MikeRapp

They are superior. I mean look at the gold medals. I totally respect their craft, I just find it a bit cynical. It’s the same concept over and over again, even some of the same arrangements and passages. I get that Crown has their things too. Cavaliers, Cadets, even Coats. But 95% of BD is intentionally reflective of things they did last year and the year before. It’s the same concept over and over again, and until the judges stop rewarding it—they obviously are not gonna change.

Not gonna change. BD plans every single aspect of their existence to win the technical points that amount to gold. They recruit the most skilled kids, pay the most to the best teachers…heck they have the best sound system. They are a winning machine, they have the goose that lays the golden eggs, and until that doesn’t work anymore they’re gonna keep mining that same creative concept. Over and over and over again.

I wasn’t there, I get feeling that way if you are a hard core BD fan as you are. But when did BD care about fan reaction? Never. So why be angry if fans don’t feel it? Do something new that connects with fans. Change the game up. Why do you think people scream their heads off for Bluecoats? They take risks. They do their thing to connect with the crowd. They are innovative, they are always reaching for new ways to entertain. People respect that risk taking, they love it when groups do something new and interesting.

I love DCI, I think it’s the most amazing creative event of the year.

BD is doing the same basic show every year. It’s an ever more polished version of the same concept over and over again. It’s technically amazing in every possible way, and that’s why they will again win the gold. But do people feel anything? Eh.

I just wish they had more tonality at fff. It just seems like half of their show is literally playing every single note as loud as possible.

Just fwiw, where did the Cavaliers drum line come from? How many were from last season?

Phantom decided that everything has to be loud, apparently.

Blue Stars is a strong corps, even when they are a little down they are still for formidable. That said there should be a law against green uniforms unless you are Cavaliers…

Maybe I’m old school, but I kinda wish they would go back to inserting the corps logo in the bottom left of the screen…

Their brass issues seem more to do with age and experience. I can see where the line is in the list of corps and it’s obvious in rankings. I guarantee you we can hear where corps are fielding mostly college aged kids.

A jazz show would be amazing. Session 44 is one of my all time favorites. A tech show would also be eye popping, think Tron meets Oppenheimer. The modern Machine.

Something BD does better than anyone else — and it’s so easily ignored — is the scale of their shows are designed for big shows. So many corps have props that are too small, in the wrong places on the field, have ugly details seen from the stands, or just don’t read well. Their marching forms and guard movements are always sized for a big stage, which is literally how stage shows are supposed to be designed. Bluecoats now do this really well (Tilt was the first and then DSU pretty much nailed it), as do Crown and now Boston. So many other corps use props that are too small, and are therefore visually noisy. Pet peeve for me are signs with words—a huge huge distraction. Screams bad design.

I hope so but it likely will impact the judging, it’s human nature.

When you win every night, that’s the only way to think about it.

And many still argue that Phantom should not have won the gold medal, that it violated the understood rules of DCI scoring as I described above.

Boston kinda got screwed, effectively being pushed out of the last block of corps and having “special recognitions” right after their show.

DCI used to publish this info, and I wish they still did. I suspect they don’t publish it anymore because it would be obvious how winning is directly correlated to those numbers.

Winning brings money. And success brings the most talented staff and marching members. BD knows that if they start not winning gold someone else will. And that will impact all three of the above.

How many times in the past two decades has BD run the table for the entire season, only to lose in finals? How often has ANY corps had this happen? Remember Down Side Up? I do. I remember watching the premiere and saying the season is over, we just saw the gold medal winning performance. Scoring in DCI is an entirely unique concept. It’s a glide path built throughout the season. Scores tonight are not recorded in a vacuum, they are influenced both by what happened before and the fact that the season ends at a predetermined date and time, on a scale that tops out at 100. So yes, technically Blue Knights could win the Gold tomorrow. Technically that is true. But actually that is not true, it is not possible for that to happen given the way this competition is judged. It is more likely that BD will win the gold than Knights. And why is that? Because they have won every single show they have done this season, and scoring in DCI is, by design, inclusive of that fact.

There’s also a path for Blue Knights to win the Gold.

They are not supposed to talk before handing in their sheets. But of course they have now all seen the sheets from last night and of course watched the show. So the scores are now going to partially reflect what happened last night.

Then I could successfully argue that there are about a half dozen of these now, including the second act ballad that is a known pop favorite, with brass bunched together in a small form stage right.

I see no real weaknesses in any of the top four. I don’t expect any of the other three to not perform their best. But to win BD has to have an obvious fail. A tear, a key drop or three, tonality on a solo. It could happen, but when has that ever happened in the past 20 years for BD?

I’m asking you, is this now akin to the crown set?