Murfreesboro

[manoloblahniksabre]

They have an amazing book this year full of difficulty and it is executed so well...it is no surprise to me. Of course, I'm biased! :)

wow the top four colorguards are really seperated from the pack, fith place was a full half a point down to crown, and crown was third in composition and only one tenth down to cavaliers in comp...holy cow...they have two weeks to clean it up... and keep pushing passed the blue devils!!  this is a huge year for crown and there colorguard

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[manoloblahniksabre]

I agree. I do think that it is the system itself that needs the work. When I was shocked at the 16.4 brass score, it is because I've heard them several times over the season (as well as BAC), and while I can understand their placement below Bluecoats, I just don't think BAC is better. Do I think the brass score is low? Yes. In relation to the other scores, I would have had them around a 16.9 to 17.0. I know this judge knows his stuff, no doubt. Sure, it could have been a bad night for Crown, absolutely. I subscribe to no conspiracy theories. :)

But then you are not taking into account night to night inconsistencies.  I don't for ONE MINUTE buy that corps simply get better and better and better and don't have "off" nights.  I mean, they could have had a great show the night they received that 17.7, then had a really lousy show the night they got a 16.4.

This "box 5," "box 4" bullpoopie....does it really take into account corps having FANTASTIC shows or LOUSY shows from night to night?  I am not so sure it does. 

While I do think the judges do a great job with what they are given, I think it is the system itself that needs MAJOR tweaking.  Why the heck do there need to be two percussion judges when there is only one brass judge?  Why is "General" effect actually broken down into two SPECIFIC captions?  Why is the caption with the MOST subjectivity allowed the most points?

I'd love to see a system that rewarded as such:

General or Overall Effect:  20 points

Visual:  20 points

Music:  20 points

Brass:  10 points

Percussion: 10 points

M&M: 10 points

Guard: 10 points

Seven judges, saving DCI some money by using one fewer judge, and not unduly overemphasizing one caption by using two judges, even if they do an average.

Frankly, everytime that percussion scores are a point apart between the two judges, DCI is doing itself a disservice, highlighting one of its built-in problems: Judges are not all similar, and see things differently.

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[Phansouth]

This is starting to make me think that I may have more than just hope that PR can catch BD.  Go Regiment!     

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THEY WILL. Do you realize PR hasn't beaten BD since 93?

[Tsar Nikk]

THEY WILL. Do you realize PR hasn't beaten BD since 93?

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They haven't beaten Cadets or Cavaliers in a while too...

When was the last time Regiment scored higher than Cadets? 1997, I think?

What about Cavaliers? Perhaps that same year?

Hey, and you know what? We haven't beaten Star since 1990! :P

[bbass74]

As I wait for my pics to up load just thought I would comment on the hsow last night.

First, I'l like to say how glad I am that there was no singing!!! Thank you! I was so worried because I hadn't seen a single show this year yet, could us anti-ampers had an influence on that? Well, we'll leave that for another thread!

Boston - like much better than last year. Thought both horn and drum book was well written and it just needs to be tightened up a bit but I thought was coming along nicely. Some more volume would be good... oh... wait... forgot.... Bb horns... never mind!

Crown - I'm still amazed how far along this cors has come but again, like the show much better than last year (could it be no singing or narration????). I really enjoyed the music selection for Angelus, greata job.

Bluecoats - one of my favorite shows of the night! I brought a newcomer to drum corps and it was one of her favorites too. Again, loved the music selection.

Madison - Great show up until the end. Thought the end was very anti-climatic... would have stuck with the previous stop. No one even got the flour de li (how ever you spell it) I think I was the only one that yelled "yeah" when I saw it. I think they should totally throw it out and leave it after the final push, scrap the soft ending!

Phantom - Another favorite! Like emntioned before, could hear some blending problems but the book is great! Not a Gershwin fan by no means but they made it interesting and very entertaining. Did anyone else hear the rainsticks? Only one guy behind me had one but couldn't hear any others.

Blue Devils - I'm really not going into great deal about how i feel other than to say, I totally did not like it. Not just because of the narration but because the narration was redundant, annoying and it just seemed the music revolved around the narration. If you have to speak to get the point across about the show, then to me, it was poorly produced. I'll probably get nailed for saying this but o'well, I've heard worse about the shows I like.

Cadets - Awesome! Totally awesome! I actually didn't mind the opening narration, it was done tastefully. I thought the drum speak was overdone. I thought what would have been cool was the drumline to start a run then stop and they all be speaking and interject by playing every so measure... that would been impressive!

Cavaliers - liked the overall show (would have been more heard had it not been for the bandos behind me yapping through the whole thing that I had to quiet down!) and the music. Just too many breaks in the music, too mee did not flow very well. But I like the theme and the music selection.

First I'd like to say to all the band kids... please get some manners! I feel like I spent half the night telling these kids to shut up... it was so annoying and it really turned off the new person I brought to the activity, I really wanted her to enjoy it but she too was annoyed by all the distractions! Second, I really liked the music selection better this year from all the corps, great job and hope this trend will continue. I still thought there were too many drum breaks and the music did not flow very well on some shows but at least the music choice was better. Third, didn't mind the pit being amped as much, thought it wasn't as over-bearing as last year, maybe some tweaking has been done but wasn't as noticeable (now if we can get the horn to be louder...) And fourth, still do not like the narration in the shows. Even my friend who was new to it, never saw a drum corps show in her life stated it added an element of "cheesy-ness" to the shows. So my feeling about amplification has changed somewhat with regards to the pit but the narration I'm still annoyed with. Thank God there was no singing... at leats the top 8!

Well kids, the pics have finished uploading... enjoy:

http://bobbymarko.com/photos/dci2005/show/

Edited July 30, 2005 by bbass74

[chadwick]

Thanks for the quick review and the pictures!

[jwillis35]

When was the last time Phantom beat the Cadets, Cavaliers, and Blue Devils?

This was asked earlier. I am thinking that they beat the Cadets early season in 1997. They beat the Cavaliers a number of times in 1997, not sure about 1998. Cavies ended up in 4th in 1998, but Phantom may have beat them once or twice that season. They last beat the Blue Devils in 1993. I think that's right.

None of this means anything though. Phantom has a great show this year and I do believe it will take BD and nudge closer to Cadets and Cavaliers, who seem to be in a league of their own at the moment.

Phantom's scores in music GE (6th last night), Color Guard (7th), and Ensemble Music (6th) are hurting them. I fully expect the two music captions to jump into the top 3. The Color Guard caption could ultimately prove to be their one bad caption, at least in terms of score. I am sure their guard is outstanding and wonderful to watch.

The Blue Devils have some interesting captions killers as well. 5th in brass and 6th in percussion. Ouch, not exactly like the Blue Devils we all know and love. But they were 2nd in Visual ex which is generally a strong point for them, and that is usually an indication that the musicianship will improve. Good command of their visual show.

From what I have seen I would give Phantom the edge at this point. The only X factor in all this is the guard.

We don't talk about it enough, and I know G would concur with this, but when talking about the big 3 you have to talk about guard. The one consistent factor with these corps is the absolutely incredible performances and design elements of their guards, and the inclusion of all this into the fabric of the total visual and music al program. The challengers have all been good over the years, but they lack a guard with the ability, design, and integration of the Blue Devils (who are the masters), as well as Cadets and Cavaliers. Ultimately, to score higher in GE in all areas you need a guard at that level. The challeners never quite get there. Good, but not great. Carolina Crown has an awesome guard this year, taking 4th last night, but their problem is demand and performance in the other areas, at least when comparing them to the top 3. You have to assume that Phantom can match BD in the performance captions like music and perhaps even the marching captions come finals, but where will BD's guard be by that point? This is a big X factor.

Also I note that the Scouts are barely holding ground over the Bluecoats. I really like Canton's chances to take the Scouts come finals. The 'Coats have a more difficult show in terms of visual demand and integration of guard. And their drums and brass are incredible. The Bluecoats were 5th in Music GE (by .2 under Madison), 5th in Visual GE (over Madison, only .3 under Phantom), and they were 4th in both brass and music ensemble. They took 6th in guard, although they are only a tenth from the Scouts. With the kind of demand in their book, and the amount of cleaning left for them, I feel the will take Scouts come finals, especially with the new ending Scouts have put in. This may ultimately hurt their GE scores, but we will see. The Scouts also have an amazing show, and I would not count on this ending being the final edition to their show.

As for the top 2 corps, they seem to be in a league of their own at the moment. But much like 1993 when Star and Cadets were the top 2 all season long, come finals a corps named Phantom Regiment showed up with a stellar product and one of the best performances at finals that evening. Perhaps Phantom can do that again, or maybe it will be the Devils...and just maybe it will be the Bluecoats if they can clean all the elements of this wonderful and most entertaining show. My money is that Cadets win it with Cavaliers a close second. But either way, these two corps really have stepped it up and their shows are amazing. Either show could win any number of captions, they are just that good.

Jonathan

[CloudFuel]

Louder is not always better. Loudness can show lack of control or musicality... especially when there is much krassness around.. enough for EVERYONE to have a little piece.

[glory]

Why is it there aren't enough brass judges, as some have suggested? With more brass players generally, you'd think there would be more brass judges available. Anyone have a reason?

HH

[Stinger91]

Madison - Great show up until the end. Thought the end was very anti-climatic... would have stuck with the previous stop. No one even got the flour de li (how ever you spell it) I think I was the only one that yelled "yeah" when I saw it. I think they should totally throw it out and leave it after the final push, scrap the soft ending!

Phantom -  Did anyone else hear the rainsticks? Only one guy behind me had one but couldn't hear any others.

Blue Devils - I'm really not going into great deal about how i feel other than to say, I totally did not like it. Not just because of the narration but because the narration was redundant, annoying and it just seemed the music revolved around the narration. If you have to speak to get the point across about the show, then to me, it was poorly produced. I'll probably get nailed for saying this but o'well, I've heard worse about the shows I like.

First I'd like to say to all the band kids... please get some manners! I feel like I spent half the night telling these kids to shut up... it was so annoying and it really turned off the new person I brought to the activity, I really wanted her to enjoy it but she too was annoyed by all the distractions!

I agree about Madison's show. The crowd stood and cheered during the "first" ending and then sat down again when they realized it wasn't over. I, too, was the only one in my section that saw the fleur de lis. Then when the show actually ended, people looked around for a moment as if to say "ok? NOW are they done?" Everyone around me thought it should have ended with the first stop also....

I didn't hear any rainsticks near me....wonder if this will catch on before finals? And there were some Phantom alum near me that screamed A LOT during PRs performance...was very distracting. Yell all you want when the corps is waiting to start or between songs, but please don't scream stuff everytime there is a soft part in the music. You would think former corps members would know better....

Also did not like the Blue Devils narration. I paid more attention to that than the music. And listening to the conversations around me, the "yowza, yowza, yowza" got really annoying!

I can't remember if they've had them in the past, but I really wish Murfreesboro had ushers to stop people going to their seats during a performance. I was lucky because I was seated so that they didn't get in my view, but we had quite a few people "looking" for their seats while a corps was on the field (and seemed to have a VERY difficult time with the whole section, row and seat number thing...though all are pretty clearly marked....)

Now that I've complained enough , I must say that I really did enjoy all the corps. No one bored me and no one made me think "eww....well I didn't like THAT at all". I was even brought to tears by my beloved Bluecoats....so proud to be an alum!! I really wish I was going to get to see another show....seeing just one isn't enough. I'll have to plan better next year!

Stephanie