For those of you who have been everywhere and seen everything.....which states have the cream of the crop marching bands?
Ready....get set....GO!!!

I'm going to go with Texas.

It's all about Alaska.

(I'm obviously kidding.)

Honestly, I've seen a lot of great groups from all over the place. There seem to be quite a few from Texas, California, and parts of the midwest in particular.

Definitely not Oregon. Though, we do have some good bands around here.

And I've heard only good things about Texas bands, so I'm going to go with that. Texas.

Im going to go with texas on this one...
If we use BOA as a benchmark, look at the grand national placement VS texas regional placement...
2007 LD Bell
Nationals: 1st
Texas:2nd
2007 The Woodlands
Nationals 4th
Texas:3rd
2007 SFA
Nationals: 8th
Texas: DNP
2007 Richland
Nationals: 9th
Texas: 6th

Heres the point, every single band from texas (in AAA) made finals. secondly Had Marcus and Reagan showed up, (arguably of course) youd have a different GN champion (bell never beat marcus that fall) Centergrove and Harrison would have been out. making 6 of the 12 finalists from Texas.

look back at 2006, Bowie (boo-ey, not bow-ey) got 12th at nationals, but they didnt even make finals in texas, they got 13th. so the 12th best band in the country is only the 13th best in Texas. Makes me wish everyone could go every year. but then again other states would feel left out.

back to 2005, Richland got 5th in texas, and 7th at nationals but only 2 of the 6 bands that beat them in texas were in Indy.

Name another state where things are thats consistent over the ENTIRE state. Theres not.

Texas does seem to have a large concentration of great high school bands. However, I know that there are definitely pools of talented groups all over the nation. I think if you watch WGI, you can see that there are great bands all over. Texas is a weird combination. We have great high school bands but here is the other side of that. For some reason, DCI corps have really struggled here. Most kids head west, up the corn belt, or the east coast. Strange...no one really knows why we don't have any long standing corps here. I think one of the main reasons that there are many strong high school groups from the Dallas metro area is because of UNT being just an hour away. For some reason also, there are a lot of DCI alumni that come down here to teach. I think that is another reason as well. But I have seen some really great lines from all over the states.

All of the staff at your really good high schools, have jobs teaching for established corps already. the kids follow thier teachers. The ones that dont are used to being in the best groups in the country, the best instruction with the best design team. so thats where they audition. Its that simple.

Its not that there arent good groups elsewhere, its that 1)the average group is better, and 2)There are more national title contenders.

Indiana bands are great.

Sweet....that makes me feel better about my band....last year at the Texas state marching contest (3A) we got 14th.

CALIFORNIA!!!

Go Blue Devils!!!!

texas has the best marching bands. they dominate BOA
however california, especially southern california, dominates indoor drumline.

there are several good ones here in Alabama, and then there is the one high school in Arkansas (just kidding) that have a huge, and very good band

Texas has some very good ones too

There are some strong groups in Tennessee, like Munford and Houston and a couple others around the state. But I'd probably Texas is tops in the marching area.

This makes me feel great about my state

Gotta represent the Lone Star State!

Erm...

Aren't all students who don't sign up for any extra curricular activities put in their high school's marching band automatically in Texas?

Thought that my BD said something to that effect.

But Georgia has some decent bands, though it's not very consistent. About every ten to fifteen years, there's a drastic change in power of the bands, and some have 300+ while others have 15- members.

:x

And I hear Indiana is a powerhouse at BOA Nationals.

At my school (in Texas) the band directors came to the to our fifth grade music class and talked to us about getting in band....so the kids put what they wanted to play if they got in band but they had three slots for backup plans....but no they dont make you get in band but you do have to choose an extracurricular activity....i guess Texas schools just do good at getting kids interested in band.

Gerga5214....you guys are ridiculously great....i go to Atlanta....i saw yall at the Northwestern contest...and of course at the state marching contest last year....you guys are definetely the best 3A band in the nation:)

Whoa, there. I'm sure Gerga's band is awesome, but the best in the nation? Orly?

Here is the results of Canton's last five trips to the Texas State Marching Contest:98'Bronze, 00'silver, 02'Gold, 04'Gold, 06'Gold. May i remind u that this is Texas.

Here in texas, band is kind of a big deal. And no, unsigned kids don't get put in band. Wouldn't that make our bands full of undedicated slackers anyways? =P

But yeah, it's really a matter of pride. Also you get a lot of great instructors coming out of UNT, like our percussion dir. who played on the "A" drumline. And those instructors are really good at motivating kids, as well as coming up with some amazing show concepts. I watched the Raiders DBC West Side Story show from last year today, and thought 'I saw at least two highschool bands who did as good a job or better with that show'.

I think partially it's because football has such a strong tradition in TX, so the marching band naturally gets a bit more support here, even in small towns, than arts groups would generally get. In fact a lot of places have their bands now bringing in attendance that dwarfs the football team fans. =D

But yeah, rock on Texas!

Tarpan Springs > Caramel > Canton, IMO. ;P

So top three states for marching band would be Texas, California and Indiana?

Tarpon springs is from florida. And the Canton texas band is not the one from BOA finals, that is PLymouth-Canton michigan.

Texas is pretty much amazing, but California isn't far behind. I'm in the same school district as Marcus High School (took first at BOA Super Reigonals) and sometimes we begin to wonder what its like to win every competition you go to. Even their drumline is pretty much a dominating force in our state, especially at PASIC, though FloMo, Colleyville Heriatge, and Lewisville aren't far behind.

I haven't really heard any other states other than Texas and Cali, but I hear Indiana, Florida, and Michigan are pretty good as well.

I believe he said marching bands, not corps...

hmmmm i would love to say florida since i live there but thats really not realistic so im going with.....Texas

Im not saying Texas just because im from here but you definitely see highest concentration of extremely good bands down here. Its a different thing down here than it is in regular states, its snugglebunny more hardcore. I hear stories from kids Ive met from around the country and theyre just flat out amazed at how serious stuff is here and how big the competition is.

I think California is the best state for it. we got some good bands out here.

Texas, i live here but i dont care. look at marcus high school or colleyville heritage

Everything is bigger in Texas, Marching Band competition is no exception.

Texas for sure. Almost every band at any competition is usually pretty good

From what i understand it's texas, california and indiana. I live in indiana

sidenote...I Wish our band did boa we're just not that good

As everyones stated, Texas is probably the big dog band state, followed by California.

i would have to say california based upon my experience in terms of overall bands, but texas i must say has some exceptional bands at a highschool level that rival even certain drum corps

Yeah we got 8th, and 6th the time before that.
That darn Canton keeps winning.

But to stay on topic of best state,I would have to agree with Texas. Just look at the BOA results Insomniac posted. It's proof. Plus...I just love Texas

Oh so you go to Princeton?

no i go to whitesboro, we tied haha

Alabama...not so much (of course there are some good bands). We dont even have a state circuit.

i have to agree.
i live i Alabama also. there's not a lot of big dog bands around here, or atleast from my experience the past 2 years, but there are some good ones.
some that come to mind are Grason (sp?) Valley and Russelville High School.
and also like Jofus said we don't even have a state circuit so.

you forget about Gadsden City, Spain Park, anf from what I have heard, Shades Valley

I'd also love to say Florida because that's where I live but sadly that's not the case. Yes Tarpon Springs is a great program, their BD is a former Suncoast member (was drum major there when I marched) and designed for Magic as well. He's also a really great guy. But one great program doesn't speak for the whole state. Yes there are other great bands here but just not a lot of them. Marching just doesn't seem to be a high priority for most BDs down here.

I'd have to say Texas is the best state for high school marching bands. A lot of great programs with a lot of consistency over the years. California would be second in my book but I give them the edge in indoor. Cali also has some sick junior college programs. Almost makes it worth putting up with crime, pollution and earthquakes (just kidding).

I'd also like to say my home state, Connecticut, but they're probably not the best :P

I know California has a bunch of great groups, as well as New Jersey.

I live in texas, and while talking with a corps representative, he said "A lot of you texas kids get a second look because of the amazing teachers you guys have here."
He also mentioned many other areas, but that was mostly something he said to be nice.

I would have to say my state is the best.

Illinois anyone

Unforunately, Illinois gets no love. Not enough bands in the state that could hold their own in that upper echelon. Yes, there are some good bands but really only one in particular that can actually compete for a title at BOA.

The difference is that there are probably 5-6 bands from Texas that could win BOA and maybe 4-5 from Indiana. Illinois has one. In a state to state comparison I'm not sure Illinois would make my top five.

Tie between indiana and texas...maybe texas over indiana

Florida, California and Indiana are up there but i would say Texas. The Band that got 2nd at BOA arlingtoin won BOA Nationals... that should tell you something

I wish NY had a corps or two. Some East vs West side stuff
would be awesome on the field.

Staying on topic, I guess one could argue that the best
drummers come from cali and texas, but just remember
that good drummers can come from ANYWHERE

The Cadets used to fill that role pretty well. Garfield is only about 10 miles from NYC. There are still plenty of active east coast corps, though.

As for NY... There aren't currently any competing junior corps in the state, but there are a few nearby. To list just the nearest World Class corps, the Cadets, Bluecoats, Boston Crusaders, and Jersey Surf are all within a 3-hour drive from the state line. There are some good Open Class corps in neighboring states and provinces, too.

What NY might lack in the junior corps ranks, it makes up for with all-age DCA corps: The Empire Statesmen, Brigadiers, Rochester Crusaders, and White Sabers call NY home. Other corps like the Reading Buccaneers, Hawthorne Caballeros, Connecticut Hurricanes, Bushwackers, Grenadiers, and Fusion Core are a short drive away.

Pitt. There bass's seemed pretty good

I agree that those Cali schools seem to be dominating the indoor scene, but what many people don't know is that most Texas programs CAN'T do WGI. Standardized testing is almost always scheduled during WGI champs, therefore most Texas indoor lines are confined to the local circuits or regional WGI contests. Otherwise, you'd be seeing a lot for contention for the gold in Dayton.

-Zach