Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023; horns blare and woodwinds whistle underneath the Alamodome. Hundreds of spectators watch as 26 bands march for, play for, and awe them and the judges. Each band has put in four months of work perfecting their seven-minute-long shows. All those hours came to a head during the Texas UIL State Marching Band Contest.
Every year, high school bands across Texas prepare and perform an intricate display of marching and musical ability for competition. Meets take place throughout the months of October and November. Bands come together to perform their shows for judges who score the shows based on three main criteria: marching skill, musical talent, and overall effect. The marching score is based on the straightness of lines and legs and the consistency of movement in time with the music. The music score is based on how well the music sounds, the accuracy of the notes played, and the emotional effect of the music. The overall effect score is based on the visual effect of the show – how well/neat the show looks. Each band’s total score is the average of the three subscores above. After the judges score the bands, the bands are ranked, and only the top few bands advance to the next meet/competition.
Randall Marching Band consistently scored and placed high. This advanced them again and again until they qualified for the UIL State Marching Contest. On Oct. 31, Randall’s band departed for San Antonio to compete in the state meet at the Alamodome. The following day, competition between the 4A division bands began. All of the 26 state qualifying bands performed in the preliminary section of the State Marching Contest. Randall placed 16th in the preliminaries, sadly not advancing them to finals. However, this did not diminish their accomplishments.
“We made it [to state] for the third year in a row. Yeah, we didn’t make finals, but we still achieved so much,” senior trombone player Hudson Cox said.
The Randall High Marching Band yet again showed their musical abilities and performance prowess. They solidified themselves as a great marching band to be feared and respected by their competitors. The future has many more wonderful achievements in store for the Randall High Marching Band.
