DCI 2023

[Rubisco]

I said I wasn't going to keep up with DCI until the end, but I did catch a few shows on YouTube yesterday. I'm really impressed by what I'm seeing so far. I think this will end up being a more memorable season than usual. Specifically, I'll give a shout-out to Crown. I think their show is a pretty significant improvement over last year. Not everyone will like the slow-burn ballad, but overall they're heading in the right direction. 👍

Tomorrow will be the first major clash featuring the Bluecoats, Crown, and the Crusaders. I'm really not sure who'll come out on top. Each corps has pretty unique strengths. But then I suppose it's more exciting when you don't know who'll win!

[Tubalord11]

Great performances all around tonight! Troopers are really starting to click, and I think they might be able to place higher than i expected. Crown and Boston were both wonderful, with incredible shows, and the guards in both of these groups are insanely good, it will be fun to watch them compete over the season. I tried giving bloo another chance but I still can’t get behind the show. It’s just too much in some areas,  and yet not enough in others. The visual demand is their, but musically the are lacking behind, and it probably won’t happen, but I could see phantom taking them this year, just really depends on what the judges think, but for me, it’s not doing it, but maybe that will change. 

[josephbandfan]

Crown comes out on top! Like last year though, I could see Boston and Bloo pulling ahead in the end. I don’t think it was until San Antonio where Boston started to beat Crown. Not completely sure where I think Bloo will place by World Champs but it grows on me more and more each performance. They gave me my first set of chills this season and I personally feel like Boston’s and Bloo’s  shows have the most room to grow.

[packwick]

only 0.4 points separating 1st to 3rd is intenssse lol.

i woulda had Bloooo on top tonight which i didn't think heading into the comp. there's a level of imagination in the vis and music that's not quiiiite there yet in the others. also i like that they're exploring the meaning of the poem which gives the show some intellectual depth. end of the opener and closer are exhilarating, loses me during the splatty trombone section. i like the costumes, very colorful and flowy, it's like something Stevie Nicks would wear lol. in a good spot on top in GE w/ room to grow in performance.

Crown's brass still unmatched imo. lots of close attention to detail in how everything is phrased. great balance b/w sections and clean technique too. the drill is very pretty, lots of intricate follow the leader stuff moving across the field, tho a little samey. guard is outstanding, next level fo sure. love love looove the costuming, lots of personality, looks masc and heroic lol. show still kinda loses me from the ballad onward, just not the most gripping or melodic thing. lots of dead air followed by lots of pointless sounding brass technique, well i guess not pointless, it's designed to impress, but even as a one-time extremely talented brass musician im more inclined to oooh and ahhh over stuff that's interesting and artsy than technically challenging.

Boston's music right now > visual for me tho they were 1st in ens visual including composition, so def some ppl appreciate the clean simplicity of it. the music is toootally alive and expertly performed, the visual is more basic by comparison. def think one easy thing to do to make it more interesting is to add more color, like some vibrant blue flags. color palette reads very white right now, go figure lol. that ending statement needs to be way bigger too, hard for me not to think of twhs 2016 where the epicness of the visual matched the epicness of the music. drum break thru jaunty sailor stuff should be a little more formed visually, less scattered park and bark. the end of that section is suuuper super fun and exciting musically but then they just stand there, thats not what i see when i hear the music. can still see it medaling w/ some improvement.

the most championship looking and sounding thing ive seen so far is the Devs' show thru the ballad which is bonkers good, not so much after that tho lol.

[Rubisco]

  On 7/6/2023 at 4:48 AM, packwick said:

only 0.4 points separating 1st to 3rd is intenssse lol.

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Yeah, this will be a competitive season at the top.

[packwick]

BD startin' to suck the fun out of the competition aspect again, at least for gold. 2 pts aheada Crown/Coats, about a point and a half aheada Crusaders, hopefully it's a liiittle inflated tho im in agreement they belong on top right now.

Devs' staff have an understanding of how to design for both max effect and max cleanliness, really those two things are symbiotic. Devs do the "moments of difficulty" thing without overtaxing themselves, kinda like what texas bands should be doin w/ the 8 hr rule, while still giving us layered staging, a little dash of strange imagination (despite repeatedly picking a famous artist for their overall theme), and those goosebumpy super emotional peak moments. other teams don't quiiite have that understanding, not so consistently anyway, so it seems a liiittle more like luck when they happen to knock it out of the park.

le sigh. maybe one day...

[Rubisco]

There's a high cam of the Blue Devils' most recent performance on YouTube. It's not hard to see (or hear) why they're scoring ahead of the pack right now. There's something interesting and effective in every movement, visually and musically, and the performers are absolutely selling it. Their ballad will be the musical highlight of the year for sure.

  On 7/10/2023 at 6:15 PM, packwick said:

Devs' staff have an understanding of how to design for both max effect and max cleanliness, really those two things are symbiotic. Devs do the "moments of difficulty" thing without overtaxing themselves

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Coincidentally, one of the biggest criticisms we hear every year about the Devils is that their shows aren't as challenging as the other top corps' shows. I think those criticisms may be fair, but judges, particularly effect judges, aren't sitting up there counting the number of notes your brass plays, or timing how much simultaneous marching and playing happens. It's really about moment-to-moment emotional and intellectual engagement, along with the judges' overall impression of the show's artistic qualities and communication from the performers, all of which will shine through more in a clean show.

[Tubalord11]

  On 7/10/2023 at 6:15 PM, packwick said:

BD startin' to suck the fun out of the competition aspect again, at least for gold. 2 pts aheada Crown/Coats, about a point and a half aheada Crusaders, hopefully it's a liiittle inflated tho im in agreement they belong on top right now.

Devs' staff have an understanding of how to design for both max effect and max cleanliness, really those two things are symbiotic. Devs do the "moments of difficulty" thing without overtaxing themselves, kinda like what texas bands should be doin w/ the 8 hr rule, while still giving us layered staging, a little dash of strange imagination (despite repeatedly picking a famous artist for their overall theme), and those goosebumpy super emotional peak moments. other teams don't quiiite have that understanding, not so consistently anyway, so it seems a liiittle more like luck when they happen to knock it out of the park.

le sigh. maybe one day...

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I wouldn’t be to surprised once we get to BA that they aren’t as much ahead, but definitely will be taking the gold unless BAC, Bloo or Crown pull out something unexpected. It’s just a perfectly designed show, but who knows, maybe they will get passed, but it’s extremely unlikely. But, at least for me it’s a much more enjoyable show than last years and I can’t wait to see them live.

[packwick]

  On 7/10/2023 at 10:39 PM, Rubisco said:

Coincidentally, one of the biggest criticisms we hear every year about the Devils is that their shows aren't as challenging as the other top corps' shows. I think those criticisms may be fair,

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oh honey they're def fair. when i force myself out of a GE mindset and pay specific attention to difficulty, like simultaneous moving and playing responsibilities, the Devs are clearly below Coats and Crown, Coats' brass tone quality in particular def suffers from the challenges of the drill, w/ thinner less controlled sounds. Devs have more park n bark, and when they are moving + playing it honestly mostly doesn't look that challenging to me compared to the others. id bet a lot of money the high school shows i marched in back in the day had a higher percentage of simultaneous marching and playing time than the Devs' show this year, including while jazz running forwards and backwards playing rhythmically irregular Bartok music. ofc our drill was filthy, poorly attuned to the needs of the 8 hr restriction, and largely ineffective too but that's a different conversation LOL. the golden trick is to keep your show mostly easy compared to the others AND keep it super effective. we're def not in the Cavies 2002 era anymore where the marching and playing demands are INSANE but they still somehow get it squeaky clean.

[Rubisco]

  On 7/11/2023 at 3:20 AM, packwick said:

we're def not in the Cavies 2002 era anymore where the marching and playing demands are INSANE but they still somehow get it squeaky clean.

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I tend to agree. And those Cavaliers shows featured highly formalist drill, too, so it would have been really obvious if they were dirty, with all the easily recognizable shapes.

But I still greatly enjoy today's conceptually richer shows, even as we transition to more informal drill designs.

[MikeKyu]

This year has been exciting over the first quarter. 

 Blue Devils....I have always respected them but I rarely really enjoy their musical selections. This year is different. I love the music but the visuals seems all over the place to me. They are the top corps this year and will be hard to beat. 

 Bluecoats.... I have loved the Bluecoats for many years...this show is following the Blue Devils line for me....it's performed extremely well, sounds good but doesn't tickle my fancy....they should come in 2nd

Crusders... When I saw the music I was extremely excited. WHen I heard the concert in the park I was very very excited. When I saw the show I was baffled. They are playing at a high level and executing well. There's something missing in the GE for me that may well be in the plan to add as the season ages. I hope so. I would love to see them push the Blue Devils extremely hard this year. They sound great, look good, perform exceptionally. 

Crown.. They are lightyears ahead of the development in ensemble sound. God's Hornline is back and ready to exact some revenge. The show gets muddled in the middle. I hope it's a developmental step. 

Phantom....When I heard them at the Concert in the Park I was convinced that it was a top 5 show. Their dynamics control is fantastic and watching Phantom progress in style into the modern age has been incredible. I still think they are top 5. 

Mandarins...They are always the "High Art" show. This year is sightly different as they are a little less high art than the previous few years but they have an aamzing show. They will fight phantom if they can pull together. So far they have been playing and marching their parts well but it's not fully cohesive yet for me.

7 on down:

 Cavvies: Not sure what's happening here. Not liking it. 
Scouts: Not my cuppo tea...
Colts: ON the rise. Sound great and if they can clean up some of the visual performance elements they are going to do extremely well. I love this show
Blue Stars: I love the show. First time I can say that in a long time

Troopers: Come on...get it together. You have the show and great arrangements. Put....It...Together...

Genesis: Best opening of the season and the corps really loves the closer. It comes through in the performances. 
Crossmen: Young Corps this year. Not enough risks taken but I believe that is by design. Gonna have to really  pull together to make finals... Let's go Crossmen!!

Santa Clara Vanguard:: Not what I expected this season

 

[Dave609]

  On 7/15/2023 at 4:13 AM, MikeKyu said:

This year has been exciting over the first quarter. 

 Blue Devils....I have always respected them but I rarely really enjoy their musical selections. This year is different. I love the music but the visuals seems all over the place to me. They are the top corps this year and will be hard to beat. 

 Bluecoats.... I have loved the Bluecoats for many years...this show is following the Blue Devils line for me....it's performed extremely well, sounds good but doesn't tickle my fancy....they should come in 2nd

Crusders... When I saw the music I was extremely excited. WHen I heard the concert in the park I was very very excited. When I saw the show I was baffled. They are playing at a high level and executing well. There's something missing in the GE for me that may well be in the plan to add as the season ages. I hope so. I would love to see them push the Blue Devils extremely hard this year. They sound great, look good, perform exceptionally. 

Crown.. They are lightyears ahead of the development in ensemble sound. God's Hornline is back and ready to exact some revenge. The show gets muddled in the middle. I hope it's a developmental step. 

Phantom....When I heard them at the Concert in the Park I was convinced that it was a top 5 show. Their dynamics control is fantastic and watching Phantom progress in style into the modern age has been incredible. I still think they are top 5. 

Mandarins...They are always the "High Art" show. This year is sightly different as they are a little less high art than the previous few years but they have an aamzing show. They will fight phantom if they can pull together. So far they have been playing and marching their parts well but it's not fully cohesive yet for me.

7 on down:

 Cavvies: Not sure what's happening here. Not liking it. 
Scouts: Not my cuppo tea...
Colts: ON the rise. Sound great and if they can clean up some of the visual performance elements they are going to do extremely well. I love this show
Blue Stars: I love the show. First time I can say that in a long time

Troopers: Come on...get it together. You have the show and great arrangements. Put....It...Together...

Genesis: Best opening of the season and the corps really loves the closer. It comes through in the performances. 
Crossmen: Young Corps this year. Not enough risks taken but I believe that is by design. Gonna have to really  pull together to make finals... Let's go Crossmen!!

Santa Clara Vanguard:: Not what I expected this season

 

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When did Santa Clara do a show? They aren't competing this year if I remember right. But I agree with everything you said!

[J-Mike16]

  On 7/15/2023 at 5:16 AM, Dave609 said:

When did Santa Clara do a show? They aren't competing this year if I remember right. But I agree with everything you said!

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oh buddy you don't get it? lol 

It was a joke in a way because of them not performing this year.

 

On another note, I don't know about yall, but Pioneer blew me away the other day!

[Dave609]

  On 7/15/2023 at 5:21 AM, J-Mike16 said:

oh buddy you don't get it? lol 

It was a joke in a way because of them not performing this year.

 

On another note, I don't know about yall, but Pioneer blew me away the other day!

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oh XD. That one legit flew right over my head XD

[josephbandfan]

  On 7/15/2023 at 4:13 AM, MikeKyu said:

This year has been exciting over the first quarter. 

 Blue Devils....I have always respected them but I rarely really enjoy their musical selections. This year is different. I love the music but the visuals seems all over the place to me. They are the top corps this year and will be hard to beat. 

 Bluecoats.... I have loved the Bluecoats for many years...this show is following the Blue Devils line for me....it's performed extremely well, sounds good but doesn't tickle my fancy....they should come in 2nd

Crusders... When I saw the music I was extremely excited. WHen I heard the concert in the park I was very very excited. When I saw the show I was baffled. They are playing at a high level and executing well. There's something missing in the GE for me that may well be in the plan to add as the season ages. I hope so. I would love to see them push the Blue Devils extremely hard this year. They sound great, look good, perform exceptionally. 

Crown.. They are lightyears ahead of the development in ensemble sound. God's Hornline is back and ready to exact some revenge. The show gets muddled in the middle. I hope it's a developmental step. 

Phantom....When I heard them at the Concert in the Park I was convinced that it was a top 5 show. Their dynamics control is fantastic and watching Phantom progress in style into the modern age has been incredible. I still think they are top 5. 

Mandarins...They are always the "High Art" show. This year is sightly different as they are a little less high art than the previous few years but they have an aamzing show. They will fight phantom if they can pull together. So far they have been playing and marching their parts well but it's not fully cohesive yet for me.

7 on down:

 Cavvies: Not sure what's happening here. Not liking it. 
Scouts: Not my cuppo tea...
Colts: ON the rise. Sound great and if they can clean up some of the visual performance elements they are going to do extremely well. I love this show
Blue Stars: I love the show. First time I can say that in a long time

Troopers: Come on...get it together. You have the show and great arrangements. Put....It...Together...

Genesis: Best opening of the season and the corps really loves the closer. It comes through in the performances. 
Crossmen: Young Corps this year. Not enough risks taken but I believe that is by design. Gonna have to really  pull together to make finals... Let's go Crossmen!!

Santa Clara Vanguard:: Not what I expected this season

 

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What about the Cadets? 

[Tubalord11]

Here’s my current rankings/thoughts 

1st BD: I’d be very surprised if they don’t go undefeated once again. Unlike last year, I’m so in love with this show! Great music, visual program is kinda everywhere but they are definitely getting the theme across, and i know they are still cooking up something for the end. 

2nd: BAC: once again they are having another phenomenal season. While they are lacking some in GE, I think by the end of the season, it will all come together. Guard is incredibly, as well as percussion, and each performance is better than the previous. 
 

3rd: Crown: They are back! We’re finally getting a crown show that had medalist potential! Their brass so so strong and they have a real shot at taking the brass caption home this year. Their guard is incredible, and they’ve just stepped up the intensity a whole new level. I could see them taking second, but probably not. 
 

4th: BC: This show just isn’t for me. While they sound and look incredible, this show is nothing more than a GE powerhouse to me. Their brass book isn’t super hard, but boy the sound incredible. For me, they are taking too far of a step away from what DCI really is. And while I understand the activity is changing, this feels to much. I feel like they are barley marching, and most of their visual is just choreography. I’ll probably be wrong and they will probably medal, but it’s just too far of a step away from what marching band really is, marching, not a ton of the show being bodywork.

 

5th: Phantom: great show, great sounds, great everything! Phantom is back baby. 
 

6th: Mandarins: could turn out being my favorite show of the year tbh. I love their music book, and they are playing the heck out of it! 
 

Bottom half in order: Cadets,BS,Troopers,Cavies,Colts, Pacific Crest. 

[packwick]

Bloo overtook Crown tonight. they may/will probably go back and forth but Bloo will prob end up 2nd by August. their show is just more interesting and imaginative overall, musically and visually. higher ceiling. better designers. which is kinda a pity cause Crown performs so well.

Devs won every single judge over Crusaders and overall by 1.5 pts. no surprise. Crusaders did great, but Devs are on a different level again, at least for the 1st half of the show. def some inflation here relative to Little Rock tho. i don't believe nooot even for one second that Crusaders are 2 points ahead of Crown right now after losing to them less than 2 weeks ago. not happenin. they may beat Crown at the next meetup but it won't be by that much.

[packwick]

there are some vids of little rock on yt. i agree w/ bloo over crown but im not like 100% in love w/ the show yet. it loses me from the big hit of the ballad thru the chaotic t-bone "priests in black gowns" section. ballad starts out beautiful and intimate and evocative but the climax is meh, too thin, too simple, sounds like a pop tune arranged for brass, which is what it is, and the visual isn't big enough. contrast it w/ the Devs' ballad which is also a pop tune but is so much richer harmonically that it almost sounds like it was originally written for brass, plus the melody has more of an obvious contour like you're taught a "good melody" has in music theory class during basic part writing.

tbone part is a fun contrast at first but goes on too long, belaboring its point, and just isn't that interesting musically or visually. i would shape the heck out of that ending drill, have the black butterflies all converge to a single central point or something at the end with that final descending glissando, it just looks so lazily staged right now.

but yeah besides that i like the show quite a bit lol

[Rubisco]

  On 7/17/2023 at 6:37 AM, packwick said:

tbone part is a fun contrast at first but goes on too long, belaboring its point, and just isn't that interesting musically or visually.

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That's one of my favorite parts! 😭

I guess it probably could be a little more gripping visually.

[MikeKyu]

This year for Bloo is different. They are slow burning the same as they did last year. Last year's Bloo show was low on my list.....until they hit Indy. Then it became my favorite show of the season. I am not a fan of this Bloo show as it stands now. The uniforms are a disaster and the music and visuals are terribly boring. I believe they are holding back on show development and this is, in my opinion, a terrible disservice to the fans. It may score well at finals but the show is so bland right now that it is heard to watch. The Devs are bland as well visually, they are never bland musically. Boston is holding back. The Phantom Regiment is going for it and I appreciate this (Are they going to kill anyone this year?). Troopers are developing the show incredibly.  Colts are not holding back. Why do we allow the back of the top 12 to lead and accept it as gamesmanship. 

At least SVC has been consistent in what they are giving us....

[packwick]

  On 7/18/2023 at 8:47 AM, MikeKyu said:

at least SVC has been consistent in what they are giving us....

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lolol. silence is golden.

Bloo's shows are designed for indoors w/ all that electronic soundscaping stuff. always translate better inside. also why it's no big surprise a major criticism of Bloo is that they're becoming too WGI-ish.

personally i love the Devs' visual program, it's colorful, clear, well balanced w/ all the elements on the field, interesting, sometimes beautiful, varied. even right away like when those sinuous follow-the-leader forms rigidify into boxes, suuuper cool and contrasty. sure there are def some recycled elements, but every drill writer does that, it's what makes Murphy's style his own.

broken arrow tonight. frankly nothing about the comp aspect will be exciting unless the Devs lose LOL.

[packwick]

hey at least there were a few minor chinks in the Devs' armor tonight despite winning by 1.5 points LOL. 2nd in guard, losing to Bloooo! actually really happy for Bloo's guard, ive long thought they've been under credited for how well they blend the movement w/ the equipment, so fluid looking. many ppl just focus on the really obvious trick tosses, they should be looking at more than that. M Turner is a longtime movement judge for wgi, effect too i think. wonder if that's what he picked up on.

2-4 will be fun again. still think Bloooo's production prob has the highest ceiling but the perf captions need to be there. haven't seen Boston in a while, will need to catch up, loved their music, visual less so.

[packwick]

at los cucos w/ Ma, then headin over to Tomb All. i'll let ya know how it goes.

[Tubalord11]

Cant wait for San Antonio tomorrow! Everyone was incredible last night and tonight! Tomorrow’s gonna be an amazing day of drum core!

[packwick]

juuust got back after an hr drive back down to houston from the woodlands. popped a rizatriptan, live band events always give me a migraine for some reason, hmmm, could it possibly be all the blasting? lol

nice to see the corps live, it's always like stepping into a dream seeing band shows under Friday night lights. colors are more *~sparkly and vivid, visual details are clearer.

overall my opinions of the corps are preeetty much the same as from watching the pirated stream vids, which i guess is a good sign that they're reliable, for me anyway. things i liked i still liked, things i didnt i still didn't.

biggest change of my opinion = Cavies. they floored me tonight. they sound niiight and day better than they did at that 1st contest where they sounded like a hot mess lol. major major improvements and the Saucedo arrangement is consistently interesting and melodic and very nostalgic. i loved it. their music content scores should be higher. i would have had them 4th tonight, totally unexpected for me.

Mandies... my first time seeing this one. i get why ppl like it, but for me musically it lacks nuance, dynamics, attention to detail compared to literally every corps that came after them. they approached everything musically w/ a sledgehammer, boom boom boom, it was like Texas loud blasty. i really didn't enjoy it much but everyone else around me did. some cool wow vis moments like the rotating set pieces w/ the drill weaving between them. costumes are nice, but having so many different ones on the field made it seem busy at times, i had trouble figuring out where the designer wanted me to focus. surprised none of those performers that got spun around barfed at the end LOL. audience loved it.

thought the Colts had an all around solid show, not quite any wow moments like the other top dawgs but still generally appealing. after Mandies gave me a headache i found Colts' more dynamic approach to music refreshing frankly lol.

Star's ballad was my first wow musical moment of the night, soooo so so sooo beautifully performed. still don't care 4 the park and bark near the end, the guard is just too dirty to keep my interest, kind of a persistent issue imo, all sloppy all over place. all their vis scores will go up w/ a cleaner guard performance. looks a little cluttery too. drill at the end is very cool and the green costumes really sparkle.

Crown was awesome, def 2nd place overall tonight. i would have had them 1st in both brass and music ensemble. just wooonderful control and warmth and nuance and attention to detail w/ the dynamics, also super difficult stuff. lots of goosebump musical moments, visual program not the most colorful or varied, kinda dated too, but performed the heck out of it. ballad through ending still drags. still love the costumes, storytelling a little hokey but whatevs. they were like 4 pts better for me than all the corps before them.

Blooooo, luv the visual program for the most part but musically both Crown and Devs had them beat pretty clearly imo, reflected in perf and music leaning GE scores. not quiiite there yet in music performance + pacing/arrangement issues. heard even more William Blake poem snippets than i expected if that's even possible lol, often seemed unnecessary and intrusive. they should cut back on em. still don't love the big hit of the ballad or the t-bone section. ballad still sounds like a too simple pop tune arranged for brass when heard live. thinner, less luxurious sounds in general compared to the Devs who went before them, expected that based on the vids. rhythmically not totally locked in tonight either. generally more imaginative and varied musically and visually than Crown. cleanest guard tonight. ceiling = higher but there need to be significant perf improvements and music design adjustments to medal.

Devs obvi 1st, obvi the most effective and cleanest visually, if i had babies i would have thrown them after their ballad. best moment of the night by a mile, which i knew it would be after seeing the vids. again again again they're just so smart about how they design, they cut-out the fat (lol) so that there's almost never a dull moment musically or visually, plus they just know how to make giant moments that are better than anyone else's. easiest show of the top 3 imo but they're reaaaal smart about it. park and bark or essentially park and bark on the cut-outs on side 1 while something interesting visually happens on side 2. was pointing it out to my mom the whole time, also how the drill was usually slower paced w/ smaller step sizes. didn't look too demanding to me but it was clean clean clean and very effective. really it was only at the end when they were running around in circles and playing where i was like, ok that looks more like what the others are doing in difficulty lol. ending overall still kinda meh. colors really pop tho.

Seattle Cascades, im happy theyre rebuilding, i remember going to a band convention in Seattle in high school, def recall that the programs in the Pacific Northwest were not as far along as others in the Midwest and esp Texas. hopefully having a corps there will help motivate a lot of youngsters to work work work. not the best performance tonight, just kind of pure mud musically lol. kiiinda harsh to say it that way but yeah. my honest opinion is that they probably wouldn't even make regular BOA regional finals at one of the TX events, def not at San Antonio. not really what id expect in DCI world class. might be better served by open class as they build build build up.