Kalamazoo Kazoo Kazoo

[blumagus019]

I still enjoy the Blue Stars show; however, after watching them last night, it's safe to say that they are in trouble. I believe they will have no problem making the Saturday show during finals week; but the hope and excitement for moving up a spot or two from their two year stay at 8th place is proving to be quite difficult. I fully expected to see a lot of growth and change from when I saw them a few weeks ago; but, it's still very, very dirty and the guard is terrible! This is definitely not the guard from the past couple of years, that's for sure. Here's hoping they can get this ship righted and find some salvage for this season. Great show; but needs quite a bit to at least acquire a three-in-a-row of 8th place.

I agree that the Blue Stars could be in trouble this year, and may face an uphill battle to reclaim 8th place or move up a spot. However, I ENTIRELY disagree that Blue Stars color guard is "terrible" this year. If you look back at Blue Stars 08 during this time they were equally as dirty if not more so (if you remember correctly in 08 the Blue Stars corps and guard lost to groups that didn't even make finals and went on to place 7th in guard at champs), and the kids this year have way better performance quality. Their instructor is Michael Shapiro, known for writing the most demanding books in both DCI and WGI, which he has once again done this summer. Trust me, his groups always start the season looking tragic, but peak in the late season, surpassing other groups with their unique and highly challenging choreo. Yes, it will be up to the guard kids to execute their show, but the season is early yet, and I'll wait til San Antonio to make my call.

[BigPapiBass5]

I agree that the Blue Stars could be in trouble this year, and may face an uphill battle to reclaim 8th place or move up a spot. However, I ENTIRELY disagree that Blue Stars color guard is "terrible" this year. If you look back at Blue Stars 08 during this time they were equally as dirty if not more so (if you remember correctly in 08 the Blue Stars corps and guard lost to groups that didn't even make finals and went on to place 7th in guard at champs), and the kids this year have way better performance quality. Their instructor is Michael Shapiro, known for writing the most demanding books in both DCI and WGI, which he has once again done this summer. Trust me, his groups always start the season looking tragic, but peak in the late season, surpassing other groups with their unique and highly challenging choreo. Yes, it will be up to the guard kids to execute their show, but the season is early yet, and I'll wait til San Antonio to make my call.

What WGI groups does he work for?

[contrajedi8]

Something i just remembered from yesterday. Someone synthesized a snare drum roll. Why? not like someone in the pit or on the field cant play it

There was also a synthesized trumpet solo. Seriously, WTF?

[DrinkinOuttaCups]

Something i just remembered from yesterday. Someone synthesized a snare drum roll. Why? not like someone in the pit or on the field cant play it

There was also a synthesized trumpet solo. Seriously, WTF?

Which corps did these? I don't recall noticing either of these on the webcast.

[blumagus019]

Corona was his main one, he taught Crown guard before that.

Here's a 2009 finals review from Winter Guard International, to show I'm not the only one in the activity that thinks his equipment work is some of the most demanding.

Corona – 2nd, 95.9

Since they first appeared on the WGI scene just a few years ago, Corona has raised the bar in terms of equipment exploration every year, pushing its performers to the limit with an extraordinary array of revolutionary new tricks and techniques. This year’s production, “A Case of You,” was perhaps their most difficult and well-achieved program to date, offering a thrilling combination of jaw-dropping tricks, unique exchanges and awe-inspiring tosses. Welcome to the medalist podium, Corona!

http://www.wgi.org/news/04052009-Independe...als-Review.html

[DarrenE]

Here's my 2 cents. I was sitting right behind the Music Effect judge right on the 50 yd line. It was very hot up there and the judges were all just about melting. They actually ran to get them all hats and kept bringing them water the whole time. One of them tripped and almost fell off the upper deck. Everyone jumped when that happened. This is just my next day gut feeling on the shows and not any sort of technical discussion.

Crown: Seriously, they sounded twice as loud (yes, I know this is an exaggeration) as everyone else. Even my wife gave me a shocked look when they let loose the first time. This was the only group of the night that really sounded like what I remember from the corps of the past. Anybody here that has an opinion of Crown based on what they've seen online is hear-by on notice that their opinion is based on faulty data. There are some sections of the show where they were doing audio responses from one side of the field to the other that you would never pick up on through an internet stream. Half of Crown's horn line had as big of a sound as some of the other groups entire horn lines. The difference between Crown's sound and the others was not subtle.

Crown had some very neat visual tricks that really stand out. However, they need to fix the end of their show. It doesn't stand out at all from the rest of the package. A double horn arc, a whole note, aaaaandddd we're done. Other than the ending they were my favorite corps. Probably because of what I said in my first sentence. Come on everybody else. Put some air through the horns.

Bluecoats: They were good but I wouldn't make a special trip to see them. (I told you this wouldn't be a technical evaluation)

Cavaliers: The electronic intro stuff just doesn't work. It's a neat effect but it is jarring when the horns and drums come in. I don't mean jarring in a kick### good way either. The Cavie fans were annoying with their cheering for individual rifle tosses but I can't exactly blame that on the corps. They actually put a little bit of air through the horns this year so that is something. The section where the whole horn line had rifles was pretty cool. Nobody reading this should think it looked like they suddenly had a 100 person rifle line. It definitely looked like they handed rifles to horn players who were trying to do their best to not hurt themselves with the things. They also need to fix their ending. The end of the next to last section of their show would make a much better ending than what they have now. One last thing. They could prescribe their encore show as a sleep aid. It should come with a warning about operation heavy machinery afterwards.

Boston Crusaders: Were they the ones that were playing while jumping sideways? If so, that was pretty cool.

Phantom Regiment: I have been a big PR fan since the 80's so take that bias into account here. They looked small. Seriously, are they smaller than everybody else? I wouldn't think so. My opinion on this was validated for me when the old lady sitting behind me asked the people who brought her "is this group smaller than the other ones." I don't know if it is the visual design or what but they gave a visual impression of being small. Probably not what the visual designers wants to hear. They don't sound small though. I just love their sound. I could listen to it all night. They sound cleaner than everybody else. Everything is just crisp. I actually got chills once during their show and that doesn't happen to me very often. That chevron thing at the end of the show is just cool in an almost take your breath away way. (That wasn't the section that gave me chills.) I don't generally like down endings and this one fell in line with that. I wish I could have seen them after the sun had gone down. I have a feeling that their visual show is dramatically damaged when they don't perform under the stadium lights.

Blue Stars: I couldn't tell you much about this show. I was too distracted by the two girls in the pit dancing behind the keyboards. I kept looking over there and never once saw them place their hands on the keys. It was like the visual designer told them they had to do something since they weren't playing so they just did this head-bop knee bounce dance for the whole show. Seriously, thats the only thing I remember about the show. (Yes, this critique of the corps is grossly unfair and I really hope neither of those girls or their families read this because frankly it just isn't their fault. Somebody told them to do that and they were rockin' it but man was it distracting to me.)

Madison Scouts: I was geeking out when I saw the 20 contras. Unfortunately, I didn't really notice any difference in the bass sound than from the other groups with 12 to 16 contra. Their show was really entertaining and they came second to Crown in volume so that bumps them up my list. Regardless of their placement I would rather watch them than most of the other corps. I fear that having accessible entertaining music is a competitive disadvantage to them and that is something that I fear is going to hurt DCI in the long run.

Spirit: They gave me a lead-in to tell my wife about the 1980 Spirit of Atlanta horn-line that used to hire themselves out as an alternative to industrial sand blasting and how all the corps just haven't been as loud since they started using band instruments.

Teal Sound: I don't care what anybody else says. I liked them. They obviously aren't up to par with the later groups but I enjoyed them.

Crossmen; I thought the skull guy was cool up in the stands at the beginning of the show. I also think it is cool that they raise their flag through the top of the bus when they pull into the parking lot.

General comments:

1) I hate when soloists play into a microphone and their sound gets pipe through crappy wedding-singer grade speakers. I'm going to let all you guys in on why you hate the electronics and the singing and talking during shows. You are sitting there enjoying a top of the line show in "Musics Major League" and then in the middle of the show somebody decides it would be a good idea to try to fill a huge football stadium with sound using the same set of speakers that you would normally use for a High School dance in a small gym. You can't do it. It isn't possible. There is a reason these stadiums have massive stacks of speakers and pay sound engineers a lot of money to design and install the system. Also, there is no time for them to do sound checks in these stadiums so it is pretty much turn them on and hope for the best. The talent level on the electronics is so far below the rest of the captions that it is glaring. It doesn't blend with the rest of the show so you notice it every time and it distracts. If these corps are going to use electronics they need to bring in some experts on the subject and not just let the guy who didn't make the snare line be in charge of it. Do it right or don't do it at all. They don't half-### any other caption of the show. (I'm going to end this here or it will be a 20 page dissertation on the dangers of handing a bunch of amateurs a microphone)

2) Back in my day the corps were much louder than they are now. Now get off my lawn.

[Ghost]

How I would have placed them:

4. Boston Crusaders- Lots of demand that I think will pay off with time.

Let's hope you're right. They've been stuck at 81 for four contests with one day off. From tonight until the 21st (11 days) they have five contests and six days off, three of them in a row. Hope the lead instructors will be around.

[SFZFAN]

Here's my 2 cents. I was sitting right behind the Music Effect judge right on the 50 yd line. It was very hot up there and the judges were all just about melting. They actually ran to get them all hats and kept bringing them water the whole time. One of them tripped and almost fell off the upper deck. Everyone jumped when that happened. This is just my next day gut feeling on the shows and not any sort of technical discussion.

Crown: Seriously, they sounded twice as loud (yes, I know this is an exaggeration) as everyone else. Even my wife gave me a shocked look when they let loose the first time. This was the only group of the night that really sounded like what I remember from the corps of the past. Anybody here that has an opinion of Crown based on what they've seen online is hear-by on notice that their opinion is based on faulty data. There are some sections of the show where they were doing audio responses from one side of the field to the other that you would never pick up on through an internet stream. Half of Crown's horn line had as big of a sound as some of the other groups entire horn lines. The difference between Crown's sound and the others was not subtle.

Crown had some very neat visual tricks that really stand out. However, they need to fix the end of their show. It doesn't stand out at all from the rest of the package. A double horn arc, a whole note, aaaaandddd we're done. Other than the ending they were my favorite corps. Probably because of what I said in my first sentence. Come on everybody else. Put some air through the horns.

Bluecoats: They were good but I wouldn't make a special trip to see them. (I told you this wouldn't be a technical evaluation)

Cavaliers: The electronic intro stuff just doesn't work. It's a neat effect but it is jarring when the horns and drums come in. I don't mean jarring in a kick### good way either. The Cavie fans were annoying with their cheering for individual rifle tosses but I can't exactly blame that on the corps. They actually put a little bit of air through the horns this year so that is something. The section where the whole horn line had rifles was pretty cool. Nobody reading this should think it looked like they suddenly had a 100 person rifle line. It definitely looked like they handed rifles to horn players who were trying to do their best to not hurt themselves with the things. They also need to fix their ending. The end of the next to last section of their show would make a much better ending than what they have now. One last thing. They could prescribe their encore show as a sleep aid. It should come with a warning about operation heavy machinery afterwards.

Boston Crusaders: Were they the ones that were playing while jumping sideways? If so, that was pretty cool.

Phantom Regiment: I have been a big PR fan since the 80's so take that bias into account here. They looked small. Seriously, are they smaller than everybody else? I wouldn't think so. My opinion on this was validated for me when the old lady sitting behind me asked the people who brought her "is this group smaller than the other ones." I don't know if it is the visual design or what but they gave a visual impression of being small. Probably not what the visual designers wants to hear. They don't sound small though. I just love their sound. I could listen to it all night. They sound cleaner than everybody else. Everything is just crisp. I actually got chills once during their show and that doesn't happen to me very often. That chevron thing at the end of the show is just cool in an almost take your breath away way. (That wasn't the section that gave me chills.) I don't generally like down endings and this one fell in line with that. I wish I could have seen them after the sun had gone down. I have a feeling that their visual show is dramatically damaged when they don't perform under the stadium lights.

Blue Stars: I couldn't tell you much about this show. I was too distracted by the two girls in the pit dancing behind the keyboards. I kept looking over there and never once saw them place their hands on the keys. It was like the visual designer told them they had to do something since they weren't playing so they just did this head-bop knee bounce dance for the whole show. Seriously, thats the only thing I remember about the show. (Yes, this critique of the corps is grossly unfair and I really hope neither of those girls or their families read this because frankly it just isn't their fault. Somebody told them to do that and they were rockin' it but man was it distracting to me.)

Madison Scouts: I was geeking out when I saw the 20 contras. Unfortunately, I didn't really notice any difference in the bass sound than from the other groups with 12 to 16 contra. Their show was really entertaining and they came second to Crown in volume so that bumps them up my list. Regardless of their placement I would rather watch them than most of the other corps. I fear that having accessible entertaining music is a competitive disadvantage to them and that is something that I fear is going to hurt DCI in the long run.

Spirit: They gave me a lead-in to tell my wife about the 1980 Spirit of Atlanta horn-line that used to hire themselves out as an alternative to industrial sand blasting and how all the corps just haven't been as loud since they started using band instruments.

Teal Sound: I don't care what anybody else says. I liked them. They obviously aren't up to par with the later groups but I enjoyed them.

Crossmen; I thought the skull guy was cool up in the stands at the beginning of the show. I also think it is cool that they raise their flag through the top of the bus when they pull into the parking lot.

General comments:

1) I hate when soloists play into a microphone and their sound gets pipe through crappy wedding-singer grade speakers. I'm going to let all you guys in on why you hate the electronics and the singing and talking during shows. You are sitting there enjoying a top of the line show in "Musics Major League" and then in the middle of the show somebody decides it would be a good idea to try to fill a huge football stadium with sound using the same set of speakers that you would normally use for a High School dance in a small gym. You can't do it. It isn't possible. There is a reason these stadiums have massive stacks of speakers and pay sound engineers a lot of money to design and install the system. Also, there is no time for them to do sound checks in these stadiums so it is pretty much turn them on and hope for the best. The talent level on the electronics is so far below the rest of the captions that it is glaring. It doesn't blend with the rest of the show so you notice it every time and it distracts. If these corps are going to use electronics they need to bring in some experts on the subject and not just let the guy who didn't make the snare line be in charge of it. Do it right or don't do it at all. They don't half-### any other caption of the show. (I'm going to end this here or it will be a 20 page dissertation on the dangers of handing a bunch of amateurs a microphone)

2) Back in my day the corps were much louder than they are now. Now get off my lawn.

Nicely stated!

[perc2100]

Crown: Seriously, they sounded twice as loud (yes, I know this is an exaggeration) as everyone else. Even my wife gave me a shocked look when they let loose the first time. This was the only group of the night that really sounded like what I remember from the corps of the past. Anybody here that has an opinion of Crown based on what they've seen online is hear-by on notice that their opinion is based on faulty data. There are some sections of the show where they were doing audio responses from one side of the field to the other that you would never pick up on through an internet stream. Half of Crown's horn line had as big of a sound as some of the other groups entire horn lines. The difference between Crown's sound and the others was not subtle.

Crown had some very neat visual tricks that really stand out. However, they need to fix the end of their show. It doesn't stand out at all from the rest of the package. A double horn arc, a whole note, aaaaandddd we're done. Other than the ending they were my favorite corps. Probably because of what I said in my first sentence. Come on everybody else. Put some air through the horns.

Ha! I thought it was pretty obvious that they were louder than everyone else from the webcast

FWIW, I completely agree with you on their ending (as well as the drill during Nimrod). The drill doesn't seem to match the contours of the music, and they seem to REALLY be missing the boat from an effect stand point. That being said, I'd bet money the end drill is a placeholder, and I wouldn't be surprised if the ballad drill gets tweaked a bit as well.

[soccerguy315]

Crown: Seriously, they sounded twice as loud (yes, I know this is an exaggeration) as everyone else. Even my wife gave me a shocked look when they let loose the first time. This was the only group of the night that really sounded like what I remember from the corps of the past. Anybody here that has an opinion of Crown based on what they've seen online is hear-by on notice that their opinion is based on faulty data. There are some sections of the show where they were doing audio responses from one side of the field to the other that you would never pick up on through an internet stream. Half of Crown's horn line had as big of a sound as some of the other groups entire horn lines. The difference between Crown's sound and the others was not subtle.

You start off with "seriously" and then you go on to acknowledge what you said after that is not serious.

What you see online is not "faulty data"... it is limited data.

Then you say this: "Half of Crown's horn line had as big of a sound as some of the other groups entire horn lines" despite saying in the first sentence that the sentence I just quoted is not true.

If you want to say Crown was the loudest (which I don't doubt at all), just say they were the loudest.