Tony L.

Two cool aspects of this years show: (1) the overall color pallete is not unlike their last Beattles show way back when and they end with the same line "and in the end . . ."; and (2) nice flashback to the last time they used a similar concept with the "drum speak" when they did the whole tabla thing. Nice to see some tributes to the past.

I will be at Elmwood outside of New Orleans. And of course that theater has a full bar, it is New Orleans after all!

I would have this way up on the list for sure. Still remember seeing it early that year on the West Coast and it was one of a few shows that I saw live early on and knew I was watching that season's champions. In my defense,, I did not see BD that year until much later in the season. And we know how that ended up . . .

Any word on performances? I might have to go to Allentown this year! And the Bluecoats have announced their performance at Semis in 2022! Seems like something needs to be announced soon.

Still think a Vanguard show based on the Death of Klinghoffer could be amazing. Oh, and the Mandarins doing the Cultural Revolution Ballet from Nixon in China would be cool too!

Bump. I think this is more accurate than the FloMarching poll.

With respect to the Ocean show and La Mer, SCV 1996 (I believe) was pretty good!

I think it could be interesting to see Mandarins do a show based on the Butterfly Lovers or the ballet, Raise the Red Lantern. Beautiful music and a powerful storyline that would be a different show from the past two years. Also, still would love to see SCV do a show based on the choruses from The Death of Klinghoffer. Such great and powerful music!

Two kind of obscure references: Glory from Cincinnati (Div Ii) in 2000 had an amazing soloist during the Copland show of American songs. The Willow Song ballad was the best soloist I heard all year. Also, Magic of Orlando always had strong bari solos, but the show in 1995 (I believe) was awesome.

Wow! Still not a single vote for Madison. That is amazing! Just further confirmation of what a miss that show was! Great talent, but man that show just laid there.

That bodes really well for them. To get young and old (myself being an old head) alike is a tough thing to do these days!

I think the biggest surprise is the love for Music City. I personally thought it was one of the best overall constructed show and it had plenty of accessible moments for the crowd. Interested to see what they come up with next year.

Very interesting to see how much consistency there is between all of the picks. Seems like Mandarins, Music City, Cadets, SCV, Boston and Bluecoats were overall top 6?

I was waiting for someone to get the reference!

Nothing special here, just after all of the shows performed in Indy and the overall amazing quality of the performances, which 6 were your favorite? Not necessarily Best, just your favorite. Mine: Cadets, Bluecoats, Mandarins, SCV and Music City. Special recognition for Troopers and the Sacramento Vanguard Cadets!

You actually do not even need to go back that far. I think one of the best LOUDEST horn lines that I have ever heard live was the 1999 BD. And I am not even a BD fan generally. But, when you get a line like that, it is just amazing!

I really miss the days of going to new cities for Finals! And while I can understand why we have an Indy centric schedule now, I think in the long run having a rotation of cities would be best. Turn regional cities into Finals cities on a rotating basis and simple rework the schedule. No problem keeping them indoors, but Indy is Indy. This past week, I think we did LITERALLY the exact same schedule as the year before. Something new and fresh would be good for the activity!

So my concern echoes some of the comments earlier that design tends to go in trilogies (whether defined as such or not) and what gets close in year one, then wins in year 2, will seem a bit stale in year 3. I am thinking of most recently the Bluecoats, Tilt, DownSide Up and Jagged Line. We shall see.

I think the overall talent level up and down the lineup of corps was probably the best it has ever been. That being said, I do not think the overall show designs matched that talent level. Some really strong talent from several different corps were saddled with some clunkers for shows. So I would say No.

Congratulations Mandarins! Such a class organization and all of those past champions and the strong history at any level of competion will enter the field on Saturday night. I can't wait to see it! Keep pushing!!!

Quick reaction to tonight. Vanguard was awesome. Bluecoats are closing in. BAC's guard is on point. Cadets are unbelievably effective! Mandarins should climb! And that Troopers performance today was everything -- one of the best from them ever! And Music City has one of the most entertaining shows of the year. So glad to have seen them twice this week! And we are off to finals!

Bump. And the seats are in 340, row 1 seats 3-4. Still interested.

I will be in the first row of Section 340 all week. But we would be in terested in swapping tickets for one night in Section 240 or so. Anyone interested in exchanging tickets for one night? Let me know.

I have two seats in 340 all nights. But am interested in sitting in a different level on either prelims or semis. Preferrably in the 200s. Let me know if interested and we can meet in Indy to exchange.