grimmo Posted October 24, 2022 Share Posted October 24, 2022 (edited) With design teams now finalised, October is the time when show ideas are sifted and concepts sketched out. With this in mind, are there any learnings from this past season that we think might be applied to design thinking for 2023? Here are a few thoughts to get the ball rolling... BD 'if it ain't broke...' is the first thing that springs to mind when it comes to Blue Devils programming for the past decade or so. While concepts come and go, there do seem to be patterns - if not as much as a template- to discern. Choosing 6-8 pieces across a variety of styles, with a super melodic ballad to help with accessibility expectations. They are masters as balancing content, allowing for an optimal proportions of melody harmony and technicalities. Likewise for visual, claims of lack a demand and marching are quieter than 5+ years ago but not gone completely. I tend to see the last minute of BD shows as a weak point - I think I go right back to 92 for a BD finale that last gave me goosebumps - but it might be that they go about their programming so that they don't need an ending based on a 'big idea' to tip on them over the edge.. the goods have already been delivered by then and a decent but not great ending is all that is needed to tie a bow on things? Expect we'll see more-of-the-same-but-in-different-packaging from Devils in 23. BAC By most measures 22 was a fantastic season for Boston and for a brief period towards the end of the season they may have seen Devils as catchable. Programming for 23 may be interesting in that we've seen before that it's much easier to slip from 2nd to 4/5th than to go from 2nd to 1st. Will Boston continue to plough the furrow of story based, and classical, concepts? I really enjoyed their 22 show in terms of music and visual but with the caveat that I didn't feel a strong connection to Paradise being lost, and so the down ending didn't resonate as an much as it might. Will Boston try a new direction or did 21's Zoom inform them to stick within a certain bandwidth of topics? All other aspects that contribute towards a successful season being equal, it will surely be an interesting process for their design team this fall. Can they craft a package that takes them one step higher. One might think the safest way to do this is to stay quite close to the design pattern of 22. Maybe not quite vanguard 88 into 89 but not a million miles away! Edited October 24, 2022 by grimmo Posting issues 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grimmo Posted October 24, 2022 Author Share Posted October 24, 2022 Bluecoats Looking back to last season, it seems to me that 'Coats had two thirds of a winning show - right up the the end of the Keytar section. The argument being that facilitation of the uniform change created an elongated period of lower intensity that didn't return sufficiently by the show's end. Additionally, the challenge with any dream based concept is that dreams often end with '...and then I woke up' which can lead to a challenge around so 'so what?' emotional responses in the audience. Planning in a dazzling uniform change (I guess it was planned in rather than a later idea?) might have been there to add some theatrical heft to the final part of the show but it's arguable whether the pay off was justified. So what might this mean for 23? Will the team be going in a whole new direction again? 22 was notable in using non- mainstream music. Might they stay there, or return to including more recognisable musical selections similar to Session 44 or whole hog like the Beatles shows. Have they (and others) taken prop usage as far as it realistically can go on a drum corps tour, or might we still see innovations here? Heavy prop usage has become a fundamental party of the Bluecoats image so expect they will continue with it. Percussion became number one without ever seeming to be standout in 22? What design considerations might they be mulling over ready for 23? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grimmo Posted October 24, 2022 Author Share Posted October 24, 2022 Cadets Rear View Mirror seemed to be well received by the majority of fans, and while there may have been doubts around competitive placement going into the season , a solid six place seemed a great result. Particular in comparison to Regiment and Cavies. I think it's fair to say that they were the best of the bottom half? The program was well pitched and allowed each section to develop nicely across the season. However, I doubt many would argue that their desire package was of top tier calibre? So what might they be thinking about to take the next step on the comeback trail? Will Cadets be in a position to push the level of the 23 production to mix it with the top 5? It would be interesting to know if the 22 show was pitched at a difficulty relevant to member talent levels, and if that might change for 23? Outside of placements, I think Cadets still have a stylistic challenge, one which has been there for most of the last decade. It's more difficult to program a Cadets-style production - that doesn't involve nostalgia - as some of that turf has been taken by corps such as Crown and Boston. Indeed, prior to Bocook's return both those corps would at times sound more Cadets like than Cadets! Also, it would seem finances would prevent the corps from going to far with props and any other expensive production overheads. Again this might shape their design choices. I hope Cadets can continue to find the same balance of mainly-new-sprinkled-with-a-little-tradition in 23. But what might that look like and sound like, design wise? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craiga Posted October 24, 2022 Share Posted October 24, 2022 1 hour ago, grimmo said: With design teams now finalised, October is the time when show ideas are sifted and concepts sketched out. With this in mind, are there any learnings from this past season that we think might be applied to design thinking for 2023? Here are a few thoughts to get the ball rolling... BD 'if it ain't broke...' is the first thing that springs to mind when it comes to Blue Devils programming for the past decade or so. While concepts come and go, there do seem to be patterns - if not as much as a template- to discern. Choosing 6-8 pieces across a variety of styles, with a super melodic ballad to help with accessibility expectations. They are masters as balancing content, allowing for an optimal proportions of melody harmony and technicalities. Likewise for visual, claims of lack a demand and marching are quieter than 5+ years ago but not gone completely. I tend to see the last minute of BD shows as a weak point - I think I go right back to 92 for a BD finale that last gave me goosebumps - but it might be that they go about their programming so that they don't need an ending based on a 'big idea' to tip on them over the edge.. the goods have already been delivered by then and a decent but not great ending is all that is needed to tie a bow on things? Expect we'll see more-of-the-same-but-in-different-packaging from Devils in 23. BAC By most measures 22 was a fantastic season for Boston. Perhaps the only tarnish being a brief period towards the end of the season where they may have seen Devils to be catchable. Programming for 23 may be interesting in that we've seen before that it's much easier to slip from 2nd to 4/5th than to go from 2nd to 1st. Will Boston continue to plough the furrow of story based, and classical, concepts? I really enjoyed their 22 show in terms of music and visual but with the caveat that I didn't feel a strong connection to Paradise being lost, and so the down ending didn't resonate as an much as it might. Will Boston try a new direction or did 21's Zoom inform them to stick within a certain bandwidth of topics? All other aspects that contribute towards a successful season being equal, it will surely be an interesting process for their design team this fall. Can they craft a package that takes them one step higher. One might think the safest way to do this is to stay quite close to the design pattern of 22. Maybe not quite vanguard 88 into 89 but not a million miles away! I don't see Boston's perception late season that BD might be catchable as any kind of "tarnish". Let’s not forget that BAC actually outscored our friends from Concord in nearly every single caption throughout the late season. They simply didn't do it all in the same show. Did BD win finals fair and square ? YES. Will they win every year in the future? NO. Will Boston ever beat them? It is a matter of time. 2 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicteacher Posted October 24, 2022 Share Posted October 24, 2022 well said, Craiga. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grimmo Posted October 24, 2022 Author Share Posted October 24, 2022 1 hour ago, craiga said: I don't see Boston's perception late season that BD might be catchable as any kind of "tarnish". Let’s not forget that BAC actually outscored our friends from Concord in nearly every single caption throughout the late season. They simply didn't do it all in the same show. Did BD win finals fair and square ? YES. Will they win every year in the future? NO. Will Boston ever beat them? It is a matter of time. Fair point. Clumsy wording on my part. Now fixed! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Tuma Posted October 24, 2022 Share Posted October 24, 2022 I appreciate your insights and analysis. I might quibble with your assessment that Cadets were solidly in 6th place. They were only .138 above 7th place. Please continue with more of these design conversations. It keeps the off season interesting. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orwellian Wiress Posted October 24, 2022 Share Posted October 24, 2022 Ooooh interesting... The recognizability of music selections are a big factor that aren't taken into consideration often. I personally think a good mix of both indie and popular is the best way to go, like Mandarins and SCV this year. They had the one really well-known rock hit, and backed it up with other selections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted October 24, 2022 Share Posted October 24, 2022 1 hour ago, Brian Tuma said: I appreciate your insights and analysis. I might quibble with your assessment that Cadets were solidly in 6th place. They were only .138 above 7th place. Please continue with more of these design conversations. It keeps the off season interesting. I agree here. Blue Stars quietly almost rocked the world 1 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grimmo Posted October 25, 2022 Author Share Posted October 25, 2022 16 hours ago, Brian Tuma said: I appreciate your insights and analysis. I might quibble with your assessment that Cadets were solidly in 6th place. They were only .138 above 7th place. Please continue with more of these design conversations. It keeps the off season interesting. Ah yes, very true! I fell into the trap of oversimplification in my recollections. How often do we see that! 😀 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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