Unfazed, Bluecoats sneak back ahead in Atlanta

ATLANTA — Drum major Peyton Grunzke was already off her conductor’s podium, standing off to the side as nearly all of the Bluecoats’ members and staff had their hands on a prop or instrument.

Then she had to stop talking. A portion of the crowd wanted to continue the show themselves, serenading the exiting corps with “Hey Jude,” the Bluecoats’ dramatic new final impact.

The corps and Grunzke looked up at the more than 13,700 packed inside of Mercedes-Benz Stadium and sung along with them. Perhaps there’s no better indicator of an audience's appreciation for a production, for a new addition to the corps’ energetic Beatles-inspired show.

They serenaded again nearly 30 minutes later, yelling echoing chants of “Bloo” through the Atlanta stadium after the Bluecoats’ score was the ver last to be announced.

A night after their 22-show undefeated streak came to an end in Murfreesboro at the hands of the Blue Devils, the Bluecoats remained calm. They understand as well as any, medals and trophies aren’t awarded in July.

There was no need to panic or deviate. So instead, they rebounded, overtaking the Concord, California corps by 0.125 points to earn gold at the DCI Southeastern Championship presented by Lone Star Percussion.

View scores from the DCI Southeastern Championship

“That was a fantastic performance for us, definitely the best yet,” Bluecoats’ drum major Peyton Grunzke said. “After last night, we were how we always are: Just don’t change the approach. Obviously last night was something that happened, we acknowledged it but we know what we need to do.”

 1. Bluecoats » 93.762
 2. Blue Devils » 93.637
 3. Santa Clara Vanguard » 93.250

Despite falling back behind Bluecoats, Blue Devils kept things airtight at the top thanks to an overall win in the visual caption. The Concord corps also finished ahead of its Canton, Ohio opponent in percussion and color guard.

Learn more about Blue Devils' late season mentality

“At the end of the day, at least for me personally, it’s more of a distraction,” Blue Devils drum major Everett Kim said of Friday’s victory. “We’re always pushing toward the best Blue Devils we can be, and that really doesn’t have to do with anyone else but ourselves.”

But Santa Clara Vanguard arguably made the most noise out of the top three, pulling within about a half a point of the top spot. In 10 meetings with Bluecoats, Vanguard’s margin Saturday night was the slimmest of the season, largely thanks to an overall win in music.

“Honestly these last four days in rehearsals, the corps has been really focused on character-based improvements,” said Vanguard drum major Andrew Arbouzov. “We were wondering where we could actually insert our motifs within the show. Putting the new show on with the new character that we’re trying to sell was the biggest feat for us in Atlanta.”

 4. Carolina Crown » 91.588
 5. Boston Crusaders » 90.675
 6. The Cavaliers » 90.613

Carolina Crown continued its streak of wins in the brass caption, while again putting up strong numbers in music overall, despite falling behind Boston in general effect and visual. As a result, the Fort Mill corps gained some breathing room after a close finish Friday night.

Carolina Crown's ever-changing 2019 program

“We were confident going into tonight and I think it really showed,” said Doug Bell, Carolina Crown’s drum major. “This is big. Similar environment to Indy. We knew how important the show was, we prepared ourselves, and it sets us on the right track to go into Indianapolis.”

The Cavaliers also found a strength in music, which was the only major caption that saw the Rosemont corps lead Boston Crusaders. The 0.062 points separating those two corps is the closest they’ve been, in either direction, since Boston leapfrogged The Cavaliers at this same event a year ago.

“It was absolutely wonderful,” Cavaliers drum major Jacob Armstrong said. “We’re just cleaning (the show) and learning how to be a good drum corps. It’s a good balance of putting the emotion with the precision.”

 7. Blue Knights » 87.175
 8. Blue Stars » 86.913
 9. The Cadets » 85.950

In the corps’ second meeting of the season with the Blue Knights, the Blue Stars cut their deficit to less than three tenths of a point, in part, due to a head-to-head victory in the visual caption.

Blue Knights' meaningful, introspective 2019 production

The Blue Knights, however, kept the No. 7 spot, the same position they finished in at the San Antonio regional. The Denver corps outscored Blue Stars by more than a combined six tenths of a point in the general effect and music captions.

“Awesome, awesome performance,” Blue Knights’ drum major Daniel Belcher said. “We just put on our new outro for the second time, and we’re feeling really good about that. Every show, we just keep bringing more energy — and that’s exactly what you want.”

After falling behind Mandarins earlier this week, The Cadets surged back ahead and returned to within striking distance of the top eight, thanks to wins over both Blue Knights and Blue Stars in music. The Allentown corps continued its strong run in percussion, taking sixth.

Digging into The Cadets' 2019 show

 10. Mandarins » 85.100
 11. Crossmen » 84.213
 12. Phantom Regiment » 83.725
 13. Spirit of Atlanta » 82.400

The always tense cutline at No. 12 only ramps up with the DCI World Championship Finals looming. For now, just as the case was in San Antonio, Phantom Regiment has a hold on the final spot with Spirit of Atlanta within striking distance.

For now, though, corps like Mandarins and Crossmen have a bit of breathing room.

Mandarins' motivation for more 

Mandarins, which took 10th place, overcame a loss to Crossmen in music with head-to-head caption wins in both general effect and visual. In both of those captions, the Sacramento corps defeated The Cadets, while also finishing ahead of Blue Knights specifically in visual.

“We’ve been changing the end … it comes much closer to the front of the field so the audience can get that experience much more,” Mandarins drum major Marcus Holifield-Helm said. “Each day, we’re just trying to get better than the Mandarins we were yesterday.”

With the season winding down, it has become clear music on the judges’ sheets has kept Phantom Regiment on the right side of the cutline. On Saturday, they beat Mandarins and Crossmen in the caption, while managing to close the gap on Crossmen to the tightest it’s been all season, just under a half a point.

After its home show in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, more than a point still stands between Spirit of Atlanta and Phantom Regiment for the elusive No. 12 spot. Thoughts of a finalist berth, though, were fine on the back-burner Saturday night as Spirit took in the energy from an enthusiastic hometown audience.

“The energy is none like any other,” Spirit of Atlanta drum major Bailey Burks said.

More on Spirit of Atlanta's year-to-year growth

 14. Colts » 79.875
 14. The Academy » 77.513
 16. Pacific Crest » 79.250

One of the closest races of the season got as close as it could possibly get, a tie for 14h between The Academy and Colts. While the Dubuque corps earned a head-to-head win in music, the Arizona corps made up for it with strong showings in both general effect and visual.

“I feel really good,” Academy drum major Sierra Rogers said. “That’s what we’ve been doing. That’s the work we’ve been putting in, and it showed up.”

Dive deeper into The Academy's 2019 show

With two weeks left until the DCI World Championships, 2019 continues to be one of Pacific Crest’s best. While the corps’ score decreased slightly from its Friday night output, Saturday’s result nearly matches Crest’s final score from 2018.

Pacific Crest remains within striking distance of Colts for a spot in the Top 15; the Southern California corps has never finished higher than 16th, a position it earned in 2012 and 2013.

The distance between Pacific Crest and The Academy is also the closest those two have been since 2014.

Pacific Crest riding high into late season push

“I thought it was pretty good,” said Pacific Crest drum major Bianca Dulong. “A lot of our work showed that we’ve really been hammering this week, so I’m really, really proud.”

 17. Madison Scouts » 77.100
 18. Troopers » 76.275

After pushing back ahead of Troopers Friday in Alabama, the Madison Scouts held serve in Atlanta, thanks in part to a strong showing in percussion, a caption in which they scored ahead of Pacific Crest.

That said, Troopers’ head-to-head win in general effect kept things close once again; Monday and Wednesday saw the Casper, Wyoming corps defeat Madison Scouts for the first time since 2009.

“On the field during this performance, I couldn’t stop smiling,” Troopers drum major Savannah Light said. “There was so much energy pouring out of the members today.”

 19. Genesis » 73.550
 20. Music City » 73.250
 21. Jersey Surf » 71.150
 22. Seattle Cascades » 69.225

Genesis, Music City, Jersey Surf and Seattle Cascades rounded out the World Class field in Atlanta, completing the second regional in the same order as the first.

Genesis scored higher than Music City for the third time since early last season, improving upon their 0.288-point lead in San Antonio.

Genesis' 10th-anniversary season

“It felt great,” Genesis’ drum major Francesca Ramirez said. “I felt so much energy from the crowd and from the performers. It was awesome. Ever since San Antonio, it’s just been repping and getting everything clean.”

Music City, though, defeated the Austin corps head-to-head in music.

“We really started over the past week improving on performance energy and really getting to that next level,” Music City drum major Patrick Nelson said. “Going beyond just playing the right notes and rhythms, we’re making music.”

Jersey Surf, which has arguably raced out to its best start in years, closed the gap on Music City. Surf also topped Seattle Cascades for the fourth time this season and the fifth time since 2015.

Cascades finished ahead of Jersey Surf in the visual analysis subcaption.

Cascades strengthening "family" atmosphere

“I loved the energy,” Cascades’ drum major Joey Massey said. “The corps was ready to go. We have a lot of rookies and I think a lot of them were blown away by Mercedes-Benz Stadium. They were ready to go.”

Three performing ensembles opened up Saturday’s Southeastern Championship. Hometown all-age corps Atlanta CV performed in exhibition, Raleigh, North Carolina all-age corps Carolina Gold scored 70.200, and Woodbridge, West Virginia’s Sonus Brass Theater earned a Silver rating in SoundSport competition with a score of 78.670.

View the 2019 DCI Tour Schedule

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