I watched a lot of bands today at the contest we hosted. Trends I'm seeing in our area:
Either really "slow and relaxing" openers, or really long pre-shows. This kind of works in a musical sense, but not in an effect one.
Pre-recorded music for pre-shows. I can see how recording voices ahead of time and playing it during the pre-show is cool, but for the love of god do not record actual band music you can generate yourself.
The guard swinging very long poles. Is this a new thing in color guard? I predict that "a guard member hit me with a pole!" stories will quickly outnumber "I got hit in the head with a flag!" stories.
Very tall scaffolding for people to stand on. Props to all everyone who has to stand on those things; you guys are all brave, brave people.
Anyway, these are just a few things I've noticed. I'll probably add to this later.
