Official DCI Prelims Thread 2015

[Super Don-O]

Just got back from the theater. I wasn't able to go to any live shows this year, so other than youtube this was my only good look at this year's lineup.

I've been a drum corps fan for going on 30 years and I have to say this is probably the best overall top 12 I've ever seen. Every single corps had me smiling.

Special props to SCV and Bluecoats for being my favorites this year - outstanding design and performance.

Blue Devils would be tied with them if the k-pop didn't pull me out of the groove, other than that just stellar. The guard didn't grab me the way they have some other years

Crown, what can you say, just amazing sound and GE, beautiful execution and the show really grew on me all year long

Cadets are the formula one racecars of dci, and the black uni's looked good. I still don't get the ballad, it's just not entertaining like the rest of the show and for me holds you back from the top

Academy, thank you for not being afraid to put something sweet and joyful on the field. I loved loved loved it.

Too tired to write more but thank you to the designers and members of all 15 corps in tonight's broadcast, well well done

[wigwam]

It just kills me that I couldn't go to any shows this year because I live in Florida now. It's a topic for another thread, I know, but can we PLEASE get DCI to come back to Florida?

No, it's too hot, it rains all the time, and you have too many snakes!

[N.E. Brigand]

So Blue Devils have been marching just 149 members all season before tonight and nobody here noticed? Tsk, tsk.

[packetslave]

By the way...question: is there an actual minimum age requirement for World Class Corps? That girl in the yellow dress in BD's show certainly didn't look anything close to 14 in my eyes...

Nope, there's the max age rule, but minimum age is up to the individual corps.

[N.E. Brigand]

I saw two drops by Crown's guard and just one by BD's. But the tick system is long gone, so Crown stays ahead in that caption.

[HornTeacher]

Thank you, packetslave. I don't know why I had it in my head that the age range was 14-21.

[Zerix]

Anyone have the semis schedule?

[FTNK]

Kinda hoping BD will pull back ahead. Then again I thought The Re:Write of Spring got ROBBED and I'm probably in the minority for that

[Super Don-O]

I saw two drops by Crown's guard and just one by BD's. But the tick system is long gone, so Crown stays ahead in that caption.

I noticed that too and then in the post comments Rondo called Crown's guard "flawless" lol

But in truth the Crown guard is amazing and I think the guard content and performance level absolutely deserved to beat BD

[sop sop sop sop sop]

A review from the Big, Loud, and Live Thing.......

Let's start from the beginning!

The Academy: Extremely entertaining, fun drill. Wish they could be a bit louder. Excellent staging at the end of the ballad with the Mary Poppins umbrella pop, I had them over Troopers (sorry not sorry)

Troopers: The announcers made a point to mention the volume of this hornline, but they didn't seem to deliver (granted I was sitting at the movies, so who really knows). I think having the guard/vocal soloist sprint around the field before singing is a tactical error. A couple of nice brass moments that rung around the big oil can.

Colts: This show is fun, got some laughs out of the theater crowd. The opening drill statement with the gunshot and dead body is brilliant. I personally enjoyed the story telling and the electronic sample from the Twin Peaks soundtrack. One of my personal favorites, brass had some bite, percussion had some jams, guard seemed to be missing sometimes minus the soloists. The dead guard soloist had realistic corpse eyes lol

Crossmen: Clean and stuff, I guess. Best female vocal soloist of the night, and the guard was on fire (I'm happy the numbers reflected this). Brass was beautiful during the ballad part in front of the pit, but not that loud (might be a mic issue, DCI probably wasn't prepared to mic a hornline so close to the front side line). Again, some really good ringing sounds reverberating about the stadium. Also cool percussion moments on the front tarp. Overall pretty flat though...

Blue Stars: Surprisingly disappointed, and I love this corps. My main problem was the lack of clarity in the brass book. There were times when the melody/harmony/rhythmic/whatever lines were hardly discernible, and on the move it sounded kind of sludgy. Visual performance was not particularly stellar either, I'm mostly blaming the show design/staging. I thought there would be a lot to improve on over the course of the season based on what I saw at the tour premier, but maybe I was wrong... Design staff needs to focus more on cohesive stuff that works, less sloppy drill writing would be nice too, something that would showcase rather than diminish a talented member base.

Boston: Here's the deal, though. I did not have Boston ahead of Blue Stars, despite my qualms. I did not get any emotional response from this show. The kids are performing great, but the field is terribly cluttered. There is too much going on, not in a good way. Guard was a little on fire, but otherwise bland.

Madison: Squeaky clean, I can see why they might have beaten the Cavies. Bass drum moments are nice, still can't stand that bleepin Moses part but that's on design staff. Again, not much response from me...

Cavaliers: I LOVE THE OPENING STATEMENT. Instant chills. Did not care for vocal solo. Brass was my favorite part of this show, I can see why the guard got dogged score-wise.

Pham Regment: Okay, they are pretty good. They perform the inferno out of their show, visually rather clean, nice brass moments. Just again, real gimmicky show design that doesn't make me want to stand up and cheer. They previewed the showing with a clip of Phantom in 2005, which got me real excited. Something about 2015 just is... different... design wise, that is. And I'm a young guy, so no I don't want G bugles back or anything...

Blue Knights: Innovative! Minus stealing guard weapons from Marian Catholic, but w/e. I love the mirror props, they are genius! It looks like members are literally disappearing, not just running behind an extremely forced eyesore. Drill was fun, I don't see how they scored so low in visual analysis, but I guess I'm not doing the judging. What I loved the most was the flow of the show, how non-traditional it was. The opener started growing like it was going to get big real fast, but died down for a minute. Brass didn't open up until later, which I appreciate from a design standpoint. And those kiddos can PLAY. Percussion and guard also very intriguing. One of two shows that actually made me think for myself instead of being a gimmicky force-feed of ideas and themes.

SCV: My favorite recent SCV show. Keyboard opening is flawless. Drill was not as exciting as I expected from all of the hype on here (this was my first read). Theremin was nifty, and some cool electronic sample moments. Baritone soloist was the true wow factor in the show, imo. Also the flag poles that lit up were a cool and unexpected effect. Percussion was FLAWLESS, cliche I know.

Bluecoats? I forgot the order: Like, this show is real cool. But is it really that cool? A clear step up in performance quality from the rest of the previous corps. But how many backwards attitudes can you do in one show? Brass was extraordinary, percussion was exceptional as well. Just not a super interesting show all of the time, especially in the opener between big moments. Closer also does nothing for me emotionally...

Crown: Really good, don't get me wrong. I think they deserved second though (barring all penalties), or maybe even third? One of the more gimmicky shows, but performed with a ton of passion. It's just, like, Dante's Mt. Nacheesemo, not Dante's Inferno. Brass was pretty amazing, tied for volume and face blasting with Cadets but a touch cleaner. Guard had a couple of drops and a couple of REALLY obvious errors, are they really undeniable like we are saying they are? I understand bad shows happen, and it was a good run for the guard mostly, but not the 100/100 that is being called for. Gold tarp, while a gimmick, is really blizzing cool.

Cadets: Sorry, I irrationally love this show. So much anger and power in the music, my favorite percussion book. Guard choreo/writing is weak, but they perform it well. French horns are still genius. Black uniforms are the bomb dot com. Maybe a little less counting and this would be my favorite show of the season. Brass was so loud! Loved it.

BD: WHAT A SHOW. I loved this, and they deserved the win in my opinion. Crisp brass, the Sweeney Todd moment was flawless and I wanted to cry tears of joy and throw all of my first borns at the theater screen. I would literally build a time machine to have a first born child fifty times so I could throw fifty babies. Guard popping out of the books at the top was genius. The show was gimmicky on a surface level, but there was a ton going on, so many interactions to watch. I did see a couple guard problems here too, though, so Crown winning does not anger me or anything. K Pop section was brilliant, it came out of nowhere. I love this corps because they tie together a ton of elements and present it all without shoving it down your throat. Each time I watch a BD show I feel differently about it. I can't say the same about a lot of other corps.

Overall season impressions: A lot of gimmicks in almost every show. Like silly little voice-overs, horrendous poses of looking off into the distance. It's like these corps are selling themselves out for points. Poor members! Revolt against some of your creative teams! Performance levels are top notch but are tarnished by these cheesy sound bites. It's like drinking a gallon of fondue and washing it down with maple syrup sometimes...

The end, hope you enjoyed.