2017 Blue Stars

[brians]

I will come right out and say it, Blue Stars horns, guard especially and to some extent drums are not getting appropriate credit.  Also, their VP is not as horrendous as is being indicated.  They should be very near to if not beating Phantom in these captions.  Everyone with ears and eyes can see/hear it.

16 hours ago, corps8294 said:

I'll even go as far as to say that '10 and '16 deserved higher than what they got. 2010 deserved 7th place and 2016 could have placed 7th and deserved 8th

I could not agree more,  g7 BS (and I don't mean Blue Stars)  in my opinion 

[Cappybara]

36 minutes ago, brians said:

I will come right out and say it, Blue Stars horns, guard especially and to some extent drums are not getting appropriate credit.  Also, their VP is not as horrendous as is being indicated.  They should be very near to if not beating Phantom in these captions.  Everyone with ears and eyes can see/hear it.

I could not agree more,  g7 BS (and I don't mean Blue Stars)  in my opinion 

I don't buy it. Boston is one of the G7 "rebels" and they're getting their due credit. I don't see why judges would go up to the Blue Stars and be like "f*ck you guys in particular"

dumb conspiracies are dumb conspiracies 

[brians]

Just now, Cappybara said:

I don't buy it. Boston is one of the G7 "rebels" and they're getting their due credit. I don't see why judges would go up to the Blue Stars and be like "f*ck you guys in particular"

dumb conspiracies are dumb conspiracies 

oh if you only knew.  anyway, I don't know why we even have caption scores at this point, just have a GE judge with rankings. is basically what it is already. 

[Cappybara]

15 minutes ago, brians said:

oh if you only knew.  

Oh do tell. 

[BlueStainGlass]

The question is are they inconsistent or the judging night to night is inconsistent . People are talking about the guard scoring higher and the show before SA they beat Crown but when they are together with everybody else the score dropped. 

 

And not to feed into conspiracy and whatnot but I first hand have listened to a judge say there aren't any technical skills or passages in the middle of a double tonguing/16th note runs. 

 

I have faith in the staff and members that in the end it will be just like last year and be an underrated great show. I mean every year they are projected to not make finals or labeled a hot dog corps (maybe taking over the Glassmen boring claims in early 99-01?) On here.  Besides a few alumni and drummantx,this topic is dead besides saying design is questionable from sane randoms. 

And Boston is getting the credit because they took top 5 staffs and put them all together. Notice mcnutt left Glassmen after 02 and it went down hill. 

[DrumManTx]

I just know I really enjoyed it the two times I saw it and I don't need to look at a judges sheet to form an opinion on how good I thought every caption and member of that corps is.  

I do think there are things that they could to do boost GE/make the show more cohesive but I trust how they develop a show in the end of the season and am excited to see where it goes.  

I think the BOA/High School crap is way over the line to describe ANY drum corps show let alone theirs.  Might not be your cup of tea or personal preference but come on. 

I loved it and so so so appreciate how well the members performing.  Numbers be ######.  

[Jake W.]

I agree and disagree with some of the things said within the last day on this thread. First & foremost, the talk about Stars' hornline is legit; they're fantastic and refined. That opening hit last season when they were laying down was liquid gold. I also concur that the both the guard writing & execution have been the corps' strong spot for a few years now, although Sideshow comes to mind as a terribly difficult guard book that was never cleaned. Stars' guard is unquestionably asked to do a lot more above their tier level, though.

In terms of design comments, I don't think anyone is calling for spandex uniforms or crazy props. To me, it just seems that the last few years, Stars' show feel too safe. Current, and quite nice, but safe. I believe this is where the Glassmen comparisons come into play. It's all very pleasant, and I have personally enjoyed every Stars' show the last few years, but in the Finals line up, it's been a few years since they've had a show that really made them unique & memorable. The show designs are just fine...I think the issue a few people have taken in this thread is that they'd like "just fine" to be upgraded a bit. Again, I don't think anyone's calling for radical design changes; they can even stay within the box they've created. More intriguing or entrancing source music choices, higher velocity drill, choosing ballad source music that highlights their gorgeous brass sound and makes an audience weep (how great would Troops' arrangement of Nessun Dorma be for this season instead of the Lana del Ray??). No one's calling for them to rewrite themselves, maybe just to design some more excitement within the brand they've been creating for themselves.

[DrumManTx]

1 minute ago, Jake W. said:

I agree and disagree with some of the things said within the last day on this thread. First & foremost, the talk about Stars' hornline is legit; they're fantastic and refined. That opening hit last season when they were laying down was liquid gold. I also concur that the both the guard writing & execution have been the corps' strong spot for a few years now, although Sideshow comes to mind as a terribly difficult guard book that was never cleaned. Stars' guard is unquestionably asked to do a lot more above their tier level, though.

In terms of design comments, I don't think anyone is calling for spandex uniforms or crazy props. To me, it just seems that the last few years, Stars' show feel too safe. Current, and quite nice, but safe. I believe this is where the Glassmen comparisons come into play. It's all very pleasant, and I have personally enjoyed every Stars' show the last few years, but in the Finals line up, it's been a few years since they've had a show that really made them unique & memorable. The show designs are just fine...I think the issue a few people have taken in this thread is that they'd like "just fine" to be upgraded a bit. Again, I don't think anyone's calling for radical design changes; they can even stay within the box they've created. More intriguing or entrancing source music choices, higher velocity drill, choosing ballad source music that highlights their gorgeous brass sound and makes an audience weep (how great would Troops' arrangement of Nessun Dorma be for this season instead of the Lana del Ray??). No one's calling for them to rewrite themselves, maybe just to design some more excitement within the brand they've been creating for themselves.

Very well stated.  

[BlueStainGlass]

My biggest beef is they are hauling ### in the current drill which is causing the lower proficiency and people want more. Like fighting fire with more fire. That kaleidoscope drill, all the rotating lines, and straight jazz running along the back. And I think they have nailed ballad songs 2 years in a row and can't wait to hear that diamond live. 

[mcjordansc]

@brians I saw Phantom and Blue Stars together in Kansas City last Monday and agree that the scores could be closer, but am not surprised that Phantom Regiment is scoring higher than the Stars. Really expect it. There are a few places in the stars show that feel incomplete. I am sure they will fix that this week or next, but until they do, they will not score as high as their fans would like. One example is the high horn feature late in the show where the rest of the brass and drums are standing along the 50. I am not sure having a 50 or more members just standing there doing nothing is the end game for this part of the show. That is why I think more will be added and Blue Stars will finish strong.