Following macbandofficial’s Bands of America prelims performance, tournament officials announced which 12 bands would advance to the finals. Assistant director Dillon Junkin, who attended the announcement, was disappointed to learn that the band had not qualified for the finals, but rather than dwelling on the result of the band’s first 2024 competition, Junkin chose to look ahead. “At a contest this competitive it’s the little things that matter,” he said. “Not making finals should not be an indicator of how the kids did today and should not be an indicator of how our season will go.” During the 2023 Bands of America competition, the band also did not advance to the finals. Competing against many 6A schools, advancing as a 5A band is a tall order. “This is the most challenging contest that we will go to all year,” he said. “We come to this contest so that we can get comments from judges on the field and in the box, and their comments will help guide us into decisions that we make i...