Popular Post jwillis35 Posted June 29, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted June 29, 2022 (edited) A lot has been made about the caption scores from last night but early season I try not to look at those too much. Use your own eyes and ears and take in what you are seeing in specific areas. When it comes to total show design and seeing the big picture it is clear that Bluecoats had a design (much like Blue Devils) that feels fresh and unique, even though they are using techniques and ideas that they have generated in years past. The best design teams can do this. CAPTIONS However, one of the things I try to do early season is focus in on things like body carriage, synchronicity of legs and upper body, articulations and performer responsibilities in brass, staging of the guard and effectiveness of equipment work, percussion technique, musicality, and the relationship between pit and battery in writing. You cannot focus on each of these things in one viewing so you do this over a period of 3 or 4 shows early season. But this will give you a better read on which corps will improve faster, allowing for more layered visual work and attention to GE down the stretch of the season. BIG PICTURE AS OF NOW It is clear that Blue Devils and Bluecoats have strong captions across the board and they obviously have the big picture design. I am anxious to see Carolina Crown but for now it seems BD and Bloo will be contenders. CORPS WITH STRONG CAPTION STRENGTH Having said that, if I think individual strengths and caption quality I was very impressed with Boston. They can march, brass is exceptional and will likely be a top 3 or 4 line this year. Guard is obviously talented. Percussion was super good to my ears as well. If they can find a way to power the visual and GE aspects of this show a bit more then they can be dangerous from a competitive standpoint. I think SCV falls in this category too. Very strong brass and percussion. Guard is talented and the corps marches well. Props do not work and they need to finish the show. If they find the right elements to bring the big picture together they can also be dangerous competitively. Will Carolina fall into this category with SCV and Boston or will they be closer to BD and Bloo in terms of total show design? We will see. But typically they bring amazing brass, excellent percussion, excellent marching, and a very good guard. So caption strength will be there and the key is do they have the visual and GE elements. NOT SURE ABOUT When it comes to Cavaliers, at least for now (and that show is not complete) I did not get a sense that they have a potential top 3 brass line or percussion section. Same may be true with guard. But it's early so my comments only pertain to the now. Big picture I was not sure what I was supposed to be reacting to. Visuals seem strong and perhaps when clean this show will project more effect. But for now SCV has a superior music ensemble in comparison to Cavaliers. So does Boston. TOP 4 MUSIC ENSEMBLES AS OF NOW Not counting Crown, since I have not seen them, I'd say the best total music ensembles (brass and percussion) that I have heard are: 1) Blue Devils, 2) Boston, 3) SCV, 4) Bluecoats Bloo has work to do with this brass line but they will get there. So although I have Bloo in 4th (and they could be 5th under Crown) this is only for total music ensemble. Bloo absolutely destroys Boston and SCV when it comes to total show. At any rate I am not basing this on scores but on what my ears tell me (as of now). Just an opinion, of course. I am not a DCI Judge. Boston and SCV have very strong music ensembles but will need to figure out how to get more from the props and total show visual and GE. BD and Bloo have the whole show concept nailed down. If Bloo is able to jump into the top 3 in brass and percussion then they will contend for sure. BD at this point has the advantage. No weaknesses other than some music construction issues with Moon River and their closer. And these are just minor issues, IMO, and I will discuss those later. Remember that BD won the title in 2019 with a 4th place brass line, but they were top 3 everywhere else. PROPS BD and Bloo get it. They do this so well. SCV missed in my opinion. Boston is ok but I think I am getting tired of people climbing what looks like metal scaffolding. Not sure what I am supposed to feel. Cavaliers props did not help the show. Neither did Blue Stars which felt cluttered along with their uniforms. Phantom also missed with their props. Not sure what I am supposed to feel. We will see what Crown offers but up to now only BD and Bloo have convinced me they actually have a concept and know how to use the props to convey that. The other corps I will give props to for their use of PROPS is Mandarins. Not bad at all. Just some musings over what I have seen and heard to this point. Can't wait to see Crown and Cadets. Despite any critical comments I am enjoying all the shows and the performers are wonderful. Also keep in mind my comments are all from a FLO video perspective. In a way it is highly unfair that I try to make these discernments about these shows. All of them will improve so this is a fluid situation. Peace! Edited June 29, 2022 by jwillis35 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PopcornEater1963 Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 10 hours ago, craiga said: Fair enough. But logically, if Bloo can beat BD, and BD is ahead of SCV by 2+ points, and BAC is only 2 pts behind Bloo, and Crown hasn't even been judged yet...well, since this is not your first rodeo you know what happens to the spreads when all the teams are in the same show. Would you at least grant that Boston is closer to being in the top 3 conversation than ever before? I wouldn’t grant that after seeing last night’s show live combined with seeing the West Coast on Flo last week. Was a huge fan of “Wicked Games” and “Goliath”. This show left me flat. Just my 2 cents. Which are worth just that… 🙂 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Continental Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 1 hour ago, CAtenhut said: People who dislike vocals or ugly costumes can blame Crown... I think they started those trends. 😁 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IllianaLancerContra Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 2 hours ago, Poppycock said: After we turned off Flo last evening there was some interesting conversation about what we had seen. I will share the highlights. Lucas – How are they going to keep all those white costumes clean? Jeremy – Just add woodwinds and be done with it. The Bandos will love it! Ramon – Besides Bluecoats and Devils, there is not a single unique original thought or design to be found. Stephan – Phantom rediscovered their identity. Poppycock – 30 days of ST, shows still not completed! I agree - even if they learned only 30 seconds of new drill/day that would be 15 min of show? I say - get the bones of the drill complete, and layer the GE on later. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queenanne_1536 Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 10 hours ago, Bob984 said: You've seen Crown?? When/where?? Video-wise, I have only seen 90 seconds, and it was quite good. I also understand that they didn't have the ending out there yet as of a few days ago, so I don't believe you could evaluate that, and they are not out until 7/1....I am sure that they will be complete by then.....time will tell, and you also cannot compare scoring until the corps go head to head..... Yes, I realize you cannot compare scores from different shows. I am basing my predictions on design, because design is all that matters. If you don't have the design, you don't have a shot at the title. When you have the design, then the execution decides it. After seeing everyone but Cadets, I believe only two corps have the design to win - Bluecoats and Blue Devils. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queenanne_1536 Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 11 hours ago, cfirwin3 said: That's the most whacked Bloo show to date... by a long shot. This might be the only real commentary that I will have time to give this year, as life is crazy busy lately. But jeepers. This program is like a Slurpee tumor immediately following a jalapeño sinus cleansing. If they cram in some more brass features and a couple more visual impacts near the end... then they very well may take BD on their own terms of gratuitous exhibition of pretentious BS. I hope my Coats pull it out, but the aesthetics are a bit off the mother ship for me. Killer execution and imagination though. I agree with almost everything you said. This is I think the best Bluecoats show yet. It is incredible. Weird, bizarre, incredible. I loved every minute of it, and I'm not a Bluecoat fan. I liked their 2014-2019 shows enough, but this show I'm nuts about. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAngryBavarian Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 1 hour ago, Continental said: I didn't mind these...worked with the concept. But anyway...I think what really set the costiform debate off was the Bluecoats in 2016. That was so far from anything we'd ever seen before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrownBariDad Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 Thoughts on FLO: I watched the show on FLO via FireStick. It was over WiFi though the routers were only a few feet away in the same room. Using a Bose sound bar -- decent sound but no sub. I missed the other FLO competitions in CA -- time difference. Other than the National Anthem and PR's show (soundwise) I thought it went pretty well. I was hoping we'd get the full theater show, but I liked what I saw. No critique on the performances. Those MMs are doing things I could never do. Mad props to one and all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queenanne_1536 Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 (edited) 11 hours ago, Bob984 said: You've seen Crown?? When/where?? Video-wise, I have only seen 90 seconds, and it was quite good. I also understand that they didn't have the ending out there yet as of a few days ago, so I don't believe you could evaluate that, and they are not out until 7/1....I am sure that they will be complete by then.....time will tell, and you also cannot compare scoring until the corps go head to head..... I saw a video of the show from a high vantage point. I'm not judging the quality of the performances as I make my assessment, I am judging the design. The show is awesome. I love it. It will definitely be one of my favorites. The brass is killer. I also loved the guard book and guard unis. I WISH a show like this would win. I wish that so hopefully the activity will take another turn where shows like this are rewarded vs the shows of the last year's top 3. I'm basing my opinion of what the judges did in 2019. In 2019, talent kept Crown in the top 4, and design kept them out of the top 3. They won music and still couldn't place higher than 4th because their design killed them in GE and Visual (well killed them enough to keep them out of the top 3). I feel much the same about this years show, the design is on par with their 2017-2019 designs. I just don't think it's going to be enough to contend with Devils and Bluecoats (who have those superior designs that play perfectly into the judges hands), but it may be enough to knock Vanguard to 4th. We'll see. In 2019, I thought Crown had the most thrilling and challenging show. It was my favorite. But, it didn't play to the sheets the way Devils, Bluecoats and Vanguard did. If you don't play to the sheets you don't win and you might not even medal. DCI is slowly killing itself and the sheets is one of the ways it is doing it. I don't like it, but it is what it is. If Crown wants to win again, they are going to have to play the game, and they aren't playing the game. Edited June 29, 2022 by queenanne_1536 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box5Opinion Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 (edited) Having seen BD (2x), SCV (3x) live, after last nights show in Detroit, I would say that the Blue Devils, Bluecoats are on the hunt for title. I would not count out Boston Crusaders or SCV, theses shows have so much potential. Have not seen Carolina Crown YET!!! so anything and everything can change 😉 Bluecoats - the uniform works for me, the show idea is EPIC (extremely complex but it's a journey and the narration works) keeps the music engaging, good soloist, visually lots of original ideas, is it clean NOOO!!! but the concept/music and execution will improve throughout the season. Great vehicle for them, this summer. (The metal tires) need color, it doesn't match the other props or color scheme! My 2 cents! Boston Crusaders - the uniform is perfect for them, great show idea, music is awesome - staging of solos need work (need some type of color to draw the eye to the soloist or where it's coming from, STRONG color guard, better percussion and brass section. LOVE the conical prop and it moves with the music and drill!!! YES! CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN and they should do well this summer! Santa Clara Vanguard - interesting show concept and music selection. The uniform is a problem for me (Boston made the effort for making it look like a uniform), SCV looks like a bad middle school production of marching band - not flattering. PERCUSSION hands down will be the force to reckon with this summer. Strong performances with percussion, brass and guard, good drill and visual moments but doesn't it all work together - hmmmmm not yet, it has tons of potential. NEEDS color to POP, can't wait to see and hear how this show develops over the season. Blue Devils - love the show concept, strong sections across the board, if there is a weak section it's the color guard - rifle line. The music works well and the brass staging when the music gets complex is excellent at this point of the season, strong soloist. LOVE the color scheme and the flags in the color guard (medieval flag - first flag in the show is AWESOME), all the other one's complement and enhance the visual aspects of the music. This show has very familiar ideas from past shows, so the excellence is high. I expect an extremely clean and maxed show by the end of the season. Narration is a little confusing but who cares, it's the BLUE DEVILS!!! Corps to watch out for!!! MANDARINS, PHANTOM REGIMENT Edited June 29, 2022 by Box5Opinion 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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