DrumManTx Posted June 24, 2016 Share Posted June 24, 2016 You're right: it was Bluecoats. DrumManTx mentioned it in his great review of this show. Thanks. :) That was pretty wild, I didn't know that type of stuff existed, and it's good too because that kind of listening responsibility would be INSANE without it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.E. Brigand Posted June 24, 2016 Share Posted June 24, 2016 Was it my imagination (or have I simply missed the fact across the years), or did there seem to be a lot more "mic'd" horn soloists last night? Maybe I'm just showing my (apparent) old fogey dinosaur bias, but to me, there is something faintly "artificial" about the activity when brass instruments need to have electronically-enhanced volume simply to be heard over the other electronic enhancements which have increasingly permeated the activity. That is not to say that I disapprove of modernity, or that I am one to be stuck in the "what used to be was way better" frame of thought. But...just a question and observation. Nothing more, and nothing less. It felt like a lot to me, too. The three main arguments for amplifying some brass solos over the past six years or so have been that (1) it enables the soloist to play with a softer warmer tone and still be heard; (2) it allows corps to use new sounds by manipulating the tone, as first demonstrated by Bluecoats' baritone soloist in 2010's "Metropolis"; and (3) it makes it possible for a soloist to be heard even when the rest of the corps is playing at full volume. There are aesthetic/philosophical counterarguments to all three points, but I won't bother listing them again now. More to the point is that last night, on some occasions, I felt that none of those arguments applied, and that some things were miked for no particular reason whatsoever: an "artificiality" that was unjustified. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.E. Brigand Posted June 24, 2016 Share Posted June 24, 2016 Did Phantom have ANY props? Their show seemed very...dunno...subdued. Loved the big low end brass as usual, but there just doesn't seem to be a lot going on with this show. They did: something like eight rolling platforms. They were used, e.g., for the four soloists down front at the start of Young Person's Guide. I do hope you're not implying that props are necessary to make a show exciting. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurassic Lancer Posted June 24, 2016 Share Posted June 24, 2016 One point I need to re-emphasize about Bluecoats' show. It really needs to be seen live. I saw it last night live on the 43 yard line, 18 rows up, and it is like a five ring circus. The eye can't take it all in on one sitting, but you can shift your focus every few seconds and catch something amazing all over the field if you see it live. I saw posted bootleg of the theater experience when I got home, and Tom Blair simply did not know how to point his cameras. This is not a slam against Tom, who does an amazing job. I honestly don't know how he could keep up with everything going on. BUT, the theater crowd missed more than 50% of what was going on, and some of the coolest stuff that was going on. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.E. Brigand Posted June 24, 2016 Share Posted June 24, 2016 (edited) How political is the Cavies show? Without a spoiler alert...are we talking a show with signs that say "Donald Trump is a fool - vote for Hillary?" or is it more subtle?...most propaganda is subtle by the way. Starting at about the middle of the show, Cavs take a montage approach that just gets more and more busy--aesthetically, I think it works, whereas, for instance, I was more perturbed by the mess on Blue Devils' field last year. (Don't get me wrong: BD's was a good show overall, deserving of at least third place; that aspect just happened to annoy me.) The montage includes lots of audio clips and lots of signs. These include advertising and political content. Apparently there is a recording of Donald Trump. I definitely saw a pretty sizeable "Hillary" Clinton sign. Some people mentioned seeing a Bernie Sanders placard as well. For all I know there were others. (I'm not sure most propaganda is subtle. I would say that most effective propaganda is subtle.) Personally, I'm glad that Cavaliers actually reference the current political climate; to do otherwise in a show with this theme would be to ignore the elephant in the room. That decision alone puts them far ahead of what Crossmen did. But they have to make it clear that all political movements engage in propaganda. Edited June 24, 2016 by N.E. Brigand 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrownBariDad Posted June 24, 2016 Share Posted June 24, 2016 You're right: it was Bluecoats. DrumManTx mentioned it in his great review of this show. Oops -- I completely forgot about the Reviews section of the Forums. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.E. Brigand Posted June 24, 2016 Share Posted June 24, 2016 That was pretty wild, I didn't know that type of stuff existed, and it's good too because that kind of listening responsibility would be INSANE without it. It's also used in theatre to help actors who can't learn their lines ... well, not all the time, but often enough when TV / movie stars deign to appear in a Broadway show for the prestige but are too lazy or don't have the chops to memorize more than the equivalent of one film scene at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlejaw Posted June 24, 2016 Share Posted June 24, 2016 Right after one of them commented that percussion was a weakness? Yeah, not the best night for the announcers. I know these guys are legendary in the activity, but at times their commentary and facial expressions felt like satire. At times, my theatre broke out in laughter, and they weren't laughing WITH them. I am their age so I can say this: Can DCI not find commentators somewhere closer to the age group of the corps and directors? Post Bluecoats I remember them saying all sections were great. He almost repeated himself from 2002 Cavaliers "no weaknesses, none at all." But I definitely remember post crown when mentioned the drums being not great. There were a few times the snares were quite obviously out. So I think you have them confused. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.E. Brigand Posted June 24, 2016 Share Posted June 24, 2016 One point I need to re-emphasize about Bluecoats' show. It really needs to be seen live. I saw it last night live on the 43 yard line, 18 rows up, and it is like a five ring circus. The eye can't take it all in on one sitting, but you can shift your focus every few seconds and catch something amazing all over the field if you see it live. I saw posted bootleg of the theater experience when I got home, and Tom Blair simply did not know how to point his cameras. This is not a slam against Tom, who does an amazing job. I honestly don't know how he could keep up with everything going on. BUT, the theater crowd missed more than 50% of what was going on, and some of the coolest stuff that was going on. Someone who attended the Indy opener last year said this about Bloo's "Kinetic Noise", but in the cinema, I thought it came across very well. This year not so much. The camera often seemed to be in what felt like the wrong place. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Dixon Posted June 24, 2016 Share Posted June 24, 2016 There was a time when comparing a Corps show to a Band HS show would have been just about the ultimate insult one could make. Yes it was an Era know as the 1970s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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