Photographer Jim

Pacific Crest on the field now. Their numbers are obviously down; to bad considering the momentum they had going. They play just fine. Guard has some. Noticeable synch errors. They’ve added some interaction with the props, but not enough to be significant to show design.

Flo isn’t covering this show because there is a complete renovation of the stadium’s press boxes going on. Would be very difficult to set up and broadcast from here tonight

I was impressed with Gold when I saw them on the flo stream, but live I am even more impressed. This is a really fine corps.

OK Gold! Very good brass sound. Nicely paced show. Lots of energy. They are out to win Open Class. I can see why they were able to beat both Bluedevil B in Santa Clara cadets last week in Fresno!

BDC we’re …… BDC! If you don’t love ‘em, you have no heart. BDB … solid show. Plenty of energy. They’re going to be up front all season. SCC … good show. Lacks the energy of BDB, but still a top Open class show

Did the Wonka character just wave his arms and turn on the lights? Cool. Where is there just a lot of reflection showing up in my feed?

This subject matter has such potential to be real cheese! I think the Academy has done a nice job of staying subtle while still getting the theme across. Good for them

Just curious. Are people on flow seeing a rhythmic shift the focus about every one second from the high cam? Is it me or is it them?

My dad used to live on the border of Tempe and Mesa. I was down visiting him one year and couldn’t fly home because they shut the airport down! The temperature was 122° And the weight of the plane were pushing the wheels down into the soft runways that were “melting”.

Wish all corps still used a drum cadence for exiting the field.

Do you share?

Being a Bay Area guy, I’ll always back the NorCal corps. That said, SCV is my least favorite show of the three NorCal shows. Can’t put my finger on it exactly, but it just doesn’t work for me.

Whoa. Camera is overexposing all those white unis a bit!😵‍💫

Yes

OOPS

I’m one that believes that if you bring props on the field, you’re somewhat obligated to interact and integrate them into the total design of the show. While intriguing to DC fans, they don’t seem to be helping PC’s show out much.

My wife sings in two choruses which compete at the international level. Judging is in many ways similar to that of DCI in terms of captions, skill analysis, showmanship, etc. like DCI judging is done by a panel of judges who judge a single and specific caption area and who direct their entire attention to that caption for the entire performance (something few fans ever do). Similar to DC, their performances are meant to entertain, in addition to being a skill based competition. What they do to acknowledge this is provide 100 randomly selected audience members ballots where they can vote for an “audience favorite”. The winner gets an award, which is highly coveted by competing choruses. BUT ... THE FAN FAVORITE VOTING HAS NO INFLUENCE ON THE COMPETITION TO DETERMINE WHO IS THE WORLD CHAMPION. That is determined by the judging panel alone. Were DCI to adopt a similar system I’d fully support it. But when fan opinion is figured into determining the champion the competition would become much more subjective, much less skill oriented, and much less meaningful.

Love the call back to last years door and uniform in the SOA opener. Nice little touch.

They're just not ........... Colorful enough😜

Actually, I’m not sure that this is accurate. This actually the first time in past decade that Blue Knights have joined the West Coast shows during the second week. It is for sure the first time in at least ten years when they have not been present at the Moonlight Classic in Sacramento. When I purchased my tickets this year I was totally surprised that they were not in the lineup. There are good reasons for starting a week late, I’m sure, but it is an unusual start for the season for BK

I’d be interested in knowing more about those rules. The other night in Sacramento we were looking at the “bridges” used by the Academy. They appear fairly steep. From what we could see there doesn’t seem to be any texturing to their surfaces. In damp weather I question whether they would become slippery and cause problems.

I don’t think anybody who has seen Mandarins live this year has any doubts about them being a finalist corps again this year. The real question is how high up they can finish above last year. This is a very aggressive show, and they are performing it with focus and intensity. They do a great job of building the energy level throughout the show. With the right tweaks and additions this show will be impressive, memorable, and a fan favorite. It won’t surprise me at all if they are pushing that sixth spot hard come finals week. This is not your father’s Mandarins!

Mandarins had the biggest jump in score over last nights scores at Stanford! I am so enjoying the growth I’m seeing in this corps. These guys are focused. This is an aggressive show. If they can keep bringing the intensity I saw tonight, and keep making good choices about show changes, whoever is in sixth place in the rankings is going to feel the heat of this corps on their heels.

Indeed! Unfortunately that grey just disappears.

I do not like Vanguard’s uniform. There I said it. Not sure if they are pajamas or hospital scrubs. It bothers me because musically these guys are so good.