Prelims!

[bchorn]

"My beef with the BD shows of late is that haven't been entertaining." This is your opening statement. How am I or anyone else supposed to take you seriously when you say something like this? You state your opinion as fact. BD IS entertaining, to many people that find their type of show entertaining. And then at the end you try to rationalize it away by saying oh, this is just my personal opinion. What is the point of your post? Are you trying to say that the fact you are disinterested in the shows that BD puts out in some way should be reflected in the judging? Or that other people should follow your opinion and those that like BD are wrong? Or are ruining DCI? What is your point?? This is a perfect example of a "hater" post. It seems to have no purpose or reasoning behind it than to simply bash BD.

Obviously there are people who enjoy the BDs. All I can say is that I was at the Round Rock show and just remember the erie calm after the BDs finished their closing number. I was shocked when they started playing their cadence and marching off the field because I didn't realize they just played their big closing number. There was no noticable climax and I distinctly remember how quiet the audience was as BD was marching off. Then the cavaliers came out right after that and blew the roof off the place. There was a noticable excitement level between the two shows. So was the entire audience really full of haters? Or maybe it could be that BD designs their shows to appeal to a limited audience and judges?

[ApathyJones]

Obviously there are people who enjoy the BDs. All I can say is that I was at the Round Rock show and just remember the erie calm after the BDs finished their closing number. I was shocked when they started playing their cadence and marching off the field because I didn't realize they just played their big closing number. There was no noticable climax and I distinctly remember how quiet the audience was as BD was marching off. Then the cavaliers came out right after that and blew the roof off the place. There was a noticable excitement level between the two shows. So was the entire audience really full of haters? Or maybe it could be that BD designs their shows to appeal to a limited audience and judges?

Hmm, I dont know! These are all good questions! But without actual answers to any of them, and without being able to confirm the veracity of your personal observations at 1 show in the midwest do you think it makes sense to use what you typed as fact in a discussion?

[bchorn]

Hmm, I dont know! These are all good questions! But without actual answers to any of them, and without being able to confirm the veracity of your personal observations at 1 show in the midwest do you think it makes sense to use what you typed as fact in a discussion?

You don't have to take my word about Blue Devils in Round Rock. You can read about it here or here. BD placed 7th in the Austin fan vote and didn't do well in saginaw fan vote either.

Maybe it's a west coast thing. I thought it might be an early season thing to so I was hoping that I would like their show when I watched it last night in the theaters. Nope.

I really want to like the modern BDs. When I was in high school in the 80's, I had a tape of the 84 finals and watched La Fiesta over and over and over. I'm also a big fan on their 2003 show. But there recent shows have just been so lacking for me that's disappointing.

[DrumManTx]

Bottom 13, best one in a very very long time................

Troopers, Crossmen, ect. WOW, talk about emotion. Can't believe tonight was the last dance for all of them. Watching all of them go back and forth all season was half the fun this year. THANK YOU!

[kickhaltsforlife]

I am not sure I agree with your description of how outsiders would view The Cadets (I would think most outsiders could view the Cadets and appreciate the quality), but I completely agree with your perspective on BD. The bashing is ludicrous and the repeated comments that "most" people don't find BD entertaining is just plain false IMO. I think is a case of a very vocal minority.

The vocal minority is the majority of the Allentown crowd??? the Majority of my packed movie theater crowd where everyone clapped for every show BUT BD.

[FlamMan]

I marched for 10 years & have followed this activity since 1972. I was a HUGE Blue Devils fan after 1976 up until they changed their style to whatever it was they were doing until this year. When I heard that they were doing an all Burt Bacharach show I couldn't wait to see it...& I have not been disappointed. I do not understand why people are whining about this years BD show. This show is a b a l l s out throwback show full of popular music all in 4x4 time. This years BD show is their best musical show in many years. I think its great.

My Wife & I watched the DCI Semi's webcast tonight, & I hate to say it but we disliked more shows that we liked. The uniforms looks cheap & bando, & I just dont understand why everyone wants to look & sound like everyone else.

Here are the shows that I found the most enjoyable & entertaining:

Crown

Blue Knights

Blue Devils

Garfield

Madison

Phantom

Spirit

Cavies, SCV, Bluecoats, Blue Stars, & Glassmen are all just painful to listen to for me.

One more thing...what in the world is the Cavies color guard wearing for uniforms??? I mean seriously. For the love of God, that's just not right.

Edited August 13, 2011 by FlamMan

[JulesBry]

For example, the Cavaliers this year are playing a musically disjointed show that noone is #####ing about. In fact, people are applauding it. That show has a recognizable melody for about 30 seconds. And it has a ton of gimmicky distracting stuff going with props and stilts and blah blah that noone is #####ing about.

Crown has like 10000 props as well. The list goes on and on. Some people are just going to ##### and moan and make up things to be critical of for the corps that for the last 5 years or so has been incredibly dominant. I totally understand it, I just wish people would stop trying to skirt around it. Just say you want BD to lose because you want your team to win. That is totally fine. You don't have to make up crap to make BD look bad to do it. It is ok to dislike something WITHOUT having to tear it down with underhanded, snide comments. OBVIOUSLY everyone doesn't hate their show. OBVIOUSLY they are plenty of people who love it (me included). OBVIOUSLY they are very talented and there is a reason they are at or near the top almost every year. If you are gonna hate them, just be honest about it.

Also, to reiterate a point I try to bring up on here alot is this, "WHAT YOU LIKE" DOES NOT = "WHAT IS GOOD". If you like it that is awesome, but it is totally irrelevant to scoring or placement. There are sheets and criteria that determine what is "good" in DCI. Your personal like or dislike of a show is not one of the criteria. So when you scream and yell that you don't understand how BD is scoring high while some other corps is not, unless you are trained to be a judge the chances are you are talking out of your ###.

I'm a long-time Cavies fan, and this is DEFINITELY not my favorite Cavies show. It has some cool moments, but the pre-recorded segments really annoy me. Similarly, Crown's show is hugely entertaining, but it's not the best show on tour, either. The difference is that Crown is about where they deserve to be with the show they have. Until recently (QF), BD was not. Now they are, and all is right with the world. Congrats to Cadets for cleaning up their show to the point that they can max out the potential. And congrats to BD for being different. We need differences (we just don't need differences to win when those differences aren't absolutely the best in both performance AND design).

And, FYI, the sheets refer to "connecting with the audience" as a part of the judging criteria. So, in a sense, what the audience likes SHOULD (according to the sheets) be part of the criteria.

[JulesBry]

If you are going to "hate" BD, at least hate them honestly. Don't hide behind it by saying crap like "I appreciate the performers" or "If they had better designers they would be more enjoyable" because that is just you trying to rationalize your hatered to people so that you don't seem like you are hating because you simply don't like BD winning or beating your team.

So, since I obviously don't know how to phrase my thoughts, please put words in my mouth...uh, fingers...

What should I say if I like the Blue Devils in general, but really don't like the current year's show? I don't want to be labeled a hater or a liar, but there must be some combination of words that I'm not aware of. Is it possible for me to be honest about my feelings with you? Or should I never write anything about BD other than, "BD is the best corps ever, and this year is even better than last year!"

Honestly, I don't hate BD. I just haven't liked their last two shows (I really liked the music from BD 09, but didn't care for the chairs). Maybe I've said this a few times too many, but it seems to keep coming up in different threads. Maybe we're all just "haters", or maybe we're just sharing our opinions--same as you're doing.

Please don't assume that everyone is out to hate on your corps. You'll go crazy with paranoia and/or depression, and you'll really annoy everyone else.

For what it's worth, if you check my profile, you'll see that I claim Bluecoats, SCV, and Cavies as my favorites. The Cavies really disappointed me with their use of pre-recorded music during their show this year (though I liked some of the "gimmicks" and used them to introduce several of my friends to drum corps--they loved it). I really enjoyed SCV's design, but I don't think they executed it well, especially the brass book. I really didn't care for Bluecoats, this year, and that hurt me deeply (I've been a huge fan of theirs since the first time I saw them in person in 1998). I can definitely criticize my own corps, and if any of those three were in first place this year (based on the performances I've seen from them), I would be complaining loudly, too. That's just a fact.

Call me a hater, but I just call it as I see it. I'm sorry if that's too real for you.