midwesternlull

Bluecoats.

Just thinking about the high level of performance that Bluecoats are displaying blows my mind. There were many doubters during the pre-season that questioned whether the corps would be able to continue on it's upward trend. Have they been doing that thus far? Absolutely! Will they place in the top 3?... only finals night will tell. One thing that seems glaringly obvious to me is that DCI is now willing to judge Blooo with the other top corps. They are winning captions against old titans - BRASS... Bluecoats are winning HIGH BRASS. Face it, that's not an easy thing to do against corps like Blue Devils. Frankly, I can't think of another recent 4-7 ranked corps that has been able to accomplish that. Is it possible for them to take high percussion? Sure it is. It's a little tougher to take the old titans in the visual captions (congrats Crown guard!). Bluecoats aren't in a slump. This is just an amazingly competitive year for DCI. Sit back, relax, and enjoy watching how things unfold.

Since Kalamazoo on Saturday, I have to admit that I've been feeling a bit skeptical about DCI's judging practices. The scores just weren't aligned with what I saw and heard that night. When I got home this evening, I expected to check the scores and see the usual... but, Wow! Cavaliers have a fantastic show - my second favorite behind the obvious. Blue Devils are more of the same but still are strong, to say the least. Passing these two corps isn't easy... In fact, I was thinking that the judges might not let it happen at all this year. The blue team from Canton earned it and no one can take away this accomplishment. Congratulations! I may need to attend more shows this summer than planned! BLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

I was at the Kalamazoo show and the beat boxing has been dropped... unless they were having PA/microphone problems that night.

I was at the show. Lots of people said that 'Coats were "on fire" last night. I just didn't sense that tonight. They didn't seem to be having an off night, but they didn't put out that extra something that it would have taken to upset Phantom... particularly when it came to impacts, overall volume, etc. I really enjoyed both shows. Phantom's hornline sounded fantastic... Bluecoats' horns didn't sound too shabby either. It seems like Bluecoats' show has more room for growth than Phantom's. That being said, I fully expect Phantom to be in the top 3 this year.

Wow. That's what I suspected but in an effort to avoid the west coast vs. midwest scoring inflation DCP conflict, I kept my mouth shut. There was a BD video on YouTube for a short while, enough to get at least a rough read of the show. It's possible they could end up as low as 6th this year with the other top corps paying more attention to programming. The current BD model is tired and I think we will be seeing changes from them soon. Blue Devils may be in for a rude awakening when they travel east. I don't expect to see an SCV championship in '07, but from what I've heard of their musical program, it's gorgeous. Granted, the most recent audio clips from their season CD are basically studio recordings, but that hornline is producing some nice sounds.

Since I only vote for WINNERS and change is bad: 1. The Cadets 2. The Blue Devils 3. The Cavaliers Anyone that thinks anything else is remotely possible is clearly out of their mind and a LOSER. Who wants to be a LOSER, anyway? ...seriously: 1. Bluecoats 2. SCV 3. Phantom

Agreed. I'm surprised they've scored as well in GE as they have without the guard uniforms.

double post... sorry

This doesn't deal with narration specifically, but does anyone else agree that the "cheese" factor is getting a little out of hand across the board? I'll even dog on my beloved Bluecoats... the "beat-boxing" can go. The narration is fine. I want to be able to show my adult musician friends how cool drum corps is. Oh, wait a second... DRUM CORPS IS A YOUTH ACTIVITY. I try to do my best to keep in touch with what younger people are diggin' (I'm 29). If they like it, let it be. They are the future of this activity. My apologies for this uncohesive rambling.

I agree 100%. However, the real question is: Who makes up the MAJORITY of DCI paying audiences these days? I'd venture to say that it's probably not the "old timers." Kids want to be entertained, point-blank. They think stuff like drumlines wearing headphones and throwing down to backing tracks is "cool." I wonder what those kids and their parents think of this year's Cadets show? In the eyes of DCI (and The Cadets), that's what matters. I, for one, have a problem paying for that sort of thing. Oh, and the '07 Cadets? I hate to admit it, but it's a well designed, well executed show. The judges can't dock them points for narration, except in *maybe* GE. Even then, if they don't have a valid arguement for Hopkins, forget about it. I'm willing to bet that lots of the judges don't like it either - they're drum corps fans like us.

I think it's time to go back to the "Top 6" concept of the past. There's a lot more depth at the top these days, which is interesting because there are actually less corps. To a large extent, DCI (not necessarily in terms of judging) determines who's "elite" through television programming, dvd features, etc. There is clearly a "Top 6" this year, and the 7th spot deserves much respect as well.

Meaning, they look darn good!

Did anyone else get an "action animation" sort of vibe from the Bluecoats' narration sequences?... reminded me of movies like Disney's "The Incredibles." The new unis look fantastic! I look for these uniforms to set a new standard for modern drum corps: the high-end helmet finish, tailored look, attention to detail, etc. Even for those who don't particularly like them, you cannot argue with the thoughtful level of design and construction that went into this change. In the past, after viewing the Bluecoats in the early season, there have been a number of show aspects that clearly needed to be altered or omitted. Not this year. This show was ready for competition right out of the box... how I usually feel about the Blue Devils. Things can only go up from here. I'm not a guard person at all, but I should mention that it's too bad that the guard portion of the show wasn't more complete (program, costumes, flags). They've had a full month of all-days, and I don't quite understand why this was the case. It's tough to win shows when almost a point of a narrow two-point spread between first and second place is in the colorguard caption. I put my faith in 'Coats instructional staff, but hope that things in this department come together sooner than later.

Since when was streaming audio/video over a broadband connection a difficult thing to do? It's basically just webcam technology, right? It doesn't matter anyway... although I've subscribed in the past, I'm not about to spend $90.00 or $15.00 per event. Only $10.00 less than an actual ticket? C'mon. Comparing DCI and MLB just isn't right. Drum corps is a youth activity. Unfortunately, DCI has shifted to the "big business" model when dealing with fans. Quite frankly, I cannot AFFORD to enjoy drum corps as much as I would like to anymore.