In the Lot with The Blue Devils Drumline 2023 ​⁠​⁠​⁠

Seventh competition of the season, First place finish, First place percussion🥇July 10, 2023
While the Rose Bowl got the insane crowd size, this lot got the hype! Almost like the WGI finals this past year, which says a lot.
Missed the first part of warm ups because they were super secretive about the lot location and were hard to find.
0:00 Intro
The Scojo Challenge:
1:35 Quads
2:28 Bass
3:20 Snares
4:18 Who won?
6:50 Scojo introduces the tenor line to a legend, BD alumni Vern Johnson ('83-'92)!
7:38 The Float
8:41 The Ditty
Show Beats:
10:00 Rise of Cut-Outs Era Matisse
10:52 Snare Break
12:00 2nd rep of Rise
12:57 2nd rep of Snare Break
13:16 Season 1 - JoJo Sono Chi no Sadame
13:45 Season 2 - Stardust Crusaders x 2 reps
15:25 Drum Feature #1 - Resistance (Center Snare weaves in and out of pods portraying a despondent Matisse during the dark days of the French Resistance, to the backdrop of the fame wartime speech by Charles de Gaulle) x 2 reps (louder)
15:58, 17:10 The Matisse “Ripple”
17:18 Drum Feature #2 - OF ENERGY (by ‪@TesseractOfficial‬)
18:41 Closer - Denouement (Grand Canyon Fanfare) x 2 reps
19:15, 10:18 Tribute to SCV ❤️💚
20:55 Some kid won a stick and went crazy
21:33 March to the Stadium

[@joemalone5330]

Long live Tom Float! Sounds like they are paying tribute with some old school warm-ups/60 seconds. Nothing but CLASS from the BD Drumline of 2023. Much respect and admiration.

[@johno7564]

Let’s not lose track of SJ. He’s been with BD forever. TF and CF have been a big part of the history. SJ is still building it… Long live TF!

[@DennisJohnsonDrummer]

@@johno7564 I marched under Tom. Great guy. He made drumming fun. R.I.P. Tom Float.

[@johno7564]

I’d be walking around random spots, Disneyland Anaheim, “That guy pushing the trash can looks like a BD instructor?” LBCC music dept. “There’s a drum line around here?”

[@joemalone5330]

@@johno7564 Yes, SJ is carrying the torch. He's incredible. He Was at BD when I marched, 86 and 87, I still consider him my teacher along with Float. I still hear them talking to me when I'm on gigs.

[@DennisJohnsonDrummer]

I totally appreciate the aggressive style of BD's line. A breath of fresh air in a sea of lines who dance, prance, pose, and express themselves using facial contortions. Thanks BD for staying true and still kicking butt every year. I credit your staff and their philosophy.

[@johno7564]

And SJ will say it ain’t because of him, it’s the kids bringing this stuff in.

[@TheSurgicalOne]

This x 100. There is a lot of debate out there on social media, etc. about this very subject. Old school aggressive robotic lines vs modern day expressionism in drum lines featuring expressive movements and "four-limb independence." I love modern drum corps, but my instructors fed me a constant diet of Hannum, Augnst, Hardimon, Float, etc. I'm only agreeing with Dennis Johnson here, in that I enjoy uniformity along the line. Uniformity with super-aggressive chops. I am not saying one style is better than the other, only that I second Dennis' appreciation for a certain style of drum line.

[@DennisJohnsonDrummer]

@@TheSurgicalOne With regards to "robotic" vs "expressive," I say the evidence reveals the aggressive style of BD is both uniform AND expressive. If that was not true, BD would not be at the top of the leader board on a yearly basis. I marched under Tom Float in 1980 and I must admit, we were not expressive. There were highs and lows inherently written in the music. We expressed ourselves with crystal clear uniformity and execution. Proof in the pudding was our high execution mark that year at finals and a tie on the field for the Sanford Award.

[@TheSurgicalOne]

@@DennisJohnsonDrummer Agree with you on robotic AND expressive with regards to BD's dominance. I look to some of my favorite lines more recently (Cadets 2013) and from my time, ('90 Cadets, '87 Vanguard, 89 Phantom, certainly '93 Star of Indiana and '95 Blue Devils just to name a few) as examples of clean uniformity and a firm, rigid approach to the look of the battery.

[@marklower007]

Damn they getting cleaner every day! Gunna be scary good at finals

[@zzzthetop]

Their drumline during Finals week helped them win the Founders Trophy, first THREE-PEAT and second ever and consecutive back-to-back UNDEFEATED SEASON!!

[@thunderman21]

Stone cold killers! Pick a spot stare, and play your heart out

[@samo917]

Great!

[@rifle2563]

Vern the OG quad legend

[@DennisJohnsonDrummer]

Update: Broken Arrow Show- July 18th- BD drums=1st Boston=2nd Blue Coats=3rd and Crown=4th. BD won all categories across the board except for a couple of the achievement sub captions. Looks like another Gold for the Blue Crew in 2023.

[@FBarnacle]

Thanks for the update brother. Seeing that subcaption, BD upped the content this year. Room to improve!

[@platinumwood7994]

I was there!!

[@FBarnacle]

Me too!

[@mcgrud]

For the algorithm. ✊

[@legolas_]

11:29 is that Sean Clark or am I trippin?

[@FBarnacle]

It is he

[@mannyramirez9152]

Shut those screaming kids in the crowd up already

[@DennisJohnsonDrummer]

Guess they don't get out of the house much these days. Take 'em to the mall.

[@kevinvlack5948]

The nonsensical crowd hysteria is intolerable. Such a shame because the video quality is so good otherwise.

[@Mattyfear]

It seemed like they were teens they’re probably just mind blown

[@kevinvlack5948]

@@Mattyfear Fair enough. Reading this now, I sound like an old man lol

[@markcooperartcom]

They sound good..They look tacky.