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Showing content with the highest reputation on 06/22/2022 in all areas

  1. WOWWW! JD Shaw is a masterclass at arranging for drum corps! First impressions: 1st Movement: what a beautiful entrance. I love how the sound builds and grows into those almost haunting chords. That would sound good starting backfield and turning right as the final chord hits! Can't wait to see how they stage this. Awesome opening and definitely a Regiment sound. Gives me a sense of longing and emotion right from the start. 2nd Movement: Ok...I know I'm not speaking on my own here when I say that this piece is my favorite! Some of the best drum corps arranging I've heard in a LONG time. Right now this is my favorite piece! That might change as the season goes on...but how could you not love this?! It gives me an ET or Star Wars vibe right up front. Such a positive and uplifting piece with tons of great brass licks. I've already got it stuck in my head. 3rd Movement: The soloist and the effects from Bari to trumpet echoing in the distance is such a cool effect! Very ambient and way cool. That feature leads into a much more jazzy/neo-classical piece with a lot of percussion features. This piece was cool and will demonstrate the corps range of musical proficiency. I'll need to listen to it a bunch more times to get into it, but I'm hoping it matures. I do not like how it ends. They all hit a unison note really loud but then it kind of dies out with little effect to start the ballad. Hopefully they rewrite that for more effect. 4th Movement: The Ballad. BEAUTIFUL chords. It builds up twice after soloists play and will be nice to see how this progresses. Very beautiful but short ballad for Regiment this year. Great showcase for brass...percussion play throughout as well which is interesting. They play a lot of notes this year! 5th Movement: A very bright and happy piece to end! It's classical at it's best...I can see a company front in there about halfway through as the tempo slows down. My favorite part is the ending. You hear those Bari and Mello rips in the end?! Classic JD Shaw. Definitely love the ending. I'm sure they will add to it for that extra show boost in the end. I really hope we see a Top 5 finish this year! The competition is so tough these days. It will take a lot of cleaning and some visual surprises. The Music effect is there though and I'm so happy to see that back. The uniforms look amazing as well!
    11 points
  2. At this point in the season, the only thing that is clear is they are much improved and people are saying very positive things about them.
    8 points
  3. I like all corps equally, but some corps more equally than others.
    7 points
  4. I think im probably going to be the only one on here to die on the hill that the percussion judge belongs on the field
    7 points
  5. My first impression upon hearing them was PHANTOM IS BACK! I agree completely, the sound from the hornline sounds very mature, in both performance and warm-ups. I think JD and the brass staff have elevated the hornline to such a place where they are well ahead of their early season progression curve, when compared to the years in recent memory. Can't wait to see the show on the field, and plan for those special Regiment moves/visuals in the show throughout the season!
    7 points
  6. Not gonna lie yall.... I have missed talking to all of yall. It's good to see everyone come back for another summer.
    6 points
  7. Cavies score a 100 for being awesome!! Lol!! I'm excited yall!
    6 points
  8. I’ve decided I’ll be Switzerland.
    6 points
  9. When I didn’t see a single complaint about Bloo competing with a field full of chairs in 2018, I knew things had changed (somewhat). Only took a decade! I kinda miss those old debates, honestly. I appreciate that people find BD more appealing now than they used to, but the troll in me craves a Through a Glass Darkly Part 2 — you know, stir the pot a little, start a DCP war.
    6 points
  10. So great to hear Phantom's brass back! As for Boston, although hard to tell, given the lousy audio quality, their book seems rather dark, and not that well arranged. But, we'll have to wait till Detroit to get a better measure of the show.
    6 points
  11. Yeah, I am glad I do not follow him on any social media. I can't believe he is still whining about the corps. I don't care if the Cadets take 25th place. I will be rooting for them and hope they are concentrated on giving the members the best musical and visual experience in a safe environment.
    6 points
  12. 2014 BD was the greatest drum corps show I ever saw. I saw them on that cow pasture field in Metamora and said “ain’t nobody beating that”.
    6 points
  13. HO. LEE. COW. i hope this translates well to the field, because that standstill was boss, sounds like they want to kick the door down and force their way back in the top 5
    6 points
  14. I did the same thing - listened to the full recording of Boston's concert in the park and just now, Phantom's. Just from a personal, musical preference, I wasn't that into Boston's music but I loved Phantom's. Don't hit me, Boston fans.
    6 points
  15. I saw 2014 BD in Glendora CA, in late June. I remember thinking that whole DCI season, this is like the 1992 Dream Team USA Basketball taking on Angola in the Olympics. I also remembered feeling bad for the Bluecoats and Tilt. They had a gold medal show, but they were like the innocent person that gets caught in the crossfire, wrong place wrong time......or in Bloo's case, wrong year. Nobody on earth was beating Felliniesque.
    5 points
  16. Good point about the interest given BD took 2021 off. I agree. I don't think the skipped year for BD, SCJ, and Crown means much for those corps' competitiveness. But at this point, we're all just speculating about it. I could be a little or massively wrong.
    5 points
  17. I agree Boston is a hard read for me. It is very dark and it doesn't do anything for me musically. Listening to Phantom really got me excited to see them on the field.
    5 points
  18. lemme guess …… it’s blue. am i close?
    5 points
  19. Oh yum! Thank you for the video!
    5 points
  20. 2010-2013 was highly entertaining if you were a BD fan on these forums. ABBD Crowd was in full effect. Things definitely changed for the better in 2014.
    4 points
  21. It’ll be this season’s show thread drinking game. “When someone comments on the tall tenor, drink!”
    4 points
  22. Same... but The Cavaliers though... lol!!
    4 points
  23. I have many thoughts 🙂
    4 points
  24. I’m old enough to remember when he found the Lord. The Lord got ditched pretty quickly after he got off with a wrist slap. Funny how that happens…🤔
    4 points
  25. No offense to Boston, but Ryan George does not have anything on JD Shaw. Shout out to the members of Phantom as well as all the techs and instructors for bringing Shaw's arrangements to life so early on in the season
    4 points
  26. Again, EVERYONE (to channel my inner RAMD) is magnificent at this time of year. Soon enough we will learn who has been chosen to be more magnificent, & who has been chosen to be less magnificent.
    4 points
  27. At 46 pages, this corps-dedicated discussion is by far the most posted. Didn’t that used to be a Cadets thing?
    4 points
  28. A far better recording of the show music...Thanks BFDTV!
    4 points
  29. Just listened to a recording of Phantom Regiment at their Rockford Park concert. Oh My!!! Not the best recording (from the side) but that brass line is the REAL DEAL! We'll have to see how the whole thing comes together on the field but that music book is super well written, very demanding, beautiful, and majestic at the end. They sound primed and ready to go. I hope that carries over to the field as they build their endurance because that is a potential top 5 or higher brass line folks.
    4 points
  30. Look I know Bloo got (a whoppingly low, embarrassing, cancel them) SECOND PLACE in 2014, but cmon lol… If we’re gonna say corps have to play the game to win favor, we have to admit that Bloo is playing the game — and very well! And you can’t say it’s not about performance when, if anything, performance can decide a championship (Crown percussion 2012) or help an iffy design sail into the top two (for example, [redacted]). Anyway, last decade+ gave us champions by Cadets, Crown, Bloo, and multiple eras of BD. You can’t boil those all down to a certain set of unwritten rules about certain styles being favored to others, and those shows also prove that performance matters. A lot. And if you broaden that to top 3, top 5, top 7, year in and out, I personally see a lot of range, all for corps that are getting rewarded by judges. I mean it’s wild when you think about just the last decade and a half. Through a Glass Darkly and Angels/Demons won back-to-back! It’s wild. Babylon and Ghostlight won back to back. Are Spartacus and 1930 even from the same planet? — yet they’re back-to-back winners too. Crown and Cadets notably won with minimal props at a time when most of their competition was turning the field into IKEA showrooms. And there’s no way you’re telling me E=mc^2 wouldn’t be a competitive show today. I think it would. Spartacus, too.
    3 points
  31. 3 points
  32. I'm mostly impartial. I like everyone with a show I like. I like parts of every corps. I also dislike parts of many corps shows.
    3 points
  33. I really don’t care about scores they’re irrelevant IMO. What’s matters is placement and spread! Even if the spread is a tenth, no judge will tell you how to make that up. Just ask a judge what is it that makes up that tenth difference? You will get the deer in the headlights look.
    3 points
  34. Bluecoats will win. No doubt they are still in top 3 level.
    3 points
  35. Ooooh yes. That was very nice!
    3 points
  36. I didn’t know it until later on here but that was the night Animal Farm took off for BAC too. They did that move at the start where the block jumps over ten yards and it was apparently a fix to judges feedback that went well. We were sitting high and not far from the box and I heard a judge loudly enthusing over it as “Oh! That’s new and a clever fix!” But yeah I left there with no doubt that BD won and would win the whole season with that show. I expected 2 points as Bloo had so dirty feet still whole BDs movement was insanely clean for early July.
    3 points
  37. I listen to both performances I prefer phantoms over Boston’s at this point and will probably feel the same come August. One thing I will point out is, is phantoms musical book complex enough to compete with The big boys? Because it sounded like Boston’s book is far more technical at this point.
    3 points
  38. You cheer them on loyally, not demanding that others think the same way and then getting hurt when they don't. For me, 2019 changed my attitude a bit. I wanted The Cavaliers to medal, but that show was so enjoyable – so powerful, too – it made me realize I'll gladly take something that actually moves me over a particular placing.
    3 points
  39. I'm clueless about the scores. But the order seems right. Maybe kind of interesting to me to see where Blue Stars, Phantom, and Boston end up relative to each other. I'd say Bluecoats and Cavaliers definitely. Then Crossmen definitely. Mapped the driving route to Detroit! Inside a week now.
    3 points
  40. I think I set a personal record for the number of Likes dished out on this thread.
    3 points
  41. I was one of those that usually only liked the old 70s and 80s BD shows. A few caught my eye in the 90s, like 90, 93, 94, 97 and 99, but they didn't blow me away like some in the 80s except for maybe 1997. Well, 1990 blew me away too for different reasons and I love the brass ensemble sound that year and the charts were super fun. But I usually wanted them to hit me again with one of those classic 1982 like jazz shows musically (not visually). 1982 is my favorite BD show. In the 2000s I enjoyed 02, 03, and 07. When they shifted direction visually in 2008 I was intrigued, and 09 was nice too. But it was 2010 that pulled me in again big time. Even though the show was getting golf claps at most shows, I thought they had reached new levels of visual design, staging, and it seemed their marching execution went to a whole new level. Couple that with their always amazing sound and performance scores and it became clear we could be in for an incredible decade. I loved 2011. What a brass line. I was not as wild about 2012 (which I think you and I have discussed) and 2013 was solid. But 2014 just blew me away and every year since they have really made me take notice. In reality it is easy to root against (or hate) a corps that has won as often as they have. Think Boston Celtics, LA Lakers, NY Yankees, etc. It's understandable since it is a competitive activity. But I do like the fact that most people do respect the heck out of this corps not only because they are good and design well, but because it is a great organization that sponsors a lot of ensembles, not just the A corps. But there is no doubt in my mind that the way they have programmed, designed and taught over the last decade has really inspired a lot of people to the process and the obvious excellence...and that has created a lot of interest in this mighty and revered drum corps.
    3 points
  42. Maybe it's just me on this, but design-wise the back to back Melillo is a "pacing" issue IMO. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of his works-having programmed several of his writings and utilized his system of wind band techniques, including pad bass [with VERY specific directions on equipment as well as staging for optimal blend] and have listened/own many of his recorded works, and have enjoyed especially CC's use of his music bitd-which brings me to: If a composer has such purposeful design in the sequence of a work [He is a well-known Fibonacci Phan (see what I did)] "Wait of the World" being the full album [props to The Marine Band of The Royal Netherlands Navy for excellent rendering!], then I suggest placing two pieces from the same work normally separated by two contrasting selections (by composer intent), in a back-to back sequence diminishes the musical impact EACH may aesthetically achieve. No diss on the arrangement OR performers, I think it is effective and exciting! I just think when using more than one composition from a composer for a show design, extra consideration might be valid in selection and sequence. What do I know, maybe they spoke with Stephen Melillo gathering ideas? I'll I end how I started. Maybe it's just me on this. Happy to see momentum from this corps! That's good for the activity!
    3 points
  43. Thank you BFDTV! Much better quality there. That Bari Soloist is off the charts. I thought on first read that many of the sounds where added effects, NO that dude is literally up in that register, Lip trilling, Flutter tonguing his ### off. Can't wait to see that Section performed on the Field. Ground-breaking stuff for DCI.
    3 points
  44. No doubt it was. I think there is a lot of interest in the Blue Devils this year primarily because they did win the last championship and also because they have not fielded a show in 2 years. Despite how much I loved the Cadets show last year during a short exhibition season I think Cadets posts are quite a bit less because people are not sure what to expect as they try to rebound from their lowest placement (9th in 2019) since 1980. I am personally very excited to see everyone, but I think Blue Devils (who have been so innovative and always so sound in all captions) are drawing a lot of intrigue. And admittedly I am very interested to see where BD goes this year. As of now this show excites me. I have not seen anything but the concept seems very cool to me and I can't wait to see them. Of course, now that I got a taste of that Phantom Regiment brass line last night I am super pumped to see them too.
    3 points
  45. WOW! Oh my is this a potential top 5 brass line I am listening to? I know the competition is going to be fierce but this music book is outstanding, musical, and very demanding. Baritone solo at the beginning was smooth and beautiful. The initial trumpet entrance after reminded me of John Williams' score to E.T. The music is lovely and powerful and majestic...all those things you want in Phantom. Can't wait to see the full show, and if this brass and percussion book grow and gel as I suspect they will then this will be one fantastic music ensemble. For the brass line in particular I see no reason why they cannot achieve top 5, maybe higher. I'll need more of a read on the percussion but this brass line is the real deal. Go Phantom!!!!
    3 points
  46. You might be right musically. They’d not put in the deal where they removed the horns from their mouths while on the ground for it though I don’t think. I remember the whole crowd just “What just happened?” And then we’re all talking about different things in the last 15 seconds of the show. Haha! BD came on and “whoa. There a lot of trumpets.” And “wait. Was that a tear?” Then snap. BD got past it and the pauses and entrances in La Strada just left you gasping.
    2 points
  47. Tune of the show could be “Can’t take my eyes off of you”. Got a big reaction from the crowd at CIP.
    2 points
  48. I don’t know, Poppy. Did you fall down and hit your head this morning? Even if you don’t like Boston’s musical show, they are still really, really good. I don’t think the spread will be that wide. Bloo is still an unknown entity, even considering Bruckner8’s competitive inertia theory.
    2 points
  49. I really, really liked last year's BAC show. I'm not feeling this one... yet.
    2 points
  50. I have only two words. Um, WOW.
    2 points
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