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Post by ohbandie48 on Oct 16, 2022 10:33:56 GMT -6
Definitely super bummed I didn't catch Lakota West's Prelims performance. Always sucks being the first one out. Hopefully someone will upload some cake recipes from LW at some point
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Post by coleeich on Oct 16, 2022 11:19:39 GMT -6
Now that initial feelings have subsided, here’s my thoughts on St. Louis 2022:
Broken Arrow is great! So is Blue Springs! This might give BA that extra boost they need to make this season really special. Blue Springs has an incredible show and I’m excited to see it again next weekend!
Lincoln and Bentonville were INCREDIBLE! I am so happy for those programs and I truly believe they have a very bright future.
I think Mustang still has a great shot at GN finals. 3rd in prelims is nothing to scoff at, and if they can get some visual control they will be a force to be reckoned with!
Proud of my Oklahoma bands for making finals. They worked hard to get here, and it’s crazy that 3 out of 4 bands from Oklahoma were OKC bands! Not often that happens!
I really enjoyed each band yesterday. Each deserved to be there (and so many others who weren’t also deserved it too!). Overall a great day for band! It’s going to be a crazy season and I’m excited to see how it plays out!
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Post by guardfather on Oct 16, 2022 11:55:22 GMT -6
I was thinking the same thing. Next week's rankings should be interesting. Interesting thought. YIM does have a slightly different adjudication. I was at that show, and I have to admit that Lincoln's show there was a tad below compared to their run tonight. That said Rosemount's overall design and music definitely did feel better. I know its TOR year, but I do wish they went to a Regional or Super. I guess we all have to wait for another 3 weeks at GN. I was at both too. Not sure you can do the Rosemount-beat-Lincoln-so-they-are-above-who-Lincoln-beat comparison here. It seemed to me the judges at STL rewarded complexity (music and drill), which largely explains the Mustang and LD Bell places. Rosemount won YIM with a stunning visual (the costumes and props are amazing), but pretty simple music and not a ton of playing-while-moving. Simply a judges' preference - like vanilla or chocolate ice cream.
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Post by marimba11 on Oct 16, 2022 12:43:31 GMT -6
Honestly a little surprised ba was as close to blue springs as they were. But blue springs is clean so I get that
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Post by bigtrombone on Oct 16, 2022 12:52:41 GMT -6
3. Bentonville & Lincoln better be in y’all’s GN finals way too early predictions next year. That’s all I’ll say about that. It depends on if either of them decide to go. And even then it'll be tough considering the Texas contingency will likely be out in full force next year (C.T. Johnson, The Woodlands, Round Rock, & possibly Hebron).
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Post by principalagent on Oct 16, 2022 13:47:54 GMT -6
3. Bentonville & Lincoln better be in y’all’s GN finals way too early predictions next year. That’s all I’ll say about that. It depends on if either of them decide to go. And even then it'll be tough considering the Texas contingency will likely be out in full force next year (C.T. Johnson, The Woodlands, Round Rock, & possibly Hebron). We’ll see if those first two make it next year. Hebron is on cycle and is on a complete tear through Texas—I’m sure they’re going.
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Post by macwinlin on Oct 16, 2022 13:54:09 GMT -6
Wow. Nixa 50th in MI? Probably a tough day for those kids after topping both Blue Springs South and Yukon last weekend.
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Post by ilikeguard on Oct 16, 2022 15:11:06 GMT -6
Wow. Nixa 50th in MI? Probably a tough day for those kids after topping both Blue Springs South and Yukon last weekend. If their Ind score matched their Ens score, they would have been first out and .1 out of finals.That’s disappointing!
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Post by percussionbeats on Oct 16, 2022 15:23:21 GMT -6
Having been at YIM and BOA regionals the last two years it’s also worth adding to the conversation that last year Rosemount beat Lincoln at YIM and the following week Lincoln beat them in 3A class in St Louis. YIM is hard competition to topple away from Rosemount. For them it is close to home with a home crowd. Both are excellent programs, but once out of the upper Midwest on neutral turf is a very different ballgame. Excited to see how Rosemount does after some time off to tighten their show. And also hoping Lincoln gets the ranking this week that they have outright earned.
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Post by doublegeez on Oct 16, 2022 15:38:07 GMT -6
Having been at YIM and BOA regionals the last two years it’s also worth adding to the conversation that last year Rosemount beat Lincoln at YIM and the following week Lincoln beat them in 3A class in St Louis. YIM is hard competition to topple away from Rosemount. For them it is close to home with a home crowd. Both are excellent programs, but once out of the upper Midwest on neutral turf is a very different ballgame. Excited to see how Rosemount does after some time off to tighten their show. And also hoping Lincoln gets the ranking this week that they have outright earned. While this is all true, it’s worth noting that Rosemount cleaned it up for finals and beat Lincoln after a shaky prelims run which had visible issues (worth watching the prelims run of 2021) that were addressed for a much better finals one Not to make an excuse however, the run was a run that was pulled out of the bag of uncertainty, but I agree with your statements and I’m very hyped for what the Lincoln program has in store for the next years and who knows, maybe, regarding their growth, they may have a good shot at winning YIM in future years
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Post by bandsquirrel32 on Oct 16, 2022 15:44:16 GMT -6
Having been at YIM and BOA regionals the last two years it’s also worth adding to the conversation that last year Rosemount beat Lincoln at YIM and the following week Lincoln beat them in 3A class in St Louis. YIM is hard competition to topple away from Rosemount. For them it is close to home with a home crowd. Both are excellent programs, but once out of the upper Midwest on neutral turf is a very different ballgame. Excited to see how Rosemount does after some time off to tighten their show. And also hoping Lincoln gets the ranking this week that they have outright earned. That was in prelims. Rosemount beat Lincoln in Finals last year by 1.4, and the scores at finals at YIM mostly tracked with the scores at finals in St. Louis (meaning they beat each other in similar categories at both competitions - Rosemount stronger in Music, Lincoln stronger in Visual). This year at YIM, Rosemount was stronger than Lincoln in all performance and GE categories, Lincoln only made up points with the separate scoring categories for Percussion and Color Guard, which doesn't translate to BOA. You can call me crazy, but its my opinion Rosemount would have gotten 3rd here.
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Post by doublegeez on Oct 16, 2022 15:55:54 GMT -6
Having been at YIM and BOA regionals the last two years it’s also worth adding to the conversation that last year Rosemount beat Lincoln at YIM and the following week Lincoln beat them in 3A class in St Louis. YIM is hard competition to topple away from Rosemount. For them it is close to home with a home crowd. Both are excellent programs, but once out of the upper Midwest on neutral turf is a very different ballgame. Excited to see how Rosemount does after some time off to tighten their show. And also hoping Lincoln gets the ranking this week that they have outright earned. That was in prelims. Rosemount beat Lincoln in Finals last year by 1.4, and the scores at finals at YIM mostly tracked with the scores at finals in St. Louis (meaning they beat each other in similar categories at both competitions - Rosemount stronger in Music, Lincoln stronger in Visual). This year at YIM, Rosemount was stronger than Lincoln in all performance and GE categories, Lincoln only made up points with the separate scoring categories for Percussion and Color Guard, which doesn't translate to BOA. You can call me crazy, but its my opinion Rosemount would have gotten 3rd here. I agree ^^^ I could also have seen Rosemount 3-4th because bentonvile was absolutely killer out there but I would argue the same But that would just be speculation, no use arguing about it much since we didn’t get to see that direct match up here In St. Louis Proud of Lincoln and all northern bands, because the better a band gets in the north the increase of band quality will follow (such as eastview if I had to name an example)
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Post by mnbandfan on Oct 16, 2022 16:05:10 GMT -6
guardfather not sure what show you were watching or listening to while at YIM. Rosemounts book both visually and musically is stronger and more technical than Lincoln and executed better, thus the score and outcome. Simple music from Rosemount? Not so much. From what I hear, Rosemount had a great week of rehearsals and cleaned up several issues in their show this week and that was shown last night in Waukee. I've followed the upper midwest programs for years and can say without a double this is most likely Rosemounts strongest program to date. I'm looking forward to see what they do in the next month.
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Post by northbanddad on Oct 16, 2022 16:09:30 GMT -6
Interesting thought. YIM does have a slightly different adjudication. I was at that show, and I have to admit that Lincoln's show there was a tad below compared to their run tonight. That said Rosemount's overall design and music definitely did feel better. I know its TOR year, but I do wish they went to a Regional or Super. I guess we all have to wait for another 3 weeks at GN. I was at both too. Not sure you can do the Rosemount-beat-Lincoln-so-they-are-above-who-Lincoln-beat comparison here. It seemed to me the judges at STL rewarded complexity (music and drill), which largely explains the Mustang and LD Bell places. Rosemount won YIM with a stunning visual (the costumes and props are amazing), but pretty simple music and not a ton of playing-while-moving. Simply a judges' preference - like vanilla or chocolate ice cream. To the point I was making, this is a factor of Lincoln performing better in BOA than in YIM. I think if they performed the way they did in BOA at YIM, they beat Rosemount that day. I don't believe that it was simply "costumes and props", I actually thought that Rosemount being the bigger band, had to use more of the field, and move more while playing. Not winning in YIM, doesn't take away anything from Lincoln's success in BOA, it's just a different competition that has differences in judging rubric. But if you look at the past detailed score recaps of BOAs and YIMs they both competed in closer, you'll see that in Finals specially, their scores are similar between YIM and BOA.
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Post by novicebanddad on Oct 16, 2022 22:32:05 GMT -6
As I watched all of the shows throughout the competition, I noticed a few trends amongst the high scoring bands, some of which surprised me. For instance, the BA show I did not find visually pleasing, other than the technical timing of the marching and color guard. For the top three shows, they were all loud, which can hide musical imperfections, but I still heard off tempo sounds, yet their scores were higher than others whose musical capability clearly outweighed the top three. Then, it seems creativity in marching is not rewarded. Top scorers seem to always have mostly straight lines, waves, or circular patterns with medium complexity, while middle-top scorers seem to always have simplistic marching structure - it's underwhelming and repetitive. I feel like I'm watching the same show over and over again so many times.
Then, I sometimes struggle with the story a band is trying to tell. For instance, BA's theme, the Edge, didn't come through to me in their show (other than the risque color guard uniforms), So it's hard for me to understand why judges mark them so high on effect. What are the matches and color guard belching in our acting like? I couldn't feel it - at all. I can't even tell what the props are. Are they dragon tails? If so, are they on the edge of dragon tails? I just don't get it. I'm not trying to offend people, I am truly trying to understand what the appeal is and how this is such a high ranking show. Technically, sure, they're loud, had good matching form, filled the field, color guard was pretty much on time, but there is no story to their show - which is the same I felt about several high ranking shows. Please help me understand. Maybe story doesn't matter? Truly appreciate everyone's feedback!
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Post by marimba11 on Oct 16, 2022 22:39:57 GMT -6
As I watched all of the shows throughout the competition, I noticed a few trends amongst the high scoring bands, some of which surprised me. For instance, the BA show I did not find visually pleasing, other than the technical timing of the marching and color guard. For the top three shows, they were all loud, which can hide musical imperfections, but I still heard off tempo sounds, yet their scores were higher than others whose musical capability clearly outweighed the top three. Then, it seems creativity in marching is not rewarded. Top scorers seem to always have mostly straight lines, waves, or circular patterns with medium complexity, while middle-top scorers seem to always have simplistic marching structure - it's underwhelming and repetitive. I feel like I'm watching the same show over and over again so many times. Then, I sometimes struggle with the story a band is trying to tell. For instance, BA's theme, the Edge, didn't come through to me in their show (other than the risque color guard uniforms), So it's hard for me to understand why judges mark them so high on effect. What are the matches and color guard belching in our acting like? I couldn't feel it - at all. I can't even tell what the props are. Are they dragon tails? If so, are they on the edge of dragon tails? I just don't get it. I'm not trying to offend people, I am truly trying to understand what the appeal is and how this is such a high ranking show. Technically, sure, they're loud, had good matching form, filled the field, color guard was pretty much on time, but there is no story to their show - which is the same I felt about several high ranking shows. Please help me understand. Maybe story doesn't matter? Truly appreciate everyone's feedback! I very much agree with you on BA’s drill. Since 2015 they have reused many many forms (Looking at you Leon).
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Post by guardfather on Oct 16, 2022 22:54:50 GMT -6
Having been at YIM and BOA regionals the last two years it’s also worth adding to the conversation that last year Rosemount beat Lincoln at YIM and the following week Lincoln beat them in 3A class in St Louis. YIM is hard competition to topple away from Rosemount. For them it is close to home with a home crowd. Both are excellent programs, but once out of the upper Midwest on neutral turf is a very different ballgame. Excited to see how Rosemount does after some time off to tighten their show. And also hoping Lincoln gets the ranking this week that they have outright earned. While this is all true, it’s worth noting that Rosemount cleaned it up for finals and beat Lincoln after a shaky prelims run which had visible issues (worth watching the prelims run of 2021) that were addressed for a much better finals one Not to make an excuse however, the run was a run that was pulled out of the bag of uncertainty, but I agree with your statements and I’m very hyped for what the Lincoln program has in store for the next years and who knows, maybe, regarding their growth, they may have a good shot at winning YIM in future years You know - I was was thinking about that during finals Saturday night. For many of the bands, the goal is just to make finals - that is the reward. There were some new bands (for me - I don't follow national bands as close as many of you), and it felt like the finals run was a bit of a victory lap. Lincoln's finals run last year was definitely in that thread (I wouldn't be shocked to learn that some had GoPros on). And I think that shows how hard it is to move up into the groups that are consistently ranked nationally. It takes YEARS to change expectations and standards within a band and create a culture that expects medal in SR finals.
Honestly, it just all the more impressive to me when some of these schools make finals - often with a fraction of the resources of the 'big guys'.
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Post by guardfather on Oct 16, 2022 23:01:13 GMT -6
As I watched all of the shows throughout the competition, I noticed a few trends amongst the high scoring bands, some of which surprised me. For instance, the BA show I did not find visually pleasing, other than the technical timing of the marching and color guard. For the top three shows, they were all loud, which can hide musical imperfections, but I still heard off tempo sounds, yet their scores were higher than others whose musical capability clearly outweighed the top three. Then, it seems creativity in marching is not rewarded. Top scorers seem to always have mostly straight lines, waves, or circular patterns with medium complexity, while middle-top scorers seem to always have simplistic marching structure - it's underwhelming and repetitive. I feel like I'm watching the same show over and over again so many times. Then, I sometimes struggle with the story a band is trying to tell. For instance, BA's theme, the Edge, didn't come through to me in their show (other than the risque color guard uniforms), So it's hard for me to understand why judges mark them so high on effect. What are the matches and color guard belching in our acting like? I couldn't feel it - at all. I can't even tell what the props are. Are they dragon tails? If so, are they on the edge of dragon tails? I just don't get it. I'm not trying to offend people, I am truly trying to understand what the appeal is and how this is such a high ranking show. Technically, sure, they're loud, had good matching form, filled the field, color guard was pretty much on time, but there is no story to their show - which is the same I felt about several high ranking shows. Please help me understand. Maybe story doesn't matter? Truly appreciate everyone's feedback! Agreed. It made me think of the Blue Devil's "Tempus Blue" show this year, there was no discernible story arc or connection. The BDs used a crumpled blue piece of paper as a main prop for crying out loud. But when you good and top it doesn't seem to matter much.
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glass
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Post by glass on Oct 17, 2022 1:46:37 GMT -6
As I watched all of the shows throughout the competition, I noticed a few trends amongst the high scoring bands, some of which surprised me. For instance, the BA show I did not find visually pleasing, other than the technical timing of the marching and color guard. For the top three shows, they were all loud, which can hide musical imperfections, but I still heard off tempo sounds, yet their scores were higher than others whose musical capability clearly outweighed the top three. Then, it seems creativity in marching is not rewarded. Top scorers seem to always have mostly straight lines, waves, or circular patterns with medium complexity, while middle-top scorers seem to always have simplistic marching structure - it's underwhelming and repetitive. I feel like I'm watching the same show over and over again so many times. Then, I sometimes struggle with the story a band is trying to tell. For instance, BA's theme, the Edge, didn't come through to me in their show (other than the risque color guard uniforms), So it's hard for me to understand why judges mark them so high on effect. What are the matches and color guard belching in our acting like? I couldn't feel it - at all. I can't even tell what the props are. Are they dragon tails? If so, are they on the edge of dragon tails? I just don't get it. I'm not trying to offend people, I am truly trying to understand what the appeal is and how this is such a high ranking show. Technically, sure, they're loud, had good matching form, filled the field, color guard was pretty much on time, but there is no story to their show - which is the same I felt about several high ranking shows. Please help me understand. Maybe story doesn't matter? Truly appreciate everyone's feedback! Strictly speaking, there doesn't need to be a story in every marching band show. Or at least, it doesn't need to be spelled out for the audience at the very least. As long as there is a theme and the music and visuals evoke that theme, then music and visual effect can be achieved. Narrative structures can be useful to give meaning to the music and visuals, but ultimately it will be the quality of the music/visual evocation of thematic material that actually determines the score, and this can be more abstract and technical than simply giving the more musically and visually interesting show the higher score. We sort of like to think that GE is as close to the "audience pleaser" score as scores get, but it really isn't. Ultimately what's supposed to be being judged here is performance and music education. I love creative shows as much as the next person but I would argue that if BOA was a show design competition it would be bad for the activity and especially the kids who put in a lot of work for their shows they don't get too much of a say in.
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Post by ilikeguard on Oct 17, 2022 6:09:34 GMT -6
As I watched all of the shows throughout the competition, I noticed a few trends amongst the high scoring bands, some of which surprised me. For instance, the BA show I did not find visually pleasing, other than the technical timing of the marching and color guard. For the top three shows, they were all loud, which can hide musical imperfections, but I still heard off tempo sounds, yet their scores were higher than others whose musical capability clearly outweighed the top three. Then, it seems creativity in marching is not rewarded. Top scorers seem to always have mostly straight lines, waves, or circular patterns with medium complexity, while middle-top scorers seem to always have simplistic marching structure - it's underwhelming and repetitive. I feel like I'm watching the same show over and over again so many times. Then, I sometimes struggle with the story a band is trying to tell. For instance, BA's theme, the Edge, didn't come through to me in their show (other than the risque color guard uniforms), So it's hard for me to understand why judges mark them so high on effect. What are the matches and color guard belching in our acting like? I couldn't feel it - at all. I can't even tell what the props are. Are they dragon tails? If so, are they on the edge of dragon tails? I just don't get it. I'm not trying to offend people, I am truly trying to understand what the appeal is and how this is such a high ranking show. Technically, sure, they're loud, had good matching form, filled the field, color guard was pretty much on time, but there is no story to their show - which is the same I felt about several high ranking shows. Please help me understand. Maybe story doesn't matter? Truly appreciate everyone's feedback! I very much agree with you on BA’s drill. Since 2015 they have reused many many forms (Looking at you Leon). There’s one we always called “the sperm set” that’s in practically every Leon show, sometimes more than once
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Post by novicebanddad on Oct 17, 2022 6:34:31 GMT -6
To be clear, I'm not trying to suggest that the props need to be elaborate or even present. I'm just trying to understand how the judges are supposed to rate general effect if they're not even clear on what effect is trying to be given. How do they know the band members are "all in" (a judged criteria) if theme is unclear? For instance, some themes that were very clear to me in the show presentation: Prom Night, Ladybug, Nocturnal Creatures themes: very clear to understand what effect/vibe they're trying to give and I felt it.
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Post by philodemus on Oct 17, 2022 7:50:13 GMT -6
I, for one, very much value clarity of intent in show design but I will admit there are times when, for reasons that are obscure to me, it just doesn't seem to matter. BA last year, for instance... I still have absolutely no idea what the concept or story or idea was that drove that show design. None at all. But it was stunningly beautiful to watch and I had no doubt it should win. Again, I am powerless to explain why BD's lack of clarity bothered me, but BA's did not.
This year I have only been able to find a single, rather fuzzy video of BA and so far... I don't get it. They sound wonderful, but at least in this first bootleg recording, it appears to be far too much in the way of 'furniture moving.' HOWEVER, I look forward to a better recording, or seeing it myself at Grand Nats and hopefully things will make more sense.
I think this is, by the way, the one place where the age-old complaint about 'name' mattering in scoring might have some validity. I think if a BD or BA comes out with a show that does not immediately make sense, they are given the benefit of the doubt and a judge might think, "Maybe it's me, not them." But if a 'whatever band' does the same, they are not given that courtesy.
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Post by ilikeguard on Oct 17, 2022 8:27:05 GMT -6
I, for one, very much value clarity of intent in show design but I will admit there are times when, for reasons that are obscure to me, it just doesn't seem to matter. BA last year, for instance... I still have absolutely no idea what the concept or story or idea was that drove that show design. None at all. But it was stunningly beautiful to watch and I had no doubt it should win. Again, I am powerless to explain why BD's lack of clarity bothered me, but BA's did not. This year I have only been able to find a single, rather fuzzy video of BA and so far... I don't get it. They sound wonderful, but at least in this first bootleg recording, it appears to be far too much in the way of 'furniture moving.' HOWEVER, I look forward to a better recording, or seeing it myself at Grand Nats and hopefully things will make more sense. I think this is, by the way, the one place where the age-old complaint about 'name' mattering in scoring might have some validity. I think if a BD or BA comes out with a show that does not immediately make sense, they are given the benefit of the doubt and a judge might think, "Maybe it's me, not them." But if a 'whatever band' does the same, they are not given that courtesy. I’ll take these rhetorical statements literally and tell you the stories behind these two BA shows: The Edge of Eternity is about love overcoming all boundaries, including time, hence the concept of eternity. There’s a sort of time travel element to it, but it’s loose. Over the Edge is a nightmarish scenario in which that love turns sour. The classic Cartwright show is concept-driven rather than story driven, so in the rare occasion that there are story elements, they’re abstract and can get lost in translation. Effect is such a difficult thing to determine due to its subjectivity. A show can make you feel without it making sense. I agree with the name thing to a degree - we may all be a bit forgiving towards the consistent top names about design choices that are strange, thinking we just don’t understand the genius. But it won’t save anybody from a design that just doesn’t work. And of course, there are times when the show is designed specifically to be understood by the judging panel and is lost on the audience (the simplest examples of this would be BD and Carmel, but I want to use Marian Catholic 2019 as an example of a great show that was lost on most of the audience).
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Post by coleeich on Oct 17, 2022 8:30:32 GMT -6
Maybe I’m alone in thinking this, but I feel like BA’s niche in the marching band world is having obscure shows that don’t have a super clear meaning to the average viewer. The Edge of Eternity, FaceMe, Destiny Leaves You No Choice, etc. all have overarching themes which guide them but they aren’t like clear cut concepts like Mustang’s Shark World for example. I would argue that the years BA tried to have more clear concepts (The United State of America, YeeHaw, etc.) they scored worse than in years where they took the obscure route. It’s what seems to work for them, so I’m not shocked to see them doing it again after last year’s success. Just my take!
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Post by novicebanddad on Oct 17, 2022 8:46:31 GMT -6
I, for one, very much value clarity of intent in show design but I will admit there are times when, for reasons that are obscure to me, it just doesn't seem to matter. BA last year, for instance... I still have absolutely no idea what the concept or story or idea was that drove that show design. None at all. But it was stunningly beautiful to watch and I had no doubt it should win. Again, I am powerless to explain why BD's lack of clarity bothered me, but BA's did not. This year I have only been able to find a single, rather fuzzy video of BA and so far... I don't get it. They sound wonderful, but at least in this first bootleg recording, it appears to be far too much in the way of 'furniture moving.' HOWEVER, I look forward to a better recording, or seeing it myself at Grand Nats and hopefully things will make more sense. I think this is, by the way, the one place where the age-old complaint about 'name' mattering in scoring might have some validity. I think if a BD or BA comes out with a show that does not immediately make sense, they are given the benefit of the doubt and a judge might think, "Maybe it's me, not them." But if a 'whatever band' does the same, they are not given that courtesy. I’ll take these rhetorical statements literally and tell you the stories behind these two BA shows: The Edge of Eternity is about love overcoming all boundaries, including time, hence the concept of eternity. There’s a sort of time travel element to it, but it’s loose. Over the Edge is a nightmarish scenario in which that love turns sour. The classic Cartwright show is concept-driven rather than story driven, so in the rare occasion that there are story elements, they’re abstract and can get lost in translation. Effect is such a difficult thing to determine due to its subjectivity. A show can make you feel without it making sense. I agree with the name thing to a degree - we may all be a bit forgiving towards the consistent top names about design choices that are strange, thinking we just don’t understand the genius. But it won’t save anybody from a design that just doesn’t work. And of course, there are times when the show is designed specifically to be understood by the judging panel and is lost on the audience (the simplest examples of this would be BD and Carmel, but I want to use Marian Catholic 2019 as an example of a great show that was lost on most of the audience). How in the world did you come away with this meaning from the BA show? Is this shared somewhere? Do judges get this info? How do the guard costumes fit this? Really just trying to dissect all aspects to understand. Thank you!
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Post by ilikeguard on Oct 17, 2022 8:58:27 GMT -6
I’ll take these rhetorical statements literally and tell you the stories behind these two BA shows: The Edge of Eternity is about love overcoming all boundaries, including time, hence the concept of eternity. There’s a sort of time travel element to it, but it’s loose. Over the Edge is a nightmarish scenario in which that love turns sour. The classic Cartwright show is concept-driven rather than story driven, so in the rare occasion that there are story elements, they’re abstract and can get lost in translation. Effect is such a difficult thing to determine due to its subjectivity. A show can make you feel without it making sense. I agree with the name thing to a degree - we may all be a bit forgiving towards the consistent top names about design choices that are strange, thinking we just don’t understand the genius. But it won’t save anybody from a design that just doesn’t work. And of course, there are times when the show is designed specifically to be understood by the judging panel and is lost on the audience (the simplest examples of this would be BD and Carmel, but I want to use Marian Catholic 2019 as an example of a great show that was lost on most of the audience). How in the world did you come away with this meaning from the BA show? Is this shared somewhere? Do judges get this info? How do the guard costumes fit this? Really just trying to dissect all aspects to understand. Thank you! I have a few good friends who graduated this past year who were in Pride. To my knowledge, no, it isn’t communicated outside of Pride members, so it’s perfectly reasonable that the meaning is lost (which is totally okay). The story was more for the students to internalize and perform, and to leave the audience to interpret on their own. It doesn’t have to have the meaning that I just described, but that’s what the performers were told.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2022 9:00:18 GMT -6
Maybe I’m alone in thinking this, but I feel like BA’s niche in the marching band world is having obscure shows that don’t have a super clear meaning to the average viewer. The Edge of Eternity, FaceMe, Destiny Leaves You No Choice, etc. all have overarching themes which guide them but they aren’t like clear cut concepts like Mustang’s Shark World for example. I would argue that the years BA tried to have more clear concepts (The United State of America, YeeHaw, etc.) they scored worse than in years where they took the obscure route. It’s what seems to work for them, so I’m not shocked to see them doing it again after last year’s success. Just my take! I really enjoyed their 2015 “Wild Blue Orchid” show for its mixture of both obscurity and specificity. She was a shape-shifter, a vigilante, a hero, etc. all set to that glorious Shostakovich score. Great balance.
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Post by Momof20613 on Oct 17, 2022 9:06:07 GMT -6
How in the world did you come away with this meaning from the BA show? Is this shared somewhere? Do judges get this info? How do the guard costumes fit this? Really just trying to dissect all aspects to understand. Thank you![/quote]
I’m sure I’m not reply right, this whole message board coding thing makes me crazy.
I don’t know if this is how it is at other schools, but when Yukon revealed their show to students and parents last spring it came with a whole write up description. It was much more detailed that the story that was actually told on the field. I think ours conceptually is pretty easy to understand, but there are details that mean things that aren’t clear as an observer who’s never seen the show. I agree with novicebanddad, some shows are remarkably well done, but seem to ramble on meaninglessly.
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Post by LeanderMomma on Oct 17, 2022 9:07:17 GMT -6
I very much agree with you on BA’s drill. Since 2015 they have reused many many forms (Looking at you Leon). There’s one we always called “the sperm set” that’s in practically every Leon show, sometimes more than once All. The. Time. 🤦🏻♀️
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Post by philodemus on Oct 17, 2022 9:10:42 GMT -6
So... are the props in BA '22, like, half a heart with spikes growing out to show the love has gone sour? I can kind of see that, if I squint at them a bit... interesting.
So, I guess I'm in the minority of really digging the BA space shows? Return to Xeno was awesome, just enough story, just enough weird to make me smile from ear to ear.
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