Blue Devils in the Details 2023

[lawdn]

2 hours ago, resipsaloquitur said:

I'm no percussion pundit but the Age Outs (who are particularly hard on BD) made a prediction and even bet their hard earned cheddar: 

 

This is really cool, even to someone like me who knows virtually nothing about percussion other than what I can glean from smarter people here. One of those gleanings from last year as a reason Bluecoats won the Sanford was that the pit matters and can often be the difference-maker. Any takes here or on social media on this year's BD pit? Thanks!

[theonlyfizzle]

29 minutes ago, corps8294 said:

So far the substance doesn't have too much appeal and it's not coming across as top shelf. 

yeah, ok. Have you tried it before ? Will google it again to get an idea what it taste like to others lol.

[theonlyfizzle]

2 hours ago, resipsaloquitur said:

To me it's an intentional, visual portrayal of a chaotic period in Matisse's life. Remember, the end of the second movement is simulating the French resistance to the Nazi regime during WWII, a time of chaos in which Matisse created the piece, aptly titled "Jazz" (look it up), which recreates the despondency caused by several of his resistance family members captured, imprisoned, and tortured. Matisse, who had stayed in France, became gravely ill in 1941 and nearly died. Surgery saved his life but left him weak and with restricted mobility. It was during this period that he began to focus on a technique he called "drawing with scissors." This explains why the percussion feature is met with the backdrop of the war time speech of Charles de Gaulle who was France's head of state. The center snare is Matisse himself, doing a drill that has him spinning in and out in circular formation representing Matisse and his mind set during that period.

Thank you for this break down. Make so much sense. There''s so much details in BD shows, segment by segment. That my friend keeps me interested and intrigued. that's what i appreciate about BD shows so much.

[saxfreq1128]

8 hours ago, lawdn said:

As with probably every show, seeing it live is certainly a very different experience. I have seen multiple posters say they had questions and doubts about this show until they saw it live. I like it so far but am not 100% sold having only seen one good stream. I am planning to see it live next weekend and will report back here. Unfortunately, not everyone has the opportunity to attend a show in person, but typically the shows read better and better on streaming as the season progresses.

Also, currently the props recreate Matisse’s “The Snail” in the latter part of the show. I suspect they may be arranged and recombined to form an additional work as the show develops.

This is also why I troll around for videos on youtube etc — feels more “live” than the Flo stream. I like being able to hear the crowd. And the volume is more offensive in a good way. 

[resipsaloquitur]

3 hours ago, Chief Guns said:

I absolutely love your breakdowns and explanations of BDs shows. Freaking awesome!

Not to mention when the haters come trolling about not understanding BDs show and the other crap they regurgitate every year, it just shows that they CHOOSE to not understand what BD is trying to do, because they have a certain negative narrative to push about the Devils, and they will die on the hill defending it. 

It's like when BD puts up their "Inside BD 360" segments on YT which CLEARLY breaks down each part of the show and what they are trying to convey and accomplish...........then you have haters in the comments........."I don't understand BDs show, they will finish 4th" 

SMDH.

 

I've got more details to share with ya'll. I'll be posting a second review after watching the shows this weekend. Will temperature in Fresno be more hospitable than Mesa? Highly doubt it.

[saxfreq1128]

dupe post

Edited July 5, 2023 by saxfreq1128

[saxfreq1128]

18 hours ago, Ashontheinternet said:

       biggest visual gripe is guard, especially when spinning rifle. inconsistent toss heights, prepping at seemingly random times for said tosses, just strange. obviously im not in the bd guard so i cant say wether or not its intentional, but it looks pretty unappealing.

All fair critiques but don’t forget that it’s early July! Inconsistent heights are definitely normal in the first week of competing. Sloppy release timing, audible fuzz in the catches, etc. is all super normal.  BD’s guard style favors very clearly articulated prepping for tosses because they’re all about showing off their great control and technique, and it always looks a bit sloppy for about half of the season until everyone’s technique is finally consistent. 

IMO this year’s weapons are way ahead of recent years — this is the least concerned I’ve been about a BD guard since probably 2014, if I’m being honest. They’re going to clean up fast. 

[Ashontheinternet]

2 hours ago, saxfreq1128 said:

All fair critiques but don’t forget that it’s early July! Inconsistent heights are definitely normal in the first week of competing. Sloppy release timing, audible fuzz in the catches, etc. is all super normal.  BD’s guard style favors very clearly articulated prepping for tosses because they’re all about showing off their great control and technique, and it always looks a bit sloppy for about half of the season until everyone’s technique is finally consistent. 

IMO this year’s weapons are way ahead of recent years — this is the least concerned I’ve been about a BD guard since probably 2014, if I’m being honest. They’re going to clean up fast. 

i know that this is all the fault of it being early season, just sharing how i felt after first viewing. bd guard almost always ends up blowing me away come championships, one of my favorite guards in the activity, always creative, tasteful, and pretty writing for the guard. 

[NakedEye]

12 hours ago, saxfreq1128 said:

IMO this year’s weapons are way ahead of recent years — this is the least concerned I’ve been about a BD guard since probably 2014, if I’m being honest. They’re going to clean up fast. 

Agreed, and I was thinking yesterday that the entire show is reminding me of 2014 in the way that, even this early, it is a very consistent design thought. Everything refers to the Matisse motif, like everything referred to the Fellini film idea. Some of the more recent shows have been mashups that they made work, but this concept is very, very tight. It's also pretty simple for audiences of all knowledge levels to get. The shapes are everywhere - drill, props, costumes, flags, body positioning. And it will only get more enhanced and defined.

Potential for a very high ceiling by the end of the season.

 

[resipsaloquitur]

Before departing for Fresno, sharing my thoughts after a third, live viewing of the show. All seats were right under the box except SB at which we sat on the third row from field, 50-year line so we've had multiple vantage points.

Art is the expression of a human soul.  It finds its means where it may: music, sculpture, painting.  It’s a personal matter of aptitude and natural gifts.~ Matisse

The show Cut-Outs traces the relationship between music, design and colour in Matisse’s work.  Music was an essential element of everyday life for Matisse: he played the violin, listened to jazz and other music on the radio and on his large record collection.

Similarly, throughout its storied history, Concord has nurtured a relationship with art, not only looking to the avant-garde movements of the day to inspire their music, design, and performance, but creating a culture of artistry that envelopes and informs the type of shows they create. Ellis, Dada, Fellini, Hopper. Glass. Reich. Matisse.

On my first viewing I happen to be visiting Denver on business and made the two-hour drive to Laramie for the corps' “send off” show for the community. Laramie is fondly referred to by the staff and the member as "Laradise." The invitation came from one of the techs, although it was announced to the public. The show took place on a Saturday night at the War Memorial Stadium at the University of Wyoming campus. "The War" is the highest NCAA Division I football stadium in the country at an elevation of 7,220 feet and seats 29,181 fans. 

The first moment we see “The Cut-Outs” we are introduced to striking props on the field arranged in scattered formation. Inspired by Henri Matisse’s gouache cut-out masterpiece “The Sheaf” and parts of "Les Mille et Une Nuits" with its bold motifs of hearts, jasmine flowers and leaves in vibrant colors, jasmine was selected as the natural focus. The show testifies to the revered French artist Henri Matisse's ability to create a new form of art that "paints with scissors." This medium allowed him to work with brilliant colors even when he was bed-bound in his last years, in spite of his deteriorating physical condition. As Matisse himself pondered, “It’s not enough to place the colours, however beautiful, one beside the other; the colours must also react on one another, otherwise you have cacophony.” Visually, the show demonstrates to the audience exactly that type of interplay between colors, and between the props and the uniforms.

To me, the theme of the show appears to be artistic, physical, and mental rejuvenation, which are themes played out, much like Matisse' artwork, by the use of bold color palettes and exaggerated contrasts in the props and in the uniforms. Like 2010's Through A Glass, Darkly, along with 2012 and 2014, to me they are  spiritual predecessors to the 2023 production. the unfamiliarity of the cacophony designed, purposefully, to make the audience uncomfortable. To feel what's it's like for Matisse to suffer physical debilitation in his later artistic years.

Speaking of the uniforms, typical of the corps' design motif, there is what’s on the surface, and a backstory. It is never what you see is what you get. The Cut-Outs is no exception. What’s evident is that the uniform is literally cut out of patches of those of past year’s championship shows, like sleeves (Ghostlight), gloves (Tempus Blue), top (Cabaret Voltaire). 

Musically, it's an immersive and often thunderous repertoire that highlights the member's musical ability to nimbly alternate between polyrhythmic metal (TesseracT); 60s folk (Joni Mitchell); old school jazz; and, refreshingly, anime, which as someone on this forum mentioned is really old brassy, jazzy-sounding stuff that you'd likely listen to anyway.

For many in the San Bernadino audience, and on my third live viewing, the ears started to be challenged somewhat uncomfortably at the end of the ballad, when the highly unusual combination of the TesseracT and Graettinger's "Incident in Jazz" took over with its abstractly formatted fugal melodic lines, as if we were asked to listen while shifting our brain into overdrive. Here, I was expecting them to break out into full dance hall / big band the way the the 2010 Kenton version played out to fan excitement. We shall see if that part gets reprised as the show progresses.

Is this the intended Matisse effect? In his later years, he resorted to making cut-outs because of his debilitating physical illness that surely made him highly uncomfortable in his physical, as well as artistic, state of being.

The resulting collage is both visceral and striking, beautiful and intense. Poetry in motion.

If you have the chance this Summer, it's a show that must be seen live to be appreciated.

Edited July 5, 2023 by resipsaloquitur