George Dixon Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 Well, at this time of year, EVERY corps has their strongest corps ever. It's preseason, that magical time of year when lots of things are possible and every corps is ahead of where they were last year. I've yet to read a post where someone says, boy, (insert corps name here) sure seems to be struggling right now. They're way behind where they were last year. I'm really worried. Oh I know, With Crossmen having massive numbers audition and the % vets returning I'd be shocked if they don't go UP The new brass caption guy will have them sounding like a developing Crown JMO. Just interesting how many have them falling out of the top 12, great corps behind them so of course anything is possible :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cainan Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 1. Blue Devils 2. Cadets 3. Crown 4. Santa Clara 5. Bluecoats 6. Phantom Regiment 7. Cavliers 8. Madison 9. Crossmen 10. Blue Knights 11. Blue Stars 12. Troopers 13. Colts 14. Boston Crusaders 15. The Academy 16. Blue Devils B 17. Vanguard Cadets 18. Oregon Crusaders 19. Genesis 20. Mandarins 21. Pacific Crest 22. Spirit of Atlanta 23. Music City 24. Cascades 25. Pioneer 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabMaster Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 1. Blue Devils 2. Cadets 3. Crown 4. Santa Clara 5. Bluecoats 6. Phantom Regiment 7. Cavliers 8. Madison 9. Crossmen 10. Blue Knights 11. Blue Stars 12. Troopers 13. Colts 14. Boston Crusaders 15. The Academy 16. Blue Devils B 17. Vanguard Cadets 18. Oregon Crusaders 19. Genesis 20. Mandarins 21. Pacific Crest 22. Spirit of Atlanta 23. Music City 24. Cascades 25. Pioneer BK to 10th and Boston to 14th. Bold to say the least. Unlikely IMO but this is what this thread is for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 1. Blue Devils 2. Cadets 3. Crown 4. Santa Clara 5. Bluecoats 6. Phantom Regiment 7. Cavliers 8. Madison 9. Crossmen 10. Blue Knights 11. Blue Stars 12. Troopers 13. Colts 14. Boston Crusaders 15. The Academy 16. Blue Devils B 17. Vanguard Cadets 18. Oregon Crusaders 19. Genesis 20. Mandarins 21. Pacific Crest 22. Spirit of Atlanta 23. Music City 24. Cascades 25. Pioneer Anythings possible, but the Nashua Spartans havn't fallen out of the Top 25 in 4 years now, so I think with their new Visual Caption head, I could see them still finishing in the Top 25, if not a bit higher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrumManTx Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 (edited) Anythings possible, but the Nashua Spartans havn't fallen out of the Top 25 in 4 years now, so I think with their new Visual Caption head, I could see them still finishing in the Top 25, if not a bit higher. Visual was by FAR their strength, so that seems like a really odd change. Not just their incredibly strong guard either, visual overall. Prelims scoring for them the past 4 seasons: GE, Visual, then Music: 2012: 25-22-24 2013: 24-22-26 (27th in GE Music) 2014: 24-21-26 2015: 23-23-26 IMO their guard and visual cleanliness has been what kept them in semis, and how they were ahead of the Cascades last year boggles me, though I guess when you compare their guards that's part of it. Not trying to rag on them, but they always place three or four higher than I expect them to. Unless it was an upgrade in visual staff, that seems like a negative than more of a positive. I need to look who it is, so if it's someone really good I retract all of that. Edited May 22, 2016 by DrumManTx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 (edited) Visual was by FAR their strength, so that seems like a really odd change. Not just their incredibly strong guard either, visual overall. Prelims scoring for them the past 4 seasons: Ouellette is the Visual Designer for Spartans and has been for awhile there. Spartans have added new faces to both Visual and Guard. it is the Guard and Visuals that allow you to move up ( or not lose ground ). In keeping with this bolstered and increased focus in these critical areas, the Spartans Drum Corps will be putting their Guard and Visual designs into WGI competition for the 1st time in 2017. Edited May 22, 2016 by BRASSO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake W. Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 (edited) Oh I know, With Crossmen having massive numbers audition and the % vets returning I'd be shocked if they don't go UP The new brass caption guy will have them sounding like a developing Crown JMO. Just interesting how many have them falling out of the top 12, great corps behind them so of course anything is possible :) I was also (am still) quite excited when they announced some Crown staff additions awhile back for the upcoming season, but I would imagine the reason most people seem to be leaving them out of their preseason Finals list is because the show sounds so...safe and uninspired, I guess. We know almost nothing about it, so that could be completely wrong and it could be a doorbuster of a production. But, at first glance, which is all we have for anyone, Troop seems to have really revamped the blander and less-complex show design issues that have plagued them the last few seasons and appears to be putting out a fresh product in a new (more current?) direction, with the Lovatt-Cooper piece in particular adding some meat in the preseason videos that hasn't been present recently. The Academy & OC (again at first glance only) both appear to be embracing their strong 2015 seasons & shows and running in even bolder and more interesting directions with their success. While the Blue Stars' staff changes have me a bit tentative, their 2016 production also appears to be a show that will continue to stretch their identity as a corps. And everything we've heard about Boston's preseason design efforts seem to have them chasing a high single digit placement rather than fighting for a Finals spot. Crossmen, on the other hand....eh. "Continuum", on the surface, strikes the mind as something that could easily end up being an unmemorable show. Maybe when it's fleshed out more it will be terrific, who knows. Add to that the fact that as of now, the music is all original, and count me extra unenthused. Again, the corps in their ballpark will be performing Prokofiev, Wagner, Mozart, Beethoven, Michael Kamen, Paul Lovatt-Cooper, Herrmann, Bjork, Queen, etc. That's a lot of depth and musical fortitude to be sandwiched with. As someone who's been around the BOA world for awhile, none of Markworth's original stuff (I stress original) for the field has ever struck me as particularly memorable, sensational, or anything that's the BEST musical vehicle for the band performing it. It's always nice, though. I understand that some good staff changes and talent retention have transpired, but if it's a dud of a show (not saying it will be), there could be too many corps with terrific programs and equally-talented performers nipping at Crossmen's collective heels. I should also note that Colts' announcement had me a bit disappointed as well. It seems more along the lines of the dozen safe, easily-forgotten, nice-but-non-finalist shows in the past 15 years or so, whereas the last two seasons they truly carved out a niche for themselves among the 22 world class corps. Narration hated or loved or anywhere in between, they were much more watched and discussed than the vast majority of their seasons prior to that. I fear that "Nachtmusik" will be more cautious and less bold, retreating back to a safer design. Edited May 22, 2016 by Jake W. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrumManTx Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 I was also (am still) quite excited when they announced some Crown staff additions awhile back for the upcoming season, but I would imagine the reason most people seem to be leaving them out of their preseason Finals list is because the show sounds so...safe and uninspired, I guess. We know almost nothing about it, so that could be completely wrong and it could be a doorbuster of a production. But, at first glance, which is all we have for anyone, Troop seems to have really revamped the blander and less-complex show design issues that have plagued them the last few seasons and appears to be putting out a fresh product in a new (more current?) direction, with the Lovatt-Cooper piece in particular adding some meat in the preseason videos that hasn't been present recently. The Academy & OC (again at first glance only) both appear to be embracing their strong 2015 seasons & shows and running in even bolder and more interesting directions with their success. While the Blue Stars' staff changes have me a bit tentative, their 2016 production also appears to be a show that will continue to stretch their identity as a corps. And everything we've heard about Boston's preseason design efforts seem to have them chasing a high single digit placement rather than fighting for a Finals spot. Crossmen, on the other hand....eh. "Continuum", on the surface, strikes the mind as something that could easily end up being an unmemorable show. Maybe when it's fleshed out more it will be terrific, who knows. Add to that the fact that as of now, the music is all original, and count me extra unenthused. Again, the corps in their ballpark will be performing Prokofiev, Wagner, Mozart, Beethoven, Michael Kamen, Paul Lovatt-Cooper, Herrmann, Bjork, Queen, etc. That's a lot of depth and musical fortitude to be sandwiched with. As someone who's been around the BOA world for awhile, none of Markworth's original stuff (I stress original) for the field has ever struck me as particularly memorable, sensational, or anything that's the BEST musical vehicle for the band performing it. It's always nice, though. I understand that some good staff changes and talent retention have transpired, but if it's a dud of a show (not saying it will be), there could be too many corps with terrific programs and equally-talented performers nipping at Crossmen's collective heels. I should also note that Colts' announcement had me a bit disappointed as well. It seems more along the lines of the dozen safe, easily-forgotten, nice-but-non-finalist shows in the past 15 years or so, whereas the last two seasons they truly carved out a niche for themselves among the 22 world class corps. Narration hated or loved or anywhere in between, they were much more watched and discussed than the vast majority of their seasons prior to that. I fear that "Nachtmusik" will be more cautious and less bold, retreating back to a safer design. Yeah, I kind of have the same sentiment about both of them. Of what has been announced for this year, they're probably towards the bottom of my interest level preseason. Crossmen, I think what they have in favor of them is this theme "could" be really cool visually, and they were incredibly strong last year visually. This sounds like a visually centric show to me. Musically, the theme paired with all original has me cautious. I'm not going to assume what you said will happen, but I think that risk is definitely there. It's a risky move for sure. One that they have the tools to make IMO. I'm not really worried about them, it just lies 100% in the presentation. With the talent they're attracting, performance will not be an issue at all. They might have stayed 12th in 2015, but they were a lot stronger than 2014 to me. Colts, like you said, love them or hate them, they garnered a ton of attention and were incredibly strong and improving in their weaker captions. Visually and color guard, they were easily finalist caliber, and the brass program had REALLY started to develop into something special. The fact that that all went away with staff changes this off season had me wondering where they'd go, and their show announcement, at least for me is pretty lackluster on the surface. Pretty basic theme paired with the music you'd immediately think of with the title it's associated with. We'll see, you never know. Their 2007 show had cliche written all over it and they ended up knocking it out of the park with one of my favorite shows of the last 10 years. So we'll see. I'm not counting them out by any means, but they'll really surprise me in a good way if it's a great show. Hadn't thought about the shows around them, now that you mention it, that's pretty true. Lots of great new music, TONS of variety, unconventional choices, and they all seem to be latching onto their strengths and identities. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wesleyrp Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 There are some very bold predictions lately. Obviously most of us believe that BD/Crown/Cadets will contend, after that?? Anybody's guess. Hard to bet against last year's top six as all of those corps have their design teams pumping out incredible show after show, but ya never know. BRASSO and I for years have stated that Boston and BK both garner a lot of lower expectations from some over the years and both exceed that more often than not. I'm not sure bout Boston as I have no sources there, but I'd be willing to bet they'll be strong out of the gate. BK is fielding their most complete corps this summer and truly do not have a weak section- the vehicle I'm told is off the charts, what does it mean? There's potential, and a good vibe- translation- All of our picks are just that, fun, none of us know how it's gonna shake out, but I wouldn't think any finalist corps from a year ago moves up or down more than a spot or two. Just my humble opinion. WP 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 (edited) BRASSO and I for years have stated that Boston and BK both garner a lot of lower expectations from some over the years and both exceed that more often than not. I'm not sure bout Boston as I have no sources there, but I'd be willing to bet they'll be strong out of the gate. From the beginning of Chis H. tenure after last season, he and others have mentioned the importance of starting the season more prepared. Edited May 22, 2016 by Ghost 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.