bluesman Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 (edited) Just back from the show. The placements are just as I had them although I would have had a larger margin between Cadets and Blue Devils with Bluecoats closer to 2nd. A few thoughts on tonights show: Crossmen have a well written show. The brass section seems a bit timid and lacked volume. I see them in the 10th-12th place range at finals. Phantom Regiment's program is disappointing. The show doesn't flow well and the concept gets lost in the musical selections. The Organ Symphony seems to belong in a different show altogether. They could land as low as 9th this year. Cavaliers. I think this show is being underscored. The brass section is the strongest they have had in the last 3 years. The pit is fabulous. I would have had them a little closer to Vanguard. Santa Clara Vanguard. The visual program is quite good although not as demanding as last years which never managed to get clean. This one is attainable. The drum-line really shines this season. They have a firm grasp on 5th place this season. Crown. Great show that is in desperate need of that new ending we have heard about. With the right ending they could place as high 2nd, but will more likely will end up 4th at finals. Bluecoats. If you haven't seen this show live then you are truly missing something. I've never heard anything like it. The arrangements are amazing and the electronic effects are never distracting. Every section of this corps is strong. Should give Blue Devils a real challenge for the silver. Blue Devils. From concept to design to performance this show is amazing. Can't believe they aren't winning guard. This is a championship show....... except for one small problem. That being The Cadets. Cadets. This is IMO the best Cadets production in a decade. It's fast, demanding and executed extremely well. The opener is jaw dropping. I was sitting down and had to catch my breath. The ending is old school balls to wall. Cadets had the audience on its feet well before the conclusion. This show is going to be hard if not impossible to beat this year. Edited July 18, 2015 by bluesman 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yogitom Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 As much as Coats are great this year, they are not quite yet in the brass hunt. Too much of their effect lies in the use, albeit very creative, of the small groups, andthey don't have the same amount of tutti demand that the other 3 do. The other three have also each won brass at shows and unless Bloo all of a sudden jumps them all at show, it's very unlikely. The only possibility is if the corps proper makes a spot move up to 2nd and they go on later in the night at a major show, which could help number wise. While they are great, I think it's clearly a 3 horse race for brass right now and I just don't see them jumping all of a sudden midway through the season. That would be a huge call by the judging community. What are you talking about? The Cadets have won Brass numerous times this season over BD and Crown. So how can you possibly say they have no shot to win brass? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Channel3 Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 One of the biggest criteria for score growth right before finals is the humanity that resonates from the show theme. What part of Cadets' show moves you, personally? What part of the theme of their show hits you on a gut level? What do you take away from the theme of the power of ten? What about Shostakovich's music in this interpretation moves you, personally? What part of the theme of the power of ten illuminates something about the way we live, or builds meaning around our quest to understand truth, beauty, justice, history or irony? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy. Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 What are you talking about? The Cadets have won Brass numerous times this season over BD and Crown. So how can you possibly say they have no shot to win brass? He's talking about the bluecoats. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy. Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 (edited) One of the biggest criteria for score growth right before finals is the humanity that resonates from the show theme. What part of Cadets' show moves you, personally? What part of the theme of their show hits you on a gut level? What do you take away from the theme of the power of ten? What about Shostakovich's music in this interpretation moves you, personally? What part of the theme of the power of ten illuminates something about the way we live, or builds meaning around our quest to understand truth, beauty, justice, history or irony? None of that lead to a 99.65. BD just had a really well staged/performed show. I didn't walk away thinking about truth, beauty, justice, history, or irony... o_o Edited July 18, 2015 by Jeremy. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zachariaswmb Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 One of the biggest criteria for score growth right before finals is the humanity that resonates from the show theme. What part of Cadets' show moves you, personally? What part of the theme of their show hits you on a gut level? What do you take away from the theme of the power of ten? What about Shostakovich's music in this interpretation moves you, personally? What part of the theme of the power of ten illuminates something about the way we live, or builds meaning around our quest to understand truth, beauty, justice, history or irony? Please point that out on the sheet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 (edited) Just back from the show. The placements are just as I had them although I would have had a larger margin between Cadets and Blue Devils with Bluecoats closer to 2nd. A few thoughts on tonights show: (respectful snip, just wanted to reference the post) Cadets. This is IMO the best Cadets production in a decade. It's fast, demanding and executed extremely well. The opener is jaw dropping. I was sitting down and had to catch my breath. The ending is old school balls to wall. Cadets had the audience on its feet well before the conclusion. This show is going to be hard if not impossible to beat this year. Thank you for the excellent review, it was well worth reading. +++ As hardcore fans, I think drum corps makes more sense to us when the judges' placements generally agrees with the view from the seats. Despite the usual hand wringing from the usual DCP'ers over the judging, it seems the scoring system is working quite well, and the fans as a group are supporting the scoring at the top of the heap. I think that makes for very enjoyable and satisfying night at the drum corps show. Edited July 18, 2015 by wvu80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 Please point that out on the sheet. DCI pointed that out last year when they clearly and specifically indicated they wanted the judge's sheets to generally reflect the corps' ability to connect with the crowd and the crowd's response to the show on the field. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwillis35 Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 One of the biggest criteria for score growth right before finals is the humanity that resonates from the show theme. What part of Cadets' show moves you, personally? What part of the theme of their show hits you on a gut level? What do you take away from the theme of the power of ten? What about Shostakovich's music in this interpretation moves you, personally? What part of the theme of the power of ten illuminates something about the way we live, or builds meaning around our quest to understand truth, beauty, justice, history or irony? I have no clue what any of this means. Winning and/or scoring high in DCI is about execution first, demand and artistry, and good design. Good design can be abstract, literal, it can center on the music or the visual, it can relate to a concept or an object, and certainly it can be bridged to a feeling, human interaction, or historical event. It can be a lot of things. BUT GE Music and GE Visual do not specify nor mandate that shows be emotional, that we learn of truth, beauty, justice (what is this, Police camp or Superman's intro), or history. There is no mandate that a show illuminates something about the way we live. Back in the day (70s and early 80s) drum corps used to just find 4 pieces of really cool music to play and do a show. No theme, just good music. They even stood still for 2 solid minutes or more playing a "concert number." Believe it or not that used to be what the fans often loved the most. Now we ridicule such things. Somehow entertaining in that way was no longer good design. Now by your definition shows need librettos or they'd better have obvious amounts of truth, justice, and beauty for all worked into their show. No no no no no. Play great music, march great drill, try cool ideas, and entertain. It's simple...yet also amazingly difficult. But there is no ONE recipe. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfrontz Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 Methinks we are being trolled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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