ThePlanets

I have been thinking about how I am going to rank Bluecoats shows when I eventually do my Bluecoats all time thread. These shows are neck and neck at 4 and 5 for me. 2014 gets it though. Both great shows I just think Hymn of Acxiom makes 2014 the winner.

I think Boston and Cavaliers back and forth for either 4 and 5 or 5 and 6. You also always have corps on an island of their own like Santa Clara in 5th place in 2015. I would love to see the top 4 in a really tight knit group again. And I think Bloo will be back in the top 4. That will depend on Crown's production and percussion though.

So. If I were to purchase a DVD for Christmas from the DCI website what year do the edits start? Was it 2014? FWIW I am mostly interested in 2008, 2015, and possibly the essentials (although I wish I could mix and match on those)

Lol well I guess the 2 negative votes it just got puts 2016 and 1988 in a tie for 5th and drops 2017 to an HM. 2017 had a 2 vote lead on those 2 shows BUT they have no negative mentions. Honestly the uniforms for 2017 only mildly bothered me and I thought they really stepped up their game competitively this year. I definitely like some other SCV show designs better even recently...but they were so good this past year.

My favorites: 1. 2016- Hunted- I didn't get to see this one live but I saw more than a few nonprofessional recordings of it. After reading the synopsis this was actually the show I found most interesting in 2016. Love the concept and love Knights of Cydonia my Muse. 2. 2012- Dreaming in color. It takes a lot to beat the big dogs in open class and this show did it. Great trumpet solo and a solid show. Loved watching it at finals. 3. 2017- EnCompass- the design was an every drum corps show design and was a little dry BUT the hornline had beautiful,lush sound and, IMO, was one of the best that didn't make finals this past year. Their sound has come a long way. Going to opt out of least favorites.

We are staying on the West Coast this week but going north of California and celebrating one of the newer corps to world class competition the Oregon Crusaders. What are your top 1-5 all time OC shows? (Optional) What are your 1-3 least favorites from them? You can go into as much or little detail as you like but please please try to keep things positive. For a quick recap in case you missed it and/or want to add your contributions: Week 1- Cavies- 2006 the Machine is the favorite and 2012 15 min of fame is the least favorite. Week 2- Jersey Surf- 2012 Bridgemania favorite Week 3- Blue Knights-1994 Trittico for bras band favorite. least 2001Blue Toons Week 4- Spirit of Atlanta- 1980 favorite Week 5- Carolina Crown- Favorite: 2015 Inferno; Least Favorite: 2017 ...It is Week 6- The Mandarins- 2017 inside the ink for favorite. Week 7- Boston Crusaders- 2000 RED is the favorite. Week 8- Pioneer- 1996 Celtic Twilight is the favorite. Week 9- Santa Clara Vanguard- 1999 Inventions for a New Millennium favorite. 1995 Not the Nutcracker least favorite.

Thank you everyone for your input! Here are the results after 1 week of voting: 1. 1999- Inventions for a new Millennium 2. 1987- Russian Christmas music, pictures at an exhibition..etc. 3. 1989- Phantom of the Opera 4. 2004- Scheherezade 5. 2017- Oroboros HMs for 2016 and 1988 Least favorite 1995 not the nutcracker Show that got a lot of both yays and nays 2009 ballad for martha I thought I would see a lot more 1988 and was pretty sure 1989 was going to win. I will be back tomorrow with a west coast non top-12 corps.

2 of my all time favorites. Spartacus is going to run away with this match up. I have a slight preference to mad world- which is by far my favorite Cavaliers show. Both are similar shows in that they are very thematic shows with great GE and percussion with a lot of acting required from the MMs. Spartacus has one of the coolest closers of all time but Mad World is captivating from start to finish. Man. It's incredibly hard to pick against Spartacus.

I wish I would have known about this sooner. I put in my vote for SCV. Just out of curiosity- how did you establish your seeding? It looks like cavies 06 was seeded terribly low and in made the final 8. I love stats and research so this poll is really cool to me. Also put in my vote for Cavies 10 vs Phantom 08

I am going to post a range next to my predictions. Predictions are kind of a crapshoot but I would be surprised if I am off too much on the ranges. Also as a disclaimer I know nothing about guard. 1. SCV- their momentum is on the upswing and 2018 will bring one of the most amazing, clean, and precise SCV shows of all time. Range 1-5 2. BD- their chances of not medaling are about as good as the Cleveland Browns chances of making the playoffs. 2017 brought a whole new direction and flavor of BD and their risk paid off and they still won. They haven't gotten 3rd since 2006. I thought it was anyone's game in 2015 and they could be as low as 5th but since then their competition from Crown is cooling, Cadets have dropped off, and Boston and the Cavies are heating up but not quite gold medal contenders yet. Range 1-3 3. Bluecoats- Bluecoats shows are fun, passionate, and interesting. They have a great program going. I don't think they will fade after falling to 5th. Jagged line was the crowd favorite anyway. Range 1-5 4. Boston Crusaders- the hype is real and they are touring with tough competition all season next year. One of the most historic corps is finally building a dynasty. Range 3-8 5. The Cavaliers- this a tough one. They are building and getting way better. Men are from Mars design was not as good as Propaganda but they had a more talented group. They will draw even more talent in 2018 and have great percussion and guard. Range 3-7 6. Carolina Crown- Much like the Cadets couldn't rally after an unpopular show design in 2014... Crown will have trouble in 2018. The thing about Crown is their brass has been consistently top notch since 2008 regardless of their show designs being all over the place. I think they are more likely to fall but they are my dark horse for 2018. Range 1-8 7. Blue Knights- I love BK. It seems like they just can't crack being the top of tier 2. Their claims about being more ###### could mean anything from the best BK show ever to one of the worst. I think they will be pretty consistent. Range 4-10. 8. The Blue Stars- I was VERY impressed by their hornline last year and I think great things are ahead for them. The 17 show reminded me of an old phantom show. Range 6-13. 9. Phaaaaantom Regiment- 2017 was a weird year for Phantom and while I think overall changes will be positive this group is still rebuilding. Range 5-11 10. The Cadets- 10th is a worst case scenario but they will start out of the gate talking about the next season and while this group of MMs will look and sound fantastic- the show design just won't showcase them and be a mess. Range 4-11 11. Madison Scouts- they are back and big and getting better. Another fun show design puts this group on 11th. Range 8-14 12. The Mandarins- they gain momentum after their 2017 production, come up with another genius design and find themselves in finals for the first time. Range 10-16 13. Crossmen- I have really enjoyed the crossmen shows the past few years...they have had great soloists and percussion features but I think they could be a lot stronger. Range 9-14 14. The Academy- another great show and performance but just not enough to make finals again. Range 10-16. 15. The Troopers- Improved show design and performance from last year. Range 13-17 16. The Colts. Range 14-18 17. BOLD prediction- Music City. Their first year in world class proves to be a great one. I thought they were pretty underrated last year. The tribe was a great show and performance. Range 15-22 18. Oregon Crusaders- they recruit better and have beautiful lush brass and a creative show design. Range 15-22 19. SOA- their placement is somewhat dependent on their show style. I would love to see them do better because I love SOA but I met a few promising MMs that wanted to march elsewhere in 2018. Range 16-23 20. Genesis- they do slightly better this year than last and keep generating more interest. Range 17-22 21. Pacific Crest- range 18-23 22. Jersey Surf- they make the 25 seed in semifinals and bring back the fun show theme. Yay! Range 19-24 23. Seattle Cascades- range 19-24 24. Pioneer- they make a lot of gains on seeding when compared to OC corps and have a much better year than 2017. Range 22-24

Okay here we go for other corps in TOC lineups: Blue Knights 5/7 Crossmen 3/7 Mandarins 2/7 Blue Stars 2/7 Colts 2/7 Academy 1/7 Pioneer 1/7 Cadets 2 1/7 Corps not in TOC shows: Troopers, SOA, OC, PC, Genesis, Music City, Seattle Cascades, Jersey Surf I guess in conclusion it looks to me like the Cadets aren't a full participant in TOC and Crown has a weird schedule but everything else looks normal.

The thinnest lineup championship wise is Northern Illinois but it is the same night as DATR. Curiously Bluecoats and crown are in N. KY that night. Otherwise OK is missing Cadets, Crown Texas and Nightbeat are the full regular TOC crowd. Only BD is missing from Chester. Buffalo is a very diverse full lineup with 10 of the top 15 corps- but crown will be in Pittsburgh and PR and cadets have the night off Missing from Massillon are BD (I have never seen them in Massillon), the cadets, and Phantom. Phantom and the Cadets will be in Erie instead. I live smack in between the two shows...andy husband is a big PR fan and always likes to see what the Cadets are up to...but, as a BK fan, I like the Massillon lineup way better.

I have read in several threads that TOC shows aren't the same as before so I decided to do a tally. TOC shows 7/14 TOC northern Illinois 7/17 TOC Oklahoma 7/20 TOC Texas 7/29 Nightbeat TOC 8/1 TOC Chester 8/5 TOC drums along the waterfront 8/6 TOC Massillon Number of TOC appearances (please correct me if I miscount- my initial tally will be champions+ Boston- I will add other corps later today Cavaliers: 7/7 Bluecoats: 6/7 Blue Devils: 5/7 Boston 5/7 Phantom Regiment 5/7 Santa Clara Vanguard 5/7 Crown 4/7 Cadets 3/7 Madison Scouts 2/7

1. 2015- The Spark of Invention- this is by far my favorite SCV show and one of my favorite DCI shows of all time. I know it wasn't their best from an execution standpoint but I just love the visual design and the music book. I even love the stupid little add ons like the theremin and the lights on their uniform. Great to watch and listen to and that soloist had magnificent tone in the ballad. 2. 1987- Russian Christmas Music and Pictures. A big, powerful, beautiful, fantastic show. Classic SCV 3. 1999- Inventions for a new millennium. Absolutely love this opener. Good show start to finish 4. Scheherezade- words 2 live by- 2014- I didn't know a lot about SCV nor did I pay attention to them much when I was in highschool and college- and this show catapulted my view of SCV from being one of the greatest corps of the past to being one of my current favorites. I know it was way too early for a reboot but the trombones made all the difference in the world. I think this show should have gotten silver and I am a Bluecoats fan. 5. 1975- I love SCV in the early years of DCI. HMs- 1989- phantom of the Opera- One of the most classic DCI shows of all time. 2016- Force of Nature- OMG is this show beautiful and clean. I think it was robbed of a medal. 2017-Oroboros- This year SCV REALLY had it together. Heck of a show for music and visuals- fantastic execution from a performance standpoint. I was hoping it would win gold but BD really had a nice production on 2017 too. 1988- Phantom of the Opera- this show is just as good as '89 2011- the devils' staircase- I really enjoy this show. The escape from hell, good music, good visual design...just a great show. I really have to think about least favorites...a lot of SCV shows run together... perhaps I will make another post later.

Let's kick off the holiday season with the Corps with the most festive colors: Santa Clara Vanguard. What are your top 1-5 all time SCV shows? (Optional) What are your 1-3 least favorites from them? You can go into as much or little detail as you like but please please try to keep things positive. For a quick recap in case you missed it and/or want to add your contributions: Week 1- Cavies- 2006 the Machine is the favorite and 2012 15 min of fame is the least favorite. Week 2- Jersey Surf- 2012 Bridgemania favorite Week 3- Blue Knights-1994 Trittico for bras band favorite. least 2001Blue Toons Week 4- Spirit of Atlanta- 1980 favorite Week 5- Carolina Crown- Favorite: 2015 Inferno; Least Favorite: 2017 ...It is Week 6- The Mandarins- 2017 inside the ink for favorite. Week 7- Boston Crusaders- 2000 RED is the favorite. Week 8- Pioneer- 1996 Celtic Twilight is the favorite.

Just watched 2000 the mask of Zorro for the first time. What a fantastic and enjoyable show! The big brass moments in the ballad where they kneel is amazing and I love the music for it. There is a 99 clip to watch too. Can't wait until I get a minute to do that.

Thank you so much for your responses! 1996 Celtic Twilight gets the win so far!

I love these moments. The '15 ballad is one of my favorite DCI ballads of all time. The 14 opener is one of the best opening hits off all time...in my opinion...lol. I would like to add the '87 show with Russian Christmas music and pictures. For sure. An incredibly lush, dark, musical show. Gonna throw their 1992 1812 overture in there too. I would imagine you are going to get a lot of PR feedback on this thread. Carolina Crown: Watch any show 08-16 or the 17 opener and pick your own moments. Probably the cleanist, most musical, jaw dropping hornline. I am partial to 08,12,14, and 15. Bluecoats: 2014 hymn of axiom ballad 2008 the boxer ballad Boston: Wicked Game ballad 2017 Spirit of Atlanta: Georgia on my mind 1980

Following. Also when do finals week tickets go on sale? I just got my PTO request back and approved for finals week today...and didn't have the resources for the super 3 package.

Happy Thanksgiving! This week we are headed to Milwaukee for Pioneer. This group has been around a long time and had a lot of A60 and DII success. Looks like their best WC/DI success was 16th. What are your top 1-5 all time Pioneer shows? (Optional) What are your 1-3 least favorites from them? You can go into as much or little detail as you like but please please try to keep things positive. For a quick recap in case you missed it and/or want to add your contributions: Week 1- Cavies- 2006 the Machine is the favorite and 2012 15 min of fame is the least favorite. Week 2- Jersey Surf- 2012 Bridgemania favorite Week 3- Blue Knights-1994 Trittico for bras band favorite. least 2001Blue Toons Week 4- Spirit of Atlanta- 1980 favorite Week 5- Carolina Crown- Favorite: 2015 Inferno; Least Favorite: 2017 ...It is Week 6- The Mandarins- 2017 inside the ink for favorite. Week 7- Boston Crusaders- 2000 RED is the favorite.

Okay here are the results so far. Please feel free to keep adding your thoughts! Favorites 1. 2000 RED 2. 2017 Wicked Games 3. 2009 the core of temptation 3. 2002 you are my star 5. 2003 BRAVO! Least Favorite- too close to call 2014 and 2015 made a lot of favorite and least favorite lists. Both 2014 and 2013 are tied for 3rd favorite but least favorite votes dropped both out of the top 5. 2000 and 2017 are landslide favorites. Thank you to all who participated! It's great to see so much love for Boston! The most popular thread after 6 days so far! (Cavies has more total input but didn't have as much after 6 days) Tommorow I will be back with a non top 12 corps coming off of one of their lowest years placement wise. I have big plans for the holiday season with 3 top 12 corps, a special bonus thread, 1 non-top 12 corps and a special new year thread for the newest WC additions.

I really liked this show too. Probably my favorite from them in the 2010-2016 period.

I know that we are discussing the act of omitting material based on copyright laws now but I wanted to reiterate that wicked game has been cut from the performance titled wicked game.

Okay here we go. Favorite 2017 wicked games- it's not even close for 2nd place. I read about this show preseason and thought it was going to be a flop but this show really worked and it was the only 2017 show to bring a tear to my eye. They sounded great, looked great, I actually liked the singer and the addition of the narration. Really looking forward to how they follow this up next year 2003- BRAVO! - this is a great Latin show with good early 00s drill and the best Malaguena on the field that year. 2000- Red- this show was good! Great engaging drill and good music 2005- ode to joy- I liked the Goodwin swing and there are a lot of other classics in there too. HM- 2012 Titans- the show itself was a little dry to me but I thought Boston was the most professional looking corps that year. Least favorites 2015 conquest- this was the only show in the top 12 that I didn't like in 2015. The drama and the Opera singer ...geesh. I couldn't wait for it to be over. 2001- Harmonium- this could quite possibly be the most boring drum corps show.

Lol thanks for catching that. I copy and paste week to week and missed changing the name there