billj
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Posts posted by billj
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On 7/26/2019 at 5:21 PM, Continental said:
IMO there is no middle. You are a fan or you are not.
I do not like PR because they won. I do not like PR because they consistently did well. I like PR because they touched something inside of me when I first saw them.
I am a PR fan.
Love this, and I am with you!
To address the glass half empty posters: I'm wondering what group of people are allowed to be outraged and demand wholesale changes of leadership and design staff?
Do you have to be a former marching member? That seems to be the trend for passionate fan bases or three former world champion corps not doing as well as some expect. Maybe this is why (didn't march a big corps) I don't understand such outrage, nor would I ever consider demanding people working for a corps get fired.
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9 hours ago, FlamMan said:
It shouldn't be difficult to comprehend and understand why & how organizations who are used to winning championships have higher expectations than those that dont. BD expects to win every year. Crossmen and many others just hope to make finals. See the difference?
Um, I seriously think that most, strike that, ALL, corps try to produce an entertaining (to the audience), challenging (for the members) and creative product (that resonates with the judges) each year. To think that corps leadership or design staff has lengthy discussions, when designing a show, about "boy I hope we just make finals'' is silly. The focus of corps is having each member and the corps as a whole be the best they can be. Every corps can have that "high expectation" and they themselves are in control of whether or not they meet it, regardless of how other corps are doing.
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2 hours ago, GeneralTsoChicken said:
They've deleted large swaths of drill transitions.
From early July to San Antonio, drillwise the major change seemed to be almost an entire new drill for the closer. Were there other major changes besides this in the drill?
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9 hours ago, IllianaLancerContra said:
Ok - so they get to new location 2&1/2 hrs earlier, floor time until 0600, breakfast complete 0655, hit field at 0700
Scouts have 24 hours in the day, just like Corps with 'Blue' in their name
This talk of performing early being such a disadvantage to some corps (it's mentioned in a few corps' threads) seems like a new, recent complaint/excuse. BITD the small corps I marched in was always one of the first few to perform (I.e. sun glaring on our eyes many times) and we weren't saying to ourselves what an unfair advantage all the corps that went on later had.
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6 hours ago, PRomoter said:
True. Improvement from day-to-day is not keeping up with Spirit. There’s plenty of time over the next two weeks for either corps to make a move. Hoping PR kicks into high gear, or the season may be a bust.
posted from the DrumScorps app
Huh? Day to day what? This is based on one score I assume.
Any way, "season may be a bust" doesn't seem very appropriate. The show's cleaning up and improving, and crowds are loving it. Keep it up Regiment!
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I'm really likely the characterizations, choreography and posing for the brass in black. It reads so well on the field and there's just a clear,and cool "bad guy" vibe coming across. Keep it up Regiment!
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I think it's a cool idea. No different that corps that have encouraged clapping or singing along in the past.
Ideally, the female vocals and the groups vocals would all be live.
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2 hours ago, jonwoody said:
Not the best way to design a show me thinks lol.
Oops:
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I think 2 corps have shown this (Bridge) isn't a good song for drum corps .
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Come on, now. Who here looks forward to each corps' props? And to say that corps X would place higher if they had 'better' props or corps Y would place higher if they added props doesn't make sense to.
I look forward to good music, drill and guardwork, performed well.
Regiment is delivering on that. SUTA!
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Hypothetical question: should a corps adding some "thing" mid season (tarps, drums, 1800's hats with a giant eagle and a plume stuck to, new props, girl popping out of a book, etc.) really impact a score in a measurable way? I know the Devil's example is different, but if 2 SCV performances were exactly the same, with the exact same judges, except performance 1 had the "old" drums and no tarps and performance 2 had the new drums and the tarps, should the scores be different? How much? Is there anything on the score sheets that would indicate a higher score is warranted?
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Trust me, I don't have time or energy to research corps shows. Most design staff's description of a show go right over my head, any way; nor do I always "get" shows when watching them even if I do know the theme (was Crown's championship show about physics or a love story, or both? I don't really care, and I loved that show). And we shouldn't have to do research. On first viewing for an audience member, all shows should just entertain. While the top corps are all very, very good, there's a homogenization creeping in that concerns me.
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1 hour ago, Weaklefthand4ever said:
Absolutely agree with this. I like the show in all actuality. But it almost seems like the things listed here are the fantasies of a fan and not a member of a professional design staff. In my younger years (before I had a few years under my belt of actually being a part of the DCI process as an MM,) I can imagine myself saying "Oh!! We could SO throw a (insert signature move here) right here! It'l be freakin' AWESOME!!!"
It's kind of like my dream when I started DCI in '87 was to one day play Malaguena because it was so cool. We all grow up (unfortunately) and start to see the big picture. I get it though. I dig chevrons and kick stops as much as anyone who lived through those iconic moments. I didn't know anyone who was a fan or member of any corps who didn't love and respect the corps and those moments. I just know and understand enough now to see that they have to actually make some #### sense and not just be thrown in willy-nilly.
I assume we can all agree that a kick halt or a chevron form, regardless of when done, will not make make or break a show?
There are so few traditions and even recognizability of corps these days given the annual, throw-away costumes, I like the nod to the corps history.
Crown has done quite well the last 10 years, and while I don't know with certainty, I'll assume they've had a crown form every year. In how many of their shows does a crown form "make sense"? Triple Crown, maybe, sorta and that was 2007 (I looked this up, don't have it all memorized). Are people upset about Crown's use of this every year? Even if so, the judges seem to be OK it.
And actually, after 2 minutes of internet research:
Joan of Arc, in French Jeanne d'Arc (6 January 1412 – 30 May 1431)
Chevron: First appearing in English in the 14th century, chevron derives via Middle English and Anglo-French
Maybe it make more sense this year than we knew?
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12 hours ago, karuna said:
... regardless of the number of props, it's a field not a stage. There's no proper lighting, no proper way to change sets, no "off-stage", no curtain, and no sound system that's even close to adequate (as compared to the broadway stage). It's really kind of pathetic. Blast worked because it was indoors and had all those things. Drum corps will never have them.
I'm not so sure about that. Some HS bands have dabbled with some of this already (lighting, stages and curtains). And designers seem to be continually pushing boundaries. Props, "choreography" and the current state of electronics and amplification will be evolving along with other boundaries being pushed.
P.S. I don't like it. Put your #### uniforms and hats on, and march some cool drill!
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4 hours ago, PamahoNow said:
This I fully disagree with. Why have props only to hide performers? Couldn't the designers figure out how the performers could be used at these parts of the show? Is there something important about hiding a performer? If you have props .... use them in your show. An ancillary benefit might be that you can use them to reveal a performer or performers for some important impact during the show. Good illustration is Bluecoats 2016. (not so much 2017 where the prop was "in the way".)
I'm ok with EVERY corps not upping the ante on the props arms race. The stationary props allow them to manipulate the stage plenty.
I'm getting dizzy with all the props.
SCV is another long time favorite of mine, and I've been very happy to see them at the top the last few years, but I'm disappointed that they had to outdo Devils at their own game in order to win (come out with the best props, greatly reduce the big drill moves, increase the "individual, stylized movement"/scatters).
Seems like Devils and Coats have the best props props this year. If they finish 1 and 2 I can only imagine what's in store for next year with props. Actually, I can't. How much worse can it get?
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Serious question: do many people purchase and listen to audio recordings from finals? I have a hard time imagining there's a good balance across brass, percussion, pit and amplification/electronics. Or are there standstill recordings?
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I'm hoping to see a video of a recent Regiment competition performance (July 12-14). I can't find one online but if anyone knows of a link, I'd appreciate a PM. Sorry if I'm breaking any forum rules with my request. Go Regiment!
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55 minutes ago, FlamMan said:
Speaking of Belleville, IL. as I have said many times here, my favorite drum corp uniform of all time was the Belleville Black Knights. If you aren't familiar with it google it. Those helmets! Gosh how I miss hats in drum corps. The hat was the finishing touch on the uni. Anyway, I'm curious if there is still a Black Knights organization or alumni group of any kind? Do they sponsor this show?
Ah, yes, the chrome domes! Back when DCM was DCM. Dekalb actually had a very DCM-like lineup yesterday.
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Well,.everyone has their own unique mics, speakers, amps, and mixers, so....
What I really object to is the "cheating" of using amplification of the entire brassline. Hornline's unamplified volume levels used to generate plenty of excitement and were a certain measure of comparison for us to discuss. There's no way to know who has the loudest hornline anymore, and the audio engineer just needs to dial it up to 11 whenever they want, for a little extra music GE.
And I think can all agree that amping the pits, while not without some benefits, is overdone a lot during the season. Some of us see only a show or two early in the season and it would be nice is corps weren't still figuring out how to not deafen the audience with the pit volume level.
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27 minutes ago, EricS said:
There are a lot of people who agree with you and don't care about scores and placement. There are others, myself included, who think that if the corps ceases to remain relevant to and competitve in today's DCI activity it iis going to suffer severely.
Those aren't necessarily two mutually exclusive things. For the sake of discussion, would you be willing to share your criteria for "relevance" as well as which corps currently meet that criteria right now?
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This design is in no way "just the basics" . It has some nice ties to Regiment's history, and in a good way IMO. And there are some cool effects (guard in corps proper uniforms, trumpets switching between 2 instruments)
And from the early July video I'm guessing we might be seeing a chevron at/near the ending drill. Appropriate for the theme AND the corps history.
I dont want to continue to bash other designs, but have you seen a higher scoring corps' slow motion version of their circle to box drill? And pretty sure it will end with a slow motion version of the letter after Y -pull. Zzzzzzz
Talking about scores and placements, as asked, what's good enough versus not good enough when it comes to scores and placements? I stopped caring about scores a long time ago. I usually disagree w the judges. (Fyi, some 'supporters' of a corps likely to be in the 7 or 8 slot are also complaining about their show, despite decent scores and placings)
The one knock I'll agree with is the initial dirtiness in the first few performances compared to others, but they seem to be cleaning up and tweaking the design nicely.
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I don't know. The elements people are complaining about here are in most other shows I've seen this year. And as for complaint about the props not moving around, I'm very ok with that. They serve their purpose for hiding performers as needed. Many corps' props become too much of the visual focus (i.e. a distraction - have you see the 4 giant, white spaceships/tanks?).
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1 minute ago, The Dog said:
Never a fan of singing in drum corps, just not my thing.........if that is part of playing the game i get it, but don't care for it....its hokey.
There have been some very memorable vocalizations in drum corps over the years, most of them unplugged. I think there might have been some vocals in Regiment's last championship show?
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I'm not a general fan of electronics or amplification, but I like Regiment's use of it this year. The vocals help clearly tell the story, while also adding variety and pacing. Does anyone know: is the opening vocal sung live? I can't tell from the video.
2019 Phantom Regiment
in DCI World Class Corps Discussions
Posted
I think the lighter the uniform/costume color, the more exposure to marching errors. #1: White shoes/spats, #2: white/light pants, #3: light overall uniforms/costumes,