CrownLeadSop

Something something best hornline I've ever heard something something

I said this after the theater premier - of all of the contenders, they're the one with the least characterization, most traditional pit "sounds" (though maybe the loudest, admittedly) and drill reminiscent of the early 2000s.

This was always the laugh I had when people compared '14 Crown to its predecessor. They're just not the same animal. I think '13 Crown and '14 BD will go down as two of the all-time great champions.

Yeah, simultaneous demand is what will hold that show back. Lots of park and blow, and they start to sound "human" again when they're moving in anything but half-time. But hey, what do I know? They will win Visual GE and Brass and Music Analysis, anyways.

The silence is very generally effective. Low synth is a little loud, maybe even louder than Cadets' pit mics. There are some really cool "glamour" moments featuring the individual sections (specifically trumpets) - seems like a fun book to play.

There is a lot of park and blow in this show.

There's a lot of singing in drum corps this year.

No problems here streaming the show and CrownBrass warmup at the same time, thankfully.

I'm not in love with the way Dies Irae slows into a mini ballad and then turns around and gets back to run and gun drum corps, but I figured it was because they were going for a particular GE effect there - anything on that front?

BD 09. The only corps we didn't beat all year. :(

Janina Gavankar doing a live Periscope from the lot. SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! https://www.periscope.tv/w/aF8qdjI3Mzk4Mzd8Mjk5Mzg3MjZgdyHKZ-lkbWSD22gRA-BPxtgluXiPQN9KQYNyyKz5Rg==

Because Brandt Crocker takes pride in his work and is a legend. Hearing his voice in the preshow in 2009 was one of my summer highlights.

The only thing that could make the preshow to drum feature transition more goosebumpy is Brandt Crocker's voice in the space right before the "Abandon" fabric.

Crown wins brass and guard tonight, third in drums.

Crown first in visual and brass, last in percussion, per the broadcast.

Top 4 is going to be a dogfight at Finals I hope. Haven't seen Devils but the likelihood they fall far from Bloo, Crown and Cadets is very low.

The electronics are just so loud. Music writing reminds me of "sound effects" early 2000s Cavaliers.

I wonder how many will find it ironic that of all the title contenders this year, the Cadets could be the group with the most straight-ahead marching and least characterization. The pit is REALLY loud, though.

The front half is way strong, the back half has a way to go to catch up. This seems like the norm for everyone but the Blue Stars, who were way stronger at the end.

Cavaliers brassline is ballin out.

I don't know anything about drums except that Crown's sound a lot better.

Lawyers.

This is why Game of Thrones diverges significantly from the books, and it's okay.

I think a better way to phrase it is "Why not use the authentic sound if the tool is available?" I hope it gets turned down considerably, but that's an ensemble issue that they have not spent a whole ton of time on as they really have been trying to get the show on the field. I'm sure by July there will by some better semblance of balance there. The nice part is they're using the brass choir sound to fill the role of the organ in the ballad. Opinions can be misinformed. They often are. You see it every day in mainstream media and politics on both sides. People see what they want to see and largely look for ways to use observations to reinforce their viewpoints (simple comfort vs. discomfort argument). Re: your description of "not drum corps" - I think people are just misinterpreting you. I think you're more like the Belgian chocolate maker that says in a particular tone that Hershey's is "not chocolate." That tends to rub people the wrong way (which you may or may not care about, but you're on a discussion board, so you're going to hear about it either way). However, amplification is part of the makeup of current corps design, performance and evaluation (now we're going ~meta~), so it is drum corps, at least for now, and since its introduction to the activity. Whether or not you agree that it should be is a wholly different story for a wholly different topic, time and place (for the four-hundredth time, or so). The current iteration of The Concord Blue Devils has overwhelmingly set the standard for visual performance and design for a decade, following the precedent set before by what the Cavaliers were doing in the early 2000s, and so many countless others before. That's not something I consider an opinion, it's an interpretation of scoring trends. Also, let's not forget that there's more than "marching and maneuvering" on the sheets - drum corps are asked to perform a very, very wide set of skills and a varying repertoire over their allotted performance window. A simple glance at the sheets, especially those already completed by judges, is pretty strong evidence of this. Again, whether you agree that this should be the way it is does not much matter, because it is the way it is, at least for now. Lastly, leave Britney alone. :)

Couple early thoughts so I have something to come back to: It's a time-honored (at least back to 2006ish) Crown tradition of basically fully re-writing the closer. It's almost not a point of evaluation at this point as it will change so drastically. Love: The look of the unis (guard and corps proper, both) from an ensemble point of view, the pre-show, the banner, the ballad, the ballad scrim. I prefer this ballad to anything Crown has done in a very long time, maybe ever. Wild Horses is up there, but this may supplant it. Can't wait to see: More engaging transition from drum solo following pre-show into Dies Irae, developed closer, obvious growths in endurance and performance quality. The show most reminds me of Crown 2008 - a loose collection of ideas centered around a theme that just begs for season-long development, resulting in a pretty fantastic vehicle. I really appreciate that this is less of a technical gun show for the brass than the 2014 (and to some degree, 2013) show was. Track and field style brass books are fun, but we know they can play just about anything - it's good to see that they know it, too, and have backed off to get to some great "sound" moments while still showcasing some pretty wild literature. I don't know if it has the legs to win and I don't really care either way, it's just a fun program and I've been begging for "dark" for a long time. Black on black with a splash of red and this content is just what the doctor ordered. NE Brigand - re: Avon, there is a lot of design team crossover between the two programs, and the connection has been drawn before (Avon 2004, a show about football, in many ways ended up serving as a test bed for Crown 2007).