Cappybara

never mind got it

Boston’s arranging style has not been my cup of tea for over a decade now which is impressive considering their design team was completely revamped after raiding Crown. I think I simply am not a very big Ryan George fan, and that’s okay, everyone has different tastes. His music has not been able to evoke the same emotion that other DCI arrangers like Thrower, Shaw, Glyde, Downey, Bocook, and Klesch have for me. I’ve also found McNutt’s battering ram-esque arrangements a bit exhausting to listen to, and I felt this way back when he was on the Cadets too. I’m glad you are enjoying the show this year, don’t let my own opinions and preferences ruin your own enjoyment of the show. I assure you it has nothing to do with corps envy. I have been an unapologetic BD fan for years and acknowledged in my comment that even BD is simply not doing it for me this year. Boston’s talented and deserving of their current placement at the top, just not my cup of tea

Think this is my first time logging into this forum in a year, the website even deactivated my account. As someone who still hasnt quite hit their 30s yet, my loss of interest in drum corps isn’t out of some nostalgia for the DCI of the 80-2000s like it is for some. I didn’t start tuning into DCI until 2012. DCI is starting to feel soulless for me. Corps are folding, the season is becoming extremely short, less and less people are able to afford the activity. Finding a show near you that has a decent lineup is becoming increasingly difficult without turning it into a full day/weekend trip. The shows themselves are becoming increasingly more contrived (especially the thematic elements) and it is the same corps with big pockets that stand any sort of chance of moving up the ladder. The musical arrangements in general are also leaving a lot to be desired. Don’t get me wrong there are some shows that are really well arranged, Bluecoats are a huge standout for me this year. Phantom and Crown also have great arrangements. Beyond the ballad, Boston remains a snoozefest, SCV has been a shell of itself without JD Shaw (arrangement-wise, the hornline itself sounds great this year), and even BD is just not doing it for me despite the signature BD sound still being there. It’s Wish this wasn’t the case but I’ve made peace with the fact that the activity is slowly dying. The economics make it inevitable. Maybe I’ll try going to semis this year and see how I feel.

People were all up in arms when I said the words “downfall of Crown brass” just a couple weeks ago. Congrats Troopers!! What a fantastic achievement

OMGGGG

LETS ####### GO PHANTOM!!! 4th place!!! Over corps like Crown and SCV! I couldn’t have imagined this 5 years ago, what an insane turnaround. So happy to see them back near the top

And variety. That’s why BD typically takes first in content in visual captions year after year. They demonstrate a technique and move on to the next and do it very well

I’m taking a different approach this year. I have yet to watch a single show this season beyond a very early season run through of BD’s and Phantom’s show. I’m planning on getting my first read of all the shows maybe a week before finals. With that in mind, I look at these scores and see a few things 1. Championship #2 for Bloo. Some stunning consistency across all captions is the BD formula and they have BD seemingly beat on it 2. The stunning resurrection of Phantom Regiment. It would mean the world to me if Phantom got themselves into 4th place this season 3. The demise of Crown brass. I haven’t heard them yet, but if multiple judges are saying it, it has to be true What an interesting season, shame I don’t have the bandwidth to keep up with it closely this summer!

Things are quite civil. A little sarcasm certainly brightens up the dull daily conversations we typically see on DCP I agree, difference of opinion. Slotting is real. But it’s irrelevant to the final placements. The judges are not the same level of expert as you are, unfortunately. Perhaps if they were, we wouldn’t see much changing of placements at all over the course of the season as they’d get it right from the get go.

Congratulations, you’re a prophet. But I’m not sure what’s the point of the two contradictory statements. We can’t assume Mandarins should have beaten Vanguard all season (“all season” just means 3 competitions by the way) but at the same time you predicted Mandarins to take 5th at finals over Vanguard because of their supposedly glaringly obvious superior GE and Visual package. If it’s so obvious to you from less than 3 reads, why wasn’t it to the judges? What do you think happened at the beginning of the 2009 season that caused Phantom to go from competing against the medalists to placing 9th? Did Phantom’s quality drop that badly over the course of the season? Seems unlikely as no show ever gets WORSE over the course of a season. Did the other corps improve THAT much more than Phantom that they dropped as far as they did? Perhaps, but it’s unlikely. On June 26th, 2009, Phantom was only 0.8 points behind the Cavies and 1.2 points behind Crown. Crown went on the finishing 2nd place, finishing 7.6 points ahead of Phantom. Phantom started off that season 6.5 points ahead of Blue Stars and finished behind them by 0.15. That’s a HUGE swing. Do you genuinely believe the Blue Stars improved that much more than Phantom over the course of the season? Did members of BS that season just work harder than Phantom? Of course not. The likely scenario is that judges gave Phantom the benefit of the doubt considering they were the reigning champions and had consistently been placing in the top 5 for years. Once judges got more reads on everyone, they realized this wasn’t the same Phantom corps at all from the season prior and they were scored accordingly as the season went on.

That transition from The 2nd movement to the ballad is classic JD Shaw. Love that they sound like Phantom again! Couldn’t tell you what the heck the show is about (much like every corps fielding a show this year) but I really like this package this year. Probably the most solid one since 2012

Mandarins beating SCV last night for the first time ever after being firmly behind SCV the first few shows of the season is proof that slotting exists, but only at the very beginning of the season. It is irrelevant by the time we hit pre-lims The judges get it right by the time the corps get to Lucas Oil. Another example of this is Phantom Regiment’s season trajectory in 2009. An additional example of this is Phantom placing 1st in percussion in 2010 despite finishing 6th overall as a corps. The judges do take some time to get there, but they ultimately just call it how it is, and some people can’t seem to accept that.

My point exactly.

No one asked you to pop in to a BD thread and say “meh” Can’t help myself? Look in a mirror, homeboy. I’m not sure why you thought you were bringing anything of value by commenting that. What did you find “meh”? What aspects are BD missing, in your eyes, relative to other corps? Answer those questions and I’ll believe you’re genuinely just expressing your views about BD’s shows rather than just hating.

You are nothing but consistent, much like the Blue Devils are in their excellence 🙂

That first half sounds so much like an SCV show but very blue devils at the same time. That ballad’s fantastic, the front ensemble is truly a standout

Likely not unfortunately! I have a jam packed summer filled with moving and traveling, and I’m no longer indicated in Indianapolis so getting to finals won’t be easy anymore either I am hoping BD will make it out to the DMV area for some practice so I can come and see them live as I always do

You give me way too much credit! It’s great to see all of you are doing well, looking forward to another brilliant production from BD this year. Sad to see Cadets folding, not sure how long this activity still has but I’ll tune in so long as it’s still here!

4peat incoming

I'm about to take my yearly hibernation from DCP until next summer but I just wanted to say that this year overall for DCI was really incredible. Everything was so enjoyable from top to bottom, probably the strongest year of drum corps shows since 2014 for me. BD 2023 won't go down as my favorite BD show of all time, but it's certainly up there because of just how well rounded of a show it was both musically and visually. If they truly are going for a trilogy, I am very excited to see what the last piece of the puzzle is next season and how they will tie in elements from the first two segments into the last one!

Someone's gotta keep ya in check

Should we return the favor and make this thread about the Bluecoats? An organization, that I may add, I have nothing but respect and admiration for. No pettiness here

Whenever BD is given “good faith” criticism, somehow you are always in the thread. Weird coincidence

I highly suggest you watch BD’s encore performance video uploaded to their YouTube channel to allow yourself to correct your grossly misinformed and incorrect assertions. Or don’t. DCP this season has taught me that it’s sometimes better to let people just be wrong

Exactly! There is no doubt BD has a formula, anyone who is being objective admits that. But simplistic or easy… nope.