Devils Crusade(rs) and Sin Along The Rockies 23

[spacewill]

17 minutes ago, bstar82 said:

There was a corps just rehearsing in the stadium now.  PA announcement in the stadium to clear the field for lightning and hail headed this way.  Pretty dark clouds, but plenty of time for this to pass.  Corps was told to seek shelter on the concourse.

Thanks for the update. It does look like it clears so we can just hope!! The kids love this show as much as we are excited to see it!

[saxfreq1128]

19 minutes ago, Vuitton said:

Talent - maybe. Show - no way. The only corps that has a show to tackle BD is Bluecoats. But, I've said it all along, BD will go undefeated and win because of consisteancy across captions. Boston's brass and percussion takes them out of contention, Bluecoats brass and guard takes them out of contention, and Crown's guard and percussion takes them out of contention. If these three weren't so tight and beating each other in captions, perhaps one of them would have a chance, but that's not where we are at.

Not where we’re at now but that’s my point! — it’s only mid-July, changes can be made, and seeing how BAC and BD fare relative to each other category by category will clarify a lot of what needs to be done. The potential of BAC’s design really shouldn’t be underestimated. It is, stealthily, a very sophisticated show; the moods they set and how they evoke the story and setting visually and musically are very effective. That’s the hard part and they’re already excelling at it. The design things they could do better, IMO, are all things that can easily get upgraded by August.

I also can’t speak to percussion, but guard wise, I wouldn’t say Crown or Bloo cgs are liabilities at all. The top 4 corps have the top 4 guards, easily. And the top 4 guards are going to be an even closer race than the top 4 overall corps, IMO. 

[bstar82]

Sun is making it back out, most of the clouds moving northeast of the area, but quite a bit of thunder lurking.

[spacewill]

11 minutes ago, saxfreq1128 said:

Not where we’re at now but that’s my point! — it’s only mid-July, changes can be made, and seeing how BAC and BD fare relative to each other category by category will clarify a lot of what needs to be done. The potential of BAC’s design really shouldn’t be underestimated. It is, stealthily, a very sophisticated show; the moods they set and how they evoke the story and setting visually and musically are very effective. That’s the hard part and they’re already excelling at it. The design things they could do better, IMO, are all things that can easily get upgraded by August.

I also can’t speak to percussion, but guard wise, I wouldn’t say Crown or Bloo cgs are liabilities at all. The top 4 corps have the top 4 guards, easily. And the top 4 guards are going to be an even closer race than the top 4 overall corps, IMO. 

The last 2 years I have found myself getting distracted in a good way by the amazingness of the guard.  That has never happened before!  I have to willingly tell myself when I watch Boston, Crown, BD, and Bloo that there are other things going on besides color Guard! They are insanely talented!

[scheherazadesghost]

22 minutes ago, saxfreq1128 said:

I also can’t speak to percussion, but guard wise, I wouldn’t say Crown or Bloo cgs are liabilities at all. The top 4 corps have the top 4 guards, easily. And the top 4 guards are going to be an even closer race than the top 4 overall corps, IMO. 

BD moves with considerably more maturity than the others, by a landslide. That ensemble arial is untouchable, for example. As far as equipment is concerned, I'd absolutely agree that they're on an even playing field. Stupendous all around.

So, respectfully, unless Crown and BC bump up their choreo and training, they can't touch BD with a ten foot pole in the movement category. I would've put Bloo within striking range in this category last year but I just haven't seen that be the case this season yet.

Would definitely love to be proven wrong and see improvements here all around bc that would mean safer and more intriguing movement for members.

[Ediker]

20 minutes ago, scheherazadesghost said:

BD moves with considerably more maturity than the others, by a landslide. That ensemble arial is untouchable, for example.

No one takes body movement more seriously than BD and Bloo. 

[scheherazadesghost]

8 minutes ago, Ediker said:

No one takes body movement more seriously than BD and Bloo. 

Even they aren't achieving their movement books upon my most recent viewing. Not the full ensembles anyway.

[saxfreq1128]

20 minutes ago, scheherazadesghost said:

BD moves with considerably more maturity than the others, by a landslide. That ensemble arial is untouchable, for example. As far as equipment is concerned, I'd absolutely agree that they're on an even playing field. Stupendous all around.

So, respectfully, unless Crown and BC bump up their choreo and training, they can't touch BD with a ten foot pole in the movement category. I would've put Bloo within striking range in this category last year but I just haven't seen that be the case this season yet.

Would definitely love to be proven wrong and see improvements here all around bc that would mean safer and more intriguing movement for members.

Oh i absolutely agree on the movement front specifically — but then I also think that’s been true every year that Boston won the guard trophy anyway, so I’m undecided on what it will mean score wise. This is the year that we see BD amping up the weapons while still outdancing everyone, though, so it’s going to be very a interesting race!  

But yeah I agree with you on the movement deficit 100%. It’s why I think BD might be the top guard this year. But I still mostly think the top 4 guards will eventually be tight because it feels like Bloo and Crown really want to be better, by finals, than they were last year. You can tell that they do not want to be scoring 19.100 and 19.250 in guard come August. I think Bloo’s movement technique will get better by August. Crown’s movement technique doesn’t seem like it’s as much of a main ingredient this year, but the weapons are good enough that I think they’ll get far nevertheless. 

[scheherazadesghost]

4 minutes ago, saxfreq1128 said:

Oh i absolutely agree on the movement front specifically — but then I also think that’s been true every year that Boston won the guard trophy anyway, so I’m undecided on what it will mean score wise. This is the year that we see BD amping up the weapons while still outdancing everyone, though, so it’s going to be very a interesting race!

But yeah I agree with you on the movement deficit 100%. It’s why I think BD might be the top guard this year. But I still mostly think the top 4 guards will eventually be tight because it feels like Bloo and Crown really want to be better, by finals, than they were last year. You can tell that they do not want to be scoring 19.100 and 19.250 in guard come August. I think Bloo’s movement technique will get better by August. Crown’s movement technique doesn’t seem like it’s as much of a main ingredient this year, but the weapons are good enough that I think they’ll get far nevertheless. 

Yes. I am vaguely curious to see how much movement technique plays into the score as well, and agree that it's what sets BD apart. I lament it's not weighted more heavily because, as usual, I worry about the poor technique I see on the field even among these top 4.

And this on both the book and execution side. BD's movement book is tougher for sure, but in the execution side, I'm seeing floppy feet and unsafe alignment across the board. I don't mean they're missing the big stuff... they're missing things that are equivalent to the horns not being in tune. The basics. And I can see it via recordings on the other side of the country. The movement deficit, as you said.

But as you said also, all guards more than make up for it when you put equipment in their hands, regarding scoring. Guess I'm just not concerned about that. I'm concerned about chronic injury prevention.

[Ediker]

12 minutes ago, scheherazadesghost said:

Even they aren't achieving their movement books upon my most recent viewing. Not the full ensembles anyway.

There’s definitely work to do, but they make certain to design those big moments, totally about the movement… full corps, bold sequences, in total unison, with little else going on.