N.E. Brigand Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 (edited) It will be a little odd if the only shows at which Bluecoats manage to beat Cadets are the two home shows. Wow, that almost happened! Completely running out of time, so these brief comments will be all I can manage before Thursday. It was great to meet wvu80! He joined my throng to bring our party to nine. His favorite show was Cadets. The one person in our group who was seeing his first drum corps performance liked Bluecoats the most. The other seven of us, of widely varied drum corps viewing experience, all preferred Carolina Crown. And I think they were the audience favorite by a slight margin over Bloo even in Massillon. Non-wedge wedge-kick at the end of Phantom. Neat trick with the mirrors at the end of Blue Knights. Cadets had just a little trouble with the new removable tops to their upgraded boxes. Crown added a little touch to the "Adagio" choreography that is absolutely brilliant. Predicting every score within a half point can impress one's friends and family! Well, maybe a little. The audience was momentarily confused when the announcer jumped from fourth to second. The joint was packed, but the ticket lines were much shorter than last year. Parking took me much longer this time, though. I think I picked the worst possible direction to approach the school. EMTs had to help a woman just in front of us who passed out at her seat, but it wasn't too hot. Despite barely being able to move around the concourse during intermission, I managed to get both dinner and a Cadets tee shirt for an absent friend whose favorite they are because she attended a Holy Name High School. There were passing storms to the south during the last few corps, starting with Crown. The lightning made me nervous that the show would be cancelled before the end. Edited August 4, 2015 by N.E. Brigand 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlamMan Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 I love SCV's show this year. Hate the uniform change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleveland1 Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 (edited) My musings on tonights show... I just had some fourth meal so im ready to go. Phantom- last time i saw this show was Stanford on the webcast. I thought it was a show with great potential but was incredibly sloppy. The show is still entertaining, in between getting hit in the head with a baguette as i sip coffee i made in my French Press. Visually i enjoy the show, musically its got some issues with balancing with the electronics. They also at times compete with the voice over, which just does not work. Lastly, i was confused at the show. The show was best when it was focusing on the corps and the music, and weakest when it focused on the narrative. What narrative? Exactly. The character makes just a few appearances, and doesn't seem to appear in the closer until the very end. And she acts like we went on a journey with her, i did not. Also the feather boa left feathers on the field, were they penalized? Blue Knights. All i can say is "wow". I am digging BK being the existentialist corps. Their shows are increasingly more satisfying, especially now that they are really showing off the musicality of the corps. The trumpet solo almost blew my head off, but i was sitting directly in front of their speakers. This was the only unpleasant part of the show. Some of the narration i could take or leave, but they balanced very well to it and their other electronic effects. Lastly, there was a moment where i finally "got" the show concept. And this almost brought me to tears. Its so very beautiful and delicate. This show deserves its 6th place spot. Cavaliers. Typically i find their shows to be silly, this year is no different. Its the type of show that grows on me during the season. What in June was an underwhelming show, now its enjoyable. During the Run Boy Run section i enjoyed seeing the judge running as well. I feel the staff has really improved on their balance between electronics and the show, its still not perfect. I still don't understand the show or why the guard members have bar codes on their pants. But i dont care. Game on. Cadets. Positives first. I do like the Black look, i wasnt sure if i would. I also liked several musical features during the show, and their balance was incredible. Negatives... I felt their guard had the least energy of the corps performing today. I think the design team think they are being clever with how many ways they can fit 10 into the show, in my opinion 10 too many times. I don't find the show to be clever nor do i find the changes and the show itself to be organic. It all seems very forced. Crown. The show i never thought they would attempt. They weren't pulling it off early in the year, but now its firing on all cylinders. Amazing brass, as usual. Guard was top notch apart from the 3 drops i saw. The banners worked today without any issue, that i saw. Only downside is the "abandon all hope banner" smells ripe. Need to febreeze that thing. Really hard to criticize the show... The finale seems unrefined. Vanguard. The most electronics ive heard from SCV, and they tackle it lightly. The theramin was fun to see used. The lights were impactful and lovely. The electro beat used during the pure imagination was definitely weird. I didn't mind it, but it seemed off. Maybe because i was sitting in front of the speakers. Best ballad of the season, again. I think this is 4 years in a row now, for me. I don't understand what is holding this show or this corps back. Their effects are as good as anybody, their guard is as good as anybody, their percussion is top tier, their visual design is gorgeous, and their brass line doesn't seem as bad as they have been scoring. As a fan, i just love the show regardless of placement. But i really felt this show could medal. Oh well. Bluecoats. Clever use of technology. A bit much on the narrative aspect, but i got over it. I love that they have a non electronics section in the show to show off the corps and show that they don't need electronics to be loud and balanced, but they use it because it gives them a lot of room for creativity. Too often corps use electronics to cover up the corps, they use it to enhance it. Its a fun show that isnt thay deep but i still enjoy the heck out of it. Edited August 4, 2015 by Cleveland1 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.E. Brigand Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 So many performance over content scores for Crown. It was an amazing performance tonight, one of the best I've ever seen. And I wouldn't be surprised if they had a few tiny but satisfying adjustments to make--just enough that they can focus almost all their energy on polishing what is already so shiny--that will keep them in the title mix right to the end. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clutchtow Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 Santa Clara Vanguard: what a show. I LOVE pure imagination. The lighting effects at the end were incredibly cool. I wasn't sold when I heard about them but they made me a believer. The show is surprisingly scoring low and it saddens me. Vanguard: Wow, best opener in drum corps. I love the marching, and the pit is fantastic and carries the interest musically like no other pit in the activity. That is probably what puts them a notch above to win percussion. I was most surprised to hear how LOUD the horns were. They can crank out the sound with the top three, no question. The lights in the sash's, drums, guard poles and the red sash in the DM's uni at the end were noticed and really applauded by the crowd. It is ten times more effective live than on the internet feed. SCV BY FAR has the best show design in terms of using the color palette of the uniform to create visual impacts and change the mood of the music PERFECTLY with the horn sound. They can turn their backs to get green, turn sideways to get some red, and full frontal to get maximum visual impacts with white and red, and the white plume. I don't understand why this isn't reflected in the scores, this design is #1 in EXACTLY the same way Cadets Angels and Demons were #1 with coordinating the creme/maroon uniforms into the drill design in 2011. I would put them in 4th overall, but 1st in drums and in 1st in whatever category show design is in. Vanguard. The most electronics ive heard from SCV, and they tackle it lightly. The theramin was fun to see used. The lights were impactful and lovely. The electro beat used during the pure imagination was definitely weird. I didn't mind it, but it seemed off. Maybe because i was sitting in front of the speakers. Best ballad of the season, again. I think this is 4 years in a row now, for me. I don't understand what is holding this show or this corps back. Their effects are as good as anybody, their guard is as good as anybody, their percussion is top tier, their visual design is gorgeous, and their brass line doesn't seem as bad as they have been scoring. As a fan, i just love the show regardless of placement. But i really felt this show could medal. Oh well. So honest question, why were they placed in last for GE2 Rep? I mean, I get that they aren't above the top four, but that ordinal just seemed crazy! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleveland1 Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 So honest question, why were they placed in last for GE2 Rep? I mean, I get that they aren't above the top four, but that ordinal just seemed crazy! I wish i knew. I want to hear the tape. The judge tied crown and Cadets, and scv and cavies in rep. And also cadets and bloo in performance. Also BK's show is incredibly musical and narrowly edged out ScV in GE2. But really, i just don't know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 (edited) Posted Today, 01:27 AM So who won? (by wvu80) +++ Crown Yay! +++ I did finally get around to looking at recaps. As usual, recaps make it clear, I don't have a clue as to what I'm talking about. Edited August 4, 2015 by wvu80 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
defeldus Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 (edited) At this point. Not necessarily a bad thing. Especially when they're placing higher than the other two people seem to think are catching them. The last two nights have been opening up a bit of a gap and I have a feeling two corps will be fighting for first (BD and Crown) and two corps will be fighting for 3rd (Cadets and Bloo). Edited August 4, 2015 by defeldus 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wesleyrp Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 The only thing that bothers me head to head Crown to BD is..... Perc. Now they've been 5th or higher most of the season but last night if BD was present they were 6th. Are they vastly improved- Hell yes... They even play with more swagger than I've ever seen. But, as much as I love seeing BK have a good Perc night- Crown below them spells doom I think to win. BD will not have a caption below 2 or 3. If the Perc score is .5 or so they might make it up, but you know SCV, Cadets and BD are going in the upper 19s come finals. This is not mentioned as much because Crown has been 1st for much of the back half, but improved overall won't matter if improved score doesn't happen. I love both shows and hope it's a dog fight that sees all 4 top corps have a shot on Sat. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Windish Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 The only thing that bothers me head to head Crown to BD is..... Perc. Now they've been 5th or higher most of the season but last night if BD was present they were 6th. Are they vastly improved- Hell yes... They even play with more swagger than I've ever seen. But, as much as I love seeing BK have a good Perc night- Crown below them spells doom I think to win. BD will not have a caption below 2 or 3. If the Perc score is .5 or so they might make it up, but you know SCV, Cadets and BD are going in the upper 19s come finals. This is not mentioned as much because Crown has been 1st for much of the back half, but improved overall won't matter if improved score doesn't happen. I love both shows and hope it's a dog fight that sees all 4 top corps have a shot on Sat. Cheers Sounds like you are leaning, as I am, to concern about the affect caused by who does the Finals percussion judging. I know it's not fair to assign any win or loss to any one caption, dropped flag, or missed foul shot, like in sports. But, with total numbers this close. . . . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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