I'll start at the top an work down, and for corps that did both days, I'll comment on both.
Bucs....When I first saw the show I thought they may have bitten off more than they could chew. Even at prelims, I recognized the incredible demands placed on the performer. I heard people saying "it's not hard being on a ladder playing"....bull ####. The Bucs definitely went the thinking mans route with the show this year, and nailed it with the intellectual and aesthtic parts of effect. They had some moments where they hit on the emotional, but the way the musical design flowed didn't allow some of those moments to come out the way they did last year. I felt, especially in Bacchanale they avoided some of the more familiar parts of the song on purpose, and that was ok. Being able to sit and watch the show without taking notes really allowed me to catch a lot of things...little moments and detailing you don't see at the DCA level. I mean who in DCA has the drumline running a crazy serpent drill during a percussion feature, while at most getting to the forte level dynamically? Usually you see thatkind of thing and they're playing a lot of 8th notes and high sticking stuff, not all kinds of flams and diddles.
After prelims I still wasn't sure, and thought maybethe spread between Bucs and MBI was too big. Finals sealed the deal. This was the show Bucs aimed for all year, and they delivered. I mean watching the sequeantial rifle toss while on the ladders, then throwing them to the members behind them, getting down and then trading the rifles for sabers captivated me. I'm a drummer man, guard #### shouldn't be reeling me in LOL! Maybe not my favorite show of the run, but finals night the Bucs left no doubt whatsoever they remain the corps to beat in DCA. When your worst placement caption is 2nd, and you're .2 out in each, that says a lot!
Thanks for the review Jeff. And I can attest to the fact that playing on a ladder is not as easy as it looks. Especially after running around for ten minutes. :cool:/>