Bluecoats Hype Topic!!

[Jurassic Lancer]

33 minutes ago, Bluzes said:

Is there 2 big stadiums there at one time I thought this show was in the NFL Hall of Fame Stadium?

The NFL HoF stadium is in Canton, just a stone’s throw away from Massillon and was considered as a new site for this show. However, there is too much ambient noise from the highway to make it a desirable site and so the show remains at Massillon. 

[tedrick]

4 hours ago, ThePlanets said:

http://www.indeonline.com/news/20180729/expect-a-game-when-bluecoats-come-home

By Amy L. Knapp
IndeOnline.com staff writer
@aknappINDE

Sunday

Posted Jul 29, 2018 at 2:32 PM

The Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps will be joined by seven other corps during the Tour of Champions on Aug. 6 at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium, as part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival.

When the Drum Corps International schedule comes out, many quickly circle Aug. 6 on the calendar. Not only is it mere days before the DCI World Championships, but it is also the day the Canton Bluecoats come home.

The Bluecoats are among eight corps that will compete at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium this year during the Tour of Champions as part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival.

And it’s one of their favorite shows, said Randall Lamb, a director on the Bluecoats’ board.

“I think the Massillon show is maybe the show that the corps looks forward to most all year,” he said. “We do around 35 shows (across the United States) but there is something special about coming to Massillon. There is always a great turnout of alumni from the corps and even just the stadium is special. The show features so many great corps and you have to bring your A-game.”

The Bluecoats are battling it out for the top spot in the nation against the top corps, including perennial powerhouse Blue Devils.

As it gets closer to the World Championships on Aug. 11 in Indianapolis, Lamb said the corps is feeling the pressure but it’s the kind that pushes them to give the best performance possible. And coming home to adoring fans doesn’t hurt.

“This group of kids they love performing this show,” Lamb said. “It has been a crowd favorite and we don’t expect anything different (in Massillon) They know it is going to be a sellout crowd. That’s the thing I always love about the Massillon show. There is a big crowd and they are all drum corps oriented fans and treat all the corps so well. Standing ovations for all of them.”

At the Aug. 6 show in Massillon, the Bluecoats will face some of their fiercest competitors, including Santa Clara Vanguard and Carolina Crown, both ranked in top four.

Lamb said as the championship competition draws closer, corps like to compete against the groups they will be up against in Indianapolis.

During the first half of the season, the Bluecoats don’t compete much with the West Coast groups.

“The Blue Devils are always in contention for the top spot and Santa Clara Vanguard in the last three or four years have come back into prominence,” Lamb said. “We want to go head-to-head with these groups. When they are not competing in the same show it’s hard to compare scores, when there is a different panel of judges. We are into the final three weeks of competition and the majority of show we will do will have the top corps participating.”

Fans for life

The performances in Massillon will showcase all of the top corps with the exception of the Blue Devils, he said.

Lamb wants everyone to experience a drum corps show. Once they experience a show, they will become fans, he figures.

“I’ve heard the term marching band on steroids,” Lamb, a retired band director, explained. “Until you experience the sound of a world class drum and bugle corps, it is hard to explain. When I talk to people about the drum corp, I relate it to the Ohio State marching band. I just tell them take that and add that to a factor of 10 and you got what the Bluecoasts might be.”

The Bluecoats will once again push the envelope with this year’s show, Lamb said.

In the past few years, the Bluecoats have raised the bar, including in 2016 when they took the DCI Championship with their “Down Side Up” show that featured large slides that sent musicians and guard gliding down the prop.

This year’s show, Session 44, is centered around the Billie Holiday song “God Bless the Child.”

Lamb describes it as a jazz show featuring unique props — nine chairs, some of which are 20 feet tall, that will make their way across the field.

For the first time, the Bluecoats are featuring a vocalist, who Lamb calls a fantastic vocalist that is garnering accolades from the crowd. The vocals are featured on the “Dry Cleaner from Des Moines,” which was recorded by Joni Mitchell.

“There is some contention from drum corps that vocals are not part of the drum corp but she is changing opinions,” Lamb said. “Every night she is getting standing ovations. The level of professionalism the Bluecoats and others bring, I just watch in amazement.”

Heat challenge

The season has not been without challenges, Lamb explained. The heat has been a major obstacle for some time. A short time ago, members faced days of 100 degree temperatures.

DCI officials made a decision recently during a heat wave in Texas to forgo uniforms and judging because the conditions were too brutal. That doesn’t happen to often, Lamb said.

Despite the challenges of the blistering heat, Lamb said, the corps is ready to greet their home crowd and welcome other corps to Massillon.

This year, the U.S. Marine Corps Drum and Bugle Corps will open the show. As always, the DCI SoundSPort group Rhythm IN BLUE , a group of Bluecoats alum, and the Rogues Hollow Regiment from Doylestown will perform.

“Talking to other corps they love coming to Massillon. They are treated well. They know they have a crowd that loves to be entertained. The Bluecoats go on last and then they get to do the encore at the end of the show. This year, I think they are really going to bring it on the encore.”

Reach Amy at 330-775-1135 or amy.knapp@indeonline.com

On Twitter:@aknappINDE

[mingusmonk]

3 minutes ago, Jurassic Lancer said:

The NFL HoF stadium is in Canton, just a stone’s throw away from Massillon and was considered as a new site for this show. However, there is too much ambient noise from the highway to make it a desirable site and so the show remains at Massillon. 

The stadium is pretty cool and versatile. The back stands can be partially disassembled and shuffled out for large events. But you can see in this photo that the open concept and lack of barriers leaves it vulnerable to traffic noise.

 

[OhioBoy_99]

1 hour ago, Bluzes said:

Is there 2 big stadiums there at one time I thought this show was in the NFL Hall of Fame Stadium?

Ah yes, there's Paul Brown Tiger Stadium in Massillon (about 16,000 capacity), and then there's Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton. I believe the show use to be at the old Hall of Fame stadium, (they tore that one down and rebuild the new one there is today in the same spot). Both stadiums are both 20 minutes apart. But i think the show has been in Massillon the past few years. (correct me if I'm wrong anyone!) And then of course there was the show at University of Akron, that's a pretty nice stadium as well!

[OhioBoy_99]

Just now, OhioBoy_99 said:

Ah yes, there's Paul Brown Tiger Stadium in Massillon (about 16,000 capacity), and then there's Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton. I believe the show use to be at the old Hall of Fame stadium, (they tore that one down and rebuild the new one there is today in the same spot). Both stadiums are both 20 minutes apart. But i think the show has been in Massillon the past few years. (correct me if I'm wrong anyone!) And then of course there was the show at University of Akron, that's a pretty nice stadium as well!

Computer didn't load all the replies above mine so don't mind me . But a lot of great stadiums in this area. Football reigns in northeast Ohio!

[E3D]

On 7/26/2018 at 10:23 PM, Cappybara said:

Isn't this what the Bluecoats 2018 thread is for

thinking the same thing.

 

Maybe FOCUS a bit. 

[Terri Schehr]

I have got to go to that show one of these years. 

[Forevergreen]

53 minutes ago, E3D said:

thinking the same thing.

 

Maybe FOCUS a bit. 

Just don’t read it. Problem solved.

[Bluzes]

1 hour ago, OhioBoy_99 said:

Computer didn't load all the replies above mine so don't mind me . But a lot of great stadiums in this area. Football reigns in northeast Ohio!

I remember last year on FLO between corps trying to count how many school buses were visible in the openings in the back stands must of been a record number. Used six sigma to calculate how many buses were hidden  behind the stands that I couldn't see. There are just so many things to keep track of a drum corps show that I need A.I. just to stay abreast. Oh if you read this far and ignored the warning below there is a point. Marching Band must reign in NE OH as well.

Edited August 2, 2018 by Bluzes
typo

[OhioBoy_99]

36 minutes ago, Bluzes said:

I remember last year on FLO between corps trying to count how many school buses were visible in the openings in the back stands must of been a record number. Used six sigma to calculate how many buses were hidden  behind the stands that I couldn't see. There are just so many things to keep track of a drum corps show that I need A.I. just to stay abreast. Oh if you read this far and ignored the warning below there is a point. Marching Band must reign in NE OH as well.

Oh there's been multiple events i've been to at our stadium and sometimes I just stare at the sea of buses and cars behind the stadium! It's a good time passer to try and guess how many cars and such are back there haha! And marching band is just as big as football around here as well. Not really as much of the BOA type bands around here, much more show bands and such but some of, if not the best of those bands are in NE Ohio! Especially right in Massillon. 

Edited August 2, 2018 by OhioBoy_99