Vidal28Rdg Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 1 hour ago, radiosteele said: At this point in the season, there are some expectations and predictions coming to fruition and a few unexpected developments literally no one could have seen coming. I want to address those first. 1) The tenacity of excellence - Blue Devils, as expected, has a younger group, but I did not expect their program to be so purely entertaining and accessible. It connects with the audience in a manner I have not felt since "Metamorph" and "Phenomenon of Cool". Their brass book has motifs of 80s and 90s Blue Devils' iconic jazz and their visual program has considerably more straightforward marching than in previous years. Their staff is willing these performers to win with a fantastically programmed show. If they do not place first, it will be because Boston, Crown or the Bluecoats earn the championship, not because BD loses. The Devils lose nothing this year. Now, if you think Boston is not going to challenge for the title, please have a look at their color guard and integration of all captions into an organic flowing program. They will be close. 2) I told you so - So will gloat first before I eat humble pie later. I was very confident that Boston and Mandarins had challenged themselves during the pandemic seasons, and they would benefit from it. Boston is sitting in 3rd-4th in score rankings currently and the only way it will change is if Bluecoats or BD max out their shows before finals. Boston and Crown will rise in that case. The Mandarins had an aggressiveness in their exhibition year I had not seen from them before, and their meteoric rise was in no jeopardy of fizzling out. I knew they were going up the ladder but I did not know how far. Now.....potentially...6th? What a great result that would be from a great corps with this years' most entertaining show. I also noted that the Colts could break out, and they are scary close to jumping over Blue Knights to lock down 12th place. They have the show to do it. Right now, they seem as if they are still trying to nail everything and are not organically performing the show like it is instinctive. Once they gel and let the heart & determination take over, watch out. 3) I TOTALLY blew it - Phantom. Ya killin' me Smalls. All captions are going as expected, EXCEPT for visual proficiency. Phantom is trailing Blue Stars by THREE POINTS in visual proficiency alone, finishing last in their contests this weekend, out-marched by Madison and Colts!!! If not for that one subcaption, Regiment would be sitting in 7th right now. I never figured for one second these kids would struggle with marching after an amazing effort last year. That being said, finals is still a lock of PR, but I have to back up off that top-6 finish prediction a bit. Some reasons for optimism: they were hit very hard by COVID that cost them 4 days, and this early in the season, the visuals are still very cleanable. They will stage a comeback on visuals. Some drill rewrites and helping these kids with circles and boxes should help them quite a bit. They should finish above Crossmen if they max out. Madison Scouts, from a programming perspective, have done a 180 from their aggressive, powerful exhibition show last year and gone more avant-garde, which doesn't fit them. They are struggling in GE and visual. I predicted they were a shoo-in for finals - it doesn't seem that way now. Prediction reset I will probably do one more round of this analysis in early August, but here's how it is shaping up now: 1) Carolina Crown 2) Blue Devils 3) Boston Crusaders 4) Bluecoats 5) Cadets 6) Mandarins 7) Santa Clara Vanguard (I love you both Jim & Dawn Reed; your percussionist son is NOT the problem here - the pit is marvelous) 😎 Cavaliers 9) Blue Stars 10) Phantom Regiment 11) Crossmen 12) Colts ***************************** 13) Blue Knights 14) Troopers (they're just dirty right now - their show is fire) 15) Madison Scouts 16) The Academy 17) Music City 18) Pacific Crest 19) Genesis 20) Jersey Surf Until next time, squirts............ I think others would like to reassure you in saying that Phantom WILL be a finals lock. I can’t see them getting lower than 10th and hopefully will see them climb even higher as the season continues! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwillis35 Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 2 hours ago, radiosteele said: 3) I TOTALLY blew it - Phantom. Ya killin' me Smalls. All captions are going as expected, EXCEPT for visual proficiency. Phantom is trailing Blue Stars by THREE POINTS in visual proficiency alone, finishing last in their contests this weekend, out-marched by Madison and Colts!!! If not for that one sub-caption, Regiment would be sitting in 7th right now. I think the issue with Phantom at the last show was due to the last week and half where they were dealing with Covid. In trying to keep members safe I am not sure they have concentrated on the visual proficiency as much. Also consider the way they are conditioning the brass line this year has certainly had an effect on the marching. And yes, the visual program needs some work, but overall Phantom will be awesome by season's end. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAtenhut Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 16 minutes ago, jwillis35 said: I think the issue with Phantom at the last show was due to the last week and half where they were dealing with Covid. In trying to keep members safe I am not sure they have concentrated on the visual proficiency as much. Also consider the way they are conditioning the brass line this year has certainly had an effect on the marching. And yes, the visual program needs some work, but overall Phantom will be awesome by season's end. Every corps is dealing with this. Cavies haven't been able to compete for a week, SCV had instructors pushing props in Sacramento and Stanford, Mandarins had 8 members standing on the sideline last night. It's an ongoing battle with every corps and I just hope no one has to experience it in Indy. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orwellian Wiress Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 Alright, time to jump in! The only performance I saw live this year was Rose Bowl (actually my first DCI show ever) and I loved it. However, I have a gut feeling that Blue Devils isn't taking first this year. Although they've been consistently scoring well, something tells me someone else's got them beat for first. I loved the Devils performance seeing it live, but I think a lot of other corps have more "grand" performances, i.e. Bluecoats and Crown. In fact, let me go out on a limb today. I think Crown is taking the championships. I feel like the judges will give them extra points for doing something innovative that no corps has done in DCI history. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiosteele Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 37 minutes ago, jwillis35 said: I think the issue with Phantom at the last show was due to the last week and half where they were dealing with Covid. In trying to keep members safe I am not sure they have concentrated on the visual proficiency as much. Also consider the way they are conditioning the brass line this year has certainly had an effect on the marching. And yes, the visual program needs some work, but overall Phantom will be awesome by season's end. I agree. They have everything they need in front of them to do so. The show is wildly satisfying, and the music captions are shredding. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cappybara Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 35 minutes ago, Orwellian Wiress said: Alright, time to jump in! The only performance I saw live this year was Rose Bowl (actually my first DCI show ever) and I loved it. However, I have a gut feeling that Blue Devils isn't taking first this year. Although they've been consistently scoring well, something tells me someone else's got them beat for first. I loved the Devils performance seeing it live, but I think a lot of other corps have more "grand" performances, i.e. Bluecoats and Crown. In fact, let me go out on a limb today. I think Crown is taking the championships. I feel like the judges will give them extra points for doing something innovative that no corps has done in DCI history. Ah, so the judges ARE apparently going to adjudicate the app as well? Interesting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orwellian Wiress Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 22 minutes ago, Cappybara said: Ah, so the judges ARE apparently going to adjudicate the app as well? Interesting I don't actually know. I just feel like it's going to bag them a few bonus points Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAtenhut Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 (edited) My predictions... And if you don't like them, I don't care. 😂 It's just an opinion, so calm down in advance. 😁 1. BD - Classic BD with another superior overall package. 2. Carolina Crown - Another amazing brass book, guard is also solid, and the show is just fun and feels like a party! They could overtake BD. 3. Bluecoats - Solid but just can't get into the show. Way too much narration that really doesn't add to the progression of the show like I would want (See Cadets). 4. SCV - So many great moments but they are struggling a little putting it all together. Love the ballad, but they really need to work on that closer. 5. Boston - They are clean and do everything really well right now, but I feel like it's disjointed and lacks content/demand. They could get into 3rd or 4th tho. 6. The Cadets - Another show with A LOT of narration, but I feel like their narration complements the show really well. And I get the old school Cadets feels when I watch them, which is awesome. 7. Mandarins - Aggressive, fun and innovative. I know a lot of people did not like the vocals in the beginning, but he seems to be improving with every show and I think he'll convert people by August. 8. Cavies - I really like their show early on, but I worry their Covid issues might have stunted their growth a bit. Only time will tell. 9. Phantom - Like the Cadets, I am getting the old school Phantom feels again this season. Solid show that could've put them higher in other years, but I just think everyone is just so strong this year. 10. Blue Stars - I haven't really cared for BS recently and just can't get into this show. They do everything consistently well, but I just don't see them finishing as high as previous years. 11. Crossmen - They are improving show after show and they should be there Saturday night. 12. Colts - Because I need this underdog to make it. They're small this year but have a great sound and are performing well. They could fight BK and Crossmen in August, but we'll see if their size and lack of content/demand hurts them later. 13. Blue Knights - they will likely be the 11th or 12th place corps on Saturday, but this is probably the slowest I've ever seen them out of the gate. They have always found a way to put it together in August, so we'll have to wait and see. Edited July 11, 2022 by CAtenhut 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cappybara Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 43 minutes ago, Orwellian Wiress said: I don't actually know. I just feel like it's going to bag them a few bonus points So the GE judges are going to spot Crown a couple points for the app? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg_orangecounty Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 I predict I will cry if Pacific Crest does not make finals. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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