bluesman Posted August 12, 2018 Share Posted August 12, 2018 On 8/11/2018 at 8:17 AM, craiga said: I will restate my belief that in terms of visual design as it relates to actual drill, The Cadets and Boston Crusaders move more than anyone else..and move extremely well. Are we seeing an emergence of an "East Coast" visual style? In terms of "staging" instead of real visual design, BD, SCV, and Bloo all do this to the extreme. But, notice who occupy the top 3 spots right now...in DCI, that which is rewarded is perpetuated. As a visual design/drill writer of four decades, I fear I am becoming obsolete. I give myself 5 more years.... :( I would add Blue Stars to the list of corps doing a good bit of actual drill. Considering where we are now with visuals their show as well as those of BC and Cadets seem old fashioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesman Posted August 12, 2018 Share Posted August 12, 2018 On 8/11/2018 at 3:23 PM, queenanne_1536 said: 1991 Star of Indiana? Star of Indiana did a lot marching, but no where near at much as Cadets 1993 or Cadets 1996 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bayareafan Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 Perhaps a bit late to this thread, but I think that people that criticize these corps for not moving enough are missing a lot. The sense I get is that people somehow feel there's less challenge and less accomplishment involved in what these corps are doing versus more traditional show designs. I don't agree with that at all. This is the first year that Vanguard fully gave up dot-to-dot designs and of course they have now - very deservedly IMO - won a championship. I'm quite sure Vanguard didn't choose this design approach because they thought it was easier. Vanguard has never been one to do easy shows. They did this because it offered the ability for them to be more creative than a traditional show design would allow. When I watch all these corps I certainly enjoy watching more traditional shows. The Cadets, with the exception of their uniform, were in IMO the most traditional of all the top 12 this year and I enjoyed their show. But there's also no question in my mind that the top 3 deserved to be the top 3 and that when I watched their shows it felt more modern and fresh than any of the ones that came before them. The other corps were all great, but many of them looked like - sorry - just very good marching bands. The top 3 corps looked like something else entirely. Something more creative. Something very fresh. Something very fluid. I expect a lot of people felt that way and I'm sure next year even more corps will move the direction of BD/SCV/BLOO. But this thread springs from the criticism that some corps don't march enough and more to the point that some people feel that makes such corps less deserving. I don't see it that way at all. Now, I'd need to listen to all the shows more carefully to say for sure, but it sure seemed to me like the top 3 corps all had very difficult music books - more so than the other corps. If you just sit back and listen every section of these corps was challenged like crazy in what they were playing. Not only that, but all the corps were mixing in sampled music as well that had to be synchronized. Whether you like that or not it's hard to do. Now when I watch these corps I also see all kinds of movement and a lot of the time they are playing. There's actually still a lot of marching in these shows, but in a traditional show most of the time there is more or less one giant drill that is evolving throughout the show. In these modern shows there are a bunch of smaller sets of drill playing out all at once. The members are also doing all kinds of body movement, and oh BTW they even climb props, jump off of props, etc. That's all very hard to do. Yes there is some "pose and play" out there and you notice it in Vanguard because they do it on top of those props. But seriously very few corps have members with the skills needed to do all this variety of stuff. So, IMO, the right corps made the top three and for that matter they finished in the right order. I do believe that not only were their shows the most entertaining of the night from a GE perspective, but also that their members were likely challenged at least as much if not more than the members of all the other corps. I personally hope these corps stay with their modern designs because they are insanely cool to watch and I think the embodiment of the future of DCI. Times change. Tastes change. I believe the marching members of today thrive on these modern shows and that is awesome in my book. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoveKathyG Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 On 8/10/2018 at 7:24 PM, MikeBD said: While SCV has a very entertaining show I swear there are brass members that never go to the back half of the field or outside of the 25. Im convinced that people are just tired of BD winning. If Crown played SCVs show you might not have any hearing left. In my 32 years of watching finals (BD won me over in 86) I have not disliked a winning show til now. I have always had great respect for other corps but this show is beyond easy considering how talented the performers are. Flame away. Vanguard won. That is all. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeBD Posted August 19, 2018 Author Share Posted August 19, 2018 On 8/13/2018 at 11:58 PM, LoveKathyG said: Vanguard won. That is all. Enjoy your first one in this millennium. When everyone stops using field coverage blame yourselves. THAT IS ALL!!!!!! Even a blind puppy gets a bone once in a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeBD Posted August 19, 2018 Author Share Posted August 19, 2018 On 8/13/2018 at 8:29 PM, bayareafan said: Perhaps a bit late to this thread, but I think that people that criticize these corps for not moving enough are missing a lot. The sense I get is that people somehow feel there's less challenge and less accomplishment involved in what these corps are doing versus more traditional show designs. I don't agree with that at all. This is the first year that Vanguard fully gave up dot-to-dot designs and of course they have now - very deservedly IMO - won a championship. I'm quite sure Vanguard didn't choose this design approach because they thought it was easier. Vanguard has never been one to do easy shows. They did this because it offered the ability for them to be more creative than a traditional show design would allow. When I watch all these corps I certainly enjoy watching more traditional shows. The Cadets, with the exception of their uniform, were in IMO the most traditional of all the top 12 this year and I enjoyed their show. But there's also no question in my mind that the top 3 deserved to be the top 3 and that when I watched their shows it felt more modern and fresh than any of the ones that came before them. The other corps were all great, but many of them looked like - sorry - just very good marching bands. The top 3 corps looked like something else entirely. Something more creative. Something very fresh. Something very fluid. I expect a lot of people felt that way and I'm sure next year even more corps will move the direction of BD/SCV/BLOO. But this thread springs from the criticism that some corps don't march enough and more to the point that some people feel that makes such corps less deserving. I don't see it that way at all. Now, I'd need to listen to all the shows more carefully to say for sure, but it sure seemed to me like the top 3 corps all had very difficult music books - more so than the other corps. If you just sit back and listen every section of these corps was challenged like crazy in what they were playing. Not only that, but all the corps were mixing in sampled music as well that had to be synchronized. Whether you like that or not it's hard to do. Now when I watch these corps I also see all kinds of movement and a lot of the time they are playing. There's actually still a lot of marching in these shows, but in a traditional show most of the time there is more or less one giant drill that is evolving throughout the show. In these modern shows there are a bunch of smaller sets of drill playing out all at once. The members are also doing all kinds of body movement, and oh BTW they even climb props, jump off of props, etc. That's all very hard to do. Yes there is some "pose and play" out there and you notice it in Vanguard because they do it on top of those props. But seriously very few corps have members with the skills needed to do all this variety of stuff. So, IMO, the right corps made the top three and for that matter they finished in the right order. I do believe that not only were their shows the most entertaining of the night from a GE perspective, but also that their members were likely challenged at least as much if not more than the members of all the other corps. I personally hope these corps stay with their modern designs because they are insanely cool to watch and I think the embodiment of the future of DCI. Times change. Tastes change. I believe the marching members of today thrive on these modern shows and that is awesome in my book. Musically their show is great. Performance wise it's nothing compared to their past shows. I don't want to see corps use 1/6 of the field. No other corp does that and it's not close. I loved the crusaders this year like everyone else and I applaud them for using the entire field. BD always spreads the field so you can't compare them to SCV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeBD Posted August 19, 2018 Author Share Posted August 19, 2018 On 8/11/2018 at 8:42 PM, N.E. Brigand said: I haven't read most of this thread yet, so my apologies if this was already mentioned, but as I mentioned in the Finals thread, I did pull out the stopwatch tonight for BD and SCV to find out how much each corps brass plays while on the move: BD -- 3 min. 55 sec. SCV -- 3 min. 48 sec. So they play-while-moving about the same. BD spreads the field. SCV used a basketball court. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeBD Posted August 19, 2018 Author Share Posted August 19, 2018 On 8/11/2018 at 5:26 PM, 00BlooSop said: All about the speakers... can't be out on the 15s when the speakers and mics are 30 and In. You nailed it. If crown played SCVs show none of us at finals would have any hearing left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
churchboy Posted August 19, 2018 Share Posted August 19, 2018 My only criticism is the guard, it you watch them they don't spin on the move, they move to a spot then plant there and then spin. I love BD though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeBD Posted August 19, 2018 Author Share Posted August 19, 2018 On 8/11/2018 at 1:23 PM, queenanne_1536 said: 1991 Star of Indiana? Actually responding to your post about it going indoors. The second that I see more shows compact the field like vanguard this year I am done. I have been to 6 finals over the years and numerous regional shows. I have paid for flomarching and bought numerous shirts etc. I first became a fan in 86. If they want to lose the old fans so be it but I will never watch again. Vanguard made a mockery of this year. They should of just sat there and played in concert formation. You are correct though. I kept thinking the whole time that there were trying to set up a small production much like blast on broadway years ago. You don't have to move all the time for me but you sure as heck better spread the field. Vanguard should put a basketball on their uniforms since they only played to the speakers which is about the size of a basketball court. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.