BLOODEVILS

In my opinion I would say: 1. Blue Devils 2. The Cadets 3. Carolina Crown 4. Santa Clara Vanguard 5. The Bluecoats 6. Phantom Regiment 7. Madison Scouts 8. Blue Knights 9. The Cavaliers 10. Boston Crusaders 11. Spirit of Atlanta 12. Crossmen 13. Blue Stars 14. Troopers 15. The Colts 16. Pacific Crest 17. The Academy 18. Oregon Crusader 19. The Mandarins 20. Jersey Surf 21. Cascades 22. Pioneer

Is the show ahead of schedule?

Does anyone have Crown's schedule for tomorrow or a way to get it? My band's leadership is trying to make a plan.

I am fully aware, I was just hoping to see them and especially The Academy further up. Maybe not expecting it, but hoping. :(

Wow. Really disappointed with where Pacific Crest is. What a bummer. It seems Cadets are far too low! But woohoo BK. Breaking 80 before The Cavaliers!

I will definitely listen to it! When I think Strauss I think of his Oboe Concerto, Til Eulenspiegel and Death and Transfiguaration (which may have a little dissonance)-- my favorite concerto and tone poems ever written. I am not too familiar with Shoenberg's work but I certainly associate him and Stravinksy with 20th century whereas I associate Mahler and Strauss with the romantic period although some bleedage make occur. I guess I did overlook some period of his life where his symphonies were making noise. It would have been more appropriate for me to say that his popularity wasn't truly what it deserved to be until the 50s/60s. His 3rd and Das Lied von der Erde are my personal favorites.

Strauss and Mahler use dissonance? I don't really hear it as much as Stravinsky-- the three do make up some of my favorite composer in my favorite time period. I would love links to Strauss plus dissonance. Sounds tasty. Sadly, I wouldn't say Mahler was "accepted" by 1913. His work didn't really become popular until mid century when Bernstein reintroduced it to the world. Now he is know for having some of the best symphonies ever, huh?

Exactly! This is why I love the ending. It makes me feel uncomfortable in a very appropriate way.

1. The Cadets- 86.25 2. Blue Devils- 85.95 3. Carolina Crown- 85.90 4. Phantom Regiment- 82.25 5. Santa Clara Vanguard- 82.10 6. Bluecoats- 81.90 7. The Cavaliers- 79.000

I ranked them higher than there current ranking!

I hope you guys don't mind, but after last night I would like to submit my newest prediction. 1. Blue Devils- I always loved the show and I was cheering for it from the beginning, but after seeing Crown I really thought that they were going to be beat. Last night reminded me why the Blue Devils were where they have been since the start of DCI. The corp has so much pride and they just look like they are in it to win. The show is really deep too; there is interaction and performance aspect that are nearly unheard of in the marching arts and every time you watch it there is one more thing to catch that you might have missed earlier. I think the brass is amazing and more mature sounding than Crown (hear me out before you click the red minus) I think that the solos are the strongest solos of the year, and there is less intonation problems-- this being said, people stick out and the music may not be as easy to listen to as Carolina Crown's. That is the point though, it is supposed to be penetrating! Everyone complains about the ending, but that is my favorite part. My heart beats and it feels like it is going to pop out of my chest in anticipation. From the moment that the guard circles up and the center girls do the creepy dance I really feel like I would if I was watching and listening the real life ballet. 2. Carolina Crown- This show is strong and sooooo unbelievably cool. The brass tongues like no one's business and it definitely secures them as the the fan favorite for the high brass award. In my personal opinion, Carolina Crown has some of the weakest brass moments(some spread sounds in the ballad) of the top 3, BUT it has the strongest, too. (the Also Sprach Zarathustra and the closer come to mind) The show is pretty clean right now and the reason I put them in second is only because I don't think that they have as far to go production-wise as the Blue Devils.The confidence is there, this year, but when they take the field I don't feel intimidated.I think it will fall short; what we see now is what we get, whereas Blue Devils and Cadets both seem to have a long way to go. 3. The Cadets- These guys definitely seem to be the Dark Horse for the victory. I can't say anything negative-- it is certainly cleaning up and it really is a beautiful production. I think that the show is a little dry, but I am used to listening to Barber's music played by amazing orchestras (one of my favorite recordings of any music ever is Eastman's recording of Medea under the baton of Howard Hanson.) The drums are way too clean and I like the show a lot, I just think I will truly feel something magical come San Antonio when I see it live. 4. Bluecoats- I think that this show will be amazing with a lot of cleaning. I am a little bit of a Bluecoats homer, but I am justifying this with fourth place marks in Visual GE, Music GE, Brass, Music Analysis, and Percussion. There lowest score, I'd imagine, is a sixth place in Guard. 5. Phantom Regiment- In my opinion this is just more of the same from Phantom. I think Bluecoats will surpass them kind of for the same reasons I think that Blue Devils will surpass Crown. I see these guys fourth in all the visual categories, fifth in brass, eighth in percussion and nothing too far out of the ordinary in the other captions. 6. Santa Clara Vanguard- Classy use of props and a very strong guard. I think that the visual is a little easier than Bluecoats, but not as clean as Phantom Regiment's. After really not liking last years show, I am surprised to be so in to this one. The brass is pretty disappointing (although, I might just have some subconscious dislike for their brass as I thought they were weak last year, too), I am thinking seventh place. The percussion scores should balance out the music caption. 7. Madison Scouts- Strongest Scouts in a long time. Sixth place Brass, sixth place percussion, eighth place guard. This GE is going to be really close with Cavaliers, which is incredible since the show isn't a prop feat and really is a traditional show with some voiceovers. 8. The Cavaliers- Everyone has said what needs to be said. I can see the brass as low as tenth... 9. Blue Knights- These guys are amazing this year. I cannot wait to see the finished show. I like the globe, would love to see more done with it. I would doubt seeing any sub-captions below 12th and any above ninth. 10. Spirit of Atlanta- I dig it. 11. Boston Crusaders- I dig it. 12. Crossmen- The one thing that is keeping them below Blue Stars is percussion. It is possible that they end like 16th in percussion and 12ths everywhere else! 40% possibility for finals, imo 13. Blue Stars- Effect needs to be strengthened to land them in finals. I love the guard! 30% possibility for finals, imo. 14. Pacific Crest- I dig it. 15% possibility for finals, imo. 15. Troopers- I dig it. This show just feels right. 12% possibility for finals, imo 16. The Academy- I love all the corniness, but to get in finals (which I think there is like a 3% possibility) they need to calm it down a little bit. It saddens me to see such high cont scores but lackening achv scores. 17. Colts- I dig it. Great moments, but I really do not see them making finals-- the Effect and Music do not match the visual level of achievement. 18. Mandarins- Huge improvement since last year. 19. Oregon Crusaders- Have yet to see. 20. Jersey Surf- Have yet to see. 21. Cascades- Have yet to see. 22. Pioneers- Have yet to see. Now I just sit back and hope I didn't offend anyone. :)

I agree with both of those statements. :p I am a sandwich kind of guy, you?

Interesting to note: The judges seem to think that Blue Devils is not living up to their potential as the scores difference between comp and achv is 2.3 points whereas with Crown it is 1.5 points.

Blue Devils were SHAFTED in guard, IMO.

Hmmmm, I am going to try to rank and scores these guy tonight. 1. Blue Devils- 84.25 2. Carolina Crown- 84.1 3. Santa Clara Vanguard- 81.35 4. Blue Knights- 75.05 5. Academy- 71.2 6. Troopers-71.0 7. Cascades-60.8

Well, isn't that a good thing? Did you see many? I admittedly was more focused on drill. However, I do think that the Blue Devil guard is going to win tonight! They just perform SO well; there is never an expressionless face. The one thing I do not like about the Crown's narration is when he says "everything comes to end but... My... Love... For... You." I think the inflection is a miss.

1. I didn't see any drops in Blue Devils. 2. The show is really starting to get there. 3. For the people who are not a fan of the ending, I suggest you listen to the original Rite of Spring. The feeling hits the source works amazingly! It is supposed to make glyph feel uncomfortable! Crown gets better every time I see then. However, I think BD will be closing the gap tonight. :)

For some Broken Arrow and Ronald Reagan in the little commercial. Love seeing the marching arts come together.

This is my first time hearing Troopers, WOW. The brass sounds great and the drums were very very clean. Psyched to see Academy. :)

I agree. I wouldn't be surprised if the high score is in the 99s and I wouldn't be surprised if the too three were within a tenth. How crazy would it be if it was like 1. 99.25 2. 99.20 3.99.15?

Haha. LD Bell! The show is beautiful, but where did the band go?

I will play along! 1. Carolina Crown - 87.60 2. Cadets - 87.45 2. Blue Devils - 87.45 4. Phantom Regiment - 83.05 5. Bluecoats - 82.95 6. Santa Clara Vanguard - 82.10 7. Madison Scouts - 81.65 8. The Cavaliers 81.00 9. Blue Knights - 80.95 10. Boston Crusaders - 79.25 11. Spirit of Atlanta - 76.90 12. The Academy - 73.95 13. Blue Stars - 73.80 14. Crossmen- 73.70 15. Troopers - 72.85 16. The Colts -72.4 17. Cascades - 60.40

This is taken from the Wakeland HS Band (NC) page: "Mr. Bob Thomas Mr Thomas started playing a bugle at the age of 5. He continued playing both bugle and drums for the next 25 years. He has marched in both senior and junior drum and bugle corps. He attended Norwin High School where he both taught and marched in the drum line. His teaching experience extends of the past 38 years. He has designed and instructed numerous award winning Drum and Bugle Corps, marching bands majorette teams and winter color guards. He judges or has judged for Drum Corp International (DCI), Winter Guard International WGI), Drum Corp Midwest, Drum Corp Atlantic, Indiana State Scholastic Music Association (ISMMA), Bands of America (BOA), Drum Corp Europe (DCE), Youth Education in the Arts (YEA), Ohio Judges Association, Florida Federation of Judges, Atlantic Indoor Association (AIA), Pennsylvania Federation of Judges, and Marching in Okayama, Japan, Drum Corp Associates (DCA). In 2008 he judged the World Marching Band Championships in Malaysia. He judged the 2009 Thailand Drum Line Competition. He recently returned from Malaysia where he taught the DCE Judges college for DCE license partner M World Band Championships. He has been a clinician for Carolina Winter Ensemble Guard Circuit, Seton Hill College Color Guard Camp, West Chester College Color Guard Camp, Penna. Federation of Contest Winter Guard & Band, Ohio Judges Association Winter Guard, Florida Federation of Judges Winter Guard, Atlantic Indoor Association (AIA), South East Color Guard Circuit, Texas Color Guard Circuit, Indiana Indoor Color Guard, DEG Japan Clinician, Drum Corp Europe, Malaysian World Band Competitions, Clinician European Mega Clinician and the Irish Marching Band Association. He has been the Director of Education for Drum Corp Europe for the past 7 years. He designed the current scoring system for Drum Corp Europe which is currently being used in 16 countries. He has also been the Director of Education for the Florida Judges Association and the Ohio Judges Association. He currently lives in Greensburg, PA."

I know. :p I was just under-explaining the situation kind of to show how strange it seems. That is a huge score!

HAHAHA. BEST COMMENT OF THE NIGHT. What happened with SCV's percussion score?!