Drums Across Kansas - El Dorado, KS - July 17

[xandandl]

10 minutes ago, Cappybara said:

Personally I disagree, if only to preserve some sort of objectivity. Judges should feel free to score an esoteric show over a more mainstream one if the esoteric show has a more cohesively presented concept. Even if a lot of the audience isn't getting it (which is exactly the definition of esoteric). And of course, GE is only one part of the scoring, there is still visual and music that has to be taken into account 

But if i'ts esoteric how does one know?  Then it becomes the illuminati only communicating with other illuminati.

[BrianL]

Sorry to reply late on this thread -- I was at the El Dorado show and it was late by the time I got home to Hutchinson (homebase for the Sky Ryders in their heyday, and 70 miles east of the Argonne Rebels in their heyday; it's going back a few years, but Kansas does have some deep roots with drum corps).  It was quite a nice night for drum corps, with temperatures starting in the 90's but quickly dropping to the 80's by the Blue-Blue-Blue finish.  Not a cloud in the sky, and it was a smallish football stadium that I think makes for the best drum corps venue.  I would guess there were 1800-2000 people there; I ordered tickets early and was 14th row right on the 50 (if I had known how tall the Bluecoats center prop would be, I would have done 25th or 30th row).  The first 3 corps and maybe the Blue Knights were unfortunately staring into the sun as it lowered below the pressbox to the west, but the field was already partly in shadow by 7:00p.  It was a bit breezy, maybe 15 mph tops at the beginning, and I was surprised there were some problems with the props, especially the Mandarins.  It was not super-windy by any means, so I'm surprised they don't have that better worked out.

I'm glad to answer any questions about the lower-ranked corps, who were all enjoyable and had some rather complex props.  The Mandarins are the best I've ever seen them, and also the largest I've ever seen them.  It would be helpful if all of the corps would coordinate with the venue sponsor and get a couple more paragraphs explaining their shows for the official program rather than the boilerplate location and history of the corps.  I will admit to being puzzled by the Mandarins (giant fountain pen nibs?) and the Blue Knights.

As for the two corps at the top:  the Blue Devils have been my favorite corps since I really discovered the activity in 1982 and wore out my VHS recording of that '82 finals.  If you give me a minute, I can think through year by year and give you all 17 championship years.  Although I had looked up a few scores before attending last night, and knew that BD was undefeated, their show did not blow me away and it does not look like a championship show to me.  It was very obvious that they had a drill oriented around park & bark, and at times it felt like a '70s show (albeit with more difficult repertoire) for 30 seconds, then march really fast to their next park & bark.  I was glad that the crowd got the inside jokes for the opening (besides the obvious Legend of the One-Eyed Sailor, I think I heard La Suerte and As Time Goes By... and maybe Taxi Driver?), and that part was fun.  The marching with guys purposefully falling behind and then catching up at the yardlines was... a bit funny?  Anyone who has marched knows how easy it is to converge on yardlines.  The brass line was very clean, the drumline less so, and I saw some drops in the color guard.  A BIG problem was that the sound reinforcement was too loud for the small stadium, and there was a subwoofer type bloat that totally obscured the low brass at times.  I am REALLY turned off when sound reinforcement obscures the actual brass on the field.  The brass marching drill seemed to be low difficulty for a show contending for a title.  I'm a bit stumped as to how they beat out the Bluecoats.

The Bluecoats were great and by far the crowd favorite.  The huge center prop has its downsides, but it does lead to some stunning moments, such as when you realize the drum line has disappeared from the field for 30 seconds, and then come up the back of it.  I was on my feet maybe 5 times and had tears in my eyes a couple of times.  The two company fronts with the marchers swirling back and forth hit really, really hard.  I thought that the Bluecoats drumline was clearly better than BD's (cleaner and higher technical difficulty), and the brass reminded me of vintage Madison Scouts at their best -- not the absolute cleanest, but ####, they play the hell out of that.  The soloists for the 'Coats were clearly better than BD's and were just outstanding.  The sound reinforcement stuff was much better for the 'Coats, with a more appropriate volume level and wider stereo spread, and it generally seemed more professionally done.

Again, I am a BD fan for as long as I've followed the activity, although they started losing me a bit in 2008 (I'm more of a '94, '86, '88, '03, etc., fan).  Their show difficulty and GE does not seem championship worthy to me, but I thought the same thing in their "chair year."  I would give the 'Coats a good chance of overtaking them, as their show difficulty is higher and the GE, once everything is cleaned up, should be higher.

I don't post here often, but I remember posting after seeing BD and Phantom live in Hutchinson in 2008, and I wrote then that if Phantom could clean the show they would win the championship as it was one of the best drum corps shows I had ever experienced.  I don't quite have the same feeling this year of BD vs. Bluecoats, but I will be puzzled if BD wins with a show with that marching difficulty.

As an aside, shouldn't scores typically be higher for the second half of July?  Whichever corps ultimately wins has got a long ways to go to get in the 98-something range in the next three-and-a-half weeks.

Also as an aside, please, someone at DCI, don't schedule the only two shows in KS on the exact same day.  I would have gladly driven to Olathe a day or two later to catch some other corps.  KS has some deep drum corps roots, but I don't know that we have enough to cover two shows at different locations on the same night.

[MikeRapp]

1 hour ago, FTNK said:

I think Cesario's push for more accessible and "entertaining" shows (which I have derided as a "Zhdanov decree") is a big factor as well. On the whole I think it has significantly "dumbed down" show design 

I think the addition of legit guard duties and roles in story telling have greatly increased the complexity and demand of drum corps shows. It is not my preference personally, but it is awesomely difficult.

I don't like the incessant bug squishing, pointing, head bobs and step forward and back moves that corps now do in the name of complexity and GE. I still love the huge marching figures over singular movements. Yes, I do think this stuff is easier than syncing a series of huge, intricate corps-wide marching figures.

But overall, a truly integrated drum corps show today is crazy complex.

The one thing I absolutely do not agree with is not rewarding corps for playing great while marching, over playing great while standing. That, to me, is one area that needs serious attention by the powers that be.

Saying Bluecoats' follow the leader drill is "just follow the leader" while they are running at nearly full speed, while playing full blast, with a massively challenging book, and without missing a beat or a note, is crazy demand. And it should be scored higher than standing in place while swinging your hips and stepping forward and back, regardless of how awesome that resulting sound may well be. 

Edited July 18, 2017 by MikeRapp

[brassboy]

Armchair judges are simply exhausting. It's as exhausting as armchair quarterbacks, or "Google researchers" who are suddenly experts in a field after a "whole hour" of searching. These judges go through training and calibration. Does that make them inhumanly perfect? Of course not. But it makes them a whole heck of a lot more qualified than all of us at home who are "judging" based on a few video cameras and the audio feed from two questionably-placed speakers.

[jwillis35]

2 hours ago, BrianL said:

 

The Bluecoats were great and by far the crowd favorite.  The huge center prop has its downsides, but it does lead to some stunning moments, such as when you realize the drum line has disappeared from the field for 30 seconds, and then come up the back of it.  I was on my feet maybe 5 times and had tears in my eyes a couple of times.  The two company fronts with the marchers swirling back and forth hit really, really hard.  I thought that the Bluecoats drumline was clearly better than BD's (cleaner and higher technical difficulty), and the brass reminded me of vintage Madison Scouts at their best -- not the absolute cleanest, but ####, they play the hell out of that.  The soloists for the 'Coats were clearly better than BD's and were just outstanding.  The sound reinforcement stuff was much better for the 'Coats, with a more appropriate volume level and wider stereo spread, and it generally seemed more professionally done.

Thanks for the great review of the show. I love what you said about Bluecoats. I happen to love both Bloo and BD this year. Both great shows and performed really well. You bring up some great points however. I think Bloo's production is more seamless and plays to the audience better.  This could mean a higher GE score, maybe, if and when Bloo cleans. I do believe BD is still adding and layering in visuals, so their show will change all the way to Indy. 

[MikeRapp]

3 hours ago, brassboy said:

Armchair judges are simply exhausting. It's as exhausting as armchair quarterbacks, or "Google researchers" who are suddenly experts in a field after a "whole hour" of searching. These judges go through training and calibration. Does that make them inhumanly perfect? Of course not. But it makes them a whole heck of a lot more qualified than all of us at home who are "judging" based on a few video cameras and the audio feed from two questionably-placed speakers.

If you don't enjoy fans critiquing this activity, why are you here? It's what we do. 

[MikeRapp]

1 hour ago, jwillis35 said:

Thanks for the great review of the show. I love what you said about Bluecoats. I happen to love both Bloo and BD this year. Both great shows and performed really well. You bring up some great points however. I think Bloo's production is more seamless and plays to the audience better.  This could mean a higher GE score, maybe, if and when Bloo cleans. I do believe BD is still adding and layering in visuals, so their show will change all the way to Indy. 

When I first saw Jagged Line, I thought, wow that's a ###### big, immovable prop to stick in the middle of a show. I'm still not convinced it was the best decision, but the way they are using it as a back stage is pretty inventive to say the least.

i can't wait to get a tour underneath that stage, and watch some Go Pro videos!

[mellojay84]

6 hours ago, MikeRapp said:

 

"The one thing I absolutely do not agree with is not rewarding corps for playing great while marching, over playing great while standing. That, to me, is one area that needs serious attention by the powers that be.

Saying Bluecoats' follow the leader drill is "just follow the leader" while they are running at nearly full speed, while playing full blast, with a massively challenging book, and without missing a beat or a note, is crazy demand. And it should be scored higher than standing in place while swinging your hips and stepping forward and back, regardless of how awesome that resulting sound may well be. "

THIS!!  absolutely THIS!!   
 

[BrianL]

6 hours ago, mellojay84 said:

THIS!!  absolutely THIS!!   
 

Yes, that is it exactly.  I think the cleanest horn line I have ever heard was the '88 Blue Devils, but when you watch that show (granted, different era), you understand that they were trading drill difficulty and pace for cleanness -- a lot of leisurely walks into park and barks.  The Bluecoats are doing some extraordinary drill pace this year while they play difficult runs.  It's a very striking difference to 2017 BD, and, without having read the threads here yet (read a little bit today), I thought last night "they (BD) are gaming the scoring system."

I forgot to mention that the Bluecoats color guard is extraordinarily good looking.  Sorry, male gaze and all that... but... wow.  Still tasteful and I don't think anybody would be embarrassed to have their daughter out there.

The Bluecoats stayed on the field and did an encore that easily lasted 10 minutes or more.  I've seen a lot of encores, but I have never seen the color guard come down in front to lock arms and face the rest of the corps to be serenaded.  At the end, the percussion were through and similarly came in front to lock arms with the color guard and be serenaded by the brass (including a vocal part).  Autumn Leaves made an appearance.  There were interesting parts that featured just the baris, handed to the mellophones (wow, that ensemble!), handed to the trumpets.  It was a really special atmosphere of the corps loving one another that I haven't quite seen in that way before.  This, too, brought tears to my eyes a bit.

Besides the difficulty level of the drill, my main problem with the Devils was the distracting sound reinforcement, which was just obnoxious and bloated.  When the soloists ascended the stairs, there were parts I couldn't hear because there was weird bass resonance going on.

All the corps last night were enjoyable and doing ambitious shows.  It seems like the lower tier corps raise their levels a bit every year.