Blue Knights 2016

[wesleyrp]

Blue Knight's musicians and hornline are exceptional, and they show a wide range of emotions. The color guard is expressive, and the whole corps displays a unity of purpose that is just palpable. I love their huge sound-- it's what drum corps enthusiasts live for. This corps is dedicated to passionate messages of the human experience, and that's valiant.

The show design has some huge hurdles that it sets up for itself and basically never recovers from:

• When you work backwards from the end of time, the end of your show probably won't have an "ending". Right now the end is a whimper. This is drum corps, so the audience expects a big ending, and if you're going to substitute an anti-ending, you better try like hell to give us standing O set pieces just before.
• Set pieces? You've got one at the beginning, the apocalypse. What are the others? We need more set pieces that have a singular focus, and that make sense and everybody gets. Also, I bet more than half the audience didn't understand the reversal of time concept. That's a problem. On Madison Avenue, that's a fail.
• It's a grim topic. Can you add humor? Have you ever added humor? Humor invigorates the crowd and encourages them to climb aboard. Humor also adds resonance to your ending and softens the maudlin topic.
• The Siri voice is intentionally grim, announcing the end of the world, now days away. If you use this turning back time device, then shouldn't we hear her correct herself in successive jump edit style, correcting herself. "next Thursday" "next month" "in one year" "in the distant future" "event canceled." This helps clarify the turning back of time, and also adds some whimsy and positivity.

Other notes:

• If you take one of the videos of this show and do a screen grab at any given moment, you see chaos. Tons of scattered interpretive dance. This is a unison activity, essentially. Scatter drill, and scatter dance must be used as a potent spice.
• The solo five or six spin rifle throw is passe. There are unborn children who can do this now. Cut it and replace it with a meaningful staged exchange or throw that advances the theme.
• At the beginning where the world ends, the entire corps is compacted, as if we're seeing a 20,000 mile view of the earth. Then by the end of the show, the corps is spread out the full width of the field. That's a perspective change. Great idea in principle. But as a result, much of the middle of the show, the hornline is spread massively across the entire field, with multiple points of focus and multiple stage areas. After about three minutes, we're lost and lose interest. Where are you going with this in the middle section? We need clearly defined set pieces so we can ride with you.
• The mirrors nobody gets, and their purpose is vague. Unless there's a huge visual trick that you're doing with them, cut them. We either want to see 100 people magically disappear into the mirror, or cut the prop entirely. Why not use BD's slit fabric device to disappear into the mirrors? If you do, you can also use these to pop back out at the ending to indicate a reversal of time or the "undoing".

Suggestions for change:

• Can we see a large clock face that the entire corps tries to physically hang off the minute hand and pull it back? Opportunity for playful humor here.
• If you insist on the mirror idea, of course we need a massive 15 foot mirror that looks like reflective glass, but really has an opening for the entire corps to pass through. A metaphor for turning back time and self-relfection.
• The individual mirrors spread out all over the field, and the overall 100 yard expanse and three-ring circus approach to your stage pictures make our eyes separate as if we have strabismus. Why not instead focus on theatrical set pieces which focus the entire corps on a singular dramatic action, and this will help the audience focus on the throughline.
• At the end, the apocalypse lady appears again, a framing device. We can barely see her because of the scattered staging, and her resonance is lost.
• We need to see illustrations of time reversing and things being Mulliganed. Good luck. That's a tall order that requires a rock solid dramatic action, and possibly the introduction of characters and additional super-specific set pieces.
• Maybe at the end, you can break the fourth wall, and instead of doing the anti-beginning, make a solid unified, compact formation statement for an ending, one that will elicit a much stronger audience response . In fact, what you could do is a false ending, tricking the audience with a recorded announcer voice saying "The Blue Knights from Denver Colorado", and then come at the audience with a surprise strong unified end statement, separating itself from the storyline in a passionate, direct unified wedge assaulting us with a final unified compact hit, an encore.

Those design criticisms aside, congratulations to these incredible Broadway quality dancers and musicians. You're poised and professional, and with your talent and focus you really will change the world.

I think a lot of what you write is well thought out and well explained. There's a lot of creative understanding from your post... Kudos. All of your statements are awesome in that you offer solutions to what you perceive are pitfalls in programming, so often we get the "that's just a bad show" statement without specifics. I applaud you for your constructive and insightful statements!

For me and only me I think there's a two fold process at work here- 1) The ending is going to be much different with the narrative voice from 2014, but I have a gut feeling that there's even more in the works as well. 2) I think the designers specifically stayed away from characters and/or specific storylines so that the audience and judges can draw their own inferences as to how the world ends. The tarp which is kinda being saved for large shows or where a synthetic surface is used (can't be on grass) shows a black hole looking idea. In reality the drill writer took the opening to mimic a celestial/star/constellation type event. Perhaps a star collapses or meteor etc.... When Gorgon hits I imagine a city of people seeing a comet come streaking across the sky at low altitude and running frantically for any protection or shelter. It's also while I feel thy spread the field so often in the first half of the show... A everyone for themselves, who's really left, what's really left mentality. When the moonlight sonata gets played backwards we see the corps rewind into the beginning formation and the end get reversed. The colors of the props and flags represent that new beginning or a second chance/appreciation or greatfulness of life. This is also where I agree more can be done. I want more of Saturn, but that's just me. None-the-less, Great Discussion Points, Kudos!!

[RedJazz1900]

A couple thoughts here:

1) I am familiar with the 2014 show, but what about audience members that never saw that show, or didn't see it enough to truly remember it? It is a risky move to base so much of your show and effect on a character from two shows prior.

2) I know some people have said "they are leaving it intentionally vague so audience members can create their own interpretation". I've found that intentionally vague hardly ever works. I've never heard anyone walk away from a show saying "man... That show concept was wayyyy TOO CLEAR". But, I'm sure we've all experienced "That show concept was confusing. I have no idea what is going on." When left up to their own opinions, if audience members aren't told exactly what the theme is, their decision is going to be "I don't get it". So, I feel this is another risk for BK this year.

[wesleyrp]

Totally understood- definitely a risk. I thought that more so last year than this year... To me, Because was a great show that I as a BK alum have no idea what it was about. But, I drew my own inferences and enjoyed the product. This year is very out there, but I don't feel the theme is that hard to get. At the very least you see/hear the end of the world in the show so there's maybe a bit more direction even though it's open ended. Great points Redjazz

[Damonallred]

They haven't showed it yet but at the very end, the electronic voice switches to the narrator from 2014 saYing "Oh what a lovely night that would be"

It's shown in this perc only full show. Very high quality vid I might add.

https://youtu.be/irNTwpELg3E

She also says the "it's going to happen very soon" and when I first heard it, it kinda tripped me out because I thought I remembered hearing her say "but you will very soon" in 2014 when she was talking about how "you have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure" but turns out, she says "but you will someday" in 2014. Would've been awesome if they brought it even more full circle that way.

[DrumManTx]

They haven't showed it yet but at the very end, the electronic voice switches to the narrator from 2014 saYing "Oh what a lovely night that would be"

Called it.

[Herk]

It's shown in this perc only full show. Very high quality vid I might add.

https://youtu.be/irNTwpELg3E

She also says the "it's going to happen very soon" and when I first heard it, it kinda tripped me out because I thought I remembered hearing her say "but you will very soon" in 2014 when she was talking about how "you have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure" but turns out, she says "but you will someday" in 2014. Would've been awesome if they brought it even more full circle that way.

I think BK is going to connect 2014, 2015 and 2016 in some way during their closer. Perhaps a medley of each year's closer? In any case, as has been said...what we see in Indy Weekend is going to be much different that what we've seen to date.

[henry7184]

Wow. I had no idea what their show is about. LOL.

[Damonallred]

I think BK is going to connect 2014, 2015 and 2016 in some way during their closer. Perhaps a medley of each year's closer? In any case, as has been said...what we see in Indy Weekend is going to be much different that what we've seen to date.

Towards the end of Saturn the mellos play a very similar run to the one they played during Fly To Paradise. There's the 2015 connection

[PrfctTimeOfDay]

I think BK is going to connect 2014, 2015 and 2016 in some way during their closer. Perhaps a medley of each year's closer? In any case, as has been said...what we see in Indy Weekend is going to be much different that what we've seen to date.

I have to admit, I’m pretty captivated by what the Blue Knights are doing. Intentional or not, it does feel like this show is tied somehow to the 2014 and 2015 shows and that makes the intrigue about what’s going on in the 2016 show even more fascinating. It almost feels like it’s coming full circle. In 2014 we are introduced to a character who is describing their last moments and memories, in 2015 we explore those memories and in the 2016 show, BK illustrates the catalyst for those last moments, presented in reverse order.. . It’s brilliant.

Edited July 20, 2016 by PrfctTimeOfDay

[RedJazz1900]

I have to admit, Im pretty captivated by what the Blue Knights are doing. Intentional or not, it does feel like this show is tied somehow to the 2014 and 2015 shows and that makes the intrigue about whats going on in the 2016 show even more fascinating. It almost feels like its coming full circle. In 2014 we are introduced to a character who is describing their last moments and memories, in 2015 we explore those memories and in the 2016 show, BK illustrates the catalyst for those last moments, presented in reverse order.. . Its brilliant.

It's brilliant for people who know the shows from 14 and 15. But is this brlliance lost on people who don't know those past shows? Not sure the 2016 show can stand on its own for someone Who isn't familiar with the other shows