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ThePlanets

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Everything posted by ThePlanets

  1. The chords in dreams and nighthawks live was really something to behold.
  2. To anyone who participated in the Bluecoats alumni corps- Thank you so much for the wonderful, fun, emotional performance. I don't think that there is a corps to be more proud of. My personal favorite was "the wink". The bluecoats have raised the bar on alumni participation. I was hoping to experience it in person in Akron but it rained on our parade. My husband was unable to participate unfortunately and I couldn't get off work yesterday to drive to Indy but I am looking forward to seeing the Bluecoats and the Bluecoats family in person next year!
  3. 1980 looked like an amazing year. SOA was my favorite but you can't deny the percussion talent of 27th and the Bridgemen show was so fun. As for the "hate" being more online- I do agree. The vast majority of people in the stands appreciate the hard work and effort that all the corps put in. I don't see BD hate (or hate for any corps) in the stands but there is often less audience enthusiasm from their performances and some grumbling when they win gold and 2nd place doesn't beat them. Also as a side note- I wrote my post before I read yours so it wasn't directed towards you.
  4. The Blue DEVILs. The quintessential bad guys of DCI. The originization that fans love to hate. I am somewhat of a BD hater myself But let's take a deeper look at why. Exhibit A. Its annoying that they win all the time. 1976 (yes before I was born) BD wins their first championship. Watching this show- I personally love it and it's one of my favorite classic early DCI championship shows. Fast forward to 1980. BD has won 3 of the past 4 years. The organization now has experience with being champions and performs with that swagger. They know how to handle competition. The problem with BD winning in 1980 is there were 4 fantastic shows that could have won a championship and BD still won. So now out of 8 championship finals- BD has won 4 of them. Then by 1982 they had won 5 out of 10. In 1983 a corps from the east emerges and wins a championship BD hangs in there and earns a medal every year until 1987. From 1987-1995 the field of elite corps is deep and while BD never drops below 5th it seems like there is definitely a new top dog around. Then BD brings home gold 3 times in 1996-1999. They fade again but only slightly in the early 00s as the Cavaliers take over. So from roughly 1995-2011 you have 3 very elite corps always competing for gold and Phantom Regiment too. DCI fans and potential members gravitate towards their own favorite based on personal style and region. I personally viewed the Cadets and Cavaliers as the gold standard of drum corps with the little I knew about the activity at the time. Then in 2012- the shoe drops. The Cadets get 4th place and the Cavaliers drop significantly. The Cavies still haven't recovered. The Cadets shows start to miss the mark more and more then we all know what happened between the 17 and 18 seasons. So now in 2022 you have these organizations with a rich history of competing and winning completely out of the top 5. No where near medal contention. And some other perennial favorites like Phantom and Madison? Madison is still playing shows fans like but can't Crack the top 12 and Phantom has been relegated to the bottom 1/3 of the top 12. What about BD? Still winning. Usually gold because their competition is all but gone with the exception of the inconsistency of SCV. Older fans and DCI Alum have watched the corps they support the most fall while BD is still out there killin' it. Newer fans gravitate towards Carolina Crown with their mouth watering talent in the hornline and the Bluecoats with their accessible and fun show designs- but these corps haven't been getting it done. Exhibit B the abstract show design and the screamers Go back and watch any Cavaliers or Cadets show 2011 or earlier. They are marching and moving a lot, they are making shapes and pictures and playing familiar music with very clear execution. It's easy to see mistakes and these shows are easy for fans to judge. The Blue Devils use abstract shapes and make abstract curvilinear designs. They use FTL drill a lot and it's harder to see mistakes. As someone who has marched both this style and show style I call BS on anyone who says the drill for the BD hornline is any harder to execute than in other top corps. This is where 90% of the "they play and design to the score sheets" argument comes from. The other side is the music and with that comes an extremely talented hornline. @Cappybaracorrectly pointed out that BDs book is written in a higher and harder to execute range this year. It's like that every year. BD has a history of screamers every year. Sometimes it's great and sometimes they frack. It's very rare to hear fracking, dirty, or unclean music from the likes of popular corps such as Crown, the Cadets, and Phantom. Keeping in mind that a lot of fans are very involved in music education hearing this can be irking. Also a blue devils show is a blue devils show. It's different variations of the same formula every year. We talk innovation in DCI but BD keeps evolving the same concepts. SOS different year. How I have matured and come around to the Blue Devils In 2012 I was in shock and awe that Crown didn't win. It took a lot of research for me to see and understand why. Yes they won brass and they 100% deserved to win brass but as someone who used to play trumpet myself the hornline was all I was listening to and watching. I absolutely love BD percussion. They are my favorite corps to watch in the lot, I usually enjoy their percussion feature, and 1999 is probably the coolest use of percussion that I have ever seen. I have come around to the fact that the use of staging, color guard, and other member movement are extremely important in the visual aspects of the show. This year, with the help of Flo marching is the first time I was able to compare BDs early season performances to the groups performing in the east. Guess what? BD was better this year by a county mile. They just have the best group with the most talent and writing to showcase that. Carolina Crown wasn't as good as everyone thought early in the season and their placement is showing it. Boston and the Bluecoats have cleaned a lot and are performing at amazing levels but it's probably too late for them to catch BD. If you got this far- thanks for reading! Best of luck to BD and all of the finalists tonight. I am happy that DCI is back!
  5. Because 11-17 were emotionally draining and brought their A game. Mandarins are pretty much a lock in finals. The other groups know it could very well be their last this season.
  6. Wow. BK still has top 10 talent but a turd of a show Crossmen cleaned so much and did awesome Troopers have the most entertaining show in Indy this year. Tough day to be a judge.
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