[2020 Blooooooooocoats!]

2019 is in the books and what a great year for Bloo it was! Highest score in corps history, High GE, a tie for Top Music and a well deserved Silver Medal! Let’s see how this amazing design staff tops this!

[What is your personal enjoyment rankings for 2019?]

Bluecoats - no surprise coming from me.

Blue Devils - I was mesmerized. Brilliant use of that prop! And what was the prop? A friggin wall!

Cavies - A much more mature design from recent offerings and a great horn line!

Boston - What a guard! But stealing the walking man (giant) from THE Ohio State marching band ... I am so conflicted!

Crown - That Brass! Visual ... not so much. But still their best show since Relentless.

 

[What makes The Blue Devils "great," rather than just "good"?]

3 hours ago, MikeRapp said:

They pay better, offer career opportunities and not just one or two summers, and their design staff knows how to work together without stepping on each other.

I think it’s the dental and vision plans.

[Pick Any Show Throughout All Time and Eternity That You Wish You Saw Live]

7 minutes ago, mfrontz said:

I'm going to make this about a 'show' as in a 'contest' and say 1980 finals.

One of the deepest fields in DCI history, and some of the most emotional performances, topped by the cool as #### Blue Devils winning their fourth title in five years. 

 

 

Man. I cried that night. I cried until dawn.

[Is anyone becoming bored w/the Avant Garde shows?]

1 hour ago, kkrepps said:

You know the thread has gone on too long when it degrates into cheesy puns. Everybody has a different opinion on this but in the end we'll just have to agree to disabrie. 

 

Yeah? Cheesy puns? Well, FONDue!

[2019 Bloooooooooooooocoats]

2 hours ago, N.E. Brigand said:

Appropriately, the judges were ever so slightly Leary of this show.

Now that is a deep reference to “Come Together”!

[Shows to beat BD since 2008]

8 minutes ago, kkrepps said:

😁 Sorry, I had to laugh at that.  In other words...yeah, all that stuff you said that I dont feel like typing out. 

I was thinking of doing the same thing lol. 

 

You know me too well! 😂

[Shows to beat BD since 2008]

1 hour ago, jwillis35 said:

Those are definitely killer shows. I love that you put Bloo no. 1.  I thought Down Side Up was incredible. Bluecoats might not have been as clean as SCV 2018, Carolina in 2013, or even The Cadets and Phantom, but the design of Bloo's 2016 show was a benchmark in the activity that many corps today are following (as they do with BD).  For me I would rank them:

1. Bluecoats 2016 - A truly benchmark show for DCI. A show that has changed a lot minds about props, uniforms/costumes, electronics, etc.  See my remarks above for Bloo. 
2. Carolina Crown 2013 - I was in love with this show from day one. There is really nothing to complain about or nit pick. It has a fantastic music book, incredible brass line, amazing guard, and the staging and drill are pretty close to flawless. This was Carolina at their best. The body movement, the integration, the powerful impact moments, it all created a level of General Effect that never let down. And the Ballad is one of my favs from this decade. 
3. The Cadets 2011 - I think from a total design perspective this was nearly a perfect show. Drill, music, guard, theatrics, and theme all came together. It was the last time we truly remember what it was like to see the old "Garfield" corps at Finals. They had an early lead in 2015 only to make many mistakes down the stretch, and while I do like their 2012 and 2013 shows, I feel 2011 was the last time we saw classic Cadets at Finals.
4. Phantom Regiment 2008 - One of my favorite shows ever. Theatrical, powerful, incredibly staged, and the performance levels are solid to really good. The show took most of the season to build and develop, but what we got at Finals was amazing. It terms of entertainment it might be no. 1 on this list, but I rank it below Bloo, Crown, and Cadets for minor reasons. Mainly I feel the top 3 here are better overall visual programs and they match Phantom's excellent music score in quality, construction, and demand (even if you don't find them as entertaining). 
5. Santa Clara Vanguard 2018 - This show certainly has one of the best endings I have seen in DCI competition, much like Phantom 2008. I found the show somewhat uneven from front to back, enjoying the back portion much more. From a performance perspective, SCV is likely no. 1 here considering the quality of their brass, percussion, visual proficiency, and guard. From that perspective, either Cadets or Carolina would be no. 2. But much like with Phantom, they absolutely needed to refine their ending (of just finish it) in order keep the Blue Devils at bay. The changes Phantom made also helped them jump to the lead at the very end. Most of the season I was not sold on the opening two section of Vanguard's show, despite their monster performance captions. It is a fantastic show, deserved to win, and has a killer ending. 

This is my exact ratings as well, for mainly the same reasons. Check with me again in a couple of months and I might shuffle it a bit, but I do that all the time.

[Is anyone becoming bored w/the Avant Garde shows?]

2 hours ago, Cappybara said:

 

The example I gave for that was that Bloo 14-18 did a great job of keeping it simple and audience friendly but still very effective. Conceptually those are some of my favorite shows this decade. This year, in my opinion, they veered too far into the cheese side of things. 

If Bloo was cheese this year (Bloo Cheese?) then more cheese for me, please! because Bloo was really Gouda!

[Madison Scouts 2020]

13 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

I predict an Adam and Eve show

Actually, a “Kiss Me Kate” show might be interesting with a Cole Porter soundtrack.

Or how about “Guys and Dolls”?

[Semis interview question: Was it that bad?]

3 hours ago, Terri Schehr said:

Yeah, I was gone by 78.  

Should have marched 79.

[Semis interview question: Was it that bad?]

48 minutes ago, Continental said:

Did you march when the Seguin brothers were in Guardsmen?

I am pretty sure she was gone by then. I marched with Mike and Phil in the Windsor Guardsmen. They marched Schaumburg Guardsmen in 1980. 

[Semis interview question: Was it that bad?]

2 hours ago, JimF-LowBari said:

Why does there have to be a purpose (aka ulterior motive)? Speak off the cuff enough, law of averages something dumb is going to come out.

Or in my case, when I  speak off the cuff, the law of averages catches up to me and I say something smart! 

[Blue Devils 2020]

45 minutes ago, flugelswerebugels said:

Thanks, Uncle Joe!

Oh, you’re welcome! I was just bemused about the trinary nature of 202020. If you know anything about me, it’s I am easily bemused! And most of the time, I am even amused!

[Carolina Crown 2020]

1 hour ago, karuna said:

It’s fine.  The wildlife on DCP doesn’t worry me.  I have found that using the ignore button makes life far more pleasant here.  If people are toxic, purge them from view. Life is better that way.  I have no time for those who willfully twist the obvious.  

I never knew the term Crownie was a bad thing. I thought it meant a Crown fan. That’s not bad. 

[Show concepts for 2020]

I would love to see a Motown show.

[Semis interview question: Was it that bad?]

1 minute ago, Chief Guns said:

Sadly it's the world we live in. You can do 99 good things and no one cares. You do one wrong thing and we want you to suffer till your dying breath. 

Or as I learned in1982, one “aw ####” wipes out one hundred “‘at a boys!” 

[What Year Will BD Win #20?]

29 minutes ago, Ghost said:

Maybe, but once they won in 76, there have been stretches where they came up empty.

I saw that 76 corps. I thought they were gods. 

[If between Bluecoats and BD, what influences your pick?]

5 minutes ago, Fran Haring said:

Great sound, but a bear to carry.

Thank God I was a French horn player.

LOL, thank God I was a sop! Sops are friggin’ light, y’ll! 

[If between Bluecoats and BD, what influences your pick?]

1 minute ago, Fran Haring said:

The North tenors!!!!

My old DCA team used them for a couple of years. Those things were really heavy.

I bet!

[If between Bluecoats and BD, what influences your pick?]

36 minutes ago, Fran Haring said:

Oh man... 1976 Devils absolutely floored me at finals in Philly that year. Like I said earlier... a game changer.  A new paradigm of what it took to be a championship corps.

 

Not to mention the marching urinals! 

[DCI World Championship Finals - Saturday, August 10, 2019]

1 minute ago, Terri Schehr said:

I can’t swim! 

I’ve always heard that bees are adverse to water — even Queen Bees 🐝 

[Semis interview question: Was it that bad?]

11 minutes ago, wackywords said:

There seems to be a lot of discussion about this on social media, but was it that Dan said the wrong thing? Or was it just a badly timed question?

 

Discuss

Both.

[Blue Devils 2020]

202020

[Collusion During DCI Finals Week]

Down in section 141, I was comfy in my shorts and T-shirt.