Oh Woe is Me - Blue Knights

[BoyWonder1911]

This activity has become very competitive. After being on tour with a certain drum corps for a couple of summers as a volunteer, I did really get caught up in it, and felt the same as you do. However, don't take too much from points and rankings, it doesn't matter all that much anyways, and only one corps can win each year. And even then, there's always controversy about who deserved to win.

Drum corps are very expensive - and the talent out there on the market to write competitive music/drill/choreography is not easy to come by, and can sometimes come with a hefty price tag. Not everyone is a Michael Gaines, or a Jeff Sactig, or a Zingali, etc. They do the best they can.

And I will say this about show themes - the Blue Devils, and even Crown in the past 4 years, have set the bar extremely high for innovative and unique themes.

It's becoming more and more competitive, and sometimes a staff can only do so much to put an idea out on the field that may or may not work. Blue Stars 2011 Rebourne show comes to mind - great theme, execution was not too bad, but the scaffolding didn't work too well for the judges. Sometimes that happens - but for a staff in the Blue Knights who consistently makes finals, in the last 15 out of 18 years, I don't think you have anything to worry about.

I found the 2011 Blue Knights' show incredible. I think the judges could have given them a couple of more points, but then again, it doesn't really matter right now, does it?

These 3 things I can think of right now are top priority for any corps - making sure there is enough money, making sure there is still enough money, and making sure the kids are fed and watered, and that they have somewhere to sleep and rehearse, and that they make their competitions on time. You can throw the whole "having a good tour experience" on top of that. Some corps are in a position where those things are pretty much taken care of, and they can focus on bringing in better staff, etc. But many corps struggle with meeting those first requirements.

I would consider the Blue Knights fortunate that they've been able to be so consistent all these years.

A corps director will do what he can to put a competitive corps on the field year after year, within budget, and still give its members an experience of a lifetime, year after year.

Chill out. There are organizations in worse situations. See "Glassmen".

That being said, I think 2014 should be a good show and I predicted them in the 7th-8th slot.

[kdaddy]

Jeremy, I'm with you. Some BK shows are difficult to take. 2000 and 2006 come to mind. But dark and brooding can be great. 2007 comes to mind.

2012 aside, I think they were heading in the right direction with Marc Sylvester (and I think both made a mistake by parting ways with each other, regardless of who initiated the break up). BK appeared to be more entertaining with him designing the shows, but they still felt like "BK." I think 2013 was not a step in the right direction.

As for stepping it up competition-wise, I wouldn't worry about it. As was pointed in a prior over-the-top-homer post, top six is more difficult now than ever. I think it's a little naïve to recruit for and design a top six show. Being competitive among corps in its current peer group (e.g., BAC, Scouts) is a reasonable expectation.

[corps8294]

2001 Blue Knights, anyone? Now that was one horrible show.

[wesleyrp]

Prior over the top homer post.... Lol man.....

[MikeD]

Each year that passes, I see the Blue Knights deliver a show that is, for all intents and purposes, clean / solid enough to be considered top 12. One adjective that I have never been able to use when it comes to a BK show (including the year I marched in 2000) is "entertaining".

I was a part of the "dark and brooding" indoctrination that is BK - they're keen on proving that they have their own style and possibly more enthusiastic about making the sport "come around" on its collective view on what constitutes a championship performance.

This is where an artist loses his identity in his work - it happens at the point where you insist that your audience "just doesn't get it" and belligerently pursue your particular point of view at the expense of its original intent: to edify your audience. An entertainer is beholden to his audience. A presenter doesn't show up at Pepsi and attempt to deliver a presentation on how to drive Coke sales. A magician doesn't walk up on stage and give the audience a talk on blood diamonds. Nor should a drum corps take the field and give the audience its take on a great show iwhile incessantly ignoring years and years of evidence that this style, viewpoint, institution is not considered to be the state of the art.

Some at the BK camp perhaps believe that emulating the success of other corps only cheapens its brand. It's a "sellout". It's "admitting defeat". To that, I say "try not to take yourselves so seriously." There is a reason why Olympic swimmers, basketball, football, and baseball players have "fundamentals" -- these are things that tend to yield the best results. Every science has evolved in a similar fashion. Where would we be had a group of rugged sailors not discovered that the world were curved? How about Copernicus' crazy notion that the Earth rotates around the sun? How about transistors before there were integrated circuits or later computers?

Is there room for innovation? Did Robert Noyce ignore Shockley's breakthroughs with the transitor before he created Intel? Doesn't the evolution of any art form require the good work that came before the breakthroughs?

BK should start from a place that observes the fundamentals. Pick songs that the audience can identify with. Have flashy moments that show of its musicianship and confidence to the crowd. Make someone's pulse exceed 60 beats per minute. Otherwise, you're just performing for yourselves.

What's the fun in that?

For me personally, their 2012 show is on my all-time favorite list, going back to 1964. I loved "Avian".

[skevinp]

For a long time i could never really get into their shows, but I have really enjoyed the last few years.

I wish people worried less about placement. Inherently there can only be x 'top x' shows, but theoretically there can be as many entertaining shows as there are corps. I like those odds better.

I have listened to BK 2013 many times because I like the show. I have long since forgotten what place they came in.

[Gloryah]

When my son was in his rookie year with BK in 2012, I was all excited throughout the season with their scores and placement. But my son set me straight once. He told me they don't really care about being in the top 6 or whatever. They just want to do the best job they can. If that gets them 10th place, so be it. He skipped last year and he's with them now in his age out year and I'll tell you what...I don't care about scores. I just want him and all the other members to do the best they can.

btw, I'm reminded of one of the most entertaining shows of the 2012 season...from a corps that didn't even make finals: Jersey Surf. Should I look down on them because they didn't even make it to the top 12?

[lindap]

For me personally, their 2012 show is on my all-time favorite list, going back to 1964. I loved "Avian".

Me too, going back to 1968. I loved "Avian"; visual.emotion.story.culminating music :)

[AlexLeeDrums]

I'm just gonna go out on a limb and say that "winning" is probably not a priority. It's about the experience, and I know that BK gives their performers a great experience.

[Cappybara]

I've got 2 words for you, my friend. Blue Devils. It's all about execution, execution, and more execution. The Blue Knights can go as esoteric or as mainstream as they like, but if they can't execute at a high level, the show theme is not going to matter.