wilme861
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Posts posted by wilme861
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48 minutes ago, MusicaCat said:
On other threads, there are a plethora of "I don't care for the show design" and "Bloo needs to get away from the hippie show design" comments. I've also noticed a difference in the crowd reaction in more conservative areas. I'm not a fan of the narration, but it's not the worst I've ever heard. This is a solid and highly entertaining show, especially when experienced live.
In our highly polarized political and social environment, I feel like some DCI fans are offended by a show concept that they consider anti-religion. Bloo also has a reputation of being one of the more inclusive corps (I personally love this about them).
Is the tepid response to this show an actual show design issue, a reaction to a message that some find offensive, or a combination of both?
Their show is anti-religious? Ok.
I’ve seen the show live a few times. At each show, the reaction overall was definitely pretty tepid compared to the shows that rank around it. They did get some good applause though throughout the show at different parts.
There’s nothing wrong with not being a crowd favorite. I don’t like the show in all honesty. But I’ve loved watching them perform it live each time.
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10 minutes ago, BWise said:
The guard is almost already in position so easy to get there and the show literally has a crown in it .. the rumor on the ground was they were not happy with it and pulled it out for tonight.
also heard rumors of a C2C .. 3 more shows til Indy so .. they better get busy if it’s coming.I've said it before, this design team is very familiar with implementing planned changes throughout the season all the way up to new stuff showing up at Indy. They've done it ever since 2017 (some changes are better than others). They aren't just for the audience but also for the members to keep pushing them. That's all I'm going to say 🤪
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Just now, Big Bird said:
Wow, when was the last time BD got 3rd in Visual Proficiency
Literally the thing I noticed first. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this as the “weakness” at BD
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10 minutes ago, kdaddy said:
Ranking the Westman Bloo era
1. 2014
2. 2019
3. 2022
4. 2015
5. 2016
6. 2023
7. 2018
8. 2017
9. 20131. 2015
The rest doesn't matter
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2 minutes ago, redheadedsop said:How do the Modern Corps make their Music when they don’t have 12 Contra/Tubas and 12 Keyboard instruments in the Pit area? Along with 2 Electric Pianos, for some.
After all, the most Professional of Musicians, Members of Symphony Orchestras, aren’t lucky enough to have that kind of support?
Back in the 70/80’s we weren’t so lucky, and had to produce listenable Music with 4-5 Contras, and only 2-4 keyboards, like Xylophones and Marimbas! How in the world did we make Music?
Sorry but it's not the 70/80's anymore...
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Crown is at Nazareth High School
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6 minutes ago, kdaddy said:
These two started it 19 years ago. I HOPE THEY'RE HAPPY!
Don’t forget Boston too!
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3 minutes ago, TheOneWhoKnows said:
I went to the 2019 Southeastern Championship in the Mercedes Benz... I loved it and at the time said finals would sound way better there than Lucas Oil
It's a great venue just in general. Can't beat those concession prices
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7 minutes ago, MadisonBandMan1 said:
Me thinks the crown set is going to be a “company front” crown set, as in the crown set moves forward in half time from the last hit to the end (Last 32 counts of the show).
I would say it’s set up as just a tweak of the final set as it is right now. It’s already pretty close to one with the guard outline and props in the back. They’ve made planned changes (not necessarily huge ones) right up into finals week under Subel so I would expect the same this year.
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2 hours ago, MarimbaManiac said:
In my experience across discussions I've had over the last 30 years, good faith critiques of BD usually result in one of three responses:
- Saying "you're just a hater who hates winners."
- Attacking your ability to make determinations by tearing down your history, experience, or other personal attacks.
- Demanding a detailed minute by minute dissertation supporting your views that they can try and tear apart.
If you run into any of these, it's because you've succeeded in triggering a BD fundamentalist.
19 minutes ago, MarimbaManiac said:Of course it's subjective, most things are in this activity. Everything I've stated is my opinion (as has everyone else), one I've honed over 30 years as a performer, designer, composer, and highly trained musician. You're free to disagree obviously.
Ironic…
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34 minutes ago, MarimbaManiac said:
Every other year there was a better designed, more exciting, or more interesting show on the field.
That’s not subjective at all. Funny enough, I can’t even think of a single champion at least since 2000 that fits all 3 categories for me…
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6 hours ago, BWise said:
Yeah not to be a pain but statistically.. rolling 7 day average
GE:
BD
BAC
Crown
Bloo
Viz:
BD
BAC
Bloo
Crown
so kinda off base from just the numbers but you do state in your opinion so fair enough ..
www.band scores.net
does all the math for you. Really BAC is the dark horse here .. and they might pull it off.
Yeah you are looking at the overall GE and overall Vis. I'm talking about each GE individually (the visual GE judges and Music GE judges) and the Vis Analysis and Music Analysis captions. Those are more of the "design" captions that cover the overall visual and music design which is what I was referencing. But again, I haven't looked at the detailed numbers so they could still prove me wrong but I'll stand by my opinion anyways 🤪
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56 minutes ago, WildcatMello said:
It's hard not to get excited seeing the outcome of tonight's scores. But BAC, Crown, and Bloo are so close at this point its easy to see each corps take the top spot(not counting BD) for the next few shows. I think we're past mid-season so it's going to come down to cleanliness and GE in the end.
In terms of GE, Crown has the most potential while BAC will spend most of their time left cleaning. I'm not sure about Bloo. I like them the least of the three. They've been good at cleaning and Ge recently. With this kind of show I'm not sure how you would go about adding more ge...
What's everyone's thoughts on that? GE carries the most weight yet that didn't work out for Crown in 2015 or Bloo in 2019.
It’s pretty different between all 3 corps to me. Bluecoats have the best visual program of the 3 (only behind BD overall in my opinion) but their execution isn’t there with it yet. Crown has the best musical program of the 3 and is executing the best out of the weakest visual program. Boston has a solid visual and musical program too so even though they won’t win either caption (music is their best shot), they’re going to be right on the heels of the others enough to nullify their advantages. Same applies to GE. The visual judges on GE are rewarding Bluecoats and the music ones are rewarding Crown. So who knows what’ll happen when all 3 get clean.
57 minutes ago, BWise said:I think it’s safe to say perc got low balled in San Antonio.. given the scores before and after that event.
Glad I have tickets to SE and NB .. gonna be a fun weekend.
And I never give up on Crown .. regardless of placement.I’m not sure I would call it low balled but I do think the numbers were misleading a bit. And that’s not specific to just Crown but all the lines. I think number management came into play as there are just so many good lines this year. I would be very curious to see Brooks score just 2 of those top groups head to head and see then what the spread would be. I think that’ll be a more accurate look at the true spread is in his eyes when he doesn’t have to worry about fitting another 6 or 7 lines in there. Either way, you would be crazy to not be thinking that this is Cavaliers’ Sanford to lose…
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1 hour ago, saxfreq1128 said:
The scores had been so close among 2-4 that it was bound to happen! Congrats Crown!
Also where is Gramps, i leave for a weekend and all hell breaks loose around here
I think people forget that a point lead overall isn't much at all. It's literally just a single tenth of a point in every sub caption (little different in a full panel). Boston, Bluecoats, and Crown have been basically a coin toss all season and they can go in any order on any given night. Also means BD could be caught (but let's be real, they won't). Just because Crown won tonight, doesn't mean they are now favorites the next time either and that Boston is now in the rearview mirror. Not at all.
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24 minutes ago, angelob said:
How is it that the Cavies place 8th in San Antonio but take high percussion????? Asking for a friend....
They are unreal right now. It's not even that they took 1st, it's that they took it by 0.3 over 2nd at that. Talk about a statement. And fully deserved to be honest.
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18 minutes ago, Cappybara said:
Not sure I understand the handwringing over the percussion. It's a new staff with a young line and they have occasionally been beating corps that they ended up losing to at San Antonio. Percussion is so close among the top corps, the margins for error are small. Just look at BD's percussion scores ever since they lost their tenor to the SA incident. Something like that can shake the psyche of even a line as experienced as BD and they have taken a couple losses since that occurred.
Give it some time
7th in percussion this year is not the same as 7th overall. Top to bottom, percussion is spoiled this year. And is anyone shocked that judges love Klesch/Jackson/Shah music? Music Analysis has been loving Crown this season. 3rd place Brass and 7th place Percussion but 1st and 2nd in MA.
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52 minutes ago, MusicManNJ said:
Ok... but if that is the case, why replace last year's percussion staff who were... 5th place? It was terrible last year to be 5th but this year is OK? Cant have it both ways. And is not clear they will even be 5th this year.
Maybe they just wanted the change to happen? I don't ever remember anything coming out saying the change was made because they were in 5th. Maybe Jackson/Shah had expressed interest and they wanted to try it out. Who knows. And for the record (you can go back and look yourself), I never once complained about Crown being 5th in percussion last year. Quite the opposite in fact. Like this year, percussion was crazy competitive last year. This year is just even more deep.
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1 hour ago, MusicManNJ said:
Percussion has been under performing most of the year. One night either way does not tell the story. But the trend is clear. Percussion will be LUCKY to finish where they did last year (5th). That is certainly not the outcome I want to see but it is clear to most they are still not at the same level as the top lines.
Nope. Not at all. Incredibly close to Cavaliers, Blue Devils and Boston and beat Bluecoats twice in the days leading up to San Antonio. If beating last years Sanford winner twice and being 0.1 behind Blue Devils isn’t hanging with the top lines then I guess this line just has to win the Sanford before they’ll ever be considered good by people.
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2 hours ago, DAvery said:
So you are saying when a brass ensemble is playing at full volume and there is a trumpet solo being mic-ed over it, the brass judges does not judge the solo, because without the mic the solo would not be heard?
It has NOTHING to do with the mic, it has everything to do with the fact that a brass judge will almost always go to the ensemble over a solo if they have to choose. Ideally the brass judge catches both but if the soloist is up front on side 1 and the rest of the brass are side 2, you can bet a lot of money on the judge being on side 2 with the ensemble.
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7 hours ago, KaiKai said:
I am so confused about all of the hype behind this show design... I know people are annoyed that I've commented on this before, but after seeing Phantom live in the midst of the other top 8 corps in San Antonio, I just don't understand how they are scoring so high in visual & GE...
It is such a boring show, visually. The visual design makes it feel so slow and it just drags on. Even the music loses impact when watching it in person, because the intensity of movement doesn't match the intensity with which they're playing. Granted, I don't think Phantom's had a super complex/highly entertaining visual program since 2010.I brought a couple people to the San Antonio show yesterday who had never seen drum corps before and they all unanimously agreed that Phantom had the most boring show of the last eight corps.
It's literally in the name of the show, exogenesis. The idea that life on earth didn't originate on earth but instead somewhere else and brought here. I personally think they do a great job of performing that. I've been to quite a few shows so far this year and Phantom has received quite a lot of reactions from the fans so they must be doing something right.
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3 hours ago, WildcatMello said:
There's an amateur video of their SA run from a really perspective. I don't know what it sounded like on Flo, but this amateur video made it sound like the percussion wasn't together quite a few times. It also caught it when a trumpet player held onto a note after the rest of the corps was cut off. In the video, the people looked at each other as soon as this happened. But man...the drill....I just don't think it does much that could reflect what was being played. But that's just my opinion. Some might say it does, but guess I'm missing something. The sound and choreography, along with the guards actions are easy to get for me, but the drill doesn't.
That said, I have no problem imagining them pulling ahead at Atlanta, especially since it's likely they'll premiere the Crown set. That should excite everyone more than any other performance they're put on yet. Should be an added ge boost and with the percussion being cleaner they could pass Bloo.
That trumpet hold over was also there the night before so not sure if that's intentional or just missed two nights in a row. I wouldn't get caught up with a crown set being added and that making a boost to the GE. The last time I remember that happening was in 2015 but there was a lot more to it than just the set. The fabric, the music, and the drill just all fell together so well to really increase the GE at the end of the show. Not saying they shouldn't add the set, just that the expectations that it is the key piece missing to jump them up the rankings are a little misguided.
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1 hour ago, DAvery said:
So you saying the brass judge somehow ignores the amplified brass coming out of the speakers? Are they required to stand on the opposite side as the speakers? Do they then not judge soloists that are mic-ed? I am trying to envision a place during a performance where someone could stand to NOT hear the speakers. Even watching the performance from the back sidelines, you can hear the audio coming from the speakers.
I understand they do not consider all the audio coming from the speakers in determining scores. I believe they can do this, they just currently do not. My question is why?
And would still everyone's answer to the 2 questions I posed earlier.
Question one: Can the brass judge distinguish which ensembles are mic-ing select players? While full field mic's are obvious, is this more recent phenomenon of the full time mic-ing select players within the ensemble even detectable?
I would think a judge could distinguish if an ensemble was mic-ing 20 players in the ensemble, if they listen to the audio from the speaker and compare it to the acoustic sound. If they can't, then question 2 is pointless.
Question two:. If there are two brass ensembles that are performing at the same level and one is mic-ed, who should be rewarded with a higher score?
Why would a Brass judge listen to the speakers (which like a backfield moment isn't the direct sound but an echo bouncing off everything) when they literally have the brass playing directly in front of them with NOTHING in between them? The same applies to a soloist. If they're around the judge, great the Brass judge can pick it up. But if the entire ensemble is playing or even just the mellos or trumpets or something, it's a VERY high chance they will listen to THAT instead of the solo as they want to see as much of the brass as possible during a show, not just one player.
Put simply, the Brass judge is judging the sound coming out of the HORN. Not a synthesized sound coming out of a speaker. Other judges judge that.
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31 minutes ago, MikeRapp said:
Crown seems to be in a literal no win situation. Their style and go to ideas are their unique identity. But that identity seems to hold them up from landing at the top.
I do love this book btw. It’s amazing. Easily my favorite since Inferno.
Yep completely in ###### if you do and ###### if you don't territory. Try something different, they get ripped for not being "Crown". Do something "Crown" and they're being too formulaic and repetitive. Sounds like when people talk about BD...(and Bluecoats and Boston for that matter)
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2 hours ago, Chief Guns said:
When is the last time ScoJo watered down a book? 2016 maybe??
I don't think it needs to be watered down. I think that's the Broken City fan in me coming out though. They've put out multiple lines where if they nail it, it will be heavily rewarded but if it isn't nailed down, it could hurt. I'm a big fan of high risk, high reward. Keep pushing Johnson, these kids will get there.
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Bluecoats 2023
in DCI World Class Corps Discussions
Posted
Learn something new everyday. I would be shocked if many people in the audience had any idea at all about this though.