Lone Star Preview 10/8-13
Marching band is starting to kick into gear in Texas, and it’ll only move faster from here on out. Saturday is the first UIL Region Contest, bands across the state are going to their local Pre-UIL competitions (no finals, bands just receive a ranking on a scale of 1-5 as they do at Region), and the local contests are becoming more and more stacked. So with no time left to spare, let’s jump right into it.
As has become tradition in my Texas previews, we’re going to start by going over the USBands contests, three of which are this weekend. First, we’re going to start our tour in Converse (northeast of San Antonio) at the USBands Ludwig Musser Classic, a prelims-finals event featuring local programs such as Byron P. Steele II (TX) and Douglas MacArthur (TX), as well as a few bands making longer treks like Copperas Cove (TX) from the Temple-area. Next, moving to the southeast side of Austin, we have the USBands Austin Regional in Buda, which will include local program Jack C. Hays (TX). Additionally, Liberty Hill (TX) and Jarrell (TX) are both coming off impressive finals finishes at local contests last weekend (Vista Ridge Marching Festival and Midway Marching Preview, respectively). Finally, making our way up almost to Fort Worth, we have the USBands Burleson Regional, where Duncanville (TX) is headlining the event after unfortunately having to drop the West Texas BOA Regional following complications with their charter bus company. They’ll be competing alongside programs such as Burleson (TX) and Byron Nelson (TX).
Speaking of West Texas, two major Pre-UIL events are happening in Lubbock and Abilene. Starting with Lubbock, the Westerner Marching Festival features nearly 40 programs which include an early morning performance from Lubbock-Cooper (TX) before they head to the BOA Midland Regional alongside some small programs which are UIL State Finalists in their class, such as Whiteface (TX) and Plains (TX). In Abilene, Abilene Wylie (TX) is hosting the Big Country Marching Festival, which features the local Abilene Cooper (TX) alongside small band powerhouses such as Baird (TX) and Cisco (TX). Finally, let’s head back to El Paso for the first UIL Marching Event of the season, the UIL Region 22 Marching Contest, on October 8th. At this competition, you can check out BOA Finalists like Eastlake (TX), Bel Air (TX), and Del Valle (TX), as well as other big names like J.M. Hanks (TX), Pebble Hills (TX), Parkland (TX), El Paso Coronado (TX), Horizon (TX), and more. Tomorrow, we are releasing a resource that will be updated with Region Results as soon as they come in, as well as what the results mean for each Area.
Heading to the Austin area, we have the Lost Pines Marching Festival hosted by Bastrop (TX). The programs headlining this event are those such as Lake Belton (TX) (who boasted a very impressive 4th place at the Vista Ridge Marching Festival), Pflugerville (TX), and Seguin (TX), which means this event could be a small preview of sorts for the UIL 5A Area D competition in a couple of weeks. In addition, the Texas Marching Classic hosted by #6 Cedar Ridge (TX) is also happening this weekend, where other GEM representatives and I will be on site this weekend, so keep your eyes peeled for a full-scale preview later today. On Tuesday, October 11th, there will be three UIL Region events across Austin simultaneously, and you’ll see many great bands no matter which one you choose. First is the UIL Region 18 5A-6A Marching Contest, where 6A bands like James Bowie (TX), Moe and Gene Johnson (TX), and Dripping Springs (TX) will be getting their rating alongside 5A programs such as McCallum (TX), Jack C. Hays (TX), and Bastrop. To the north is the UIL Region 26 5A-6A Marching Contest with GEM Top 25 Ranked bands such as #6 Cedar Ridge and #21 Round Rock (TX), along with other local favorites like Westwood (TX) and Hendrickson (TX). Lastly is the Region 32 5A-6A Marching Contest, where #5 Vandegrift (TX), #13 Cedar Park (TX), #15 Vista Ridge (TX), and #18 Rouse (TX) are getting rated alongside Tom Glenn (TX), Lake Travis (TX), Westlake (TX), and more.
Just to the south of Austin, Comal Canyon (TX) is hosting the Comal Classic Marching Contest, which features fellow Comal ISD bands such as Smithson Valley (TX) and Davenport (TX), along with nearby programs like Lockhart (TX). Theodore Roosevelt (TX) is hosting the Rough Riders Marching Contest, where you’ll get to see Byron P. Steele II perform before their USBands contest later that day alongside smaller bands such as Tivy (TX) and Hondo (TX). Going further south and towards the coast, the Edna Invitational Marching Contest is hosted about 30 minutes northeast of Victoria. State qualifiers for the smaller UIL classifications, such as Ganado (TX) and Palacios (TX) are the most familiar names here. Still, I want to highlight Iowa Colony (TX), a brand-new school south of Houston in Alvin ISD.
With no region contests to speak of in the south, we follow Iowa Colony up into Houston, where with the lack of BOA Regionals, there are a few very stacked contests this week. The first contest is the Channelview ISD Marching Contest, where the biggest names in attendance are Galena Park (TX) and North Shore (TX), alongside the up-and-coming, and newly 6A, program New Caney (TX). On the other side of Houston is the Cypress Showcase Marching Festival, which features district favorites such as Jersey Village (TX) and Cypress Falls (TX), along with bands like Kempner (TX).
The first of two major contests happening is the Katy Marching Festival, where bands are scored separately as part of Katy ISD and not. The programs representing the district here include Jordan (TX), Obra D. Tompkins (TX), Seven Lakes (TX), and James E. Taylor (TX), while some of the outsider programs include Churchill Fulshear (TX), Friendswood (TX), Lumberton (TX), and Westfield (TX). The other major contest is the Lone Star Preview hosted by #11 The Woodlands (TX). BOA Finalists Bridgeland (TX), Clear Brook (TX), College Park (TX), Cypress Woods (TX), Klein Oak (TX), and Oak Ridge (TX) will join Klein Cain (TX) and Klein Collins (TX) for one of the most exciting annual contests in the Houston area.
Moving to Northeast Texas, we have the UIL Region 4 1A-5A Marching Contest, where larger bands like Mount Pleasant (TX) and smaller programs like North Lamar (TX) and Clarksville (TX) will be getting their rankings on October 11th.
Finally ending our tour around the state, we head west back to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where three local and five UIL contests make up some of the events over the next week. We start on the east side of Dallas with the Royse City Marching Contest, which pulls in programs such as Mineola (TX), Paris (TX), and Rockwall-Heath (TX). To the north, we have the McKinney Marching Invitational, headlined by bands like Burleson Centennial (TX), Plano East (TX), and Wylie (TX). To the west is the Don Hanna Memorial Marching Contest in Denton, which features Mansfield (TX), new Frisco school Panther Creek (TX), and 2021 UIL 4A State Finalist Anna (TX).
Lastly, let’s sneak a peek at the UIL Region contests, starting with the UIL Region 5 Marching Contest on October 11th. It features Mansfield schools, Mansfield, Lake Ridge (TX), Legacy (TX), and Summit (TX) alongside Arlington’s James Martin (TX), as well as Midlothian (TX) and Fort Worth Southwest (TX). The last band to highlight for this contest is one of the premier show-style bands in the country, Cedar Hill (TX). Also on Tuesday is the UIL Region 30 5A-6A Marching Contest, where #22 Keller (TX), Keller Central (TX), Timber Creek (TX) will be rated alongside 5A bands like Azle (TX), Aledo (TX), and Burleson Centennial. The next day features the UIL Region 3 3A/5A Marching Contest with bands such as Forney (TX), Poteet (TX), North Mesquite (TX), and Commerce (TX). Also on October 12th is the UIL Region 25 2A-4A Marching Contest, where many recognizable small band names will get ratings, such as Community (TX), Farmersville (TX), Anna, Celina (TX), Van Alstyne (TX), Howe (TX), Honey Grove (TX), and Whitesboro (TX). On Thursday, October 13th, we have our final event of the week, the UIL Region 20 3A-5A Marching Contest, with almost every Dallas ISD school getting rated alongside Red Oak (TX) and the only remaining military-style band in the metroplex, Ennis (TX).
Aaron Blackley is one of the original contributors for General Effect Media. Despite being young and fresh out of college, he has a vast knowledge and passion for the marching arts and has worked alongside the likes of HornRank as a ranker and moderator as well as the TxBands.com liveblog team since summer 2021. He can be found on Twitter as @GEMAaronB.