Ediker

The 2023 corps has a long and deep history of inspiration to draw from. Looking forward to this season’s Giants.

Even the “close-up gremlins” took a break to watch that show. Incredible performance!

I like your ideas, @PopcornEater1963.

Your collection just went up in value

BD 88, with the fake ending

Fixed that for you. Membership and recruiting is way too complicated as it is. No member corps would approve that.

Wasn’t there some new rule (2017) about no staff change announcements until after Labor Day?

Like Crown, they maintained their position. [looks for the ducking behind wall thing]

Troopers uniforms: Yes! I’m so glad people are mentioning this. Best uniforms by far. Bad###, dark, fit the show, everyone looked good in them… I want one. Best ending: Crown and Troopers Best ballads: BD, BAC, Crown Crowd response: Troopers, Colts, Phantom, Crown, Bloo (Boston: the audience was too busy holding their breath for the 900 consecutive rifle tosses) Favorite soloist: BD’s Carnival in Venice. Total earworm. All summer she nailed it except for the same one note… until finals weekend when it was spotless. Tough solo. Gutsy performer. There were many great soloists this year… this one just stands out for me because of her grit and persistence. Best body move: SCV when everyone did a dive somersault. Honorable mentions to Bloo brass’s entrance with all the leg moves, and Boston’s left field low brass crawl dance toward the 50 at the end of Snake. Best props: BD. Simple concept, always looks good. Versatile and well used. Best performance energy: Bloo’s keytarist added a lot without taking anything away from the other musicians

Because there was no surprise emoticon. I’m surprised that such a big event and venue does not have a better staffing solution. There was inadequate admission, concession, and security staff… and completely unnecessary staff members operating the elevators (ffs, I can push my own button… they’re literally doing nothing else, except taking up space and making the process slower).

Say what?? The LOS staff are volunteers? How does that raise $$ for local sports? Does DCI or LOS make donations instead of paying the staff?

followed the DM? Many front ensembles are notorious for listening instead of watching the conductor. They often have their eyes glued to the tone bars.

A show title that contains no form of the word lose/lost.

Yes… love the ending, but hate that it has to end. Blown away.

Yeah, who knows how the numbers land. That is definitely a lifelong memory for these MMs… wonderful moment for them.

Yeah total chills up and down my spine

Can’t help it… I love watching The Troopers this year. So much style, impact, and total bada##ery.

I’m not blind or deaf, yet, and was not criticizing BD’s look or sound, which is perfectly magnificent.

Yes, they definitely nail the sheets, and are deservedly rewarded for it. Execution and variety of effects is BD’s strength. Everyone else is of course focusing on execution, but they could take a lesson from BD on building in more variety of effects. You nailed it that others attempt to reinvent the wheel and create new experiences. The others have more variety year-to-year, while BD has more variety within a given show, which is what the sheets reward, and that makes sense.

I don’t think it’s hate. Blue Devils are excellent. Though in the last 10+ years, if you’ve seen one BD show, you’ve seen them all. Great productions, but it also feels like another variation of the same two or three ideas. The other top corps come out with completely different concepts and styles each year. Leaving before Blue Devils doesn’t feel as tragic as missing Bluecoats or Crown.

I’d be interested to see a math whiz break down DCI’s scoring system, and point out all of the limitations. One big limitation is when a corps maxes out a caption/subcaption, the scores reflect ranking, but not necessarily the extent one corps was better than the next placement. At best, it’s a fraction of a point, and often much less. Other scored competitions have ditched fixed score ceilings so that judges can better reward achievement.

You can’t catch a break!

Agree. A masterpiece.

Cadets being Cadets just plain works. Glad the identity crisis is over. Hi quality design and excellent execution. Maybe not this season, but they will not be strangers to the top 5 for long.

You’re not an ###. Rules are rules. I think the lax enforcement is a symptom of the activity evolving to the electronics revolution. Bitd, dozens of corps could be performing at even small shows, and strict time enforcement was a necessity. Today, there are fewer corps, and way more complexity in the setup/takedown of each show. Each venue poses unique and unexpected challenges. All of the corps have likely agreed to allow the judges leniency with these new challenges. It’s a balancing act. Tech isn’t going away. In spite of its annoyances, it’s brought the activity to new places, for a new generation of fans and MMs. The rules will catch up some day, but it’s hard to determine what they should be while corps’ use of electronics is still moving forward quickly.