Monday, July 18 “Brass Impact” College Boulevard Activity Center Olathe North West High School Olathe, KANSAS

[NakedEye]

9 minutes ago, brassboy said:

GE 1 is a Visual judge; GE 2 is a Music judge.

Look at the prior discussion of this ⬆️. It is now one visual background, one music background, but they are supposed to look at the whole thing instead of staying strictly in those lanes. They definitely didn't see things the same way.

[Vidal28Rdg]

1 hour ago, mcjordansc said:

The Colts have to be excited. They are clearly in the mix for 11th/12th place.

I am hoping they make top 12 for the entertainment value they would bring for that 6-12 part of finals, they do have the show to do it, I wonder how the adjudication for them will play out in the next few weeks and where they will continue to be slotted, the music and GE captions can potentially carry them. Spreads open up the further down one goes in the standings.

[Phantom56]

When is the last year Colts made finals? 

[BlueStarsDad]

8 hours ago, TomVV said:

August 18, 1979, DCI finals, was the last time Blue Stars beat thee Cavaliers. Nearly 43 years!

And I was there!  It was my first DCI show ever.

Edited July 19, 2022 by BlueStarsDad

[kdaddy]

39 minutes ago, Phantom56 said:

When is the last year Colts made finals? 

2007

Also, according to a percussionist that marched both Colts and Cavies, the only other time Colts beat them in percussion was in 1999, possibly Dekalb.

[Vdad76]

Was at show.  Weather was bearable and the stadium chosen was great as it was a North/South end zone stadium with the highest stands (home side) shaded the field completely.  

Madison had a good show, gut it lacks sophistication on the visual side.  Guard just doesn’t rise to the macho scout brand, especially the rifles.  However, sound wise, they reminded us of the Madison sound a couple of times.  Ok show the staff needs to be better in working the audience in music and visuals.  Had 4 missing.

Phantom was after the break and they laid the gauntlet down.  THANK YOU JD SHAW, this is the first “PR” sound I’ve heard in a decade.  The countra bass line was fantastic and the pyramid of sound was there.  The ending is fast and furious as they end at the front sideline.  Guard does well but needs work, same with Percussion.  The guard looked like they paid dues to the “Spartacus” show with the use of the purple cloth in the show.  Props are interesting and the tables they use made sense and they finally got the tables on the 50 matching up for what they wanted.  I personally think they will nail 8th or 9th place this year.  Audience was very responsive to them.  They got the first “jump up out of your seats screaming standing ovation of the night.  Again 5-6 holes in the drill.

Blue Stars have an aggressive show this year and they look like they want the top 6 this year.  Lots of props, but it helps carry the show of War and Peace.  They were cleaner than everyone else, the guard helps carry what is happening, the music easily understood.  Lots of pushing and pulling or pairing of one section vs. another of brass and percussion.  They have a big sound, but are very tasteful in the lower end dynamics.  The horn has to triple and double tongue in may places and it’s wonderful to hear it done in a nice mp dynamic.  Probably made more use of dynamics than everyone else.  Percussion is hot, hot, hot!  Seems like they are really trying to step up everything ala Boston Crusaders.  Have one of really fine drill moves at the end when 4 blocks rotate into one large block and it’s really clean all the way through.  4 clean holes, but a very well deserved win!

Cavies came on next, and it was so good to see the clock face wheeled out along with the other props, because it meant they were marching tonight.  They grabbed the audience from the get go and did not let go at all (still trying to understand the wild swings in the captions, but I have an idea on why).  They performed and the sound rumbled the stands as did PR and Blue Stars.  A lot of difficulty in the drill, although most it in the front half and middle third of the field.  They move quickly through a lot of great close quarter drill.  Playing was good.  Had places where things were good, but no what you come to expect from the Cavies, but when you’ve not had a chance to work with a full corps in any capacity for what had to feel like an eternity.  More polish, work and patience and I think they will knocking on the top 6 door by finals.  Love the concept of this show.  Still had 6 missing tonight.

Colts (sponsoring corps of the show) have a lot of Missouri and Kansas kids marching with them.  So they could do nothing wrong tonight.  I like the “The Silk Road” concept and the do it well.  They are cleaning what I saw at the beginning of the year, very well.  Not as big a guard, but they added nicely to the show.  Props were all about the journey of the Silk Road long ago, considered the greatest trading route in all of Asia and Europe.  Nice job done with the brass, they are a bit smaller than the other World class groups, so the sound wasn’t overwhelming, but it was a wonderfully balanced sound that plays very well.  Had 5 gone (all of the numbers are my count of holes in the big visuals where you could see there was someone missing.  The Colts will be fighting it out for a finish in the top 12.

As I said before, recaps were wild to look at, especially between Blue Stars, Cavies and Phantom.  I think the few reads that adjudicators had on this show had to be difficult, and with holes in every show, it’s even more difficult (especially big wide open sets that are curvilinear).  So with reactions on the first or second read by judges or if you are reading the 4th or 5th or 6th time.  I think things will iron out as the season lengthens and most judges see everyone multiple times.  The fun really begins tonight when we start getting West, South, Midwest and East all together.  The fun gets going and I’m sure we’ll have a lot to discuss tomorrow after the Broken Arrow show!