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Not sure anyone could classify a show like 2014 as 'low risk.' Nor the series of rifle tosses at the beginning of this year's show. Perhaps what looks like 'low risk' is instead knowing what your corps can clean before finals, or, alternatively, doing everything so well, including tough stuff, that it 'looks easy.' Another possibility: the BD image is always in control. This can lead to a sense that they are never taking a risk, 'on the edge,' even though a design might be very difficult to achieve.

I agree. It is disingenuous to say that this year’s show, or most of their shows, are low risk or low demand. That’s the problem with doing something so well that you make it look easy. Old guys like me keep harping on how we miss drill. Well, two of my favorite drill moves this year belong to the BD. And many of my favorite show moments in general (guard, music, etc) came from the BD. My HS age son said I laughed through the whole show, and it was because the show was creative enough to surprise this old guy all the way through. All of that is a testament to a well constructed program that the mm performed the heck out of.

With the shift in emphases in movement and musical styles during recent seasons, new ways of expression are required to assist the communication on the adjudication tapes and competitive critique comments to align these with the new realities. In fact so much of the current vocabulary of assessment and evaluation pre-date DCI’s beginnings in 1972 of the previous century; their continued use may tinge the roster of 136 DCI judges (https://www.frontensemble.com/judges) as dated and even stodgy to the new mms, designers and faculty hip on moving past traditions and military-based manners to these new realities of field performance. These newer terms are derived from other sciences or as DCI terms them, Strategic Partners in the activity. To prepare for 2020 and beyond, to ready one’s self for the future Rules Congress discussions, and to appear erudite, relevant, and astute to the hordes at marching band and winter indoor contests before the next DCI season, now is not too soon to consider and integrate these new judging terms into one’s everyday conversations. DCP posters, Reddit roosters, and dinosaurs of all eras wishing themselves to appear current, contemporary, intellectual and aware would best approach the new language skills as if tackling SAT’s, ACT’s, GRE’s or M-Cats. Here are a few to trial. Certainly there will be more. 1. Ecdysis refers to the constant change of garb by mms during performance shedding one set of clothing (whether deemed uniform or costume) much like a snake sloughing its skin. Similar to the advent of the constant change of flash flags by guards in the 1980’s and after, corps in the Cesario-Carlson era/error molt their vesture as if the audience has A.D.D. and grows weary of viewing the same wears every few steps. The Strippers of Atlanta did this no less than 3X during their 2019 performance while many other corps such as Colts and Jersey Surf appeared to change only twice. Interestingly, SCV, Crown. Bloo, BAC and Cavaliers did not succumb to ecdysis which may account to their higher placements; the Allentown unit reverted to dysecdysis as the season progressed and disregarded the shedding which marked their early contests. Certainly there are some who believe that a Berry or Miller outfit should never molt. 2. Tonic immobility as a visual term refers to the paralysis of movement (oft termed Staging) as opposed to the free-flowing of formations and drill. It replaces the BITD terms of “Park and Play” and “Park and Bark.” When the term is used musically, it would refer to each musical arrangement sounding like all the others the unit performs. 3. Thanatosis is a term relating to “playing dead” (think Will Pitts ending Regiment’s ‘08 Spartacus and his age-out performance.) Thanatosis may also refer to the groveling on the ground and inability to stand on one’s feet which marks many of the “acting” efforts of today’s units. Obsequies often follow particularly when championship scores are announced. This is not always good. 4. Sisyphean task connotes the endless pushing of props across the field particularly when done by musicians to hide that they are not playing their instruments while the props are moved. Like Sisyphus these efforts may be relentless but mark the hubris of the designer, not that of the marching member who would prefer to be a musician. The adjudicator and audience is to be distracted by the transit of the prop, a fete the front ensemble has mastered and excelled before and after every practice and performance. However, the front ensemble cannot be everywhere. 5. Urban vistas refers to the cluttering of the green fields with tarps and props such that the grass and turf no longer is considered venerable green spaces for the environment but, like the cement cities of the metropolis, are doted with columns, buildings, faux-mountains, and other constructed objects hindering the natural view. Like builders fitting as many buildings on postage stamp lots as possible, bigger is not always better. Beware if your designer lives in a city and has never seen a panorama not suitable for cementing or camouflaging. 6. Sonic filigree are those amazing exercises of masterful technique inserted into the score of a nice melody or lyrical piece to show off the talent and skill a horn line, arranger, battery or front ensemble wish you to acknowledge no matter whether the beauty of the piece is interrupted or disrupted. Sonic filigree is not necessary to the piece but sometimes is more memorable. When this is done electronically, it is known as white noise. 7. Stationary front is similar to its cousin in meteorology: that is something that is stuck in place. Most often it will refer to a horn line caught in tonic immobility. *** These are the terms I have eked out of the Task Force so far. What others might you have learned???

BD pretty regularly attempts rotating boxes that expand and compress as they move across the field. Easily the most difficult drill move done in DCI yet BD's done it quite a bit in the past few years. They had it in their original closer this year but ended up axing it I mean... Low risk?? Really?

For a couple of years in the 1970s, my local-circuit junior corps' motto was "get within 40 points of the Blue Devils."

Yep. And everyone from BD was / is always super laid back and nice. And it's quite frankly easier to maximize rehearsal time when you take the mentality of chasing a title instead of an another corps. It's kind of like playing pool at a pro level. You can't control the greatness of the other guy. You can only control what you are doing and play the table. You practice to make those moments mechanical and as close to perfect as you can.

Not always....Malik -- a trumpet soloist from "Jagged Line" (opening solo, I think) moved to BD in 2018...was a soloist there as well. Aged out with a ring this year, in fact!

It’s easy to say that from behind your computer, but there is a lot more to being a director than competitive placements. Why we don’t know are the financial issues the corps is facing, and how that translates to what is happening from a competitive front. It could be that Regiment doesn’t have the resources to be as competitive as they once were.

Reading the thread, some of the facts are very cloudy. No one's sure what the truth is in some of the complaints except for the fact the placement has been dropping and that they fought for their lives to make the cut this season. The big one to me is to make sure the corps financial intake is solid (if it is not) and to make sure staff is paid on the level of other top end corps, (if it is not) Without money, steady money, things don't happen in this activity anymore. The other issue, and it seems to be a very loaded one, is how much of the management and staff should be alumni, and why? It might take someone from outside that perhaps 'gets it more than they might get credit for getting it' about what Phantom represents, but can provide a fresh design outlook and the out of the box ideas to get them out of the rut. Something tells me- but I can't confirm it that things have gotten too 'in-house' in ways that are negative and not positive.

Something that I haven't seen anyone mention yet that I have noticed about BD is unrelenting performer confidence. The kind of confidence that makes fans/followers of other corps say "oh ###$ here we go again"

PC getting acknowledged on Twitter by Haywyre.

In 1996, the year BD and PR tied for the titel, BD used a little music from the motion picture Dick Tracey. I would love to see them revisit that music and perhaps work the theme or concept of the show around the characters of Dick Tracey, even if the show used other music.

Cadets have handled things the right way since everything came to light. Could that statement come with an asterisk in hindsight? Sure. There wasn't precedent for what happened or how to handle it. It's like being a parent. You can always look back at specific things and probably find a better solution to things. But overall, I think they did a pretty good job at doing what they had to do this year which is moving forward. It's going to take years to rebuild. The first job when a warship is damaged is to get it back to port and make it safe to sail...not to make it pretty again. Give Cadets time. I've never been one to say "I love the Cadets" including when I was marching corps. But man you gotta give them props for moving the needle in the best direction they could.

The judges Money California Stability in staffing Unflinching, unapologetic commitment to winning. They write shows with more focused priority on winning than most other top placing corps. Just enough innovation to win. Just enough art to win. Just enough demand to win. Just enough playing to win. Just enough marching to win. They rarely dabble in anything that's too risky. I don't remember them ever being the most innovative corps any one season. And the few times they have pushed it a bit (e.g. Tommy), they recoil from the placement results and soon veer back to the tried-and-true BD approach. Some will counter to say that other top corps want to win, too. I wholeheartedly agree...and in truth other corps don't win as much because they fail to place as much laser focus on prioritizing wins. If I sound critical of BD, I am. I find this approach rather soulless, but I will never deny their success.

Yes, it tells you that no one wanted to talk about it, because it wasn’t talked about back then. That was the culture. There was no one in authority to tell either, except the perpetrator, who had complete control. It is so hard for me to believe that people that were around for years were really actually shocked, but I guess it’s possible.

Not at all. I think there's missing info from both sides.

George was a bully and a narcissist, and literally everyone who knew him knew of his personality, antics, and blind spots —and likely at least suspected if not knew of his abusive relationships. When you send 200 teenage and early 20 something kids out on tour for the summer and sleep on gym floors and buses, you are ARE going to have misdeeds. Anyone who ever traveled with a corps knows this. I don’t care which corps or what era. This fact does NOT excuse bad behavior. But this is not new. The travesty of GH is that the leader demonstrated bad behavior. THAT is inexcusable. But Cadets also deserve the chance to start over and I support them. And because I loathe GH and all his antics I won’t comment on him again. He is out of our respective lives.

I'm tired of the ANGRY, DARK shows. Not musically, but the theatrics. Kids in costumes (or band uniforms before that) stomping around, yelling, trying to look scary and intimidating, like they're monsters in Where the Wild Things Are, is alway cringeworthy. Adding drums or a euphonium doesn't help. One of the reasons I didn't like Cadets 2011

Whoever did is getting awarded "Most Ironic Designer" of 2019

Seems unlikely but it would be a huge upset at this point

I agree with this. The Regiment is a unique organization , it always has been , with a certain way of doing things. It’s time to pull in non-Regiment staff to broaden their horizons. I’m a fan of fostering new talent from within but those up and coming people need to learn from tried and true designers. Take established ideas and apply new twists to them.

Once again, she spoke. "Do you love me John?" I always wondered, who's John and why that name? Couldn't have picked a better name, whoever wrote that?!

Whole lotta’ Ott, that’s for sure🎺👑😎

Semi finals was the last show I watched on Flo. What I noticed at the beginning was the opening drill of walking in a clean formation towards the sidelines. They did a similar set later. Not difficult. Walking between tables a few years back was clean, but not difficult. During semis, to me, their rotating box was not clean at the end of the move. As it has so rightfully been mentioned, they are masters of moving from moment to moment and checking off the the boxes on the sheets.

I still wish Renegades had listened to my comment in 2005 (I think I said it to Kelly when we did LMS) and thrown baby dolls into the audience in hopes that they would be thrown back.

Cappy you should make this it's own thread. Can never have enough BD threads. At least I think so. Lol

That's 100% correct. A director at my job approached me a few weeks ago in an absolute TIZZY. She was acting childish and hurt because of one her projects she as working on took an absolute belly flop early on and I was asked to come in and try to pee on the fire. We did some quick thinking and the launch went off as well as it could have under the circumstances. In a post-mortem meeting this past week, she was EXTREMELY critical of some of things I had put together and done to move things in the right direction. My response to her was simple: 1. You've come with criticism and no solutions to a problem that you created. Don't complain about what others with more vision had to do. Come with solutions and remember that doing something in the face of adversity is almost ALWAYS better than doing nothing 2. I asked the question "Exactly HOW could I have done things better? And be very, very specific. I don't deal in vagueness and saying 'I just don't like it' is neither a suggestion nor a reason to shift my judgement." There are people who believe that Phantom is some form of death spiral. Some are vets, some are fans, some are neither. Change needs to occur. People have been open to that. But to say "Fire person X and get a new staff" is not a solution until you can say "And this is how you can accomplish that." That would be like me saying to someone who lives paycheck to paycheck to fix their financial woes by "just paying all your #### off and making more money." Great suggestion there Sparky...now explain how they do that...and be very specific. And if it doesn't work, remember that the people who howl at the moon the loudest attract the most wolves when their ideas don't pan out. Just sayin'

Since it's the offseason and we have finished the last season of this decade, what are your favorite BD shows of this decade? This is extremely difficult for me to do but I'll give it a go 1. 2015 Ink 2. 2012 Cabaret Voltaire 3. 2011 The Beat My Heart Skipped 4. 2019 Ghostlight 5. 2014 Felliniesque 6. 2017 Metamorph 7. 2013 ReRite of Spring 8. 2010 Through a Glass Darkly 9. 2018 Dreams and Nighthawks 10. 2016 As Dreams Are Made On I gotta say though, I LOVE every single one of these shows. This corps has been on such an amazing creative run this decade it's incredible

Acoustic Diminishment Where use of a prerecorded soundscape segues into brass and percussion in such a way that the latter is left seeming shallow or pale in comparison.

You can't fight perception and people don't generally like change. That's simply a universal truth. DCI is a unique microcosm because it's been relatively stable with the types of performances for a VERY long time and that leads to people who have been around through it's longevity to say "It's always been this way and it was successful so why change it?" But what happens when all of those folks are gone? You HAVE to keep your audience involved and growing. I marched in the late 80's and early 90's. I LOVE the late 80's and early 90's. But here's a reality check. I'm 47. My girlfriend is 28. She's seen the shows of the 80's (especially the ones I marched,) and is....well...let's say supportive of them. She understands they're great shows FOR THE TIME. Now compare that to seeing Bluecoats this year which "gave her goose bumps" or BK to which she declared (loudly) "That's ####### HOT!" in Atlanta. It's a different generation of fan that's going to be driving this bus forward. If you want the whole thing to die, then go ahead and keep doing shows that don't appeal to the new base. I get bored at times trying to figure out if vertical staging, interpretive dance and electronics make things better than what I grew up on and then marched. But I also get that I'm not the 14 year old in the crowd saying "I want to do that" anymore. If I don't like a show and it gets too "trippy" for me, then try to pull out things from the show that I DO like. I didn't care for BD this year. It was too frantic for my taste. But I appreciate the performers, designers and staff for putting out something that made the current generation of watchers (aka, the next generation of performers) stand up and cheer.

Just listening to some Crown ‘13, to get my weekend off to a pleasant start. ”These are the days, my friend.”

I wonder if No. 5 might lead to the Urban Heat Island Effect, prevalent in cities during the summer, at drum corps venues nationwide.

You lost me at Ecdysis.

Stockholm Syndrome sounds applicable here.

Historically the birth and crazy fast evolution of Carolina Crown may go down as one of the most unlikely happenings in DCI history. Literally no other corps has done what they have done in the modern era. And they have done it by kicking the ### of the entire DCI field in brass performance. For over a decade now. Remarkable.

Showed my 11 year old brother their victory run (loosely describing the concept of the Ghostlight to him as he loves musical theater) and he just kept saying "Wow!"- the show is a hit.

I think I'll cash in my interest chips before I learn these new terms. I just don't care this much. The corps need to grab me with music, motion, and spectacle before I'm interested in learning new lingo.

comment i heard on a sound file this year: " I'd love to freeze that moment like you're watching Flo so i could just stare at it in awe"

I found something to like in 20 of the 22 World Class shows. For the two I couldn't find something to like, I respected the hell out of the performers to do their best

Actually, no they do not. The new reported incident is actions between two minors, not an adult and a minor.

Re Pioneer is everyone forgetting they were given an ultimatum to remove family members from the board and they essentially thumbed their nose at DCI

I put this in another thread. However, I thought it should belong here as well. Blue Devils = Class as well. I want to say thank you to the Blue Devils organization. Over the past several years, it has been my privilege to host the corps. Yesterday, while my daughter was out in San Francisco, she ran into someone affiliated with the organization. After a brief conversation, this person realized she was my daughter and bought her lunch in thanks for my hosting the corps. Even outside the season, the corps always represents with the class that is Blue Devils.

it's just marching band

A few years back, I finally got the chance to catch one of BD's rehearsals, before DCI East. A friend with ties to the organization had told me he had never seen a corps who rehearsed better... efficient, effective, with a positive, business-like, relaxed type of vibe. And not one second wasted. He was right. Today's corps rehearse better than ever... certainly better than the old days, when a lot more time was wasted. But, for me, BD tops the "how to get it done at rehearsal" list.

Stop... The goofy "gnashing of teeth" attempt at being dark and menacing. The fashion this year was dark and sinister, and if I had a buck for every time I saw someone squat down and gnash their teeth and try to look overly angsty I'd be driving a new Ferrari to Finals next year. Stop the corny "emoting" and simply play some sinister licks on your instrument instead. Start... Taking and leaving the field like pros. I loved seeing Madison actually MARCH crisply onto the field, and hearing Cavies play off with the always awesome bass cadence Iowa. This is the stuff that makes it feel like the big leagues. Plus it adds extra entertainment and cool factor to the show. More of this, please. Change... the compulsory trombone feature thing. Nothing against the bone, but why must everyone have a trombone solo and feature? Did we really have to change the entire look and vibe of DCI for a slight change in timbre which is used in a very predictable way? Seeing trombones on a DCI field is like seeing a mini van on the grid of an Indy Car race. Now it looks like sousaphones may be the new trombones. Then electric guitar will be the new sousaphone. Eventually maybe this one obscure bright/kinda rude yet awesome sounding horn will make its way into the mix- it is crazy, pitched to key of G, only has a couple valves, super sexy though... a true hammer of the Gods- called a bugle or something like that.

the first year DCI showed finals live was a mess...they weren't prepared for the amount of volume they got. They kinda sorta admitted it too. But Flo remains deathly silent. I know at least 2 threads on their Facebook page were complaints from all over the country. if Flo has one GLARING issue over the years, it's being forthright, admitting yes, it was their fault, and customer service. That time Broken Arrow was a huge mess, DCI had to make a statement because Flo didn't.

Honestly, I would give up streaming completely to have the old PBS broadcast back. Maybe it's a nostalgia thing. Mike is right. This isn't an "us" problem...it's a "them" problem. That being said, I would boldly guess that DCI has no contingency plan, alternatives or the chutzpah to force flows hand. The best thing that could happen would be for flow to partner with one of the MANY wireless companies to give them some advice on capacity and stability IMHO. Just my .02

In no particular order, here are a few of the arrangements from the 2019 season that I really enjoyed watching and listening to: ”Oceans” by Goff Richards, Jersey Surf ”Wondrous Light” by John Estacio, Troopers “Truman Sleeps” by Phillip Glass, Mandarins “High Wire” by John Mackey, Seattle Cascades “Gabriel’s Oboe” by Ennio Morricone, Carolina Crown “Eleanor Rigby” by The Beatles, Bluecoats “Audivi Media Nocte” by Oliver Waespi, Santa Clara Vanguard “Chinatown” by Jerry Goldsmith, Pacific Crest ”Sudden Throw” by Olafur Arnalds, Blue Knights ”Backlash” by Simon Dobson, Madison Scouts ”Ghostlight” by David Glyde, Blue Devils ”Rock Island, 1931” by Thomas Newman, Cavaliers ”On the Shoulders of Giants” by Peter Graham, Boston Crusaders “Sora” by Yoko Kano, Blue Stars

I strongly suspect that Bluecoats’ merch sales give the org all the validation they need and want.

PLEASE have a better designed show.