Blue Devils 2018

[theonlyfizzle]

17 minutes ago, BostonLUck said:

Ehhhh.... that's a bit of a stretch. BD's guard is often outstanding; however, Ms. Torchia should approach seeing BD without the preconceived notion of:

"ohh... well... BD has a dominance in colorguard that not even Crown... " 

She - and all judges - should approach every corps without some slant that is awarded a group who has won in the past. The past is PAST. Judge these corps based on TODAY'S performance, and let "8 of 10 Zingali awards" be ####. Those awards were given to a different corps. 

Frankly, when we as a community accept this "slanted" adjudication, we're spitting in the face of young men & women whose hard work is getting 4 place because... well... SORRY... you're not Ms. Torchia's favorite, and you haven't won in the past... or you aren't his/her friend or buddy in the BOA / WGI / etc.. world... so you get 4th.

PHEWWW. Okay. Deep breathe... I can't help but get on a soapbox when it comes to this topic!!!

UH ?  Ummm................   Ok..... 

[BDCorno]

8 minutes ago, Cappybara said:

I get what you’re saying.. but I think I must’ve missed the part where Torchia apparently judges all 3 nights in Indianapolis. Unless you’re insinuating that all judges have unjustly put BD 1st in guard this past decade 

Yeah, I don't get the "BD win guard because the judging is slanted to start with" argument. It's specious and unfair. You might just entertain the possibility that they are indeed that dominant. I know it might go against the grain of competing guards' fans, but the combination of design, choreography, detailing, cleaing, talent and most of all, QUALITY in all things can make a difference. SCV rivals BD in many of these categories, but frankly I don't see the depth of design, nor the intrinsic quality of movement or performance, out of guards beyond that. Crown had a great guard a couple of years ago, Boston is an up-and-comer, and there have been certain programs that have jumped up into the discussion from time to time. On an ongoing, consistent basis, it's very hard to find a more consistently excellent group. That's why they have the success, not because of some "legend" or other reason. I'm not just talking out my a$s, I judged color guard for well over 20 years, am not a BD homer, and though I marched there, I am probably more critical of them than anyone. 

Edited July 20, 2018 by BDCorno

[NakedEye]

2 hours ago, BDCorno said:

Yeah, I don't get the "BD win guard because the judging is slanted to start with" argument. It's specious and unfair. You might just entertain the possibility that they are indeed that dominant. I know it might go against the grain of competing guards' fans, but the combination of design, choreography, detailing, cleaing, talent and most of all, QUALITY in all things can make a difference. SCV rivals BD in many of these categories, but frankly I don't see the depth of design, nor the intrinsic quality of movement or performance, out of guards beyond that. Crown had a great guard a couple of years ago, Boston is an up-and-comer, and there have been certain programs that have jumped up into the discussion from time to time. On an ongoing, consistent basis, it's very hard to find a more consistently excellent group. That's why they have the success, not because of some "legend" or other reason. I'm not just talking out my a$s, I judged color guard for well over 20 years, am not a BD homer, and though I marched there, I am probably more critical of them than anyone. 

I agree completely. I still think they have the best writing and the best level of expressive performance. It's just so....INTERESTING every year. Little things like the "shoulder BOOM BOOM" that the sabre girls do (and variations of it with the boys and horns at the same time) just communicate so well to the audience and match the music perfectly. It makes me smile every time and their shows are consistently a joy to watch.

The past two seasons, they had some trouble getting clean and didn't really achieve it until the end, but not this year. They have looked sharp from about the third week, so are certainly a contender to take back the title.

[saxfreq1128]

14 hours ago, Chief Guns said:

I love how in the new BD 360 episode, members of BD visit the art museum in Chicago and see the actual Nighthawk painting. So cool!

The way BD of late has prioritized encouraging the corps to care about the arts is just so wonderful to me. Rite of Spring, Dada, The Tempest, Fellini, avant garde jazz, Edward Hopper... And last year, a show about where drum corps can fit into that tradition, and what the activity can learn from it.

I know some people find that alienating, or hoity toity, or whatever, but this is an arts activity, and I think it’s extraordinary, and so great for young people, that BD takes that seriously. 

[84BDsop]

22 minutes ago, saxfreq1128 said:

The way BD of late has prioritized encouraging the corps to care about the arts is just so wonderful to me. Rite of Spring, Dada, The Tempest, Fellini, avant garde jazz, Edward Hopper... And last year, a show about where drum corps can fit into that tradition, and what the activity can learn from it.

I know some people find that alienating, or hoity toity, or whatever, but this is an arts activity, and I think it’s extraordinary, and so great for young people, that BD takes that seriously. 

I doesn't hurt when Chandler works out show ideas years in advance.  By the time it hit the field, he and the staff know exactly where they want to go with it.

 

He probably has 2021 already in the planning stages.

[saxfreq1128]

3 hours ago, NakedEye said:

I agree completely. I still think they have the best writing and the best level of expressive performance. It's just so....INTERESTING every year. Little things like the "shoulder BOOM BOOM" that the sabre girls do (and variations of it with the boys and horns at the same time) just communicate so well to the audience and match the music perfectly. It makes me smile every time and their shows are consistently a joy to watch.

The past two seasons, they had some trouble getting clean and didn't really achieve it until the end, but not this year. They have looked sharp from about the third week, so are certainly a contender to take back the title.

I think in terms of how people talk about BD guard, they're thinking about difficulty in the wrong way.

IMO, It's not about how hard it is to get clean: It's about how easy it is to look dirty. 

BD's guard book is designed to only really look good when it's super clean. The rifle work emphasizes the white of the rifle. The saber work is heavy on exposed power-tosses (including sound-wise!—the saber catches are always audible) with little movement underneath, so there's 0 excuse for any half-steps or flimsy catches and no trickster nonsense to distract from that fact. Etc. It is all designed to make it very, very easy to pick out inconsistencies. That's pretty different than, say, Carolina Crown, who are extremely athletic and in-your-face impressive at all times—even if they're just barely pulling it off, you walk away impressed that they tried it. BD, on the other hand, looks "easy" for most of the season, but there's always a point at which everyone's finally on the same page, and you realize it looked easy because, until late July, you couldn't see just how intricate it all is. 

Everything this guard does is a feature. Everything. It is all exposure all the time. I don't think we talk enough about just what, from a performer standpoint, that means. This definitely feels like a more experienced guard than last year or the year before; I don't know if that's true, it just feels—in the writing, which is riskier than those two years and feels like a vote of confidence in the performers, and in the performances so far—like the guard has taken to BD's technique more quickly than the last couple years.
 

[Cappybara]

If I had a dollar for every silly "hairography" comment regarding BD's guard, I'd be rich

[g0at]

Anyone have rehearsal location and ensemble times for today?

 

 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-8J6WJjcdUsyqMRnWxiTs6DcT7C6SQlaSpyctb3K43Q/edit?usp=sharing

[MikeRapp]

9 hours ago, saxfreq1128 said:

I think in terms of how people talk about BD guard, they're thinking about difficulty in the wrong way.

IMO, It's not about how hard it is to get clean: It's about how easy it is to look dirty. 

BD's guard book is designed to only really look good when it's super clean. The rifle work emphasizes the white of the rifle. The saber work is heavy on exposed power-tosses (including sound-wise!—the saber catches are always audible) with little movement underneath, so there's 0 excuse for any half-steps or flimsy catches and no trickster nonsense to distract from that fact. Etc. It is all designed to make it very, very easy to pick out inconsistencies. That's pretty different than, say, Carolina Crown, who are extremely athletic and in-your-face impressive at all times—even if they're just barely pulling it off, you walk away impressed that they tried it. BD, on the other hand, looks "easy" for most of the season, but there's always a point at which everyone's finally on the same page, and you realize it looked easy because, until late July, you couldn't see just how intricate it all is. 

Everything this guard does is a feature. Everything. It is all exposure all the time. I don't think we talk enough about just what, from a performer standpoint, that means. This definitely feels like a more experienced guard than last year or the year before; I don't know if that's true, it just feels—in the writing, which is riskier than those two years and feels like a vote of confidence in the performers, and in the performances so far—like the guard has taken to BD's technique more quickly than the last couple years.
 

I would say that Blue Devils, directly and indirectly, made drum corps equally guard and music. They decided to treat both “sides” of the corps with equal attention, to design, performance, and contribution to concept. The guard are actors on a stage and as such every single “thing” they do on that stage matters. They also took some of the things that made Cavaliers a powerhouse and molded them into their concepts, especially marching members doing play acting without even holding instruments.

Whee BD has traditionally lost fans is in the intricacy of performance at the expense of what actually communicates to the crowd. Historically, though less so recently, they have intentionally cared much less about what the crowd gets and much more about the experience of performance itself and how the judges see, rate, and experience those performances. So while you might totally appreciate the cleanliness of BD (which lets me honest has a lot to do with the age and experience of their members), esp if you marched there, that often doesn’t really translate or matter to the crowd.

As is always the case, BD’s success created opportunity and room for other corps to fill gaps. Crown basically became the corps that high school bands feel best matches their experience, but on a level they might never be able to reach. They connected with crowds in ways BD didn’t. That fueled their rise to tier one status. If you are an age out, you might want to go to BD to win a guaranteed medal, but there was real equity in aging out with a Crown once they found their groove in brass and guard.

Bluecoats rose to power by becoming the big sound and big show corps that cares mostly about the crowd experience, while remaining entirely focused on execution. Where Crown could be viewed as sterile and predictable, and BD is intricate but esoteric, Bluecoats became “live” and unpredictable. They play fun music in a wall of sound way, with concepts that are as much visual as they are musical. You just know you are in for a fun 11 minutes when Bluecoats take the field. That gives them a very unique reason to want to age out with them, because every show has its own place in the season that no other corps can match.

I believe all three of these corps have impacted each other. Session 44 is the most Blue Devils-like show I’ve seen that wasn’t created by BD. Crown and SCV never delved so seriously into props until Down Side Up took the activity by storm. And perhaps even more important, it now becomes very obvious what corps are going to be able to possibly medal, and which ones have solid middle tier shows. The bar is raised really high now. 

[NakedEye]

10 hours ago, Cappybara said:

If I had a dollar for every silly "hairography" comment regarding BD's guard, I'd be rich

My only thought about the hair is I feel they should start the show with it up, and then noticeably "let their hair down" right when they begin the dance work with the pink shirts in Natural Woman. That would seem to really reflect the message of the song and be effective.

Of course they would have to deal with some sort of fastener and what to do with it once they pull it out, but that's not my problem.  

Some curmudgeons seem to forget that they don't do the hair business EVERY year. Last year, for instance, it was up.