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Blue Devils 2018


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3 hours ago, afd said:

Sultry on a cold sat night. For some reason this show reminds me of 1992. Kinda hard to see what will transpire in The coming  weeks but I think what I saw was a very skeletal show that has yet to be put out there. I’ll know more this coming Saturday in Stanford. To me the level of quality is the same as last year at least for a family night performance. Props were out of the field but not really utilized yet. No unies. 

I see what you did there.  Well done.

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Just watched BD online from last night’s family day performance. No costumes.

I would say typical BD. Virtuoso brass and percussion moments and a sense of moving/running around/resetting the stage between these moments (which are mostly played standing still). Big electronic/sound effect feature before ballad, whilst corps resets the stage and guard is featured on weapon.

Obviously bare bones right now. Guard featured throughout most of the show but pretty dirty (as are most I suspect right now) but very well staged so they will be in contention for high guard. Very weapon centric show. It's almost like they have said. 'there is no way we are not winning high guard this year'

Show didn’t make much total sense to me as it is. Lots of props (metal fences and moveable bars/bar stools) but ballad beautiful and feels like classic BD. They ended after the ballad which featured some neat drill (including lots of tempo changes in their feet).

I suspect BD does nothing without consideration so I am sure will score well on the sheets. A very typical Blue Devils show with many things we have seen from them before/what you would expect from a BD show. 

Edited by DCI-86
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mother of f'ing god, the simultaneous demand in this show. 

this will give 2012 and 2014 (my favorites BD shows ever) a run for their money for me. it's like those 2 shows had a baby with aretha franklin. 

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Just watched the family day performance. That ballad will own Indy in August. Do it up Devils!!

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Really enjoy what I see of BD's show for this stage. There are some exceptional moments from beginning to end. There is a nice contrast in the guard features where half will be featured with rifles, then the other half in dance.  This happens two or three times, maybe more. Really well done and effective. Staged perfectly. Percussion and brass will be smoking hot as they clean. 

The opening segment of this show is massively difficult being so spread out while jazz-running to the center of the field and playing those crazy runs.  BD is marching a lot in that opening song. Lots of tempo changes and the simultaneous demand is high. As has been the case in recent years I find their body movements to be very effective and done with good taste. They seem to weave this type of design into the marching or jazz running very effectively.  

I would almost describe the first half of the show as Acid Jazz mixed with a few familiar themes woven in.  There are two main themes in the first half.  One is, I think (someone help me here) from their Casablanca show, and the other is Harlem Nocturne.  When they hit the company front and highlight "Harlem Nocturne" I think they hit a home run.  Just need to tweak this section to pull the crowd into it even more.  Very cool stuff. 

There is a very cool guard interlude between the first and second act. All done to an effects audio track. I really love it! 

The second half of the show is more sweat to the ear mainly consisting of a choral ballad and a rock ballad.  They play a short but effective chorale. No big build or climax point as they let it lay there beautifully to setup the closer. The closer is more of a rock ballad and will be awesome! This should have the crowd rockin' as they jam out (much like last year's ballad) only on the opposite side of the field. 

I look forward to seeing this with uniforms and with a bit more polish. Should be another fantastic BD production.  As always they are very organic in show design. They tend to get music down early, then work in staging and ideas.  They will then clean the routing and fine details in marching in order to make those transitions appear more seamless.  For sure a top 3 show. Most likely top 2.  Ok...I'll go out on a limb and say that another corps will have to be REALLY GOOD to beat this. :)  But competition aside the Blue Devils are bringing another highly entertaining and demanding show to the field. 

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3 hours ago, DCI-86 said:

 

Show didn’t make much total sense to me as it is. Lots of props (metal fences and moveable bars/bar stools) but ballad beautiful and feels like classic BD. They ended after the ballad which featured some neat drill (including lots of tempo changes in their feet).

I suspect BD does nothing without consideration so I am sure will score well on the sheets. A very typical Blue Devils show with many things we have seen from them before/what you would expect from a BD show. 

I thought those were the glass windows and outside architecture of Edward Hoppers Nighthawks late-night greasy spoon restaurant.

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For those dont understand the props you need to rewatch the show announcement video and see the inspiration for this show, the props are NOT metal fences, you get that DCI-86 lol, those are the diner glass from the painting along with bar counter (tables) and the bar stool. This is well staged, I get the feeling like I am inside the diner with all the characters, high simultaneous demand, really entertaining, percussion features is strong as usual, horn line is rocking it out, gaurd features I really love, they sound great and the drill is cool as usual, really well done. LOTS OF COOL MOMENTS AND HIGHLIGHTS in this show, bravo. The bones of this show is really really good? Definitely top 2 but you know what forget about that. How about that ballad!!! The closer is not yet in and alot is not yet added or layered in. When this show gets polished and tweeked, wow just wow so enjoyable to watch and hear. Did I say entertaining? Yes it is.

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How do they do it? EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR!

This will be a monster by the end of the season. The framework is so good already. I love the props and how they eventually form the actual lunch counter from the painting. I assume the windows will have something in them. It's nice to see them venture out from the "all props are white" mode they've been in for quite a few years.

That opening is a direct response to the "don't ever march" nitpicks. Could not be more powerful or in your face. Overall, it looks like a lot more drill than last year.

Very smart programming to end with the ballad. They know what will get the crowd in a frenzy.

Guard appears to have many more noticeable features/focal points than last year. They have not been happy with 2nd place in that caption. 

The music is so well-paced and full of intrigue, that it will be really interesting to see how they layer/develop the storyline throughout it. 

Cannot wait to see how this evolves during the season. Right now, it strikes me as being a stronger skeleton than they started with last year, and we know how that ended up...

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