The Blue Stars came out of spring training flying last night on our free stream of the 2017 DCI Spring Training Finale! Their show "Star Crossed" had the corps moving through the love stories of "Romeo + Juliet", "The Great Gatsby", and "Moulin Rouge." I have been slowly becoming enamored with their brass section as they have shown constant improvement over the last few seasons and this year, that improvement has skyrocketed.

1. Volume

This hornline is putting out a lot of high volume sustains. Yes, in drum corps volume is almost a necessity but what's great about this year's Blue Stars brass is that they are putting out a strong wall of sound within which you can pick out each voice in the writing. The very first hit is preceded by silence but immediately followed by a piercing upper trumpet section. These first trumpets and mellophones are really handling the book and making it work for them. There is an awesome moment before the first hit where the mellophones are playing triplet runs while the tempo is accelerating and the increasing tempo just seemed to be natural to them. Another moment the mellophones get to show off is the infamous "drone" - one piercing unison coming from the mellophones - where tone and pitch accuracy are extremely important.

2. High Velocity Drill

The Blue Stars have really nailed it with their drill design this year. It seems the corps is challenged with tempo, pacing, and velocity but they are handling it extremely well. After the opener finishes, the hornline is sent sprinting around the field as a drum break takes center stage. Even in the ballad, the brass is in double-time for much of it, they are moving their feet quickly and often. I'll get more into the big ballad hit in my next point.

3. Lower Body Visual Design

WOW, Blue Stars. YES. That ballad hit with the "Young and Beautiful" melody all the way through to the resolution is still giving me goosebumps. Watching the whole brass section move like they were puppets controlled by the same strings was awesome. The lead in from the front ensemble followed by such power from the brass section reminds me instantly of the ballad hit from 2008 Bluecoats when they played "The Boxer." Anyway, the lower body is complex, it's an extended visual phrase which raises the difficulty even more, and I cannot wait to see the level that these performers can achieve at in August.

4. Back and Forth

There are a lot of left/right call-and-responses thrown between the upper brass and lower brass, such as in the end of the second movement which is in the GIF below. During the "Moulin Rouge" section of the show, the trumpets and mellophones have this challenging soli with the upper trumpets showing off and the mellophones returning the call with sixteenth-note runs built up into sustains. The feature is finished out with a nice power chord from the high brass and a few Blue Stars upper-split trumpets proving themselves (I heard that high-G).

5. Using the Silence

This is more of a comment for the overall music design of the show. If you are a fan of long builds followed immediately by silence, and then a big resolution chord, then "Star Crossed" is the show for you. The opener utilizes silence TWICE seamlessly during the long build into the first hit before the drum break. I am a big proponent of using silence in an activity that revolves so much around loud volumes. Silence in shows can also speak to the difficulty from a member's perspective as it forces every member on the field to basically become their own metronome since there are no listening responsibilities possible when no one is playing. Not to mention the obvious factor that the hornline must cut-off together for this to be the most effective.

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