jwillis35

Fantastic review as always! It's always nice to hear from someone who was at the show. Interestingly I actually enjoyed Blue Knights quite a bit, but that was from a Flo perspective. Though I could tell they are likely playing too loud and their intonation was very bad most of the show. I totally agree about Mandarins. Good gravy are they good. I have been pulling for The Cadets and really love their show, especially their music, but I am not sure Cadets can beat Mandarins. There is just too much content in Mandarins show and it feels more seamlessly put together.

I agree. Not much they can do at this point. If this person is proven to be innocent (again...if) the sad reality is that there could be some civil lawsuits files against the accuser and BD. Had charges been filed with a follow-up investigation, even if it was reported a month after DCI Finals, the Law could have confirmed the accusers allegations or the innocence of the accused. No closure = sweeping it down the road for another corps to deal with.

I am totally fine with your argument here. I can only imagine what a person who is assaulted in such a way might feel. No doubt my arguments here are based on what needs to be done from a practical point of view to insure that charges are filed and that an investigation is in place. To me this is the only way to stop this nonsense. Not wanting to report the incident so the corps can march a full unit come Finals is understandable but not necessarily the right thing to do. Because of this we have two drum corps who may not have known anything about this a year ago and now they are being asked to do something about it 1 year later. So in the end it still harms the corps. It harms their reputation and forces them to act 1 year later on something they may have very little info on. Did the accuser contact the whistle blower hotline? Were the Bluecoats notified? How about BD before the season started? Because of the delayed allegations being made we are now asking the Blue Devils to potentially send a member packing for the rest of the tour and Finals. This is difficult. There is a possibility that no formal charges have been filed, no investigation, potentially no interviews and no DNA testing (if needed). So BD is being asked to deal with a situation based on a lot of unknowns.

There is a lot to like and love about Blue Knights. I very much like the uniforms and overall show design. Visuals are nice. Not clean yet but very nice. Some great ideas in this visual book. Musically I love the horn book. They are playing some fantastic music and they play with a BIG powerful sound. They definitely need to clean the articulations, improve intonation issues, and work for better clarity. Percussion have a nice book too. If they can clean this they can make a move. A very enjoyable show! Bravo BK!!!!

Wow, Troopers! I continue to LOVE this show. So well designed. It's got a perfect mix of great drill and music. A mix of fast and slow, bold and beautiful, and plenty of big impacts. You've got one of the best props on the field and the kids are performing their tail-ends off. There is not much to complain about. Ending still needs more oomph. That company front is beginning to clean enough that the impact is really getting the crowd response. Wait until that really cleans. Finals night should be an explosion by the crowd. Keep pushing, Troop.

My Gosh are the Mandarins GOOD! The show is extremely aggressive musically and visually. They are confident. The brass book is killer good and super demanding. They kind of remind me of the Cadets 2011 when they move to the red and white and how the drill pairs them. I then love when they go to all red with the fedora hats. They are definitely a serious contender for top 6. They are absolutely buying into every aspect of this show.

This is a bit too soft for me. It's a lot of word-smithing that solves nothing. Yes, we absolutely are concerned for the victim and we need to offer assistance, but we first need to hold the criminal responsible. By calling the police they will make sure their is no retaliation. DNA testing, investigative procedures and interviews can take place. If the assailant is dumb enough to try and retaliate that would only further sink their case and land them in jail. When you say "They may not have known what to do," my response is what are these corps teaching them? After everything that happened a few years back all I keep hearing from these corps is how they are engaging in safety education and protocols to make sure these things don't happen anymore. A 12 year old or a 14 year old may not know what to do. An 18 year-old adult or older should know what to do.

Totally agree.

I get what you are saying but sexual assault and dealing with it immediately is much more important than DCI Finals.

I agree with this. I know it's complicated but if the two involved were 18 or older then the person assaulted should have called the police immediately and filed chargers. It's what we do as adults. Providing this did happen the person who was assaulted should 1) call the police and file charges, 2) inform Bluecoats, and 3) inform parents and family. After charges are filed the family should seek legal council about their options. Yes, these drum corps do take on the resposibility to protect these kids (even those 18 and older). If they are responsible for feeding them, housing them, instructing them, and getting them from town to town -- and clearly these kids are with the corps 24/7 for the duratrion of spring and summer -- then yes the law will require any organization to look out for their safety. Legally a good lawyer can go after the corps over procedures and protocols and other factors. So even with most of their marching members likely being 18 and up that doesn't completely absolve the corps' responsibility. But...the bulk of the efforts by the LAW will be to go after the ADULT who is being accused. *The point is to make sure the LAW knows about it. Not DCP, not Twitter, not Facebook, and not the corps (not at first). You Have To Call The Police and file charges. This should have been done last year. Had that been done there is NO WAY Blue Devils would have even allowed this kid to audition (again assuming these accusations are true). And Bluecoats would have booted him on the spot and never let him back in. This happens at colleges and universities, unfortunately, and it is disgusting behavior. But if the student victim goes to the administration -- or a teacher or campus police -- the chances of the whole thing getting swept under the carpet are greater. If the victim calls the police and files charges and then also gets a lawyer...chances are good the criminal will pay the price because appropriate DNA testing will be done and the DAs office will begin an investigation. It was the former of these solutions where the charges were passed from G.A. to Coach to Athletic Director to VP to President that ultimately caused the Penn State situation to spiral out of control.

My post said nothing about alumni. Nothing at all and certainly not in a bad light. My post was pretty positive.

Most folks on DCP know this and know how good Blue Devils are. But as many of us have said for many many years...when you are essentially the Boston Celtics of the 60s, 70s, and 80s of drum corps you have to take the criticism. BD will always be the hunted because they are the Gold standard in DCI. With that comes tremendous responsibility and a great amount of criticism. I personally do not think the marching members, staff, alumni and fans of the corps worry about the bickering they see here. Most understand that the general riff with other fans is that they just want to see someone else win. It's usually nothing personal against BD, they just want another face at the top. And that could happen but it takes a lot of work.

It's a shame too. One of the mods was very close to shutting it down. I like Madison this year too. I am always rooting for the Scouts.

I so dearly miss these two corps.

Fantastic Review, Jake!!!!! Loved reading every word. You are correct about the Blue Devils too. When you see them live it makes all the difference. They hit you in the face with every aspect of their ability to perform. Hearing their brass and percussion live is so different to video or streaming. Their body control and body carriage is so pristine. One of the other 3 corps in contention will need to really pull out the stops to come close to the Blue Devils.

Speaking of the show I saw a video of the Little Rock performance. Very nice. They are cleaning nicely. If I were to nit-pick I think in ballad 2 they took a little too much off the top dynamically. It lost some of the emotion. Musical dynamics are good but that felt like too much. I like how they are featuring the guard more in the section before ballad 2 but that sections needs some impact and clarity. This is likely the only area where they may need some rewrites. The closer is just fantastic and simply needs cleaned. Who knows, they may have a surprise for us there but I think tempo and cleaning will ramp-up the excitement.

A++ for the Title of the thread. Wicked is my favorite Broadway show. I have seen it 3 times recently. Twice in Ohio and once in NYC. This should be a great DCI show. Too bad you can't attend the San Antonio show because you write the best reviews.

I agree. The West Point-style uni would not work with this show, though it would look cool at the end of the show. But for most of it the body moves would be awkward. It's always difficult to move away from an iconic uniform. And I don't think they are going to abandon the uniform permanantly. There may be a show in a year or two where they decide that is the best look. So I kinda feel they will put that uniform out every 2 or 3 years for their show and not just for parades. But considering what Cadets went through in the last half of the 2010s I think most of us are just glad the corps exists, they seem to be doing very well, I happen to love the show, and they seem to have some outstanding instructors. The marching members seem to be enjoying themselves and I hope they are having the time of their lives.

Cadets, Phantom, Crown But so many others really good

Olympic Flags For those asking about The Cadets props the link above will show you what I believe they represent. I think Cadets are using a somewhat non specific formation of the Olympic Flag poles that you see in Olympic villages and near the stadium venues. This loosely represents Atlas and his brothers competing with Titan and the Olympians.

You may be correct. The Cavaliers percussion section is ON FIRE!!!! Definitely one of the best lines out there this summer. I mean...The Cadets have one heck of a percussion section this summer and Cavaliers beat them last night with a 16.9.

Cavaliers have a fantastic drum line this year. They popped a 16.9 in perc last night against a darn good Cadets percussion section so they have that going for them. But they lost by .7 in brass and also lost in Music Analysis which brings up one of their issues which is the music book needs shaped and polished. That could still happen but it's not just about cleaning. They have to make some changes. They are offering a lot of material and ultimately some of it may not be needed. Same with visual analysis. Having said that they have a another week and a half to make some changes before they need to concentrate on cleaning. A lot is still possible for for the Cavies. They most important thing here is does the staff have a plan and will it be effective enough. I like the show. I liked it early on. It just has too much "stuff."

They came east pretty early on in 1994 and killed everyone. But I am not sure if they started their season on the East Coast. Maybe someone can look that up.

Had not thought about that. That is an interesting stat.

For tonight's show there are not 8 corps that will have higher scores. The only other corps in their tier as of now that is at this show is Cadets.