skywhopper Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 (edited) My opinions improved on: * Crown in terms of overall effect--this show is really clicking * Phantom in terms of music, wowee just blew me away * Bluecoats in terms of the second act of the show. The quadraphonic section is now competing with Creep as the best part of the show for me. My opinions lessened on: * Blue Stars, mostly in terms of the potential of this show to move them up * Blue Devils, seeing this show from high-cam after the cinecast, it feels really visually cluttered between the props and the guard equipment, etc, etc, and the arrangements are bothering me more over time, which is the opposite of what I expected. * Madison, who while I love the closer, the drill and overall visuals aren't doing it for me. Maybe all the haters talking about follow the leader and scatter drill got to me, because that's almost all I see now. * Glassmen, who have added wayyyy too much 60s-sounding synth to the show, and who have broken my no-more-than-one-heart-formation-in-a-romance-show rule. My opinions stayed basically the same for: * Cadets, who have an awesome show that I really want to do well this year * Cavies, who have a lot of awesome visuals and music, and whose stilt-walkers I still don't think add enough to the show to balance out their distracting lumbering. I'll be seeing most of these guys live in Rockford tonight, so I'm excited to start changing my mind once again. Edited July 17, 2011 by skywhopper 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 I want to offer this as a comment but I really don't want to bash any corps, because they are all fantastic. I'm not sure what the name for this type of move is, but I'm not a big fan of "hip twisting", or "squish the bug with your foot" or what other gyrations corps do to add to dance while playing. I appreciate that corps can add this level of detail to their shows that HS or college bands can never get to, but it's gone from "interesting detail" to "please stop it!", at least for me because now it has gone over the top into the realm of "too much." I was going to mention the name of the corps that was the biggest offender (greatest proponent?) but I'd really rather not because I love their show. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantombari1 Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 (edited) After seeing the shows last night my opinion remains the same. I am happy with my first view predications as I am right on the money again. Recaping my finals predictions... Cavies Cadets Bludevils Crown Bluecoata Phantom SCV Madison Looking further down the list with 4 big surprises for me... Blue Knights: After seeing the show last night their changes have brought new life to a show that I thought was boring. I see them moving up. Biggest disappointment (Tie): Bluestars, Madison...Both have similar problems in my opinion... Dirty drill and marching technique. Shocker of the night... Boston...I still don't get how they placed so high...I'll have to view this show a few more times. I don't usually miss by that much so Maybe I'm missing something. All in all I think this years productions could be the best top to bottom in DCI's history. Especially for this early in the season. In regards to the comment from my WV friend above...More cheese with that Cheese please... Edited July 17, 2011 by Phantombari1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 In regards to the comment from my WV friend above...More cheese with that Cheese please... Was I that obvious? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwillis35 Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 It's always nice to get another read on things, even if it's via Fan Network. Seeing all these shows live will make a huge difference. My thoughts as of now are: The top four have been grouped, and, at least for now, rightly so. Come DCI Finals I still think it will be Cadets and Cavaliers going head to head. I do think Carolina Crown has a chance. I believe BD, for all their greatness and their wonderful sound, will ultimately take 4th this year. Cadets were the dirtiest of the four last night and have the most room to improve. They were stunning last night...just imagine how good they will be in August. Phantom beating Bluecoats shocked me some. Both corps have super brass, but Bluecoats have better drums. Phantom perhaps has a better guard, but I think it's close, and both corps are not exactly tearing it up this year in visual. If anything, Phantom's musical book has better GE and better flow. Blooo has come a long way, but their overall design in music and visual is hurting them some this year. SCV, Madison, Boston, Blue Stars, Blue Knights: of these corps I continue to be surprised by Boston...in a good way! I really enjoy the show. I think the ending, after the company fronts, needs some work, but the show is visually much better than all but Cavs, Crown, and Cadets. Some might say SCV is better visually, but SCV is more fragmented too. Boston's drill flows, has demand, yet also has logical build and resolution that works really well with the music. If they can also draw more impact on their field entrance, perhaps some harmony at the end of the sung chorus, maybe more people joining in on the whistle, and stuff like that, then I think that would help. Madison has the best opener on the field in my mind, but their show falls some after that. The closer is fun music, but visually it is weak. The Blue Stars have made some effective changes and they could pull back ahead of the Scouts, but not over Boston. The Blue Knights are playing wonderful music and also have a wonderful visual package. They simply need to clean, clean, clean. DO that and they become very DANGEROUS, and could beat Boston, Madison, Blue Stars, and SCV. As of now, I think Boston has a small shot of beating Madison and SCV, both of whom suffer from show construction issues. Boston's more top-to-bottom logical show construction will put them ahead, UNLESS they fail to clean. But the Blue Knights are the REAL danger here if they clean. I'm just not sure they will clean that show. Very demanding. Troopers, Spirit, Glassmen, Colts, Crossmen: of these 5 corps, I was not shocked to see Troop back in top 12, at least for now. They have a great show. Seeing the Crossmen hanging close also did not shock me. I saw them in Akron and I thought they were being underscored. They have a wonderful show that simply needs some tweaks to aid GE. The musical flow is good, and the visual program is well coordinated, but demand will hurt them. However, it's the Glassmen and the Colts that have the most room to grow in the category. Glassmen could easily be back in Finals, and the Colts are going to clean this thing and make it interesting. I don't see Spirit in the top 12 this year. Troopers could do it, but my hunch is that it will either be Glassmen or Colts. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaylogan Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 The Cadets' show becomes more and more beautiful each time I see it. There should be a clear separation between them and BD and Crown in favor of The Cadets, in my opinion. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZKK Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 I watched on fan network and have seen the west coast touring corps twice... I will preface is that I am a PR lover so will not comment any more than I love their show. Shows that I love: Cavies (And I think they are a 1+ points better than the rest), Cadets (Bad draw last night and they seemed a little flat), BD (First time ever -- not a big fan of the props though)), Blue Knights (Not an 11th place corp) , Bloo (Step down from last year, but love the Creep start), Boston (Another Surprise) Shows I wish I loved: Crown (just not doing it for me this year -- for the first time in 5 years) :( , Madison (Like that they are back in the Top 10, just liked last year better) Shows that disappoint me: SCV (Love percussion, but not the show), Blue Stars, Troopers (they were my least favorite of the 12th spot grouping) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZKK Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 The Cadets' show becomes more and more beautiful each time I see it. There should be a clear separation between them and BD and Crown in favor of The Cadets, in my opinion. Agree 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Thunder Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 The Cadets' show becomes more and more beautiful each time I see it. There should be a clear separation between them and BD and Crown in favor of The Cadets, in my opinion. As one who was there last night, I think it would have been interesting to see what a difference there may have been had the Cadets gone on later in the show. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZKK Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 As one who was there last night, I think it would have been interesting to see what a difference there may have been had the Cadets gone on later in the show. We get to see tonight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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