Impact of Bloo's win on future show designs

[MikeRapp]

That seems very logical. But, in reality, the Bluecoats have historically been very late to the party. This year they kind of got caught in their own stubbornness about announcing the show and the more the fans conjectured on what was happening, the more they waited. Now, toss in their BOA constume and you can see why they did what they did. They caught lightning in a bottle. The lack of announcement worked. The awesome promo video on their show worked. It all clicked in a way that perhaps it's never clicked for any corps before.

I don't think they can ever repeat capturing the imagination without saying anything at all ever again. --- Unless if they come back with the classic Bluecoats look . . . Da da da!!!

Go back to the premiere. Think about how intricate, complex, unprecedented and daring that show was...on that night. Have you ever seen a show so obviously headed to history? I sure haven't.

Then look at Finals night. Some tweaks, obviously a different ending, but 98% of the show was almost exactly as it was premiered. Even the solos, every nuance was almost identical...and yet it felt so organic, as organic as that first night.

There probably has never been a show that was as far down the road as that one was on that premiere. Staggering, when you consider how far outside of the norm, that the staff was able to pull it off at such a highly imaginative level that the show itself hardly had to be changed at all to win the gold.

A lot of people are rightfully thinking about the impact of their uniforms and props. But perhaps the most impactful aspect of that show was how complete it was at its premiere. It set the bar. It virtually guaranteed that Blue Knights and Cadets were not going to even come close to medaling. That, to me, may change the way drum corps shows are created from here forward. You cannot play catchup any more, with how shows are judged in relation to each other.

[drumcorpsfever]

Go back to the premiere. Think about how intricate, complex, unprecedented and daring that show was...on that night. Have you ever seen a show so obviously headed to history? I sure haven't.

Then look at Finals night. Some tweaks, obviously a different ending, but 98% of the show was almost exactly as it was premiered. Even the solos, every nuance was almost identical...and yet it felt so organic, as organic as that first night.

There probably has never been a show that was as far down the road as that one was on that premiere. Staggering, when you consider how far outside of the norm, that the staff was able to pull it off at such a highly imaginative level that the show itself hardly had to be changed at all to win the gold.

A lot of people are rightfully thinking about the impact of their uniforms and props. But perhaps the most impactful aspect of that show was how complete it was at its premiere. It set the bar. It virtually guaranteed that Blue Knights and Cadets were not going to even come close to medaling. That, to me, may change the way drum corps shows are created from here forward. You cannot play catchup any more, with how shows are judged in relation to each other.

Yep. I'll give you that one - especially on the completeness of the show. Think back to "Tilt". That show was pretty complete from the very beginning. As a fan, I like that. I recall listening to a podcast in 2014 with Dean Westman. He mentioned something to the effect of "why wait on adding stuff if we can do it now" sort of thing. Who knows if it's strategic or just the inability wait on unwrapping the present for Christmas. But again, as a fan, I like it!

[war eagle]

Go back to the premiere. Think about how intricate, complex, unprecedented and daring that show was...on that night. Have you ever seen a show so obviously headed to history? I sure haven't.

Then look at Finals night. Some tweaks, obviously a different ending, but 98% of the show was almost exactly as it was premiered. Even the solos, every nuance was almost identical...and yet it felt so organic, as organic as that first night.

There probably has never been a show that was as far down the road as that one was on that premiere. Staggering, when you consider how far outside of the norm, that the staff was able to pull it off at such a highly imaginative level that the show itself hardly had to be changed at all to win the gold.

A lot of people are rightfully thinking about the impact of their uniforms and props. But perhaps the most impactful aspect of that show was how complete it was at its premiere. It set the bar. It virtually guaranteed that Blue Knights and Cadets were not going to even come close to medaling. That, to me, may change the way drum corps shows are created from here forward. You cannot play catchup any more, with how shows are judged in relation to each other.

And won't it be interesting to see how other corps try to follow what BC is doing. What a mess as obviously the BC's has a unique way of designing.

[NakedEye]

Actually, the costume had nothing to do with BOA. They came up with the look to make the corps look like a dance troop.

While it may not be apparent at first glance, the costumes and look of the show had a definite theme. A friend and I were discussing Saturday how the inspiration seemed to be taken from the time period of the Pink Floyd piece (1973). Something about the show kind of SOUNDS 70's and they wear hip-hugger, low-waist pants with a belt and circular buckle loop. The colors and flag designs are also very op-art/psychedelic.

They started with a basic dance-type garment for maximum flexibility, but then brought extra theming to it with the seamless detail that was evident throughout every part of the whole production.

[Jurassic Lancer]

While it may not be apparent at first glance, the costumes and look of the show had a definite theme. A friend and I were discussing Saturday how the inspiration seemed to be taken from the time period of the Pink Floyd piece (1973). Something about the show kind of SOUNDS 70's and they wear hip-hugger, low-waist pants with a belt and circular buckle loop. The colors and flag designs are also very op-art/psychedelic.

They started with a basic dance-type garment for maximum flexibility, but then brought extra theming to it with the seamless detail that was evident throughout every part of the whole production.

You get it. It is so nice to know that there are people who understand this wasn't WGI. It wasn't BOA. It was something new.

[wilme861]

Not true. Bluecoats had three ballads they were playing with but did not settle on Great Gig until about ST.

You missed my point. Not announcing the show in advance didn't have any bearing on the show design. It's rare that a corps throws out a piece and does a new one after December but it happens. It happened my year at Crown in 05 with our closer. We originally had Adiemus as our closer, the same closer Cadets did in 07. I still stand by what I say though. The show is set by November, at least the first "final" draft of it. It will change each camp and really start changing at spring training and the through the summer but the base of the show is there in November.

[Jurassic Lancer]

You missed my point. Not announcing the show in advance didn't have any bearing on the show design. It's rare that a corps throws out a piece and does a new one after December but it happens. It happened my year at Crown in 05 with our closer. We originally had Adiemus as our closer, the same closer Cadets did in 07. I still stand by what I say though. The show is set by November, at least the first "final" draft of it. It will change each camp and really start changing at spring training and the through the summer but the base of the show is there in November.

Fair enough. Although I think Bluecoats' design process is more fluid and nuanced than most corps.

Edited August 16, 2016 by Jurassic Lancer

[jwillis35]

Go back to the premiere. Think about how intricate, complex, unprecedented and daring that show was...on that night. Have you ever seen a show so obviously headed to history? I sure haven't.

Then look at Finals night. Some tweaks, obviously a different ending, but 98% of the show was almost exactly as it was premiered. Even the solos, every nuance was almost identical...and yet it felt so organic, as organic as that first night.

There probably has never been a show that was as far down the road as that one was on that premiere. Staggering, when you consider how far outside of the norm, that the staff was able to pull it off at such a highly imaginative level that the show itself hardly had to be changed at all to win the gold.

A lot of people are rightfully thinking about the impact of their uniforms and props. But perhaps the most impactful aspect of that show was how complete it was at its premiere. It set the bar. It virtually guaranteed that Blue Knights and Cadets were not going to even come close to medaling. That, to me, may change the way drum corps shows are created from here forward. You cannot play catchup any more, with how shows are judged in relation to each other.

I love your comments here. Very true. The premiere was amazing for Bloo. It was shocking how far into the future it looked. I felt that way about their 2015 show, but Down Side Up was another level up. And, of course, when you have a great show out of the gate -- whether it's innovative or not -- you have the advantage of not having to change a lot. But in Bloo's case they not only came out clean (for June) and performing at a high level, but they also had a game-changing design. That's a deadly combination in competitive terms.

I think it's appropriate to also compliment Blue Devils and Carolina Crown who also came out with clean, artistic, and cutting edge shows that on many years could have won. This is what made the top 3 this past season so amazing. Each corps had epic shows. Bloo simply had the edge in GE, and in current DCI judging GE is a big deal.

Your last paragraph is spot on. You can't play catch up these days. SCV had a killer show, and they had little chance of topping the Big 3. I don't think it was show design that hurt the Vanguard. They simply were not clean enough at the onset.

The Cadets clearly misfired (their staff and design team anyways) with their show theme and design. That was ultimately too much for them to overcome. They had brass and percussion qualities that were amazing. Their music ensemble could have been top 3 and could have played with anyone had they been given a better show theme and design. When you have to rewrite 60 to 70% of your visual and change 30% of your music book there is simply no way to clean feet and music in time for Finals. They were still top 6 on the strength of great musicians and marchers.

The same was true for Blue Knights as you pointed out. They started too slow. Only 2/3 of a show at the start of the season. That will not get it done. They were fantastic and I grew to love their show. But if Bloo and Crown and BD are going to come out of the gate as they did this year (and as BD does every year) you basically have no shot to medal.

[Fran Haring]

Go back to the premiere. Think about how intricate, complex, unprecedented and daring that show was...on that night. Have you ever seen a show so obviously headed to history? I sure haven't.

Me neither. I was floored.

Great points.

[Lance]

You get it. It is so nice to know that there are people who understand this wasn't WGI. It wasn't BOA. It was something new.

It was a drum corps going further into the WGI realm than any other corps before them, so yeah, new.

Get onboard, or get out, dinos and mini-dinos (me included)