wvu80 Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 (edited) Best: Cadets - Wow, to me, this show is the zenith of Art and Entertainment. Worst: Crown - I love the show concept, the brass, decent percussion. But, it's too bad that continued bad drill design is going to be the thing that causes them to lose another championship. It's a shame that members are working so hard with a terrible overall visual package. Corbin Crown member: 90, 91, 92. Crown, the worst? C'mon, homer, they're off the chart in a good way, IMHO. They are performing the best rock and roll show ever put on the football field, ever. I know you are probably Crown's greatest fan as well as its most attentive critic, but show some love for your team, I love the show this year. But I'll join you in your applause for Cadets show. It's the most completely integrated show since, well, Garfield Cadets West Side Story from 1984. I'll give a shout out for Blue Devils for incredible integration of music and drill as well. The tempo changes, the mixed meter, all done to such a perfection as an ensemble I bet it goes over the heads of 90% of the audience, which includes me, most of the time. If you don't believe me, watch the BD drum major during the show. What a great job he(they) does of controlling all those notes and rhythms. Edited August 10, 2011 by wvu80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madalumni Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 I can understand where you're coming from on this. But. . . it's not about a return to glory days. It's about re-establishing a foundation. You're not gonna see the steeple on the church until you finish the foundation. Rudderless? Nah. . . just that the rudder had to do a 180 degree turn in cold water. Crowds standing up, melodies being played, kids coming back, excitement in the organization. These are the ingredients that lead to a better future. It's not leading to a return of Pat Metheny or "Birdland" for the 19th time, or to "non" programming. It's a foundation. Enjoy it for what it is, and look for more next year. The sun now sets on the bow instead of the stern. all the best, Chuck Naffier Thanks Chuck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cardman Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 If you are at all familiar with Romeo and Juliet then it shouldn't be that hard to figure out the theme elements. You have the opening, then the introduction of the two fighting families when they have the back and forth light high brass then dark low brass music. The two blocks run together symbolizing the 2 fighting families. Then there's the dance scene from the story where Romeo and Juliet meet (shown by a horn member and a guard girl). They dance and fall in love, then they are separated and he goes looking for her (all portrayed my romeo and juliet). then there's the balcony scene. The moon drill set (nighttime) then the sun ("Juliet is the sun" she runs to the middle of the set). We then see the fighting families again. The show ends with Juliet mourning the loss of Romeo and going to the podium to (hopefully) kill herself... see full story. And i've only seen it a few times. As for Bluecoats, their's is a little tougher to find thematic elements "Brave New World" is supposed to be about exploring new things (i think). You have the horns at the beginning discovering their horns. There's the part where they move to the four corners (not common in drum corps) and the pit guy throwing an 8 with a rifle. Like I said, it takes more paying attention but it's there. As for the original topic, I would vote PR and Cadets for best design. Both incredible shows! Worst would have to be BD. box, box, box, follow the leader, park and bark, box, scatter drill, park and bark, follow the leader, park and bark, company front. boring music and more boring music. I love BD's earlier shows, but the past 3 years have really turned me off to them. Winning isn't everything (I'm a Phantom Phan, trust me haha). Perform for the audience, it's what drum corps should be about, not pleasing a bunch of judges. I am VERY familiar with Romeo and Juliet and I think you made my point for me. The high brass and low brass are supposed to represent the two families? Really? And I was supposed to know this how? Because of the crest on their uniforms? They ALL have the SAME crest! And I "got" the moon and sun sets, but again, if you didn't know the title of their show, you would be pretty clueless as to what the theme was. I stand by my original statements. Again, I love this show, and now hopefully, your explaining some of these things will help me to enjoy the show even more, so I thank you. But it's FAR from obvious what the theme is (without the title.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euph2008 Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 Well what do you expect them to do narrate it? The guard uses two different pieces of equipment to the part with the conflicting families. There's not really any better way to have portrayed that. The whole guard is supposed to be Juliet and the hornline Romeo so you couldn't have the guard and the hornline fighting. You just gotta use the symbolistic style of it to make sense of it. There's a lot of shows that would fall into the same category if you went by "I can't tell the theme without the title" BD for instance... their show doesn't even make sense WITH the title! and people say the same thing about BC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baridon09 Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 I would love to see what the judges would do at Prelims if this corps did not bring out the scaffolding and just marched the show really clean without it. Would they just give them the same old "mailed-in" scores, or would we see a serious shift in their placement? I don't think their staff would have the ba!!s to do this, but it would be interesting to see what would happen. seriously? You're questioning if this staff has ba!!s? They have put together top notch shows at least 3 years running that are always top 5 in difficulty. That my friends is ba!!s. The only reason you or anyone else thinks that the scaffolding is limiting is because that old fart said it at the theaters broadcast for the first show. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cardman Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 Well what do you expect them to do narrate it? The guard uses two different pieces of equipment to the part with the conflicting families. There's not really any better way to have portrayed that. The whole guard is supposed to be Juliet and the hornline Romeo so you couldn't have the guard and the hornline fighting. You just gotta use the symbolistic style of it to make sense of it. There's a lot of shows that would fall into the same category if you went by "I can't tell the theme without the title" BD for instance... their show doesn't even make sense WITH the title! and people say the same thing about BC. Um, I think you just made my point yet again. I agree, BD's theme is not clear at all. The real question here though is this: Do we even NEED themes? Why does EVERY SINGLE CORPS feel like they have to have a theme? What happened to the old days where the corps just played music and marched? Always worked for me... Yes, I know, I am a dinosaur and blah, blah blah... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euph2008 Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 I would love it if we went back to good old musical programs. Fun to watch and very easy to listen to without the visual. Thats the part that I think makes PR's design this year is so good. You can get the visual elements that work well with the show and you get a musical program that is incredible to listen to by itself and it all works together well. The visual fits the music and vice versa and they can stand alone and still make sense. That's what I think makes good design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euph2008 Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 In 20 years i think we'll be saying "can't we go back to the days where the corps just pranced around the field aimlessly and focused more on the visual wow factor than on the music." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulesBry Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 Crown, the worst? C'mon, homer, they're off the chart in a good way, IMHO. They are performing the best rock and roll show ever put on the football field, ever. I know you are probably Crown's greatest fan as well as its most attentive critic, but show some love for your team, I love the show this year. But I'll join you in your applause for Cadets show. It's the most completely integrated show since, well, Garfield Cadets West Side Story from 1984. I'll give a shout out for Blue Devils for incredible integration of music and drill as well. The tempo changes, the mixed meter, all done to such a perfection as an ensemble I bet it goes over the heads of 90% of the audience, which includes me, most of the time. If you don't believe me, watch the BD drum major during the show. What a great job he(they) does of controlling all those notes and rhythms. You know, with what everyone has said about BD, I think Crown may have the most "stand-still" moments of any corps. I'd be interested in someone with a stopwatch timing it. And many times when they aren't standing still, they're using scatter drills and body English. It's effective in an emotional sense, and that's great. But I don't think it's as difficult, visually, as several other shows. I think that's why it's in fourth and justifiably so. It isn't, IMO, the worst show, but it's also not the best. As a side note, there is a good deal of unaccompanied piano solo in the show, and that bothers me. This is a drum corps show, after all, not a concerto competition. :-) I don't want to come across as completely negative or a Crown hater, though. I just wanted to add a bit of ammo to Corbin's assertion. There are some valid reasons for his position, and there is also support for wvu80's position. That's why I think Crown deserves to be on neither list in this topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulesBry Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 In 20 years i think we'll be saying "can't we go back to the days where the corps just pranced around the field aimlessly and focused more on the visual wow factor than on the music." Maybe you will, but I don't think I'll spend a second wishing for these days of DCI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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