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Azle High School’s Marching Green Pride band took first place in both the preliminary and final rounds during Saturday’s UIL Area A Marching Contest in Odessa, earning a return trip to San Antonio’s Alamodome for next Tuesday’s 4A state finals.
Azle’s top rating out of the 20 first-division bands in the contest vindicates months of work by more than 200 students along with directors, aides and a host of parent volunteers.
The effort that began with rehearsals in August and continued through pre-dawn drills, rain and flu landed Azle’s band among the top 25 of more than 250 4A bands in Texas. “It’s really been a pleasure to see the band progress to this level,” director Ross Grant said. He gave this year’s freshman class a big share of the credit. “It’s a pretty young band that is marching particularly well,” he said. “Big bands like ours don’t usually do that.” A big factor in that is the drum line and drum majors, he noted.
“When your drum line is really doing a great job, they give the band a steady pulse,” he said. “And the drum majors are conducting well.” And the colorguard, he noted, is performing the best he’s seen in his seven years in Azle. “There are a lot of new students in that group, but lots of things are working well,” he said. “Their equipment looks nice, the colors, the costumes. It all works.” Certainly it all worked Saturday at Odessa’s Ratliff Stadium, site of the filming of Friday Night Lights. This time, on a perfect fall night, the Azle band was the brightest light in a field of top-notch bands. One of seven UIL Areas in Texas, Area A stretches from El Paso to Amarillo to the edge of Fort Worth. Five bands from Azle’s football district – Azle, Boswell, Saginaw, Springtown and Brewer – qualified for the the Area round by earning 1s at Regional the previous Saturday. Boswell and Saginaw will join Azle at the state competition, where 25 bands from all over Texas will take part in “one of the most competitive band contests in the world” according to Dr. Grant. On Saturday, bands performed from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Azle placed first in the prelims, then accomplished the difficult feat of repeating that in the finals, even though the judges’ assignments changed. Adjudicators for the contest were Jeff Laird of Aldine, George Strickland of Austin, Philip Alvarado of Rowlett, Rick Baker of Arlington and Charles Aguillon of Georgetown In his finals critique, Alvarado commented, “Great brass performance! Balance and blend are excellent. Effective use of woodwinds throughout show. Very musical presentation!” Aguillon said “Wow! Great marching fundamentals. Very well taught and executed. Very strong visual package – your sets were strong. Awesome variety! Terrific use of colorguard. Very entertaining show!” Strickland led his comments with, “Great marching execution today. Outstanding attention to individual detail. Super design and flow – everything is well staged.” In both Area and State contests, five judges evaluate each band: three judge the band’s musical performance and two judge the visual performance. Their scores are converted to rankings and those five numbers are added together, with the low score winning. Azle’s score in the finals was a nine, as the three music judges ranked Azle first, first and fourth while the marching judges ranked Azle first and second. The next-lowest score was a 20. The top ranking at area is a repeat for Azle, as they finished first two years ago, advancing to state where they finished 13th. Grant said the band is hoping for better things this time. “I think it’s a better show, and to be honest, that’s a big part of it,” he said. “There are many ways a show design can train wreck – music, marching, certain sections, soloists, or whatever. This one just works. “Our bus driver, who was from California, watched the entire prelims and finals and he said ‘Yours was the only music I liked.’” Azle ISD superintendent Dr. Ray Lea, who made the drive to Odessa, said he agreed with the judges’ assessment. “I thought the judges did a great job. I thought Azle was the class of the field, and I have high hopes they will do well at state.” “I was very excited,” he added. “I think that was their best performance of the year. The kids and the band directors are to be commended.” The 20 bands at the Area contest, in the order they marched, were Denton High, Wichita Falls Rider, Brewer, Saginaw, San Angelo Mountain View, Denton Ryan, Amarillo Randall, El Paso Del Valle, Denton Guyer, San Angelo Lake View, Abilene Cooper, Wichita Falls High, Springtown, Azle, Lubbock Frenship, Plainview, Canyon High, El Paso Riverside, Boswell and Big Spring. Frenship, Del Valle, Saginaw, Randall, Mountain View, Plainview, Boswell, Springtown, Azle and Denton Ryan made the finals. Azle’s position as next-to-last was considered a favorable draw. About 30 minutes after the finals, state qualifiers were announced. Azle ranked first, followed by Boswell, then Frenship and Saginaw. Normally only four would advance, but El Paso Del Valle advanced as well by the “high score rule” that states that if three of the five judges give a band a ranking in the top four, they will automatically advance, regardless of how the other two judges score the band. The state contest is Monday for 1A and 2A bands and Tuesday for the 4A bands. Azle’s performance time in the prelims is 3 p.m. Tuesday. The finals start at 6:30 p.m. Two years ago, Azle drew an early performance time at state and just missed making the finals. This year, they will be among the last bands to perform in the prelims, which start at 8:30 a.m. “This is a great draw,” senior tuba section leader Casey Carter said. “We will be performing near the end of prelims, in front of a large crowd. In the past we have usually drawn extremely early performance times.” “Our band is really coming together at the right time” added senior French horn player Meagan Clark. “I think we will do well when compared to the best bands around the state.” The band is hoping for a great “home crowd” for their state prelim performance. “State only happens every two years,” said junior trumpeter Ryan Potts. “This is what we have been working for. We need lots and lots of Azle supporters to cheer the band on in San Antonio. It makes a big difference for the students.” Dr. Grant said the time slot favors both the Azle band and its fans. “This is the first time Azle has drawn a prelim time that is late enough for supporters to come cheer on the band without necessarily having to spend the night,” he said. Spectator tickets are $15 for prelims and $25 for both prelims and finals. The band will travel to San Antonio Monday morning on five charter buses, leaving Azle about 9 a.m. They will rehearse there on an artificial turf field, spend the night and see a few sights of San Antonnio, then compete and return Tuesday night. “We will be striving to refine our show to the highest possible level this week,” Grant said. He urged band parents to try and keep their children healthy and have them on hand for the last week of 6:30 a.m. rehearsals. Finalists will be announced at 4 p.m. If Azle makes the finals they expect to arrive back home around 3 a.m. Wednesday. More information about the UIL State Marching Contest is available on the UIL web site www.uil.utexas.edu (click “Music”) and at the Azle Band web site: www.azlemgp.org. |
