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

[cwbagne]

kiminchicago ... loved watching your DD in the YouTube video. Very entertaining band! My son is in his High School Band here in CA. Your band does a great job!

 

[mickeymo]

Monica ~ That was the best explanation of UIL scoring that I've read yet. Thank you!! Can't wait to see y'alls show again tomorrow night! And hey, since we're last, I hope you'll get to see ours too!

-gina-

Ugh! I'll miss it again! I'm chaperoning (again...) and the schedule says we're loading the busses & returning home immediately after performing.

 

[golfgal]

Ugh! I'll miss it again! I'm chaperoning (again...) and the schedule says we're loading the busses & returning home immediately after performing.

That's so sad. The kids like to watch other bands. That is the biggest complaint our kids have about marching band, they never get to see any other bands perform (they always go last because the won the year before). They got to see about 4 bands perform at BOA this year, none in finals though.

 

[mickeymo]

That's so sad. The kids like to watch other bands. That is the biggest complaint our kids have about marching band, they never get to see any other bands perform (they always go last because the won the year before). They got to see about 4 bands perform at BOA this year, none in finals though.

It is too bad, the past two contests with a prelims/finals format the kids did get to see a few of the bands. This is our UIL region contest - the bands receive a rating shortly after performing, so there's no awards ceremony or winner. It would be nice to stay but it's a school night. This contest is always a surprise to the kids - they frequently say the audience was dead because the stadium isn't full.

The band parents at Gina's school are terrific hosts! Being a school night, it's an extra bonus the stadium is nearby...No long drive home!

 

[marcyinPA]

(just to clarify, the mouthpiece broke because DD, instead of putting her clarinet back in its case when she got to the band room after the football game, laid it on a chair, so another girl walked by and accidentally sideswiped it with her saxophone, knocking it to the floor and chipping a hunk out of DD's mouthpiece. i see this as my daughter's fault for not putting up her clarinet, my grandmother and mother see this as the other girl's fault for knocking it off! OMG! how about a little personal responsibility?!? heaven forbid my daughter EVER do anything wrong! )

Oh, have we been there and done that with DS16!! The most recent trumpet incident was this summer, when the trumpet just fell right out of his hands. Really, it wasn't his fault. My mother always tells me I am too hard on him- but she was 10x harder on me when I was a teen!

We always have a trumpet repair after football season, too- because getting 260 kids in and out of the stands with instruments is pretty hairy. He always ends up getting a ding in the bell. The good thing is that when they are released to the concession stands in the third quarter, he will bring us his trumpet to hold if we are at the game. He has learned over the years that leaving his trumpet on the bleacher seat while he is gone is NOT a good idea.

 

[Gina]

It is too bad, the past two contests with a prelims/finals format the kids did get to see a few of the bands. This is our UIL region contest - the bands receive a rating shortly after performing, so there's no awards ceremony or winner. It would be nice to stay but it's a school night. This contest is always a surprise to the kids - they frequently say the audience was dead because the stadium isn't full.

The band parents at Gina's school are terrific hosts! Being a school night, it's an extra bonus the stadium is nearby...No long drive home!

That's so sweet! Thanks!

Since our band is last to perform, DS and I are going to go over there as soon as I get home from work so he can finally see a band or two. It really is sad that the kids rarely get to see the other bands at these competitions -- I think it would not only foster a friendly competitive spirit, but let them see the variety of styles and such. As it is, we'll only be able to get there soon enough for DS to see one, maybe two other bands before he has to head over to the band hall to get ready.

Saw a t-shirt this weekend at the competition that I want very badly. It said, "I used to have a life, now I'm a band parent."

 

[Katy Belle]

This is just my Second year as a Band Mom... and I was so out of it last year that I feel like this is my first year! But I think that we just have one contest in which we get a number score, as in a 1 or 2, and at that contest we leave as soon as its over. The rest we stay for the presenting of awards after Preliminaries. Actually, our Director has said that we will stay to the end of Finals, even if we don't make it... but the one time we didn't make it, so many kids were sick and everyone was exhausted, so he fed them and took them home. So they got home around 8:30 rather than 1a.m. as usual.

I love watching the other bands, and my DS Tuba Dude does too, to a point. He gets tired of it faster than I do. Sometimes, sitting with his friends and talking or taking a nap on the trailer is a bigger draw than other bands. I learn a lot watching the other bands and I certainly appreciate all of the work that goes into it! AND.. after helping with the uniforms this year, I have great sympathy for the Moms that have to keep WHITE uniforms clean!

 

[mickeymo]

Saw a t-shirt this weekend at the competition that I want very badly. It said, "I used to have a life, now I'm a band parent."

I missed it! I would have bought it!

Once again, if you watch just before or as our band is about to take the field - I'll be one of the emergency band moms loaded down with duffle bags racing to the bleachers to watch their performance and up out of the stands just as the last note sounds to get back to the truck. It's my cardio & strength workout for the day.

I saw the schedule - it looks like all of the 4A bands, with the exception of 1 perform in the afternoon & all of the 5A bands & the remaining 4A band perform after dinner. It's just unfortunate that the one band I have yet to see is yours and that is the one football game we will miss! As soon as your director releases a video after the season, you'll have to send me a link!

Friendswood has a great show, if you didn't get to see it last week, don't miss their show- they were runner up at the last 4A state contest. This show will be a strong contender!

 

[mickeymo]

This is just my Second year as a Band Mom... and I was so out of it last year that I feel like this is my first year! But I think that we just have one contest in which we get a number score, as in a 1 or 2, and at that contest we leave as soon as its over. The rest we stay for the presenting of awards after Preliminaries. Actually, our Director has said that we will stay to the end of Finals, even if we don't make it... but the one time we didn't make it, so many kids were sick and everyone was exhausted, so he fed them and took them home. So they got home around 8:30 rather than 1a.m. as usual.

I love watching the other bands, and my DS Tuba Dude does too, to a point. He gets tired of it faster than I do. Sometimes, sitting with his friends and talking or taking a nap on the trailer is a bigger draw than other bands. I learn a lot watching the other bands and I certainly appreciate all of the work that goes into it! AND.. after helping with the uniforms this year, I have great sympathy for the Moms that have to keep WHITE uniforms clean!

Sometimes, I wish I was still a clueless freshman band parent, it was much better not knowing about all of the drama... My son is on the loading crew, naps on the truck are their favorite perks and crew cuts to the front of the dinner line.... One of the other area band trailers is outfitted very nicely. They have a huge big screen TV and a tent on the side of their trailer - supposedly so the kids can watch their performance during contest down times - however, all I've ever seen is a bunch of dads in chairs watching the college football games....

 

[Katy Belle]

Sometimes, I wish I was still a clueless freshman band parent, it was much better not knowing about all of the drama... My son is on the loading crew, naps on the truck are their favorite perks and crew cuts to the front of the dinner line.... One of the other area band trailers is outfitted very nicely. They have a huge big screen TV and a tent on the side of their trailer - supposedly so the kids can watch their performance during contest down times - however, all I've ever seen is a bunch of dads in chairs watching the college football games....

We have joked about that... the kids/dads would love that! My DS Tuba Dude is a Junior... but we lived overseas for 6 years before moving here. We had concert band, but not marching band. I was BEYOND clueless. I really didn't even know about "shows." At the first meeting this lady was trying to get me to sign up to chaperone the contests. I didn't want to go if my child wasn't competing...I was thinking individuals... so I said, "Who competes at the contest?" And she says, staring at me strangely... "Everyone." me.."Everyone? REally?" and she says, "Yes, its a MARCHING contest." Oh...
So I'm picturing them walking in straight lines in a parade and thinking ... this is crazy! Didn't take too long until I was up to speed, but I still feel there is so much I don't know!

 

[golfgal]

That's so sweet! Thanks!

Since our band is last to perform, DS and I are going to go over there as soon as I get home from work so he can finally see a band or two. It really is sad that the kids rarely get to see the other bands at these competitions -- I think it would not only foster a friendly competitive spirit, but let them see the variety of styles and such. As it is, we'll only be able to get there soon enough for DS to see one, maybe two other bands before he has to head over to the band hall to get ready.

Saw a t-shirt this weekend at the competition that I want very badly. It said, "I used to have a life, now I'm a band parent."

DH and I have been joking a lot about that this year-that after next year we will have to get a life again because we will be empty nesters . Most of our friends will be as well so we can at least be no-lifers with them, that and we will have a heck of a lot more disposable income because we won't be spending $1800/year on band, then all of the extras for another million or so dollars each year .

 

[jen0610]

First off, we made it to semi-state.

Second off, what a strange marching weekend.

The winds at our site, were bad for the earlier bands, but were just starting to dying down by the time our A class bands were set to perform and by the time the last of the 14 bands in our class took the field the winds weren't a factor. So the band with the ballet bars, lucked out being the last band performing and had no issues with their props. We used our tarp and laid out the bricks to hold it in place, as we were one of the 1st bands to go and it was still pretty windy.

In the class before us, one band choose not to put down it's tarp and they lost GE visual points. One of the other bands in our class and marched before us, used their tarp - didn't use anything to weight it down - and had issues with it moving, causing mainly the color guard, to have to jump or almost trip over the thing, causing them to loose points in visual - both the individual and ensemble. Felt bad for both bands, as they were damned if they did and damned if they didn't.

Here was the other issue, that is causing a bit of head scratching. One of the top bands, did not have a very good showing. One of their tuba's fell - while walking forward right at the 50 yard line, as the band was compressing into a block as a major visual effect. And when I say fell, he lost the tuba. Also, they have a solo rifle toss that is a high light, 50 yard line dead center of the field. She missed the catch and she had to go a good ten steps to pick it up. Neither one of these were reflected in their scores. This is normally a very clean program - no drops by color guard. In addition to the major rifle drop, we counted 5 flag drops and 3 other rifle drops. They still were in the mid 80's - the same range they had been getting the last 2 weeks with very clean programs.

The common comment we heard, was I thought the judging was passed on what you saw on the field TODAY, not last week, not last month, and not last year. A lot of people, feel that this band got scores that didn't reflect what they did on the field that saturday, but what they have done in the past. We have always told our kids, it's anybodys competition to win or lose, on any given day. You perform clean, and leave it all on the field, it's yours to win. You don't, you've left the door wide open. Most feel that door was left wide open by this band performance, but the judges slammed it shut by giving inflated scores.

 

[mickeymo]

Our band survived last night's UIL region contest & fierce winds receiving straight ones from the judges. Our director made the decision to dance our tribal dance section wearing shakos & use only the trunks of our tree props without the branches & leaves. Visually not the best, but the winds were playing havoc with everyone's props. There were reported injuries with a few schools last night due to props or guard equipment & the high winds.

Gina gets the parent of the year award sitting in the stadium cheering on the bands! The wind and the low-for-us-Texans temperature combined was cold! I was miserable in the stands while our band performed. As one of the emergency moms, I was somewhat protected near the school building from the wind tailing the band during warm-ups.

 

[Gina]

Our band survived last night's UIL region contest & fierce winds receiving straight ones from the judges. Our director made the decision to dance our tribal dance section wearing shakos & use only the trunks of our tree props without the branches & leaves. Visually not the best, but the winds were playing havoc with everyone's props. There were reported injuries with a few schools last night due to props or guard equipment & the high winds.

Gina gets the parent of the year award sitting in the stadium cheering on the bands! The wind and the low-for-us-Texans temperature combined was cold! I was miserable in the stands while our band performed. As one of the emergency moms, I was somewhat protected near the school building from the wind tailing the band during warm-ups.

Lol... First, I am one of those people who would be perfectly happy in an igloo on a glacier. It's anything above 75 degrees that I loathe with a passion. (So of course, I live in the Land of 1000 Degree Summers!) And after this past officially-hottest-summer-in-the-history-of-EVER for us, I am lovin' me some cool weather. So I was pretty dang happy sitting in the stands last night.

Ahh, fall in SE Texas... 90 one day, in the 60's the next, then back to the mid-80's a few days after that! Never know what laundry to do this time of year. Shorts? Sweaters? Bathing suits? Blankets? Usually all of the above...

That wind was some kind of crazy, though... I felt so bad for all the color guard kids battling with their flags and such, and for the kids trying to hold up props. I had no idea there were injuries -- do you have any idea what band(s)??


CONGRATS on all 1's!! I am going crazy wondering how we did. Have no clue. Y'all really deserved all 1's -- just love that show so much, even if the palm trees were drought victims. (DS & I got a big kick out of your text!)

 

[golfgal]

First off, we made it to semi-state.

Second off, what a strange marching weekend.

The winds at our site, were bad for the earlier bands, but were just starting to dying down by the time our A class bands were set to perform and by the time the last of the 14 bands in our class took the field the winds weren't a factor. So the band with the ballet bars, lucked out being the last band performing and had no issues with their props. We used our tarp and laid out the bricks to hold it in place, as we were one of the 1st bands to go and it was still pretty windy.

In the class before us, one band choose not to put down it's tarp and they lost GE visual points. One of the other bands in our class and marched before us, used their tarp - didn't use anything to weight it down - and had issues with it moving, causing mainly the color guard, to have to jump or almost trip over the thing, causing them to loose points in visual - both the individual and ensemble. Felt bad for both bands, as they were damned if they did and damned if they didn't.

Here was the other issue, that is causing a bit of head scratching. One of the top bands, did not have a very good showing. One of their tuba's fell - while walking forward right at the 50 yard line, as the band was compressing into a block as a major visual effect. And when I say fell, he lost the tuba. Also, they have a solo rifle toss that is a high light, 50 yard line dead center of the field. She missed the catch and she had to go a good ten steps to pick it up. Neither one of these were reflected in their scores. This is normally a very clean program - no drops by color guard. In addition to the major rifle drop, we counted 5 flag drops and 3 other rifle drops. They still were in the mid 80's - the same range they had been getting the last 2 weeks with very clean programs.

The common comment we heard, was I thought the judging was passed on what you saw on the field TODAY, not last week, not last month, and not last year. A lot of people, feel that this band got scores that didn't reflect what they did on the field that saturday, but what they have done in the past. We have always told our kids, it's anybodys competition to win or lose, on any given day. You perform clean, and leave it all on the field, it's yours to win. You don't, you've left the door wide open. Most feel that door was left wide open by this band performance, but the judges slammed it shut by giving inflated scores.

You would like to think so but I do think that there is some element to "reputation" in the judges thinking-even unintentional. They are human, there is just no way they can't know that the band that went first isn't going to be as good as the band that goes last.

As for the tarps/rifle drops, etc. That's hard to say. It sounds like the judges gave them the benefit of the doubt with the tosses vs the wind. If their technique is good and the wind takes the flag, not really the fault of the colorguard. As for the tarps, that's the chance you take using those--I HATE TARPS-we burned our tarp 5 years ago and haven't looked back .

I think the hardest thing for band parents is to recognize the difficulty of a show. Most parents see a fun show as the "better" show but don't necessarily take into consideration that in that fun show they have 5 colorguard members tossing a single or double with a rifle vs another show where ALL of the colorguard are tossing quads at the same time, even if a couple of them drop the rifle, it's still more difficult. Now if ALL of them dropped, then they lose points. Marching in a straight line, on a yard marker LOOKS good, but it is easy. Move that line inbetween the yard markers and keep it straight, MUCH more difficult.

Do you know for sure that the tarps were the reason for the lower score or did they just not march well on Saturday?? Also, different judges look for different things so one week you may have a judge that really likes the use of tarps and scores higher for that and the next week get a judge that doesn't like tarps and downgrades for any tarp mishaps.

You really should only compare the score spread each week, not show to show. If the 10th band in class AAA usually scores 12 points lower then the top AAA band and this week they scored 10 points lower, they did better that week vs last.

 

[mickeymo]

Lol... First, I am one of those people who would be perfectly happy in an igloo on a glacier. It's anything above 75 degrees that I loathe with a passion. (So of course, I live in the Land of 1000 Degree Summers!) And after this past officially-hottest-summer-in-the-history-of-EVER for us, I am lovin' me some cool weather. So I was pretty dang happy sitting in the stands last night.

Ahh, fall in SE Texas... 90 one day, in the 60's the next, then back to the mid-80's a few days after that! Never know what laundry to do this time of year. Shorts? Sweaters? Bathing suits? Blankets? Usually all of the above...

That wind was some kind of crazy, though... I felt so bad for all the color guard kids battling with their flags and such, and for the kids trying to hold up props. I had no idea there were injuries -- do you have any idea what band(s)??


CONGRATS on all 1's!! I am going crazy wondering how we did. Have no clue. Y'all really deserved all 1's -- just love that show so much, even if the palm trees were drought victims. (DS & I got a big kick out of your text!)

Results aren't posted yet, I checked - except the Texas band forums are saying Texas City, Dawson, Clear Falls, & Friendswood advanced to 4A area.

One of the field gate volunteers mentioned that a Santa Fe member broke her foot. Creek's Candyland set blew over, sending the King & Queen (? - I didn't see it, based on my husband's description) sliding off the back. He said it looked like the Queen was limping off the field after the performance.

 

[Gina]

One of the field gate volunteers mentioned that a Santa Fe member broke her foot. Creek's Candyland set blew over, sending the King & Queen (? - I didn't see it, based on my husband's description) sliding off the back. He said it looked like the Queen was limping off the field after the performance.

I saw the candyland castle blow down, but only peripherally. I was looking down the field at the time, and glanced back just as it hit the ground. I didn't get there in time to see Santa Fe perform.

There was already a "rain date" set aside for the competition -- maybe they should have just postponed it until then! It wasn't like the weather was a surprise -- they had issued a wind advisory for our area the day before.

 

[Gina]

Woo hoo, scores just posted! We got all 1's too! That's more like it!! I almost wish I had seen a couple of the other bands that I missed... Don't think I've ever seen what "5's" look like!

 

[wowsmom]

DH and I have been joking a lot about that this year-that after next year we will have to get a life again because we will be empty nesters . Most of our friends will be as well so we can at least be no-lifers with them, that and we will have a heck of a lot more disposable income because we won't be spending $1800/year on band, then all of the extras for another million or so dollars each year .

But then won't you be paying for college? (We have 2 in marching band this year. Next year will be 1 in marching band, 1 in college - with no plans to do marching band in college.)

We had 3 competitions this year (first year competing) and we got 3rd place in all of them, but our scores improved.

We like watching the other bands perform and since our band is a 2A, we get the chance to at least watch the 3A and 4A bands before the buses load up and head home. My older son was actually disappointed he didn't get to stay for the 5A and 6A bands at the last 2 competitions. Since our band is pretty small (I think 64 total - band, drumline & colorguard), it's neat to watch the really big bands (200+).

KatyBelle, I saw a video on YouTube the other day that your DSTuba Dude might like. Put in "WSU tuba cam". It's pretty interesting....

 

[Pembo]

We were the featured marching band on our local Fox morning show today!!! It was awesome to see our kids playing their hearts out at the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame this morning! They were inside due to rain!

The kids had to be at the school at 4:30 AM this morning to go on TV. They get back to school at noon, eat lunch, go to 4th block. Dismissal is at 2:30 pm and they have to be back at school at 4:15 pm to load up for an away game tonight. It will be a VERY long day! Tomorrow is competition but call time is not until 4 pm. I can't believe we only have this weekend and next and then it's all over for another season.