Blue Devils in the Details 2023

[Chief Guns]

8 minutes ago, theonlyfizzle said:

Oh, for real.. But i didn't see any snark from you. Your always a classy guy.

Thanks bro. That means alot. 

[Grandpa Joe]

24 minutes ago, Chief Guns said:

He wasn't talking to you brother. He was referring to me.

Honestly at this point, I'm speaking in general. There was a little snark in your original comment that sparked this discussion, but now I'm just speaking in general because there's way too much of it going on. I'd love to not see everyone at each others throats on here by the end of the season.

[Barneveld]

[Grandpa Joe]

1 minute ago, Barneveld said:

Thank you for proving my point. I'll be leaving the thread now. 

Have a great season, BD fandom.

[Chief Guns]

54 minutes ago, Grandpa Joe said:

Honestly at this point, I'm speaking in general. There was a little snark in your original comment that sparked this discussion, but now I'm just speaking in general because there's way too much of it going on. I'd love to not see everyone at each others throats on here by the end of the season.

Fair enough and point taken. And I agree with what you are saying. 

All I was simply saying is I don't see how anyone (regardless of who you root for) could say BD is passing a torch in preseason when we haven't seen all the shows, nothing is scored, and BD put out I believe 8min worth of show that let's be honest is completely bare bones from what it will look and sound like 20 days from now, better or worse. 

I am a diehard 49ers fan, and I normally go to a couple of Niners training camp practices in August before the regular season starts. It would be like me going to a two hour Niners practice session, leaving, and saying "Yep, the Niners aren't making the playoffs this year" when half the guys on the practice field won't even make the final 53 man roster, and the team was running basic bare bones plays and formations. 

Again I have ZERO issues with someone not liking a corps or a particular show.

And I have ZERO issues with someone saying they didn't like what they saw and heard from BD Saturday night. 

I saw Crowns performance from this past weekend, and you best believe if someone said Crown is passing the torch or not winning based off their first preseason run, I would come to their defense, or any corps defense for that matter. Not just BD. 

As a matter of fact, I came to Boston's defense last preseason, IN THE BD 2022 THREAD about this same topic. 

[year1buick]

2 hours ago, Barneveld said:

Back when I still had hair.  (You may now return to the BD thread…)

Edited June 20, 2023 by year1buick

[saxfreq1128]

Do we have to argue already? BD hasn’t even harpooned the whale yet. Plus we might need to team up with BC to fight the orca war so I do wish we’d all try to get along.

Anyway no comment on the particulars of this debate because living this fight over and over every year is making me feel like Bill Murray. The really interesting thing to me is that the complaints about BD today aren’t really so different from the complaints people had 10, 20, 30 years ago, IMO. I’m sure some of you remember ye olde “park and blow” complaints in the ‘90s etc.: BD never formed a corps identity around breakneck drill like the Cadets in that decade or the Cavies in the next decade; they did block rotations then and are still doing them now. Or what about the “chop and bop” complaints; people have, for literally decades, complained about BD’s music arrangements being too scattered, repetitive, technical, lacking in fully developed musical ideas, etc etc etc. 

Park and blow evolved into dance and heavy use of body instead of standing in place, so now the complaints are about that. Choppy musical arrangements evolved into brass books designed around showy sectional featurettes and vocal samples and increasingly eclectic charts — in other words: still choppy — so now the complaints are about that. None of it’s new!

So as BD fans I think that we can relax and as BD non-fans I think we can also relax. For me it boils down to: this is just who BD is. IMO. 

Edited June 20, 2023 by saxfreq1128

[Chief Guns]

7 minutes ago, saxfreq1128 said:

Do we have to argue already? BD hasn’t even harpooned the whale yet. Plus we might need to team up with BC to fight the orca war so I do wish we’d all try to get along.

Anyway no comment on the particulars of this debate because living this fight over and over every year is making me feel like Bill Murray. The really interesting thing to me is that the complaints about BD today aren’t really so different from the complaints people had 10, 20, 30 years ago, IMO. I’m sure some of you remember ye olde “park and blow” complaints in the ‘90s etc.: BD never formed a corps identity around breakneck drill like the Cadets in that decade or the Cavies in the next decade; they did block rotations then and are still doing them now. Or what about the “chop and bop” complaints; people have, for literally decades, complained about BD’s music arrangements being too scattered, repetitive, technical, lacking in fully developed musical ideas, etc etc etc. 

Park and blow evolved into dance and heavy use of body instead of standing in place, so now the complaints are about that. Choppy musical arrangements evolved into brass books designed around showy sectional featurettes and vocal samples and increasingly eclectic charts — in other words: still choppy — so now the complaints are about that. None of it’s new!

So as BD fans I think that we can relax and as BD non-fans I think we can also relax. For me it boils down to: this is just who BD is. IMO. 

I would hit the "Like" button on this comment 100 times if I could. 

[Vidal28Rdg]

Several *disclaimers* of my opinion on BD’s show preview before I say anything:

1. It’s going to change, considerably so from what was seen today

2. It’s a better experience live than on a video camera I’m sure. I don’t have the vantage point from those that were there and can say more to what they felt.

3. I’m not the biggest fan of BD’s shows, my main gripes will center around that. Ok! Here we go

I wasn’t very moved at all from what I saw from BD, and again, if I was watching in person, there may be more parts of their show that goes and hits me a bit harder than it did just sitting and watching at home. The ballad is nice and will be a standout moment of their show, while I feel much of what came before was a bit underwhelming, still fun, but not necessarily memorable. Idk, it definitely doesn’t scream “TITLE 21’s ON THE WAY” for me personally. From another preview that many have seen in Crown’s as well, they for me also didn’t feel like they have a title on lock either, but they definitely are performing what they have well. The two corps have vastly different vibes and energies in their performances, it’s going to be interesting to see what each corps gets their credit for and the edges they’ll have on each other. I don’t feel like BD’s already one step ahead of all the other contenders as of now. I’m very excited to see what Bloo and Boston will have to offer, haven’t heard or seen any of their shows yet! I think the race is going to be close coming out of the gates within those 4 contenders, at least for me

Also *extra* disclaimer, there’s plenty of show left for BD obviously, probably another show that I believe saves its best for the latter half.

Edited June 20, 2023 by Vidal28Rdg

[resipsaloquitur]

6 hours ago, Metalbinky said:

I watched the community performance via video.  One thing I’m really curious about is if all those shapes on the field actually end up making something that the audience will be able to connect with.  I’m looking forward to seeing the evolution of the show!

In the design department I actually know something about. I saw the show live and the props are quite familiar to me. I would encourage you to look up Matisse's 1953 cut-out called The Snail and you will see something striking and familiar. The piece is in the Tate Collection in London and is an example of his final body of works. 

Edited June 20, 2023 by resipsaloquitur