Opinion on Allentown Scores from attendees

[tubawarrior]

Just curious... why is it a negative for one corps but a plus for another?

i believe he is addressing the writing for Cavies, and the performance for BD. he says they're both top-heavy, one he comments on the repetoire, the other on the performance....almost as if looking at it as a judge, wow.

Which raises the question, next year with electronics, will there be a sound effects caption?

since they haven't updated the sheets at all in 4 years and thus amps that make tons of noise or simply crap out don't affect scores at all, i wouldn't expect this change either

[Phillygwm]

I don't see how BD nor Cavies are scoring in the 95s. I would have had them at least two points lower.

What do others who were there think?

It's all relative and I did have both Cavies and BD scoring +/- 5 points over Bluecoats. so whether one corps scored 95 and the others 100, or whether it was 85 versus 80, I think they got it mostly right. Besides, it seems that all winning corps break 95 on the last regional before finals. Also, it seems that every year the judges tighten scores up among the top 3-4 corps to create excitement for Championships.

I was the one guy in the stands who was left flat by 'Coats show. Mostly, I hated the narration outside the first 30 seconds of the show. It seems that they put a lot of the stuff they took out for Atlanta (or at least I didn't notice it on the Atlanta FN webcast) back in.

I was more than a bit surprised that Cavies beat BD, though I expected it to be close. I thought BD horns had it all over Cavies and visual was about even. Cavies musical show leaves me flat...though BD's is well performed but kind of repetitious.

I'm not a percussionist and though I can tell the difference between first and last place, I have difficulty with anything in between, so I wouldn't presume to speak to that.

I wonder whether we'll be in for further surprises between PR and Crown tonight?

Edited August 2, 2008 by Phillygwm

[corpsband]

FWIW I had them....

1 BD this show connects at every moment even if you dont have a clue what its really about

2 Cavies something amiss with the guard staging -- focus seemed to be always on the hornline

3 Bluecoats there's a period of 1.5 to 2 minss (right before they form the brass box and play the boxer real loud) where the show loses focus.

4. BK I saw a bigger margin between them and BAC / Gmen

5. Gmen trunks are just....distracting

6. BAC same old same old

7. Madison looks like they're trying to regain identity

8. Troop looked like they were very successfully accomplishing whats been written -- havent bitten off more than they can chew.

9. Academy (see Troop) written book too tough for these performers

sorry missed everyone else

sitting row 29 40 yd line

Edited August 2, 2008 by corpsband

[byline]

There was no real resemblance to boxing - it looked more like two queens having a pillow fight (and I am gay, so I've seen many queens having pillow fights - it ain't pretty).

Gonna have a real hard time getting this mental image out of my head when I see them in Buffalo tomorrow night!

[jcn8]

There was no real resemblance to boxing - it looked more like two queens having a pillow fight (and I am gay, so I've seen many queens having pillow fights - it ain't pretty).

Very funny and I completely agree. Even worse is when the boxer, with gloves on, joins the guard and begins to dance... a ballerina boxer… it’s comical. If people think you are being hard on them, they won’t want to read my comments (tune out Bluecoats fans) – This was flat out the biggest (and only real) disappointment of the evening for me. I expected so much more from Bluecoats. The narration is completely amateurish and annoying (and I am not as anti-narration as most on here) and the 100 pound shirtless, dancing boxers, well, it's just all wrong. Beyond this absurdity, how predictable is the story line of this show? There’s zero element of surprise (other than the choreography for the boxer) and no “wow” factor.

I am about to do what I accuse so many other DCPers of wrongly doing -- bringing up The Cadets in a thread with an unrelated topic. While watching the Bluecoats show last night and being completely annoyed by the bush league narration, it occurred to me I don’t recall reading many discussions on here that are loaded with the hatred I see for The Cadets and their use of narration. I get the whole Hopkins being the drum corps anti-Christ thing, but please people, be consistent with your criticism. This Bluecoats show should be on the short list of reasons why narration is wrong and detracts from an otherwise nice musical and visual program (less the dancing boxers). Instead, because they are a fan favorite, they kind of get a free ride.

P.S. I generally love Bluecoats, which is why I was so disappointed.

[Jeff Ream]

oh, I said in my review they could lose 10 lines of talking and it would help them a lot. they paraphrase the movie, and for an announcer, Michael Buffer the guy isn't.

I mean if you're gonna pretend to be Mickey, just use the lines everyone knows from the movie. And if you're gonna pretend to be a boxing ring announcer, just rip off Buffer. IMO, doing Buffer and the "lets get ready to rumble" thing would actually, IMO, do more to bring the crowd in.

[Phillygwm]

Very funny and I completely agree. Even worse is when the boxer, with gloves on, joins the guard and begins to dance... a ballerina boxer… it’s comical.

Well, yeah. I wasn't too harsh on the b*tch-slapping ballerina boxers. I mean, what do you expect? I'm sure they used the most masculine guys they had in their guard. And, as OP will no doubt tell you, there are some ###### boxers in the flyweight division...but none are marching with Bluecoats this year.

There's a double standard between 'Coats and Cadets narration and I'd agree with others that Bluecoats tend to get a pass, possibly because, unlike Cadets, the narrative isn't necessary to convey the story. But, IMHO, both are overused an amateurish.

[ajlemm]

oh, I said in my review they could lose 10 lines of talking and it would help them a lot. they paraphrase the movie, and for an announcer, Michael Buffer the guy isn't.

I mean if you're gonna pretend to be Mickey, just use the lines everyone knows from the movie. And if you're gonna pretend to be a boxing ring announcer, just rip off Buffer. IMO, doing Buffer and the "lets get ready to rumble" thing would actually, IMO, do more to bring the crowd in.

I smell something brewing for finals...

[gbass598]

oh, I said in my review they could lose 10 lines of talking and it would help them a lot. they paraphrase the movie, and for an announcer, Michael Buffer the guy isn't.

I mean if you're gonna pretend to be Mickey, just use the lines everyone knows from the movie. And if you're gonna pretend to be a boxing ring announcer, just rip off Buffer. IMO, doing Buffer and the "lets get ready to rumble" thing would actually, IMO, do more to bring the crowd in.

Actually, Michael Buffer owns that phrase. They would need copyright clearance to use it, which is probably why they haven't up to this point.

[tempotantrum]

I thought the judges got the placements absolutely correct last night. Blue Knights to me were very flat. BD was clean as usual but no emotion or anything going on, the Cavaliers came out on fire last night! To me, the came and took it away from BD. Glassmen were very very good and deserving of 4th place. Boston is down to 6 snares? WTF?

Oh, and as far as the Bluecoats are concerned, they were excellent! The narration is perfect and I love this show! You guys who are concerned with the realism of the portrayal in the guard need to understand -- It's drum corps! These people are not boxers...jesus. They aren't supposed to go 12 rounds, throw a few punches, let a ref separate em 28 times in the show, and yadda yadda yadda. It's a drum corps show for crying out loud!