Since the Friday and Saturday DCI Eastern Classic pres. by Big, Loud & Live events in Allentown, Pennsylvania are considered to be one show in two parts with the same adjudication panel, the results from both days are considered as being from one event.
Audiences at the iconic J. Birney Crum Stadium witnessed the best drum corps has to offer over two nights of intense competition, the final time prior to the DCI World Championships that all World Class Corps would get together in the same stadium, even if all corps weren’t together on the same night.
When combining the two nights’ scores, Carolina Crown passed up defending World Champion Santa Clara Vanguard and Cavaliers again topped Boston Crusaders, with Phantom Regiment maintaining a Top 12 position, and Pacific Crest on the way to ending the season with the corps’ highest finish ever.
There are a number of spectacularly close scoring finishes between numerous pairs of corps. The margin between 1st-place Bluecoats and 2nd-place Blue Devils is a scant 0.225, and only 0.05 separates 3rd-place Carolina Crown from 4th-place Santa Clara Vanguard. 5th-place Cavaliers is currently enjoying a larger 0.675 advantage over Boston Crusaders, and Blue Knights are sitting only 0.075 over Blue Stars. While the 9th-place Cadets appear to be 0.75 above 10th-place Mandarins, the California corps would have been only 0.25 behind were it not for a 0.50 penalty on Saturday.
Phantom Regiment is sitting in 12th comfortably over Spirit of Atlanta by 1.30, a massive spread considering the miniscule gaps mentioned above. And the 14th-place Colts are separated from 16th-place Academy by only 0.713, with The Academy slipping under 15th-place Pacific Crest by 0.425.
In reading the following, please keep in mind that the scores for GE 1 (General Effect 1) and GE 2 are counted for full value, without being averaged. Each GE caption is comprised of scores from two judges, and those two judges are averaged for each GE 1 and GE 2. However, each of the scores of the three visual and three music captions are first divided in half, with each of those half scores added for the total Visual and total Music scores.
The overall Visual score is comprised of scores from three judges; Visual Proficiency, Visual Analysis, and Color Guard. The overall Music score is comprised of scores from four judges; one for Brass, two for Music Analysis, and one for Percussion. The two Music Analysis scores are averaged before being added to the overall Visual score and rounded up to the third decimal place if necessary so total scores aren’t taken out to four decimal places.
View Friday, August 2 DCI Eastern Classic scores
View Saturday, August 3 DCI Eastern Classic scores
Bluecoats (1st place – 95.175 – Friday) took 1st only in General Effect, by 0.250 over Blue Devils. The corps was 1st in Visual Proficiency, 2nd in Visual Analysis, and 3rd in Color Guard for a total of 2nd in total Visual, 0.20 down to Blue Devils. Brass and Music Analysis took 2nd to Carolina Crown, and Percussion took 3rd, behind Santa Clara Vanguard and Blue Devils, for a total Music placement of 2nd. That 0.225 spread over Devils is due to the 0.175 advantage Bluecoats has in total Music and the 0.250 advantage in GE, negating the 0.200 deficit in total Visual. But the overall margins are so close across the board that the contest between these two corps is likely to go right down to the wire.
Blue Devils (2nd place – 94.950 – Friday) finished 1st only in Visual Analysis, 0.30 over Bluecoats. (Remember after dividing that score in half, that advantage accounts for only 0.15 of the total score.) The corps was 2nd in GE, Visual Proficiency, Color Guard, and Percussion, 3rd in Brass 0.20 under Bluecoats (0.10 in averaged score), and 4th in Music Analysis, finishing 4th in total Music. Still, that total Music score was only 0.263 under Carolina Crown’s 1st-place finish in total Music, meaning the top four corps are all stacked really close to each other in Music, with SCV’s 5th-place in Brass evened out by that corps’ 1st-place in Percussion. The Music captions will consequently likely not call any of the three shows in Indianapolis.
Carolina Crown (3rd place – 93.638 – Saturday) moved above Vanguard despite placing 6th from two of the four GE judges, ultimately finishing 4th in GE, just over a point under BD’s 2nd place in GE and 0.225 under SCV’s 3rd-place finish in GE. That GE spread under BD and the corps’ 1.275 GE deficit to Bluecoats’ top GE score appears to be keeping the corps from climbing any higher. There were also issues in Visual, with the corps ending 6th in Color Guard, but raised up to 3rd in total Visual on the basis of taking 3rd in both Visual Proficiency and Visual Analysis. Crown finished only 0.050 above SCV in total Visual, and 0.550 under BD’s 1st-place finish in total Visual. Where the corps excelled was in Music, finishing 1st in Brass and Music Analysis, putting Crown in 1st in total Music despite a 4th-place finish in Percussion. However, consider how that isn’t a great factor in the corps not scoring higher, as Crown’s Percussion score is only 0.25 under that of 1st-place Percussion caption winner SCV, and remember to divide that spread in half. Therefore, Crown’s percussion deficit to SCV accounts for only 0.125 of the total score in Music. It simply can’t be stressed how close the top corps are in the Music captions, despite how it might appear when looking at the individual captions.
Santa Clara Vanguard (4th place – 93.588 – Friday) took 3rd in GE despite placing 3rd, 4th, 4th, and 5th from the four GE judges. But it’s worth noting that the 3rd-place finish in GE is a full 1.050 under Bluecoats’ 1st place GE score, making it a challenge for the corps to repeat as World Champion if that spread holds through the three days of Indy competition. SCV’s Visual placements are also a challenge, being 4th in Visual Proficiency and Visual Analysis and 5th in Color Guard. 3rd in Music Analysis (and 1st from one of the two judges) and 1st in Percussion was tempered by a 5th-place finish in Brass, 0.60 under Crown’s line (0.30 of the total score). Total Music placed 3rd, 0.225 under Crown’s winning Music score. SCV finished 0.05 in total score under Crown, just a little bit here and a little bit there. The contest between those two corps is far from over, even if the contest between SCV and the top two corps seems to grow a little more distant with each passing major event.
The Cavaliers (5th place – 92.650 – Saturday) took 5th in GE, 6th in total Visual (by placing 4th in Color Guard and 5th in the other two Visual captions), and 5th in total Music by placing 4th in Brass, 5th in Music Analysis, and 5th in Percussion. Being that the corps scored 0.938 under SCV’s total score, and 0.675 over Boston Crusaders, the corps (at least in Allentown) sat comfortably in 5th. Taking a closer look at the contest between Cavaliers and Crusaders, Cavaliers outscored Crusaders by 0.050 in GE, a really close margin. Cavaliers scored an identical 0.050 under Crusaders in total Visual despite being 4th in Color Guard to Crusaders’ 1st-place Guard finish. As one can see, GE and Visual were a wash. That means total Music gave the advantage to Cavaliers, a fairly wide margin of 0.675, the exact spread by which Cavaliers beat Crusaders in the total score. If Cavaliers continue to stay ahead of their east coast rival for 5th place, it will likely be due to Music scores.
Boston Crusaders (6th place – 91.975 – Saturday) took 6th in GE, 5th in total Visual despite winning the Color Guard caption, and 6th in total Music. Both Visual captions other than Guard also placed 6th, as did Brass and Music Analysis. Percussion finished 8th, a large 1.05-point gap from Cavaliers’ line. That accounted for 0.525 of the total deficit to Cavaliers, most of the 0.675 spread between the two corps. If Cavaliers continue to stay in front of Crusaders, reversing the results from San Antonio and Atlanta, it can’t be over-emphasized how important those Music scores are to the total picture. With a huge 3.875 spread over 7th-place Blue Knights in Allentown, it’s statistically slim that the corps would fall out of the Top 6. It’s only a question if the corps can regain 5th place.
Blue Knights (7th place – 88.100 – Friday) took 8th in GE, 9th in total Visual, and 8th in total Music. Only Music Analysis and Percussion placed as high as 7th, with Visual Analysis in 8th, and Visual Proficiency, Color Guard, and Brass all ending in 9th.
Blue Stars (8th place – 88.025 – Friday) took 7th in GE and Visual Analysis, 8th in Visual Proficiency and Color Guard, 9th in Music Analysis, and a comparatively disappointing 11th in Percussion and 12th in Brass, placing the corps 11th in total Music. A 0.15 advantage over Blue Knights in GE and 0.40 and 0.45 over The Cadets and Mandarins in the same caption is keeping the corps buoyed in 8th, with a realistic chance of moving up to 7th or down to 9th or even 10th.
The Cadets (9th place – 87.875 – Saturday) took 9th in GE, 10th in total Visual, and 7th in total Music. All Visual captions placed 10th, while Brass and Music Analysis were relative bright spots in 8th and Percussion finished as the corps’ strongest caption in 6th, ultimately putting the corps 7th in total Music, an impressive 0.85 over Mandarins’ 12th-place total Music finish.
Mandarins (10th place – 87.125 with 0.50 penalty – Saturday) finished 10th in GE and a comparatively impressive 7th in Visual Proficiency, Color Guard, and Brass. 9th in Visual Analysis and Music Analysis was offset by a low 16th-place finish in Percussion, which fell from 12th in San Antonio and 13th in Atlanta. With scores as tight as they are between Mandarins and the three corps above, Percussion may well end up being the difference for the corps in where it ultimately finishes anywhere between 7th and 10th place.
Crossmen (11th place – 86.625 – Saturday) appears to be closer to Mandarins than the corps really is due to that 0.50 Mandarins penalty. The corps’ bright spot was 9th in Percussion, with 10th place in Brass, 11th in GE, Visual Proficiency and Color Guard, and 12th in Visual Analysis and Music Analysis. The corps ended 0.725 over Phantom Regiment due to small margins in each of the total captions.
Phantom Regiment (12th place – 85.900 – Saturday) scored 0.725 under Crossmen and 1.30 over Spirit of Atlanta, seeming to place the corps solidly in 12th. The corps’ strongest caption was 9th in Music Analysis, followed by 10th in Percussion and 11th in Visual Analysis and Brass. GE and Visual Proficiency finished 12th, and Color Guard was the corps’ lowest finish in 13th.
Spirit of Atlanta (13th place – 84.600 – Saturday) finished 12th in Color Guard, 13th in GE, Visual Analysis and all three Music captions, and 14th in Visual Proficiency. With a 1.737 spread over Colts and that aforementioned 1.30 deficit to Phantom Regiment, the corps sits solidly in 13th.
Colts (14th place – 82.863 – Saturday) finished 12th in Percussion, 14th in Visual Analysis, 15th in GE, Brass and Music Analysis, and 16th in Visual Proficiency and Color Guard.
Pacific Crest (15th place – 82.575 – Saturday) seems to be on the rise. Only 0.288 currently separates the corps from Colts, meaning Crest could conceivably improve even more on its previous record-high finish of 16th place, reached in 2013. A 13th-place finish in Visual Proficiency was followed by 14th in Color Guard, Brass, Music Analysis, and Percussion, with 16th-place finishes in GE and Music Analysis.
The Academy (16th place – 82.150 – Friday) was 14th in GE, 15th in all three Visual captions, 16th in Brass and Music Analysis, and 18th in Percussion. It will be interesting to watch if the corps can regain its dominance over Pacific Crest, but to do so, it will have to improve its current placements in the Music captions.
Madison Scouts (17th place – 79.375 – Friday) took 17th in GE, Visual Proficiency, Color Guard, and all three Music captions. The 2.775 spread between the corps and Academy above and the 1.125 spread between the corps and Troopers below indicates that Scouts may have a lock on 17th place.
Troopers (18th place – 78.250 – Friday) took 15th in Percussion, 18th in the two remaining Music captions, GE, Visual Analysis, and Color Guard, and 19th in Visual Proficiency. The corps scored 3.90 under The Academy and is solidly above the next two lower placing corps, so it seems unlikely it will waiver from 18th place.
Jersey Surf (19th place – 76.625 – Saturday) was 17th or 18th in the Visual captions, finishing above Troopers and Madison Scouts in Visual Analysis. The corps took 19th in all three Music captions, and 20th in GE.
Genesis (20th place – 76.125 – Friday) finished 19th or 20th in all captions.
Music City (21st place – 74.450 – Friday) was also 19th in Music Analysis and 21st or 22nd in everything else.
Seattle Cascades (22nd place – 71.550 – Saturday) placed 21st in Visual Analysis and Percussion and 22nd in all other captions.