Prelims!

[jwscv87]

lol @ Plan9, what a BD apologist

In theaters, they played a clip of the BD 2003 show. People LOVED it, and I overheard several remarks about "classic BD" or "a real BD show", etc. The only "prop" was the cymbal rack, and people (both in the crowd at that 2003 show and in the theaters last night) went nuts for it. THAT is the BD that people are okay with taking 1st or 2nd every year. They get hyped, see spectacular musicianship, and overall just have fun.

That's why I have been talking about the bad reaction to BD. People don't have fun watching them anymore, yet they still get outrageous scores. Valid or not, many people's opinion is that "they win because of their name", and that if say SCV or Crown marched the exact same show, it would get 4th place.

That is such a load! Why don't you speak for yourself rather than your vision of what you think "people" think. I love watching The Blue Devils. They are spectacular.

[crazymello]

Rondenero- "We like to call this feeling 'electric.'"

Me in the theater- "So would DCP. They finally agree on something."

[MisterA]

I think Blue Devils are kind of in a rough spot, as far as fans go. Yes they play to the sheets, but their performances are usually close to perfect. This year they went with music that most people over the age of 30 are familiar with Bacharach, as well as alot of people who are under 30 who have heard these songs in malls, on American Idol, and many other places. And yet while people may enjoy the style of music slightly over the last few years, the visual for some reason isn't connecting with the crowd.

For me, while I really do enjoy the show, there is just something unusual about the arrangements, I can't quite put my finger on it, but there is something odd about it. I have thought it all season long, but can't quite explain it. It is weird, because I like the music, and yet don't like it at the same time. They are performing it to perfection though. I think they have just sat at the top so long, that people are just tired of them winning and members/staff/fans of other corps are tired of it. Jealousy can do weird things to people. I did notice some groans from the audience last night when Blue Devils were announced. But most of the people around us enjoyed their show, although nowhere near as much as most of the other top 7 corps from a response standpoint.

Now on a personal standpoint, I am kind of confused on their show design as of the last few years. I understand they are designed to max out the sheets, but they used to be able to do that, with just a little more visual and musical excitement. I mean if you look at shows like 94, 2000, 2 of my favorite Blue Devils shows that both placed very well(2000 was probably the best 3rd place show EVER) there was tons of excitement both musically and visually , and were both performed extremely well. Now I think where sort of the problem maybe starts to come in, is when Blue Devils got shorted on the score stick in 2006 and 2008, losing placements to corps they definitely should have outscored. I think the BD design team then started to change their formula to go more for winning than for audience/judges entertainment. Not that they didn't design to win before, as all of their titles will tell you that, but it was almost like winning was the ultimate, and only goal, where as before, they really did seem to add in the entertainment factor. But if you look at 2006, they had an amazing show, that was extremely well performing, and extremely entertaining, but got knocked down from 2nd place where they should have been to 3rd. Each year after that they got a little more abstract, and less pleasing to the audience(gathered from crowd reaction, and thousands of comments posted here on DCP)

Last night they had a very good show, but most people around us thought that Cavies should have beaten them, and alot of people thought Crown should have beaten them. I would predict that Cavies beat them Saturday for sure, and possibly even Friday. I don't think Crown is going to beat them at all, although I have to say the risk factor taken by Crown this year is probably ending up to be one of my favorite shows of the last decade. So regardless of their placement, thank you so much Crown for one of the most entertaining shows of the year.

I can't wait til 2 this afternoon. Good luck to all the corps. I hope everyone has as close to a perfect show that they can have, regardless of who comes out where. And I think from an entertainment standpoint, everyone in the crowd this year is a winner, as there are just so many spectacular shows.

[Calif-Jake]

Watched quarter finals in the theater and WOW, what an amazing experience to see the shows on the big screen. Small crowd but everyone was respectful, no booing! In response to other comments, believing rumors is bad and not fair. But, watching first hand extreme arrogance and being the direct recipient of rude comments makes it easy to not be a fan of BD. With that said, this years show is SOOOOOOOOOO much better then last year. So far the judges are getting it right, IMO, because Cadets show is more difficult and executed well. Yes BD is clean and loud but almost anyone can be clean and loud when your not moving as much. Can't wait to see semi's on the computer tonight! Also, I think it's awesome that DCI is recognizing Jubal from the Netherlands and the Yokohama Scouts from Japan. What an amazing experience it must be for those members.

[JulesBry]

Oh I like the title this year. But true, I have no idea what the connection to Bacharach is, and google hasn't helped -- has actually just brought me back to BD (who've made it onto the Bacharach wiki page, incidentally; that's cute).

I think at this point we have to concede that we're supposed to be watching the props sometimes -- they seem to be among what the staff considers to be the "great things they're doing." Jury's out, for me... They might be distracting, but I don't think they're meant to be distractions, in the sense that I don't think they're meant to be secondary. Sometimes it seems like they're the main event, visually. I'm okay with that in theory (and in moderation) but think its a tough sell in practice. I haven't decided whether I find this year's visual program convincing.

But I'm not sold on anyone's visual program this year, actually. I suspect I'm alone on that one.

It's a great title, but not for this show. If you're going to pick that title, every minute of the show needs to have something that relates to the title. Otherwise, don't give the show a title.

As to props, they can be used VERY well (see Crown '96--Chess, for one example). But these, aren't, IMO. I firmly believe that without them, the show would be at least 100% better.

[JulesBry]

As for the title, I don't see a problem there. Just a twist on the phrase, "my heart skipped a beat", a typical type lyric for songs of the Bacharach era. I don't think it was meant to have any deep meaning, or to be a "steering point" for a theme.

Then it shouldn't be the "theme" for the show. As a composer, I know how important a title is for a work. Pick the wrong one, and it completely changes the audience's perception of what they hear. BD picked the wrong title. It's a great title, but not for this show.

[MisterA]

It's a great title, but not for this show. If you're going to pick that title, every minute of the show needs to have something that relates to the title. Otherwise, don't give the show a title.

As to props, they can be used VERY well (see Crown '96--Chess, for one example). But these, aren't, IMO. I firmly believe that without them, the show would be at least 100% better.

Before I saw this show live, I probably would have agreed with the props statement, however, after seeing it live a few weeks ago, I think the props, while some people think they detract, actually do add to the show, if you watch closely. But then some people think that you do have to watch the props too closely, which detracts from the rest of the show. I can see both points, but actually do kind of like the props.

[JulesBry]

For all those interested, I wrote a short analysis of BD's show concept last night. If you're struggling to find the connection between Burt Bacharach, the props and the title, it might help you out a bit. If you disagree or dislike it, please still be kind. It's on my personal blog... and I'm kinda scared to throw it out there to DCP.

The Beat My Heart Skipped

Your analysis is sound, and it's a great suggestion. Had they titled the show, "A House Is Not a Home", I think I would have liked it much more from the beginning. I just think they're asking people in the stands to jump through a ton of hoops to like the show. That, IMO, is bad design.

[bchorn]

That is such a load! Why don't you speak for yourself rather than your vision of what you think "people" think. I love watching The Blue Devils. They are spectacular.

Actually, I think he captured very eloquently why there is large population of who are not a fan of the BD's recent championship shows. Of course there's still people like yourself who enjoy the BD's. No one is disputing that.

[Rifuarian]

So true. I honestly think it's because a lot of the younger kids don't know any better. Not all of them... but so many of them are told rumors and stories that are completely untrue. They think the corps hate each other and that winning is the only thing that matters to the performers. It's a lot like this with the high school kids I teach... they *hate* any particular corps for completely ridiculous reasons, but it's only because they're completely clueless about what the activity really is.

It's true that a good portion of the BD hate comes from band kids. I take loads of high school kids to competitions every year, and I've seen this a lot since 2007.

But don't insult them by saying they don't know any better. They know exactly what why they don't like BD. It isn't because of rumors, it isn't because of historical grievances, or regional bias or anything like this. It's because they don't like BD's shows, and they don't understand why they win and their favorite corps (usually Cavies, Phantom, and Crown) don't. No matter how much I or anyone else tries to explain, they're not going to listen.

For your BD fans, alumni, close followers, here's the thing: This is what your corps wants. Stop getting upset about it. BDs shows the past few years have been designed not to garner a traditional baby-throwing audience reaction. The staff openly admits this. Watched BD warmup last year at semis, and heard one prominent staff member emphasize how "uncomfortable" the show was supposed to make the audience feel. And about this year's show . . . Bacharach or not, stylistically it's very similar to what BD has been doing the past few years.

Personally I've loved the past several iterations of the Blue Devils. But don't be hurt or angry when a lot of people don't. Remember, your corps has been doing this intentionally. Too bad they didn't let some of you in on the secret.