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What would YOU like to see from each corps next season?


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I'd like to hear Rennick kind of "re-invent" himself at SCV.

Don't get me wrong, I always admire his lines and I don't think anyone produces the quality of sound that he gets, but his books that last few years seem to keep drawing on similar "tried-and-true" ideas. I remember hearing his 2006 PR line at the first show in June that year, and proclaiming loudly at the time that they would be the line to beat (and they won the Sanford). He brought new ideas in scoring and aggressiveness to my ears that year. I would love to hear it happen again, at SCV in 2014.

Oh, and stop the squatting.

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Crown: Keep that staff together, they can only get stronger from here.

BD: Try a year without props? You've gotten your money's worth with the PVC poles, might be worth trying a new direction

Cadets: like the Classical tilt, how about try some Sibelius? That would be pretty awesome

SCV: Keep with this direction! Being the crowd favorite isn't a bad thing. Doesn't have to be musicals every year, but be the Santa Clara that everyone loves.

Bluecoats: Keep that groove going! Maybe back the electronics down?

Phantom: You don't have to kill someone every year. I'm serious. You don't. Just give us some great classical music with some great drill, and don't just re-hash the same show again.

Cavies: Keep those members in place. They can get back where they once were, they just need to keep people around to keep building back up

Boston: Stay consistent. That's really all I can think of

Madison: Up the visual program. Please? Do that, and you can easily get back to the Top 6. The shows that peak at San Antonio just isn't going to get the job done.

Blue Knights: Bring back the hand-painted flags. those were beautiful. This brass line though was amazing this year.

Spirit: Stick to your identity, but don't get trapped by it. These last few years were great, but don't get trapped into doing the same shows. (see Phantom Regiment)

Blue Stars: Get everyone else on the same page as the percussion. You'll be set

Troopers: Love the identity and the new uniforms. Just needs more visual cleaning and technique matching next year. Love the emotion though, it's good to have the Troopers back

Crossmen: Open up the drill guys. The shows have been great, but field coverage would really make the shows more effective.

Pacific Crest: Just keep improving. You guys have been getting steadily better every year, keep it up.

That's all I can think of for the Top 15 right now. Also-

Surf: Entertaining is great, but excellence is important as well. Get the execution where the entertainment is, and you guys will be great. And if you're going to put each section in different colored shirts, integrate them in the drill. That's day 1 stuff for drill design.

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Phantom: Carl Nielsen - Symphony No. 4 "The Inextinguishable"

Great music, perfect vehicle for them. And it's open-ended, so they can interpret "inextinguishable" however they see fit (except via trying unsuccessfully to kill someone repeatedly during the course of the show...)

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Things I would like to see next season...

Crown continuing to provide this type of programming, and hopefully a major improvement in regards to integrating percussion into the show.

More of the Blue Devils flugel soloist (if he isn't aging out). Also, hoping for once that they abandon this slightly manic approach to how they write/arrange their music program.

Cadets learning to scrap ideas early if they're not working (ex: towers in the drill, it never got completely clean).

Bluecoats reevaluating their marching technique. I also kind of want them to move back towards incorporating a pop tune into their program and arranging it only a way the Bluecoats can (see: Creep, Criminal, AHA!, Imagine, etc).

Spirit giving us something very different - I've felt that the past three shows have all been too similar stylistically.

Crossmen upping their visual program, Troopers making finals again, PC continuing to inch towards finals, and Mandarins fielding a full corps (I believe this was their biggest corps to date).

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It's will be the 25 anniversary since SCV won with Phantom of the Opera...just saying

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I'll key in on some of the corps of which shows I have actually seen in person.

Crown: I'd like to see the same thing I saw this season: face-melting brass. Of course, percussion needs improvement, and when that is done, they'll be absolutely undeniable.

Spirit of Atlanta: I absolutely love the musical choices and such, but a different theme would also be nice to see.

Blue Devils: With all of the hate towards Blue Devils' design these recent years, I find it funny that I've actually quite enjoyed them more-so than their earlier years. I absolutely loved the 2011-2012 shows. I don't know if anyone else agrees with me here though.

Blue Knights: It was a nice change of pace this year with the design and musical choices. I'm a HUMUNGOUS fan of mellow, rhythmic music--so needless to say, this show was one of my favorites this year. The theme was a little abstract for me (unless all I was supposed to get out of it was circles and balls), but it didn't really matter much to me considering I enjoyed the music.

Blue Stars: Just a heads up, I'm a Blue Stars honk, so I'm pretty much going to talk a lot about them. How I became such a fan?--Well, it was their 2008 show that made me a fan of DCI in general, leading to my (rather unhealthy) obsession with the activity. When I think of DCI, I immediately remember and hum the first hit of the Le Tour show that got them back into finals.

That being said, I really miss the "happy melodic" music that was played in 2008-2009 years. It really makes shows memorable and quite enjoyable for others that don't care too much for the Blue Stars. I feel that the Blue Stars are trying to find their "identity"--like the ones Spirit, PR, Bluecoats, and BD have. The identity that I think they are trying to form is somewhat of a "dark" identity. The recent years (2010-2013) have a rather serious nature about them, including 2012. Don't get me wrong, I loved 2010 and its theme (I'm a sucker for Glass and minimalist music), but I feel like they're trying to mimic the success they had with that rather dark theme too much, and should try to head in a different direction.

I enjoyed 2013 more than last year, and since next year is the 50th anniversary, I really think they should make a show about the history of the corps. Oh, and bring back the red plumes (not necessarily the helmet, but just the plumes), even if its just for the anniversary year. I think it would help bring back their "identity" that they're struggling to find. I think this was said about BS for 2011-2013--they have the talent, they just need the show.

Troopers: Okay, I love these guys. The emotion from this show is just unbelievable. I'd really love to see more difficulty in the book though (but I think this was a rebuilding year from the previous year). Although, they were smart to fit the difficulty of the program to the members and decided to beef-up their book as the season progressed, rather than the watering-down that some corps have to do. It's funny, actually: I was SO excited that Blue Stars made it back into finals, but was SO disappointed that Troopers missed out on finals by only .15 points (and I don't even consider myself a Troopers fan). There is something magical about this corps this year that makes everyone embrace them. Hold onto that.

Edited by UTLonghorn15
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For BD - there was a lick in this years show that just screamed "old BD jazz sound" - but it was short and left me wanting more. Would love for them to do an "old school BD" show, but with some of their modern twists. I'd like to see just how creative they could be to make something old school be successful with today's sheets.

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Blue Devils: Since they like to claim they push the artistic direction of the activity (a concept I find a little silly since 99% of all drum corps music is a repackaging of someone else's art), I dare them to do an entire show with completely original music. I'd like to see what kind of "art" they can come up with on their own.

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