Chester Tour of Champions - August 01, 2018

[tedrick]

12 hours ago, EDAVE said:

I was at show tonight.  Coats aren't keeping because they are not performing at SCVs level in any caption.

[Spatzzz]

20 minutes ago, Sideways said:

There's a video out there in the ether from SCV at Chester last night right down in the "blast" zone.  That is some seriously impressive sound from the brass and very aggressive...hair on my arms is standing up even with no hair there.

I don't see there being a contest this year for the OTT and SCV should win it hands down. Crown while very impressive in their clarity just does not have the content to compete with SCV. SCV has the technical content AND it is blended much better into the arrangements than Crown this year. Don't get me wrong Crown is still Crown and very good. They just are not as good as SCV this year and I think Klesch had an off year (for him) in terms of the arrangements.

Top 6 horn lines are all insanely good this year. It's a great, great year for the brass caption.

Edited August 2, 2018 by Spatzzz

[queenanne_1536]

12 hours ago, ajlemm said:

Agreed. Crown’s brass is amazeballs as usual, but I don’t get how they are staying as close as they are when visually it just isn’t getting done.

While I agree that Bloos visual program is definitely better than Crown's, Crown's musical program is definitely better than Bluecoats. 50% of the sheets are music focused, and 50% are visual focuses. That's why they are close. And should be.

[DCIDADDIO]

16 minutes ago, Sideways said:

There's a video out there in the ether from SCV at Chester last night right down in the "blast" zone.  That is some seriously impressive sound from the brass and very aggressive snares...hair on my arms is standing up even with no hair there.

I saw that...from the ballad thru close and definitely worthy of the BLAST zone. They were blowin!

[E3D]

13 hours ago, ajlemm said:

To be fair, Cavies also didn’t use their tarps either.

That show is better without them. Their tarps are a distraction. Some poor soul has to struggle pulling the tarp on the 50 as if he is climbing the pyramid at Giza. 

[Jeff Ream]

23 minutes ago, Spatzzz said:

Sure. But we all know that type of activity is not limited to corps staffs. In fact I have had more shows ruined by clueless fans than staffs. If you want to chat loudly about the "good ole' days" during performances might I suggest relocating your conversation outside the stands please.

i have no problem saying anything to idiots at shows. I've ###### off spectators, fans, and even event staff that was being idiots. ( got royal hell on a review here from the show promoter about 15 years ago for calling it out on here).

if it pisses people off, i have no problem getting someone to address it. i am an ######## and a ###### good ######## if i need to be

[E3D]

4 hours ago, Ghost said:

She probably doesn't like the bare chested male guard members.

DAAAAAAH HORRRAH. 

[MikeRapp]

19 minutes ago, queenanne_1536 said:

While I agree that Bloos visual program is definitely better than Crown's, Crown's musical program is definitely better than Bluecoats. 50% of the sheets are music focused, and 50% are visual focuses. That's why they are close. And should be.

That’s fine, but that shouldn’t impact GE as much as it apparently is. Clarity of sound and tone should be almost exclusively rated in the music captions.

[MikeRapp]

16 minutes ago, E3D said:

That show is better without them. Their tarps are a distraction. Some poor soul has to struggle pulling the tarp on the 50 as if he is climbing the pyramid at Giza. 

Imo tarps are the one thing that has migrated from WGI almost solely because designers are spending two thirds of their year designing WGI shows. Tarps could go away entirely and DCI wouldn’t lose a thing. They are a distraction at best, both to fans and corps, and at worst they are a mine field waiting to explode in shows.

Any designer who forces kids to have to drag tarps around the field AND march over them should be pulled into an office and told to be a better designer. When I see corps setting up for their show and tarps being dragged out, I immediately begin to wonder if this will be the show where disaster happens. And the thing is, it always happens at least once during a season. 

Stop using tarps. Just stop.

Edited August 2, 2018 by MikeRapp

[Spatzzz]

4 minutes ago, MikeRapp said:

Imo tarps are the one thing that has migrated from WGI almost solely because designers are spending two thirds of their year designing WGI shows. Tarps could go away entirely and DCI wouldn’t lose a thing. They are a distraction at best, both to fans and corps, and at worst they are a mine field waiting to explode in shows.

Any designer who forces kids to have to drag tarps around the field AND march over them should be pulled into an office and told to be a better designer. When I see corps setting up for their show and tarps being dragged out, I immediately begin to wonder if this will be the show where disaster happens. And the thing is, it always happens at least once during a season. 

Stop using tarps. Just stop.

They can and are being used effectively this year. Boston is a prime example. Helps transform the field to a island setting, sets up the show conceptually before a single note is played. Is not in pathways of the performers. Bookends the show exceptionally well.

I don't understand people wanting to take tools out of the designers hands and stifling creativity. As with any design tool they can be used well or not well. Same can be said for brass and percussion writing. Should we remove those because some corps don't do a good job with them?