Open Class Round-Up - 7/14/22
Let's take a dive into the Open Class competition so far.
We’re about three weeks in to the competitive season and all open corps except for two have either premiered or will do so by the end of next week (Legends premieres on 7/29 and The Calgary Stampede Showband will have their first DCI show of the year at Open Class Prelims on 8/8 in Marion, IN). It feels like a good time to go through and see how these groups are stacking up.
The top five corps based on past score is full of familiar faces right now. Gold and Blue Devils B have been going head to head a few times over the past few weeks, with Gold having the early edge. However BDB has been able to close the gap and pass their fellow California corps, topping them by 0.15 at DCI West in Stanford, CA. Vanguard Cadets have been hanging out in consistent third behind these two groups when competing head to head.
The Spartans over on the East Coast have been dominating all Open Class competition, as the closest spread they’ve had was a 10.3 win over Heat Wave at CrownBEAT. They also topped Jersey Surf at two of the three shows where they met. That being said, it looks like they’ll be facing a little tougher competition coming up when they meet up with Surf, Southwind, and company on 7/23 in Sewell, NJ, coming out of their mid-season break.
A corps that was slipping a little under the radar, the Columbians had their first streamed competition of the year at Corps Encore in Ogden, UT, where they took a lot of people by surprise. Coming out with a corps that is larger than most in Open this year, they put on a strong performance where they topped The Battalion, a corps that many have been speculating could make Semi-Finals this year, by 2.25. The Columbians will go head to head with BDB and Vanguard Cadets for every competition they’ll be in for the rest of the season, concluding on 7/24 in Union City, CA.
Further down we have River City Rhythm. They’ve been touring around the Midwest, matching up against Colt Cadets at every show they’ve performed at to this point. These corps both have a mid season break, with RCR’s coming after the Eau Claire show last night, and Colt Cadets having theirs after the Olathe, KS show on 7/18. Both corps resume touring on 7/30 in Normal, IL, in a match up including Louisiana Stars, Guardians, and the aforementioned Battalion.
7th Regiment and Raiders are also currently on their break, with both corps jumping back on tour again in Sewell, NJ on 7/23. They’ll be joining the east swing into Marion, joining Legends, Spartans, Southwind, and Louisiana Stars. On the Western swing into Marion will be Vanguard Cadets, BDB, Battalion, Colt Cadets, Gold, Guardians, River City Rhythm, and Les Stentors.
Speaking of Les Stentors, the Sherbrooke, QC based group is starting their tour out on the west coast this year, with their first performance coming in Yucaipa, CA on 7/15. They’re going to be doing the mini California tour alongside many of the names on the western swing, with the addition of Columbians, Impulse, Golden Empire, and Blue Devils C.
Friday, 7/15 will represent a milestone for Open Class. The Riverside Open in Yucaipa, CA will be the first non-finals week show consisting entirely of Open Class corps to be live-streamed through DCI or FloMarching. The first time an all Open competition was streamed was the 2017 Open Class World Championships Prelims from Michigan City, during the first year of DCI’s deal with FloMarching to provide streaming coverage. Now, five years later, a regular season event featuring some of the best ensembles in Open will be featured, live. That’s pretty great if you ask me.
Editors Note: This writer is the family member of a staff member for a corps mentioned above which we are purposefully keeping anonymous to respect all parties involved.
Saturday Night Lights 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 at @SatNightLites. He currently lives in Florida with his partner and their two dogs.
**** DCI Open Class - Based on Newest Score ****
01 (01) 62.55 (4) - Blue Devils B
02 (04) 62.50 (2) - Columbians
03 (02) 62.45 (5) - Spartans
04 (03) 62.40 (4) - Gold
05 (05) 60.70 (4) - Vanguard Cadets
06 (06) 60.35 (1) - River City Rhythm
07 (NR) 60.25 (2) - The Battalion
08 (07) 58.30 (1) - Colt Cadets
09 (08) 52.25 (3) - Heat Wave
10 (09) 49.90 (7) - Golden Empire
11 (10) 48.80 (8 ) - 7th Regiment
12 (11) 44.65 (4) - Blue Devils C
13 (12) 43.10 (6) - Raiders
14 (13) 38.50 (9) - Impulse
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(1) = 07/13/2022 - Eau Claire, WI (DCI)
(2) = 07/13/2022 - Ogden, UT (DCI)
(3) = 07/11/2022 - Atlanta, GA (DCI)
(4) = 07/10/2022 - Stanford, CA (DCI)
(5) = 07/09/2022 - Lexington, SC (DCI)
(6) = 07/06/2022 - Dover, DE (DCI)
(7) = 07/05/2022 - Fresno, CA (DCI)
(8) = 07/03/2022 - Lynn, MA (DCI)
(9) = 06/26/2022 - San Bernardino, CA (DCI)