AMarcher

Academy pit setting up now. Wonder what happened.

Definitely one of my favorite drum majors to watch this year

Cascades pit setting up so don't think this will be a long delay

Refreshed and stream is good for me now

I would be a little early, most shows starting a couple minutes early here.

I can't begin to quantify how much more enjoyment I get from this activity once I stopped caring about scores and placements.

1 Phantom Regiment 83.900 2 Blue Stars 81.150 3 Colts 79.450 4 Madison Scouts 74.800 5 Genesis 71.400 https://dci.org/scores/final-scores/2023-brass-impact

Academy had that happen to them in Utah last year. The factory gates at the back of the field fell over during the show and all of their exercise ball guard equipment went rolling across the field to the endzone

Thoughts from the show (on the 50, 20 rows up) from me (marched euphonium for Academy many moons ago) and my niece (7) and nephew (5). I was not expecting much from Arsenal given their smaller size but they impressed me for what they have. Solid foundation of drums and brass and enough movement to show they are heading in the right direction. I would not be surprised to see them holding their own in Open Class in a few years. I will make sure I am tuned in early to San Antonio to see them again. The crowd was tepid at the start for the Mandarins since they aren't the hometown corps and don't have the big name draw of the Blue Devils, but they came out and grabbed the audience from the jump, held them in the palm of their hand throughout and got a standing ovation before they were even finished playing. Watching Flo over the weekend I thought they deserved to be much closer to Blue Devils, but I saw a lot more dirt in the show tonight than I did watching on TV and agree with a 5-7 point gap between them right now. Clean that up and this could be a post intermission Finals show. In the short running to be my favorite show of the season and one I will watch for a long time to come. I would tell you my favorite part but it would just be me giving a play-by-play of the entire show. Favorite part for the kids was when the two baritone players hang upside from one of the props and continue to play. Blue Devils grab you from the beginning with their show, but it slowly lost my attention (and especially the kids) as it went on. They perform on a wholly different level and are supremely amazing to watch, especially the guard doing the most weapon work I have ever seen from them. Everyone moves with such purpose and conviction that I feel I would be entertained by them doing mundane tasks like mowing the lawn or doing dishes. The entire corps exudes a level of confidence that is amazing to watch, but I just feel the show is missing something. Maybe it is better utilization of the props (saw the props had cut out sections that weren't used yet) and a better ending? Has potential, could win, but I don't see this going undefeated and certainly not remembered as a favorite Blue Devils show in its current state. If there is a corps I trust to fix an underwhelming show and make it memorable, it is probably this on. Favorite part for the kids was the guitar player who is a whole show unto himself. Academy sound system took a LONG time to set up. It was fun watching the corps do the slow motion ripple/wave around the table prop as the preshow, but eventually the corps director went out to stop them since the delay was so long. Show has a lot of potential and easily their most enjoyable vehicle in years. Story is easy enough to follow (and some free GE points tonight with a giant full moon in the sky behind them) but I noticed a lot of smaller details that aren't being sold due to dirt such as a crescent moon in the drill that I barely recognized. Not having guard work for the last minute or two of the show and some missing work for the Sun and Moon characters is definitely hurting them. Get that added and cleaned up and this has huge potential. It is nice to just genuinely enjoy an Academy show again. Favorite part for the kids was something that wasn't even in the show, as they were setting up their giant circle midfield prop had a bunch of colored lights go on underneath which made for a pretty cool effect. The kids were super excited to see it in the show but no lights ever came on during the show itself, so look forward to some planned changes to the show at some point and using the lights for something.

At the show. Youth guard just performed. Arsenal setting up currently. Gonna focus on indoctrinating my niece and nephew in drum corps so probably won't update much.

Unless they changed it in the last couple years, it is real grass.

There might be one or two holdovers, but in general different design team and staff from the Vanity Fair, Mary Poppins, Drum Corpse Bride, By a Hare years.

1 Blue Stars 72.150 2 Madison Scouts 65.000 https://www.dci.org/scores/final-scores/2022-rotary-music-festival

https://www.dci.org/scores/final-scores/2022-cavalcade-of-brass

Sat at the top on the 50, some general observations from the night. It is so much better to watch shows in person than on Flo. Obviously Flo is better than nothing, but I will take being crammed next to thousands of people in 100 degree heat with no breeze to see shows live. Incredibly enjoyable night! PC - Love the Depeche Mode ballad and it looks much better now that they have some of their holes filled in. I just wish they did something with the props. BK - I seem to have enjoyed this more than those watching on Flo, but clearly seems like a step back for the corps compared to some of their recent years. I did really like their color palate and feels like there is room to grow. BD - Was super amazing to watch live and felt like a July version of a championship caliber show. Still work to do but it oozed quality. The two guard members without equipment were super distracting. Does anyone know what happened there or is it actually designed that way and I just missed it last weekend? SCV - Did not like the show last weekend on Flo, but really enjoyed it tonight. Both the corps and guard uniforms worked better live, but still not as good as it probably should be. Could feel the let down in the audience when the show just ended. Academy - Probably tougher on them due to being an alum, but that was a rough run in both music and visual. Felt worse than the shows on Flo last weekend. That said, this is the first year since 2017 where I felt they have a shot a finals with the show design. Like the new outfit for Willy Wonka. The placements and gaps between corps seemed generally spot on for the performances tonight.