Bloooooooooooo! Bluecoats Official 2016 Thread

[Yossarian Sam]

Yea, except they don't get judged compared to their past shows. Cadets have been marching +200 for decades. Again, innovative?

I did like how they set up the opener; the hand claps from the battery were a nice and (wait for it) INNOVATIVE touch.

Okay - maybe nobody has asked this yet (I'm still getting caught up), but how would you define "innovation"? Does every aspect of a show have to be brand new? Or is it enough to try one new thing? Or even to explore further an idea that might NOT be brand new? I'm curious.

And listen, I'm not attacking you or your opinions - I'm just looking for clarification.

[Yossarian Sam]

I love the Bluecoats "All In" approach with this show. They're pushing the envelope with a really cool look. I wouldn't call it revoultionary though - or a paradigm shift as some others may have suggested. Go to WGI and see what they do there. If you were to see a smaller scale version of this show in WGI Winds, I don't think you'd call it revolutionary. It would fit right in on that stage. I'm not sure I'd want to see a steady diet of this concept on a drum corps field. But, that said, really enjoyed the show and have thought about it a lot since seeing it. But musically and visually, not sure how this show will stack up come August. We'll see. For last night, though, Bravo Bluecoats!

I think I agree with your point (and others') that this show may have elements seen before in WGI or other circuits. But we haven't seen it much in DCI. For some, that makes it new and fresh. For others, not so much, obviously.

As is the case with every show, it's probably okay for us to like what we like. I, for one, am excited to see Bloo again.

[corpsband]

Okay - maybe nobody has asked this yet (I'm still getting caught up), but how would you define "innovation"? Does every aspect of a show have to be brand new? Or is it enough to try one new thing? Or even to explore further an idea that might NOT be brand new? I'm curious.

And listen, I'm not attacking you or your opinions - I'm just looking for clarification.

"so suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself falling down what seemed to be a very deep well"

[Yossarian Sam]

"so suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself falling down what seemed to be a very deep well"

Ha! You are absolutely right. I may be sorry I asked, for sure!

[cfirwin3]

If you check the DCI YouTube recap... Rondinaro made a few observations, opinions and points that I think are important... in no particular order:

1. The show is not traditional...

2. Even though the music is mostly unfamiliar to drumcorps, it SOUNDS traditional anyway.

3. The corps gave a performance much cleaner and complete than a usual opening performance.

4. The group HAS NO WEAKNESS in any caption... they are fully strong.

5. This show will contend.

I think he his right. Arguments about the meaning of avant-garde aside... the show is very different visually as well as with respect to repertoire. Yet it has been designed to be highly visual (with super clean and classic difficult drill, if you took the time to notice), including novel effects. And the music could easily be a program from the 80's and 90's with respect to the formal completeness and flavor.

And they are so strong. I get the feeling that the scores were low-balled for them on opening night. Once we get more reads, I think this will be more like that 2014 BD show that was operating on a whole other level. I think lightning has struck, and all the planets are in line... and I think Rondinaro was prophesying as much.

This isn't a commentary on the competition... it's just the way the designs and the skill sets seem to have come out this year. Who knows... BD may show up to the party with a spoiler of a program as well.

[MikeN]

Rarely have I had such a sense of peeking into the future as I did watching Bluecoats last night. Even rarer was enjoying the heck out of it.

Mike

[cfirwin3]

Okay - maybe nobody has asked this yet (I'm still getting caught up), but how would you define "innovation"? Does every aspect of a show have to be brand new? Or is it enough to try one new thing? Or even to explore further an idea that might NOT be brand new? I'm curious.

And listen, I'm not attacking you or your opinions - I'm just looking for clarification.

For some on here, it's not innovative unless it looks like a completely differently activity... at which point they will charge that it isn't drumcorps any more.

Innovation is about introducing new methods and ideas... not about doing something different. The idea of uniforming the corps for acrobatics is innovative. The staging and transitional sliding is innovative. The instrumentation, while being utilized by others as well, is also innovative.

An innovative car design is about having a car that senses collision or parks itself. It's not about driving with square wheels.

It doesn't really matter that much because they didn't hit a home run merely on innovation.

[yogitom]

Everything in DCI builds on something else. Even Garfield 1983 - a paradigm-busting show if there ever was one - built on what SCV and 27 had been doing, but took it to another level.

Just speaking for myself, I thought the Bluecoats music book was completely captivating. All 21st Century music, and some styles that haven't really been used much in DCI, that nevertheless comes together almost like a 21st-century take on a classic spanish jazz drum corps book. On a scale of 1=rotten to 10=freshly-picked, I thought 'Coats were somewhere around a 9.

And the bold visual design and use of the props may not be without precedent, but I think a lot of people immediately reacted to it as some of the coolest "4D" cirque-like design we've yet had in DCI. Again, pretty fresh.

Much like BD often does, it looks like the 'Coats design team was willing to go all in on their idea. Costumes, props, weird pit formations. It comes off as a show that's trying to be something artistically, not to check off boxes on the sheets. So once again, fresh.

Is it paradigm-changing? I don't think I've seen another show that quite pulls these design elements together this well. They appear to have the performance excellence to compete with what they've put out there. You'll know that it changed the paradigm in 5 years if other groups copied it.

The Great Gig in the Sky is not 21st century.

[MikeRapp]

If you check the DCI YouTube recap... Rondinaro made a few observations, opinions and points that I think are important... in no particular order:

1. The show is not traditional...

2. Even though the music is mostly unfamiliar to drumcorps, it SOUNDS traditional anyway.

3. The corps gave a performance much cleaner and complete than a usual opening performance.

4. The group HAS NO WEAKNESS in any caption... they are fully strong.

5. This show will contend.

I think he his right. Arguments about the meaning of avant-garde aside... the show is very different visually as well as with respect to repertoire. Yet it has been designed to be highly visual (with super clean and classic difficult drill, if you took the time to notice), including novel effects. And the music could easily be a program from the 80's and 90's with respect to the formal completeness and flavor.

And they are so strong. I get the feeling that the scores were low-balled for them on opening night. Once we get more reads, I think this will be more like that 2014 BD show that was operating on a whole other level. I think lightning has struck, and all the planets are in line... and I think Rondinaro was prophesying as much.

This isn't a commentary on the competition... it's just the way the designs and the skill sets seem to have come out this year. Who knows... BD may show up to the party with a spoiler of a program as well.

It is very clear that one of the residual benefits of seeking to reinvent the idea of a DCI show is that you have to plan things out way in advance. You just cannot throw 160 kids out there and even think you could execute an idea like this unless you have been working on every single detail for many many months. Listen to the pre-show commentary, it is very clear they have been working on this specific idea for a full year.

That may well be a luxury most corps cannot afford. But it sure sets the bar fantastically high!

For me, this is the most exciting part of what is happening. If corps MUST plan this far out, work this hard, scheme effects this thoroughly, and are rewarded for it in scores, financial support, and merch sales, we are on the verge of an entirely new age of show production.

[henry7184]

I'll admit it, I've been a long time loather of the Bluecoats. I'm a Crown, Cadets and Regiment homer, but IMO the Bluecoats show was the best designed by far last night. Will it translate into a top 2 finish, I don't know, but it was the most innovative and unique show we saw last night. I'm pull for Bloo to win the whole enchilada this year (unless I like what I see from SCV better).