MikeRapp

Session 44 is one of my all time favorite DCI shows.

It would go a long way to bankrupting the activity. Why do you think people buy tickets to these shows? To watch the best corps do an exhibition? Compete. That’s what you need to do. Not very long ago Boston barely made finals. They won the silver last month. They didn’t sit around and complain about their disadvantages, they competed.

True for nearly all the finalist level corps. You have to be good enough to be asked to join. But the level of ability is drastically different between the bottom four and the top four. This is really not arguable. It’s infinitely harder to make Bluecoats than Crossmen.

Sure but there is no doubt that more experienced marchers can pick things up faster and execute them cleaner. It’s not a BD thing, it’s just life. If your goal is to consistently win titles, you must recruit the most experienced marching members. Period. When an NFL team needs to win a title they go out and sign veterans. They don’t expect rookies to perform at an all-pro level. And frankly, a 21 year old is a boy; a veteran can be ten years older.

Just build around your strength and rely on that. You don’t need all the trappings.

I get the differences. Just don’t care to draw creative lines in the sand.

Dude come on. Inferno, compared to RHRN…is HIGH brow! It’s every bit as serious as Boston this year. And it was the same subject matter! As far as narration…whatever. I mean why not say shows shouldn’t have props? It’s a unique art form that is open ended. Almost every single show now as some form of narration. Including RHRN.

I will reiterate. Crown finished fourth in one of the deepest top 12s ever. We are sounding like they barely made finals. Boston won their first ever silver medal this year. In any previous season Crown would have won bronze.

That last giant toss at the end…I don’t know how many rotations that thing had but it has to be some kind of record.

Who decided the other shows aren’t also fun? I have no issues with whatever Crown does, and you may love it as the pinnacle of the activity. But to imply that Crown focuses on fun while the other corps are focusing on not fun…that’s kinda snooty Ive always thought of Crown as the marching band every high school marching band wishes it could be. Which is a great idea imo for a whole lot of reasons. But to imply that Bluecoats isn’t at least as much fun…or Phantom or SCV…hard pass. P.S. Arguably the best show Crown ever put on a field was Inferno…which is as highbrow as you can get.

I don’t think most people believe other corps don’t have their go to concepts. But they don’t win a gold medal three out of four years.

While we might all like to see corps take more risks, we don’t have to pay their bills.

Klesch has the most recognizable arranging style in all of the marching arts. BD has a very recognizable approach if you know what to listen for. These two corps, plus perhaps SCV, are the absolute gold standard of somehow having a single brass tone for their entire show, regardless of which season they are in. Phantom is pretty obvious because they have always emphasized low brass.

Makes sense, especially when you see the connection to a designer wanting to have their own identity. Sort of like coaches, who want to be known for doing things a certain way—it establishes their brand.

Some corps have had very obvious design themes, most notably Phantom Regiment and in the past, Madison Scouts. You pretty much knew what to expect every season. Phantom still retains many of their expected idioms. Santa Clara Vanguard has usually been symphonic music with highbrow themes. Blue Knights had a consistent musical theme for a decade and then suddenly and purposefully changed it—and look what happened. This has to strike fear into every show designer. Bluecoats had no such concept until Tilt. Then they grabbed onto sound design and went with that momentum into modern and eclectic “fun”. Costuming and set design evolved the idea and now Bluecoats are established as “the cool kids.” Their shows are predictably unpredictable. But if you listen you can hear repeating concepts in their arrangements. BD is likewise predictable in their approach. Their costuming has stayed pretty much the same for a decade at least. Their sound design is virtually identical. Their shows are thematically very similar, and only recently has set design evolved. Musically they repeat many if not all of the same ideas every season—right down to the big ballad to close Act 2 with the corps in a block stage left (or right). As you very succinctly identified, Crown is literally repeating their show designs and simply sliding a different visual on top of them. The brass arrangements are almost identical. These are not stupid people so they have to know they are doing this, right?

Question for you. Do design directors know ahead of time what their “brand show concepts” are, and design them into the program? Or does it just happen by momentum and the reality of their staff talent and opinions on what makes a good show? You and I have talked about this idea for years. After watching it play out at really almost every corps, I now am thinking the designers know full well they are repeating past concepts as a way of defining their brand and sound for recruiting new members.

There are so many DCI constants that play to BD’s dominance. There just aren’t any other organizations that can afford the sort of institutional assets that BD brings to the table. Chief among them is a very well-paid, year-around staff that works well together and has an unparalleled track record. This more than anything provides a bedrock of stability that really no other organization can match. Look at the merry go round thread. Most other corps are rotating out designers and fielding interviews, while BD starts building next year’s roster and show design. They already know they will have the most capable educators and marching members. It’s all about sticking to their plan.

I could of course be wrong. Odds are not on my prediction.

Crown is due for a breakout program. They certainly have and can attract the talent, and they can manage a season. Just have a sense that these recent show design mistakes will not be repeated in 2023. They are due for an E=mc2

Crown will win the gold medal in 2023. There I said it.

RHRN is a great show. Just not quite as great as three others that finished top two.

I don’t think anyone is saying it’s a bad thing. It’s just a thing.

I would guess that Bluecoats, Crown and SCV march mostly very experienced members. Compare the athleticism of the corps at the bottom of the activity with those at the top. It’s a totally different activity. It is what it is. Order of finish is directly correlated with age and experience of marching members. Always has been and I suspect always will be.

It’s always gonna be that way. I contend again that the final rankings are 80% in direct correlation to the average age/experience of each corps’ marching members.

A ton. They basically lost a third of the season.