Your 2011 "Most" Awards

[BRASSO]

Most forgetful year - 2011

Don't mean to be a negative Nancy but 2011 just didn't do anything for me at all.

I know everybody worked hard on everything, yadda yadda, this is just my opinion. I can have those, right?

Yes, but no tickee, no laundee.

[Ch1k3n]

Most forgetful year - 2011

Don't mean to be a negative Nancy but 2011 just didn't do anything for me at all.

I was extremely disappointed by the following:

Crown - Every university ever had done almost the same show.

SCV - I was expecting something a lot more intense. I haven't watched it in awhile but I always confuse it with the Bartok show (I might be confusing and combing the two again.)

Boston & Blue Stars - no comment.

On the upside:

Most Memorable Opening - Bluecoats - get any modern song and arrange and visually design it like that - it'll be a hit.

Most memorable Ending - (even thought the camera angle is wrong) - Phantom.

(by camera angle I mean when they captured it they got a shot facing the crowd so "juliet" is just sliding the sword behind her so it just looks silly.)

Most Groove or Flow (at least when I watched them) - The Crossmen - I can't give this to Madison because the whole running around with audio was too long and too much, the Crossmen's show flowed nicely from start to finish and didn't make me wonder how long it had been since they had started. Excited to see them again.

I know everybody worked hard on everything, yadda yadda, this is just my opinion. I can have those, right?

So...... I'm guessing all you did was watch videos then say negative things about it?

Could a university have performed at the level Crown did? Is the show concept all that matters?

You wanted something more "intense"? How about listening to the purity of the hornline? Is that not intense enough for you?

No comments about Boston or Blue stars? Well that was nice to know.

Your opinion is valid, I'm just wondering why you thought what you thought.

[Ch1k3n]

My perspective was there wasn't really anything like "cool" about it. Yes it was clean and I'm not trying to discredit members, but it was just kind of meh. Even though it was using 9/11 to an advantage Scouts had ESOM at the end to get people going, Phantom had their whole show, Bluecoats opener, Boston's ballad. That's just my opinion, but ya just nothing that really was memorable.

You didn't enjoy the opener? I had chills through the whole opener and a grin from ear to ear! LOVED the licks that were going on! I could listen to that over and over forever! Such an amazing hornline! Their drumline was amazing as well, with great sounding solos and overall. I really loved the show, don't know why you wouldn't either.

[DrumManTx]

This, all of this

I consider myself to be a Crown, Coats, Cadets, Stars fan haha :P

Why thank you. :)

[DrumManTx]

My most listened to (WHOLE show): Blue Stars. I love listening to it, one of the best ballads of the year and it's just in your face intense the whole time. Still love it, wasn't their best but it sure as heck wasn't aweful. I still think that drumline should have scored at least 8th, but whatevs, that's old news.

[laundryday]

So...... I'm guessing all you did was watch videos then say negative things about it?

Could a university have performed at the level Crown did? Is the show concept all that matters?

You wanted something more "intense"? How about listening to the purity of the hornline? Is that not intense enough for you?

No comments about Boston or Blue stars? Well that was nice to know.

Your opinion is valid, I'm just wondering why you thought what you thought.

Good question (not sarcastic).

I actually did attend a number of events last summer and have been involved with the activity for awhile.

Before I answer your questions I might suggest that my feelings and opinions might also be cause by my age (I'm not that old but I'm aging just like everybody so my taste changes naturally) or the shift in the activity.

I'm just not as wowed as I once was before watching as a fan "back in the day" or my rookie year marching with a corps. (I watched every show possible my rookie year)

-For Crown's show concept - Show concept isn't the only thing that matters but it does have a lot to do with it. I went and watched their show a few times with an open mind but it just really didn't do anything for me.

It's like when someone see's a movie trailer (or maybe it's just me) and thinks it's horrible (not saying Crown's show was horrible just using this as an example), I won't bother to watch it or followup, I become disinterested.(unless the reviews are really good) While yes the level of performance they had was very high visually and musically and I appreciated that greatly I can only imagine how great it would be if it weren't applied to an overdone concept and to something fresh and brand new. When asking people if they've seen a show, the first thing I ask them is "what was it about?" instead of whether it was good or not. Sometimes I am heavily invested in the show concept (I don't care if it has a story line or not), and look forward to show/poster announcements. This show just came off as too cheezy. The activity (DCI) is doing its best to move into a more mainstream entertainment outlet and I feel this show helped with that with it's very recognizable songs especially for people who had never been to a show while still appealing to alumni and those that follow the activity with it's high level of performance. This show just wasn't for me.

-I'll continue with the Blue Stars & Boston comment since it has to do with show concept as well. To answer both easily and honestly and I hate for this to sound so harsh but: you can perform the show at a high level but if the show and concept are boring and slow: nothing is going to change that. Yes I do appreciate talent, hard work and recognize that in both corps. (I've been there, I've sweat, bled, done it all for a corps....even when I thought our show design didn't make any sense.) In short, I want to be entertained by a combination of talent, concept, and energy. It's very hard to mold that combination together with all the right elements every night. Maybe I am or was just "drum corpsed out"

-On to the SCV question. I re-watched a video of their show online just to make sure I wasn't referring to anything that was in their Bartok show. I was only able to see them once last summer and the show I saw them at was bad. I'm not being over picky, they were just having a really off night that could have been due to a rain delay and it was very windy at that show. After re-watching, I do appreciate the moments they did have but with a name like The Devil's Staircase, as I am unfamiliar with the source music, I was an expecting a "run and gun" type of show, and not just random running. To sum it up I was expecting an "epic" show, not saying I wanted to describe the show as epic but that be the style of show I was expecting was an epic. That being said I do appreciate their ability to play and perform what they did, I just wanted something different from them.

EDIT: P.S. Some of these opinions also have to do with the concept of slotting and my disdain for it. I'm excited for this year because of some of the concepts that have already been announced and the new sheets which will hopefully shake things up.

Edited April 26, 2012 by laundryday

[laundryday]

Yes, but no tickee, no laundee.

I had no idea what this referred to until I googled it.

[Ch1k3n]

Good question (not sarcastic).

I actually did attend a number of events last summer and have been involved with the activity for awhile.

Before I answer your questions I might suggest that my feelings and opinions might also be cause by my age (I'm not that old but I'm aging just like everybody so my taste changes naturally) or the shift in the activity.

I'm just not as wowed as I once was before watching as a fan "back in the day" or my rookie year marching with a corps. (I watched every show possible my rookie year)

-For Crown's show concept - Show concept isn't the only thing that matters but it does have a lot to do with it. I went and watched their show a few times with an open mind but it just really didn't do anything for me.

It's like when someone see's a movie trailer (or maybe it's just me) and thinks it's horrible (not saying Crown's show was horrible just using this as an example), I won't bother to watch it or followup, I become disinterested.(unless the reviews are really good) While yes the level of performance they had was very high visually and musically and I appreciated that greatly I can only imagine how great it would be if it weren't applied to an overdone concept and to something fresh and brand new. When asking people if they've seen a show, the first thing I ask them is "what was it about?" instead of whether it was good or not. Sometimes I am heavily invested in the show concept (I don't care if it has a story line or not), and look forward to show/poster announcements. This show just came off as too cheezy. The activity (DCI) is doing its best to move into a more mainstream entertainment outlet and I feel this show helped with that with it's very recognizable songs especially for people who had never been to a show while still appealing to alumni and those that follow the activity with it's high level of performance. This show just wasn't for me.

-I'll continue with the Blue Stars & Boston comment since it has to do with show concept as well. To answer both easily and honestly and I hate for this to sound so harsh but: you can perform the show at a high level but if the show and concept are boring and slow: nothing is going to change that. Yes I do appreciate talent, hard work and recognize that in both corps. (I've been there, I've sweat, bled, done it all for a corps....even when I thought our show design didn't make any sense.) In short, I want to be entertained by a combination of talent, concept, and energy. It's very hard to mold that combination together with all the right elements every night. Maybe I am or was just "drum corpsed out"

-On to the SCV question. I re-watched a video of their show online just to make sure I wasn't referring to anything that was in their Bartok show. I was only able to see them once last summer and the show I saw them at was bad. I'm not being over picky, they were just having a really off night that could have been due to a rain delay and it was very windy at that show. After re-watching, I do appreciate the moments they did have but with a name like The Devil's Staircase, as I am unfamiliar with the source music, I was an expecting a "run and gun" type of show, and not just random running. To sum it up I was expecting an "epic" show, not saying I wanted to describe the show as epic but that be the style of show I was expecting was an epic. That being said I do appreciate their ability to play and perform what they did, I just wanted something different from them.

EDIT: P.S. Some of these opinions also have to do with the concept of slotting and my disdain for it. I'm excited for this year because of some of the concepts that have already been announced and the new sheets which will hopefully shake things up.

Ok cool I see where you're coming from now.

Remember, not bashing you, just giving my opinion:

I thought Crown's show, while had the potential to be cheesy, didn't have to be. To me, I thought that the show was pretty well executed without an extremely cheesy aspect, with them using their synths pretty often. Normally if any other corps used synths as much as they did, they would get big nono points, but since the theme included that sort of thing, I was fine with it, but while I understand how this could make it seem cheesy, I treated it just like any other show, listening to the sounds and taking in the sights, where there were plenty to see, as the colorguard were in my opinion, the best. Especially the guy with the blue vest, he's got major talent. The music didn't have to be cheesy if you didn't want it to, and the visuals the band did weren't TOO cheesy, the only things I can think of were the band getting into a guitar formation, that sort of was a little cheesy, but not too much, but it still fit with the music well. The contras using their horns as guitars? Well...... i'll let it slide this time. XD

I can understand what you feel about the "slow" shows, they're definitely not as fun to watch, but you can still enjoy what's being put out in front of you. Like Through a glass Darkly, there were some exciting parts near the beginning, but other than that I found the show pretty boring, as you said if it's executed at the highest level, the boring-ness still won't change anything. Completely agree with you there.

I guess what SCV was going for in their show with the random "running" was the frantic-ness of being "in hell, and you want out". In my opinion, this show was the hardest to execute emotionally, because it seems like it was the most confusing. BD's got it down design-wise, Crown had an easy job rocking out, Cavaliers are always good, but SCV? Being trapped in hell. Hmm.... I could see how you expected the show to be "epic", with crazy snaps and insane music, but overall I think the hornline "actors" (notice how SCV always has at least 1 person at a time not playing? XD) did a very good job portraying what it would be like to be trapped in hell, and with them finally getting free in the end seemed sort of like an epic ending, especially with the hornline ringing their last note. I wasn't familiar with their source music either, but that didn't mean that I didn't think it was amazing.

I see where you're coming from, not opposing you, and i'm also excited for this year's shows! BD's looks like it'll be...... interesting.

[TimbreDeBrass]

Most impressive non top-12 performance: Troopers

Most impressive and longest held chord: Troopers

Best Ballads and soft moments: SCV, Blue Stars, (Bluecoats Creep intro?), Crown (only because of how good their brass were last year)

Most balanced hornline: Crown

Best overall hornline tone quality: Crown

[Barifonium]

[...]and the visuals the band did weren't TOO cheesy, the only things I can think of were the band getting into a guitar formation, that sort of was a little cheesy, but not too much, but it still fit with the music well.