CAtenhut Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 5 hours ago, 27Socal said: Agree. Seems like Crossmen and Academy and maybe others are cleaning more. Could Mandarins be peaking too early? Maxing out the show too soon? I once marched in a corps that peaked in July. Then getting beat by 7 points by a corps we beat in July. Not a fun August. Do you hear what you're saying here... You're talking about corps like Blue Stars, Academy, and Crossmen already sounding clean compared to Mandarins 4 weeks before DCI, and you're wondering if MANDARINS are peaking too early. I agree with Brassboy that there were a bunch of noticeable visual and music changes in the opener and closer, and they are far from cleaning up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueStarsDad Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 31 minutes ago, JAZZER said: The fan experience, I thought was excellent. I loved how we [club level] had easy access to everything: RR, food, leather couches in the concourse, and the big glass windows facing East where we could watch three corps hornlines simultaneously finish pre-show warm-ups. Literally a two minute trip down the escalators and across the street to get an earful. I think the only down side was parking for the corps. The lot that is used for BOA was taken by a circus. My daughters buses were parked on 12th Street ... which is quite the hike from the stadium. I think the walk last night was worse than the old walk from the Atlanta stadium when it felt like the lot was halfway to Buckhead. We had to leave before Blue Devils to make sure she met the "butts in seats" time ... because of the long walk. Other than that, it was an incredible experience and loved being in our "home dome". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAZZER Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 (edited) 4 minutes ago, BlueStarsDad said: I think the only down side was parking for the corps. The lot that is used for BOA was taken by a circus. My daughters buses were parked on 12th Street ... which is quite the hike from the stadium. I think the walk last night was worse than the old walk from the Atlanta stadium when it felt like the lot was halfway to Buckhead. We had to leave before Blue Devils to make sure she met the "butts in seats" time ... because of the long walk. Other than that, it was an incredible experience and loved being in our "home dome". Star '87 back? :) We parked just East of 11th, I didn't think it was terrible-but saw LOTS of mm's making their way, some hurriedly Edited July 16, 2018 by JAZZER 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ediker Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 5 hours ago, BRASSO said: Judges tonite would tend to agree. They are potentially medals worthy in Brass, Percussion. Guard. They march well and they play well, and they utilize Guard equipment well. They are scoring within medals range for certain in performer execution But these performer execution captions are not rewarded as they used to be on the sheets. Thats not a complaint. Thats just an observation of the change in whats rewarded. GE is what carries the scores/ placements. And with the disparate shows, and completely dissimilar instrumentations being utilized between all these competing groups, the sights and sounds coming from the field ( with singers/ electronic layerings ) are all equally great but completely diverse and unlike one another in virtually every respect, imo. So its not a matter as to which show design is " better ". Thats now indeterminable in my humble opinion. Its now a function as to what do the GE judges " like " and " prefer " more now. Not what is " better ". Thats pretty much impossible to tell us now, imo. Judges could reasonably do this in earlier decades when all the instruments of competition were the same to determine what was performed" better " and whose Marching was " better ". Those " better " executed music and marching things then showed up on " better " GE scores. Does this happen now ? No. Of course not. A corps can be subpar in execution in ( for example ) Percussion playing, but still score high in GE, and even win or place high despite subpar performer execution. So its all changed. Show Designers are tasked with figuring out what is being rwarded on score sheets and create show designs that reward such.. and spend more time and focus there, and not so much on performer execution and cleaning anymore .NONE of these top Corps march particularly well, imo with proper marching skills anymore, imo. All the top Corps have dirty feet, bad lines and spacings, etc and so forth imo .Thats not so much a criticism as much as it is an observation that these things tend not to be rewarded when done well anymore like they used to be anyway. So Boston needs to figure out WHAT most is being rewarded now in GE and respond appropriately to that moving forward. I believe they will. They did not move up from 13th/ 14th at this time just 2 seasons ago by not figuring those placements and scores out. They'll figure out these current GE scores and respond in corrective fashion too, imo. Boston's brass, percussion, and guard are doing their jobs well. The weakest link seems to be GE and MM connection with the audience. Some opportunities are being missed, imo: 1) The brass hits are improving as the MMs get better with the simultaneous demands. There is so much good stuff happening in the brass line that is unfortunately getting swallowed up in the whole of the production. The brass line needs more moments where they're front/center, standing still, and showing off the great articulations we know they can do. 2017's moment, later in the show, when the trumpets were gathered on the prop stage left clearly/loudly playing those great runs is an example of what 2018 needs more of. The brass is really good, and the audience would love more of them showing it off. 2) Marimba Spiritual is likely my favorite moment by anyone this year, but I'm not crazy about how it's all staged. In spite of the piece's name, the battery can carry this without the FE. What the FE is doing is awesome, but it's like there is too much good happening all at once that a viewer can't possibly watch/listen to it all. While it's cool that the tenors are spinning on the compass, unfortunately it's during one of their more impressive moments. Instead of them facing each other, why not point them toward the audience (or the field judge) so that their great moment is not lost on anyone. Spin someone else! Personally, I'd line the battery up on the front sideline, at the 50 y.l., and tone the FE down a little so the audience can drink it all in. The "Aye, Aye" is also another opportunity that can be better maximized. Maybe if more of the corps can be in on the arms up... or if there can be some visual lead in to it (say, brass in the background slowly raising one arm), this could be one of those iconic sight/sound moments of the season. 3) Visually, the drill is great, and very demanding. The guard does a lot to portray the story line. What the guard needs is for some of the key characters, at key moments, to have some kind of color differentiation from the others to make them stand out. Anything that would make them "pop" visually. A bright splash of blood red on the two riding the compass during the battle, for example. Boston of course has one of the best visual staffs. Those who know what to look for can find the great moments. Those who do not, miss out on some great moments that could be better accented in some way. It's a simple fix to maximize key moments. Props are in fashion (and mandatory) for top corps. Like any fashion, newness and originality are key. We know it's a brand new prop, but it's an old idea. I hope they are planning an additional (and significant) prop that is new and original, to layer in. Enough said. I'm not a fan of gratuitous spelling in the drill, but that's just mho. I know, the theme, yada yada... At the very least, as a corps that aspires to win, it would be a good idea to not spell out any form of the word lose (i.e. LOST) on the field. Again, just my humble opinion. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mingusmonk Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 2 hours ago, MusicManNJ said: Allen K is an excellent percussion judge. It is interesting that both him and Jeff P (another great percussion judge) both read Bloo the same way. They just do not stack up in content or performance to the top half of the top 12. Cadets percussion is for real. They may be able to climb a spot but they also may fall a spot as well. What these two have in common is that they aren't afraid to call them as they see them night to night. Not being influenced by the pack. What they don't have in common is that one of them has a tendency to let hype, vibe and effect bleed into his field execution analysis and one does not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momrod2000 Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 8 hours ago, CAtenhut said: For example, watch how much the Mandarins brass line actually plays on the move, . . . Which caption judge would judge playing on the move vs. standing still and playing? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afd Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 19 minutes ago, CAtenhut said: Do you hear what you're saying here... You're talking about corps like Blue Stars, Academy, and Crossmen already sounding clean compared to Mandarins 4 weeks before DCI, and you're wondering if MANDARINS are peaking too early. I agree with Brassboy that there were a bunch of noticeable visual and music changes in the opener and closer, and they are far from cleaning up. Way to early to clean. Cleaning is DONE at the end of the season towards and after Atlanta regional. Changes to shows are now being in the works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cappybara Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 2 hours ago, MikeRapp said: Is this necessary? He’s responding in the same attitude as Jim ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ If you cant take it don’t dish it 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluzes Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 Woke up this morning and my Hey Google listening device was blurting out a message, Please No More Bluecoats, everyone else is OK and I can get some real spying done, but those Bluecoats they hurt and throw me off my game. For once I agreed with this darn thing. Bluecoats you are great and won our hearts with that show! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Dixon Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 1 minute ago, afd said: Way to early to clean. Cleaning is DONE at the end of the season towards and after Atlanta regional. Changes to shows are now being in the works. Huh? That's not the way it works. Corps clean throughout the season (& ST) - the only time you stop cleaning something is when you know "we're changing that next week" - so you focus on the parts remaining 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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