SOA '15

[Madcityscout]

I haven't had a chance to see Spirit this year yet. But, one of their new brass staff members was on staff with me previously with another corps. And from the clip that I have seen of this year Spirit's hornline is vastly improved over last year!

[phan771]

Got to hear them tonight. Brass are certainly loud.

[mjyaub]

I have a friend from Cincinatti who took his family up to the Hamilton show. Unfortunately he said the quality level of Spirit was far less than the corps above them. He said theme never materialized and there seemed to be a disconnect in selling the show. His wife who is color guard proficient said the guard added nothing to the performance and were simply not very good. He said even though it was only their second show, he expected more due again to the off season hype. He felt their main competition is going to be with corps in the 19 to 25 range. This really hurts.

[JKT90]

I have a friend from Cincinatti who took his family up to the Hamilton show. Unfortunately he said the quality level of Spirit was far less than the corps above them. He said theme never materialized and there seemed to be a disconnect in selling the show. His wife who is color guard proficient said the guard added nothing to the performance and were simply not very good. He said even though it was only their second show, he expected more due again to the off season hype. He felt their main competition is going to be with corps in the 19 to 25 range. This really hurts.

I think they have a show they can work with and has potential...can they sell it, clean it and perform it?

[mhall1183]

I think they have a show they can work with and has potential...can they sell it, clean it and perform it?

I can see the potential in the show and good things are happening in the music (THAT BRASS) and drill. I'm just not sold on it because of the vagueness of the theme, the differences in performance between the guard and everybody else, and the lack of any visual "sparks". Of course the season is still young, and with the right additions and elevated performance levels this corps could really turn some heads. This isn't a Finalist show, but it is a step in the right direction.

[BlueStainGlass]

I feel like people are judging spirit so much because of 11-13 when they had their best consistency in say 15-20 years? Looking at corps reps they seem to have a couple years finals and more years out so let them work. It may not be a finals show but they need to recover from last year before they can jump. Don't forget like 5 years ago they were in 17th place and a few years later they were in finals.

[lowend]

I think that people are judging Spirit so much because they had a great thing going for a few years (ATL Confidential, Sin City, Speakeasy) and they they dumped everybody because it wasn't "southern" enough....or at least that's how it looks. I'll say again what I said last year about Spirit and Madison (and possibly Crown this year, too): you can't just go out and play and march anymore. You need a story line, you need props, and you need costumes.

[xandandl]

This is a year where theme is minimal and but a frame save for Colts who are still in Sylvester's rut of a story line.

[davidmccain]

wow oh wow

Edited August 10, 2015 by davidmccain

[TheTrumpetMan13]

Actually i believe in the concept of negative GE. When your shows theme is a title and there is no props, or colorguard telling the story, and you are not playing the music with the same name as the ahow title (ie Les Mis) and on top of that the color guard lacks gracefulness, then the judges and the fans are going to shrug their shoulders, raise eyebrows, and write you off. I told my kid and one of the staff members that the Guard is going to kill your show but the staff member said to think positive thoughts. So here is what I think will help the show. Bring in some narration...perhaps a quote about Atlanta under siege. Then in part two when the brass is marching across the field have the color guard get trampled by the brass. After all they are rolling around on the field half of the show anyway. Then during the ballad have an "after battle" scene where they are helping the wounded off of the field. Have some more narration about rebuilding and climbing out of the ashes. Then have a triumphant closer. Or they can leave the show as is and just ask everyone to think about the title and imagine what the show is about. Worked last year...right? And the hard thing is - I love Spirit. I love the staff and I love effort that my kid and the others are putting in each and everyday to enjoy this summer. Let's just hope the staff gets and idea of what to before the season goes too far and the hole gets too deep.

THIS. This is the problem with this design team: The "you can figure it out" kind of shows. No. Look at the successful shows, like Tilt, E=MC Squared, and even That One Second. NONE of these shows are a "you can figure it out" show. The weakness with this design team is definitely GE, and they simply aren't giving the kids what they need to max out their GE scores. I hate to see Spirit go down the same road they did last year, but unfortunately right now that's what it looks like. They definitely need to make the show more obvious.