Blue Devils 2018

[Brian Tuma]

41 minutes ago, BlueStainGlass said:

Am i the only one surprised with how much isn't produced yet?

No, but what is there is top notch. 

I’m a bit torn between giving a critique on their “formula” or sitting back and enjoying another great performance by BD. I tend towards the latter.

[Ghost]

47 minutes ago, BlueStainGlass said:

Am i the only one surprised with how much isn't produced yet?

When less than 10 minutes was listed on the video, possibly no closer came to mind which isn't like the BD.

[Jake W.]

A reminder to everyone: Blue Devils approach the season's growth entirely differently from any other corps. They let the show grow organically as the season continues, and never begin the competitive season in June with every detail (or even most details) pre-planned. All other corps (and marching units in general beyond drum corps) start the season with a completed music book and a completed drill book, learn each, clean, and tweak with rewrites, sometimes major, but mostly minor. What is planned at the beginning of the season will generally be an early, rawer version of the finished product. Not so with the Blue Devils --- typically, a mostly-complete music book and a VERY incomplete drill book (i.e., we know we want these moves to happen here, but haven't designed the in-betweens & transitions yet) are created, and then everything else is filled in (I'm not talking tweaking the existing design, I'm saying it's DESIGNED) as the season moves on. 

I came out on these forums guns a-blazin' last year after catching their preview show on YouTube, proclaiming how boring & sparse it all was, looked nothing like a championship show (it truly didn't), etc. I was then properly schooled on how different BD's approach to design *during* the season rather than *before* the season is, and of course, by the end of the season, had learned my lesson and felt like a moron for refusing to believe it could turn into what it did. 

So, it would behoove everyone (myself included) to remember again that BD is not Crown: they don't approach the season with it all planned out, and then tweak and clean. They design just chunks, especially visually. The gaps between those chunks are written (drill, choreography, all of it) once the staff sees the show on the field, figures out how they want the concept to be fleshed out and the prop integration, etc. It's a totally different approach from anyone else, and a comment along the lines of "this isn't a champion show" would be both entirely accurate and simultaneously completely irrelevant to August right now. 

[flammaster]

2 hours ago, Terri Schehr said:

Wow!  Don’t hate them because they’re beautiful.   

That ballad is killer. 

One hit wonders. lol

[George Dixon]

Looks great so far. Guard really going to be awesome once completed. Seems like a 1st or 2nd place show to me!

[FTNK]

Excellent but modern drum corps does nothing for me. Runs standing and loud chords standing.

[Kamarag]

43 minutes ago, Ghost said:

When less than 10 minutes was listed on the video, possibly no closer came to mind which isn't like the BD.

 

Devils haven't performed a closer at family day in many years. Trying to find fault with their process is ludicrous.

[Ghost]

1 minute ago, Kamarag said:

Devils haven't performed a closer at family day in many years. Trying to find fault with their process is ludicrous.

Wasn't trying to find fault K.  Just an observation after another posters comment.  Don't believe anyone following D&BC can find problems with anything the BD do.

[Terri Schehr]

7 minutes ago, Kamarag said:

 

Devils haven't performed a closer at family day in many years. Trying to find fault with their process is ludicrous.

I just said that to someone in pm. 

[ftwdrummer]

9 hours ago, jwillis35 said:

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. 

The theme mixing with Harlem Nocturne is "Laura," which was in the 2010 show.

Using things as a jumping-off point for my own thoughts:

I talked about "Nighthawks" with my sister's roommate, who majors in art history. She pointed out that one of the points of emphasis in analysis of the work is that the diner doesn't have a door. Given that and what I just watched, I'm guessing the closer is finishing assembling the windows around the counter, and the people sitting at said counter breaking out. Ideally with a return to "Laura" as a last hit (a la 2010).

I also expect that the two guard guys standing next to each other not doing anything yet in the electronics feature that sounds like a fight are waiting for fight choreography.

All in all, good stuff here. Definitely a BD show I like a lot music-wise. "Natural Woman" feels more choreographed than I would like (as opposed to feeling natural while actually being choreographed), but that'll probably (hopefully) get better as they settle into it more (though it didn't with the jazz park and bark in the closer last year). And I imagine it'll go full '92 by the end of the year. (Related: I want the uniform to be a stylized suit jacket this year, partly to tie into the painting, partly to get the open-shirt effect from '92.)

All in all, a BD show I generally like, which bodes well for them (in that the only show of theirs I haven't liked in the 2014-2017 range was the one that didn't win).

Edited June 17, 2018 by ftwdrummer