sharing the link!

Here's the mighty Pride of Pearland band from their performance at State last fall. The show is called "Trickster."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Vq4HHV7iv4

Our band director won't allow current show videos to be posted but will allow previous season videos. I watched Pearland's show live several times last year. Great Band, Great volunteers!

 

[klj27]

One of my friend's nieces marches in Texas. I believe they March close to 300, have tryouts and not everyone even makes the marching band. She has sent me youtube videos of their shows and they are impressive.

I was hoping they would be at Grand Nationals this year, but she isn't sure that they will. We are in the middle of planning our trip to Grand Nationals. The band director had a tour company put something together and none of the parents are thrilled with the plan or cost. I know the parents that are working on it will plan a great trip.

 

[mickeymo]

The Stephen F. Austin marching band and Angels dance team is out of Sugarland Texas and most definitely with much, much, more than 20 members. They are a very strong BOA band without a traditional color guard. They have been BOA Grand National Finalists most recently in 2007, 2009, 2010. According to the BOA website, they are not on the Grand National 2011 list as of July 1....

 

[jen0610]

This was our show last year. This show was about the mid way through the season. What you see, was tweeked even more before semi-state.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5uC5xwe4Ls&feature=related

 

[golfgal]

The Stephen F. Austin marching band and Angels dance team is out of Sugarland Texas and most definitely with much, much, more than 20 members. They are a very strong BOA band without a traditional color guard. They have been BOA Grand National Finalists most recently in 2007, 2009, 2010. According to the BOA website, they are not on the Grand National 2011 list as of July 1....

Ok, not the band I am thinking about.

 

[golfgal]

One of my friend's nieces marches in Texas. I believe they March close to 300, have tryouts and not everyone even makes the marching band. She has sent me youtube videos of their shows and they are impressive.

I was hoping they would be at Grand Nationals this year, but she isn't sure that they will. We are in the middle of planning our trip to Grand Nationals. The band director had a tour company put something together and none of the parents are thrilled with the plan or cost. I know the parents that are working on it will plan a great trip.

Is this BOA nationals? Usually they run all the housing, etc. through BOA and you get assigned a hotel, etc.

 

[klj27]

Is this BOA nationals? Usually they run all the housing, etc. through BOA and you get assigned a hotel, etc.

Yes, there is a tour group/agency that mainly books BOA events. They came to our booster meeting last week and told us the agenda. Many parents were disappointed in the price/accomodations/agenda and asked for extra time to put together their own proposal. The two moms who worked all last year on our Disney trip are working on it.

The Disney trip only cost $540 and they got 3 days of park visits. This trip is only 90 miles away and one night and costs just over $200. They have us bringing a sack lunch on the bus (no problem with this, but shows what we are getting for our money) and they have us at the lowest level hotel. The two activities they have for Saturday are the Speedway museum and the NCAA museum. Neither have a huge interest to the kids. They arrive home before dinner on Saturday.

 

[golfgal]

Yes, there is a tour group/agency that mainly books BOA events. They came to our booster meeting last week and told us the agenda. Many parents were disappointed in the price/accomodations/agenda and asked for extra time to put together their own proposal. The two moms who worked all last year on our Disney trip are working on it.

The Disney trip only cost $540 and they got 3 days of park visits. This trip is only 90 miles away and one night and costs just over $200. They have us bringing a sack lunch on the bus (no problem with this, but shows what we are getting for our money) and they have us at the lowest level hotel. The two activities they have for Saturday are the Speedway museum and the NCAA museum. Neither have a huge interest to the kids. They arrive home before dinner on Saturday.

That sounds about right. BOA books pretty much every single hotel room in the immediate area and the prices are pretty high because of that. Also, the hotel provides night time security at the elevator level and on the floor level-which is nice. You have to show a room key to get ON the elevators and then they have guards at on each floor by the elevators and stairwells to keep people off the floors that don't belong and to keep the boys from going to the girl floors and the girls going to the boy floors . We have also had social hours provided for our bands--usually in one of the ball rooms--so the kids from the various bands staying in each of the hotels -usually 3-5 different bands staying at one hotel--can meet/chat/hang out. They usually provide some small snacks too-chips, etc. We provide most of our own meals on these trips too. Some of the meals are included in our band fee-they usually get some fast food type lunches and a pizza party one night. Meals in route are additional (we go to St. Louis-it's about 9 hours straight driving but takes the buses about 12 hours with lunch stops/bathroom stops, etc.

 

[klj27]

That sounds about right. BOA books pretty much every single hotel room in the immediate area and the prices are pretty high because of that. Also, the hotel provides night time security at the elevator level and on the floor level-which is nice. You have to show a room key to get ON the elevators and then they have guards at on each floor by the elevators and stairwells to keep people off the floors that don't belong and to keep the boys from going to the girl floors and the girls going to the boy floors . We have also had social hours provided for our bands--usually in one of the ball rooms--so the kids from the various bands staying in each of the hotels -usually 3-5 different bands staying at one hotel--can meet/chat/hang out. They usually provide some small snacks too-chips, etc. We provide most of our own meals on these trips too. Some of the meals are included in our band fee-they usually get some fast food type lunches and a pizza party one night. Meals in route are additional (we go to St. Louis-it's about 9 hours straight driving but takes the buses about 12 hours with lunch stops/bathroom stops, etc.

Thanks for the extra information. We won't be checking into the hotel until after 10pm and will be checking out after breakfast the next morning. Definately no socials or extras for us. We hired private security for our Disney trip and it was so nice for the chaperones to be able to get some sleep! I think one of the biggest issues is they have us paying for the two museums on Saturday that no one really wants to go to.

 

[mrsklamc]

Golfgal - I think the small band you mean is probably Jackson Academy-

There is a 'visual' aspect to judging but it's not guard specific-

If anyone is REALLY curious here's the adjudication handbook and the breakdown of the categories start on page 30:

http://www.musicforall.org/what-we-do/marching/grand-national-championships/adjudication-handbook

 

[Gina]

There is a 'visual' aspect to judging but it's not guard specific-

If anyone is REALLY curious here's the adjudication handbook and the breakdown of the categories start on page 30:

http://www.musicforall.org/what-we-do/marching/grand-national-championships/adjudication-handbook

That was interesting and helpful! Thanks!!

 

[golfgal]

Golfgal - I think the small band you mean is probably Jackson Academy-

There is a 'visual' aspect to judging but it's not guard specific-

If anyone is REALLY curious here's the adjudication handbook and the breakdown of the categories start on page 30:

http://www.musicforall.org/what-we-do/marching/grand-national-championships/adjudication-handbook

That's the one, thanks. The visual is still heavily weighted on the color guard performance though--even the TX band you are talking about still has dancers. The guard isn't all about flags and rifles though. One band in our area has most of their color guard that trains at an amazing dance studio and they feature those kids dancing much more than they do the flags, etc. and they score well on visual because of that. A couple years ago one of their guard regularly got the "best solo" award because she is a phenomenal dancer. Bands that only have a handful of guard members do not score well.

Thanks for the extra information. We won't be checking into the hotel until after 10pm and will be checking out after breakfast the next morning. Definately no socials or extras for us. We hired private security for our Disney trip and it was so nice for the chaperones to be able to get some sleep! I think one of the biggest issues is they have us paying for the two museums on Saturday that no one really wants to go to.

So, just skip the museums. It's Indy--there really isn't THAT much to do there and the kids will be tired from the trip anyway. Also, are you not planning on advancing past the first day? Why are you only staying one day?

 

[klj27]

So, just skip the museums. It's Indy--there really isn't THAT much to do there and the kids will be tired from the trip anyway. Also, are you not planning on advancing past the first day? Why are you only staying one day?

This is going to count as their band trip for this year, which is why they are going to do something on Saturday. We are looking into an indoor waterpark, a climbing center, and a few other options. We don't want parents to have to spend money on activities that don't interest the kids.

If I understand correctly there will be 90 some bands competing. The top 30 something advance to semifinals on Saturday morning/afternoon. The top four from each class are guaranteed to advance. We are in the smallest class and this is their first time at grand nationals. They would be thrilled to make semifinals but it would be a stretch. I think this experience is really to prep them for future grand nationals and give the kids a feel for it.

Last year we competed in MSBA. They placed 2nd out of 23 in A class, but that was more regional than this will be.

 

[mrsklamc]

We actually have a LOT to do in Indy but for most of it, I'm not sure how you would pull off the logistics of trying to do it with a marching band!

 

[golfgal]

This is going to count as their band trip for this year, which is why they are going to do something on Saturday. We are looking into an indoor waterpark, a climbing center, and a few other options. We don't want parents to have to spend money on activities that don't interest the kids.

If I understand correctly there will be 90 some bands competing. The top 30 something advance to semifinals on Saturday morning/afternoon. The top four from each class are guaranteed to advance. We are in the smallest class and this is their first time at grand nationals. They would be thrilled to make semifinals but it would be a stretch. I think this experience is really to prep them for future grand nationals and give the kids a feel for it.

Last year we competed in MSBA. They placed 2nd out of 23 in A class, but that was more regional than this will be.

Ok, that makes sense. I would still want to stay at least through Semi's and even into finals to watch all of the other bands. It is WELL worth watching--especially the top bands like Avon, Broken Arrow, Marion Catholic, etc. We do very well around here (we haven't lost a local competition in over 5 years). and at the St. Louis regional but these bands are a whole step above that too. Just something to think about for the trip, especially since you are so close!!

 

[bombygriz]

Band camp for us starts on August 15th! Before I continue, let me say this-we are in a small, poor town that has almost no arts funding. We have one director who teaches Band (the concert and marching band are the same thing), Choir, and Guitar classes. We do not travel to competition (except for maybe one), and we only march at parades and football games. This is my first year in marching band, so I'm pretty darn excited I don't think we really have a 'show' per se-no costumes (just uniforms), no real theme, no dance team. We have a flag squad, but that's it. The football coaches almost kicked us out of the games because apparently we bore the crowd with the same music. Well, if they could provide the funding for more music...

We're more of a sports town, although I can't stand them. Music is pretty overlooked, and I'd say we are very lucky to have a program at this point...doesn't mean we don't kick some major butt, though!

Band starts June 27th for us. They go 2 weeks prepping for the one and only parade we march in on July 9th, the local Three Rivers Festival parade. Last year they played Lady Gaga's Porker Face and the kids loved it. They are really hoping for another popular tune this year. The color guard had flags with the card suits Ace thru 10's on them.

Just pointing that out...Lol!

We are just finishing our season ... The last parade was this past Monday for Memorial Day. Boy was it hot! They have to march up a big hill to get to the cemetery. One girl passed out

Uniforms get turned in this week. I am ready for a break. We start up again the first week of August. Last year my son had a solo that started the performance. The song was "Gospel John" and is name is John ... funny. Not sure what they are doing this year. I heard there are 30 more kids joining this year. Not sure where he is going to put them all when he instructs concert band. However ... we have the best band director in the world! (Yes, I am a little biased. )

That's the SIZE of us. 30 people. We're small!