Candid Insight

I know some of the shows 'require' a special 'costume' to support the theme, but some corps probably don't HAVE to have totally new uniforms every year. For example - correct me if I am wrong - but for years Phantom wore black and white uniforms and changed them every year. Same colors, different design, but several years it did not seem like the design change was needed. Maybe the uniforms are not that expensive or the older ones are worn out. Or - more likely - designers do not want to be saddled with the previous garb. They want a clean slate. OF course, this leads to a lot of us veteran drum corps constantly asking 'who is this?' because the identities that once were self evident no longer exist. The Blue Devils might be the one exception as they have a foundation that seems constant. Just my take.

My take so far: Music City: 5.5 entertaining but cheesy 🙂 Genesis 5.7 a corps on the rise Troopers 5.0 have improved, but the show just does not sell very well Pacific Crest 6.5 a pleasant surprise - best I have ever seen them Madison 4.5 time for a major MAJOR shakeup - hoping for better things next year Colts 7.3 theme was clear and the performance was very good Spirit 7.1 improved brass from 2018 Academy 6.7 show is just OK - the magic of Drum Corpse Bride is a haunting memory Phantom 7.8 WOW - a dramatic improvement - they are really starting to sell this show Crossmen 7.6 some very strong elements but it is not all fitting together yet Mandarins 7.5 a dark show well performed, great guard work, some fatigue late (brass)

Phantom is not giving up their spot in Finals without a fight - and there is a lot of fight being shown in this performance. They have dramatically improved and I have a feeling it is about to start paying off. (When I saw them on opening night they were quite weak - lots of hard work is evident in today's performance.) It is not one of my favorite shows, but you have to give them credit for selling it.

They should definitely add that. And maybe trim the solo back a bit.

Excellent idea - surprised they are not already doing that.

Spirit's brass line much improved over last year IMO. I thought they sort of 'hid' them behind the door quite a bit last year and did not do a lot of ensemble with difficulty if I remember correctly. I am liking them more this year brass wise.

It is a huge risk to try a comedy show. Few corps have pulled it off well. Bridgemen and Velvet Knights were successful with it.

Loved Johnny Staccato.

One of my favorite Colts shows of all time was the Johnny Staccatto show. Performance levels were not great but I thought the show was clever and entertaining. Since then they have had more traditional shows and have performed at a higher level. I guess I miss Bridgemen / Velvet Knights and wish we had at least one comic relief show. The closest we got recently was Academy with 'Drum Corpse Bride' That was a great combination of humor, entertainment, and emotion. Loved that show. The Colts have cleaned up quite a bit - enjoyable show this year.

A lot of corps make uniform changes during their production. IMO Madison might want to consider that.

I agree with you and that would probably be about the ONLY thing from Madison that would remind me of Anaheim this year.

It seems like it is just a matter of time before one of these up and coming corps (Pacific Crest, Genesis, Music City, etc.) is going to move up and - sort of like Academy - sneak into Finals within the next few years. Their designs and performance levels are on a nice trajectory. It might just be a matter of a better show concept for one of these corps to make that leap.

Very Impressive Pacific Crest! I enjoyed them very much.

I miss the traditional Troopers uniforms - one of the best in the activity back in the day. And I don't think using them would be in conflict with the 'theme', but I know it would be counter culture these days.

Troopers much improved from early season - much more definition.

I recently attended a show and sat directly in front of speakers on side A near the 20. Boston is blatantly amplifying their entire brass line. No question. I also noticed twice during their show when no brass were playing (mouthpieces were not at mouths) and they played digitized brass samples through those speakers. It is possible they are not only amplifying their brass, but adding more texture through layering digitized samples during high volume passages. In a larger stadium, those seated center stage may not be able to easily detect the extent to which corps are amping their brass sections. The Blue Devils did a masterful job of blending their amplification last year. Two prominent examples were in the large triangle in the opener, creating an 'organ like' effect, and in the high (very high) brass feature late in the show. I am not completely opposed to amplification. There are times when it adds depth (e. g. the pedal tones SCV used so effectively in the big push near the end of 'Ballet for Martha'). It can also provide subtle textures that would be difficult ( perhaps impossible) because of placement of brass players on parts of the field. It seems inevitable that we will see more amplification in the future. Let's just hope it is done appropriately and we don't see 'too much amplification' distract from the overall performances like 'too much vocals' has done at times.

YES! and I cannot figure out how or when

They have done that all year - in Allentown it was amazing to watch.

Very near the end of Blue Devils show they have one (or two) trumpets overplaying in the high register and they were way sharp in two previous shows. I suspect they are near one of the 6 mics Devils have set up to amp their brass - listen for it tonight - it is the only significant intonation issue I have heard with Devils all year.

I am not a fan of the vocal at the end but the Cavies really sold their show tonight. That guard is fantastic!!!!!

They were on fire! And the visual design is very very nice! Great job Boston!!!!

I am running two large screens side by side - one on high cam, one on multi, jacked my internet to 100 mbps and no problems. A few times the Roku stick running the app (on wifi) has degraded the picture a bit but no skips or reloading (which I had earlier at 25 mbps).

Really ironic - it really struck me in Allentown live.

The Cadets' show has some really great visual effects that were not well defined early in the year but they are bringing it now. Challenging and impressive!

I know they are not connecting with a lot of people because their show concepts tend to be a bit obtuse, but I really appreciate that they have carved out their own genre within the activity. I also enjoy 'learning' about their show as the season progresses. And, of course, their performance levels are always quite good. I guess I am a fan.