BlooooContra

Word. And what's the nameles color, huh? :-P Hit me up on AIM sometime!

So who's got the section leader jacket this year?

Speaking from an 05er's point of view, Mac was a GIANT contributor on the field. IMO, his skill rehearsing the corps from the tower even surpassed his (amazing) arranging talents.

Bluecoats hornline... the bad mother****** players of 2007. Bluecoats hornline's feet/upper body posture... um... not so much. 2007 was a step in the right direction. The sound is there. Time to kick up the look another 50 notches in 2008. We only criticize the ones we love. :P

...my thoughts exactly. And Lord forgive me for this list. (usual disclaimer about being extremely opinionated and biased) 1. MADISON SCOUTS- Anyone who knows me knows I hate Madison. I march Blue 00-03, 05. Can you blame me? lol But seriously, this show was amazing. I loved it. Best intro in drum corps history IMO. The Tango was freaking awesome and Kasmir actually worked on the field. I just wish someone would put this on DVD and hook up a broke college kid with a free copy. I'd wear it out. 2. BLUECOATS- LOOOOVED the concept and detail work. Brass arranging was absolutely killer. The drumline was sick, but I would have loved a little more blatant showing off. Want to be in the top 3? Don't suggest it... b*tchslap people until they suggest it themselves. This especially goes for the drill, which needs to improve if they want a ring anytime soon. 7th place you ask? Why? They didn't Tango in an odd-numbered year. 2001... 2003... 2005... :P 3. SCV- This show had modern-era SCV written all over it. I got goosebumps last year when they ditched the 04-05 style (which I couldn't stand. INNOVATE! You're Vanguard, ######!) and this year things only got better. "!" was stellar across the board, with the visual design really stealing the show. I can't wait for 2008! 4. Ummm... BD/Cavaliers/Crown/BK... pretty much everyone else. I really had 3 major shows that I loved this summer. *shrugs*

It's in the mail, baby.

Back before the days when drums were invented -- back then, we just called it "...and Bugle Corps," and dagnabit, we liked it!

Ditto. New director. New design team. New competitive possibilities.

Bingo. Let's hope Curtis and I never run into each other in a dark alley. :P

For real. This thread is embarrassing.

Totally. Not because they were out-performed or anything. The Scouts couldn't make a decision, so they actually called Bluecoats up on finals day in 05. It was a really nice conversation. *ring* *ring* *ring* "Hello?" "Hey Bluecoats. It' the Scouts. How's it going?" "Oh hey, Scouts! Great to hear from you. It's going pretty well. We were hoping to beat you guys, but I guess it'll never happen this year." "Aww... don't be so hard on yourself there, Bluecoats. It's ok. That's actually what I called to talk to you about." *sniff* "Oh... oh yeah?" "Yeah... We cant really decide on our ending this year, so we wanted to call and concede 5th place to you guys." "Really??? Oh man, thank you so much! We really appreciate it!" "No problem, it's the least we could do. Have a good time tonight, Bluecoats." "Oh thanks, Scouts! You too!" *click* Sorry, but having been on DCP for Lord knows how many years now, that might be the first post ever that's genuinely offended me. We worked our a**** off that summer and PEAKED finals night. That Saturday performance made our Thursday and Friday nights beforehand look like a giant bag of ****, but apparently we only took them by nearly two points after being behind them all season because the judges looked at their watches Finals night and said "Uh oh, Madison's out of time. They didn't decide on their ending tonight, therefore Bluecoats will win." Jesus H. Christ. I'm gonna get off of my soapbox now and go play some Guitar Hero. :P But seriously, do you see the (lack of) logic behind that original statement? I usually don't go off like this, but you make it seem like my entire ageout season's outcome was just handed to me rather than having earned it.

Having friends in all 3 of those corps, it doesn't seem like a fluke. Look at who was making show changes and who was cleaning when and it makes sense. It also sheds some light on scores from this past week. Who was doing what vs. what happened to numbers. Do a little research, chief, before you start throwing the word "fluke" around, esp. when it comes to the kids from Canton. Them's fightin' words around Bluecoat land. :P (as if you couldn't tell from the past few years on DCP! lol)

Euphitone, I actually laughed out loud. :P And for anyone who said Bluecoats show was clean, were you actually watching the Blue DEVILS? Just a thought, cause my boys out there are dirrrrrrrrrty. So my dual vote goes for Pioneer and Bluecoats.

Mine too :) And a great review at that. Bluecoats were definitely better in rehearsal, especially the closer.

I absolutely freaking love Crossmen 03, and those cats were a blast to tour with most of the summer. My second favorite Bones show of all time (02 in first and 98 in a close third). There's my contribution to the thread. How bout we take it back from the troll?

As far as 2000 goes, If I remember correctly, Brian said that there were some clashes in ideology which caused him to move on. I know that little dual spiral-thing was his, which I always thought was one of the coolest Phantom vis moments that year. From conversations, it seemed that his heart stayed with Phantom, but there wasn't really an opportunity for him to go back there after that year. He was with Cap Reg until 05, when he went to Bluecoats to become another notch in the long string of visual caption heads since 99 (we had 5 different ones in just the years I marched. Thank God Blue had THAT totally figured out now!)

scrumtralescent

As always, keep in mind I have a lot of bias, and I really don't care. :) Anyone who has ever been to a Bluecoats' home show in the last 7 years (and probably much longer than that), knows that Paul Brown Stadium gets ROWDY. Bluecoats fans/alumni are some of the wildest people in DCI at shows, and it always provides a great atmosphere for performing members to get hyped up in and really throw it down. Though... not so much tonight. Maybe it was the early-season-ness of the show? The different location? The fact that Blue wasn't in one central place for a couple days? Who knows? But today's crowd, while still great, was NOWHERE near what we usually have happening down in Canton. Not even "BLOOOO"-ing like usual- oddly enough, most people around me weren't doing it at all, and the couple of us who were sounded solitary. The usual electricity was missing from Fawcett, but at least there were some great performances. My vantage point, btw, was on the 50, about 3/4 of the way up. Perfect seats (thanks Gen!) And now, with huge amounts of personal bias, on to the (brief) reviews, done in a little different format.... Dear Pioneer, Please fire your entire design staff. They do you no favors, and hold you back nearly every year. Branch out with your music more, and keep up the effort. Looking at the corps, it's obvious there's some talent there, but no one seems to be really cultivating it. I hope you guys come storming out one of these days and really take DCI by surprise. Dear Blue Stars, Nice choice on the new unis, although the helmet shape still reminds me of condoms. But eh, what are you gonna do? In your case, play and march better than you have in years, that's what. The uniform color usage was a really cool effect throughout the show, but I think sometimes it made things look overly cluttered when not staged properly. Contras, y'all had a couple really nice moments, and there are some great, warm sounds that seem to be starting to show their heads. You should be in semifinals solidly, and if the visual side of things gets some tweaks by the staff, finals might not be that far away. Good luck. Dear Colts, Welcome back! This was the first of your programs since 2001 that grabbed me. I love the new uniforms, and upper body presence seemed really evident compared to your last few seasons. Feet, however, were a bit of an issue. The tone of your show was also really inconsistent, but I blame that on your design team; the performances are really starting to be there. Personally, I don't think the Blue Stars should have been remotely as close to you as they were. Finals? I'm hoping! Dear Blue Devils, Your uniforms are sleek. Your talent level is high. Your drumline is smokin. But please, please, either make this show less about the guard or make the guard book (after the first 3 minutes, which are great!) more interesting! I feel like you wanted to do a combined guard/percussion WGI show, except you only wrote a few killer minutes and then just threw in filler until the end. As a corps, you can PLAY, not to mention MOVE! The drill is a step up from your waaaay too easily designed shows early this decade, which I'm digging, but it needs to be consistently GE-producing throughout. Oh, and thanks for not relying on soloists this year. I think you sound beautiful as an ensemble, and I'm glad you seem to think so now too. Dear Cavaliers, The first 30 seconds of your show sets the mood better than just about any DCI show I've seen in ages. Awesome. Obviously the current ending is gonna go, which is really going to help out a lot. Your show has attitude, which I think is something that the 4 corps before you lacked, at least consistently throughout their entire ensembles. Just make sure to clean your FEET some more; the ensemble vis is looking great for early July, but you should be thankful that your style inherently masks foot timing problems a little, because under scrutiny, they seemed quite a bit dirtier than BD. This show could be absolutely killer, and I can't wait to see how you end it down the road! Dear Bluecoats, This is the entire package. I understand you just did nothing but change the show for the last couple weeks, and it shows. You're light years dirtier than Cavaliers and Blue Devils, yet less than a point behind them. What does this mean? Potential to be great. Utilize it, and take that difficult drill and nearly non-stop licks and clean them up! Oh, and your guard integration? Consider it the new standard for the activity. Contra line, what more can I say? Get it a little cleaner and enjoy your spot in the history books. Just remember that in the end, difficulty will only get you so far. It has to be difficult AND pristine in August, boys.

Bluecoats + Radiohead = greatest show ever. Paranoid Android. Exit Music. The National Anthem. People would be throwing babies. The babies would be liquefied in mid-air by the sheer awesomeness of the show. People would cry because their babies got liquefied. They would be liquefied as well. The show would be that #### good.

Cleveland is cursed because it is a **** hole. That word is not hell. :)

lol Wait! I didn't say anything about them winning, just not running out of gas. :)

I should have been more clear. :) The key people who made that happen are still in place (Doug Thrower, Steph Furniss, Mike McIntosh, Kevin Stahl, etc. etc. etc.) And unless the corps randomly decides "Hey, let's go ahead and quit after July 31st," that momentum policy won't be changing.

Firstoff, I freaking LOVE this topic. I chose Bluecoats, but only because drum corps season comes before next NBA season. ;) And for anyone who said the Cavaliers are just "The LeBron Show," watch a freaking game. Just because he's the name you hear in the media, doesn't mean he IS the team. James is an under-utilized player considering his talent. He's used as essentially a point forward, thanks to Mike Brown's idiocy and not knowing how to run an offensive game. Watch Z, Gooden, Varejao and (late-season, after Mike Brown WOKE UP) Gibson. Ain't no #### one-man show. Oh, and don't watch Larry Hugues. We need to cut that embarrassment. *ahem* Go Blue.

I'm a little tired of the "will Bluecoats run out of gas?" threads that have been on these boards for the last few years. Didn't the corps prove in, I dunno, 01, 02, 03, 04, 05 and 06 that that's just not how they roll? The only season that comes remotely close is 03, and the corps never dropped. They just didn't come up behind anyone and take them by surprise late season.

It's only an upset if you never saw the winning team coming. A Bluecoats upset? Try 2000 Allentown over Madison.