Back of the Bus: Overdrive

8 Shows! One Weekend!

Whew! It’s been a wild weekend of band, and there’s still three more shows tonight! I’ll have to catch tomorrow’s replays, as

Aaron Blackley

,

bandScores

, and myself will be recording another episode of Bring It In tonight, but this should be coming out before the first show starts.

Mason

As the corps have headed their separate ways, let’s quickly talk about the Mason show. Crown took the top spot in the last meeting of the top 3 (that aren’t BD) until Broken Arrow in 9 days. It was a very interesting recap, but it revealed much about judge perception for the top groups this year. It would be folly to count Boston out of the title contention this early. However, it undoubtedly is concerning to the Crusaders' design team that they came in third here, behind an admittedly relatively clean Crown and the Bluecoats at their first show of the year. Bloo’s show was extremely strong but rather dirty, and getting limited opportunities to rehearse as a full ensemble leading up to the Mason performance certainly didn’t help with that. 

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Troopers and Music City were on their own competitive islands here, making it hard to draw too many conclusions from any of the numbers. That said, Music City had a relatively strong debut, and they’re hoping to use last season’s highest-ever finish for the corps to propel them even higher and make a run at finals within the next few years. 

Weekend Shows

On Wisconsin! …and DeKalb, IL

Now Showing

On Friday, the Midwest Classic in DeKalb, IL, marked the debut of two Texas-based corps on the 2023 tour. The Crossmen came out with their 2023 production, Meetings at the Edge, and slotted in right around 15th, scoring .25 behind Madison. Getting back into finals will be an uphill battle this year with how much parity there is between the 12th to 16th place corps, and it will be a scrap until the end of the season. 

Genesis also premiered in DeKalb, unveiling their show SYMBIO.SYS, and brought some very familiar tunes back to the field, including Imogen Heap’s Hide and Seek, Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite, and Mackey’s Asphalt Cocktail. They look to compete with Seattle Cascades and the upper part of Open Class to ensure a spot in Semifinals. 

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Making Moves

The Cavaliers have been pulling away from the Troopers since their matchup in Cedarburg on Monday left them within a point of their old Combine foes. They took that to the next level last night in Whitewater, hopping the Blue Stars for the first time since a COVID outbreak derailed their 2022 season. Significant strides in color guard as well as a percussion section that took Percussion Content in DeKalb and Achievement in Whitewater over the Boston Crusaders, a line many think could take the Sanford, have helped the Cavaliers rebound after a rough 2022 and a less-than-ideal opening to their 2023 season. 

Chasing the White Whale

Following Wednesday’s matchup in Mason, Boston was hoping for a strong set of scores to lead into their matchup this coming Saturday with the Blue Devils at Drums Along the Rockies. They were not, however, expecting to get third in both General Effect Repertoire subcaptions behind Crown and Bluecoats at Mason or over-perform their Visual book in early-to-mid July. 

Coming off the heels of a historic 2022, BAC decided to go toe to toe with the Blue Devils earlier than their fellow title contenders to better position themselves to win their first title in 2023. However, White Whale seems to be encountering rougher than expected seas when looking at their scores. 

Judges are likely knocking them for staging issues, such as how the hornline seems to be secondary in focus to the guard during much of the show, especially the third movement, or pacing issues, such as how long the very percussion-heavy second movement goes, impacting the energy and flow coming out of the opener. As most fans who’ve been around know, most corps put out a new closer (or two or three) toward the end of the season, which would help enhance their package significantly and provide much more of a climactic end to their production. 

This show has so many highlights, from an absolutely gripping first statement to a ballad that leaves very few dry eyes in the audience. If they can find ways to fix the issues mentioned above, the performances the members have already provided are right up there with the best of them. If they can’t, White Whale will be just another name to add to the ever-growing list of fairly heavy-handed metaphor shows put on the year following an unexpected medalist finish intended to win a first title and manage to falter (if that’s the case, then don’t worry, Boston fans. You’re almost guaranteed the title in 2026!)

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Peaches and Palmettos

Flower Crowns Abound

Last night’s CrownBEAT was the second of three straight shows featuring the Bluecoats and Carolina Crown. Crown has maintained an advantage at both shows, though they did premiere earlier and have had their production completed longer. Most observers expect Bloo to pass Crown before the end of the season as they clean up, and some even think that the Bluecoats could put up a title challenge. That said, the longer Crown can hold out, the better their prospects are for a medal. 

On the Road Again

We had two corps debut in Lexington, with Spirit of Atlanta and Heat Wave performing last night. Heat Wave performed When October Goes, based around the Barry Manilow song of the same name.

Sidenote - I had the opportunity to spend the 4th of July with that corps, as well as visit with the corps director (my father), and as young as they are, they seem to be having a wonderful experience. With only one vet who has been with the corps beyond last year, they will likely use this season as an opportunity to develop and grow toward an eventual return to Indianapolis.

Spirit of Atlanta returned to the competitive field for the first time since 2019, and Up, Down, and All Around looks to be in that mid-teens logjam with Academy, Crossmen, Madison, and more. It’s a relatively young corps this year, which is to be expected after a year off, and so the vehicle they have is indeed written with that in mind. That said, they have put in a lot of hard work over the past few weeks to set themselves up nicely for the coming season. 

How The West Was Won

Blue Notes

After Friday night’s MidCal Champions Showcase, it’s hard to see anyone coming home with the Gold Medal this year except the Blue Devils. They have the experience, they have the design, they have the performance. It only gets better from here, folks. Sit back and enjoy the ride, and if San Antonio or Allentown rolls around and they have a challenger? Even better. More great drum corps to relish in. 

It was the first performance of Unharnessed for the Blue Knights, and it is absolutely a Blue Knights show. Prep Step, an artsy but pretty accessible show design, some tasty percussion writing, it’s got it all. It’ll be good to see BK back in the Saturday Night show at the end of the year. 

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We Have A Tie

Last night, for those who didn’t stay up until almost 1a ET for results to be released, Pacific Crest and The Academy ended up tying with a score of 71.1. After slightly down seasons for both groups last year, both should be encouraged by this result. Pacific Crest, additionally, seems to be getting back to the upward trend they were on before COVID, with an intriguing production titled Goddess. Academy’s Sol et Luna seemed to be fairly polarizing to last night’s Effect judges, with one having them closer to Mandarins than they were to the corps below and the other putting them in last among World Class groups there. 

Regardless of how the scores shake out, both corps have certainly stepped up from last year’s offerings and should be excited for the battle that this season holds, especially with Saturday’s Drums Along the Rockies providing an interesting matchup with a corps that certainly seems to be a Finals lock in the Troopers. If either can keep their numbers fairly close to Troop and Blue Knights, that bodes well for their chances to not only make on to the Theater broadcast at the end of the year but potentially a dark horse finalist run. 

Best of the Week

For all of you who didn’t stay up for the recaps after scores were announced on Wednesday, DCI’s website had some issues with all of the traffic looking for them. My favorite comment on it is this gem from our own

J. Missing

.

Link Here

Matthew Carstensen is currently GEM’s Managing Editor. He has been involved in the Pageantry Arts for over a decade as a performer at the highest level, an instructor, and a fan. You can find him on Twitter and Threads at @SatNightLites. He currently lives in Florida with his dog.