Blue Devils Announce Show

[cowtown]

Never heard this version of Rites but I like the original so we’ll see…didn’t care much for the Academy’s recent stab at the original (?) though. For the past 2 years Blue Devils had some of my favorite musical books so I have high hopes for this music book. Visual, mainly in the ensemble, is where they lost me and I don’t count myself as a fan of their music book from 2007-10. Rather mixed but optimistic !

Rites annoys me on this board, only because it’s history is so abused and misused by Freshmen Music Ed major trying to justify junk as art but that has nothing to do with Blue Devils and I really hope they don’t walk this show down that road

About the only props I’d want to see for this show would be those giant, robot dinosaurs a la the Fantasia version of Rites

[elmhurstmusiced]

Never heard this version of Rites but I like the original so we’ll see…didn’t care much for the Academy’s recent stab at the original (?) though. For the past 2 years Blue Devils had some of my favorite musical books so I have high hopes for this music book. Visual, mainly in the ensemble, is where they lost me and I don’t count myself as a fan of their music book from 2007-10. Rather mixed but optimistic !

Rites annoys me on this board, only because it’s history is so abused and misused by Freshmen Music Ed major trying to justify junk as art but that has nothing to do with Blue Devils and I really hope they don’t walk this show down that road

About the only props I’d want to see for this show would be those giant, robot dinosaurs a la the Fantasia version of Rites

I highly encourage you to find recordings of the Sebesky and the Brenzel. They are both wonderful. The Brenzel was released last July.

It stays true to the source material, but puts a fresh spin on it. The Sebesky is well, Sebesky, which is never a bad thing.

[fsubone]

Rites annoys me on this board, only because it’s history is so abused and misused by Freshmen Music Ed major trying to justify junk as art but that has nothing to do with Blue Devils and I really hope they don’t walk this show down that road

Like those stories about the riots at the premiere, that are only mentioned offhand in one source, and aren't corroborated and even discredited by every other person who was at the premiere? I think it's just one of those music urban legends everyone clings to, like Mozart dying poor and being buried in a mass grave.

In other news, I'm excited about this show. If anyone could pull off the guard work needed to give Rite of Spring a proper treatment, it would be the Blue Devils and Scott Chandler. Probably means that we'll see more of the free-form/blob drill, but I think we all just kind of expect that by this point. Can't take points off a form that's not supposed to be a form.

Edited March 26, 2013 by fsubone

[BRASSO]

I think it's just one of those music urban legends everyone clings to, like Mozart dying poor and being buried in a mass grave.

bit of historical info : The original story of Mozart" dying a pauper and being buried in a mass grave ", ironically was first perpetrated by Mozart's own wife Constance. Mozart died with heavy debts and she had little money and 2 young childen ( no life insurance in those days ). She organized public sympathies and appealed to the Emperor to bestow upon her a special " Composer's Widow's Pension ", based upon her husbands service to the Emperor with his performances. He agreed, and she received the widow's pension. But it was not enough to pay off Mozart's financial debts, so she sold off some of his musical publications to sustain herself and provide for her 2 children. Mozart did not die " a pauper ", but he did die as what today would be considered a lower middle class economic strata position. As such, while his grave was not a " mass grave ", he was buried in a " common grave " plot comprised of 4 unrelated persons, with a wooden marker. Aprox. 8 years later, his remains and the remains of the other 3 were removed from that plot to make room for other common burial remains of middle class commoners in the community. The new burial site of Mozart became undocumented and as a result his final burial spot is unknown. ... Just paasing along a bit of historical tidbit here in March as we await June.

Edited March 26, 2013 by BRASSO

[MikeN]

When was the last time you were in Portugal? Not exactly reflective of reality.

So far, since yesterday, you've said you either don't agree with the focus of (or think is just wrong) the following -

DCI

DCA

Disney

Portugal

Mike

[glory]

Maybe at finals this year we should take a poll and find out what people thought. That would be the only way to sort of figure out the true feelings of the audience...

Well I did. I asked nearly everyone I spoke with at three days of championships - surely dozens - what they thought of BD, Crown and other contenders. And nearly all were disappointed with the BD program. I don't claim any scientific rigor in my poll. On the other hand, I don't see anything to indicate that its results weren't representative. The absence of an enthusiastic crowd response seems consistent with what I heard at LOS and what I've read on DCP.

If it makes BD fans feel any better, I personally think Crown's program was worse in its pretensions. Mixing the common man and the comic book was a reach that didn't close the gap for me. While I'm at it, I also thought Phantom's program was a bit contrived. You had to get all the way to Cadets, in my opinion, before you got a program that had cohesion. And there weren't many more that held together well.

Back on topic. What does this mean for 2013? Nothing. Most of us start fresh each year. We're willing to give corps the benefit of the doubt even when they disappointed us the previous year. So bring it BD.

HH

[kickhaltsforlife]

I changed my mind. If you read the post.. I meant every word. But let's just concentrate on 2013 for now. If another thread comes up where I feel that post is more warranted I will repost it.

Edited March 26, 2013 by kickhaltsforlife

[cowtown]

If it makes BD fans feel any better, I personally think Crown's program was worse in its pretensions. Mixing the common man and the comic book was a reach that didn't close the gap for me. While I'm at it, I also thought Phantom's program was a bit contrived. You had to get all the way to Cadets, in my opinion, before you got a program that had cohesion. And there weren't many more that held together well.

OK, now you done it Mr. Borg – I’ve seen you blow the Xmas Cadets show horn too many time while dinging other corps

Regardless of what you may think of BD’s program, it was cohesive. I was not a fan of the visual at all and thought they tricked the judges more than they dazzled us in the stands and many of their big forms were embarrassingly, bad slop for a championship show but it was cohesive

I wanted to hate Cadets show but the first time I saw it I was 'Oh, I could like this' but by the third time I saw it, I was bored and by finals I was disappointed entirely. They were lucky to hang on to their spot. It was one of the least imaginative shows on the field and they never got it cleaned up. All their changes were bad, the more they tinkered with their show the worse the show got. Have you every played a video game where on a holiday it unlocks an Easter egg theme and all of a sudden you’re playing a Christmas version of the same game? That was the Cadets show. A stale re-tread, best-of package off their past 10 years tarted up in a cheap Christmas frock. Oh, there's the boogie jam section, here comes the pink table redone as slides and there is that collapsing circle they started doing in 2001.. – did they forgot how to do it, ekks …company front end. That show was designed on auto-pilot and steeped on it’s own GE not only by being worn out, dated and tired but also being poorly (by Cadet standards) preformed.

and now back to BD 2013, cool

Edited March 26, 2013 by cowtown

[chaddyt]

OK, now you done it Mr. Borg – I’ve seen you blow the Xmas Cadets show horn too many time while dinging other corps

Regardless of what you may think of BD’s program, it was cohesive. I was not a fan of the visual at all and thought they tricked the judges more than they dazzled us in the stands and many of their big forms were embarrassingly, bad slop for a championship show but it was cohesive

I wanted to hate Cadets show but the first time I saw it I was 'Oh, I could like this' but by the third time I saw it, I was bored and by finals I was disappointed entirely. They were lucky to hang on to their spot. It was one of the least imaginative shows on the field and they never got it cleaned up. All their changes were bad, the more they tinkered with their show the worse the show got. Have you every played a video game where on a holiday it unlocks an Easter egg theme and all of a sudden you’re playing a Christmas version of the same game? That was the Cadets show. A stale re-tread, best-of package off their past 10 years tarted up in a cheap Christmas frock. Oh, there's the boogie jam section, here comes the pink table redone as slides and there is that collapsing circle they started doing in 2001.. – did they forgot how to do it, ekks …company front end. That show was designed on auto-pilot and steeped on it’s own GE not only by being worn out, dated and tired but also being poorly (by Cadet standards) preformed.

and now back to BD 2013, cool

Agreed.

I'm a Cadets homer and I had a hard time getting into that show. Even at Christmas.

[danielray]

So far, since yesterday, you've said you either don't agree with the focus of (or think is just wrong) the following -

DCI

DCA

Disney

Portugal

Mike

The point was simply that Portugal has one of the highest youth unemployment rates in Europe and a very high rate of youth migration for employment.

Portugal PM tells unemployed to look abroad

Portugal Youth Unemployment Rate

The unemployment rate is almost 40% for youth, as the priority is first keeping older adults employed. When you go there, you can really feel this and feel the change in the number of youth around.

Anyway, the point was that citing that a concert that is targeted toward youth in Portugal is canceled says more about the current state of the economy and youth migration in Portugal than it does the artist. Sure, the individual artist's market is shifting a bit, but when you've earned hundreds of millions... that is more of a problem for the producers and promoters than it is for the artist themselves.