well, for a different perspective...from someone who doesnt know much about marching bands but appreciates all the hard work and effort that goes into such a large production....The show was a rehash up to the :25 of Skyfall and the Carly Simon... they did it ~3 yrs ago. The flags were done before but less dramatically.
For the record, I'm an MDB alum... a highly active one. And my comments below are not aimed at the kids who I KNOW worked their ever-loving butts off this summer.
But...
That show lacked energy, volume and enthusiasm. The flags at the end were borderline pandering. Had we opened in BDS you would have barely noticed them... being in the dome amplified the sound to the point folks actually noticed them on the field.
I came through the MDB at the crossroads when Ms. Scott had retired and Dr. Ozzello had just taken over. He makes a bigger emphasis on - I guess you could say - more intricate sound and dynamics in the competitive drum corp philosophy whereas Ms. Scott was more in line with the LSU show-band-lets-get-loud philosophy.
I can appreciate both styles as a musician but I think in large stadiums that the loud-louder-and-loudest method works better with the audience even if it diminishes some of the musicality. We have to remember most of the audience has had one too many anyway and they aren't really going to appreciate little flourishes and intricacies. Also, while the audience is important that the band members actually enjoying the music they play is a big thing too. If we were going to play shows exclusively that the audience would dig then it would just be a rah-rah nationalism/sousa march show and a gospel show.
I think some of the quietness may have been an overreaction to what the dome could have done with their sound leading to tearing in the tempo on the distal ends of the formation. Overall, it was a nice show that hits on something the stands would like while being fun to play.