GEVisual

Based on what I saw/heard tonight, I'm thinking 1- BD 2- Coats 3- Crown Crown wins Brass, SCV wins drums, and BD takes everything else.

A very motivated Crown! WOW!

Most I have enjoyed Cavaliers in a LONG time. That was fantastic.

Just got home from the show. My $.02 . . . Bloo - so much fun to watch. Much better live. Kids are really starting to own the show and give it some personality. Timing demands at opening of show (they are spread all over the field) are handled exquisitely. Drums have cleaned up A TON. Guard is solid, but the book at times seems to be less complex than others. Unlike last year when it seemed to be a re-pasted of 2016, this show seems fresh. Could see this winning it all, and don't expect to see them lower than 3rd. Crown - The brass line is just incredibly good. Drums are solid and guard has improved quite a bit from what I saw in Orlando. They are layering more body involvement to better portray the thematic material. Not 100% sold on the GE yet. A colleague of mine described the show as "a lot of notes for the sake of playing a lot of notes". If they can find the emotional hook, it could contend for a medal. I could also see this easily in 6th if it's not engaging. Spirit - this is the most I've enjoyed Spirit in YEARS! The whole concept makes sense and the show is loaded with variety. They seem much more mature in performance this year all around. Would imagine they will be in that Scouts/Colts/Academy dog fight. Music City - This was good on video and is GREAT live. Easy to understand, superbly detailed, and the kids are performing the snot out of it. Crazy Train is a BLAST on the field. Kudos to this organization. This is a show I would want to see again. And the upside is huge! Surf - Pleasantly suprised. Nice brass moments and a more sophisticated design this year. Lots of dirt to clean, but nothing over their heads.

My original post was not clear. I realize they are different people. The burning witch at the end is what the audience loves.

Sorry for the delay folks, but just got in from the show. Here's my $.02 . . . . Cincinnati Tradition - Much better than past years. Drums are very good and guard is MUCH improved from last year, Flag book seems a bit overwritten at times and some performers struggle. Brass still has some folks sticking out at higher volumes, but is still noticeably better as well. Very pleasant to watch/hear. Surf - Big corps and ton of volume when they elect to do that. Brass might be their best caption right now. Very good soloists. Both drums and guard struggled at times. Some noticeable tempo issues in second half of show. Guard skirts seem more of a hindrance than a help. COOL musical selections and the members have a blast performing. Spirit - Drill and guard are WAY better this year. The concept still seems a bit "out there" and could use refinement/reinforcement. Never quite grasped what role the props had in the show. Good soloists as well from Atlanta. I like the new look. Much sleeker. Madison - Love the concept. If they can figure out a way to get the members to really sell this show, it will be dynamite. It's good, but could be great. Finals is within reach, but they need to commit to the role. You can tell the audience wants this show to take off. Guard seemed to have a good night. Boston - Believe the hype folks. This show is spectacular. The design work is so well detailed from beginning to end. Everything makes so much sense and the storyline draws you in and keeps your interest throughout. The guard is insane. Might be the best guard EVAH from Boston. Solid brass and percussion and the drill moves all over the place. Kids are really performing the snot out of this show and are getting credit for it. With some additional detailing and fine tuning, I could actually see this show in 5th and possibly challenging for 4th. The use of the vocalist is subtle and engaging. Just enough without overkill. When she burns, the place ate that up. Crown -Honestly, I struggled to get into the show. The brass is stellar, but I feel the show is a vehicle to demonstrate the technical brilliance but lacking a heart (flame away folks). The volcalist is nice, but then I feel like she is overused in the closer. The small stages with the pedaled set drums had me wondering "why" (as did some of the props/tarps). Whereas last year I was totally on board with their concept, I find myself struggling this year to even understand it. Visually, VERY clean at this point as well compared to others. GREAT night of corps at a great venue.

Have a seat on the 50 tonight and the weather should be ideal. Looking forward to it!

Since I have a few hours to kill I've post my thoughts/predictions. My opinion only . . . I don't flame people for what they think, so please extend the same courtesy to me. Yes, I know all the performers work extremely hard all summer and should be applauded (and I do that). But it is a competition, so here goes . . . Non-Finalists: Really loved some of the Open Class shows - very high level of creativity. Pacific Crest in particular was a highlight. Madison - all of the talent is there but they need to program better. Hope to see them rebound with a bang next season. 12th - Boston - Saw them in July and found the show to be extremely dull. Good for them for making the necessary changes to edge out Scouts for the final spot in finals. They truly earned this spot. I think they remain in 12th, but kudos to them for not packing it in after San Antonio. Coolest props of the year. 10th & 11th - Saw Crossmen in July and enjoyed the music book quite a bit. That said, after watching them again last night it didn't intrigue me as much. First viewing of Academy last night and was VERY impressed. Solid all around and a great conceptual vehicle to catapult them into the Saturday night show. Could feed off the audience hype and move up even further tonight. 7/8/9 - Blue Stars may have the most difficult and exposed program in this neighborhood. Crazy hard guard book which is coming together at the right time. If they can get a performance edge to them, they could finish at the top of this group. If they are even slightly off, they are relegated to 9th. Phantom plays the heck out of this show. One of the best ballads on the field this summer (and there are a crap-ton of good ones!). The visual program and guard programming seems a bit dated, but they perform the absolute snot out of it. The spread last night to 7th seemed a bit big, so not overly optimistic about their chances of moving up. Drums are fun to watch as well - GREAT performers. Blue Knights left me somewhat confused. I normally love their cerebral approach to programming, but this left me a bit flat. Maybe needs a second viewing. Very talented all around and I love the fact that they are willing to take risks. 4/5/6 - Cadets fell to sixth last night mainly due to the fact that they are still noticeably dirty in the visual caption. I completely buy this show all the way through the ballad, but they lose me in the closer. Kudos to them for challenging the performers with some of the most exposed drill of the summer. Guard continues to improve, but are sometimes overpowered (both musically and visually) by what the brass and battery are being asked to do. Deserving of the "most pages of drill rewritten" award for 2016. I honestly have not cared much for Cavaliers the past couple of seasons - and last night they were one of the highlights of the show. Well programmed and EXTREMELY well performed. Nice to see the green team get their swagger back. Was not shocked to see them move to 5th and if they can equal that level of performance tonight I think they stay there. The closer is one of the coolest things on the field this summer. SCV might have my favorite package of the year. It's just a show to sit back and watch develop - you don't need to look too deep to figure it out and they also perform the crap out of it. Best use of a mello section this year. The subtleties are what make it special. Congrats Vanguard - you get my fan favorite vote this season. 1/2/3 - Let's roll the dice again this evening and see what number shows up. I honestly thought Bluecoats would not be on top last night. The early electronic issues seemed to dull their performance level just a bit and it wasn't until mid-way through the ballad until I felt they got it back. Ballad features some of the tastiest trombone voicings of the season. They are asking the performers to do quite a bit in this show and the effort changes are numerous. Best moving corps out of Canton by a long shot. If they max it out tonight, I don't see anyone over them. Devils are another mystery to me. LOVED their show last year, but this one seems to be so similar to what we've heard over the past 4-5 years from them. Ballad climax is truly the highlight of the program (that soloist - WOW). Just perfection in arrangement and performance. I completely lose the guard in the show this year until the end when they are leveled on the props (which is VERY cool from a design standpoint). The program is missing something, but I'm not sure what it is. Still the best movers out there. I felt Crown's brass simply put on a clinic in semis. I'm amazed at the level of precision at every dynamic level. Sorry, but no one else plays like them. If they play like they did last night and are not up in brass performance, then something's wrong. Drums are better, but not at the level of Devils or Bloo. Guard was SMOKING in semis. The mass weapon statements are deadly accurate. Solid visually, but the program sometimes doesn't seem nearly as complex as others either in this neighborhood or even below them. If all three of these groups have their best performance tonight, I don't envy the panel. Just hope they rank them in the order that the performers are dictating. My order of finish: Bluecoats Crown Blue Devils SCV Cavies Cadets Phantom Blue Knights Blue Stars Academy Crossmen Boston The real winners tonight will be the audience. What a great year!

Bloo finished strong, but felt the wind was taken out of their sails in the front half of the program. Could easily see them 3rd tonight only to bounce back tomorrow. Both Crown and Devils brought it tonight.

Holy Mother of Brass !

Oh HELL yes Vanguard!

There is so much to love in this SCV show. Initial impact is powerful, and then the ballad is just gorgeous. Drill has lots of eye candy.

Thank you Cavaliers! Nice to see you back!

Regiment can still produce a ballad with so much finesse.

Sprung for semis today as well. As far as who has appeared so far - REALLY impressed by Legends . . . BIG brass sound. Spirit has cleaned up nicely since I saw them in July (especially the guard). SCVC - just a well put together production. Can easily see why they are scoring where they are.