NationStates Jolt Archive

Schedule is now available at http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/AIDBCA_World_Tour_VI_Schedule. The first scores will be posted later tonight (after "The Office" and "30 Rock").

Top seven corps by medal points will qualify for Quarterfinals, top five from Quarters will qualify for Semifinals, and top three from Semifinals will qualify for Finals.

SCORES FOR: Competition Night 1
VENUE: Blacklake Blues Ballpark (CCR Part Deux home show)
High Marching & Maneuvering: Haydensky
High Auxiliary: Haydensky
High Bugles: Chips and Beer
High Battery Percussion: Live Wires
High Sideline Percussion: Live Wires

Fifth place: CCR Part Deux (54.40)
Fourth place: Wild Foxen (57.41)
Third place (bronze medal): Live Wires (58.61)
Second place (silver medal): Chips and Beer (60.81)
First place (gold medal): Haydensky (60.82)

VENUE: Gieron Bank Stadium (Hockey Playin' Nuts home show)
High Marching & Maneuvering: Hockey Playin' Nuts
High Auxiliary: Legion of the Red Shield
High Bugles: Brigadiers
High Battery Percussion: Legion of the Red Shield
High Sideline Percussion: Legion of the Red Shield

Fourth place: Southern Sound (55.88)
Third place (bronze medal): Hockey Playin' Nuts (61.75)
Second place (silver medal): Brigadiers (63.07)
First place (gold medal): Legion of the Red Shield (64.78)

Recaps available here (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/AIDBCA_World_Tour_VI_Score_Recaps#Competition_Night_1).

By chance, all three Bluth Corporation corps happened to draw the Gieron Bank Stadium show last night, and in fact performed consecutively. First to go on was Southern Sound, returning to the Tour after missing the last four. After all the preparations, director Jeanne Smith was relieved just to see the corps step off from the starting line. "It's been awhile since we've made the World Tour, and we were kind of worried if we would be able to remember the lessons learned from last time. International competition is a whole different level." The corps' performance was generally solid, though still rather dirty: there was some noticeable bulging towards the center of company fronts, and glaring intonation issues were present on all but the simplest chords. "We've got to remind the kids that equal temperament is nasty on complex chords like these...their valves have tuning slides, they're going to have to use them," complained brass caption head Vic Fangio.

After retreat, the corps learned that while it placed last at their show, they had scored higher than the last-place corps at the other show. "The advantage of a small tour field is that it's easier to medal and so to rack up qualifying points," an optimistic Terry Mora, first-year drum major, remarked. "If we can just medal once or twice down the road, then we've got an excellent chance to get ourselves in qualifying position through tiebreakers if we can keep scoring above CCR Part Deux and stay competitive with Wild Foxen. Looking at the matchups, we have an excellent chance to medal at least a few times in the later part of our schedule."

Brigadiers went on next, and their mood was more desperate than Southern Sound's. The baritone section leader was trying to pump up his section, calling last year's third-place finish, the corps's lowest ever, an "embarrassment." Whatever happened, the corps came out strong, winning the Bugles caption and posting not only the second-highest score of the show, but the second-highest score of the entire night (in fact, each of the top three corps at the Gieron Bank Stadium show scored higher than the first place corps at Blacklake Blues Ballpark). "This is a corps that's hungry for another championship," said corps director Darrin Lasley. "Most corps would love a third-place finish, but for us it's a disappointment. We've never gone more than two years without a World Tour championship before, and we don't want to start."

The third corps of the night was defending champion Legion of the Red Shield. The corps barely made it to the stadium in time: one of their buses broke down on the trip over from the housing site, and so that bus's passengers were put on the staff bus, which returned to pick up the staff after dropping off the corps members. The corps was left to its own devices while waiting on the staff to arrive, but wasted no time unloading equipment and beginning their pre-show warmup routine on their own initiative. "That's why they're the defending champs," was all program coordinator Jeff Marcum could say after he saw what they were doing. They certainly performed like it, taking three captions and opening the tour with a spread of more than 1.7 points over their rival, second-place Brigadiers.

Ah...nostalgia. All three of Zwangzug's AIDBCA I contestants are back, but having the smallest tour since the inaugural edition wasn't part of the plan.

The world didn't come down on the Blacklake Blues Ballpark, but Zwangzug's corps did. While the Taeshanite hosts slumped to last place, their Chips and Beer compatriots came second and won the Bugles caption award, preventing a Zwangzug sweep in both places. The Live Wires opened their show with a thunderous percussion soli, or whatever it's called when the percussion play and the bugles don't, and took caption awards in both percussion categories. Haydensky were first, and for all the hype about their retoolment they're still strongest in the non-musical categories, and it still shows. Auxiliary and marching awards led the way (in the latter case literally?) to a first-place finish.

But they wouldn't have medaled in Gieron Bank Stadium. Look out for the Bluth Corporation.

SCORES FOR: Competition Night 2
VENUE: The Royer Coliseum
High Marching & Maneuvering: Hockey Playin' Nuts
High Auxiliary: Legion of the Red Shield
High Bugles: Chips and Beer
High Battery Percussion: Legion of the Red Shield
High Sideline Percussion: Hockey Playin' Nuts

Fifth place: CCR Part Deux (55.52)
Fourth place: Wild Foxen (58.55)
Third place (bronze medal): Chips and Beer (63.82)
Second place (silver medal): Hockey Playin' Nuts (65.90)
First place (gold medal): Legion of the Red Shield (67.05)

VENUE: Collegiate Colosseum (Live Wires home show)
High Marching & Maneuvering: Brigadiers
High Auxiliary: Haydensky
High Bugles: Brigadiers
High Battery Percussion: Live Wires
High Sideline Percussion: Live Wires

Fourth place: Southern Sound (57.39)
Third place (bronze medal): Haydensky (62.37)
Second place (silver medal): Live Wires (63.76)
First place (gold medal): Brigadiers (66.70)

Recaps available here (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/AIDBCA_World_Tour_VI_Score_Recaps#Competition_Night_2).

The best corps in the tour? Nope. The luckiest? Quite possibly. Once again, Haydensky and Live Wires were in the right place (the Collegiate Colosseum) at the right time to medal.

That wouldn't have been enough to help the Wild Foxen, whose crisp staccato bugles were the high point of their performance in The Royer...Coliseum, of all places. They were fourth, in front of CCR Part Deux. Not the stuff of championships there.

But the Live Wires shown at home, led again by a the drum section with strong fills in the ballad. They took both caption awards for percussion and the silver medal; Haydensky earned bronze and the auxiliary award.

Southern Sound maintained its tiebreaker lead over CCR Part Deux, and began closing the gap with Wild Foxen, with its performance in Zwangzug last night. Though not likely to medal for awhile yet, throughout rehearsals the corps was constantly reminded of the importance of staying ahead in the tiebreakers for the seventh Quarterfinals spot.

Much of Southern Sound's rehearsal time was spent in dreaded basics, refining previously-sloppy technique; this time was reflected in their Individual Marching & Maneuvering score, which jumped a full nine points from last time.

The Brigadiers were elated with their first win of the tour, and pulled to within less than four-tenths of a point behind archrival Legion of the Red Shield. "We go head-to-head with them again our next time out," said rookie contra Jim McManus. "It'd mean so much to the vets to beat them again, and I'm starting to understand why."

Legion of the Red Shield's members weren't worried, though. "No doubt, we'll whip them," a confident soprano was overheard saying. "Hell, we're just like the cat that toys with the mouse before killing it."

SCORES FOR: Competition Night 3
VENUE: Lioglade Park (Haydensky home show)
High Marching & Maneuvering: Brigadiers
High Auxiliary: Legion of the Red Shield
High Bugles: Legion of the Red Shield
High Battery Percussion: Brigadiers
High Sideline Percussion: Hockey Playin' Nuts

Fifth place: Southern Sound (59.53)
Fourth place: Haydensky (65.88)
Third place (bronze medal): Hockey Playin' Nuts (67.60)
Second place (silver medal): Legion of the Red Shield (68.32)
First place (gold medal): Brigadiers (71.42)

VENUE: Newzone Center
High Marching & Maneuvering: Live Wires
High Auxiliary: Wild Foxen
High Bugles: Chips and Beer
High Battery Percussion: Live Wires
High Sideline Percussion: Live Wires

Fourth place: CCR Part Deux (59.23)
Third place (bronze medal): Wild Foxen (63.74)
Second place (silver medal): Chips and Beer (64.16)
First place (gold medal): Live Wires (66.91)

Recaps available here (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/AIDBCA_World_Tour_VI_Score_Recaps#Competition_Night_3).

SCORES FOR: Competition Night 4
VENUE: Watchman's Memorial Coliseum
High Marching & Maneuvering: Brigadiers
High Auxiliary: Legion of the Red Shield
High Bugles: Legion of the Red Shield
High Battery Percussion: Wild Foxen
High Sideline Percussion: Hockey Playin' Nuts

Fifth place: Southern Sound (61.30)
Fourth place: Wild Foxen (68.56)
Third place (bronze medal): Hockey Playin' Nuts (71.02)
Second place (silver medal): Legion of the Red Shield (71.99)
First place (gold medal): Brigadiers (73.53)

VENUE: Fadron Pizza Field at Wonder Park
High Marching & Maneuvering: Chips and Beer
High Auxiliary: Haydensky
High Bugles: Chips and Beer
High Battery Percussion: Live Wires
High Sideline Percussion: Live Wires

Fourth place: CCR Part Deux (63.36)
Third place (bronze medal): Chips and Beer (67.27)
Second place (silver medal): Haydensky (67.68)
First place (gold medal): Live Wires (68.87)

Recaps available here (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/AIDBCA_World_Tour_VI_Score_Recaps#Competition_Night_4).

Oops. Haydensky's lucky streak fell flat at home, where Bluth Corporation's big guns excelled and even the Hockey Playin' Nuts got in on the medal fun. The same standings were repeated in the Watchman's Memorial Coliseum, except it was the Wild Foxen coming in fourth (taking a Battery Percussion award to boot).

On competition night three, however a rather more patriotic (ha!) display was on...display...in the capital. Live Wires took a Marching and Maneuvering caption award as well as the percussion pair on their way to first place. "With a pit this strong," explains a panting tuba, "our biggest challenge is just overcoming field delay. We're getting more confident with every show." Wild Foxen, meanwhile, took their only medal to date, a bronze.

They marched on to Fadron Pizza Field at Wonder Park, beating out Haydensky to secure a Zwangzugian one-two. The Marching and Maneuvering award went to Taeshan's Chips and Beer that time, however, along with that for Bugles. Zwangzug's corps took the other three. Then again, when the only other competitor is CCR Part Deux, how much does that mean?

SCORES FOR: Competition Night 5
VENUE: Lipscomb Bowl
High Marching & Maneuvering: Chips and Beer
High Auxiliary: Chips and Beer
High Bugles: Chips and Beer
High Battery Percussion: Live Wires
High Sideline Percussion: Live Wires

Fifth place: CCR Part Deux (69.13)
Fourth place: Chips and Beer (72.04)
Third place (bronze medal): Live Wires (73.49)
Second place (silver medal): Legion of the Red Shield (73.98)
First place (gold medal): Hockey Playin' Nuts (74.37)

VENUE: Fadron College Fieldhouse
High Marching & Maneuvering: Brigadiers
High Auxiliary: Brigadiers
High Bugles: Brigadiers
High Battery Percussion: Wild Foxen
High Sideline Percussion: Southern Sound

Fourth place: Southern Sound (63.25)
Third place (bronze medal): Wild Foxen (69.35)
Second place (silver medal): Haydensky (69.39)
First place (gold medal): Brigadiers (76.67)

Recaps available here (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/AIDBCA_World_Tour_VI_Score_Recaps#Competition_Night_5).

SCORES FOR: Competition Night 6
VENUE: X Island Metropark (Chips and Beer home show)
High Marching & Maneuvering: Chips and Beer
High Auxiliary: Chips and Beer
High Bugles: Chips and Beer
High Battery Percussion: Hockey Playin' Nuts
High Sideline Percussion: Hockey Playin' Nuts

Fifth place: Southern Sound (67.29)
Fourth place: Haydensky (73.54)
Third place (bronze medal): Legion of the Red Shield (75.74)
Second place (silver medal): Chips and Beer (77.28)
First place (gold medal): Hockey Playin' Nuts (78.85)

VENUE: Cheshire Field (Wild Foxen home show)
High Marching & Maneuvering: Brigadiers
High Auxiliary: Brigadiers
High Bugles: Wild Foxen
High Battery Percussion: Live Wires
High Sideline Percussion: Live Wires

Fourth place: CCR Part Deux (71.19)
Third place (bronze medal): Wild Foxen (71.27)
Second place (silver medal): Live Wires (75.75)
First place (gold medal): Brigadiers (79.51)

Recaps available here (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/AIDBCA_World_Tour_VI_Score_Recaps#Competition_Night_6).

The Legion was collapsing. After a third-place finish behind perennial doormat Chips and Beer and only the fifth-highest score of the night overall, the corps was starting to panic. Failure to medal at their home show was becoming a real possibility, and nothing could be more embarrassing for a defending champion. Though they were still a mathematical lock to qualify for Quarterfinals with only four shows left, if they weren't able to turn themselves around it was likely they would advance no further.

Far from peaking too soon, the Brigadiers were right where they wanted to be. Though Hockey Playin' Nuts were starting to close the gap on them a bit, to within six-tenths of a point, they still had a fairly strong lead, and remained the favorites to win their record third World Tour championship.

Southern Sound, meanwhile, had all but given up hope. They had slipped behind CCR Part Deux in the tiebreakers, and would need a surge of epic proportions to move into Quarterfinals qualifying position. Even their most likely qualifying scenario--finishing third at each of the remaining shows, and hoping Wild Foxen didn't place at all--was but a faint hope, and one more medal from Wild Foxen would almost certainly end it altogether. As it happened, they went up against the Foxen at each of their remaining shows, which meant they would have to close a huge four-point gap immediately and stay there the rest of the way.

SCORES FOR: Competition Night 7
VENUE: The Stadium at Khlysty (Legion of the Red Shield home show)
High Marching & Maneuvering: Brigadiers
High Auxiliary: Brigadiers
High Bugles: Brigadiers
High Battery Percussion: Live Wires
High Sideline Percussion: Live Wires

Fifth place: CCR Part Deux (73.49)
Fourth place: Haydensky (74.87)
Third place (bronze medal): Legion of the Red Shield (75.09)
Second place (silver medal): Live Wires (75.17)
First place (gold medal): Brigadiers (81.17)

VENUE: Hunnicutt Memorial Stadium
High Marching & Maneuvering: Chips and Beer
High Auxiliary: Chips and Beer
High Bugles: Wild Foxen
High Battery Percussion: Hockey Playin' Nuts
High Sideline Percussion: Hockey Playin' Nuts

Fourth place: Southern Sound (70.47)
Third place (bronze medal): Wild Foxen (74.91)
Second place (silver medal): Chips and Beer (80.38)
First place (gold medal): Hockey Playin' Nuts (81.74)

Recaps available here (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/AIDBCA_World_Tour_VI_Score_Recaps#Competition_Night_7).

SCORES FOR: Competition Night 8
VENUE: Tarang County Field
High Marching & Maneuvering: Chips and Beer
High Auxiliary: Chips and Beer
High Bugles: Wild Foxen
High Battery Percussion: CCR Part Deux
High Sideline Percussion: Legion of the Red Shield

Fifth place: Southern Sound (72.91)
Fourth place: CCR Part Deux (75.93)
Third place (bronze medal): Wild Foxen (76.64)
Second place (silver medal): Legion of the Red Shield (78.83)
First place (gold medal): Chips and Beer (81.04)

VENUE: Titan Bowl
High Marching & Maneuvering: Brigadiers
High Auxiliary: Brigadiers
High Bugles: Brigadiers
High Battery Percussion: Live Wires
High Sideline Percussion: Hockey Playin' Nuts

Fourth place: Live Wires (75.73)
Third place (bronze medal): Haydensky (77.18)
Second place (silver medal): Hockey Playin' Nuts (82.05)
First place (gold medal): Brigadiers (82.27)

Recaps available here (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/AIDBCA_World_Tour_VI_Score_Recaps#Competition_Night_8).

SCORES FOR: Competition Night 9
VENUE: Vanguard Memorial Stadium (Brigadiers home show)
High Marching & Maneuvering: Chips and Beer
High Auxiliary: Brigadiers
High Bugles: Live Wires
High Battery Percussion: Live Wires
High Sideline Percussion: Hockey Playin' Nuts

Fifth place: Live Wires (81.13)
Fourth place: Legion of the Red Shield (81.68)
Third place (bronze medal): Chips and Beer (82.15)
Second place (silver medal): Hockey Playin' Nuts (82.23)
First place (gold medal): Brigadiers (84.61)

VENUE: Farnsworth Field (Southern Sound home show)
High Marching & Maneuvering: CCR Part Deux
High Auxiliary: Haydensky
High Bugles: Wild Foxen
High Battery Percussion: Haydensky
High Sideline Percussion: CCR Part Deux

Fourth place: Southern Sound (71.60)
Third place (bronze medal): Wild Foxen (77.48)
Second place (silver medal): CCR Part Deux (77.64)
First place (gold medal): Haydensky (79.36)

Recaps available here (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/AIDBCA_World_Tour_VI_Score_Recaps#Competition_Night_9).

SCORES FOR: Competition Night 10
VENUE: Polydome
High Marching & Maneuvering: Chips and Beer
High Auxiliary: Haydensky
High Bugles: Chips and Beer
High Battery Percussion: Haydensky
High Sideline Percussion: Hockey Playin' Nuts

Fifth place: CCR Part Deux (77.99)
Fourth place: Haydensky (81.20)
Third place (bronze medal): Hockey Playin' Nuts (84.83)
Second place (silver medal): Chips and Beer (84.93)
First place (gold medal): Brigadiers (85.15)

VENUE: Atalantea Stadium
High Marching & Maneuvering: Southern Sound
High Auxiliary: Legion of the Red Shield
High Bugles: Live Wires
High Battery Percussion: Live Wires
High Sideline Percussion: Legion of the Red Shield

Fourth place: Southern Sound (76.14)
Third place (bronze medal): Wild Foxen (79.34)
Second place (silver medal): Live Wires (82.51)
First place (gold medal): Legion of the Red Shield (83.36)

QUARTERFINALISTS

Brigadiers
Legion of the Red Shield
Hockey Playin' Nuts
Chips and Beer
Live Wires
Haydensky
Wild Foxen


ELIMINATED

Southern Sound
CCR Part Deux


Recaps available here (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/AIDBCA_World_Tour_VI_Score_Recaps#Competition_Night_10).

The sixth edition of the AIDBCA's World Tour was still wide-open at the close of preliminaries. Less than three points separated the top five contenders, a gap that could easily be closed by skipping a single water break or chopping five minutes off of mealtime. "When the talent gap is this small, it really does come down to who wants it more," said Brigadiers director Darrin Lasley, whose corps was enjoying an ice cream social with respected rival Legion of the Red Shield. Legion's director concurred, and added, "It's a huge accomplishment just to qualify for Quarterfinals, and that's why we're celebrating together. We may be fierce competitors, but we all go through the same things and love the same activity."

A corps-by-corps look at the last six nights of tour six:

Wild Foxen began a string of bugle caption awards at their home show. "Of course the fans helped," says a nearly-disdainful trumpet. "This city loves music, and they deserve the best." Fighting words, perhaps, for a corps that finished only one place against CCR Part Deux...who beat them on the ninth night!

But that was the night that Haydensky kicked back into gear. Two fourth-place finishes built up layers of frustration that were unleashed upon Farnsworth Field for 94.6 scintillating ensemble points, despite individual errors. And even the battery percussion got in on the fun. Long ignored even with the retooling, they took the first of two frankly improbable caption awards (although the second came in another fourth-place finishing). "Most of this is out of our hands. We do our job and let the judges do theirs," muses a quad player.

Live Wires' string of sideline percussion awards was snapped on the eighth night, but their battery streak continues strong. While they've finished all over the map, they might be Zwangzug's top corps at the moment. "For most corps, youth is a sign of future potential. Our moment might be now," explains the conductor. The group has historically drawn on college students from Frischberg, with varying classes having led to wildly different results. There's no guarantee what the future will bring, but he may well be onto something.

SCORES FOR: Quarterfinals Night
VENUE: Vanguard Memorial Stadium (AIDBCA World Tour Quarterfinals)
Seventh place: Haydensky (81.94)
Sixth place: Wild Foxen (82.21)
Fifth place: Live Wires (83.58)
Fourth place: Legion of the Red Shield (85.18)
Third place: Chips and Beer (85.33)
Second place: Hockey Playin' Nuts (87.08)
First place: Brigadiers (88.41)

SEMIFINALISTS:

Brigadiers
Hockey Playin' Nuts
Chips and Beer
Legion of the Red Shield
Live Wires


ELIMINATED:

Wild Foxen
Haydensky


Recaps available here (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/AIDBCA_World_Tour_VI_Score_Recaps#Quarterfinals_Night).

So much for flashbacks to the first time around. Zwangzug drum and bugle corps fans will be looking towards VII with uncertainty after Haydensky's last-place finish in the quarterfinals disqualifies them from entering the next edition. Haydensky and Bluth Corporation's Brigadiers were the only two corps to enter all of the first six tournaments.

Wild Foxen, therefore, finished above them, though it wasn't enough to keep them in contention. The buglers from Bassabook (not all of them are that boring, evidently) did have some of the best tones of the night. For all the Haydensky hype, the ensemble blending just wasn't enough. At all.

So it's this generation of Live Wires that will be Zwangzug's last hope in the semifinals. The bugles seem to have surpassed the sideline stalwarts for now, but anything can change in a semiquaver. As if we didn't already know that.

SCORES FOR: Semifinals Night
VENUE: Vanguard Memorial Stadium (AIDBCA World Tour Semifinals)
Fifth place: Live Wires (85.26)
Fourth place: Chips and Beer (86.98)
Third place: Legion of the Red Shield (87.76)
Second place: Hockey Playin' Nuts (89.09)
First place: Brigadiers (89.29)

FINALISTS:

Brigadiers
Hockey Playin' Nuts
Legion of the Red Shield


ELIMINATED:

Live Wires
Chips and Beer


Recaps available here (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/AIDBCA_World_Tour_VI_Score_Recaps#Semifinals_Night).

SCORES FOR: Finals Night
VENUE: Vanguard Memorial Stadium (AIDBCA World Tour Finals)
Third place (World Tour Bronze Medalist): Legion of the Red Shield (88.65)
Second place (World Tour Runner-Up and Silver Medalist): Brigadiers (90.07)
First place (World Tour Champion and Gold Medalist): Hockey Playin' Nuts (90.14)

Recaps available here (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/AIDBCA_World_Tour_VI_Score_Recaps#Finals_Night).

Congratulations to Taeshan's Hockey Playin' Nuts!