It's so hard to end a marching show on a ballad, but these guy pulled it off spectacularly. I often enjoy watching the drum major, all the best ones show how much they love to lead their band with such passion. This one was excellent..

I was watching during Thursday's prelims, and it usually takes a lot to impress a guy like me. Then DB performed and I became speechless. This was well deserving of the finals performance.

What a gorgeous show...the look with the long gowns and purple flags against the black tailored military uniforms...before they even played I was hoping it would be good....and then..wow great playing, scoring, musical choices....I was fully engaged throughout...The Tannhauser at the end as they walk away en masse...all the feels there for sure. That said, it's one thing for professional movement and music folks to plan a show, it's quite another to realize it as an ensemble. Kudos to the 2016 DB Band (who I know nothing about, being a classical musician in San Francisco), for not only playing and moving correctly, but with lots of understanding and heart.

the color guard is so good in here.

This is one of the most beautiful BOA ballads I’ve ever heard. Absolutely incredible.

Great Performance from the band I know that has always had nice marching band uniforms and did great marching band shows

Jesus Christ woodwinds marching with music like that. I don't think I or the rest of my clarinet section can last playing and marching that. Good job!

Elsa's procession was amazing

whats the ballad?

8:09 💀💀💀

The Dobyns band directors claim that this show entitled "Echoes of Hope" is about finding hope amid fear, depression and uncertainty. Certainly the blue cloaks worn by the guard can symbolize depression in general, everyone knows that. But in this show, the blue cloaks lack context-- what do they symbolize, specifically? Are blue cloaks mentioned in any of the Wagnerian musical selections? The cloaks look awkwardly like Middle Eastern burkas worn by Muslim women who are subjugated-- the resemblance to an ethnographic icon is uncomfortable for the audience. The show offers no hint or explanation for why three women in the guard are walking around with these strange shrouds draped over their whole bodies. And in this show, instead of removing the "blues" and finding "hope", the cloaks increase in number by the end of the show. How does an increase in blue cloaks represent finding echoes of hope amid darkness? How is wrapping a performer in blue shroud and covering their face "hopeful"? In this show, the entire guard ends up wearing blue cloaks by the end, not less. By the end, they're more shrouded in depression and cloaked in obscurity, which makes no sense according to the progression suggested by the title "Echoes of Hope". The choreography at the beginning of the show is strangely peppered with "hair flips" (hair-eography) where the guard performers spastically snap their heads to keep their hair out of their faces. How does this choreography tie in to the central theme? What is the star image on the flags at the beginning and what does it represent, specifically? The image looks curiously like a starfish or an octopus. How do Wagner pieces tie in with the idea of hope? How does the visual image of the swirling blue fabric tie in? What does the spinning choreography represent, metaphorically? How does Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral tie into the theme of hope amid adversity? Design-wise this show lacks clarity and context, it lacks a music/visual integration, and the show intimidates inexperienced viewers into believing there's some airtight metaphor that it follows, even though it simply doesn't. The audience sits in confused silence throughout much of the show. According to professional standards and according to basic principles of design, composition and the dramatic arts, this show is scattered, illogical, visually incongruent, and completely inaccessible.