BoyWonder1911

I started to make my list of top 10 and I stopped when I got to 15 and still had more to go. It's impossible. There are so many good shows from the past. Cadets 2000, 2005 Cavs 2002 SCV 1999 Regiment 2008 Bluecoats 2016 Crown 2013 Star 1991, 1993 Blue Devils 2014 Many more deserving.

Hasn't Crown been kicking Bloo's butt in percussion all season? And now all of a sudden they beat them? Who was the percussion judge? This doesn't make sense. I'm not a homer of any of these corps but it still makes me wonder about some things when we get scores that don't make sense. Way to go, BAC!

We haven't seen Spirit yet. Looking like Mandarins will finally join the Saturday night festivities. That would be great to see. It was great to see Academy there a couple years ago. Tears will be shed. But then again...we haven't seen Spirit. Not going to automatically count someone out before they even get a chance to prove what they are bringing this year, however unlikely it may or may not be to make a jump.

1) SCV will win out. 98 2) BD 97 3-6 Cavs Bloo Crown Boston 93-95 7 + 8 Cadets / BK 90-92 Everyone else under 90. Guessing BStars, Phantom, Crossmen, Mandarins in that order, 85-88

Meh. I've never been a BD fan. I'll give them "props" where it's due. You don't score 99.65 and not be legendary. With that being said, Bluecoats were great that year with Tilt, but I'd say any other year and that gets 3rd. Kinetic Noise was superior to Tilt in almost every way, and that got 3rd, so that goes to show the BD really deserved a big gap between them and a 2nd place Bloocoats. 99.65... I don't know if it's right or wrong to compare those scores to Frameworks or Zone, but those two shows/performances were also just as legendary. I listen to all 3 of those shows on a regular basis, along with Kinetic Noise and another 40 or so audio performances while trucking. I prefer Kinetic Noise to listen to above the others. Phantom Regiment 2003 is another favorite of mine to listen to. Along with 2011 Blue Devils. The Beat My Heart Skipped. I'll go ahead and partially retract my comment about that 2014 Blue Devils.

I don't care how humid it is. 109 degrees is 109 degrees. I don't know how them folks at Academy do it. They should automatically get an extra 3 points at every competition for dealing with that.

I said this in another thread and I'll say it again here. These judges have tabulation sheets that go over many aspects of judging in that particular caption. Detailed questions are asked and answered and judgments are put into a specific category of how well you did x y and z and how well in those subcategories of ratings/boxes you did x y and z. The score sheets from what I remember them looking like, are pretty specific, and for captions other than GE, which I understand is more subjective by nature, scores can and should be taken literally and should be able to be compared from one show to another. They by nature of the captions and the specificities in the tabulation sheets are seemingly much more objective, yet we maintain that this isn't the case, and thus the reason for my consternation. The only seeming cause for discrepancies in scores across shows would be a judge sampling different parts of the same caption of the same corps on different days. Or that one judge might "interpret" a tabulation sheet differently than another. Two judges Interpreting the same show differently when the sheets are specific, tells me one judge must have been wrong. When the spread is like .3 or more in that caption. Finals weekend should have at least two judges in every single subcaption, and 3 each in GE. Raise ticket prices by $2 each and that should be more than enough to pay for the extra cost. I'm going to go ahead and assume, for the time being, that these 3 judges judged these two shows the same, and that their captions can indeed be compared. Logic would dictate that given the specific nature of their captions. Especially Lo on brass and the one on visual analysis.

Regarding scores going down from semis to finals for the bottom finals tier, I imagine they want to have more room to separate corps. If they started with 12th place getting 90, by the time they get to the final 3, they might have put enough gap between earlier performances that the winner might necessarily have to go over 100 points (or 99.65 or whatever) in order to correctly space the gap between competitors. This is also why scores cannot be compared from one year to the next. And why Cadets 2005 and Cavs 2002 are still the best shows ever done. But that's not the point. The point is that scores should be more objective. I think the bell curve system is wrong. We'll never see all 12 finalists get 90+ points although I'd very much like to see that happen. A 98 point 1989 SCV probably wouldn't be able to compete for a title nowadays no matter how timeless that performance was. Or a 1989 PR if you preferred that show. These judges have tabulation sheets that go over many aspects of judging in that particular caption. Detailed questions are asked and answered and judgments are put into a specific category of how well you did x y and z and how well in those subcategories of ratings/boxes you did x y and z. The score sheets from what I remember them looking like, are pretty specific, and for captions other than GE, which I understand is more subjective by nature, scores can and should be taken literally and should be able to be compared from one show to another. They by nature of the captions and the specificities in the tabulation sheets are seemingly much more objective, yet we maintain that this isn't the case, and thus the reason for my consternation. The only seeming cause for discrepancies in scores across shows would be a judge sampling different parts of the same caption of the same corps on different days. Or that one judge might "interpret" a tabulation sheet differently than another. Two judges Interpreting the same show differently when the sheets are specific, tells me one judge must have been wrong. When the spread is like .3 or more in that caption. Finals weekend should have at least two judges in every single subcaption, and 3 each in GE. Raise ticket prices by $2 each and that should be more than enough to pay for the extra cost. I'm going to go ahead and assume, for the time being, that Saucedo and Lo judged these two shows the same, and that their captions can indeed be compared. Logic would dictate that given the specific nature of their captions. Especially Lo on brass. Ok I've said my peace/piece.

I think Blue Stars have a nice show, nice vehicle. They just need to clean it. Way more entertaining than Phantom who is doing yet another generic uninteresting safe show. I don't care how the scores end up, entertainment value is always more important to.me than scores. But I do think they will end up over Regiment by Finals. It just doesn't seem logical that a show like PR could garner enough points to keep up. Blue Stars have a lot.of cleaning to do. Their visual package, brass, and guard are all a step above PR. FCO and thanks for not playing it safe this season,.come what may! And bring out a really nice ending come August.

... I was told there would be recaps...

I thought Crown was the best tonight but I think their show isn't finished yet. Cavs had some great brass. I think Boston has the most room to grow and I expect them to close that gap. Phantom was just plain boring. Blue Stars have a lot of room to grow as well and they were quite messy. They should close that gap and I think they will end up over Phantom this season. People have complained before about DCI turning into WGI with brass. I never really understood what that meant until tonight. A lot of costumes and I'm not sure I like it. I'm more of a traditionalist and I liked last season's Crown a lot.more than this one. Not even sure where they're going with this. Are we seeing the day when Blue Devils can arguably be called the most traditional corps of the season?? Wow. Also I think it's just very distasteful to not cover your body. I don't want to see 120 hairy armpits during a drum corps performance. I expect that during rehearsal but not for a performance. Good God.

Not one corps tonight wore anything close to a traditional uniform. Cavaliers' were the closest. Crown was the best corps tonight but I almost fell asleep playing a puzzle game on my phone. I hope SCV has a really good program because obviously nobody else is going to even compete with the Devs.

Wow. Cavaliers' brass blew everyone else out of the water. Percussion also. Visual program is lacking. I anticipate a new ending. Great musical program. I think it's going to be close between them and BC & Boston but I'll.put Cavs up by a point. Crown's turn!

I think Boston beat them, or at least will at the end of the season. Boston's visual program is superior and they already look good enough for this time of year. And their brass is just as good if not better than Bluecoats. Cavaliers should crush them both.

I've never considered the Blue Stars as doing watered down Blue Devil concepts. At least the BStars march and play most of the time. And about not having their own style. That's a load of bs. The Blue Stars shows for the last 10 years have been built around the guard. And difficult guard stuff, too. Michael likes to really challenge the guard and makes them struggle with trying to achieve difficult stuff, come what may. This is what I love to see. Bite off more than you can chew, and chew it anyway. This is education first and foremost. I never have any problems with the concepts the Stars put out. Concepts are great it's the execution of the concept that's the problem most years. I think next year they should employ Michael Shapiro not to just write the guard, but create the whole visual package as well. Drill and all. Give him complete control over the entire program and I bet the corps will jump. But I think in any case the guard is always what carries this corps. Maybe the Blue Devils are the same in this regard but that does not mean they are doing watered down Blue Devil concepts.

Anyone going to the premiere at the Knoxville Regis 18? Would love a ride for two, as my co driver and I are at the truck stop nearby and hate taking Uber. We're 6 miles from there. If so, just PM, there's $20 in it for you. Thx

I can't tell if you were being rudely sarcastic in reaction to my supposedly rude posting, or if you're being serious. I have a disclaimer in my quote section that should qualm any triggers regarding my opinion. Hoping for the best for tonight and this season. FCO

Went and watched it again, this time with ear buds. It is quite a powerful brass line! And not so bad tone and in-tune wise. The mellos need to chill out and figure out how to get volume without buzzing. The buzzing is terrible but that will come with rehearsal. The ending is impactful but I'm sure there will be a new ending, hopefully with a star set in there somewhere. Show seems short. Probably another minute or so that's got to be written into the show. Good chance of making finals. My guess is its worth 92-93 pts and probably will end up getting 89-90 out of it. 9th-10th place depending on competition. Hopefully beats Phantom tonight.

We'll see what happens. I was really hoping this was the year Blue Stars would finally beat their 8th place best (since the 70's anyways, and 2010 I still maintain they were better than SCV) but with this show, I'm not sure it's realistic to hope for that. My judgments and criticisms are based on the show hopefully realistically being a 6-7th place show, but now that I've seen that preview, this does not seem to be the case. I'm sure they will make finals, but looks like they will still end up in the usual 10th or 11th spot, which is fine. Blue Stars making finals is always a great thing and a huge feat considering where they were just 11 years ago, before they made finals for the first time in forever with the 2008 Le Tour show. I just want to see the corps climb that long ladder! I'm sure we all do. Just not gonna happen this year either. But it will eventually. I believe the Blue Stars can and will finally get another medal even if it takes 20 more years. Hoping it happens within 10.

It does sound monotonous. There really doesn't seem to be much variation. No anticipation. No building up into a crescendo and then impact set. It's all just...there in your face. And yeah the yellow shoes are going to make footwork errors stick out badly. I haven't seen much in the way of developing the theme. Like someone said, it's people dressed up like carpenters playing any music. Again, good concept, poor design development. We'll see what they fix. Also, all the fancy footwork stuff, the auxiliary visuals, is just way too much and seems to be inserted for the purpose of hiding crooked lines. The visual package as a whole looks gimmicky. Sorry I have so much criticism in this post. The criticism is directed towards design and not performance.

I never comment here, but just went and watched the 1999 corps. It's still a classic and always will be. It's been too long for this corps to not have another title. Here's to SCV and may this be your year!!

I've never seen that from the blue stars. They're always moving around. If Kevin is still the drill designer then we should see a lot of marching. Even in ballads. 2010 Houdini show, they hardly ever stopped for more than a couple bars.

Oh my goodness is right on! They sound fantastic! It would still have to take someone above them having a big off year for these to get 5th, but after listening to what I just heard, they're not dropping. I don't think they will. They just sound that good, brass and percussion both. They have something good here. Musically anyways.

Well. Now that someone has leaked that Crossmen clip, that's cheating. Now nobody can make predictions. It's like insider trading. If I wanted to break my own rules, I'd revise my 10th place prediction with a darkhorse for 8th, to a 10th place prediction and no higher. The first 4mins failed to hold my attention much. I saw a clip of Academy and same thing. Keep the clips coming so I can see how wrong my predictions are way ahead of time. Btw I hate peeking. Or opening presents early. EDIT: I peeked again and heard BC show in one of the other threads. I was wrong. They're not a fluke. They sound fantastic. 70% chance they stay 6th, 10% 5th and 20% 7th. Sorry Blue Stars :(