2017 World Championships Finals - Aug 12

[Rocketman]

25 minutes ago, MikeRapp said:

Not one person, including me, said there should be a morality clause in dci.

The implication is there when you go down the 'appropriate for DCI' road. Like I said, no one said boo with the scantly clad guard BD had for their Felinesque show. Now that it is Regiment or Coats, all of the sudden it is inappropriate?


 

[Terri Schehr]

22 minutes ago, wigwam said:

Which hotel is best?   I usually bring my motorhome but next year will fly in and stay in a hotel.  I've booked the Omni for now, unless there is a better option.  

Well, lots of folks love the Omni for it's convenient location.  I stayed there for years.  After they moved the bar (it's a noisy echo chamber now.  Terrible for conversation with old friends) and the rooms need refurbishing, I left a few years ago.  I stayed at The Alexander, which is beautiful Hotel, for two years but you feel as if you're on an island.  We stayed at the Westin this past week.  Beautiful hotel, great bar at Shula's...  we rebooked today. 

[MikeRapp]

6 minutes ago, Rocketman said:

The implication is there when you go down the 'appropriate for DCI' road. Like I said, no one said boo with the scantly clad guard BD had for their Felinesque show. Now that it is Regiment or Coats, all of the sudden it is inappropriate?


 

I have no idea whether anyone said anything about any other show.

[Ediker]

Just wanted to share my take on the performances on Finals night.  I was lucky enough to be in Indy, on the 50, mid-height, for the show.  

Blue Devils - Undefeated.  Undeniably first place.  They turned it up that extra notch finals night and made their bid for gold unstoppable.  Great season!  Happy 60th!  Congratulations!

SCV - Santa Clara is back!  Solidifying their position as another west coast destination corps, Santa Clara showed the world that they are once again a contender.  They almost caught the Devils, more than once... and they were likely the only corps that had a chance.  The show and finish were awesome.  Many people were pulling for them.  Second place may have been disappointing, but I hope the kids can appreciate how outstanding they were.

Crown - Live by the mic, die by the mic.  It's difficult to contain my frustration at their anti-climactic finish.  On Prelims night, they gave the performance of the evening, imho.  The kids were ready and able to continue an upward climb.  It was unlikely they would drop, but they had an outside shot at winning and a definite chance to snag 2nd.  A whole season to prepare... four chances in Lucas Oil Stadium to work out any issues... and the smallest prop in the show undid the kids' chance of turning in their best performance for the last two shows.  The kids were poised to redeem the designers for their risky and much criticized design.  Shame on the electronics crew.  Get Cadets' crosses (and Boston's bonfire) back on the field... there are going to be executions.  

Cavaliers - Wow! Wow! Wow!  These guys did it!  It was clear from their scoring vector that they were the most likely of any corps to climb in standings. It was not a fluke.  It's official: the Green Machine is back!  Congratulations!  Well done!  Count them as contenders for 2018.

Bluecoats - A clear crowd favorite!  They were edged only slightly by the Cavies.  Their show was so challenging, it was a wonder they got it as clean as they did at finals.  A GE monster, their challenges were with achieving the highest levels of performance.  The most demanding show, visually.  Yes, they actually marched and played... a rarity these days.  It sounded like they were having left-to-right tempo problems.  There were also some M&M deficiencies (phasing and intervals).  Otherwise, this show was a huge advertisement for new recruits who want to be challenged and have great fun.  They'll be back.

Boston - Boston accomplished what they set out to do this year: let the world know that they are for real and they mean business.  If they accomplished this with a (barely) 12th place set of recruits, just think of the possibilities with a 6th place set of recruits.  All measures of the organization are looking very positive.  2018 is looking bright.  While not on the level of 1989 Star of Indiana, this corps is one of the more notable 6th place finishes.  

Cadets - Cadets had one of the performances of the evening.  They really turned it on, and the crowd was buying it!  They had one of the standout design concepts of the season, and the MMs delivered on it.  It's understandable if they are disappointed in their finish, but I hope it does not diminish how incredibly they performed on Saturday.  They were a treat to look at, and all of the musicians dazzled.  It looked like they changed some staging of the drumline... they were much more noticeable Saturday.  It was fantastic to see them peak and have their best performance of the year.  Tongues wagged, in Indy, about goings on, in the organization... personal, financial, and staff related.  Nothing that hasn't happened before.  There have been murmurs of coming change expressed here, on DCP.  It's difficult to know what might happen.  Do dictatorships ever end gracefully?

Blue Knights - That drumline!  That brass!  Excellent job.  BK was surging at nationals.  Lots of people were raving about their drumline, and they earned every bit of the hype.  They also earned the judges' esteem.  Brass was beautiful, with a strong and mature sound.  They were possibly the least electronically enhanced corps of the bunch.  Their show concept was "clicking" this past weekend and there was heavy speculation at their chances to climb.  It was not perfect, but they seemed to gather more fans, including me.  

Phantom - Great corps.  Great performance.  It was a risk to increase the guard and decrease the brass.  It came off well.  The show concept could have been better.  The brass and drumline sounded good.  The guard was athletic and proficient.  The voiceovers needed to go.  Completely unnecessary.  It's unfortunate that people are describing Phantom's guard as promoting misogyny.  Rubbish.  There is nothing wrong with emphasizing one's youth and beauty.  Cavies (and Boston) did the male equivalent.  These young women were strong, talented, and understood what they were putting out there.  Imo, it's okay to be provocative if one is sufficiently self aware.  

Blue Stars - Blue Stars held off the Crossmen through finals.  These two were neck-and-neck most of the season.  Congratulations BS!  

Crossmen - Great show.  Everyone raved about their book.  The tear running down the face of the French Horn Soloist's face was one of the most memorable moments of the night.  

Madison - Madison was warmly welcomed back to finals night!  It was a pleasure to see them perform at the last show of the year.  We've been seeing them looking intense and serious all summer.  I hope they now have something to smile about.  

[George Dixon]

13 minutes ago, Rocketman said:

The implication is there when you go down the 'appropriate for DCI' road. Like I said, no one said boo with the scantly clad guard BD had for their Felinesque show. Now that it is Regiment or Coats, all of the sudden it is inappropriate?

Yawn. I could care less other than "indecent" line being crossed

As far as new clauses (or I guess judging guidance) I'd prefer my music not be arranged into 15 second snips with several songs mashed up at once and electronic overlays

That sort of arranging (several guilty corps this year) is probably the only thing that bothered me as a spectator 

[skevinp]

20 minutes ago, Rocketman said:

The implication is there when you go down the 'appropriate for DCI' road. Like I said, no one said boo with the scantly clad guard BD had for their Felinesque show. Now that it is Regiment or Coats, all of the sudden it is inappropriate?

People absolutely did talk about BD's guard attire in 2014.

[Terri Schehr]

31 minutes ago, skevinp said:

People absolutely did talk about BD's guard attire in 2014.

Incessantly. 

[Bsader]

Marched with the Crusader's brass section back in the mid to late 70's and, to be honest, I have not always found modern day Drum Corps shows to be very entertaining. Having said that... I loved this years Blue Devils brass show! It sounded a lot like old time Drum Corps, albeit the musicianship is certainly on a higher level and they have the advantage of being able to employ that new invention, the 3rd valve, but, in watching the show, I found myself to be truly entertained as opposed to trying to convince myself that I was being entertained which is too often the case for me when I'm taking in a show.

I'm not one of those old curmudgeons' who wants Drum Corps to step back into the past. I actually like most of the allowances that modern Drum Corps provides but, I do have a problem with shows that are, IMO, overly cryptic and pompous.

You might think that I'm being contradictory in citing the Blue Devils brass show as sounding like old time Drum Corps while, at the same time, proclaiming myself to being innocent of being a curmudgeon in my negative opinion of too many modern day Drum Corp shows but, I don't feel like I am. All the modern allowances are fine with me if the show being performed is one that I can sink my teeth into.

I thought the Blue Devils show had a great flow to it, that their were recognizable and sustained melodies and, as I said, very, very, entertaining.

I also loved the Crusader's show this year and I would advise the Blue Devils that they had best watch their backs in 2018 as Boston is coming on strong.

Thank You Blue Devils.

 

[Terri Schehr]

6 minutes ago, Bsader said:

 

I also loved the Crusader's show this year and I would advise the Blue Devils that they had best watch their backs in 2018 as Boston is coming on strong.

Thank You Blue Devils.

 

I was hanging out with some Cavaliers supporter friends Saturday night (living in perfect harmony  ) and I'm a Bloo supporter.  I said we all have to look out for BAC.  I said they're number 6 with a bullet. 

[corps8294]

Nobody seemed to be complaining about the topless male guard in Spirit's show back in '86.