It was a hot day down in McAllen, TX for the 2018 BOA South Texas Regional. 29 bands came, and the best ten made it into regional championship finals including a few familiar names.

While it is still early season and many of the bands were only bringing about half of their show or so to the table, the day was still filled with a number of strong first performances. Many of the groups that we will see in San Antonio later this season made finals in McAllen, including Claudia Taylor Johnson (TX), Pioneer (TX), Roma (TX), John B. Alexander (TX), and Seven Lakes (TX).

See the full results from the BOA South Texas Regional Championship.

Two-A, Touché

The top two bands from the AA Class, Hidalgo Early College (TX) and Pioneer (TX), made it into Saturday's finals competition. The two ended up tying in finals competition, both scoring 67.500. It goes to show just how close the two bands are to one another.

Pioneer earned the outstanding music and general effect awards for AA from their prelims run. Their opening build entices the viewer to lean in only to be smacked in the face with music from Frank Ticheli's "Angels In The Architecture." It's a great show that left the audience wanting for more after the abrupt cutoff of their drum break to end their incomplete show.

Hidalgo Early College captivated audiences with their Spanish-themed show right out of the gate. Earning the visual excellence award over the rest of the AA bands, Hidalgo's drill was balanced across the entire field, and fairly clean all day long. Like many other groups from the day, their show is currently unfinished, but they left the audience with the gift of a beautiful ballad and some wonderful featured soloists to think about on the ride home from McAllen.

CTJ Is Like No Other—

What other band can do Americana crossed with a nautical theme in a marching band show? Currently, in their 10th year as a band program, Claudia Taylor Johnson High School band is one of the standard-bearers for high school marching bands in the United States. 

In 2017 alone, the group captured two regional championship titles and a super regional win at arguably the hardest high school band competition in the country. Well, this year, they have the opportunity to do the same thing—and it all started in McAllen with a win.

Their 2018 program "Tremendous Sea of Love" is a treat to watch, even in its current, most bare state. The beginning is one of those "close your eyes and just take in the atmosphere" kind of introductions. 

The entire show is sprinkled with quotes from people like Robert "Bobby" Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. It features the dynamic, multi-faceted visual program you'd expect from CTJ, along with the nearly limitless feature performers in the low brass and woodwinds sections. The soprano saxophone is just goosebump-inducing.

What's next? BOA Austin. Then, San Antonio. The best part is that there's plenty of room for improvement, but they've already got the number they need to start the season off on the right foot.