I'm just hoping that BD sticks to more of a 2014-2015 approach, as opposed to a 2016-2017 approach. I truly loved "Felliniesque" and "Ink" for both being solid, if somewhat risky shows. As I listen to it more and more, I've even grown to appreciate "As Dreams Are Made On" for the most part...but this year's "Metamorph" almost felt cynical to me. Sure, we can argue "chop and bop" and "park and bark" semantics, but I feel that overall the show felt more tailored to just win awards, as opposed to actually just putting a solid, enjoyable show. Flight of the Bumblebee feels like it's there just to tell everyone how good the brass is, the Rihanna drum break part is just there to win GE and percussion points, etcetera. They seem to have these things there just for the sake of being there. It just gave off the impression that they wanted to build the program off these "show-off" moments, as opposed to building on a central, underlying theme...and to me it just came off as a bit tacky. Keep in mind I haven't been following drum corps for years, but I'm not exactly brand-new either.
Again, I'm not a hater, I'm not trying to start an argument, BD does amazing stuff and I love plenty of their shows...hell, I even have a lot of these same criticisms about Crown's 2017 show "It Is." I'm not even suggesting that they go back to more traditional shows, or try to make their programs like another corps. I just want them to do well, and I think to do that they need to look back to the 2014-2015 method of crafting a show. These are just my opinions, feel free to respectfully disagree...but again, I'm not trying to discredit the Blue Devils or any of their fans. Stay cool!