MidWAmericanArts

Just got back from Marion. Hadn’t seen anyone online or in person yet, so it was my first read. I was shocked most by the Scouts. They had a really entertaining show and a bigger sound than I’ve heard from them. Loved Phantom’s show and was surprised with how well they were pulling off a tough show. It’s a younger group, but they really impressed me. Enjoyed Blue Stars and Colts as well. Bluecoats were as good as I expected that they would be. They sounded great! Really had a great time tonight and am very thankful that we have drum corps this year!

Bump. With tickets going on sale, do we have any more information on what each day is? Will some corps only perform on select days? I’d hate to buy tickets and see my favorite corps not in attendance.

Why would you require a college education?

I like the stats, but it may not be a good idea to talk about the top 10 bands from each state, as population varies so widely between the states. You say Texas has 20 to Indiana’s five, but if Indiana has less than a quarter of the population of Texas (which it does).... That being said, I like to think Texas has the deepest pool of top tier bands, even proportionally. If you’re looking at the number of bands that are competing for a medal at nationals, Indiana’s numbers are an outlier. Carmel and Avon are consistently at the top of the pack and would be even if you brought the whole lot of Texas. Now, if I had to choose one competition to go to each year, it wouldn’t be Grand Nationals anymore. Texas schools only keep getting better (somehow) and I’m thankful for them!

I forgot how much I loved Phantom in the early 2010s. I haven’t watched this performance in a while!

Would heavily recommend checking out the groups from this year (especially Hebron, who gave the most musical performance I’ve ever heard in BOA). You missed a heck of a year!

‘13 Cadets, ‘14 Blue Knights, ‘15 Blue Devils

You really think Tilt would’ve won any other year? I loved that show, but the only year I think it could have won against was maybe 2018?

No, judging is subjective. It’s designed with parameters to guide the score, but I’m not arguing that it’s an objective analysis. But sitting here and saying that we shouldn’t allow a corps that performs better to win because they won previously is insane. If scores don’t matter, don’t you want to see each corps at their best? Excluding a group from competing for a year would ruin the group financially and kill its member education. I think absolutely everything is wrong about that idea. For somebody that complains that placements are meh, you seem very placement driven, rather than focused on putting on the best production and providing for the best educational experiences.

Yes, good idea. Let’s rig the competitive results so we don’t keep having the same winner. That’ll legitimize the activity!

Side x Side paid a huuuuge disservice to that musical book. One of my favorite music books of all time, with that show design.... AGH!!! One of those shows that it’s almost better to just shut your eyes and listen.

Both sets of scores were incredibly close and could have gone either way. There are 11 different expert judges who all had to make judgment calls in an incredibly tight year. The chips fell how they did. It could’ve gone either way and it came down to preference and opinions. I personally thought Devils had it by an inch and Crown would barely pass SCV, but I’m glad that they have experts to decide this (from far better vantage points than mine).

I sat in the blast zone during finals, which gave me a completely new perspective of the programs. I’d argue that this vantage point is the worst to judge the entire program, but with that being said... here are my blast zone enjoyment rankings: 1. Blue Devils 2. Blue Knights 3. Bluecoats 4. Carolina Crown 5. Boston Crusaders 6. SCV 7. Blue Stars 8. Cavaliers 9. Phantom Regiment 10. Cadets 11. Mandarins 12. Crossmen Let me also add that this was my favorite year of finals too to bottom since 2014. Really enjoyed all of the groups, when I usually only like about half of the programs.

I agree with everything said here. I don’t like the programs that he has put out. I don’t have a problem with the arrangements for where the program is at right now. Once they are back on the rise (hopefully), they’ll need to make a change. I just don’t think that people realize how hard it is to find a quality arranger. Rarely do we see a group that finds a new arranger that takes them to the next level. We’ve seen arrangers move to a new corps (SCV, Crusaders), but unless somebody is about to jump ship for Phantom...

10th isn’t a major accomplishment, but it was their biggest achievement of the year. I’d be hesitant to push that aside, unless you knew of someone that would be a solid improvement. I think this was the best arrangement from Will Pitts yet. He does some great work in BOA and his work at PR is improving (although not at the speed we’d all hope for). I did forget that he was in charge of the program. I’d be in favor of replacing him in that capacity, but I still am in favor of him for arranging.