MikeRapp

It doesnt mean what many think it does. A 99 this year isn’t the same as a 99 last year. I know that sounds nuts but it’s just true. The entire dci scoring methodology is based on relativity throughout the entire season.

What’s great about Bluecoats now is that if you are a current member of a DCI corps, you know exactly why you would choose to move to Bluecoats. And why you wouldn’t. They will continue to be the hip corps that still shares their toys. I truly believe 2019 will be the greatest season in dci history. I think you will see the top 12 be as uniquely strong, compelling and accomplished as we have ever seen.

I have to say, when Bluecoats did Tilt I was genuinely worried that they would fall back into the middle of the pack. I didn't see how they could follow that up with something better, which is what it takes to maintain momentum in this activity. Well, they followed that up with something entirely different and ground breaking. And I wondered if they were wandering into gimmicks they couldn't sustain. Then they followed THAT up with a gold medal show that literally rewrote the book on show design for drum corps. And then did something similar but equally daring and interesting the following year. This year, when I first saw Session 44, I was surprised, and not so much in a good way. I was so excited for a jazz show, and thrilled it was coming from Bluecoats. Session 44, though, was a slow burn. It wasn't Tilt, or Kinetic Noise, much less DSU or Jagged Line. I was disappointed to have to accept that this might be a down year for Bluecoats. But the more I watched the show, the more I got it, the more I realized the magic of the design. After the conundrum of Crown's vocalist-focused show last year, Bluecoats took the ball and totally ran with it in a way that most feel was the best use of a singer in DCI history. It's the best example of jazz in "band" put on the field since BD did it too long ago. So we approach finals again, and again I am worried what will come next season. How can they follow THIS up with something even better? I can tell you that if I were a show designer, this is the team I'd want to work with. Because they are so capable of flushing last season and starting over with a blank page...and building again. The activity is different today because of Bluecoats. SCV is different, Crown is different, and I suggest even BD is different. Boston is definitely different. Cavaliers got their mojo back to some degree by seeing what Bluecoats accomplished by simply throwing away the past and starting from scratch. I predict that next year will be the single most competitive, most creative season in DCI history. Cadets will finally be back, and Crown will come back with a killer program that will put them back into the medal discussions. Boston will be in the top six from the start of the season. SCV will likely be the reigning DCI champ. And of course, BD will reload and be BD. And the Coats will be cooking up something new that will again change the way we see this activity. My hope is that Flo gets it together in the offseason, because 2019 is going to be the single most unforgettable year of design in DCI history.

I am leaving, but the fire still remains. What a season for Bluecoats.

Mine too...albeit unintentionally.

I think we get an inaccurate picture of what contending means if we compare it to Blue Devils. BD is the only corps in the world that ages out most of its kids and reloads with more age outs the next. Crown, SCV and Bluecoats have utterly crushed their competition over the past six years.

I don’t think Crown or Bluecoats experienced any fallout. Both Crown and Bluecoats will win another title in the next five years, They both remained at the top of the activity. Phantom has struggled largely due to an inability to define their style beyond the original vision.

Tilt most definitely falls into this discussion. Very similar in many ways to SOS.

Yes. But the real significance of what SCV has done is that they aged out about half their corps last year, after having an awesome season. And came back stronger, with an even better show, and basically boat raced the field from nearly the beginning to the end. That's a shot to the side of the BD, Bluecoats and Crown boats. Last year was fun and rewarding. This year was a punch in the face. Or lower. SCV ain't going away now. No, they are going to be recruiting against the best from here, and winning a lot. Boston ain't going away either. And you can bet Crown is going to reconsider show design in the offseason and come back with a great show, because there is no doubt now that anything less than that, next year, will land them in sixth. Behind Cavaliers.

Maybe this is where the Steve Jobs quote, "Good artists borrow, great artists steal," comes in...

THANK YOU! I am SO over "here comes the drum line front and center for their completely out of context, ram as many notes as possible into 30 seconds, feature—and then go back to the show." It's so blatantly obvious that it's nothing more than a scoring sop.

Leaders innovate. It is the very definition of leadership in an activity of this sort. Scoring well is nice, but DEFINITELY has nothing to do with leadership. Being weird also isn't leadership. I think what Mandarins have done the last two years is truly as daring as a corps of their status could be. E-MC2 is one of the most ground-breaking shows ever made. Down Side Up has without question redefined what a drum corps show can be—and now is quickly becoming. Garfield Cadets created the entire concept of asymmetrical drill. I still watch the first show where they gave the middle finger to history and marvel at how ###### daring it was. No one says you have to innovate. But leaders innovate. It is in their DNA.

Just don’t try to talk sense. It’s pointless.

How many of these have Bluecoats had now? Three?

A trip to Cedar Point might be in order, on the way to Indy!

Everything expressed here is an opinion. So lighten up, Francis.

I don’t think Crown ever has issues with judges being “on board.” If anything, they give Crown the benefit of the doubt due to their reputation in brass. This year the concept was a miss, and visual never could catch up. I see it like Bluecoats last year, where no matter how much you polish, you are still doing follow the leader too many times. It’s also a case of Boston emerging as a legit medalist threat, and a possible caption winner in guard. This is an area that Crown and Blue Devils have historically dominated.

Huge ramifications for tonight’s show, given that Day 1of Allentown was rained out. The race/chase between Bluecoats and Crown is basically on the line tonight.

Having established, proven, well paid staff is, unfortunately, a rarity in this activity. I would imagine that nothing taints the energy and commitment of marching members like seeing and hearing how their educational staff is taken advantage of, especially financially. You can’t hide much when you share the same buses and gym floors for three months. How can corps become organizations? To me, this is what DCI needs to be very serious about going forward. Perhaps they are. But it would be great if the established top eight organizations did more to help out their competition.

True. With World Class corps in Nashville and Austin, and soon in Salt Lake City, my hope is that touring becomes more regional only to keep costs down. If that happens, you should see a more reasonable and reaslitic financial picture emergefor the future of the activity. I might also suggest that DCI readdress the general tour route. I don’t mean to sound like a homer, but it would make a lot more sense for the Allentown show to be in Nashville, now that Music City is world class, Nashville is booming, and there will be at least three professional venues to perform in soon. The drive to Indy from Nashville makes for a much easier road for the members.

The very word Great can be defined in many very different ways. All of these kids are great by my definition. But some are more musically and athletically capable than others. Some are on a music career path in which marching in a dci corps is one of the steps. Some are in it to win medals, mostly. Others, not as much. All of these kids are great marching members. But winning even one medal takes far, far more than great marching members. It’s the very nature of this activity. If you don’t like the combination of amateur with professional, then this isn’t the activity for you.

One of the things I wish more people understood about DCI and Blue Devils is that the competitive success of the A corps is a direct product of what the organization has done and been focused on for four decades. And I say that because this puts so many other arguments into a different light. The entire concept of scoring, and what is scored, is very much a direct product of the Blue Devils organizational approach to the activity. While there have certainly been Corps and people who have also influenced the direction of the activity, they didn’t have the organizational vision or financial backing to have the staying power of BD. Like it or not, when Nick Saban calls a press conference, a lot more people listen than when Derek Mason calls one. In this respect, I think it is certainly fair to say that if you want to see how to succeed long term, the BD organizational and missional approach is one way to do it, and maybe the only way. As shows become more extravagant, and touring becomes more expensive, there is no practical way to stay afloat unless you have a broader music educational mission that is your year long focus. We all hear of famous corps that served awful “food” to members in tour, and didn’t pay their staff until weeks or even months after the season was over. If at all. I say this because it really grinds my gears when people say, Just work harder...like Blue Devils. To that I say, BS. Blue Devils work no harder than Bluecoats, or Cadets, or Crown, or Blue Stars. It’s total crap to say the reason they continue to succeed is because they just want it more. The high schoolers marching for Scouts want it just as much as the age out college kids at BD. BD has infinitely more talent, experience and access to insight than Scouts have, and that is why they are beating them by 15+ points. This activity is not just about the kids, as appealing and feel good as that sounds. If you want to march and have fun, be in BOA. Go to Franklin High and have a fun summer learning drill and performing a few shows that get scored. That is not why you march in a DCI world class corps. You march in DCI because you want to be in a setting that is run by professionals, in which you compete against the best, and are judged by professional judges who will pick apart everything your corps does. Kids do not design DCI shows, and that isn’t why you join a corps. You join to be taught by the best in the world, in a show that normal humans should not be expected to learn and perform in a matter of weeks. The question now is, what is the future of this activity? I am encouraged by the new power corps pushing toward the top. I’m encouraged by new world class members merging into the fold. That said, we should all be concerned about the financial risks that most of these corps are taking just to load the bus for their first show. Somehow we better find a way to address a level of fairness for all members, including those outside the top eight.

We all know this is factually inaccurate.

I feel as though Crossmen could have had a more challenging show. There are long stretches where they don’t really do much of anything. I know it’s tough when you are losing kids every year to higher placing corps, but they should be shooting for the top six, not the top 12. i do dig the uniforms!

Knights are medalist level from a musicianship standpoint. From a visual standpoint, they remain utterly nondescript. I’m good with esoteric if you are visually compelling. Maybe next year.