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The direction of show design: will all follow Bloo?


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For a while Dean Westman was also on Cadets staff, but Hopkins let him go too, just like all those creative visual guys who have staffed Crown for the past decade in addition to Michael Klesch on the music side. Yup, he's been beaten at his own game.

When was he on the Cadets staff? And what was his capacity?

I'm not sure how much of the Bluecoats productions are his brainchild(ren), as I'm sure it's a collaborative effort, but he appears to be one of the best in the game (and seems so down to earth).

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When was he on the Cadets staff? And what was his capacity?

I'm not sure how much of the Bluecoats productions are his brainchild(ren), as I'm sure it's a collaborative effort, but he appears to be one of the best in the game (and seems so down to earth).

I have to check the bios for the exact dates but it was the end of the 90's and he had both brass faculty and design input responsibilities even w/o a lot of titles. He went from Cadets back to band to Troopers back to band to Bluecoats.

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Already happens-corps adapts a new approach/some reinvention. Blue Devils have been masterful at it.

I think you misunderstood what I meant. I don't think anyone recently has beaten BD at their OWN game. 2011 Cadets was a veryyy different approach to BD's, as was Spartacus. Crown 2013 may be the only show that comes close to allowing someone to say that BD was beaten at their own game since Crown 2013 used a lot of the staging that BD uses, just minus the use of props.

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So according to DCP vids reposted on various threads, Bloocoats innovations are taken on the ground laid by Cadets 2006 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCctdaMN0To&feature=youtu.be&t=2m7s, Cadets 2012 https://www.youtube....outu.be&t=8m30s, and the most recent BD shows, especially 2014 &15 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1W22qqwSD0 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ75TVCioZE

which then begs the question, what are we really seeing as original-to-DCI visual material in 2016 for Bloo and for any corps?

Edited by xandandl
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I've now seen and really enjoy the show. Classic Bluecoats. Very exciting. All the best to them.

But I'm a little confused - what's the sea change, exactly? Like, when we talk about the aspects of the show that we either want or don't want other corps to adapt, what, in specific terms, are we talking about? I see playing and marching. And, sure, some interaction with props. Is the exciting/horrifying (depending on you) part just that some people are on those half pipes, adding another dimension? Genuinely - I don't follow.

The most innovative thing I see here, and it's big IMO, is their approach to amplification from the field. THAT, I do think will have great influence. I remember a judge's tape from last year that said the same thing about the Reich "Counterpoint" segment.

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So according to DCP vids reposted on various threads, Bloocoats innovations are taken on the ground laid by Cadets 2006 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCctdaMN0To&feature=youtu.be&t=2m7s, Cadets 2012 https://www.youtube....outu.be&t=8m30s, and the most recent BD shows, especially 2014 &15 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1W22qqwSD0 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ75TVCioZE

which then begs the question, what are we really seeing as original-to-DCI visual material in 2016 for Bloo and for any corps?

Don't forget Madison's "Pirates of Lake Mendota"! https://youtu.be/sjLSF5zV8As

(20 years ago - which is why I'm suspicious of the "bring back classic drum corps" argument.)

Edited by saxfreq1128
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Did I love Bloo's show? Of course. Was I blown away? You bet. Will I want to see it again? Many times. Is it drum and bugle corps? Not really. We are in a time when we have to redefine what is meant by the "marching arts." And really, it's not so much "marching" anyway. It's really, really good and I'm wiling to spend my money to see it and support it for the good of the youth who still derive lifetimes of lessons from it. But I can no longer honestly regard what Bluecoats do as "drum corps." And if the rest of the activity follows Bloo's lead, the same will be true for the rest of DCI.

That's life, I guess. Always changing. In many ways for the better. But as with all change, some good is left behind, too. The only certainty is that fans who are ecstatic today about what Bluecoats are doing will grumble in 20 years about what the Next Big Thing is doing. Change is eternal. Griping about change is eternal. Might as well embrace it and enjoy the ride.

OMG, here we go. Again: another season, another "a show design doesn't meet my personal ideals/philosophies of what drum and bugle corps 'really' is so it is clearly not legit drum and bugle corps."

It's drum and bugle corps. Period: this is to up to debate: a Top 3 drum and bugle corps is performing this show in the Top, world-standard marching art of Drum Corps International. It IS drum corps, regardless of your personal tastes. Don't like it (obviously not)? That's awesome: I'd love to hear a legit scholarly-type opinion on why the uniforms don't work for the performance. Unless you are intimately familiar with Bluecoats' finances, it's REALLY not your place to discuss what may/may not be appropriate financially for a corps to commit to annually (note: corps-proper type uniforms, the type I'm assume you're "for" that corps use annually for a long time, are a LOT more expensive than the type of guard/WGI percussion uniforms Bluecoats are sporting this year).

We can debate on whether or not this trend may or may not be prudent for every World Class drum corps to annually change or tweak uniforms; or whether or not Bluecoats uniform are sufficiently colorful, or effective enough to bring them a ring. FAR more interesting than the "I don't like this because tradition or something" drudgery.

FWIW, I LOVE Bluecoats for more this year specifically than I ever had as a drum corps fan dating back to the late 90's, and do indeed LOVE where Bluecoats are now vs 20 years ago. Maybe don't project your bitterness on all of fandom?

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I've now seen and really enjoy the show. Classic Bluecoats. Very exciting. All the best to them.

But I'm a little confused - what's the sea change, exactly? Like, when we talk about the aspects of the show that we either want or don't want other corps to adapt, what, in specific terms, are we talking about? I see playing and marching. And, sure, some interaction with props. Is the exciting/horrifying (depending on you) part just that some people are on those half pipes, adding another dimension? Genuinely - I don't follow.

The most innovative thing I see here, and it's big IMO, is their approach to amplification from the field. THAT, I do think will have great influence. I remember a judge's tape from last year that said the same thing about the Reich "Counterpoint" segment.

The OP seems unhappy with constant uniform changes which have become the trend du jour. Some posters have jumped on this "modern drum corps: grrrrr" ideology by complaining about electronics (which this particular show seems lighter in than previous couple of shows, albeit all shows Bluecoats have done recently have had the perfect amount of electronics for the show designs IMO) or whatever else.

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So according to DCP vids reposted on various threads, Bloocoats innovations are taken on the ground laid by Cadets 2006 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCctdaMN0To&feature=youtu.be&t=2m7s, Cadets 2012 https://www.youtube....outu.be&t=8m30s, and the most recent BD shows, especially 2014 &15 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1W22qqwSD0 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ75TVCioZE

which then begs the question, what are we really seeing as original-to-DCI visual material in 2016 for Bloo and for any corps?

More goofy criticism from DCP I suspect? I've never seen ANYBODY do specifically what Bluecoats are attempting with the use of ramps. Ever.

I have seen every drum corps play brass & percussion, spin flags & weapons, and march/run/whatever around a field, so maybe drum corps has been stale since the early 1900s by that sort of DCP logic

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When was he on the Cadets staff? And what was his capacity?

I'm not sure how much of the Bluecoats productions are his brainchild(ren), as I'm sure it's a collaborative effort, but he appears to be one of the best in the game (and seems so down to earth).

He was Brass Caption Supervisor with Cadets in the early 2000's (after 2003 season), and left after the 2004 season

Edited by perc2100
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