jwillis35

Not bad at all by Madison. Percussion was throwing down there at the intro. Brass sounds very good when they have control of the body and feet. The charts are nice. Getting better each day.

I've been getting caught up. So many good shows. Cadets absolutely have a fantastic show. Music is INCREDIBLE! Brass line sounds really good and should be fantastic in a few more weeks of cleaning. Percussion is hot. Guard is so much better and really well staged. From a distance these uniforms look really good. Do not bother me at all. Neither do the props. This will be a fabulous show when cleaned. Boston...OMG!!! That brass line is lovely. They can be right there with Carolina and BD. The baritone ensemble soli in the 2nd part of the show (I think) might be some of the best baritone playing I've ever heard in the activity. Percussion is incredible. Guard...well it goes without saying just how good they are. There is a lot of drill in this show. I love the music. The drill is not very clean yet so it bodes well that they are scoring this high. It's just a fantastic show. Top 4 are incredibly good this year. And places 5 - 9 will be a dog fight.

I am always at a loss of words following a Bluecoats premiere show. They never fail to surprise with new ideas, keep some of the things that work, and to bring a fresh show theme or concept to the field. This show feels fresh to me. Not completely innovative, but very fresh. The music is fantastic! Brass is really good with one tough book to play. Those trombones in mvt 4 are just rocking and how all the other elements join in just made me smile. At some point I think they will have that section just jamming out and the audience should love it. Percussion is just incredibly good. Pit is amazing! Love the guard, the colors, the flags, sabers, and movement. Staging is very Bluecoats. The uniform proper for brass and perc is wild and crazy and I love it. No doubt this show is a contender. It's fun. It's wild. It has vision and flow and love and some darkness. Let's see where this goes. All I can say is this is one talented ensemble that should have most fans clamoring to see them. When you leave the stadium after a show where Bluecoats perform you certainly will not forget this show. You'll be humming and singing and maybe even dancing. It will stay with you for sure (or at least most of you).

Diggin' it! They are putting on a show.

Nice job by Cincinnati Tradition. Probably not finished but that will be a good show for Sound Sport. I enjoyed that.

I actually love these unis. It absolutely fits the theme. They may look like an advertisement for Under Armor at times but this is cool.

Muncie, IN - June 30, 2023 The scores are about what I expected. Crown was clearly the strongest corps. Phantom's show is also stunning and has the ability to hang with Crown in some areas. Not sure they can catch them, but who knows. There were some questionable reads by a few judges tonight but you never know what they were hearing or seeing. I will echo what others have said and that is Cavaliers brass tonight was quite sloppy and I would not have had them over Blue Stars in any meaningful way. Cavaliers also have a tough book just as Blue Stars do but it's pretty clear who is cleaner and projecting better. Interestingly enough that judge also had Music Analysis Achievement with Cavaliers in 3rd, Troopers in 4th, and Blue Stars in 5th. Very odd to me. But I don't want to say the judge is wrong. Again I do not know what they heard tonight. But this could flip flop. As for the corps performances I enjoyed everyone. My feeling on Colts and Troopers have not changed and only strengthened after last night. Troopers are more balanced and more readable across the board. The show is easier to follow and tighter in its' construction. Colts have a little more oomph in brass (not better but more pronounced). Did anyone else hear that one crazy flurry of notes the Colts do (from the high voices down)? It reminds a little of what Blue Devils did in 2019 when the brass line is all sitting on the props. Not to that level, but Bravo Colts for giving that thing a try. Cool moment. Colts color scheme really grabs the eyes. Interestingly...as I look at the Colts uniforms I am reminded of the motion picture "The Incredibles." Soloists were excellent again tonight. As Troopers clean and add more confidence to the brass, especially in the bigger GE moments, that show will start to kick into gear. Love the trumpet soloist. The harmonica solo is great. The company front to the end will be spectacular come Finals. When that cleans and kicks up 2 or 3 notches the crowd will be on their feet. I am excited for Cavaliers this summer. The show is dirty in all kinds of ways and the ideas need tightened up. I think the concept is there. I love the music choices. Those are some of my favorite songs from their past and I like the idea of how they are weaving various motifs into this package. Usually it takes time to clean that kind of thing until it becomes seamless. A lot of shaping is needed. They have one heck of a percussion section. Brass will come around but it takes a while to flesh-out so many motifs without taking away from the main themes being presented. The back half of the show, from Somewhere to the end, should be outstanding with some nice GE moments once they clean. I think the front end of the show will need more work to finesse a more complex set of ideas that seem to be popping in and out quite quickly. Much of the drill reminds me of the old days filled modern twists. Love the uniforms though not wild about the hats -- but I am no fashion designer. Guard was staged better than last year at this time and did a fine job. If the Cavaliers can pull-off some of the subtleties of this show and still bring out those big moments then this could be stunning come Finals. Ultimately this show is so much better in design and focus than the 2022 version. There is a LOT to work with here. Let's see where they go with it. I want to reiterate just how cool this show could be if they can finesse and shape this music book while cleaning the visual package. This could be a late bloomer. I can see this show surprising a lot of folks as it cleans. Ok, so Blue Stars had another fantastic run. The show is fantastic and certainly captivated the crowd tonight. They are clearly a very talented corps. Brass is very very good. If there is any slight criticism of the music arrangements it may be too many technical exercises in scales and tonguing without the payoff of thematic development. But there is plenty of great music in the book as well. They march with confidence. Percussion is doing very well. Props made more sense to me tonight. I still need more reads on this show to understand the visual more so than the music. Guard is nicely staged and colorful. The color changes in the uniforms is really well done. As with Cavaliers, Blue Stars are bringing a somewhat complex story/concept to the field. I am anxious to see where this goes. There is no doubt that they have outstanding talent. They are already performing very well. My thoughts on Phantom Regiment have not changed from last night. This is a very tight, well integrated and focused show. It flows very logically. Music GE is outstanding. Visual GE should do very well though my guess is that they will change quite a bit from the company front to the end of the show. Brass is fantastic. Percussion is playing a great book and just needs to clean. They sound wonderful. I am loving their guard this year. Uniforms look sharp. It's a strong start for Phantom. They are definitely in the hunt for a top 5 slot. But more important than scores is they should bring down the house at Finals. Some thoughts on Carolina Crown. First and foremost their performance captions in brass, percussion, and guard are OUTSTANDING in every way. Often known for having a very powerful brass line what may get overlooked in this show is just how warm and nuanced this brass line is. They have taken special care of these wonderful themes. The book is not filled with an abundance of scales, tonguing acrobatics just for the sake of showing off. And when they do show-off their technical abilities it is usually woven into the music as exciting transitions that lead to something impactful and they are handled with nuance and grace -- never forced. The playing of the Tristan und Isolde (Wagner) is brilliant with all those tritone suspensions resolving down a diatonic 2nd to the major 3rd. So beautiful. The soloists in the show are fabulous and none of it feels forced through use of mics (even if they are using mics). This is a clean and musical brass line and the percussion are doing a brilliant job of playing within that balance and knowing when they can take the lead. The staging of the show is very good. The uniforms are great, providing a nice contrast between the corps proper and guard. The main prop in the middle is used very effectively and it works. The drill is smart and not cluttered. It is very clear where they want you to look and this clearly helps the staging of the different elements in the show. The closer will likely have more impact as they tweak some of the ideas to bring this thing to a close, but as for now what they have on the field is a top-notch World Class show that should have them in contention for a World Title. The competition is fierce at that level. Blue Devils are the masters of staging and visual design and it's no secret their performance captions are always top notch. Bluecoats are innovative and bold and take major risks and the fans love that. Looking forward to seeing what they have this year. My read on Boston's brass and percussion from the concert in Boston is that they are potentially top 3 in their performance captions as well. They may be sporting the best Boston brass line ever and I love the music. So this will be a dog fight for sure...but there is absolutely no doubt Carolina Crown will have some say and they are ready to Rock n Roll with anyone. They should be amazing clean come Finals. Performance captions will be right there with anyone. To me it all comes down to how their overall General Effect scores grow and how the judges read the visual vs music. I absolutely LOVE this show. Bravo Carolina Crown!!!

It's not quite chop and bop. Cavaliers are using a lot of motifs from past music and they need to smooth those motifs into elegant transitions. Yes, it seems cluttered for now so that will throw the listener for a while. When they clean and smooth out these transitions and motivic calls to the past I think the music will be wonderful. If anything they have more to work out visually, but not like last year. They have more to work with this summer. This summer I suspect they will focus on how to bring the big visual moments into focus with the music. Much of this may be from subtraction of things not needed without having to rewrite so much of the visual. More like layering and fine tuning the visual into focus.

For many many years my Quintessential opener in all of Drum Corps was Santa Clara's Festive Overture from 1985. For over 2 decades when people would say "what would you play a newbie if you could only play one song in order to get them hooked?" I always said throw on 1985 SCV and watch the opener. Done!!

Some thoughts on Carolina Crown. First and foremost their performance captions in brass, percussion, and guard are OUTSTANDING in every way. Often known for having a very powerful brass line what may get overlooked in this show is just how warm and nuanced this brass line is. They have taken special care of these wonderful themes. The book is not filled with an abundance of scales, tonguing acrobatics just for the sake of showing off. And when they do show-off their technical abilities it is usually woven into the music as exciting transitions that lead to something impactful and they are handled with nuance and grace -- never forced. The playing of the Tristan und Isolde (Wagner) is brilliant with all those tritone suspensions resolving down a diatonic 2nd to the major 3rd. So beautiful. The soloists in the show are fabulous and none of it feels forced through use of mics (even if they are using mics). This is a clean and musical brass line and the percussion are doing a brilliant job of playing within that balance and knowing when they can take the lead. The staging of the show is very good. The uniforms are great, providing a nice contrast between the corps proper and guard. The main prop in the middle is used very effectively and it works. The drill is smart and not cluttered. It is very clear where they want you to look and this clearly helps the staging of the different elements in the show. The closer will likely have more impact as they tweak some of the ideas to bring this thing to a close, but as for now what they have on the field is a top-notch World Class show that should have them in contention for a World Title. The competition is fierce at that level. Blue Devils are the masters of staging and visual design and it's no secret their performance captions are always top notch. Bluecoats are innovative and bold and take major risks and the fans love that. Looking forward to seeing what they have this year. My read on Boston's brass and percussion from the concert in Boston is that they are potentially top 3 in their performance captions as well. They may be sporting the best Boston brass line ever and I love the music. So this will be a dog fight for sure...but there is absolutely no doubt Carolina Crown will have some say and they are ready to Rock n Roll with anyone. They should be amazing clean come Finals. Performance captions will be right there with anyone. To me it all comes down to how their overall General Effect scores grow and how the judges read the visual vs music. I absolutely LOVE this show. Bravo Carolina Crown!!!

Tagging onto my review of Cavaliers from a few posts ago I wanted to reiterate just how cool this show could be if they can finesse and shape this music book while cleaning the visual package. This could be a late bloomer. I can see this show surprising a lot of folks as it cleans. Ok, so Blue Stars had another fantastic run. The show is fantastic and certainly captivated the crowd tonight. They are clearly a very talented corps. Brass is very very good. If there is any slight criticism of the music arrangements it may be too many technical exercises in scales and tonguing without the payoff of thematic development. But there is plenty of great music in the book as well. They march with confidence. Percussion is doing very well. Props made more sense to me tonight. I still need more reads on this show to understand the visual more so than the music. Guard is nicely staged and colorful. The color changes in the uniforms is really well done. As with Cavaliers, Blue Stars are bringing a somewhat complex story/concept to the field. I am anxious to see where this goes. There is no doubt that they have outstanding talent. They are already performing very well. My thoughts on Phantom Regiment have not changed from last night. This is a very tight, well integrated and focused show. It flows very logically. Music GE is outstanding. Visual GE should do very well though my guess is that they will change quite a bit from the company front to the end of the show. Brass is fantastic. Percussion is playing a great book and just needs to clean. They sound wonderful. I am loving their guard this year. Uniforms look sharp. It's a strong start for Phantom. They are definitely in the hunt for a top 5 slot. But more important than scores is they should bring down the house at Finals. I will have some thoughts on Carolina in the morning. They were incredibly good and their brass is just unreal at times. Percussion is also playing their tootsies off. Guard was fantastic and the whole production is focused, fun, stimulating and professional. They will be one clean corps come Finals.

I picked up the feed for the show at about 9:30 EST so I've had to rewind a bit to catch everyone. First and foremost I am enjoying all the shows. Maybe some more than others but I think everyone I have seen so far is sporting very entertaining and challenging shows. The scores are about what I expected. Crown was clearly the strongest corps. Phantom's show is also stunning and has the ability to hang with Crown in some areas. Not sure they can catch them, but who knows. There were some questionable reads by a few judges tonight but you never know what they were hearing or seeing. I will echo what others have said and that is Cavaliers brass tonight was quite sloppy and I would not have had them over Blue Stars in any meaningful way. Cavaliers also have a tough book just as Blue Stars do but it's pretty clear who is cleaner and projecting better. Interestingly enough that judge also had Music Analysis Achievement with Cavaliers in 3rd, Troopers in 4th, and Blue Stars in 5th. Very odd to me. But I don't want to say the judge is wrong. Again I do not know what they heard tonight. But this could flip flop. As for the corps performances I enjoyed everyone. My feeling on Colts and Troopers have not changed and only strengthened after last night. Troopers are more balanced and more readable across the board. The show is easier to follow and tighter in its' construction. Colts have a little more oomph in brass (not better but more pronounced). Did anyone else hear that one crazy flurry of notes the Colts do (from the high voices down)? It reminds a little of what Blue Devils did in 2019 when the brass line is all sitting on the props. Not to that level, but Bravo Colts for giving that thing a try. Cool moment. Colts color scheme really grabs the eyes. Interestingly...as I look at the Colts uniforms I am reminded of the motion picture "The Incredibles." Soloists were excellent again tonight. As Troopers clean and add more confidence to the brass, especially in the bigger GE moments, that show will start to kick into gear. Love the trumpet soloist. The harmonica solo is great. The company front to the end will be spectacular come Finals. When that cleans and kicks up 2 or 3 notches the crowd will be on their feet. I am excited for Cavaliers this summer. The show is dirty in all kinds of ways and the ideas need tightened up. I think the concept is there. I love the music choices. Those are some of my favorite songs from their past and I like the idea of how they are weaving various motifs into this package. Usually it takes time to clean that kind of thing until it becomes seamless. A lot of shaping is needed. They have one heck of a percussion section. Brass will come around but it takes a while to flesh-out so many motifs without taking away from the main themes being presented. The back half of the show, from Somewhere to the end, should be outstanding with some nice GE moments once they clean. I think the front end of the show will need more work to finesse a more complex set of ideas that seem to be popping in and out quite quickly. Much of the drill reminds me of the old days filled modern twists. Love the uniforms though not wild about the hats -- but I am no fashion designer. Guard was staged better than last year at this time and did a fine job. If the Cavaliers can pull-off some of the subtleties of this show and still bring out those big moments then this could be stunning come Finals. Ultimately this show is so much better in design and focus than the 2022 version. There is a LOT to work with here. Let's see where they go with it. Reviews for Blue Stars, Phantom and Carolina coming soon.

I cannot wait to hear and see this show. This is a trip down memory lane for the Cavaliers and it should be an extraordinary show. Love the repertoire.

Yes. That was one heck of a drum line. Best on the field for sure, but being an overall 6th place corps means your performance order doesn't do you any favors and the judges have to leave some room. And frankly if someone can come out and beat a 99 then so be it.

Look nobody hates you. You belong here. DCP is a family. We don't see eye to eye and we disagree on shows and scoring and all kinds of stuff. Just don't let it get to you. Making observations about a show or even being somewhat critical does not mean you dislike the entire production. You should be happy. Blue Stars have an awesome show. They will have a fabulous summer.

No doubt.

Good point but this is one of the tough things about DCI Judging. On one hand you could say that in a competitive activity or sport that the number (score) should be relative to the other competitors. In football your score is relative to what the other team's defense allows you to have. You could be an offensive juggernaut but then you run into the Georgia defense and they shut you down. You're still a good team that can score but against Georgia not so much. In baseball a good pitcher can control the game and shut down a normally high-powered offense. In drum corps corps X may come out and be scoring well, then they meet the Blue Devils and their score goes down. Some don't like that and will say "yes, BD should win, but Corps X should still be in 72 point range" or whatever their most recent scores had been. Problem is BD's caption and sub-caption scores are pushing their competitor lower due to spreads. This is of course very evident when more corps are in competition. So yes, the total number is more relative to the competition because the spreads are really what determines who wins and by how much -- at least in each sub-caption and caption. And that ultimately determine total score. Not everyone likes this method. The unfortunate result is that at a large show of 10 to 12 corps (or more) there is so much stacking to do with the spreads that scores can either be inflated or pushed down. If the first corps to perform does really well but are still the 12th place corps then you often see things skyrocket which is what we usually get during Finals week. Like when the highest score prior to Finals was a 95 and then all of a sudden the top corps is sporting a 97.5 in Quarters or Semis. I know that some people would prefer some sort of rubric that doesn't really factor in the other corps and only allows the judge to provide an accurate number based on how the corps meets the standards set forth in the rubric. In Ohio they do this in OMEA band competition, but usually there are no scores. Just ratings of I, II, III or at some shows they are announced as Superior, Excellent, and Good. I don't really have any answers here, nor a better solution. I just know that as long as DCI remains a competitive activity then the numbers in each caption have to deal with spreads. In other words "how much better or worse was corps x vs corps y?"

I hate when people HATE on another person's opinion. Did I bash the Blue Stars props? No. Not in the slightest. I said I worry about some of the clutter (as it felt to me last night), and that can change fast. Like just a second reading of the show. I love their show and I think I made that abundantly clear on this thread and elsewhere last night. If someone is critical of something or worried about something (or even wondering about where the show might go) that is not complaining. Mind your own business and discuss what you enjoyed about their show. What I thought was uniquely my read on things last night. I was blown away by the Stars. Stop worrying about what I think.

After watching tonight I think Phantom and Blue Stars are pushing for a top 5 finish. But so are Cadets and so are Cavaliers, and Mandarins are going to be amazing too. Is it possible that one of these corps could top one of the top 4? Sure. It would take a lot and some serious cleaning but I would give Phantom a punchers chance. I actually had Blue Stars over them tonight, but down the stretch I think Phantom has a GE monster. Their big impact moments are stunning and well defined and focused. The music is perhaps a bit easier to follow over BS and in terms of GE music I think they may be on par with Crown. In brass performance I am not sure they will catch Crown or Boston or BD but it's a darn good brass line. Percussion will be key. Clean the feet, clean the percussion, and work the ending and that show could be a monster come Finals. Blue Stars are playing well and marching well. It is a super demanding visual book. I love the color scheme. Music is really good. I worry a little about clutter with the props and feel they may need to re-work some field staging issues to enhance the overall GE. But they can do it. Both Phantom and Blue Stars have some killer soloists.

Agree. In addition to that The Cadets did not march their last 2 songs. Blue Devils did not march their closer at their Wyoming show. Bluecoats have not premiered their show yet. This whole argument is irritating because the last time I checked the season has not started for those corps. First show was tonight but none of those corps were there. Come the first show if Madison has their closer on the field then cool. That's all that matters. It's not how fast you get there, it's that you get there by the start of the season and in a manner that is best for the members as they learn the show.

Phantom Regiment has a wonderful show! New, fresh music, nice visual package and the performance captions all seem like they will be strong. Entertaining and competitive. This show should clean nicely this summer. I loved last year's show too, but this one already has me excited to see how well they can clean this.

Well so much for my score predictions. 🙂 Great job by all the corps! I enjoyed the heck out of all 4 shows. Nothing to complain about from me. And Phantom and Blue Stars are sporting some very nice shows that should be very competitive this year. Maybe not top 4, but the race for 5 - 8 or even 5 - 10 could be fantastic this summer.

Wow, Blue Stars are sporting an innovative, fresh and VERY COLORFUL show this summer. I am loving the color palette and love that it changes. That green at the end is just stunning! I really like the music. It's different from Phantom yet both are just fantastic. BS is using the field well and boy are they moving. I think everyone was correct in their assessment that this Blue Stars corps is gunning for top 5. They absolutely are. So is Phantom. So is Cadets, and so are the Cavaliers. Talk about a fun summer. Blue Stars clearly have Phantom beat in visual. Both visual execution (which I thought was much stronger tonight) and also in visual analysis. Not much to change. Just clean. Phantom does not have much to change either, but a few little things and their feet are not as clean as Blue Stars. Both guards are sound and featured well. Stars guard stands out more. Brass should be close. Both have super difficult books. Percussion is also close. For tonight I have it this way: Blue Stars - 73.9 Phantom Regiment - 72.4 Colts - 67.2 Troopers - 65.5

I also wanted to give some love to the Phantom Tuba section. OUTSTANDING! Give me 12 tubas who can play that way vs a larger section that doesn't sound as good. What a section.

First impression on Phantom Regiment: Holy Smokes! This show has it all, though some things need to be refined or tweaked. Mainly the company at the end to the final set. I am sure they are waiting to implement some of that. But in general I love the uniforms, the music is fantastic, brass is going to be incredibly good, percussion is playing very well and should tighten up nicely, and the guard was wonderful. What I love about this show is how they use the field. Their big impact moments are setup so nicely and the way their cleared the field for the ballad was well done. The visual works very logically with the music and as this thing cleans they should get some excellent GE numbers. Solos are fantastic! Brass, perc, pit and guard should do very well, so I think their performance captions are strong and it's all about cleaning. Honestly the whole show has very little that they will need to hose or re-write -- certainly not big chunks anyway. Just a few small things. So cleaning will be the most important thing. The ending will change for sure. They could be dangerous. Top 5? Not sure about that but I would not rule that out.