2015 Allen Band 'Pathways' show at Area 25 UIL Competition 

20+ busses to travel to away football games

LOUDER isn't always better... they're not a DCI group, in which every member is a great marcher AND instrumentalist. They're a high school marching band.

Steven C Jones I get both points. They sound amazing and they're already pretty dang loud but they can be way louder if they wanted. Not saying it's already not sounding awesome

Wow! Sounds like such sour grapes. So, which one of the cities Allen competes against do you live in? Since Allen city proper is not sprawled out like Plano, Frisco and McKinney, Allen residents voted to have a single High School. And if Allen HS was split into 2, each would have enrollment just over HALF of Plano East. Since current Allen HS enrollment is not much larger than Plano East, how do you explain why our BAND is so much larger? And if no one takes it seriously, why was the Eagle band invited to participate in the 2016 Tournament of the Roses in Pasadena, CA? Please... take your sour grapes elsewhere!

I graduated from Southlake Carroll in 2006. Southlake has a population of 30,000 and even at that population we considered building another HS. Allen has a population of 102,000 (2017 figure). East Plano lacks any substantial affluence and schools lacking affluence usually doesn't fund the music program as well, not to mention a different culture in lower income areas. I'll answer your Pasadena question with another question. Why do you think they invited Allen's band instead of the higher rated bands like The Woodlands or LD Bell? Do you think it's because Pasadena wanted the highest quality band or simply just wanted the spectacle of a large band. Allen was invited because it's big, not good. If there was a band in Ohio with 20 more members than Allen's band then they would have been invited. As far as sour grapes, there are none here. Southlake Carroll constantly wins the UIL Lonestar Cup and we have 8 Football State titles. All that with a population of 30,000, what do you know?

Well, well, well... what I know is, you should know ALL about what affluence can buy. And you can brag all you want about Carroll's successes... just goes to show Allen having the largest high school does NOT mean their sports teams, or band, will be successful... in fact, your statement is evidence per-capita salary level is the reason for Carroll's successes. Wouldn't you agree? Successful high school teams have a LOT to do with good coaching and well run pre-high school sports programs... not just size. PESH is almost as large as AHS, yet they loose because they're not affluent enough... right? And their band is small because they're not affluent enough? The Allen Band is so large because the kids LOVE it! So does the community. Kids are proud to be band members and work so hard to be the best they can, despite being so large. It's like a large family. Directors could pear down the size if they chose, to be more competitive during UIL... being large is more of a challenge. They were invited to the parade in Pasadena because they auditioned for it, and were willing to put forth tremendous effort to hold many fundraising events in order to fund the trip, and put in additional practices well past normal marching season to participate. And YES! They're "The largest band in the land!"

While I don't know much about affluence or populations or whatnot, your original statement of it being a pathetic way to be successful baffles me, since it sort of contradicts what you're saying about them NOT being successful? In any case, I'll agree Allen's band isn't the best, and the size definitely allows quite a few who don't care as much in. However, not everything HAS to be about being the best or being professional quality. The band students have fun marching and playing at football games, and that's all that should matter. I don't have a problem with you criticizing the band, but I think a more respectful tone should be taken, as insulting a group of high school students - teenagers, minors - doesn't seem like a very ethical course of action. Also consider this was from two years ago? Their more recent show, while still not the best, was more impressive from what I could tell. In any case, this thread as a whole has a somewhat disrespectful undertone from both parties that isn't really necessary.