brichtimp

According to my son (a C2 snare tech the past two years), the corps has improved considerably during their mini tour this week, and the battery really benefits from getting feedback from great DCI judges like Prosperie. I enjoyed the beauty of the corps' soft melodic playing....fairly seamless....following BD would have been a tough chore for any DCA weekend corp.

Defending DCA champions.

I wonder if it's the battery or the pit that is having a bigger impact on the low percussion scoring. In terms of battery staging, it was a similar issue in 2014, and that section ended up 4th (if I recall). I think the battery chops and writing are awesome this year, btw.

Just a simple thought....if the precision and quality of drill are not evident and pristine, then I don't care much about all of the body shaping, facial mugging, rolling around on the field, posing or any of the other visual elements. BD is elite, in part, because they execute the marching drill with top shelf precision.

I like the choir fine, But I am not in favor of having it 'compete' with the brass for aural attention...I feel the same about Crown's excellent singer vs their glorious brass in the second half of their show.

Seems like there is maybe too much time in the show where the brass is not playing...could this be placing a ceiling on their scoring potential in that caption?

BD's Bacharach show from 2011? was not an intellectual exercise...I think 'avg' viewers could enjoy the tuneful arrangements, etc.

A few thoughts from last night. I hope the Cadets, and their young brass players especially, can get sufficient rest and recovery time going into the big shows to come because it really seemed like they were running out of gas at the end of the show....reminding me of C2 brass when they are straining to push through to the end. Additionally, I am trying to get to a place where I feel that this specific source material ideally translates to the DCI idiom. I am hopeful that my view changes because it is obvious that the kids are giving it their all....ymmv.

Interesting that the shows in 2012, 2013 and 2014 were each criticized to some extent for issues around props (stage, boxes, monoliths, etc.). If I recall, they placed 4th, 3rd and 3rd respectively in those years. I wonder what they could or should have done differently to place higher each of those years....

Cadets get props from me for attempting challenging Bernstein rep. That ending didn't make it for me at first viewing, and I have to opine that the robes make them look dirty even standing still...please minimize or eliminate them! Hope they can really clean fundamental things at this point.

And, I really miss the iconic and timeless SCV uniforms.

In some respects, that also describes the last show where Cadets were on the podium....despite the tarps, 'Oprah' and the droopy Capitol banner...and...ah...Copland...what a concept.

I think the talent level among the top DCI corps this year is jaw dropping. The Cadets are really strong in terms of percussion talent, the guard is very good and the brass is developing (although I don't always hear a maturity of tone that I get from BD, Crown, et al). I am curious to see what the scoring ceiling can be for Cadets this year if they can approach clean execution in all phases....feet, for example, are well below the standard of the most recent years where they medaled. This is apart from design considerations.

Bloo and SCV were both musically incredible at this point in the tour. Amazing talent and creative arrangements and design.

Karel Husa would be speechless!

Feed working well tonight via Apple TV over wifi on multi cam.

I feel bad for the singer. Ella Fitzgerald would detract from that beast horn line, which is a shame if Crown does not make some drastic changes, imho.

Nice drill sets and arrangements from Genesis....very enjoyable!

Running multi cam on a Dell 24" monitor via a Mac Mini.....Chrome browser and Audioengine speakers and DAC. Video and Audio are fine for me so far.

Remains to be seen how far they will progress this year, but looking at the last year Cadets were on the podium (2014)....that's an outlier on the list. That corps placed no lower than 2nd in any show until Sat night at finals, and were actually 1.1 up on Bluecoats after Prelims....even with the immense fan popularity of Tilt and the relative dislike for the huge stage and narration.

Yep....2014 cheese...giving away the Silver on the last night.

We viewed last night's performances live, with trepidation; but the feed (with one brief freeze) was actually solid on multi-cam view...so, I either had a 'unicorn' internet feed ot there may be hope for the summer. BTW, the level of percussion talent was more than impressive....Chino Hills was fabulous on the HS level.

Not really politically motivated, but arguably factual. That was a strong Cadets show with no weak links between brass, percussion and guard, and aspirational in the sense that patriots of all political persuasion could get behind the message.

Hallmark also shows SCV at the end of their broadcast.

SCV won the parade, and it wasn't close!