San Antonio Super Set-Up For A Stunner

Let's take a look at some of the bands heading South to perform this weekend!

Nov 2, 2017 by Andy Schamma

Nothing can top the excitement and entertainment of the final weekend of the Bands of America competitive marching band season with Grand National Championships, but this weekend's Super Regional in San Antonio is about to come quite close. 68 bands will head to the Alamodome on Friday and Saturday to compete in what is widely considered as the most competitive high school marching band competition in the country.

Many of the bands in attendance this weekend have already captured awards in the current season, as well as many of them having impressive histories in the Bands of America arena. Joining the Texas powerhouses in San Antonio is the Avon Marching Black & Gold, last year's Grand National Championship runner-up following a General Effect tiebreaker.

Let's take a look at some of the bands heading South to perform this weekend!

FRIDAY

1:15 PM CDT - Round Rock (TX)

As one of the 5 marching bands from Texas heading up to Indianapolis next week for BOA Grand Nationals, Round Rock (TX) will be on the radar of many bands from the midwest to see how they do this weekend. This will also be a good indicator for the Austin-based band to see where they fall in the pack of Texas bands.

In 2017, Round Rock earned a spot in finals at both of the BOA Regionals they've attended (BOA Austin, BOA Houston). In Austin, they earned third place, putting them behind Vandegrift (TX) and Claudia Taylor Johnson (TX), but ahead of bands like Leander (TX), Cedar Ridge (TX) and Cedar Park (TX). Later this season they fell behind Leander (TX), James Bowie (TX), and Hendrickson (TX) and earned 7th at a very tough Houston Regional.

6:30 PM CDT - Claudia Taylor Johnson (TX)

One of the biggest hits of 2017 has got to be Claudia Taylor Johnson (CTJ). CTJ has propelled itself to become one of the strongest marching band programs in Texas. Starting off the season with a commanding win at BOA Austin, they earned an 85.05 and swept the "Outstanding Awards" in a very competitive Class AAAA.

Their most recent performance in BOA competition was out in Midland, TX for the BOA West Texas Regional. In Midland, CTJ earned the first 90 of the season and also opened up a gap of nearly 5 points with a very good Bellevue West (NE) in second place.

This season, CTJ is performing their show "...the Forest through the Trees" which uses the music of Samuel Barber's "Madea," Full Circle's "Puma," Paul Winter's "Under the Sun," Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" and Carol Brittin Chambers' "Rainforest." Take a listen for the "Birdland" moment and enjoy!

SATURDAY

9:00 AM CDT - Timber Creek (TX)

Timber Creek (TX) has established itself as an up-and-comer this season with some impressive accomplishments hitting their resume in 2017. At the start of their season, Timber Creek appeared at the BOA Dallas/Ft. Worth Regional and made finals for the first time in the school's short 4-year history. During mid-October, the TC band left for Midland, TX and earned their first ever BOA Regional medal at the West Texas Regional (3rd, 82.600).

Timber Creek (TX) is definitely on our radar this weekend and will give you just one more reason to wake up Saturday morning and watch some incredible Texas band! This year, their show is called "Meetings Along the Water's Edge" and uses the music of Igor Stravinsky's Petroushka Mvt. 1, "Meetings Along the Edge" by Philip Glass and Ravi Shankar, "San Emigdio" by Vince Oliver, and "Machu Picchu" by Satoshi Yagisawa.

2:15 PM CDT - Avon (IN)

Obviously the odd one out of this Texas-only event, the Avon Marching Black & Gold will be looking to make a statement this weekend in San Antonio. With this being their current director Jay Webb's last year, Avon (IN) is looking to send him out with a bang.

In the first weekend of the 2017 BOA season, Avon came out on top of the BOA Northeast Ohio Regional at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. They set the bar high earning a 76.10 at their first time out in front of the judges. Next, they went on to the BOA Dayton Regional at Welcome Stadium. Despite finals being cancelled due to weather, Avon earned a very close second place, behind last year's Grand Nationals Champion, Carmel (IN). Once again Avon and Carmel went up against each other in the Indianapolis Super Regional where the two were once again within .30 of each other. This weekend's performance/s in San Antonio will help the Marching Black & Gold see where they lie competitively as we head into the final weekend of competition.

This weekend they will be performing their 2017 show, "TEST4MENT." The show uses entirely music from David Maslanka's 4th Symphony.