ThePlanets

This show keeps getting better. It looks like places 1-4 are wide open. This show has legs. What a gap between SCV and the blue stars. I know we are talking medal placement to 9th but still. 4 straight years SCV has been a top 3 show for me (not referring to scores). Can't decide if it's 1 or 2 for me this year. I was in love with 2015 SCV and this show is doing the same for me this year. I have tickets for semifinals in the nosebleeds and I am gauging how much I love the top shows to decide whether or not a trip to Massillon in August is worthwhile. The more I see of SCV (and bluecoats) the more I think yes.

Sorry to threadjack but how do the fees and prices work?

But what if they are 5 and 6 or 7 and 8

Does it matter? Let's say after all is said and done that cadets are 6 and BAC is 7 but the score difference is minute. Would that be enough to help BAC recruit the best and be a top 6 threat for the next few years? Or if BAC does pass the cadets what statement does that make? Which show is more exciting this year from the perspective of a potential marching member? I feel that ultimately the Cavaliers, phantom, and BK are all factors on the overall placement of these 2 corps...but given staffing changes and their relatively close geographical bases the story is really about the cadets and BAC.

Yes! Although I never marched- the Cavies were King when I was age eligible...and their awesome drill is what I came to expect from a DCI show. While I love these shows my critique of the 00s cavaliers is that visual proficiency was clearly the emphasis with sacrifices made elsewhere in the show. These were watch from the high camera shows... certainly not listen to in your car on the way to work shows. My favorite Cavaliers show is actually Mad World...that show had it all for me. I don't know if drill will ever get as intense as your clip again but there are a lot of shows this year (SCV) that have a nice taste of great drill but also have a lot more going on too.

I have only seen a really early season recording of the show...and from what I have seen it could be my favorite BD show since the 1980s. As of now it seems to be going in a different direction than all the BD shows since the 90s yet it's still 100 percent blue devils. The blue devils have had the most consistent corps identity for many years. We shall see what they metamorph into for the rest of the season. It should be interesting to see how this show places and scores this year.

My husband took me to DCI finals in 2012 for my birthday. It was my first show that I had been to since the Pittsburgh show in 2005. It was my first time seeing BD live and I was super excited especially after seeing Crown. I actually have been lurking and following DCP since then even though I just joined because I needed to understand a few things better ;-) This thread has gotten way out of hand and I don't find it appropriate to share my personal opinion on the 2012 blue devils show but to come to Stu's defense it was far from the crowd favorite...at least from where I was sitting. And there is a nice YouTube video you can find about when they accidentally announced BD as the brass caption winner that year(which has nothing to do with visual design) but it is a crowd reaction reference. Lol but the poor OP was talking about this year's design transitions. This year is another animal in show design.

Will Pitts.

I like your analysis but you have to consider that bluecoats 3 medal finishes were each of the last 3 years...and they beat the cadets the past 3 years Where I live these are the 2 corps with the most exposure and the past 3 years have made a huge difference

I think it's possible but a long shot. Have to wait for a head to head with santa Clara to see how things shake. The top 6 are close right now and someone has to get 6th...and it's not going to be the blue devils. Crown is over a point ahead of the cadets and bluecoats are on top. I don't they are as much of a dark horse pick to medal as the cavaliers but they have a ton of work to do to medal.

I would love to see SCV medal this year. It's time. With the exception of BD all of the other top 6 plus phantom have been dancing around them in placement the past few years but they are always 4 or 5. I think they had extremely strong performances in 2014 and 2016. Watching all the other shows and the season unfold I thought they would get a medal both years. 2015 was my favorite recent SCV show but that was a killer year with everyone at the top putting on a great well executed shows. As for this year... it's still too early to tell. We have to see a few competitions with full panels and the east to see how things shake. I'm loving the show and it has a lot of potential to be big. Comparing it to other top scoring shows. 1. Bluecoats are killing it so far this year and they have to stop cleaning and improving to drop below #2. 2. You have to be great to beat the blue devils with an epic performance and an epic show. The potential is there for SCV but it's still an uphill battle 3. Crown is performing extremely well...have to hope that SCV makes a late season push to pass them with a high GE score and that SCV percussion is better than Crown brass. 4. The cadets and cavaliers have good shows with a lot of potential too and want a taste of the medal.

This is discussed a lot in the 2017 uniform thread. Here are my thoughts. 1. It's not about the uniform anyway. It's crazy that a lot of corps waited until long after their show reveal to do the uniform reveal. I thought this was about the performance and not the uniform? 2. I think SCVs uniforms are well done. Maybe they look different up close but from a distance it's still 100 percent them. 3. Lightweight uniforms are smart. The drum corps season is on the heat of summer and traditional uniforms are designed for fall/winter. 4. It's nice to see corps stick to their traditional look in color and design so you know who they are... especially color schemes and logos. In the end the show is more important. In short...I would like to see corps stick to their colors and general look but that is a very small part in the identity and I definitely wouldn't go as far as to say uniform changes make groups loose their identity.

Bluecoats are my favorite...have family ties and they are the most local corps. Crown brass is what dreams are made of but I would be a little frustrated with this year's show. I will stick with trumpet and play for the Blue Knights. I almost always enjoy their show and their brass has gotten a lot better over the past 5 years.

Thoughts and prayers with phantom regiment today

Dark Horse to medal: cavaliers Dark Horse to win: SCV Dark horse to make finals: Mandarins In my predictions I have them at 4,6, and 14

A little late to the party. 1. Bluecoats- they manage to pull it off 2 years in a row as a relative newcomer to the podium. No dropoff here. I highly doubt they will fall below the silver. 2. Blue devils- although I don't think it's inconvenievable to be a gold medal winner. I think this show will bounce from 1st to 3rd...maybe even 4th and finish at 2. 3. Carolina Crown- they are performing well and gaining steam. They will keep moral up and end up coming away with the bronze although they have an unpopular show. 4. SCV- another beautiful, classy, well performed and well written show that just misses a medal. 5. The Cadets- all of their additions to the show and and changes get them to close the gap on the cavies and pass them up finals week. 6. The Cavaliers- this show will bounce around from 4 to 6 all season. The scores will be much closer in the top 6 than they have in a long time. GAP 7. Blue Knights- they spend the season duking it out with BAC and come out on top. 8. Boston crusaders- They finish strong after nearly missing finals last year. They keep the crossmen, phantom, Madison, and the blue stars at Bay all season. 9. Phantom- they come out on top of a tightly packed and competitve group at 9-12. They clean up their difficult show. 10. The crossmen- they win the battle with the blue stars but phantom passes them. 11. Blue Stars- okay I haven't seen it yet. 12. Madison- their reboot gets them back at finals... barely. Captions Brass: Carolina Crown Percussion: SCV Color guard: Crown GE: coats Visual: BD Best Uniform: Carolina Crown ;)

This. It was a big eyebrow raising moment to see the coats uniforms for the first time last year. At first I found them to be extremely distasteful. Then I remembered everyone sweating buckets in our hats marching in summer parades...and there has to be a difference in optimal performance level when wearing a lighter more breathable uniform. It's a smart decision. Although tradition is important we have to remember that DCI has a season with members performing in the dog days of summer. Why make them wear uniforms designed for outdoor performances in the fall and early winter? I find the SCV uniform this year to be smart, innovative, and classy.

Gig was really rough at this time last year. It just didn't have the building effect with one soloist the whole time. After making some changes in the end they nailed it.

Watched the preview show last night. Awesome visual design that I am excited for. I have always liked SOA (and JSU)...excited to see them again. They had a top 5 show for me in 2012 and with making the TOC Massillon show a regular stop I haven't seen them since 2012. There are a lot of really good shows this year that are a step up from the past few years visually. Looks like I did pick a great year to sit in the nosebleeds at semifinals.

I agree 100 percent. Haven't had a peak at the cadets or BK yet (I am generally a big fan of BKs show design) but I love SCV and bloo this year. Awesome, exciting shows.

Looks like a battle for 3rd with SCV. Crown should win the brass caption and SCV should win the percussion caption. Crown still has a jaw dropping horn line. As of now Crown looks to be safely ahead of the Cavaliers but we are less than a week into the season. Yes crown has a lot of cleaning to do... but so do all the other corps. The vocalist is a great performer but like just about everyone else I feel the idea of the best hornline in DCI playing an accompaniment for a singer is very discouraging. After thoroughly enjoying every crown show since 2007-last year was a miss for me and this year is a bigger miss. That being said if crown nails their performance finals night they will come away with a medal. They are still a top performing group.

I have to agree with you and I am not a BD fan. This is definitely my favorite show of theirs. It's somewhat traditional and fun without going overboard. I am hoping they add more to the drill during the percussion feature. Not going to compare it to other shows this year yet as I have only seen some rough recordings of a few of them. This show seems to deviate from their formula that they have been building on since the 90s and I like it.

Are those short sleeve? Nice.