Who will peak first?

[HornTeacher]

Obviously, it will be the first Corps that reaches 100.

[henry7184]

Why do you think The Cavaliers are going to "peak"? TBH I've never understood that term as it relates to drum corps.

They won't. They will succeed for very much the same reasons I listed above related to BS vs BK, only to a greater extent. Cavaliers have one of the best and most challenging visual packages this year. They still have tons of room for growth.

[RedJazz1900]

I don't like the term "peak". I tend to think of it more as slowing down, not peaking.

Groups I think will slow down:

Bluecoats

Crown

PR

Maybe Blue Knights

Madison

Troopers

Groups I think will push ahead faster than others:

BD

SCV

Cadets

Cavaliers

Blue Stars

Academy

[henry7184]

I don't like the term "peak". I tend to think of it more as slowing down, not peaking.

Groups I think will slow down:

Bluecoats

Crown

PR

Maybe Blue Knights

Madison

Troopers

Groups I think will push ahead faster than others:

BD

SCV

Cadets

Cavaliers

Blue Stars

Academy

I agree mostly with this. I would switch Madison and Academy. While I think Academy has one of the best designed shows, the demand just ins't there. While I think Madison has design issues, the demand is there. I think both will finish 10th - 12th, but I would probably put Madison in 11th and Academy in 12th come finals. Crossmen though, they could conceivably catch Regiment, IMO.

Edited July 31, 2016 by henry7184

[Raider90]

Nobody. All corps and their members will continue to work their tales off.

[corpsband]

enjoying all the prognostication. going to be fun to watch the run to the finish.

[jwillis35]

These score gains are pretty much directly proportionate with the corps' current ranked placement. The closer you get to 100, the slower you will gain points. Sort of how this system is designed. The fact that Bluecoats and BD continue to gain nearly a point a night, in the 90s, tells me they will probably finish 1-2 and within a point of each other?

That said, I think we have already seen Crown start to peak. Cadets will either start making big jumps or start to fall farther behind, and eventually behind Cavaliers. They have a huge advantage in music, but have already been overtaken in GE and visual, and historically those are the areas that push or pull on momentum at the end.

Agree. The closer you get to 100 the less room for growth because you are already so good.

Peaking is a funny term. It doesn't mean a corps is perfectly clean (visual, music), although being clean can have a lot to do with it. It usually refers to a show's ability to grow in all areas. In other words, even if you're not perfectly clean the judges in respective areas of brass, percussion, guard, visual, and GE feel you have hit your ceiling in placement. Your score in those captions may go up in small amounts with cleaning, but short of rewrites, the effect, the demands on the performer, the content, etc. are being placed appropriately both in score and against other corps.

Peaking is one of the reasons we see so many new endings. They're exciting for one, but more importantly they give the staff new content to work with. New content could potentially mean new GE possibilities, new analysis, and new challenges for the performers which may or may not help performance scores. But this is also why other aspects of a show are rewritten.

Why do you think the design team for the Cadets began rewrites as early as July 1, even before? They are pros and have been around. They knew how the judges felt after a few reads, and they were likely highly critical of their own work (which is something all the best designers and staff do). They realized that what they had vs what was out there was not going to keep them in the game. You think the Cadets initial show is sitting in 5th right now? Now they have some upward mobility in terms of analysis, performance, and GE. That's a good thing. The flip side to this, again using Cadets as an example, is that their main theme (statues awakening) is still there, and not being able to sell that more effectively still hurts them. Unless they were to change the theme of their show, that aspect of their GE and visual has likely peaked. But they've added marcher demand, musical demand, and various visual demand in drill to counter what they lose in theme, and it's helping them to hold ground. Much applause to The Cadets for recognizing this and doing something about it. It will not vault them into 4th unless somehow SCV crashes (don't see that happening), but it's an example of how a perennial top 3 corps (through the bulk of their past 34 years) makes changes and does so early on -- which in this case they had no choice.

Edited July 31, 2016 by jwillis35

[Ghost]

Since Boston has only gained 18.025 points in 21 shows, and been at 78 the last three shows, they may have plateaued somewhat.

[jwillis35]

I would agree with the folks saying Carolina Crown has peaked a little. I was thinking that last night. But who knows for sure. If they have peaked it's likely in theme. Still plenty of room for growth in percussion, visual ex, and GE. Brass and guard are fabulous. But I do feel the western theme has hit it's peak, which does affect GE scores, and unless they do something more with the stage coach and/or the story I feel GE will suffer just enough for BD and Bloo to stay ahead. I wish the coach moved more at the intro.

The Blue Knights have some serious upward mobility with their theme and could peak at the right time (Finals). I can still see this taking 6th, but 7th is more likely.

Edited July 31, 2016 by jwillis35

[tesmusic]

I agree on Crown, but would also say Phantom and Bluecoats.

I'd love to see Bloo get their first title, and the show is creative, I just don't feel like it has the steam to push to the end.

As for PR, I just don't think the vehicle is there, and they've already slowed down from all the times I've seen them, imo. Shame too, being an anniversary year.