STANFORD!

[Robine]

I notice a lot of people on DCP not understanding the BD "props" this year. Now maybe, it's too many years of being an English major and reading into things literally. They are playing music from Burt Bacharach and they open with "A House is Not a Home" if you know the lyrics to this song, the last part is:

"Darling, have a heart,

Don't let one mistake keep us apart.

I'm not meant to live alone. Turn this house into a home.

When I climb the stair and turn the key,

Oh, please be there still in love with me."

If you look at those lyrics "literally" then the props make PERFECT SENSE. That's why they are using empty PVC frames and build a staircase and in the end build a house. It may look clunky but IMO it is more understandable than the mirrors last year.

Same with Phantom using an all female colorguard this year. The show is called "JULIET" so we don't need male Romeos. The story is told from Juliet's perspective and if you know the play...Romeo and Juliet meet at a party, they have once scene at the balcony and then they kill themselves so in actuality they aren't together very much.

I don't mean to be preaching, just wanted to explain how I see it.

[chris ncsu]

I notice a lot of people on DCP not understanding the BD "props" this year. Now maybe, it's too many years of being an English major and reading into things literally. They are playing music from Burt Bacharach and they open with "A House is Not a Home" if you know the lyrics to this song, the last part is:

"Darling, have a heart,

Don't let one mistake keep us apart.

I'm not meant to live alone. Turn this house into a home.

When I climb the stair and turn the key,

Oh, please be there still in love with me."

If you look at those lyrics "literally" then the props make PERFECT SENSE. That's why they are using empty PVC frames and build a staircase and in the end build a house. It may look clunky but IMO it is more understandable than the mirrors last year.

Same with Phantom using an all female colorguard this year. The show is called "JULIET" so we don't need male Romeos. The story is told from Juliet's perspective and if you know the play...Romeo and Juliet meet at a party, they have once scene at the balcony and then they kill themselves so in actuality they aren't together very much.

I don't mean to be preaching, just wanted to explain how I see it.

I haven't seen most of the show yet, but I'll keep this in mind when I finally do. Thanks for that tid-bit. Though, I assume this will still be lost on most people, a lot like 2009 (me included).

[2000Cadet]

I notice a lot of people on DCP not understanding the BD "props" this year. Now maybe, it's too many years of being an English major and reading into things literally. They are playing music from Burt Bacharach and they open with "A House is Not a Home" if you know the lyrics to this song, the last part is:

"Darling, have a heart,

Don't let one mistake keep us apart.

I'm not meant to live alone. Turn this house into a home.

When I climb the stair and turn the key,

Oh, please be there still in love with me."

If you look at those lyrics "literally" then the props make PERFECT SENSE. That's why they are using empty PVC frames and build a staircase and in the end build a house. It may look clunky but IMO it is more understandable than the mirrors last year.

Same with Phantom using an all female colorguard this year. The show is called "JULIET" so we don't need male Romeos. The story is told from Juliet's perspective and if you know the play...Romeo and Juliet meet at a party, they have once scene at the balcony and then they kill themselves so in actuality they aren't together very much.

I don't mean to be preaching, just wanted to explain how I see it.

Thanks for this. I'm definitely keeping this in mind while I watch both shows again.

[chaddyt]

I notice a lot of people on DCP not understanding the BD "props" this year. Now maybe, it's too many years of being an English major and reading into things literally. They are playing music from Burt Bacharach and they open with "A House is Not a Home" if you know the lyrics to this song, the last part is:

"Darling, have a heart,

Don't let one mistake keep us apart.

I'm not meant to live alone. Turn this house into a home.

When I climb the stair and turn the key,

Oh, please be there still in love with me."

If you look at those lyrics "literally" then the props make PERFECT SENSE. That's why they are using empty PVC frames and build a staircase and in the end build a house. It may look clunky but IMO it is more understandable than the mirrors last year.

Same with Phantom using an all female colorguard this year. The show is called "JULIET" so we don't need male Romeos. The story is told from Juliet's perspective and if you know the play...Romeo and Juliet meet at a party, they have once scene at the balcony and then they kill themselves so in actuality they aren't together very much.

I don't mean to be preaching, just wanted to explain how I see it.

That certainly makes more sense in regards to the show. Still think they need to refine/tone down their use to make them less... "forced".

IMO

[2000Cadet]

I'm gonna homer on some Cadets, but hopefully in good taste :)

The Cadets had some pretty stunning visual numbers at Stanford, when you compare them to BD. Granted, this isn't quite the BD of the past few years at this time of year, but it's still good to see, given how much Cadets have going on visually -- they really don't stop, even in the ballad.

And, in general, the Cadets percussion is slowly closing the gap with BD and SCV -- the gap between Cadets and SCV or BD (whoever was in first on a given night) has gone from 0.8 in Albuquerque, to 0.5 in Mesa, 0.4 in Clovis, and 0.3 in Stanford.

In Clovis, Cadets came out a little ahead of BD in Music Ensemble, but that reverted back last night to a slight BD advantage. Cadets are also only 0.1 behind BD in Brass, in the first Brass Judge read since Texas. Again, given the difficulty of Cadets' brass book, this is a good score/placement to have right now.

People need to watch out for Phantom in brass, though, since last night's judge gave them tops in musicality (just a big hit in technique).

I think the main things I'm worried about is hoping Cadets can keep their momentum and not get taken out by BD or anyone else, but also I watched Cavies show on FN and that show is extremely entertaining. If Cadets keep their current spot, I really hope they can go head-to-head with Cavies' show.

[chaddyt]

I think the main things I'm worried about is hoping Cadets can keep their momentum and not get taken out by BD or anyone else, but also I watched Cavies show on FN and that show is extremely entertaining. If Cadets keep their current spot, I really hope they can go head-to-head with Cavies' show.

I actually wouldn't mind the Cadets falling behind BD over the next week or so. I think the corps already has a fire in its belly and a defeat would only up their resolve to clean this beast of a show.

[2000Cadet]

I actually wouldn't mind the Cadets falling behind BD over the next week or so. I think the corps already has a fire in its belly and a defeat would only up their resolve to clean this beast of a show.

Well yea true, good point.

[saxfreq1128]

theres no way anybody beats BD's guard

You must not have been around in '07...

[saxfreq1128]

I notice a lot of people on DCP not understanding the BD "props" this year. Now maybe, it's too many years of being an English major and reading into things literally. They are playing music from Burt Bacharach and they open with "A House is Not a Home" if you know the lyrics to this song, the last part is:

"Darling, have a heart,

Don't let one mistake keep us apart.

I'm not meant to live alone. Turn this house into a home.

When I climb the stair and turn the key,

Oh, please be there still in love with me."

If you look at those lyrics "literally" then the props make PERFECT SENSE. That's why they are using empty PVC frames and build a staircase and in the end build a house. It may look clunky but IMO it is more understandable than the mirrors last year.

Yeah, kudos. I don't think it occurred to me that some of the objections were because people didn't remember / didn't know the lyrics... It'd be understandable to know everything you just laid out and still think the props this year are sort of wack.

If anything I think we can accuse BD of being almost the complete opposite of 'too abstract' with a lot of their props/visual decisions... I think they verge on being a little too literal -- between the lyrics and the props this year (the actual stairs, the actual house), to doing the piece 'City of Glass' with mirrors last year, to spelling out '1930' twice in '09 (i hated that!)... Sometimes it works to fantastic effect (I thought last yr was pretty cool). Sometimes it gets kind of corny.

Edited June 26, 2011 by saxfreq1128

[Plan9]

Thanks for this. I'm definitely keeping this in mind while I watch both shows again.

Great show from the Cadets this year. I think George and his design team have captured the impact of the "conflict" done big for the field. IMO (not a slam on PR, only an observation), THIS is what PR has been trying to recreate since 08 (which is perhaps the best example of successful story-telling ever on the field). Unfortunately for them, the Cadets are doing it. As I have said before, "story" is a hard sell on the field unless it's BIG and uncomplicated. When you have dancers (even if they're spectacular) and role players, this doesn't translate (perhaps like it used to) to the drum corps field, particularly with so much visual competition.

Angels and Demons design is genius in its simplicity and the best thing for Hoppy is that it doesn't require a panic re-write or tweak. The rest is about performance level which is only a win-win for the corps and the fans. This situation often can result in some spectacular upgrades (ala 2009 Cadets).