MikeRapp

Bluecoats’ Down Side Up opens with Heat of the Day by Pat Metheny. Session 44 is essentially about a jazz singer. But do the programs allow improv jazz as an idiom? No, because it is impossible to do improv on a strict BPM visual cycle.

My wife is receiving the second dose a week from today.

Ever heard of Brad Mehldau?

Woods is one of the most beautiful and powerful ballads in DCI history. Wow.

The newer school stuff is far more story centered. If you don’t know or get the story concept, then the stuff we think is cool will go unnoticed. E=mc2 is a good example of this. The story Crown tells, and how they tell it, makes the ending really pay off. She didn’t seem to have a clue what the story was, so the ending was just what it was.

Tell them good luck with getting their health insurance to pay their medical bills if they get sick. The world ain’t gonna stop because some people can’t come to grips with reality.

I just can’t help myself. Every time I watch this show I have to wipe tears from my face. I think it’s the reality of drum corps, that these kids and the staffs care so much about their shows, and the performances they give. It takes real courage to do a show on this topic, and the arrangements are truly epic. One of the best shows, and performances, ever.

Holy crap! That is insane!

Old school keeps getting newer the older I get.

1989 Vanguard. Disappearing corps. The last minute of that show is truly iconic.

Same. Still think this may be the best “old school” show of all time. In retrospect it symbolized both the best of Cadets, and the turning point of DCI to its modern day iteration.

I would put this in my top 10 of all time. One of the most original scores in DCI history, and fortunately played by one of the best brass lines in Knights history. I was so hoping she would review this show, because really this is the best of what DCI is all about. One of the remarkable things about this show is how big this arrangement is for the horns, it is so demanding, and they just blast the entire thing from beginning to end. That ballad...oof. The arrangement is so beautiful, so unique. I don’t care how many times I watch this show, it always gets me. Always.

When I watch E=mc2 it is striking how big of an impact Carolina Crown has had on DCI in a pretty short period of time. Their shows (with the exception of the past few) are specifically designed to showcase the music arrangements and the story. They set their own bar.

It’s really striking how much show design changed really not that long ago. It’s almost an entirely different activity.

That score lent itself to that sort of performance. Definitely one of the cleanest horn lines ever. I always watch these videos and wish she could hear these performances live, because you honestly just cannot fathom the precision and power of the music unless you are there.