NakedEye

Wow. 😂😂😂🤦‍♀️ They really didn’t bother to tell the announcer? 😂😂😂

BK seems considerably improved. There is some energy to the show now. But they need to focus one rehearsal block on moving/laying down those dots to get the timing consistent. SO noticeable when one arrives late or stays upright too long.

I believe all 3 days should be on Flo. They did that in the past, but just stopped early on Thursday. Same with the 65 at home - sharper picture and better color, plus friends, better food, non-gang bathroom. 😂 I'm glad they've had the theater situation for all the years they've offered it, but I wonder if it will go away eventually as they will probably try to steer more people to the Flo partnership. How much did it used to be just to stream Finals, $65 or more? Things evolve, and overall, this has been an improvement.

Oh good. Since it hadn't specifically said they were stopping early, that's what I was hoping. The theater used to be a great option, but spending multiple hours in an enclosed space with people screaming approval for the performances wasn't looking too appealing at the moment.

I'm not at all surprised they will no longer offer physical media, but not even offering a digital video download seems very odd, unless there is a licensing issue, or they plan to offer some sort of subscription service to view them in the future...🤔

I'm thinking that as well. UCF has a pretty good jazz program and it's their radio station. The dean of the Arts College is Jeff Moore, who I marched with in the band at UNT years ago. He was in SCV in at least '88, that I remember, and possibly a few years before that as well. They send a lot of kids to DCI and WGI, so so I think someone is currently influencing the playlist. 😀

My local jazz station is on 24/7 in my kitchen and the past few weeks they have been playing arrangements of both Tank and Moon River in rotation, so we will see if that is an omen or not. It's weird because, prior to the beginning of the season, I had zero knowledge of Tank whatsoever, and now I hear it multiple times a day. 😂🎶

2 years HS band color guard. 2 years college band color guard (UNT). Missed marching in DCI due to a live show not being held in my area until I had just turned 21 (ack!) I was cranky when I realized it had missed the cutoff by a whisker. However, I had blown out out both knees in HS guard, so there likely would have been issues from that on a full tour anyway. 2 years as Program Coordinator, Guard Caption Head & designer, Assistant Director (and Director the second half of each tour) with Lone Star, a Division III (open class) corps. Production Manager with Magic of Orlando ‘97. Production Designer - Magic in early 2000, before the (first) bankruptcy. Taught/designed multiple HS guards and winter guards.

I think the strong caption strength spread throughout several corps makes any prediction harder than ever this year. Even though it will be the same panel both nights and they are supposed to keep the previous night in mind when scoring Saturday, it's still not quite the same as the whole field performing together on the same night. There is so much potential for 4th, 5th or 6th to siphon enough tenths off to upset the Finals apple carts all around. I really have NO idea how it will end up.

I’ve thought from the beginning that Bloo has the “sleeper” show this year. Pun partially intended. Boston will be very clean and tight. BD will perform a ‘safe’ show (for them) at an extremely high level. If anyone is going to pull off the crazy epic surprise victory, it’s the folks in the clown pants, lighting up the crowd in their anniversary year.

You can blame Boston ‘17 for the lack of availability. 🔥

Wow. Ok DCI, your move. Your letter didn’t do trick. What now? The press is watching.

The voiceovers in the foreign language are a guy trying to explain the assembly instructions.

IKEA Bags. You never know when you might need to shop.

THAT’S it BD Guard! Much improved over Atlanta. Also, did they take out the reprise of the “dreams” spoken line that had been early on in the closer?

That whole center, fast tempo section that includes the keytar feature is just pure gold. The music, drill, staging, guard. I just love it.

I still can’t believe Cadets’ show is from much of the team who produced the Queen of the Stairs. It’s just a lovely product and they are really selling it. So appreciate the use of the entire field. I’ve been wanting someone to have the guts to lead the audience’s eye around the whole 100 yards for years, instead of keeping a centered composition at all times. Makes it so much more interesting.

The high cam is a bit stratospheric tonight, but the brief foray into multi land showed the extended extreme close-up guy is on duty tonight. 🤦‍♀️ Bright side: this seems like the clearest/loudest sound all season.

Is that a change? I feel like she was down a level before.

I wish we could give Troopers an extra 2 weeks to recover because this is the most exciting show in the 10-20 group.

As others have pointed out, the cringe-y stuff in 2017, the featured Angel in 2011 and 2012 were very much the product of one individual pushing his thumb onto the design staff. Despite their origin, the corps was primarily known for celebrating the work of American composers for decades. Even when they did an excerpt from Mass in 1990, it was restrained, unlike 2017. The weird message-y self-help stuff mainly happened in the later days, much to the detriment of the organization. But that chapter is now, thankfully, closed.

I don't find the show overtly religious in presentation, but it is the third somewhat religious-based theme they've had in the past few years: Salem Witch Trials, David & Goliath, and now this. It was enough to get my attention and wonder if this is a focused choice by the design team to lean into the Crusaders name and founding history of the corps as a source of identity. They don't go over the top with it, but it does seem to signal some intent.

Where is the review? Did it get buried in the show thread?

What will make it doubly interesting is they will likely be in a face off with a BD group - the majority of which also, for the first time in decades, has likewise not performed in a top finalist spot. The nearly all-rookie BD is something most of us have never seen before. They have done an absolutely incredible job all season, but that will be serious pressure for sure, and it’s a bit of a wildcard.

It is helping that in the new ending section, they are staged for impact. For whatever reason, and I’m sure there is one with a lengthy explanation, they spend much of the rest of the show really far away from the horns and drums, at large intervals. I could see it clearly in the high cam tonight and think that has contributed to them seeming to be lost on the field at times.