8/8 - Drum Corps International | Finals

Blue Devils - 97.650 Carolina Crown - 97.075 Bluecoats - 96.925 The Cadets - 95.900 Santa Clara Vanguard - 93.850 Blue Knights - 91.850 Phantom Regiment - 90.325 Madison Scouts - 88.750 The Cavaliers - 88.325 Boston Crusaders - 86.800 Blue Stars - 85.150 Crossmen - 85.025

Click Here for Recap ----- Jim Jones Leadership Award - Madison Scouts George Zingalli Color Guard Award - Blue Devils Best Visual Performance Award - Blue Devils Jim Ott Brass Award - The Cadets Fred Sanford Best Percussion - Blue Devils Don Angelica Best General Effect - Carolina Crown

Blue Devils - Absolutely their best performance of the season. Drumline was extra clean tonight, and their colorguard was just on fire. Visual is by far their strongest suit, and that was shown tonight, as they brought out new and more achievable drill in the middle section and some other changes in the ending. The little girl was a nice touch, and the colorguard was very theatrical and made the GE come out especially. Brass was on fire, just not as on fire as Cadets or Crown. By far the winner performance wise, could not have seen it any other way.

Carolina Crown - Although their GE is normally great the judges saw it a little closer to BD tonight. Percussion had a solid run, and really there was nothing too out of the ordinary phasing wise. The other four groups were just at another level as all. Brass did great despite some saying it was a flat performance, just shy of the Jim Ott award. Colorguard, in my opinion, had their best performance at finals. Really moving emotionally, they always knew when to switch to different personalities .Did I want them to win? I thought it would have been cool because it wasn’t totally out of the question considering the past two nights, but Crown seemed to just not perform as well as BD did tonight, and it showed in the scores.

Bluecoats - I first need to say that Bluecoats had some pinwheels and rotating lines at the end of their show. I must say that those were the cleanest lines I have ever seen at that bpm, and was not surprised by that after seeing the rest of their show. Energy was a big part in their performance. They had more energy that Crown and Cadets by far, and almost passed Crown because of it. Percussion was just sizzling, visual was on point, guard did well and musically they were very balanced. GE was also amazing, and the close score between them and crown wasn’t surprising.

The Cadets - Drill wise, very challenging show. Some were unhappy of the fourth place outcome, especially by quite a margin to third. The reason I wasn’t surprised was because some seem to forget Carolina Crown 2012. The drill crown had was absolutely insane, and they cleaned it, but just not enough. Sometimes you can clean it and sometime you can’t. Unfortunately Cadets could not. Black uniforms didn’t help the visual from the box, and on top of that the ending and some other parts just were not clean enough, which is shown in the visual score. Music was exceptional tonight, as they got the high brass award deservingly. GE was fine, but in the end that was the big hitter. Colorguard also was solid but not enough to close the gap in visual. Great show, challenging, but just not there.

Santa Clara Vanguard - A definite fan favorite this year, Santa Clara Vanguard completed their season with a lot of be proud of. Although they finished in fifth place last night, they had an amazing season. At some points, they were leading in rankings. It has been an incredibly competitive season and this show was "electric" in many ways. It seems that the biggest surprise among the audience is Santa Clara's percussion section placing fourth. This is a percussion section that has always been supurb and has won many first place finishes. This is an organization that has a lot to be proud of and they always finish their season with class. Congrats Santa Clara Vanguard on an amazing season.

Blue Knights - Taking huge strides the last two seasons, the Blue Knights finished their season with a solid sixth place finish. Their program "Because..." turned the field into a color pallet and by the end of the show, was able to make the entire hornline and drumline dissappear. The Blue Knights organization is one that is growing quite rapidly and will have a lot to show us next year.

Phantom Regiment -Did you ever want to go to Paris but couldn't afford it or just didn't have the time? Well Phantom Regiment's 2015 Program took their audience to Paris for twelve minutes and all it cost them was one DCI Ticket. Their highest caption being Visual (sixth place) and their lowest caption being General Effect 1 (eighth place), Phantom earned themselves a seventh place finish. The most surprising part of the show for most fans - every single member lived.

Madison Scouts - Good Morning, Good Moooorning! While Phantom took us to Paris, the Madison Scouts brought Broadway to us! Their story line of a young actor trying to find a job in New York brought the audiences in and the use of old time movie songs had audience members leaving the stadium singing all the way home. Their highest caption being General Effect 1 (seventh place) and their lowest caption being Visual (ninth place), the Madison Scouts found themselves in an eighth place finish.

The Cavaliers - It was unfortunately the lowest score they have acquired in a long time, however that didn't stop the audience from crying out their name and cheering to the last chord. It was certainly a powerful show and explored multiple dimensions of what makes The Cavaliers, The Cavaliers. They and the Madison Scouts had battled off of their position until the very last moment, with their visual score giving them the upper hand, but lacked barely behind Madison in General Effect and Brass. Perhaps it was just a low scoring year, it was just a really competitive year, or compared to previous years, the standards they set then weren't seen as much this year. Either way, The Cavaliers closed off their season with extraordinary moments, however the show theme of "Game On" wasn't very clear to convey, which might have effected the idea of them. Either way though, it was a fantastic show, and with the innovation of the staff that have brought the style of The Cavaliers over the years, we're certainly going to see a newer corps next season.

Boston Crusaders - It was a topsy-turvy season for BAC, with each week being a fight to prove themselves against the rest of the corps that they had impressed the year before. With their show, "Conquest", they managed to beautifully mix the theme of Game of Thrones with multiple visuals, vocals, and ideas. With their solid 10th place in all captions, it placed them immediately into their spot, right beneath The Cavaliers and Blue Stars. Visually on the field they could have improved more with fixing their forms and their percussion performance, but either way, it was another exciting (yet not as powerfully dark as Animal Farm) performance/show Boston Crusaders have given to us over the countless years.

Blue Stars - Innovative and yet perplexing with all the effects and abilities including juggling and sword swallowing, Blue Stars has given another show to the audience that has given them their own sense of style to the world of drum corps. With multiple features including Trombone features, a beautiful ballad, and their signature uniforms with bright colored plumes to make a massive contrast, it has spelled out the power and nature of Blue Stars every year after year. With visual performance being only their lacking suite in such a wondrous and "puffy" show, they could have certainly brought more to the theme of "Side Show" if they conveyed a story line to it more, than only showing the abilities that their members can give. However, Blue Stars never disappoint with the emotion they can convey, and we're hoping to see that emotion and innovation brought into the light once more next year.

Crossmen - Music and general effect weren't their strong suites this year in proficiency, and the story line aspect it revolves around could have been explored more, but that doesn't mean it didn't give chills to the audience. With the innovation of having the brass occasionally come infront of the pit for much more powerful spots in the show, including the massively beautiful ballad where it was solely the hornline and the use of Eric Whitacre's "Fly to Paradise" as their opener hit, we know the brass scores were under appreciated. However, it was still a stunning show that Crossmen had fought with Blue Stars and Troopers for their spot, and although they ended with 12th, we can still expect a great season next year.

The 2015 Drum Corps International Summer Tour was one for the record books. It had fans on the edge of the seat and using the refresh button on their laptops every night waiting for scores. It was a thrill to pull up scores and not know who was going to be on top. Congrats to all World, Open, and International corps on a terrific season. You entertained audiences and put everything you had onto that field.

Thank you fans of Corps Writers International for following and sharing us. This has been a very successful season and we can't wait to do this again in 2016. Remember to check in during the off season for corps updates, camp videos, show announcements, and more! We are also hosting a drill writing competition as "Drill Writers International" so be prepared for that!

- Corps Writers International