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Orlando, FL - July 8, 2018


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3 hours ago, c.l. said:

This show has EVERYTHING: cockroaches in evening gowns, beetlehorns, vomit flags, giant toothpicks, and woozy predators
-What are woozy predators?
You know that thing where the guy from predator mixes his alcohol and prescription meds and lets little people ride on his belly like a seesaw?

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Greatness!

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1 hour ago, Ghost said:

Could be the gift bag handed out before this event or he's giving a plug to the company who gave it to him.  Like skiers always showing the name of the brand of skis.

Now, now be careful there Ghostie; otherwise the Crownies will be up in arms thinking you are talking about those mouthpieces with Crown all over them, let alone those Blue people from out West who have their own System thingies.:bluedevil:

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16 hours ago, N.E. Brigand said:

The 49.3 debut for Heat Wave puts them in the mix with Colt Cadets, Shadow, and Raiders, all four presumably fighting for the 12th spot in Open Class finals in August. (Vanguard Cadets, Blue Devils B, Spartans, Gold, Legends, and 7th Regiment seem like locks based on early scores. Golden Empire and River City Rhythm would probably make it barring a surge from the four above. Guardians, Louisiana Stars, and Southwind have yet to perform but were safely in last year. Jubal can't bump another corps but will probably score right in the middle, like The Company last year. If Battalion or Columbians ever come to championships, that would be something.)

I'm sure some Battalion and Columbians would LOVE that!  All in good time we hope!

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16 hours ago, NakedEye said:

I was at the show, and will have more thoughts tomorrow, but here are a few:

Music City was fantastic. We loved them. A great deal of thought is obvious in all the detailing of their show, and the kids looked like they loved performing every minute of it. Fantastic World Class debut. I think they may scramble the eggs in the 13-20 basket even more. What was the difference between them and several other recent WC newbies? PERSONALITY. Their show oozed it.

Jersey Surf had a good idea and then didn't max it out. You can't do a show about Mondrian and then have your entire drill be soft curves...

Spirit seemed to have a modern version of the jazz sass they used to have in the 80's, and it was a treat to see. Another well-detailed show. Doors seemed to create a lot of clutter, but I had rather a low vantage point.

Cadets: horns and drums quite good. Guard not at the same level. I was with Cadet alums and went to the pre-show tailgate where it was told to us that the 8 girls with the yellow rope on side one represent "the 8" women who came forward. The show still seems to have a lot of chaos and not much unity. I'll be glad when they are able to get a different uniform next year. This one is just, so, so busy. It reminds me of the dazzle painting that was applied to ships in World War I to fracture the mass and make them hard to distinguish as a ship from a distance. All the fracturing on the uniform weakens the readability of the forms, as good spacing and technique fuzzes when you can't clearly define individual legs. They are likely to end up on the Island of 7th Place, but it's a good start for the future.

Boston was the surprise of the night. I absolutely hated this show in the theater, but they were fantastic this evening. Thankfully, they threw the neon green 70's rock musical headband back into the ocean, and while there are a lot of aesthetic choices I would not have made, the uniform is enormously better without it. Guard was absolutely fantastic. Horns absolutely fantastic. Drums absolutely fantastic. Marching and movement technique absolutely fantastic. They tied Crown and I expect them to be in Boston's rearview mirror at their next meeting. Also expect them to take out the Cavaliers. Higher than that? Likely not.

Bluecoats is pure magic. It is a truly impeccable design. I teared up at one point because the detailing was so pure. The uniforms/suits are so expertly balanced with slight color variations and patterns that each individual has a unique look, but they completely hold together with a consistency that never comes off as busy. Same for the guard. Singer fantastic and the pacing is a joy. The drummers looked really happy with their performance, so perhaps that explains their scores. I'd be quite happy if this took the big prize.

Crown: great corps saddled with an over-designed show. The visual is just so overbearing. Everything has so much extreme detail and texture on it that your eyes have nowhere to rest, even for an instant. If just the flags were brighter and simpler there would be some clarity, but no, dark colors, animal prints, teeth, texture, texture, texture. My goodness they play well and with such power. Guard very good, but it is all just buried. Teeter totter? Not needed. One of the more bizarre moments of the (very long) evening was the excellent Voices of Liberty-esque vocal group singing "Let's go fly a kite" from Mary Poppins....accompanied by musicians dressed to resemble cockroaches in evening gowns... They get credit for really going for it this year, but I hope they dial it back a bit in 2019. 

Great review! Thanks for sharing. 

I agree with so much of this. As I continue to catch clips of Cadets I am coming around to liking the show, but they do need to make sense of the front half and I am still not wild about the uniforms. That said, I love their closer and am really rooting for the corps. Thanks for the little things to look for in their show.

Agree with you about Boston!  That is a monster show with fabulous performers. Their closer from the medley of Alan Sylvestri's motion picture music to Castaway and Amazing Grace to the end is just goose bump city for me. I could see them as high as 4th. It will not be easy. 

As for Bluecoats...I really believe they may be holding the BIG trophy at the end. The show is just pure magic in terms of design and performance. They have some issues in percussion and maybe guard, but nothing they can't get worked out.  It's all there for a medal no doubt. 

I do love Crown's show a lot, but your excellent description of their show is something they should look into. A few tweaks in the right direction and they may be able to turn that thing into a great production. 

Can't wait to see Spirit of Atlanta live. :) Hearing great things!

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9 hours ago, frachel said:

Band director of my High School in the 80's too!

Morris Knolls? I judged them all the time in the EMBA band circuit back then. He had a great program, as did Mike Sopko at Morris Hills.

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1 hour ago, jwillis35 said:

As for Bluecoats...I really believe they may be holding the BIG trophy at the end. The show is just pure magic in terms of design and performance. They have some issues in percussion and maybe guard, but nothing they can't get worked out.  It's all there for a medal no doubt. 

I do love Crown's show a lot, but your excellent description of their show is something they should look into. A few tweaks in the right direction and they may be able to turn that thing into a great production. 

Can't wait to see Spirit of Atlanta live. :) Hearing great things!

I feel Bluecoats have the edge at the moment, due to their clarity of idea. It's all so tightly focused on interpreting the recording session concept, and nothing seems to stray too far from that or come off as extraneous fluff. All they have added since the preview has only enhanced and deepened the whole thing, and there will undoubtedly be more. We were fairly low in the stands, so I spent a lot of time watching the featured singer. She is also an excellent actress and spent all parts of the show where she wasn't singing doing various characterizations and interpretations. It seems like there is definitely more to come with all that, as her interactions with the guard were really interesting. They are working to convey something with her character and it will probably take all season to realize. There is a lot of wonderful nuance in the production that pulls you in.

Something I forgot about Crown is they added these giant lime green kite/banner things (like Phantom used in the early 90's) to the very end of the show. First it is one, then a few more, then a bunch of them all pulled through the forms. That's.....even more stuff to add to the overstuffing. Rather than more fabric, I'd love to see them act a great deal more beast-like during drill transitions. The have very rigid, excellent posture while marching. Good, but....are you a human or a beast? The contrast with the theme weakens the effect. They don't have to blow their spacing, but there must be a way to add some animal into parts where the horns are moving, but not playing.

Spirt was very engaging. The most style and confidence they've had in a long, long time.

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18 hours ago, MikeD said:

Morris Knolls? I judged them all the time in the EMBA band circuit back then. He had a great program, as did Mike Sopko at Morris Hills.

Before that (I think.. mid 80's).. David Brearley in Kenilworth, NJ. 

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