Leaderboard

I might be in the minority, but I would like to hear the corps' full hornline play more often. Most corps start off with a minute or so of some type of movement thing without the horns playing. Then further in the show, there's a solo or small group playing with some more movement things. I know the shows are going more to the visual and away from the music but I think they've gone too far. Thanks for letting me vent.

Mandarins beating SCV for the first time ever!

What I believe to be so remarkable about the modern Bluecoats, is that year after year, they continue to put out shows that feel fresh, new, innovative, and yet still uniquely Bluecoats. This show is just a breath of fresh air. The design style is such an iconic era from 2014-2017, and this show is that era on steroids. Some specific thoughts: The opening is so weird and cool and I love it. And I love that those hits make a reappearance later in the show. Doug Thrower's arrangements are as iconic as ever. From the opener to the ballad to the final Son Lux hit, they are once again flexing their prowess in brass arranging. Only the Bluecoats would come up with the idea to mic the color guard during a flag feature. That is such a cool effect. The ballad, oh my gosh, the ballad. I don't how to describe it other than pure bliss. The flow from Agape into Love/Lover/Friend is just breathtaking. I've already shared my thoughts on Dymaxion. 40 trumpets. Enough said. Soloists throughout the show are fire. There is some incredible talent there. The transitions in this show are SEAMLESS and some of my favorite parts of the show, particularly the transition into the ballad. Change Is Everything. I love this show so much.

Let's change the direction of that question: "why couldn't members in the mid-80s handle the difficult passages and simultaneous difficulty that members today can?"

Throughout this forum there are debates about scores, placements, etc. but stories like this make the activity special. Well done, Boston. I'm proud to be part of the family!! ❤️🖤 I 💚 I 💛💜💙 KTFBAC 1987 - forever / HM - 2000 / HOF - 2016 Just posted on the Crusaders' Facebook page: Last night, we had a special visit in Oklahoma from local trumpet player, Casey Hubbard! Despite being born with spina bifida, Casey had one dream — to be in the marching band. His determined spirit (and dedicated band director) made headlines across the country late last year. At the end of the evening, the Boston Crusaders trumpet section welcomed Casey as an honorary BAC Sop! Thank you Casey for stopping by and sharing the evening with us! Read Casey's story: https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/.../high-school-band...

I'll do the hard work for you Lineup & Times All times CT and subject to change 1:30 PM Welcome & National Anthem 1:40 PM Arsenal Drum & Bugle Corps - El Paso, TX 1:50 PM Zephyrus Drum & Bugle Corps - Tulsa, OK 2:02 PM Guardians - Dallas/Fort Worth, TX 2:19 PM Genesis - Austin, TX 2:36 PM Jersey Surf - Camden County, NJ 2:53 PM Seattle Cascades - Seattle, WA 3:10 PM The Academy - Tempe, AZ 3:27 PM Pacific Crest - City of Industry, CA 3:44 PM Music City - Nashville, TN 4:01 PM Intermission 4:31 PM Spirit of Atlanta - Atlanta, GA 4:48 PM Blue Knights - Denver, CO 5:05 PM Madison Scouts - Madison, WI 5:22 PM Troopers - Casper, WY 5:39 PM Crossmen - San Antonio, TX 5:56 PM Colts - Dubuque, IA 6:13 PM Intermission 7:13 PM Blue Stars - La Crosse, WI 7:30 PM The Cavaliers - Rosemont, IL 7:47 PM Mandarins - Sacramento, CA 8:04 PM Santa Clara Vanguard - Santa Clara, CA 8:21 PM Carolina Crown - Fort Mill, SC 8:38 PM Phantom Regiment - Rockford, IL 8:55 PM Boston Crusaders - Boston, MA 9:12 PM Blue Devils - Concord, CA 9:29 PM Bluecoats - Canton, OH 9:54 PM Scores Announced

Body work or choreo is the new Z-pull. Here is what I have observed, because of the elevation of HS marching programs things that we once saw drill wise that only an elite corps could pull off are no longer that difficult for any top 12 line. They can all do it and do it pretty easily. So, it's harder to get a demand payoff/separation from drill sets alone. Sure, we like the look of it from the stands, but I suspect it's because many of us are from a time before choreo took over and our eyes and brains don't fully understand how to gauge difficulty and appreciate it (at least mine didn't and I am trying to learn more). One of the things I have noticed is musical phrasing and breath control is super challenging during much of the difficult lower body work the top 4 units are doing....way more challenging than marching upright and rotating a diamond set at 180bpm. Try doing a synchronized 4-count deep knee bend while playing a chromatic run while executing a crescendo to fff. (not all corps can do that=demand) Not saying there isn't still some innovative "drill" meat on the bone out there, but no one is really chasing it. Again, because there is a demand and separation payoff in bodywork and upon closer inspection there should be....but,I miss it too...it looked cool.

I’m very up on drum corps this season and this was a real treat. And more to come. Congratulations to all.

If this isn't a corps focused on the fans, not sure who is. This was posted online. ‐--------------- How high class is BD? Here's a quick story for you. From a local band director In June, the Blue Devils drum and vehicle course stayed at Payson High School. While they stayed there, I asked them if they could do me a favor and make some posters for one of our students that has leukemia. The drum majors headed up the project and made two full size posters where the members of the Corps wrote personalized messages of support for our student with leukemia. I left to go do some business around town and when I came back the drum majors and Pat came to me and invited me to ask the family of the student if they would like to be in their warm-up circle for corps Encore. I worked with Victor and other members of the coordinators for core Encore and we were able to get some seats for the family where they could sit alone away from people and not have to worry about the student getting sick. The whole family went and watched the Blue Devils warm up and one of the Blue Devils drum majors gave one of the brooches that they use for their capes to the student that he proudly wore the rest of the evening. The Blue Devils were a very respectful and kind of organization and reached out to show their love and support for one of our students and it was a great experience for the family that they can only describe as a magical evening.

Another thing I can tell you is that my son, who is a Cavalier, didn't even know what I was talking about when I asked him, and he had to go ask guys in the percussion section if someone was let go. Based on that, I don't think this is some sweeping demoralization of the corps. They are focused on the changes to the show and understand that their score is gonna suffer a bit until they get it cleaned up. I asked my son if he was disappointed with last night's score, and his response was no. He said they realize that what they put on the field last night is a work in progress. As the dad of a Cavalier, I'm not hearing anything about discontent in the corps.

Weather looks good and HOT! High of 101° F expected at 5 pm! Sunscreen required! The whole valley is in an excessive heat warning til' Saturday. I'll be here reporting the show from the stands!

Oh but the porn music works. Of course.

pinch me. im dreaming. they finally did it, they wrote the best show ever. this is everything i loved from 2014, 16, 17, 18, 22, and 23, and more. the energy, the writing, the full body chills, the tearjerks, and the experimentation. they genuinely wrote the best show they could have written. and its opening night. i smell something good.

If any members are reading this thread, you’re doing AWESOME Your design team needs to be held accountable for what they’ve given you

Step on it. I’m tired

Had a great time at the show with an eclectic group of friends. One dear friend I marched with in 90, two that are not novices to going to shows, and 2 that are. Everyone had a fantastic night and loved, in particular Regiment, Bloo and Boston. Here's my take - with the usual asterisk that for all these corps but Vanguard it was my first live viewing - and opinions from first viewings invariably change by Indy. Looking forward to seeing everyone in San Antonio Saturday - will be a great show. Zephyrus - Was a delight to see them for the first time. In some ways, they are the modern day successor to Black Gold in Tulsa, where I marched (there was a nice mini-reunion in Denton before the show & was terrific to see people I hadn't seen in 34 years). What a solid foundation being built. I wish them well and hope to be able to start getting involved to support them soon. Vanguard - Solid, solid show, and it resonated a little more on second viewing. This was a very well designed show for what had to be somewhat of a wild card coming back from an off year and not really knowing what level of talent you'd have outside of the drum line. This should set Vanguard up well for next year. The drum line is stellar and the highlight of the show, but the horn line & guard, as I said after DATR, are better than I hoped for this year. It's that drumline, though, that is keeping them competitive with Mandarins for 6th at this point. Kudos to the org to come back strong - the activity needs you, Vanguard, more than ever after the loss of Cadets & with Cavaliers fading. This is not a stellar design, but it works. The guard has a LOT of cleaning to do in particular. Music City - Very solid ensemble with some serious power from the horn line. Like what I heard with Genesis live at DATR last weekend, they really need to work on dynamic variances. The show felt like it was at least 90% all out FFF with some crassness. Not my favorite show design by MC, but I loved the effort from the kids. I look forward to seeing where they can take the show by Indy. Pacific Crest - After last year's real threat to make Finals with an enjoyable, well performed show, I think this corps is more talented this year and performance levels are really nice. After 2 viewings live (one high, one low), I have to say I think this is a design miss that is going to haunt them and at least temporarily blunt their momentum. I have read what they are trying to do with the Broken Column & the artist - it's just not interesting as a theme. The show lacks real highlights musically to me at this point, the bed rolling around the field seems pointless, and for the 90% of audiences who won't know what they are trying to do, the show is not accessible. All 5 of my friends felt like this show took forever. Time & time again, it seems to get proven that if you can't describe what a corps is trying to do with a show theme in a 60 second elevator pitch or description, it's going to struggle to resonate. Crossmen - what's with Crossmen and audio problems? I still remember Allentown a ways back where they had to perform without their amplification and electronics after a long delay, and they've had other challenges. I always feel bad for the kids when this happens. Kudos for their professionalism to power through the delay and lack of amplification for soloists for a good chunk of the show. All that said, this show theme, the costumes, the music arrangements, none of it worked for me on first viewing. I think they are more talented this year, and performance levels are solid. The design is again the problem, like MC & PC. This felt like a very amateur attempt to design a Blue Devils-like show, even down to the costuming, which just didn't work for me. In general, the block of MC, PC & X-Men just didn't work for any of my group, including me. And I love the kids effort & performance levels, it's not that. All three have way too many design and audience engagement misses. My friends were all getting antsy and at that point in the show were talking about how they enjoyed last year's Denton show more. Certainly having to follow Vanguard didn't help, but it goes far deeper than that. I'm rooting for all 3 and hoping that they both find some effective fixes and that additional viewing change my first viewing reactions. Regiment - well, talk about a way to wake the audience of. As you guys know, Regiment has had my heart for decades, after Black Gold folded. And this was my first live viewing, so I was super excited to see & feel their show live. It did not disappoint! 60 seconds in and me & my entire group of friends were fully engaged. There is so much energy in this show. Great pacing, and easily their best designed and performed show since 2012. When they re-org'd and brought back JD after the 2019 season, I felt like they were figuring things out, laying a strong foundation and would be back in in medalist contention within 5 seasons. Given this is season 3 of judged seasons since (thanks to Covid), I'm altering my opinion to 4 seasons. Look out in 2025. As for 2024, this show is a joy. It's great to see Regiment fully embrace what it takes to compete visual design wise, though I do wish there was more drill. Watching live, I have to say the props are more effective and they have really layered in some very cool stuff the members do with and in them. The progression of the cubes to the front sideline during the closer has some awesome stuff happening, and the members at times in the cubes and out is a great reference to thoughts going in and out of your mind. Goosebumps twice in this show - the ballad is really coming on, and the closer is just, well THE CLOSER (along with Troopers). Bravo Regiment! Keep breathing down Crown's neck. Boston Crusaders - Bravo, Boston. A far superior design to last year. IMO the best designed show from Boston, and most enjoyable, since Wicked Games. Loved the entire show. Fresh and innovative. It is great to see both Boston & Blue pivoting away from staging and big props to more movement and DRILL. I sat with a visual judge one night in Indy last year, and he said he thought the pendulum was going to start swinging back towards drill & movement from excessive props, scatter & staging. Boston & Bluecoats seem to be proving that, and getting credit for it with the judges. That gives me hope. Both also seem to have more ensemble brass playing (first impressions), and that is another trend that really needs to return for everyone. HALF the members of these corps are brass players. More than 1/2 the crowds really get going from ensemble brass playing. It's time. Thank you Boston for being a trend setter (hopefully). Ok, off my soapbox. The performance levels with Boston are amazing. The use of the hoops are amazing and so effective - likely without requiring a whole additional semi truck to lug them around the country (just a guess) vs huge props. I can't wait to watch this show grow over the next few weeks. I think they have a legit chance to beat BD in Indy and secure 2nd. Bluecoats - I hadn't fully embraced the short clips I'd seen of this show on Instagram. Boy was I wrong. This show is absolutely amazing. And good lord, they MOVE. I agree with other posters. Go ahead and put their name on the trophy for 2024. After seeing everyone tonight, and BD at DATR last weekend, no one is beating them. Performance levels are every bit as good as the design. I can't wait to see this again on Saturday in SA. And like I said about Boston above, Bluecoats are also zigging right while others have still zagged let. Bloo MOVES and has a lot of great ensemble brass movement. The disintegration of what starts as one big red stage is brilliantly done, the music book is stellar, and the drum line, horn line and guard are all fantastic. This goes right up there for me with my other 2 favorite modern Bloo shows - Tilt and 2022. And this one will get a ring. Crown - the gap in the quality of design with Crown vs Boston & Bloo (And I would argue Regiment as well) is significant. I've read a lot of hype about the opening segments of the show, and even that did not engage me the way I hoped (and I was a huge Crown fan from 2003-2017, so back off, Crownies). The last half of the show drags and is quite disappointing. It's a shame because the kids are extremely talented and perform so well. The sound coming out of the brass line is warm & sublime. The guard is crisp and has some great ensemble moments. And the drum line is solid. The design is stale, the story is forced and is Exhibit A for why you should only tell a literal story when you have a compelling story that people will care about and easily understand (like Triple Crown, Spartacus, Juliet, Turandot, Crown's Western show, That One Second, and a very few others). That Western show is the last Crown show I've truly loved. Like others have said, I hope they find their way back to that 2003 to mid 2010s place soon. While I think this corps is more talented than Regiment and outperform them NOW, I don't think it's a given that they are safely on an island in 4th. It's likely, but not at all a given that the "Island" doesn't expand to a 4th-5th place pair. Their only hope for 3rd is if BD's show doesn't come along like BD normally does. And exactly when has BD not made adjustments and finished a season strong? Maybe 2005? I'm sure I'll get torched by some for the review. I loved the effort and performance levels of the kids in every corps and am rooting for them. My quibbles are all design fail related. On a positive note, for much of last 7-8 seasons I've felt like the 5-10 block has been more interesting and entertaining than the 1-4 block by season's end. THIS is NOT one of those years, as Bloo, Boston & Regiment ALL have HIGHLY entertaining shows - as do Mandarins and Troopers (Limiting that group to those I've seen live). I look forward to seeing Cavies, Blue Stars, Colts, Madison, Surf, Guardians (and probably 1-2 more that I'm forgetting) live in San Antonio for the first time and seeing everyone else for a 2nd or 3rd time live. It's going to be a great show! Harvey

History has been made!! Congrats to the Mandarins for defeating Santa Clara Vanguard for the first time ever!! Great job!!!

BD 80.6 Mandarins 76.6 SCV 75.9 PC 68.65 The Academy 65.5

My son (a current Cavalier) sent me several dejected texts last night. One said, "People do not like our show, holy...." Last year I had to talk him down because tour was doing him in mentally and physically. This year, he's had the time of his life and been super excited. That's not the text that I wanted to get from him. People need to remember that these are kids and they are putting their heart and soul into these shows. They read what we write. I advised him to focus on the process and enjoy the experience... and to use it as fuel to make the show as tight as it can be to make people change their minds. Now, we're gonna see how The Cavaliers react. Hopefully they will react by building a beast.

Wow. Unbelievably prepared. The brass sounds like an organ. My goodness. Very impressive.

Every now and then I see that there was a post from someone I blocked/muted and when I click to reveal what they said I remember why I hid them lmao

Oh and another comment to that other post from above that was posted in response by their health team. lesson to you is sometimes not saying something is prob better than saying something that just isn't..well....I will let you figure it out. -------- This was the moment of the year for me so far. I had the pleasure of interacting with this family that night in Ogden. Warning, long but a good story. I’m on the Health and Wellness team and was to be with the horns that night. They had already left the bus area and I was walking to go find them. As I was walking, this women tapped my shoulder and asked if I knew where the horn line was warming up. I said, “I don’t know, but I’m heading to go find them and you are welcome to join me.” She said, “great.” Then she yelled at a group of people behind us and told them I could lead them to the warm up. I looked back and saw the family with the father pushing the young man who obviously looked sick. So I stopped and waited till they all caught up to me so we could go together. Not an easy task navigating that campus on the hill with a lot of steps and a wheel chair! Thankfully there were some ramps too. On the way, the father shared with me his son plays trumpet and his band director is friends with one of the staff. I asked who, and he said he wasn’t sure but he’d ask the band Director. He then showed me his phone and said he’s friends with this guy, I read “Patrick Seidling ”. I laughed and said, “oh yes, we all know Pat. He’s the corps director and unfortunately not with us right now.” We finally got to the horn line and they were stretching before their visual warm up. I helped set them up so they have a good vantage point to watch the across the floors with the horn line. As the horn line circled up to begin the music warm, this is the moment that I will never forget and is the highlight of the year so far. The look of pure joy and excitement on the faces of the family when the horns started playing was priceless! The mom was videoing with her phone and I could see her just keep mouthing “wow.” She kept looking at her son and he at her. (Complete love and happiness.) They were both in awe and thrilled. I could see the boy with a huge smile and tears in his eyes at the end of space music and resolving chords; and this brought me to tears. I love watching the reactions of fans normally, but this was so much more than I have experienced. As the horn line wrapped up and started to get dressed, I saw the drum majors taking a picture with the family and grabbed this shot just after. Stephanie Click was with us to address uniform issues and she said one of the members asked her if she had an extra broach because they wanted to give theirs to the boy. She did and it was a no brainer. This is a common occurrence with the Blue Devils…and I’m sure it is with all the corps. It’s why I continue to be a part of the activity and give back. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the competitiveness and become negative that we forget… it’s just fricken band! We need to cherish the moments we have with each other. Lift each other up and encourage others. Spread love. Life is too short and fragile to not enjoy the best youth activity in the world. BD is about achieving excellence and the shared experience to get there. As Tom Float would say, “it’s about the hang.” Being together. 💙

It was the Houston show last year that the Spinnerman debut for the Mandarins. They have had a few days off. Interested to see if tonight or tomorrow in San Antonio, Koester and his Avengers unleash the additions to Vieux Carre. I know for a fact there are some big time additions coming. It's just a matter of when. Put a spell on them Mandarins.

From everything I have seen, most people directly involved in the activity have tremendous love and respect for one another. Many are friends who happen to march or teach at different corps. I have no doubt we fans are the problem...sometimes.

For the record: I saw with my own eyes some of Boston's percussion staff stayed on the sidelines to cheer on Crown. So maybe all the animosity is coming from us, the fans. Sure didn't look like the staff had any beef.

With the exception of the Mandarins and BAC (and theirs is coming hopefully sooner than later) every corps that performed last night is a world champion at the world class level. Mandarins are winning just being on the same field with the big dawgs. Last night Mandarins beat the 7-time champs Cavaliers for the 11th straight time. Mandarins are currently tied 4-4 season series with 7-time champ SCV. 2-time champ PR beat the Mandarins for the first time last night since August of 2022. And earlier this year, maybe the most impressive thing, Mandarins were 0.1 behind BD head to head in GE1 Achievement. Mandarins have proven they belong in the top 7. I believe next year their recruiting numbers will top this year. Sacramento is becoming a destination choice for WC Performers. And lastly, let's not forget they have a Director in J. W. Koester that has sat at the top of the mountain as a DCI Champion. SCV and PR fans know what i am talking about. Koester knows what it looks like, and what it takes to build a champion level corps. And he is building one right now in Sacramento. Just think, ten years ago to the day, Mandarins were 20 points behind BD. Five years ago to the day, Mandarins were nine points behind BD. As of last night, they are now on the same field performing with BD and the rest DCIs best at one of the biggest shows of the year. Mandarins aren't going anywhere. They are here to stay.

I’m tuning in late (was seeing a show) - but from the commentary here I was expecting Crown to have been an utter boring loser mess and BD to have nixed their entire visual program and replaced their horns with kazoos …………. only to find that they both had season-best performances and were warmly received. Everyone was on fire tonight. You guys are a mess 😭 Congrats Bloo! Saw that coming weeks ago.

Tbh I really see Mandarins above Phantom eventually or by the end of the season. Their show is just so much more compelling lol

Welcome to DCI 2024! Another season is upon us! For those who may not remember or who joined since the close of the 2023 season, I keep careful day-to-day statistics of show results and compare how things are going each day to how they were going on the same relative day of competition the previous season. From time to time, the analysis expands back to previous years for which I've been logging the data, typically around the regionals. Does it mean much? Probably not. does it give us something to ponder as the season moves along? Absolutely! Schedule Alignment 2023 is nearly identical to 2022 with one additional date this year without a competition. Most importantly, opening night was the same (last Wednesday of June) and closing night is the same (second Saturday of August). June 26 Run-Down The 2024 season opens with Boston Crusaders ahead of Phantom Regiment by 2.850 points. The Cavaliers are 1.900 points back from Phantom followed by Blue Stars (1.600 back) and Colts (2.250 back). It is interesting to note that Colts were 4.600 points and Troopers were 3.150 points behind Blue Stars on opening night last year. Both ended up ahead of Blue Stars on final night. There's a lot of action to come! Reading back on my initial post in the 2023 season, I'm proud of noting that Colts and Troopers opened at historically higher than typical scores with the possibility of excitement down the road later in the season. I don't do a lot of prognosticating in these posts, but that one turned out to be an understatement! That said, Phantom Regiment is down over a point over its 2023 debut and Blue Stars are down over three points. With Colts nearly exactly in line with its 2023 opening score, it seems that the corps is ready to make another statement this season. June 28 Preview There are no shows tonight so let's look ahead to Friday. Several of our friends on the West Coast make their debuts (Blue Devils, Mandarins, Santa Clara Vanguard) and Carolina Crown joins the Midwest fray. We will also see six Open Class corps take the field for the first time on the young season (Blue Devils B, Blue Devils C, Gold, Golden Empire, Impulse, Vessel).

But the good news … eastern time zone.

Speechless! Blown Away! The flow of this Bluecoats show is so good, so captivating that I have a hard time finding the right words to praise it. It's a total work of art. As Don Angelica once said on the PBS Broadcast after Garfield Cadets finished their Finals performance in 1985, this show will force you to look inside yourself for what you react to. The Bluecoats really are special this year.

For the Flo flippers: 8:30 PM Zephyrus Drum & Bugle Corps - Denton Arsenal Drum & Bugle Corps - Waco 8:42 PM Santa Clara Vanguard - Denton Jersey Surf – Waco 8:58 PM Music City - Denton Seattle Cascades - Waco 9:16 PM Pacific Crest - Denton Genesis - Waco 9:33 PM Crossmen - Denton The Academy - Waco 9:50 PM Phantom Regiment - Denton Madison Scouts - Waco 10:07 PM Boston Crusaders - Denton Spirit of Atlanta - Waco 10:24 PM Bluecoats - Denton Blue Knights - Waco 10:41 PM Carolina Crown - Denton The Cavaliers – Waco 11:06 PM Scores Announced

They don't have their closer (alternate ending) on the field because they made the decision to reveal it at a particular point in the season. They have been practicing it for weeks now, along with other tidbits not yet revealed. I don't consider moving in a week early an advantage. My son would have moved in earlier than that if he could. He loves what he's doing and as a parent I'm happy for him. Oh, and the way I see it, my son got a week more (in some cases 2 weeks) than other corps whose fees are the same. I expect Crown to close some gaps very soon.

Boston has won drums at every show so far this season. ❤️❤️ Congrats all for an entertaining evening!

I didn't see it the way he saw it (AT ALL), but jwillis is one of the most knowledge persons on here, IMO, and he puts a lot of thoughts into his posts. I've learned a lot from him.

BD just ridiculously strong across all captions. People.are going to be mad in an hour lol.

Bluecoats showcasing the CG using silver (mylar?) flags. No sound but the synchronized spinning of those flags. That was lovely.

Nice bump for PC. Cut their deficit down to the corps in front of them in these Cali shows by almost two points.

Blue Devils: might be me having a long week, I feel like most groups it takes a movement or so for me to fully get into. Hornline is playing a ton this year. I don’t always love everything they do, but I always love how they do it. And I was more bought into the program each minute. Best corps tonight to clearly communicate all of their ideas and effects. Some super fun moments throughout. I can’t normally tell a differents between drum lines, but with pits: I can definitely tell there front ensemble is a powerhouse this year. Some amazing writing and playing. I will probably love this show by the end of the season, they almost completely sold me already. Already pretty clean, and there’s enough meat in the book that they could easily keep their streak going. Potentially an opening for groups to catch them if they clean and have more in the book than them (thinking blue coats, but haven’t seen much other than some short vids here and there).

Sorry it's taken a few days, life has gotten in the way, but I was asked to give my opinion on the show from a designers standpoint, so here it is. I want to preface this to say that this will be my last post on DCP. I will still be lurking, but as far as joining the conversation, those days will be behind me after this post. There's just too much negativity and to be honest I'm beyond bored with the placements and scoring as it's extremely predictable at this point, as are the posters of this forum. I also want to say that I do love this show, but I do plan on being critical here, and there may be a lot of things that I say that people won't like. Welcome to DCP, amirite? Lolol. Lets begin. The story of Prometheus, set by Crown, follows as such... Zeus tasks his sons Prometheus and Epimetheus to create humans (Opener) Prometheus feels sorry for the humans, sneaks into the workshop of Hephaestus and Athena on Mount Olympus, steals fire, and brings it to the humans to teach them to use it for cooking, forging, etc. Since fire is usually a gift reserved for the Gods, Zeus is enraged, chains Prometheus up to a rock in the Caucasus, and is punished by an eagle to eat Prometheus's liver every day, as he regenerates every night. Years later, with Zeus' permission, the Greek hero Heracles kills the eagle by shooting it with an arrow and releases Prometheus from his imprisonment. After he is released, Prometheus and Zeus make peace. - Opener This is the part of the show with the most visually compelling section and likely mostly what is being rewarded in GE right now. The use of the individual pieces of fabric to show the humans being formed from clay is stellar in this section, as well as the guard using the larger piece to portray fire, and their movement under it absolutely captures the movement of fire. Once the fabric is removed directly before the opening hit, we see the human form start to take hold. Once those flags are revealed, it's is an absolutely stunning and compelling moment. I truly hope they don't change a #### thing in this section. It is without a doubt the most well written part of the show. The guard work completely complements the music during the hit and is extremely well layered. What I would change: 100% would not change a thing in this section of the show, with the exception of what I first mention in the second movement. - Second Movement This is where things start to get muddled. We don't have a main character to focus on until the ballad. There is nothing to focus the story throughout the Opener and Second Movement. We know that in the opener Prometheus creates the human race, but we don't see him doing so. He emerges from behind Mount Olympus at the end of the opening hit, and has a flag solo at the beginning of the second movement in front of Mount Olympus, but then disappears. Last year, while Arthur would mix in with the guard from time to time, we still knew where Arthur was as it was pronounced by two things: 1. His uniform was different than everyone else's and 2. His character was much more pronounced in the way the drill was written. Prometheus needs a different uniform (I'm sure that is to come, I'd be willing to lay money on this), and his storyline needs to become more clear and pronounced so that he stands out and is easily followed (Helen comes to mind in 2016, with how the story always happened in front of her, making it easy to follow). The drill in this movement is extremely linear across the field, and while that is nice, it's extremely lacking. Now, I have a theory about this, that Sacktig has written the drill this year in a way to make it easily layer-able as the season progresses. We'll see if that is the case, but for right now, the drill is severely lacking in visual clarity and appeal. Guard integration seems to be lacking here as well, and definitely hoping that will be addressed and fixed. The mountains turning around to give us more color is a nice and effective GE moment, but I do wonder what the colors are supposed to represent. In my opinion, they look more fitting for a "Painted Desert" type of show theme (I wouldn't be mad at that, Crown. Hear me, Reid?). I know that the colors are supposed to represent colors of flags used in the past (Easter Egg for ya there), but in this specific show theme, what are they to represent? Clay? Earth? The humans were created from the clay in the opener, so it doesn't make any sense to regress the storyline here in my opinion. Nice pop of color, but seems redundant. The music in this section is intense and will take a while to clean, which is fine. We all know they'll get it done. The Tuba feature is SUPER nice. My favorite part of this movement. Now, while it's nice to hear Crown attempt more of a jazzy piece, I have two complaints here: 1. The Trumpet feature on the sideline is always cranked up way too loud and should feel more attached to the rest of the ensemble, and 2. When they reach the Jazz portion of the movement towards the end, there always tends to be some phasing issues. It should be fixed as the season progresses, but they've had this movement on for a month now, so it should already be resolved. What I would change: Several things I would change in this movement. Drill needs to be layered soon before they start to fall further back in the visual captions. More clarity to the storyline needs to be added other than a flag solo at the beginning of the movement, disappearing until the end of the movement when Prometheus has a solo rifle toss on Mount Olympus and is proceeded to be chained up. I've noticed that the Trumpet soloist for the ballad ends up on Mount Olympus just before the end of the Second Movement, and at the end of the movement we hear electrical charges which is supposed to be Zeus punishing Prometheus. I would utilized the soloist before the ballad, and have them throw down some sort of streamer (yellow, silver, glittery, whatever) to have it look like Zeus is using his power and give some visual representation of the sound effect, because as of now it just sounds out of place if you don't know what's going on. -Ballad Prometheus is chained up, the eagle makes an appearance...and the movement goes no where visually. I think this is mostly due to the lack of movement outside of around Mount Olympus. Very little drill going on here, which is a choice I must say...and not a great one in my opinion. I understand why: they want the focus to be on the storyline here, as with all Crown ballads. Issue is, the storyline takes place too far back, and without anything drawing attention to the soloists outside of the eagle flag, which honestly doesn't read well enough to make the story pronounced enough to realize what is going on. More clarity is needed (this seems to be a theme this year, huh? Maybe they should do a show next year called Clarity and just beat us over the head with the theme...oh wait, Right Here, Right Now...HA!). With the Brass doing mostly nothing for most of the movement, give them some body choreography, that could even start on side one and ripple towards Mount Olympus, bringing attention to the storyline. There's the ripple into the set for the hit of the ballad, and it could be used to bring in some of the leg work that Crown became known for in the early 2010s that was always super fun to watch. Something needs to happen here. The music is stunning, won't touch on that, but the visual is so bland here that it almost ruins the ballad. This is the same issue that Beasts ballad had. I understand that Crown tends to focus more on music, but visual is starting to take it's toll on this corps and becoming their Achilles heel (how fitting in a show about Greek Mythology?) What I would change: There needs to be more happening in this ballad, and it's that simple. More. Sometimes less is better, but this is simply not the case. We need more. I would give a visual representation of the electrical sound effects leading into the ballad, pronounce the story more (is the female supposed to be Heracles? Pronounce that more. Give her a uniform piece to add to her current uniform that can be discarded after the ballad). Add more choreography for the Brass that leans towards the Mount Olympus prop to bring the focus to the storyline. While I know Prometheus is chained up, this needs to be more theatrical as well. I don't know how you would portray that, with him being chained up, but something more needs to happen here with him. The eagle needs to be bigger (I know they make flags bigger than that). As someone said previously, I believe it was NewArpege, have red streamers come off of Prometheus. This is supposed to be a huge moment in the storyline, and it's just falling short right now. - Closer This movement is NOT finished. There's still more to add to the ending, around a minute and 20 seconds from what I've been told, and will be added around San Antonio if my intel is correct (I have no reason not to trust them. They were right last year about the soft ending, but the staff decided against it at the last minute). I'm loving this Mackey piece. It's very similar to Aurora Awakes (one of my all time favorite pieces of his), and it's a very epic ending musically. We're hearing chord density that Crown has never attempted before, and are a very welcoming change of pace in drum corps. I very much hope this partnership continues. I also love seeing Mackey's videos he's posted with the corps, he seems to be loving this venture just as much as the kids and the fans. I can't wait to hear the last bit they have yet to add, as I've heard it's the most difficult part of the show. I hope it stacks up. As the Brass converge on the mountain props, I can't help but to think there will be something that happens here (I've heard that there will be a uniform change, and I'm thinking this might be where it takes place). The flags here are very clearly a place holder. There's no other reason to go with a highlighter yellow silk here (Unless your name is BAC). My biggest issue with this movement is the parade block. It's clunky, seems out of place, and just doesn't do anything visually. I hope this changes. I understand it's a transition set to get to the larger set during the hit, but something else can be done here. Again, the same issue throughout the entire show, we need visual stimulation. We lose clarity here (again) with the storyline. Prometheus grabs the torch from Mount Olympus and runs around with it (Why isn't the torch on top of Mount Olympus lit up yet? What's going on with that? Any insight?). We need more from this section with the storyline. Obviously Prometheus is released, and him and Zeus make peace, but we really don't see that happening visually. How could would it be to see him toss the torch? I highly doubt that is possible, as it looks like it has some weight to it, and it probably wouldn't fly right, but it would still be cool. What I would change: I'm not going to touch much here, because it's clearly an unfinished product. Just add clarity to the storyline here. I love this show, I do. It's much better than 95% of the shows that we received from the previous design caption head. With that being said, it's lacking in the same departments as last years show (which I also loved). The two shows are very similar, and it honestly makes me wonder how much input the design caption head has in show design, with the two being designed by two different people. This show is plagued by the same issues as last years show, and while last years show did end up medaling, I hope this isn't going to become the new trend. All three sections of the corps are proving that they're here to play, Brass, Percussion, and Guard. The thing is though, this design very much leans towards an older style of design. I love Crown for their storytelling abilities, giving us shows that are easily accessible (for the most part), but the activity is leaving this sort of design, and I think it's high time that Crown follows suit before they get left behind. Here's my proposal for next season... Crown goes full modern, but with a vibe of tradition. This is possible. There is someone on staff, Scot Mitchell (who I believe is also a Crown alumni), that works with a band in Fort Mills, SC who did just that this past year. Catawba Ridge High School. Their show had the visual appeal of the modern age (with a throwback to the 80s pop culture), while still feeling very traditional in their vibe and approach to music (even though they used pop songs throughout). Here's a video... We can still have the storytelling that Crown has become known for, while still moving with the modern era of design. Crown just has to figure that out before they get left behind. There's still time, and I hope that they figure this out to continue being one of the leading corps of the activity. Hopefully I didn't tick off too many of my fellow Crownies with this post. I'm sure some members of the forum will laugh react to it, and that's fine. As I said before, I'll still be here, but I'll be going back to lurking instead of posting. Anyone is free to message me, I will respond, but my public posting days are over. Enjoy the season, Crownies! Edited to add: Xanax, buddy, it's going to be okay. Calm down. Breathe. Still plenty of season to go. No reason to sound the alarm just yet.

I think the thing with GE when it comes to Bloo, BAC, and Crown is that Bloo and BAC keep me locked in musically and visually the entire show. I feel like I'm being led through a seamless experience. Crown has moments of great GE, but other times it j u s t c r a w l s....

Their use of sound and space. Putting mics on the flags. They use the electronics in newer and more innovative ways than any other corps.

True confession- I get a kick out of reading the long, detailed descriptions of what the meaning of the show is, complete with many fancy adjectives and deep philosophical meanings. Bluecoats and SCV threads include this, for example. But every single time I read one I come back to a quote from that great impressionist Claude Monet: ”Everyone discusses my art and pretends to understand, as if it were necessary to understand, when it is simply necessary to love.” I guess I’m not smart or deep enough to understand a show at a cerebral level so I just try to feel it and love it. If it’s good enough for Monet it’s good enough for me! But please keep the deep thoughts coming! I love them!

Crown is always incredible musically but there are certain points every year that take me out completely when it feels like "look how many notes we can play regardless of what it does to the musical pacing"! Those are back, part two is a big ol run on sentence to me lol. Keeps me from really loving listening to their shows versus some of their earlier stuff. Opener is killer. Part two feels like it goes on for twenty minutes. Ballad is nice. Closer is John Mackey, but didn't love it. Collab is cool but he's writing far cooler stuff inside that can be arranged. And yes I can tell it's not done yet lol I like this show and did like last year for the most part too. I wish the props did a lot more and had more varied placement, makes the drill super compressed in the front half and IMO Sacktig is best when he's got room to work with. Color palette is killer. They sound and look great. Really exciting. I like it. Just gets a little gratuitous in the brass book to me feeling like they always have to one up themselves. Percussion huge step up the last two seasons. Not a lot of weaknesses, just a bunch of little things that kinda add up and bug me. They'll have a good season. They're just not my favorite flavor. Biggest thing to me is I felt pretty much zero emotion watching besides "this is good". Impressed for sure. Enjoyed? Not really. Probably a medal rn.

I'm not surprised by the reactions to The Cavaliers. I totally get it. I miss the geometrics and "cool" factor of The Cavaliers, but it's 2024, and they feel they need to move in a new direction. They are in a unique position as the "only" all-male corps left in the activity. Even though I miss the "cool" Cavaliers, I think it's fascinating that they are humanizing themselves with a show that is really about what humans (and in their case, men) struggle with mentally, hiding behind an armor of shame, and struggling to accept their authentic selves. A large portion of the corps is GBTQ, and I'm sure they are appreciating The Cavaliers acknowledging that being an all male corps does not mean that it's all about being manly. I encourage people to look again at what The Cavaliers are doing. They are making a statement on the things we do to armor ourselves out of fear and shame. Transforming to a tunic that looks somewhat like a dress is a pretty big and bold statement from The Cavaliers. One that says, we can be the Green Machine, but we also can acknowledge our humanity and who we are as a unit, which is a group of young men that spreads across the entire spectrum. I can tell you from my son's experience that, The Cavaliers organization embraces its members for who they are, and encourage them to be their authentic selves, whatever that may be. This year, they are choosing to put that statement directly in front of our eyes on the field this year. It's a statement from The Cavaliers that they are more than just and all-male corps. They are a unit that is willing to acknowledge and proudly proclaim that they celebrate who the members are collectively, whatever that may be. And yeah, we all saw that the show is still messy, likely because it's hard! But we also all know that is temporary. I, for one, am looking forward to what this show looks like in San Antonio and beyond. They are charting new territory. Let them cook, and maybe think about what it is they are trying to do and say this year.

COME ON CAVIES!!!! 1...2...3... SPLOOIE!

This.bloo show has the same feel for me as shows like 99 scv, 93 star, and 05 cadets. Minimal and elegant with both the visual and musical. Super effective to me.

These men deserve a better show than this. Sorry but I don't really have a nicer way to put it.

Just saw this right now. Congrats to Mandarins for beating SCV in Brass for the first time EVER!!!

Ok just as I thought. ONCE AGAIN!!!! BD online vs BD live in person. Not...........even..........close. I wish everyone the very best of luck trying to beat The Romantics.