After an intriguing start to the 2023 Bands of America season last weekend, the BOA slate reached a new gear in its second-weekend quartet of events.

A first look at 2023’s Texas bands, an eye-catching new season-high score, and much more highlighted the September 23 rundown.

Here’s the full recap:

Rouse picks up Texas-sized W

After defending Grand National champion Carmel made impressive headlines with a top score of 81.600 last weekend, several of Texas’ bands waited their turn and made noise in their 2023 Bands of America debuts.

Chief among those noise-makers? Rouse. The Austin-area band, which took 21st at last year’s BOA San Antonio Super Regional, posted a standout score of 85.150 to finish atop a lineup of more than two dozen Texas bands, including 2019 Grand National champion Vandegrift. 

For context, at the late-season San Antonio event a year ago, the two were separated by nearly seven points, in favor of Vandegrift. 

While Rouse’s score was No. 1, though, the finish was razor-thin. Rouse outscored second-place Vandegrift by just 0.15 points; the two split the top visual performance score, while Rouse won outstanding general effect. Vista Ridge, which took third with a score of 83.500, won outstanding music performance. 

In total, six bands broke 80 points in the late-September Austin event, with Cedar Park, Cedar Ridge, and Lake Travis rounding out the top half of the finalist pool. 

Richland runs away in Las Cruces

Speaking of Texas bands, a few made waves out-of-state this weekend, taking three of the top five spots at Saturday’s Las Cruces, New Mexico event. 

The top score on the day went to Richland, whose 77.050 earned an advantage of nearly two and a half points over the field. Richland also swept all captions, finishing ahead of second-place Clovis (NM), which won the same event in 2022. 

Both bands competed in the AAA division, though, and Clovis earned the Class AAA title, scoring ahead of Richland in Prelims competition and winning two of three captions.

Rounding out the event’s top three with a score of 72.100, Eastlake took home the Class AAAA win, while Riverside (AA) and Pecos (A) also won their respective classes. 

Lakota West defends home state

An array of out-of-state bands — three from Indiana and one from Kentucky, landed inside the top five at Saturday’s Obetz, Ohio event, but none came within two points of Ohio’s own Lakota West, whose impressive score of 80.150 was good for a resounding first place. 

Lakota West, which was a BOA Grand National Semifinalist a year ago, finished just four points shy of its 2022 Grand Nationals score, and swept all captions — both in Finals, and in its Class AAAA Prelims competition.

A red-hot race of Indiana and Kentucky bands, though, comprised the rest of the top five, as four bands scored within two points of one another. 

Indiana’s Goshen earned an impressive second place with a score of 77.700, while outsourcing Kentucky’s Madison Central (76.600) and fellow Hoosier State bands Westfield (76.300) and Lawrence Township (76.000), the latter of which has been a longtime mainstay among top Indiana state finalists. 

Goshen also won Class AAA, while Ohio bands Worthington Kilbourne (AA) and Archbishop Carroll (A) rounded out the list of class winners.

Southeastern schools show out in Chattanooga

Atop a list of bands that spanned more than six states, Indiana-based North H.S. took home top marks, after taking fourth place in Prelims competition.

North finished second in Class AA Prelims competition to Cass (GA), but earned an advantage of 1.35 points over the field, ahead of Tennessee-based Franklin (76.250), followed by Cass (75.250). 

Franklin won the event’s Class AAA title, and split the overall outstanding music performance award with fourth-place Sparkman, an Alabama-based band that earned a score of 74.500. North took home both other Finals caption wins. 

In one of the weekend’s closest races, three bands finished separated by just 0.225 points, as Jefferson (70.250) edged out Hardin Valley Academy (70.100) and Siegel (70.025) for a spot in the top six.