scvjesse

Yeah, bud. This was the point I made in the SCV thread. It needs to be seen live to get it. I've watched some videos since... and they always leave me wanting more, but then I remember that feeling I had watching them live, and just how amazing they sounded. No doubt, they have some issues to resolve if they want to keep their effect scores on top, but their talent level will carry them a long way.

This show needs to be seen live before fair judgments can be made. I've watched the flo video plus some others that are floating around and they just don't do it justice. I think this hornline has a better ensemble sound NOW than they did at finals last year. They sound like everybody else in the videos, but when you're sitting in front of them and they hit that first impact, you're just floored by how incredible they sound. I can't imagine what they'll sound like as the season progresses. I made the "pajamas" observation the first time I saw their uniforms as well but if you sit up close, they look better. But, frankly, you should be sitting up close to watch this corps anyway. You'll be missing a lot of the detail otherwise. I'm looking forward to seeing them put the closer on the field. Side note: There's a reason Mandarins are getting the love they're getting right now. They're really good.

This is a nice playlist with the best recordings of the source music I've seen. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIVgSldA14KetwuUf0hlrJyqPlRRnTguG I wonder if they'll format their show similar to how they did last year? If so, my guess would be: Metallica - Intro and ballad Opener - Fraternity Closer - Audivi Media Nocte With the original Rennick music being the drum break and sprinkled throughout. We'll know soon enough. I'm stoked. This source music is fantastic!

Looks like they skipped the INT just in time to pour on the Mandarins.

Do they have the mics covered due to the rain? Flo sound quality is really bad tonight. It sounds quite muffled. Or is it just me?

Based on the brass scores, BD maybe?

It is perhaps a testament to how good this show and this corps are that there are over 3x as many posts on the Boston Crusaders thread as there are on SCV's thread. I am an SCV alum and I couldn't be happier with how amazing their show is this year and how well their members are performing it. That said, I have often told my friends that Boston's show is my second favorite show this season. Perhaps it's because, as an arranger, I feel like this is the style I would write. Perhaps it's because I have a soft spot for the movie Castaway, particularly the music. Perhaps it's because Boston's members are performing it at a really high level. Whatever the reason, since I first saw this show early season I had hoped it would medal. A top 5 finish would be amazing as well, and I think it's possible with these performers and with this show. Good luck!

No worries. I wasn't offended. Rather, I was just pointing out that while SCV routinely has strong percussion lines, even in down years, their brass has not been their strong suit, historically speaking. As for your question, hmmm... That's tough to say. As I said, SCV has had some strong brass lines over the years, just not very many that were competitive. 87 was an incredible brass line, no doubt. If you're looking exclusively at scores, 87 had the highest brass score for SCV in the last 31 years with a finals score of 9.9. As I peruse the recaps: '89 had a 14.7 out of 15, which translates to a 9.8. '97 and in '98 SCV got a 9.7 in brass. '99 and '01 SCV got a 9.8 in brass. Of course, we all know that those numbers, and therefore placements, can fluctuate from night to night for reasons having nothing to do with performance, but simply by who was judging that night, who they happened to be standing in front of during the show, and whether or not they liked what you were doing. It's all subjective, Jeffe77, and we still have 3 weeks that need to play out this season, but I'd probably agree with you that this is perhaps the best SCV horn line since 1987.

I agree with that as well. In one of the earlier podcasts, the drum major said they were roughly 50% rookies. 50%.... rookies.... and they're this amazing? WTF? Granted, being a rookie doesn't necessarily mean you never marched anywhere else, but still.... that's incredible.

What SHOULD be surprising, Jeffe77, is that SCV's brass is killing it this season. SCV regularly has good percussion. Even during their long bad streaks they've put out some competitive lines. But their brass? Somebody asked in another thread, "when was the last time, outside of this season, that SCV beat BD in brass?" I was bored so I looked it up: SCV beat BD in brass at the Stanford and Pasadena shows last year. Prior to that, SCV's brass came out on top in Quarter Finals of 2009. Prior to that, SCV bested BD in brass in Quarter Finals of 1999. That's where I stopped. Needless to say, SCV's hornline this year is historically good. THAT should be surprising. Not the drum scores.

What a great night for SCV!

Out of curiosity, boredom, and inability to sleep, I looked this up. They beat BD in brass twice, early season, last year. At the Pasadena and Stanford shows. Prior to that, they beat BD in brass Quarterfinals of 2009. Prior to that, they beat BD in brass Quarterfinals of 1999. I stopped looking any earlier than that. I was skimming, so it's possible that I missed some early season brass victories over the last 20 years. SCV has had some good brass lines over the years, but it's been a rare feat that they beat BD in that caption.

This is the biggest tuba sound Santa Clara has had since the 80s. Bringing back the dark, balanced hornline sound that was their trademark for so long. Easily the best of the year by far, in this regard. Very impressive.

That's the second huge "Hi mom" I've heard from upper lead trumpets tonight. Did somebody spike all of the orange drink in Indy this morning?

If Gail was still around, you could bet there would be a magic trick or the bottle dance lurking for finals. Hopefully this crew realizes that they need a little extra oomph for their medal push. Their most recent scores have been troubling. With their performance scores matching or surpassing their content scores in virtually every caption, it is clear that something is needed to propel them into a medal or possibly beyond.

Hmm...

The word you used was disrespect. Do you really think that this corps (their design team and especially their members) meant ANY disrespect to anyone with their performance? If anything, it's the exact opposite of that word.

I, for one, won't be purchasing their fan network streams again until this gets fixed. I'm all for DCI making a profit, but what we've seen this year (especially at the Buffalo show) is unacceptable. Approximately 5000 fan network subscribers (that's what they've told us, but it may be more than that) x $69 = ~$350,000. They have 21 total shows available to watch on demand. 350,000 / 21 = ~$16,500 per show revenue I would do each show for $500 + travel costs and you'd have zero problems. Where did all of that money go?

You're posting in a thread involving the worst broadcast of all time, and your "one detail falling through the cracks" is about who won the TOC?

1999 was a completely different situation. We were #1 by a comfortable margin up until mid-late July. For whatever reason, we fell behind by quite a bit going into Madison, WI. Just some info: According to corpsreps: Quarterfinals 1999 BD 97.8 SCV 97.0 Cadets 96.8 Cavies 95.8 Semifinals BD 98.5 SCV 97.6 Cavies 96.8 Cadets 95.5 Finals BD 98.4 SCV 98.4 Cavies 97.0 Cadets 96.4 We were nearly a point behind BD in both quarters and semis, and then tied at finals. Even stranger, the swap between Cavies and Cadets between Quarters and Semis... what a mind fukk. That would make DCP explode if it happened today. Back to the topic.... SCV has been trailing all year, yet steadily catching up. Completely different situation. Although, I would love it if they surged at the end to take it all. PS: After watching the awards ceremony video that was posted here, I think it's appropriate (given the MANY anti-boo threads that have popped up lately) to mention this: want to know what's more demoralizing than a bunch of boos to your success? Try tying for 1st and having tens of thousands of people chanting a deafening S C V S C V S C V S C V.

Let's see here: The Madison Scouts started field competition in 1954, and they have two DCI titles and 1 VFW title iirc. That means (counts on fingers), there's been booing in drum corps for at least 56 years!

Not trying to sound negative at all here... but on that pit/brass run tradeoff in the middle of Crown's show, the horn line is playing it cleaner than the pit atm. That's a problem. Absolutely love this show, however

Why the top four? Because those are the four corps in the running for a medal this year. This is not a punch to the face of corps like Phantom or Bluecoats, but the writing is on the wall. Cadets, SCV, BD, and Crown are going for a medal this year and nobody else will deny them this season. Now, to the good stuff.... Cadets: Wow. Their drumline is top-notch and their visual program is killer as per usual. I personally loved their music program because it seemed to be an homage of the latest golden years of SCV (1999 and 2000). It's great music so why not use it, right? My problem with Cadets is simple.... it's like watching SCV 1999/2000 with better performers and a less General Effect. All they need is stronger/defined impact points and that will propel them to the top. Blue Devils: The blue team has let their talent carry them for a long time, but this year, it won't suffice. As talented as their hornline and drumline are (and I mean they ridiculously talented), their design will hurt them. In August, I see them battling with SCV for 3rd place. Don't agree? Think the point differential is too great? Remember that in 1999, BD was 0.9 points ahead of SCV in Semi-Finals. Look how that turned out... BD, as per usual for as long as I can remember, also has a very high-brass heavy hornline. I always remember thinking (man, if BD's high brass - in the late 90s - paired with SCV's low brass) we'd have a super corps that could not lose. Playing jazzy shows year to year always gave them an edge (because jazz demands a stronger high-end). This year, they aren't getting that benefit. That said, the hornline is moving more than I've seen in a long time. The last time I saw BD's hornline move this much while playing would be 1998. That show was one of my favorite DCI shows of all time, although they took 3rd place. SCV: I couldn't wait for them to get back to performing musicals again. Apparently, so did their members.... because they are performing the #### out of it. Every time I watch them, a negative that I have on my list goes away (because they perform it better). Their hornline needs to pick up the slack, because they aren't that good atm. Also, I realize that they are using a DOT-system for their drill.... but they need to learn to dress a form before finals. Their drill has been less than exemplary. We used the dot-system when I marched, but we favored dressing the form on the move. That doesn't seem to be the case for this SCV team. I hope their visual and brass make a few leaps before we get to August or they may stay in 4th place. Crown: Holy ####.... what a hornline. This hornline is beyond anything I've ever heard in DCI... and I'm frankly surprised that they aren't winning by a point or more in that caption every single night. Their drumline is a little fishy, but I'm sure that will clean up by finals. The GE in this show is was intrigues me. This could be the year for them. Let's see some more improvement from this team and I don't really see any other corps approaching that. Crown is the team to beat this year. Good luck to the other three.

Maybe this question deserves it's own thread, but I often wonder..... How many championships would SCV have if Gail Royer were still with us? The late 90s-early 00s were an anomaly where a large number of people who had marched under or worked with Gail directly taught the corps. But since this thread is based on hypotheticals, I thought it appropriate to bring it up here.

On the west coast?