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Next Big OC Names?


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It's pretty exciting right now what's going on with Soundsport giving corps a jumping board into fielding a DCI Open Class corps. As N.E. Brigand said on another thread, the 17 corps competing at Open Class prelims in August is the highest amount of DCI Member corps to compete since 2009! There are also a good few corps greatly expanding their tours like Columbians heading to Denver, and Southwind/Heat Wave expanding their sourthern regional tour. Then you have first timers to Indy like Louisiana Stars, Shadow, and Guardians! Pretty cool what is going on right now.

Recently we've seen the rise of Genesis into a consistent medalist and competitor in World Class semifinals along with BDB and Vanguard Cadets on a consistent basis after their formation in I believe 2010. There are some other new corps really making some noise, and I think there are two that really stick out as being corps that could do some serious damage in coming years.

Columbians

They only had a 3 show tour last year, but boy did they make those count. They had an incredibly high energy show that garnered some obvious crowd appreciation, and were very solid across all captions. To the point that in those earlier shows they were trading some sub-captions with the Cascades and Oregon Crusaders. I can only imagine how that show could have developed over a whole season. We may get to see that soon. They're expanding their tour to Denver this season, where I am sure that they will do very well. There is something in the water in the NorthWEST right now.

Louisiana Stars

After a very successful regional tour in 2014, they expanded that to a semi national one that garnered a ton of well deserved attention. A show using incredibly familiar, public domain music with some modern twists proved to be very accessible, high energy, and just downright entertaining. Listen to that crowd at the end! Very strong performances from all sections, especially the color guard and brass. They made huge strides, and are sure to again heading to Indiana again. I am incredibly excited to see what this corps can do.

The reasons I picked these two are a few.

  • Obvious performance ability and strength across ALL captions.
  • Very strong designs, relatively. Very mature for their age as corps.
  • Taking things slow, and being smart with the size of their tours and growth in members.
  • Consistent improvement in their few years fielded.
  • Performance energy and crowd reaction/appeal.

So who are your picks to be the next big, new names?

Edited by DrumManTx
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Louisiana Stars definitely top my list. That's a killer show for such a new corps.

I hadn't seen Columbians' show yet. They have good percussion and low/middle brass. They definitely need to improve in high brass, but they have a good foundation. I agree with you, they look promising.

But the corps I'm really thinking could go far is The Battalion. They haven't even done a show yet, but their organization seems top quality. I've been keeping an eye on them this off season. With the rise of the Blue Knights competitively, it's easy to see some of their prospective local members heading over to The Battalion to get some experience marching. In fact, this year, people who attended a Blue Knights camp were able to attend Battalion camps for free. They could be the next BDB or SCVC in function, if they play their cards right.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Two years ago, Music City had a hot run in their first performance at the Ft. Wayne show that had the crowd saying, "Wow, that's a group to watch for." I see they're fielding a full 150 for the first time this year so they're likely working their way up as well.

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BDB & VC been building for far longer than that. In 1991, Santa Clara became the first corps to field two corps at Nats. (VC won div 2). Since then BDB has also accomplished this. Both go back to the 80s if I recall correctly.

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Man... based in the videos I've seen, I would love to catch those Louisiana Stars in person someday.

Considering they are still basically a startup... that is quite a corps. With an achievable show that is fun to watch. Really putting on a clinic on how to take things one step at a time.

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BDB & VC been building for far longer than that. In 1991, Santa Clara became the first corps to field two corps at Nats. (VC won div 2). Since then BDB has also accomplished this. Both go back to the 80s if I recall correctly.

First org to field two corps at DCI was Blue Devils in 1977. The B corps competed in class A (sounds funny when stated that way).

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Man... based in the videos I've seen, I would love to catch those Louisiana Stars in person someday.

Considering they are still basically a startup... that is quite a corps. With an achievable show that is fun to watch. Really putting on a clinic on how to take things one step at a time.

I was lucky enough to see Louisiana Stars at DCI Minnesota last year. They were a real highlight of a day filled with other great corps.

I was able to talk with one of the staff people after their performance and learned a bit on how they were able to succeed. They worked with what they had, and borrowed uniforms, equipment, etc. and pulled it off quite well.

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They only had a 3 show tour last year, but boy did they make those count. They had an incredibly high energy show that garnered some obvious crowd appreciation, and were very solid across all captions. To the point that in those earlier shows they were trading some sub-captions with the Cascades and Oregon Crusaders. I can only imagine how that show could have developed over a whole season. We may get to see that soon. They're expanding their tour to Denver this season, where I am sure that they will do very well. There is something in the water in the Northeast right now.

OK just a nit-picky thing but don't you mean 'there is something in the water in the NorthWEST right now?' We need all the love & recognition we can get out here!

And I loved that 1942 show - very moving. Saw it in person.

Edited by luv4corps
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