Slingerland

They weren't 9th because they didn't have women in the corps. Madison wasn't 16th because they have women now. In both cases, design choices factored more than marching personnel. If Cavaliers ever make that change, it would be because of shift in their mission, not their competitive status, and the current mission seems to be working, so...

Word was that Security on Saturday night was all over the 300 Suites level, where he was supposedly viewing the show, but came up empty. He may have been at San Antonio (eyewitnesses), but seems he was just trolling everything else. In any case, the idea that anyone would want to hire him in any capacity is absurd. There are some dim bulbs in the activity, but no one that dim.

This all day. Great instructional team and a talented group of musicians, but they could only work with what they were handed for the charts, and the visual program simply didn't live up to what the corps has historically achieved. It felt like they were on a trajectory in 2019 that would have made them competitively relevant again, but whatever happened in the two years since, they lost their way, programming wise, and it's clear that some sort of change was needed. Hoping all those who've chosen to move on find the right fits for themselves elsewhere, and that whoever the new programming team is can hit the ground running with a strategy to reinvigorate the corps, competitively.

The content/rep numbers all season would support that belief. The members can only perform what they've been given. and this year, the weak thematic elements along with the disjointed structure of the show conspired against them doing much better than they did (though the judges last night might have been a little harsher on the numbers than was justified).

This feels correct.

Boston's show ain't The Planets, and both Bloo and Crown have weaknesses that BD doesn't. So..nope.

Unfortunately, the whole last 3 minutes of the show feels like a placeholder, but it appears that's what they've got.

This. They can cut it tomorrow and no one will miss it.

Because that's the way they chose to schedule their season. Cadets didn't start until a week later than everyone else in their current tier. How's that any different?

Once you put video and music together, it becomes a different animal from a rights standpoint ("sync rights"), and without knowing that there are significant consumer dollars out there for the physical product (which there was 20 years ago in the DVD heyday, but not now), they can't risk the time and effort to bother negotiating that.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but that's exactly why DCI started doubling up the panels in the caption at big regionals; they totally understand the subjectivity of the caption, and are trying to have enough voices in the room that the judges can call what they see to their own tastes but the corps are protected, somewhat, by having a number that reflects the diversity of thoughts in the box. Worth noting that the overall combined GE numbers for last night got it pretty much right. BD wins the caption (as they have most of the year) with a show that genuinely ticks off all the numbers. Boston does well in the caption with rock star execution, and CC and Bloo are within shooting distance of the top, but still not quite hitting the mark (Bluecoats' show shape is a problem, to my eyes, and Crown wastes a minute of show time on a cheesy non-effective opening). Vanguard's placing where they should relative to the field, same with Cavaliers, who are suffering from whatever happened in the design room that left them without an organically developed final movement to their show.

They were flat. Seemed tighter last night.

It's called "Cat Chases Tail"

The staff won't listen. Visual designers already too focused on their band shows....🤣

Historically this has proved true. Unlike the guard or visual judges who are often (apparently) swayed by whatever or whoever they like, personally, the Perc judging community has a well-deserved reputation for being straight shooters - you earn a number, you'll get a number. You don't, you won't.

All of this. All they had to do was look at the rock and roll section of 2001 and understand that you can keep a groove like that going through several developments - right now, it's what a high school band would play if they have 30 seconds to fill while sitting in the stands at a basketball game. Honestly, the more I look at the wasted opportunities this year, the more it makes me wonder if they're due for a shakeup in the design team.

They need a final third to the show. When I saw them early in the year without the closer, it felt like they were putting the musical pieces together that were going to build to something really interesting, and instead, it turns out they had nothing but a wet fart to show for the final few minutes. The members are great, and deserve so much better than what they were given this year.

Cavaliers have 2.5 minutes of one piece of music in the middle of their show. Theme, development, resolution. It still happens.

Madison's visual execution much improved from two weeks ago (more than normal). Still don't find much shape to the show itself, but it's obvious that they've got a plan to keep themselves in the conversation as long as they can.

Cool show from Casper - much more character than the last 3 or 4 years worth of shows, from what I can remember. Now, good lord, CLEAN that thing visually. Do that, and there's a shot at ending the year in a much stronger recruiting position than they've had in awhile.

I remain mystified by the "drop in" feel of the piece following "Floor is Lava" - it gets rocking, and then they stop. That piece, that vibe feels like there should be another half, and it ain't what they've got here with the percussion section and a finale out of nowhere. 2/3 of an excellent musical book, followed by a missing reel, then the wrap-up.

Troopers and SCV have the same designers/arrangers (the Rennicks) in the percussion caption. Vastly different results. It's the players and the techs. Not the designers, unless we want to consider that possibly the designers are giving some clients their A games and everyone else their less than A games.

One show where the spreads are odd (Blue Stars didn't really close up that kind of gap in two days, any more than BAC is really a couple of points over Bluecoats right now - it was a weird scoring night across the board). Rosemont has got decent bones of a show that needs an actual ending and a sh-t ton of cleaning. That's what July is for. Check back in San Antonio and let's see where they are.

Unpopular opinion - Crown is more likely to place 4th in Indy than win. There are some shows behind them or in their territory that have the capacity to overtake them on content, and the generous portions of cheese are cute now, but won't wear that well down the road, hurting GE numbers, while both BD and Bluecoats have more meat in their concepts and predictable levels of execution in all captions. They still have a good shot at winning brass and will be very competitive in guard, but the musical book and visual programs have visible ceilings. Just a hunch.

Agreed on the major points. Didn't see much promise in Mad World early season but they kept refining and adding, and by 3rd week in July, clearly they were on to something. That said, it was a different era, competitively, so whether they could punch up to a medalist position in the current climate is iffy, but not out of the question. One thing I feel confident of is that they'll be very popular with the regular viewer, just as in 2019, and that's never a terrible place to be.