Bluecoats 2023

[lawdn]

One aspect of guard I like a lot is dance that is expressive and graceful and integral to and furthering the show vision/theme. BD guard has excelled at that for many years, and to my eyes Bloo’s guard at least matches them there of late. A delight to witness.

[ThePlanets]

13 hours ago, MikeRapp said:

If you put BD uniforms on BCoats, I might swear it’s Blue Devils.

Nah.

Hornline balance is completely different. BD is very soprano and top heavy while the Bluecoats love their tenor voices.

BD pit has their own sound too that is unique to them. 

Bluecoats show is very programmatic while BDs is very abstract.

I would say Bluecoats are more of a modern Madison- writing shows bound to be a fan favorite that are very accessible while BD is BD. 

[Vidal28Rdg]

18 minutes ago, ThePlanets said:

Nah.

Hornline balance is completely different. BD is very soprano and top heavy while the Bluecoats love their tenor voices.

BD pit has their own sound too that is unique to them. 

Bluecoats show is very programmatic while BDs is very abstract.

I would say Bluecoats are more of a modern Madison- writing shows bound to be a fan favorite that are very accessible while BD is BD. 

I know this isn’t exactly what OP said, I mainly associate the corps with their unique sounds and identity musically, I also just couldn’t see what they were seeing in this case, especially hear what they were hearing. If this was BD performing this show, I would be thinking, “wow BD really sounds like Bloo this year” and not say they are similar. Same the other way around.

Edited July 4, 2023 by Vidal28Rdg

[saxfreq1128]

3 hours ago, ThePlanets said:

Nah.

Hornline balance is completely different. BD is very soprano and top heavy while the Bluecoats love their tenor voices.

BD pit has their own sound too that is unique to them. 

Bluecoats show is very programmatic while BDs is very abstract.

I would say Bluecoats are more of a modern Madison- writing shows bound to be a fan favorite that are very accessible while BD is BD. 

Visual designs distinct too — even though they both love a few of the same tropes. BD rotating/collapsing columns and Bloo rotating/collapsing columns don’t look alike. Sprinting BD rows don’t quite look like Bloo sprinting rows. They could all be in clown costumes playing kazoos and I’d still know the difference. 

That said: I chuckled a little this year when I saw Bloo ballading in a BD-ish brass pod this year. And I also chuckled when BD’s props recreating “The Snail” finally come together to form a stage not unlike the “I Want You (She So Heavy)” stage from Bloo 2019’s closer.  

They’re like siblings raiding each others’ closets, in a good way. 

[cfirwin3]

On 7/3/2023 at 9:24 AM, IllianaLancerContra said:

Philosophical question: At what point does it stop being cutting-edge innovation & just become Bluecoats doing more weird, over-the-top stuff?

With... ehem... 'art'... it's never actually 'cutting edge' and innovative... not really.  It's just messaging.  Either it's aesthetic pleasing, coherent, both or neither.  And to some or many, it is indeed just weird, over the top stuff.

For me... the entire activity is and has ALWAYS been just weird and over the top stuff (and I'm good with that, most of the time).  My question is "when does it become pretentious?"

🤔

[Maleguena1988]

Big early show today.
Gonna be hot, no rain.  
Will not predict final placements, but will predict top 3 within .5 of each other. 

[DrumManTx]

Start of what I feel like is gonna be a hell of a season today, good luck Bluecoats 🕺 

[Jurassic Lancer]

Leaving soon from Detroit … I can’t wait to see what I expect to be a slugfest tonight!

[Maleguena1988]

27 minutes ago, DrumManTx said:

Start of what I feel like is gonna be a hell of a season today, good luck Bluecoats 🕺 

I agree.

Almost sold out for tonight too. As it should be.

[MikeN]

Watched their preview show online.  I was very much prepared to dislike the show; last year was very hit or miss for me.  I was pleasantly surprised by this one, which in retrospect I probably should have had more faith. 

Once again, they bring spectacle to the field, and it feels like it's built for the biggest of venues.  They move so well you stop focusing on individual technique and just take in the art.  They've dialed back the voice over quite a bit from last year, and it's much more effective at just setting the mood and getting out of the way.  If anything, they could cut back even further, as it's the same 8 lines over and over throughout.  The ballad is gorgeous, and I love that they're unafraid to just hang the brass out there and have them own the moment.  The closer (well, closers) are the highlight of the whole show to me - that's where they finally just let loose and fly.  

With nothing else but my own opinions (which were that they should have won in 19 and 22), I am afraid they're going to end up with the same issues as last year - they do what they do so well, and it's a musical and visual feast, but they may end up second again behind a BD show that might be less complicated but more visually clean.  Just my initial opinion though, there's lots of race to be run.

Mike