DCI 2009: The One Where I Piss Everyone Off

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DCI 2009: The One Where I Piss Everyone Off

Post by Hostrauser » Mon Dec 28, 2009 1:06 pm

Just received my 2009 DCI DVDs and CDs (an annual Xmas-gift tradition).

Another annual tradition is me spouting off in the forums, leading to 50% of the people laughing and 50% throwing bricks and rotten tomatoes at me. I highly encourage others to join in and post their potentially unpopular opinions about DCI's 2009 season.

Let's begin. I only have two so far, since I haven't been able to watch all the shows.

-- DCI Arrangers: do you think that, maybe, in 2010 you could limit yourself to less than 10 false codas per show? The first, say, TWO are effective. After that it just gets irritating.

-- The Blue Devils had the easiest brass book I've heard from a DCI Champion in at least 20 years. Sorry, but it was a joke (and I don't care HOW fast they were moving). Had the 16th note not been invented by 1930?

More to come...

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Re: DCI 2009: The One Where I Piss Everyone Off

Post by Hostrauser » Mon Dec 28, 2009 3:41 pm

-- Lucas Oil Drum acoustics are terrible. I mean, come on DCI, who are you trying to kid? Cue up the Bluecoats and listen to the ff release at the apex of "Sky Blue." I bet if you were to head to the Lucas Oil Drum RIGHT NOW that echo would still be going on.

-- Not much of a fan of Copland, Vanguard, but thank you for not throwing his music into a blender before putting it on the field. Some corps (okay, MOST corps) need to realize that borrowing a motif or two or a ten second passage does NOT mean you are "playing" said composer. BD is always bad with this, but in 2009 I think the Cadets were the worst. Three motifs from West Side Story and ten minutes of WTF-is-this for a 12-minute show? Come on.

-- On a semi-related note to the acoustics item above, the PA system didn't sound very healthy for a brand new stadium. Brandt Crocker sounded like he was announcing from a bathroom stall encased in solid concrete thirty feet below the field.

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Re: DCI 2009: The One Where I Piss Everyone Off

Post by Hostrauser » Tue Dec 29, 2009 1:48 pm

-- Carolina Crown: I like the performance quality and the overall show concept, but... is it just me or does this show develop v-e-r-y s-l-o-o-o-o-w-l-y? It just seems to take forever to GET anywhere. "Puck One" might be my DCI highlight of the year, though.

-- Blue Stars: their canned narration was a huge, festering zit on the face of an otherwise beautiful show. I still maintain that if you have to vocally TELL me what's going on, then you haven't designed your show well enough.

-- Phantom Regiment: musically, this was Phantom as we know and love them--great brass, great percussion. Visually? I think they're distributing DVDs of this show to poison control centers due to its power to induce vomiting.

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Re: DCI 2009: The One Where I Piss Everyone Off

Post by Ryan H. Turner » Tue Dec 29, 2009 8:51 pm

Oh if I was soooooooo brave!!!!!!

MORE MORE MORE!!!

But PLEASE remember....those are kids PERFORMING. I know you know this, but even I have to reminded...

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Re: DCI 2009: The One Where I Piss Everyone Off

Post by Hostrauser » Tue Dec 29, 2009 10:35 pm

Ryan H. Turner wrote:But PLEASE remember....those are kids PERFORMING. I know you know this, but even I have to reminded...
Oh, I remember. That's why most (all?) of my comments have been on show design failures. These kids have been practicing these shows for seven, eight months. If something doesn't work, it's NOT the kids' fault.

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Re: DCI 2009: The One Where I Piss Everyone Off

Post by bighud1 » Wed Dec 30, 2009 12:36 am

Very nice reviews but I was just wondering, what DCI shows have you designed? It seems you know a lot about design. Also, what Corps did you march in and what did you play? What years did you march? Just looking for a little bio from you because the reviews seem right on.

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Re: DCI 2009: The One Where I Piss Everyone Off

Post by Hostrauser » Wed Dec 30, 2009 9:41 pm

My knowledge (what there is) is only from years of observation and many hours of discussion with DCI arrangers, designers, instructors, and judges. The Freelancers folded the week before my tryout in 1995, and I was cut from the Blue Devils in 1998 because I am possibly the worst marcher the universe has ever seen. :lol:

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Re: DCI 2009: The One Where I Piss Everyone Off

Post by kumachan » Wed Dec 30, 2009 10:03 pm

Hostrauser wrote:I was cut from the Blue Devils in 1998 because I am possibly the worst marcher the universe has ever seen. :lol:
At least you are honest about it :wink:
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Re: DCI 2009: The One Where I Piss Everyone Off

Post by fieldshowqueen » Fri Jan 01, 2010 5:45 pm

You don't have to have marched DCI to know good from bad. Example: I hadn't marched in HS band in over 30 years. I estimated the scores and placements for WBA 1/2/3A finals about 5 years ago. I hit the nail on the head with which bands were in finals and missed only 2 ordinals (transposed them) and 4 scores by less than .2 points. Experience is an awesome tool at times.
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Re: DCI 2009: The One Where I Piss Everyone Off

Post by Hostrauser » Sun Jan 10, 2010 11:17 am

My last comments on DCI 2009...

Sometimes I disagree with the judges. I've seen every finalist show from 1987-present: there's bound to be some disagreement in there. But I can't remember the last time I've disagreed with the judges SO STRONGLY.

No offense to any Blue Devils on this forum, but the 2009 Blue Devils weren't even CLOSE to being the best corps at finals. What a JOKE.

I don't even know where to start. A full 70% of the judges completely blew it in my view.

MUSICAL GENERAL EFFECT
Blue Devils: Great, if all you want is power chords and soloist work
Carolina Crown: A nice selection of music from disparate sources and genres, woven together to produce a wonderful fantasy setting.
EDGE: Crown, 19.85 - 19.40

VISUAL GENERAL EFFECT
Blue Devils: First half of the show was little more than a giant game of musical chairs. I was shocked how SHORT most of their visual sets were. Move 16 counts, stop, play for 8, move 16 more counts, stop, play for 16, etc. Very choppy.
Carolina Crown: A blend of "Wizard of Oz" and "Midsummer Night's Dream" with WOW moments everywhere you looked. I mean, come on: the guard guy spinning a rifle on his back while he himself is being spun around buy the corps during the "tornado" sequence at the beginning; the tear-away corps uniform revealing a guard girl had been in the hornline since the beginning of the show; the guard getting piggy back rides from the snares, then crawling between their legs while the snares play a solo; somersaulting hornline members; hornline dropping to their knees while marching, marching on their knees, then popping back up to finish their set on their feet; the colorguard pixie pushing the conductor off the podium to finish "Puck"... this show was an absolute feast for the eyes. One of (if not THE) most visually effective shows I've ever seen in DCI.

Then agian, with Marie Czapinski as one of the judges in this caption, you had to expect some screwed up scores. But Curtis Costanza, what's your excuse?
Edge: Crown, 19.95 - 19.50

EFFECT:
39.80 Crown
38.90 Devils

VISUAL PERFORMANCE
Sure, the Blue Devils were clean. How hard is it to be clean when you're sitting on/standing on/marching around a chair (marker) for half the show? And surely difficulty has to count for SOMETHING, right? Crown was running ALL OVER THE PLACE, with a drill George Zingali would have been proud of.
Edge: Crown, 19.70 - 19.50

VISUAL ENSEMBLE
Okay, the visual composition between the Blue Devils' corps and the guard was just about flawless. I'm still not at all impressed with their drill.
Edge: Blue Devils, 19.90 - 19.60

COLOR GUARD
This is no slight against Crown, but watching the Devils' guard never gets old.
Edge: Blue Devils, 19.90 - 19.70

VISUAL
29.65 Devils
29.50 Crown

BRASS
See earlier post. Easiest brass book by a DCI Champion in a decade, at least. All the challenging stuff was either brass soloists or percussion. There was ONE really challenging brass ensemble spot, and it was played standing still. Crown has runs, articulations, some nice chorale moments, the total package. And some of it was played at ridiculous velocity.
Edge: Crown, 19.70 - 19.20

MUSIC ENSEMBLE
One of two judges I thought was spot on. Tip of the hat, Dave Carbone.
Edge: Crown, 19.90 - 19.70

PERCUSSION
The other judge I thought was spot on. Crown's line was very good, but the Blue Devils' battery and front ensemble carried that whole show. Tip of the hat, J.J. Pipitone.
Edge: Blue Devils, 19.80 - 19.60

MUSIC:
29.60 Crown
29.35 Devils

SHOULD HAVE BEEN:
98.90 Carolina Crown
97.90 Blue Devils

Bah.

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Re: DCI 2009: The One Where I Piss Everyone Off

Post by KingMattIV » Wed Jan 13, 2010 12:28 am

I bow down to you sir.
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Re: DCI 2009: The One Where I Piss Everyone Off

Post by gcarrasco » Sun Mar 21, 2010 9:36 pm

OH BOY it's time to dust off the old BD Jacket (white) and say drum corps is a contact sport and if you can't take the heat get out of the kitchen. Bring it on, and more, the gloves are off: let's enjoin the conflict.
(band directors beware)

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Re: DCI 2009: The One Where I Piss Everyone Off

Post by malletphreak » Fri Mar 26, 2010 7:12 am

gcarrasco wrote:OH BOY it's time to dust off the old BD Jacket (white) and say drum corps is a contact sport and if you can't take the heat get out of the kitchen. Bring it on, and more, the gloves are off: let's enjoin the conflict.
(band directors beware)


:twisted: bring it! :)
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Re: DCI 2009: The One Where I Piss Everyone Off

Post by gcarrasco » Fri Mar 26, 2010 12:29 pm

Believe it or not I agree BD stole one from Carolina. BD drumline-super, guard-outta site, Drill-wake me when it's over, Horns-played a so so book perfectly but I still miss the low brass sound and the rich textures of the Jim Ott era. GE- either you liked it or not. By the way Congrats BDB for winning Open Class! Last year OUCH! talk about the judges blowing it!

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Re: DCI 2009: The One Where I Piss Everyone Off

Post by gcarrasco » Fri Mar 26, 2010 12:34 pm

By the way, I still remember losing to the Kingsmen at US Open the first DCI Championship year. They still made top three,I believe, even after a 5 point penalty for showing up a hour late to their prelim step-off.

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