We are off! Thought I'd see if anyone wants to discuss the new season. I can say the Bluecoats look to be hot on their best year yet!

I WAS WAITING FOR SOMEBODY TO START THIS THREAD!!
Yeah, Bluecoats are already on fire. I haven't had a chance to go to the theaters or buy DCI live stuff (EXPENSIVE!) but most of the shows are being posted on YouTube.... Down Side Up is definitely the winner. Only thing I don't like is the new uniforms... I can see why they have it tho, to do more physical stuff.
Something that I kind of have mixed feelings on is the use of trombones. Cadets (of course), Crown, Blue Devils, and I'm pretty sure the cavaliers and SCV have them in their shows too. BD and Cadets are even corporating it in their drill! As a trombone player, I love it... But as a DCI fan, I don't really know if I like it. I just hope trombones don't become a norm in DCI, keep it a surprise.

Bluecoats have definitely delivered on the hype they've generated from witholding their show design and title until the last moment possible. I've loved Bluecoats during White Knight Willie's era and I'm looking forward to see if they can continue to deliver the eccentric music that I've come to love them for.

I'm still warming up to Crown and "Relentless." I know that they'll be a healthy contender for a podium spot this season, but I cannot deny the fact that Cadets ("Awakening"), SCV ("Force of Nature"), and Blue Devils ("As Dreams Are Made On") are also hungry for a spot as well.

The one corps I'm very interested in seeing rise through the ranks this season is Crossmen. I've seen them personally perform a stand-still concert of their music at Southlake, TX and as a friend in the corps puts it, the music sounds "Crown-y" this year, a departure from their previous musical selections. I know music alone won't take a corps up, so I hope their visual performance matches the musical hype.

I haven't seen any of the West Coast corps yet, but I have a feeling that Bluecoats and Crown are the corps to beat this year. Crown's show is gonna be very polished, and it's an awesome concept, and the Bluecoats are miles ahead of everyone else in terms of show design IMO. I think that it's gonna be that top 4 group again this season, but the Cadets certainly certainly have some work to do based on their first show. I'm seeing the west coast corps later on tonight on DCI Live, so I'll get to see how BD is doing, as well as Vanguard and BK and Madison in that like second tier below the top four

I also think the Cavies are making leaps and bounds in contrast to last year. Their show at Indy was very powerful, and also very well designed. I think that under the right circumstances, they have a chance to break into the top 5 or 6.

I'm watching out for the Troopers though. I saw a preview show of the Troopers and the music sounds fantastic. I really think the Troopers are right on the cusp of making finals, even more than last year. I'm just not sure which corps is going to fall out of the top 12, because it's been all the same the past two years.

Also this isn't really part of the finals discussion, but I have two good friends in Jersey Surf, and all they've been saying is that the show is much more competitive than in past years. If they're right, look for them to be back in semis this year.

In closing, I'm just gonna make a ridiculous, semi-educated prediction on how the season's gonna turn out. Get ready to laugh at this in August lol

1) Bluecoats
2) Carolina Crown
3) Blue Devils
4) Cadets
5) Vanguard
6) Cavaliers
7) Phantom Regiment
8) Madison Scouts
9) Blue Knights
10) Crossmen
11) Boston Crusaders
12) Troopers
13) Blue Stars
14) Colts
15) Academy
16) Oregon Crusaders
17) Spirit of Atlanta
18) Pacific Crest
19) Mandarins
20) Jersey Surf
21) Cascades
22) Pioneer

Ooh predictions! May I? Here's mine-
1) Bluecoats
2) The Cadets (it'll be a a show stopper later on in the season)
3) Blue Devils
4) SCV
5) Carolina Crown
6) Phantom Regiment
7) Cavaliers
8) Boston Crusaders
9) Blue Knights
10) Madison Scouts
11) Blue Stars
12) Cascades (they're growing... They might not be able to make it to finals but they are gonna get close...)
13) Troopers
14) Oregon Crusaders
15) Colts
16) Academy
17) Crossmeny
18) Spirit of Atlanta
19) Jersey Surf
20) Mandarins
21) Pioneer
22) Pacific Crest

Probably totally wrong, we'll see.

I can't comment too much right now. I haven't seen very much of 2016. I did see a practice video of Bluecoats. They sound great, and I like the concept of their show. Also, I skimmed through the Cadets' first webcast. I was surprised to see a stringed instrument on the field and a half naked guy (lol). Though, it wasn't a bad surprise. I appreciate that the Cadets are always pushing the limits and being innovative. I just absolutely love Pines of Rome :)

However, I can't comment much about anything else; except I saw that the Bluecoats are scoring the highest at the moment, which adds to the excitement. I don't want to dive into the new season right now. I'm saving my excitement for my first live show, Tour of Champions on July 18 in Warrensburg, MO. I'll probably subscribe to the webcasts, too, but I don't want to start forming too many opinions until I get the full effect in person :)

At this stage the only group I've seen is Crown. They sounded great. Not sure what I think about the show design yet, but I know they will iron stuff out by season's end so I won't say I don't like it. Can't wait to see Bluecoats.

Okay so tonight, Blue Knights and Madison Scouts really wowed me, even if the Blue Knights confused the hell out of me. I really enjoyed the Academy as well, their show is really cool and fun. Santa Clara Vanguard seemed sorta generic to be but had a good sound, and other than the extensive use of trombones, the Blue Devils basically did Blue Devils stuff. Really interested to see what happens when everyone comes together

Interesting note though, Blue Devils B used in their repertoire four different songs from "iconic" moments/pieces in some of the top shows from past years. 1) Leonardo Dreams of his Flying Machine by Eric Whitacre (SCV 2012), Aha! by Imogen Heap (Bluecoats 2010), Symphony no. 10 mvt. 2 by Dmitri Shostakovich (Cadets 2015), and Adagio from Spartacus by Aram Khachaturian (Phantom Regiment 2008). Purely coincidental I would imagine, but maybe the design team was watching a little too much DCI during the offseason ;)

bluecoats are like extreme sports meet dci lol

I saw vanguard last night---bd won no doubt but vanguard impressed me more--great show and people will be throwing their panties at that percussion they were ON FIRE!!!

CADETS ARE THE SLEEPER--when they polish that--look out!

So I just saw a bit of BD. It sounds great. I can hardly wait to see this live.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8wA5kThM4s

First live show this weekend in lynn

I'll be streaming that one, cheering on my friends at Jersey Surf!

Current DCI rankings based off their recent scores
1) Bluecoats
2) Cavaliers
3) Carolina Crown
4) Blue Devils
5) The Cadets
6) Santa Clara Vanguard
7) Blue Stars
8) Phantom Regiment
9) Troopers
10) Madison Scouts
11) Crossmen
12) Blue Knights
13) Boston Crusaders
14) Colts
15) The Academy
16) Mandarins
17) Pacific Crest
18) Pioneer.

Hi Cavaliers! How are you?

Remember different show days, different judges. That being said, I had a feeling the Cavies would be back to their old form based on the first show

http://dciscores.com/world/?year=2016

Very cool site to represent the rankings visually

Cavies are a bit high for where we know they probably really are BUT that being said, they CLEARLY are a step up over the last several seasons and could very well be in that top 6 fight come end of season. Some are predicting instead of 4 fighting for the top it will be more, Cavies would certainly seem to be one in that group just on the edge. Can Bluecoats hold, will Crown keep being relentless, Blue Devils we KNOW want a 3pete, Cadets are going to clean and climb, Vanguard has an AWESOME show for those who havent seen it...what I was concerned might be a ho hum year appears to be anything but!

Just a FYI the scoring system is very different this year and the judges don't know what the past caption scores are which is why the huge score irregularities than normal. This year scores really don't matter unless it's the same show

I still bet fans are the only ones in the dark about those caption scores--as close as the judging community is, I bet you they get shared more than they are supposed to. I think Cavies irregularity is really because they havent been with the big dogs...across country they were not really supposed to be looking at scores anyway at other shows to determine the show they are judging...it will be interesting to see how the new system impacts the rest of the year--it has totally screwed up fantasy drum corps on DCP...we have to use the same average scores for visual and music across all categories. so whatever they get for music--its divided by 3 and that was they get for brass--percussion and ensemble...I think the whole idea is crap myself.

It is.. I mean, in reality the concept is good... to prevent slotting and to get a "real" value of score - but all this does it really show how inconsistent and trivial drum corps scoring is.

They should just give BD the title and be done with it