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Stanford, CA - June 23, 2018


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10 hours ago, Tim K said:

Now that the West Coast scores are in, tonight has proven to be interesting. Take aways:

SCV has more of a punch than people said after last night. Second place for BD does not mean the season is over, and how the two stack up against Crown and Bloo remains to be seen. Cavies and BAC at a minimum will not loose ground, but since both seem to get in fuller gear as the season progresses, and Crown may have a trick or two in store, I expect the top 4 to be BD, Crown, SCV, and Bloo, trading places as the summer progresses with the possibility of Cavies and BAC being flies in the ointment. 

BK needs to be concerned about Cadets and possibly Phantom. Judging from posts and not scores, it sounds like Cadets may have more to offer and while I see them as a solid 7th now, I may feel differently as the season progresses. 

Mandarins are a probability for finals, Academy a possibility. Madison needs to be concerned, and can’t take comfort in it still being the early season. Mandarins especially sounds ready. Blue Stars and Crossmen will likewise have their work cut out for them. Colts could also catch people by surprise.

 

BK has a very unfinished show. 

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I'll have to trust the live reviews on Mandarins, because on screen, they were a big bucket of wierdness to the group watching with me. Guy on stilts hands a glowing cube to a person in a circle. Hooo-kay. Last year's show had a thematic element that was, erm, drawn through the whole show. There was some whimsy. This year's edition seems dark and brooding for the sake of being dark and brooding. They are so relentlessly dark visually they look like an oil spill sloshing around the field. They seem to sound okay, as best as I can tell via a livestream, and for all I know they read very well to the judges in the stands. As a fan looking at a screen, I was just kinda left wondering what it was all about in between all the fat fff chords. But it's early. Everyone seems to think they're going to jump over Crossmen and Blue Stars. We'll see. Too bad we won't see them in Denver. We enjoyed the heck out of 'em last year at Mile High.

Troopers looked decently crisp for this early in the season. They sold "black parade" with gusto, and it's a highlight. The ending was as abrupt as going over a Pacific palisade into the ocean; I'm wondering if there's a more complete thought to be added. Hope so. The dark unis are sharp; I kinda wonder if they're going to throw on the scarves come regional season. Up high, the west/sunrise tops look good, but the camera closeups do them no favors. The performers get the overall idea across pretty well, and once they can stop thinking about their feet and start performing, the show will begin to pop off the field a bit more. I'm hoping for some more horsepower out of the middle of the show, and I seem to say that every year.

Academy. So. Much. Descartes. Well. The performers sure look like they're having a good time, and I hope so, because the package the grown-ups gave them this year is flat, at least for now. Visually, there's no real development in the way that Mary Poppins, corpse bride and cartoon slapstick provided big, bold, obvious, beginning-middle-end visual ideas. The way the desks snuck into the Academy "A" at the end was clever, but overall this program doesn't (yet?) provide the performers with the opportunities to really connect with the crowd in the way they are so skilled at doing. Here's hoping.

I miss the bright shimmer of BK '17; the 2018 look doesn't pop from the screen with the same vibrancy. Maybe in person the richer colors are more vibrant. But there is a ton of content in this show, and already BK is doing some heavy lifting. Exit Music is going to bring down the house in August. The use of the pyramids is effective, especially at the end as the hornline creates curled sunrays that flow outward and inward from the circled props. It reads great from the hi cam. Percussion doesn't seem to be as up-front and featured as they were last year (of course, last year they played a percussion concerto, so duh), and I wonder if that will need attention lest they squander their superior field achievement. Maybe when I see them live I'll get more of that Mike Jackson vibe; on the stream it didn't really speak out. The program seems to deliver the "fall" part of the sun, down into gloom and darkness. I'm hoping they continue to polish up the "rise" side of the equation and finish off the show with a brighter, more energetic feeling than the abrupt halt the show had on Saturday. Rite is a powerhouse, and they devote a significant percentage of the show to it, more than I was anticipating. Didn't really catch any of "welcome to the machine." If its' in there, it was too subtle for me to recognize.

SCV and BD: I can add nothing not already gushed out by the bucketloads already. Really sad we won't see BD in Denver this year. Can't wait to see Vanguard.

'

Edited by 2muchcoffeeman
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14 minutes ago, corps8294 said:

Again? 

They marched the whole show last night, but like everyone there this more to be added.

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11 minutes ago, 2muchcoffeeman said:

I'll have to trust the live reviews on Mandarins, because on screen, they were a big bucket of wierdness to the group watching with me. Guy on stilts hands a glowing cube to a person in a circle. Hooo-kay. Last year's show had a thematic element that was, erm, drawn through the whole show. There was some whimsy. This year's edition seems dark and brooding for the sake of being dark and brooding. They are so relentlessly dark visually they look like an oil spill sloshing around the field. They seem to sound okay, as best as I can tell via a livestream, and for all I know they read very well to the judges in the stands. As a fan looking at a screen, I was just kinda left wondering what it was all about in between all the fat fff chords. But it's early. Everyone seems to think they're going to jump over Crossmen and Blue Stars. We'll see. Too bad we won't see them in Denver. We enjoyed the heck out of 'em last year at Mile High.

Being at the show, the uniforms looked spectacular from the stands. They were my favorites of the night. I believe their 2018 show is a step up from 2017 in every way. It was just a very very cool show. In my section, only Mandarins and SCV got standing ovations. Now, I did like BD better than Mandarins, but SCV, BD and Mandarins were my three favorite shows by far last night. Academy was my least favorite. I agree with what you said there. I do not see them making finals. 

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8 minutes ago, brassboy said:

SCV didn’t have their closer on the field yet. I believe BD’s show was complete in length. 

This seems correct to me. BD definitely had the whole thing. SCV was missing a minute I would say. They played the final minute during the encore and WOW!

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