Jump to content

pudding

Members
  • Posts

    276
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Profile Information

  • Your Drum Corps Experience
    Spirit of Atlanta, Bluecoats
  • Your Favorite Corps
    Bluecoats
  • Your Favorite All Time Corps Performance (Any)
    2015 Bluecoats
  • Your Favorite Drum Corps Season
    2008

Recent Profile Visitors

1,216 profile views

pudding's Achievements

DCP Veteran

DCP Veteran (2/3)

431

Reputation

  1. Hmm. A bit disappointed, since I thought that Bluecoats' show was head-and-shoulders above BD in terms of accessibility and effect (they did win GE, but not by nearly enough of a margin in my opinion). However, despite my feelings about BD's design (I... didn't like it), it is absolutely unarguable that year after year they achieve the highest levels of excellence. Visual continues to be the Bluecoats' bane; I hope that they can figure this out in the coming years, because it's the only thing holding them back year after year. Brass and MA seemed about right to me across the board. A bit surprised at the percussion scores, although I didn't see these specific runs. However, based on when I saw them in Allentown last weekend, I would have been very surprised if someone told me Prosperie would have given BD a 10 in achievement at Finals.
  2. Sure. Sandi has this habit of taking what should be a normal 8th/16th passage and throwing octaves onto the outer mallets, and calling that "demand". There's also a lot of harsh slamming and almost violent technique being used, which I guess sort of fits with the show theme but is really bad for the instrument, as well as non-idiomatic to the natural sound of the keyboard. The kids are playing very well, but I hate what they're playing. It's also bad pedagogically, as these kids will inevitably have bad habits for when they go back to playing concert or soloist music. Compare for Bluecoats' front ensemble writing, which is much more considerate of the sound that the instruments "want" to produce; the marimba licks are liquid and flow-y, the vibraphone notes use the metallic timbre to pierce through with the upper tessitura while staying resonant in the lower ranges.
  3. Recaps: I think BD is too high in GE, and SCV is too low. Neither of them should be scoring above 94/95 imo though. I'm not really qualified to speak on visual, but I didn't think that SCV was that far back. Repertoire maybe, they don't move a ton, but their achievement seemed okay. BD rep should be lower imo, achievement is fine. Brass: Absolutely not. BD's brass was easily the worst of the top three, and I think Bloo had a bad night soloistically (although SCV had some blips as an ensemble). Music Analysis: Meh. I think BD should be lower in rep. Percussion: Wrong. I'll give SCV first, but BD's front ensemble was horrific, and their battery took half the show to get clean. Meanwhile, Bloo's pit was crispy, and their battery only threw away one or two licks.
  4. Bluecoats: Easily the most accessible show of the top 3.front ensemble was just as clean as SCV, with a much more musical book. Snares threw away a few licks, otherwise the battery was good. Soloists had an off night, several clipped notes. I think slightly ahead of SCV, who should be slightly ahead of BD.
  5. SCV: Musically, every section was a step up from BD. Brass was more in tune, more focused, more sonorous. Battery was clean. Front ensemble was "in". However, they weren't without issues. Brass threw away some double tonguing, and I despise the way that their front ensemble music is composed to be as vulgar as possible. Thematically, I get it a bit more than BD, but still not much. The ladder props don't do anything for me. I also think their costumes are ugly as sin. Personally, I have them slightly over BD.
  6. Next to the press box, side 1 40. Blue Devils: They have some good soloists. Holistically, though, their brass just isn't as crisp as I have come to expect from them. Normally I am completely mesmerized by the bright and shiny sound of their high brass; tonight, they felt muddy. Their mellows and baris also felt somewhat unfocused. There is too much reliance on electronic melody. I don't mind electronic effects, when there is no acoustic way to get them, but in my opinion there should not be extended periods where there is nothing but synthesized sounds providing melody, accompaniment, and effects. The front ensemble was sloppy. No real excuse here. Battery seemed okay, bass feature early was not clean, but the drum line cleaned up as the show went on. Thematically I have no clue what is going on. There's no cohesion or explanation for why the design elements that are in the show were chosen.
  7. I think I know why the ending feels so abruptly "stop-ey". They only play the Hey Jude chorus three times. The ear wants it to be four (and the drum corps ear wants the last one to be extended). So it sort of feels like your ear gets "tripped", and then it's over, and you're just left thinking "Wait what? I was jamming, and then something weird happened, and now it's over I guess..."
  8. Does anyone know if McCartney/Starr have been made aware of the show?
  9. Technically there was a soft chord played backfield that was cut. But probably not what you were talking about.
  10. Love the new ending, except for how it actually ends. The pitch bend into Hey Jude is great, Hey Jude is great, we're rockin' and rollin'... and then, it just stops, abruptly. Personally, I want shows to finish, instead of just stopping. Knowing the design staff, they are probably aware of this, and this is not the final form, but historically the Bluecoats have done very little in the way of major changes after Little Rock, so I'm a touch concerned.
  11. Jeff Prosperie got very close a few times, including at the end of 2006 Cavaliers where the block in the closer pinches down at the top and bottom, and in 2015 Bluecoats where he almost got run over by a ball.
  12. There's quite a bit of throwback in this show (makes sense if you're taking the show as a retrospective on the recent direction the Bluecoats have taken). The obvious blue/orange (and ramps) for Tilt, the counterpoint for Kinetic Noise, lots of Indian/Afro-Cuban stuff for Downside Up, the black/white vs color juxtaposition for Jagged Line. I don't see a connection to Session 44, maybe the latticework on the props could be said to be similar to the visual motives of S44.
  13. Right now my favorite part of the show is the Eleanor Rigby. Give me that dark, chocolately low brass all day, thank you.
  14. Actually it's Kinetic Noise. I love Tilt (marched it after all) but I think that 2015 was smarter, deeper, and better-executed. Absolutely criminally under-recognized.
×
×
  • Create New...