Citizen-Seth

I wish everyone could be so lucky as to not have seen or experience any homophobia during their marching career.

No, there's a new ending that they've been rehearsing for quite a while now...was expecting it tonight as I saw it being rehearsed a few days ago and it looked show-ready.

And the guard feature is a hot mess - congrats BAC!

Yea, that was earned.

BD’s opening flagwork is so challenging and they just killed it. They won’t give up high guard without a fight.

Boston’s putting up a fight for high guard! Let’s see if BD can bring it!

Good job BAC guard!

I have to say, and I know how minor this is, but I really appreciate that’s SCV’s guard rolls up their silks before storing them in the props. I think it’s really distracting when Bloo’s chairs have swaths of pink silk hanging down them.

I think BAC is going to take guard tonight, which makes tomorrow night even more interesting.

Unfortunately, that incredible dance feature leads into a ballad with some of the worst flag writing in all of DCI this year. I think I’m disappointed that the incredible lyricism of their past books isn’t as evident this year.

Rough night for BD’s flag lines

Yea, and I think this is just where it come down to how the individual judge sees it. For me, when I compare BD’s Sabre feature tonight to that of Cavaliers or Crown, I find that BD is less technologically challenging but much, much better executed. How do you say which is better? I don’t have an answer for that, but I commend a judge for calling it as they see it, I wish there was more of this in DCI and WGI judging.

Seems pretty on the nose. BD is clean, but they just aren’t attempting anything near the level of the rest of the top 6.

I agree in sentiment. I wish their flag book was better written this year. Compared to last year, this year’s book, especially the ballad just lacks musicality and virtuosity. They’re performing at incredibly high levels, but the way they move the equipment just isn’t as visually interesting to me as the rest of the top 6.

There's a short, ~30-second video out there on tumblr. Looks good. EDIT: It's been removed, sorry folks.

I. AM. SHOOK.

Good job Cadets guard!

I faced a similar situation about a while back...after three years of marching, I was debating between marching with a new corps or doing some international research with a grant I had received. I ended up choosing not to march and I haven't really regretted it. Of course, hindsight is 20/20, but I know for a fact that the research I did that summer led to another international research opportunity the next year which directly led to me going to a globally ranked graduate school in my field for a fraction of the amount it would have otherwise cost. Now, had I marched with the corps I had a contract offer from, I would have won a medal and then gone on to win a gold medal in my age out year, but I may not have gotten into the grad school I wanted. For me, I made the right choice, but I remember sitting in Beijing, China waiting for word to come in about who had won finals and being pretty heartbroken about not marching that first year. In the end, I took about 2 years off from the activity as a whole, though I now go to more and more shows each summer. I guess the moral of my story is that you won't know if you made the right decision until well after the fact.

A couple that come to mind: 1995 Blue Devils "Carpe Noctem" 1996 Cavaliers "Pan American Sketches" 1998 Blue Devils "One Hand, One Heart" 1999 Glassmen "Empire of Gold" (I think?) 2000 Blue Devils "Methods of Madness" 2000 Carolina Crown " Mask of Zorrow" 2001 Blue Devils "Awayday Blue" 2001 Cadets "Juxtaperformance"

This may have been covered already, but are the opening silks a "melting" version of the digital clocks from the 2014 show? They're all different, so it's hard to tell, but if so, it's a wonderful detail.

The guard now moves to in front of the ramp and encircles it, throwing their flags behind in a ripple. The rifles throw a ripple toss as a member runs up and grabs the top of the ramp. The rest of guard then rushes up and groups around him. After the last note, the horns come down to a guitar strum.

It was fine. I didn't even realize it was new until I got home and looked at a recent video. Definitely more impactful than the original, but I expect it to go through another round or two of tweaks before finals.

I was in the stands and I'm a little surprised at these scores (didn't stay to hear them live). Scouts seemed a little timid with their new ending, but I wouldn't have put Academy ahead of them.

Also looks they have some new drums? Or at least new drum finishes?

Such great design changes by the Cadets! Their guard is working me out!