13strokeroll Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 I think a lot of the love directed at the colts soloist was based on him missing the high notes early/mid season. This and it was an old school type solo, one that built all the way through their closer. Or could it also be that that portion of the show was so well arranged that you could feel it building, knew it was coming, and STILL had a euphoric release? Kind of like a good...well, you get the picture. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim K Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 (edited) I'm not sure I'd say this was the strangest season, but it sure was interesting. Due to changing vacation plans, I was able to attend the early New England shows (most are within 30 minutes of where I live) and was able to go to Indy and Allentown. As far as Blue Devils/Crown, I wanted to see Crown win and thought that Friday's semi performance should have topped BD. However, as one poster noted, Crown's percussion troubles were well noted. I also heard some percussion people sitting near me claim the Crown did have the talent in this area, but didn't use it effectively. Crossmen making finals did not surprise me. Friday's performance was electrifying and sadly for Blue Stars, while their show was good that evening it didn't quite have what Crossmen had, however, I still think it was stronger than Blue Knights. We can praise BK for innovation, and I'll admit I loved the closer, but it seemed as if the horn line did more maneuvering than playing. I do think some of the most exciting competition was in the below 14th place crowd. I was blown away by Glassmen's Saint Seans Symphony #3 and judging from the difference in the San Antonio recording and Allentown and between Allentown and Indy, if the season had another week in it, we might be talking about Glassmen finding a home in finals again. While I thought The Academy would be the next new corps to make finals, based on what I saw this year that distinction may go to Pacific Crest, who had a great show this year. I was not all that surprised by Jersey Surf. They knew last fall what they were going to do and what they needed to do it. I wasn't surprised people loved the show either. Surf's antics were loved by a younger crowd who had yet to see the light fo day when Bridgemen competed, and tugged at the nostalgic hearts of those of us who miss the Bridgemen. I'm glad that the OP gave praise to Blue Saints. It was a great show for a corps its size. Les Stentors is also a corps with a lot of heart. For me, this was a pleasant surprise and I hope it's encouragement for smaller non-competitive corps to get in the . I think I also learned to take DCP posts with a grain of salt, perhaps in some cases an entire container of salt. Madison was predicted not to make finals, then when people saw they were better than expected, some thought title. Spirit showed 2011 was not a fluke. Phantom was not a mess. No the Troopers did not place below 25th nor were they in danger of it. Same holds true for Cavaliers who did have an off season, but not that off. Crown's percussion was not as strong as their horn line, but no they did not place below 12th in San Antonio, Atlanta, prelims or semis nor were they ever in danger of doing so. I suppose when it comes to DCP, Ronald Regan's famous quote "trust but verify" may be appropriate, but wait, we're not supposed to infuse DCP with politics. Edited August 23, 2012 by Tim K 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim K Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 I think a lot of the love directed at the colts soloist was based on him missing the high notes early/mid season. This and it was an old school type solo, one that built all the way through their closer. I know when I stood up and cheered part of my joy was relief! I can't understand anyone who thinks Crown should have beaten BD. The percussion argument is well documented but let's look at drill for a minute... I'm no expert when it comes to Drill, not many of us are but I know a straight line in a form when I see it and Crown weren't making the straight lines in their forms like BD were. A couple of examples... BDs brass after the 1st hit when they move diagonaly back field rolling over one line at a time... it was perfect. During semis at the end of CCs show there we're several brass players who didn't make their spots for the crown form. The same thing happened in finals but I only spotted one this time. This isn't an arguement over which drill was harder, it's about who executed their drill better. Colt's soloist was hitting the notes in late June/early July in New England at shows, rehearsals, and parades, but he added a bit more style to it as the season progressed but never overshadowed the corps. My critiques of BD are similar to your critiques of Crown. However, in my opinion there was one key difference. Crown's show was difficult, perhaps more so than BD, and was always moving, BD's show as fast but paced in a such a way that you had an opportunity to digest what BD was doing. It was more difficult to do this with Crown and I think that had an effect on the scores. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr.mello Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 (edited) I wouldn't say that the season was weird, but I will say that hundreds of great performers weren't allowed to shine due to bad design. Edited August 23, 2012 by mr.mello 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perc2100 Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Colt's soloist was hitting the notes in late June/early July in New England at shows, rehearsals, and parades, but he added a bit more style to it as the season progressed but never overshadowed the corps. My critiques of BD are similar to your critiques of Crown. However, in my opinion there was one key difference. Crown's show was difficult, perhaps more so than BD, and was always moving, BD's show as fast but paced in a such a way that you had an opportunity to digest what BD was doing. It was more difficult to do this with Crown and I think that had an effect on the scores. I'm sure you realize that the pinnacle of design is not "difficult:" it's "effective." Blue Devils visual design was very effective, and executed very clean for the most part. Crown visual design was also effective, but not marched as clean. The only person to blame in the "Crown's drill was harder and that's why it was dirtier" game is Crown's visual designer. BD designed effective drill that was attainable at a Championship level. Crown designed an effective drill that was not quite attainable at a Championship level. Once Crown's visual designer figure out that super difficult fine line of designing effective drill that is attainable (they are very, very close), they will have a much better shot at winning DCI. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpa Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 This isn't aimed at you, Brasso. Just an observation. Crown may not have been as "clean". They had a meaty book and didn't "lay out" half the show. Video doesn't lie. Where's the content? Where's the demand? Sanford winner? Meh... Some great moments in all sections but overall package does not compare to SCV's line IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catan Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 I'm sure you realize that the pinnacle of design is not "difficult:" it's "effective." Blue Devils visual design was very effective, and executed very clean for the most part. Crown visual design was also effective, but not marched as clean. The only person to blame in the "Crown's drill was harder and that's why it was dirtier" game is Crown's visual designer. BD designed effective drill that was attainable at a Championship level. Crown designed an effective drill that was not quite attainable at a Championship level. Once Crown's visual designer figure out that super difficult fine line of designing effective drill that is attainable (they are very, very close), they will have a much better shot at winning DCI. I'm gonna have to disagree with you here. I thought the GE visual judges were very kind to Crown. From a design standpoint, I thought it was easily the weakest of the top 5. Poor use of color, movement for the sake of movement, dense and unreadable drill. They performed the heck out of it, but ultimately I think it was the visual program that cost them. From a visual design standpoint (except for the use of color - also a weakpoint of 2009), I thought Crown's 2009 program was far superior and more attainable than what Leon May produced this year. Then again, I am no judge or designer. But to me, SCV Phantom and BD all had incredibly effective and diverse visual programs, much more so than Crown. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bchorn Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 I agree. There are always some fans that don't think a Corps should have won, but most people acknowledge it seems to me that BD had no section weakness compared to Crown. Crown had a percussion section issuethis season and this was their achilles heel vs. BD all season long. BD show seemed to be controversial, but to most observers surely most believe that the judges got it right regarding BD being the deserving champion over Crown on Finals Night. Crown was 6th at Finals in percussion. 'Can't win a Title when you're 6th in a caption, so that was that for them. And BD was undefeated against all challengers this season too. Their win on Finals night appeared hardly " controversial ". More like a foregone conclusion after the Quarters it seemed to me. The BD/Crown debate is much more than some fans that think their corp should have won. If you look at the DCP archives from last year, you won’t see nearly the amount of fans complaining about the Cadets winning than you do this year. And this debate is also much more than “oh I’m so jealous the Blue Devils have a million championships”. A lot of people have been frustrated with Blue Devils shows since the mid 00’s. People are frustrated that Blue Devils are winning with shows that they don’t enjoy. I never marched with any corp so I’ve always been a bandwagon fan. I jumped on the Cadets bandwagon in the late 80’s when I first started watching drum corp. Then I became a huge fan of the Cavaliers when they started dominating in the early 00’s. So why have I not jumped on the Blue Devils bandwagon even though I loved most of their championship shows up to and include The Phenomenon of Cool? I really do want to like their recent shows…I’ve tried…but they haven’t clicked for me so I’m frustrated…really frustrated when they win over other corps more deserving (CC in 09 and 12 and Cavaliers in 10). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bchorn Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 I'm sure you realize that the pinnacle of design is not "difficult:" it's "effective." Blue Devils visual design was very effective, and executed very clean for the most part. Crown visual design was also effective, but not marched as clean. The only person to blame in the "Crown's drill was harder and that's why it was dirtier" game is Crown's visual designer. BD designed effective drill that was attainable at a Championship level. Crown designed an effective drill that was not quite attainable at a Championship level. Once Crown's visual designer figure out that super difficult fine line of designing effective drill that is attainable (they are very, very close), they will have a much better shot at winning DCI. Here's the deal...I would love to see more corps attempt drills like what Carolina Crown did this year but that's not going to happen if clean/average drills are rewarded over challenging/not as clean drills. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perc2100 Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Here's the deal...I would love to see more corps attempt drills like what Carolina Crown did this year but that's not going to happen if clean/average EFFECTIVE drills are rewarded over challenging/not as clean drills. Again, it's not about what you believe to be 'average' or whatever: it's about what is effective. Blue Devils design effective drill that they execute really well: clean/effective vis designs are rewarded over challenging/not as clean visual design Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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