Blue Devils 2005 show: Hot or not?

[Galen]

I only saw an APD, but I noticed the brass is mostly the backround of the show. The narration is the focus... It's Blue Devils. Come on... Are the Blue Devils not known for there brass?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Kinda makes you wonder what the designers were thinking when they concluded that paying audiences would rather hear 11 minutes of verbal spewage rather than a hornline that's won High Brass 20 times...

[Slow Adam]

When I saw the show, I was unaware that the dance derby was done in reverse.

Whoever came up with the idea must have been a Seinfeld fan ( there was an episode about a wedding in India presented backwards ), at least in that show they had a clock and narration to let you know what was unfolding.

I think the idea wasn't bad, but the reverse thing was too out there, unless you saw the program many times ( how could you - they were in Europe mostly )

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well if I understood the program correctly it wasn't in reverse, it was a countdown. The first production was 1000 hours, then 500 hours etc.

[bradrick]

Not something I want them to do every year, but as a one-year deal, I thought it was something neat to try.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think the tough part about being fair to the 2005 Blue Devils (as a spectator) was evaluating them for the merit of all the individual sections - instead of being distracted by how different and at times IMO annoying the show design was. (Different from what an old timer like me might expect from drum corps in general but definitely different from what I used to expect from BD.) I noticed that just toning down all the "Yowza, Yowza, Yowza" helped the show to let some of the excitement of the performance start to come through.

I haven't seen anyone talking about the Bluecoats saying things like "Not something I want them to do every year"... It's the package as a whole that the fans in the stands have to absorb. And in general, people seemed to be blocked by the Blue Devils' overall show design and therefore had a hard time seeing, hearing and appreciating this year's corps. (myself included...)

[apoch003]

Well if I understood the program correctly it wasn't in reverse, it was a countdown.  The first production was 1000 hours, then 500 hours etc.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Nope, it was in reverse. Starting at 1000hours into the dance competition. At the end of their show they were introducing the couples "couple number 19...couple number 18...etc Let's DANCE!"

[Lance]

Even if they had cut all of the narration, which I really didn't care for in their show, I still wouldn't have put it in my top 20 favorite BD shows. All of the pieces of the show, by themselves, were excellent, but all together, it just seemed...off. I can't describe it any other way.

[Lance]

Yes, the show was presented in reverse. The 1000th hour was at the beginning, then 500, etc...

[Guizeppe]

It...was...crap.

For BD's head honchos to even think this was a good idea is mind boggling:

Director 1: "Hey, let's do a show that focuses on a dance competition that starts with the end and ends with the beginning."

Director 2: "You know what, that would be a great way to showcase the tremendous talent of our colorguard and not at all hard to follow."

#2: "Good idea. You know, I heard that Hopkins will be using narration, and I for one don't want to fall behind the curve."

#1: "Okay, how about we announce the competition during the show, that way every audience member will be able to follow along, thus loving the show!"

#1: "Not only that: Let's take the multi-award winning BD brass and rums and use them as background music for the competition."

#2: "Brilliant! Now all we need is a catch phrase we can utter over and over that will leave with every person who ever sees or hears this show. Any ideas?"

#1: "How about 'awesome'?"

#2: "No, too plain.

#1: "Radical?"

#2: "Nope."

#1: "I got it. Let's yell 'Vanguard' during the show, no one will expect that."

#2: "No, that's too confusing. Youza this is tough."

The rest is history.

[Lance]

Hi Guizeppe. Since you said their show was crap, do you mind me saying that your post was crap?

[torn8o]

Why not?  And why say it in the first place if you're not gonna qualify the statement?  And why do you think we even care to "read into" what you say?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yikes! Release your fangs from my flesh please! You don't have to be so rude. The reason I don't want to say more than what I already did is because I'd rather not offend people I respect in the midst of stating my opinion...BECAUSE...it's not my opinion that counts anyway.

[Guizeppe]

Not at all. I'm actually smiling as you say that. I'm glad you liked it (I assume you did). I didn't, my wife didn't, the majority of the crowd in the theatre didn't, but obviously some people did, so props to you.

But hey, like it says in my signature, we are all entitled to our wrong opinions.