Ganado High School finished 11th at the UIL State Marching Contest in San Antonio today. This is their best finish in 8 years. They performed Vampire Slayer by Luke McMillan. I have had the opportunity to write for them seven times under four different directors. Congratulations to Mandy Keen, Jennifer Woods, and the entire Ganado Band.
I had the opportunity to see their show for the first time today and it was great. I, unfortunately did not get to see my other state qualifier which was Palacios last Wednesday. They also had a terrific year. One other result of note was from last Saturday. Louise High School finished 12th overall and Best in Class at the US Bands Remo Invitational in Austin.
I was not planning to go to state this year but I am really glad I had the chance. On top of cheering on Ganado, I watched all of the 2A Contest and there are some great bands happening. Sundown and Harper were my two favorites. Then, I was blown away with the 6A Finals. I saw Vandergrift High School come out with a great show in which I didn’t think anybody could surpass them in sound. Then, Hebron showed up. Oh my, that was as good a performance as I have ever seen in any marching medium (DCI included). All the bands were terrific. I am constantly amazed by the originality of those bands and they were quite entertaining as well. There was not one show that I didn’t like.
This ends the competitive side for 2021. Thoughts for 2022 have already started. Hopefully, the year will be as successful.
