2023 Blue Stars

[BlueStainGlass]

The scoring inconsistencies are the problem. 2 days ago they got a perc score 17.9 then last night they got 16.95. Julie has destroyed them in achievement every show she has judged. How can you achieve at a box 5 level with one judge but almost box 3 the next night? That doesn't happen. Music analysis has been the lowest caption all season and past several seasons. That means it's time for some arrangement changes because it's not flowing correctly and repeatedly. IMO if SCV doesn't come out again you do whatever you can to get some of that staff. 

[NewToPosting]

16 minutes ago, lawdn said:

Blue Stars finished 0.8 behind Troopers in GE last night. That is a gap that is very hard to make up in performance captions. Across the captions some of the scores make sense to me but not all of them. Then again, I have only seen most of the shows on Flo and I am not a judge, though as a fan of drum corps and Blue Stars, I want to understand.

Troopers: "To Lasso the Sun": their show demonstrates a sun and some sort of struggle to throw a rope around it. They've improved a lot (specifically the guard is contributing much more now than they were). The purpose is clear and accessible.

BS: "In Absintheia": The green makes sense. The boxes are sugar cubes. Spoon slides. Cool stuff. Cool colors. What does it all mean though? They're very good, but where does it start, where do we go, why do we go there, and where do we end? Why do they switch from purples/oranges/blacks to greens? Great drum corps and very cute, but what's the purpose of it all? I want to be bought in, but I'm having to figure out how to buy in. All the elements are great, I just miss the overall point (and I'm saying this as someone who drank Absinthe in France before the EU banned the wormwood version).

[corps8294]

19 minutes ago, NewToPosting said:

BS: "In Absintheia": The green makes sense. The boxes are sugar cubes. Spoon slides. Cool stuff. Cool colors. What does it all mean though? They're very good, but where does it start, where do we go, why do we go there, and where do we end? Why do they switch from purples/oranges/blacks to greens? Great drum corps and very cute, but what's the purpose of it all? I want to be bought in, but I'm having to figure out how to buy in. All the elements are great, I just miss the overall point

 Yep. 

[lawdn]

35 minutes ago, NewToPosting said:

Troopers: "To Lasso the Sun": their show demonstrates a sun and some sort of struggle to throw a rope around it. They've improved a lot (specifically the guard is contributing much more now than they were). The purpose is clear and accessible.

BS: "In Absintheia": The green makes sense. The boxes are sugar cubes. Spoon slides. Cool stuff. Cool colors. What does it all mean though? They're very good, but where does it start, where do we go, why do we go there, and where do we end? Why do they switch from purples/oranges/blacks to greens? Great drum corps and very cute, but what's the purpose of it all? I want to be bought in, but I'm having to figure out how to buy in. All the elements are great, I just miss the overall point (and I'm saying this as someone who drank Absinthe in France before the EU banned the wormwood version).

I am saying this with a lot of respect and love for both corps and their shows. Regardless of scores and placements, they are both tremendous accomplishments to witness.

This is a Blue Stars thread so I don’t want to say too much about Troopers show here, but kind of have to in comparing the two shows. On GE, I agree with your read of In Absintheia - the concept is thin and not always conveyed well, especially visually, though musically it is somewhat clearer. I have wondered all season about the pace of the uniform change and if there is a place for MMs to portray what that change means once they are in green. In comparing to Troopers, we understand lassoing the sun has to be a metaphor, not a literal representation. My best take is it is about the struggle to endure and thrive in a hostile landscape under an unrelenting blazing sun. Here too that seems best conveyed by Troopers musically, less successfully visually, but they are doing a slightly better job of conveying the struggle visually than Stars are of conveying the seduction and effects of absinthe and pleasure.

It also seems the gap in brass is a bit high. Troopers brass is wonderful, but Blue Stars is not much less wonderful.

 

 

Edited August 5, 2023 by lawdn

[ScottPREuph]

Once again, I feel the Blue Stars is overdesigned with just too much going on to let us feel cohesive and complete ideas.  I never get an emotional payoff - it's like I'm watching ideas develop and just before the impact point its "boom" to the next idea.  The biggest crowd reaction the Blue Stars elicit is when the guard girl catches the sabre coming down the slide.

I thought 2022 was a step in the right direction. The brass was fantastic but still the corps had cracks in their show design. Despite all the hype in spring training, I cautiously awaited to see how things would pan out.  I have no doubt that the corps has just as much talent as Regiment, Mandarins and Cavaliers.  Off the field, the corps has operational excellence on par with top 5.  They just aren't being given the right vehicle to max out their potential and it's frustrating to see. Drum corps is embracing exciting, big, effective shows that fill a stadium and it feels like Stars are designing for a WGI gym floor.

[ScottPREuph]

1 hour ago, lawdn said:

Blue Stars finished 0.8 behind Troopers in GE last night. That is a gap that is very hard to make up in performance captions. Across the captions some of the scores make sense to me but not all of them. Then again, I have only seen most of the shows on Flo and I am not a judge, though as a fan of drum corps and Blue Stars, I want to understand.

You are right - I didn't look closely enough at the GE scores.  I just saw the huge gaps in the music captions especially percussion.  Of course, it's all inter-related.  Poor performance will create weaker effects and poor design/GE will not effectively highlight a great performance.

[BlueStainGlass]

5 minutes ago, ScottPREuph said:

Once again, I feel the Blue Stars is overdesigned with just too much going on to let us feel cohesive and complete ideas.  I never get an emotional payoff - it's like I'm watching ideas develop and just before the impact point its "boom" to the next idea.  The biggest crowd reaction the Blue Stars elicit is when the guard girl catches the sabre coming down the slide.

I thought 2022 was a step in the right direction. The brass was fantastic but still the corps had cracks in their show design. Despite all the hype in spring training, I cautiously awaited to see how things would pan out.  I have no doubt that the corps has just as much talent as Regiment, Mandarins and Cavaliers.  Off the field, the corps has operational excellence on par with top 5.  They just aren't being given the right vehicle to max out their potential and it's frustrating to see. Drum corps is embracing exciting, big, effective shows that fill a stadium and it feels like Stars are designing for a WGI gym floor.

Mandarins and PC are good examples of shows that are literally designed as WGI shows outdoors. Go watch scpa finals for world class percussion and you'll see the same design and choreography styles. What's not cohesive has been the MA scores which falls into  brass and perc. The shoe makes sense being an underground scene (black and purple) that gets brighter the more you drink the absinthe (transition to green) they use the props to tie the concept of creating the drink and use the rope as a way of enticing the drinker before they go on the trip. Everything is good but not everything is cohesive with the others.  They move better and play better than many groups around them but don't have the impact and umph of a full package. While I hope something changes before finals I assume it will just be more cleaning which means the show peaked last week unlike last year that peaked at finals. 

[BlueStainGlass]

Also, they haven't had the brass or assistant brass caption head there since like San Antonio. Something IMO needs to be addressed so that the person in charge can run the ship. If they eant to be competitive they need to use less field, less marching, and louder impacts. Extra marching and spacing doesn't get rewarded so don't take the risk. 

[ScottPREuph]

13 minutes ago, BlueStainGlass said:

Mandarins and PC are good examples of shows that are literally designed as WGI shows outdoors. Go watch scpa finals for world class percussion and you'll see the same design and choreography styles. What's not cohesive has been the MA scores which falls into  brass and perc. The shoe makes sense being an underground scene (black and purple) that gets brighter the more you drink the absinthe (transition to green) they use the props to tie the concept of creating the drink and use the rope as a way of enticing the drinker before they go on the trip. Everything is good but not everything is cohesive with the others.  They move better and play better than many groups around them but don't have the impact and umph of a full package. While I hope something changes before finals I assume it will just be more cleaning which means the show peaked last week unlike last year that peaked at finals. 

Well, we can take that a step further in saying that the Mandarins succeeded in bringing the WGI style show to the field in a manner which is effective, engaging and entertaining.  Blue Stars have not attained the same level of success this year.

[BlueStainGlass]

7 minutes ago, ScottPREuph said:

Well, we can take that a step further in saying that the Mandarins succeeded in bringing the WGI style show to the field in a manner which is effective, engaging and entertaining.  Blue Stars have not attained the same level of success this year.

I should add phantom is an indoor show because it's literally designed by people that write for Pulse and look how well it's translating