[Buffalo Wing Championships]

Flash player kinda sucks on FN, in my experience.

[Allentown 2013]

What was the spread this time last year between BD and CC? From my read .2ths is anyone's right now. Someone had to win last night and I think I would rather be sitting in CC shoes right now than BD's. I think it's easier to be the one on someone's back than being the one who is trying to hold on.

Not sure that BD is 'trying to hold on' at this point.....seems like they (like CC) are aiming for consistency, energy and sanitary execution since comparing their shows is akin to apples vs kumquats. I think it is great that we have a number of excellent and creative shows this year, and it's also very cool that CC is bringing some of the Paul Lovatt-Cooper music to the table this year.

[2013 Rankings]

C2 is MUCH better than last season at this point in those terms. I understand where you're coming from but had you seen them last year.... BIG difference, even though there's stuff they do need to do.

Their percussion carried the corps on its back up till finals weekend last season, they've been a strong backbone for the unit. No surprises there.

I did see them last year (my son is next to center snare there), and the DCI ringers they brought in for Annapolis fleshed out their brass sound. I agree that they are further along this year, and have more overall talent than last year. However, when I showed my son the Downingtown video I took, we both cringed at the last 2 minutes of the show....so much room to get the feet cleaned and the brass need to eat some more Wheaties to deal with the drill demands. But, I respect what they are doing out there, and they are a great addition to DCA for sure.

[If BD Wins, We Riot!]

No.. they can do something new, fresh, innovative that is also entertaining. For a frame of reference, lets not forget that in the earlier decades of BD 's winning success that you are mentioning, what they were doing at that time was new, fresh, innovative as well. Much of their music was also unrecognizable to sizeable numbers in national audiences at that time as well. BD took that unfamiliar music to a lot of people at shows and won them over in 12 minutes. Crowds erupted into spontaneous applause midway thru the show... at every show they went too... and at the end BD got thunderous applause. Some of these years they had already won 3-4 years in a row too. Its all in the presentation. There is nothing in any musical education training manual anywhere that stipulates that a requirement for performance innovation has to be that the performance needs to be confusing, boring, or obtuse. Drum Corps audiences by and large are not primarily made up of mouth breathing, uneducated, low IQ, dimwits. Most can appreciate cerebral shows that are abtract, if the presentation musically and visually is appealing. But if a show's tepid response by audiences is replicated throughout the country, its reasonable to conclude from this that the problem of the unappealing show, albeit performed to near flawless perfection, is not the fault of the audiences from coast to coast.

Brasso, what, in your opinion, would make BD's show "new, fresh and innovative?" What do you require to be 'entertained?'

[2013 Rankings]

I'm just happy that there are more than one or two corps really making a legitimate run at the top corps. I don't see ES, C2 or Cabs passing MBI and Bucs this year, but for the first time in a long while those corps are playing in MBI and Bucs' playground. I think there's going to be at least one surprise in the order of the top corps, if not more come Annapolis.

And while we're on the contender topic, I'm still thinking about how impressive the White Sabers were. I certainly can't speak for anyone else, but I know I wouldn't have thought about them as a contender for Class A before the season started.

Yes....we really enjoyed White Sabers on Saturday...very nice show! Regarding C2, coming out there between MBI and Bucs, they looked like a bunch of high school kids thrown into the ring with the 'adults.' Cool to see that the C2 battery has the chops and aggression to hang with the older guys!

[If BD Wins, We Riot!]

IMHO, BD's show is not designed to make people jump up and cheer like Pavlov's dog :-) But it still is a very entertaining show.....you can watch it 5 times in a row and focus on a bunch of different facets that you didn't notice before. In addition to their inimitable marching style/stride, one can dig their fine blend and balance as they crank out those thick chords and make it seem easy. Or, one can appreciate their seriously fine pit talent and arrangements.

All of that said, I am personally hoping that the Cadets can become a little cleaner and find a few more tenths in their guard execution.

[If BD Wins, We Riot!]

This x10000. I have no issue at all with the Blue Devils. I have an issue with their shows. If Crown started playing shows like BD's (and this year they're starting to approach that level of weird...), then I'd stop liking Carolina Crown. I don't think ANYONE hates BD as an organization. They simply don't like their shows. There are plenty of enthusiasts who love BD's quirky gold-winning shows but unfortunately that can't be said by the majority of people buying to tickets to watch these corps. For the sake of the members who march in BD every year, I do hope the designers choose to go back to classic DCI shows.

I think there is so much complexity and demand to BD's show this year that it is a very challenging production for even the best judges to capture and consistently evaluate. That said, I also think that Carolina Crown (despite the arguably insipid love story verbiage) has a show that can still win, but only if they can really clean their marching and some of the very audible battery 'thick' moments. Cadets are the dark horse in my mind, but I have gained new appreciation for Barber's 1st Symphony for sure.

[If BD Wins, We Riot!]

Interesting take on it. It's like the review I just read of the Atlanta show (by someone admitting to be a layman and no expert). He said:

"Blue Devils: I don't know what the hell I just watched, but I loved it. I need to see this show about 5 more times. Correct me if I'm wrong, and I probably am, but this show doesn't have any stop for applause and transition to the next piece of music phases does it? If so, I didn't notice. Just felt like 12 minutes of go, go, go. Maybe I was just too enthralled. Magical show that I just want to see again and again."

Appreciation comes in many forms. Applause is but one.

I think one of the really cool aspects of DCI this year is the wide diversity in show design where fans (like me) can appreciate the impact points and brass wall from Crown, the seemingly more cerebral Cadets investigation of Samuel Barber, featuring their kick-butt percussion and the fluid mix from BD. Since not one of the corps are truly clean yet (plenty of phasing, alignment and other flaws, even for the top 6), I find it fascinating to try to out-guess the judging based on my particular frame of reference. I would argue that a whole bunch of shows this year are highly involving and enjoyable, even if no scoring existed. Booing, I think, is in the 'grand American tradition,' but seems like more of a distraction compared with the creative product coming from these excellent ensembles.