MikeRapp

I think this is sort of what I’m referring to. I get the feeling they’re throwing stuff in to get a bunch of points with the judges regardless of whether it actually works in the show. It’s sort of like watching gymnastics, or ice-skating, where they are required to include a number of compulsory acts to rack Up points with the judges. This will always be an activity that balances technical exposition with what we now call general effect. We’re definitely moving now more toward GE having more weight, but I still feel like that has a lot more emphasis on visual that musical.

I’m wondering if we are emerging into an era in which DCI will need to reconsider scoring methodology based on the potential diversity of what is on the field. I am beginning to see show design patterns that all high scoring shows use that really don’t work with their show concept. DCI had to do this for visual scoring when guard became its own thing. But music still remains largely the same, and I think it’s because corps can’t go outside of the norm without being punished for it in the sheets. If a corps did a true jazz show, and I mean a real jazz music show, it would get hammered in scoring. Thoughts on this?

I'm prepared for Boston to overtake Crown in Indy. Their show is coming together at the right time.

I have a dream in which designers en masse finally realize that this is not WGI, and tarps are not worth the hassle.

Man what a shame, that group has been through so much, they deserve to perform every night down the stretch.

The ultra bright color palette is sort of the Bluecoats thing. Even their new Winter Guard picked it up. Something muted would have blended in too much imo. As a designer, I have long recognized that there comes a point in which a design mysteriously passes from objective to subjective. There’s no such thing as a wrong color of blue. Or in this case, yellow. I think they probably could have gone a lot of different ways with the color, no doubt they once considered multiple colors. But the stages actually don’t have a lot of visual mass, they don’t have the visual presence of those big bright pink slides. Anything other than “loud” probably disappears and then they just sort of become a distraction. I especially love their uniforms this year. The broad range of purples and greys, with multiple patterns, is such a unique and interesting way to communicate the concept of a session team. Everyone unique, everyone playing their part, everyone in the end saying something unique to the group itself. I think the use of mobile stages is something that is here to stay in dci and I think it’s a good thing. Shows are spread out all over the field, and many of these stadiums are pretty tall. Stages help project the sound throughout the audience, and also gives the designers the opportunity to group players I different ways, throughout the field. Blue Devils sort of started this concept, and then Bluecoats blew it out with kinetic noise and then down side up. SCV really made a great idea last year with the wheels.

The chairs both serve as a metaphor for session musicianship, they serve as a modular stage that takes at least 10 different combinations throughout the program. I think it’s actually pretty ingenious how they are used throughout the show.

Bluecoats do absolutely nothing interesting with their props? SMH

Same idea Bluecoats added, just as effective.

I would argue that the fans have a very large say. It’s called gate and merch. If attendance drops by a measurable amount, and fans say it’s because they just don’t like the shows being awarded medals, you can bet DCI will be revisiting their scoring criteria.

Let me also be clear. Every fan gets frustrated when their favorites don’t win. That said, what I do not appreciate is when I think corps are being rewarded for being esoteric. It cuts both ways. Just being out there and nebulous isn’t GE either. I continue to hope, every single offseason, that Blue Knights will fulfill their destiny and become a medalist. But imo they continue to confuse esoteric with compelling. Nothing wrong at all with being esoteric, but being strange and hard to get isn’t a feature. I do think that the direction of DCI is a good one, though no doubt controversial with old timers. At the end of the day, this is a public entertainment event. If you don’t care about the public then we don’t need to sell tickets and we don’t even need to have the shows in stadiums. Just have judges show up and judge. That’s what I did as a kid when I competed as a pianist. But if you want to sell tickets and merch, you’d better be aware of, and reward, shows that people generally like. Again, you can do whatever you want, but if you are going to sell tickets and grow your market, you have to grow (well) beyond being a technical exposition.

My old advertising boss calls this the Little Man Syndrome. If your idea requires a little man to sit on your shoulder and explain what th concept is, the concept is probably not very effective.

Some audience members get the show concepts, others do not. Great shows succeed on many levels. The greatest shows are great over and over again and you keep discovering things you didn’t see before. Same with great movies. I can watch 2001: A Space Odyssey 20 more times and get new things I had never seen before. Every time Ferris Bhueller’s Day Off comes on, I watch it and laugh at the same exact parts. Sideways, can’t watch it enough. The Shining, even now I get scared watching that movie. It is a brilliant work of art on every possible level. DCI has been steadily moving to more of a show concept because that’s what most people want to pay money to see. If you want technical exposition, that’s cool, but your audience is going to be mighty small. To whatever degree DCI decides that crowd reaction should play into scoring is up to them. I think it plays more into scoring than we want to believe. Regardless, if you love BD you are going to love their shows because they do what you love. And you will love their shows whether they win gold or finish twelfth.

I didn’t say anything about audience response being a part of scoring. You continue to argue about this point for no reason. I get it, BD has done esoteric shows that the audience didn’t get that scored well. Other corps have done on the nose shows that audiences loved that scored poorly. It’s the nature of the activity. Whatever you personally prefer is what you personally prefer. How DCI decides to award points is up to them.

I will add that show themes have to be played out in three equally interesting, equally unique acts. This is basic live production design, regardless of the stage. This is especially true for stories. Blue Devils, Crown and BD are great at the basics of show design. Cadets shows of the past that were favorites also followed strong story milestones. I see a lot of shows now that go way out there with the initial concept and then don’t really have much in the way of details. You just sort of feel like there wasn’t any actual story to tell, and by story I mean a three act production. Academy last year may have been one of the greatest show designs in DCI history. That is one show that almost any DCI Corps could have executed and made finals. Every time you watched it you felt rewarded for doing so. Same with Crown’s gold medal show. I really hate this aspect of shows now. Mediocre show designers are being badly exposed. When fans sit on their hands and at the end sort of shrug their shoulders, but remember the uniform...yeah, that’s the definition of poor design. Don’t need to even name shows or corps, there have been so many of them over the last five years.

I’m not saying story, I’m saying theme. Frameworks had no story. It was a concept they executed both visually and musically. Kinetic Noise and Down Side Up were the same, not a story but an idea. That’s where GE comes from, whether the sum total of what is presented works. If you do a show about a love story in space and at the end you don’t really get it, then you failed as a designer.

If you are trying to communicate a theme then you are going to be evaluated on whether you succeeded.

I’d say SCV and Bluecoats are two shows I’d watch over and over again. I’m generally disappointed in GE this year, the show concepts just don’t seem to pay off all that well. That’s sort of the roll of the dice for designers. I love the idea behind BD, it’s a bold concept, but I don’t think the show pays off as well as their previous few shows and certainly not in the same range as SCV and Bluecoats. I think they made some calculated drill and guard design decisions that sort of strayed from what has worked for them in the past, that SCV and Bluecoats did better, mostly staging and grouping concepts in visual milestones. This show, not unlike Crown, wanders too much. Bluecoats have changed this activity, no question about that now. Props are becoming central to concepts, and equally for visual and music staging. This is where their design team has excelled professionally, going to their Broadway roots. It badly exposes concepts that have unimportant clutter or worse distracting clutter that hinders drill (please make the tarps go away).

It’s dangerous, I know, but I think it’s safe to now say the medals are set, and probably the top seven. Crown has separated themselves from Cavaliers, cadets are on an island scorewise. The only real uncertainty is which Blue gets the Silver. The spreads have been within half a point since the two have been performing together, and as we get closer to Indy the spreads will get tighter by default. Id say it’s 50/50 right now. The wild card will be whether BD rolls the dice and totally changes their last act. It’s possible because I don’t think there is a real threat that BD would fall behind Crown no matter what.

Just so much fun watching Session 44. If I wanted to show someone what DCI is now all abou, this is the show I would show them. Massive wall of sound, beautiful staging and props, great show composition, meaningful and expressive Guard, a fun concept, and a message you get. Another unforgettable Bluecoats show and season.

Some of these shows are large show. Nashville is a huge show. Okay, some amplification may be acceptable. But why do the greatest bands in the world need to triple their audio output?! I loved Nashville last year except for the amplification, which ruined many aspects of otherwise amazing performances.

There are only two things I really do not like, only two: over-amplification and playing prerecorded music during your show and claiming it as a part of your show. I sort of get and can sort of accept prerecorded narration and sound effects, but playing music from another recording artist and saying it’s a part of our music performance should never be allowed. Bluecoats recorded their own corps for the pitch bend, that was borderline. Playing Michael Jackson during a drum corps performance is just not cool and I find it hard to believe that a corps would choose to do it. Im sure there are many if not most here who will vehemently disagree with me, but I know I am not alone in this opinion.

Yet another reason I am ###### about not being able to afford Murfreesboro tickets.

Before every season begins they almost always have the most experienced marching members, who come to the organization with clear expectations of what they are going to do and be required to do. Crown, Bluecoats and perhaps Boston have similar advantages, their kids are locked and loaded on Day 1 of spring training. Cadets for years just “reloaded”with college kids who had already learned all the skills from other corps. That’s a big reason why these corps can do what these corps do year after year. The result are shows that are as challenging and innovative as one could design, and when they perform their first show, they are already doing a quality of show and level of performance that most of the corps couldn’t execute if they had another two months of spring training. With the exception of the top six, you could take most any other DCI show and Bd would likely perform it 10 points better than the corps that is performing it. Likewise, if a lower level corps had to do the Bluecoats or BD shows, they would be running into each other, be phasing all over the field, and have massive tears. It most certainly is a self fulfilling prophecy. And of course all DCI judges know this, so scores reflect these realities from Show 1. Finally, given how scoring is done, and you have seven weeks of shows, it is now functionally impossible to start the season at 10 and finish at 2 or 3.

Very proud of the corps, the people behind it, and the city. Wish I could be there Friday to see them in their inaugural World Class Home show!