Review and Thoughts

[jwillis35]

So I had a chance to catch most of the shows in the theater on Thursday and I watched just about everyone (after work) via Fan Network yesterday afternoon and evening. The following are just random thoughts and opinions. Feel free to bash or add to them. :-)

Overall, I must say I really enjoyed the last 2 days. Wish I could have been at Finals this year. Just too much to do and a few big band gigs this weekend.

Favorite Shows This Year:

1. Phantom Regiment - classic Phantom, near-perfect design, one of the best guards, great overall visual...although I was not wild about that drill change at the end. Do love the Chevron hit.

2. Blue Knights - This may be an odd pick here, but I feel this show is a design masterpiece. The members have done a brilliant job of cleaning it as well, and I love the music. Marc Sylvester's design is amazing and I love the color.

3. Crossmen/SCV - YES, I have 3 ties. Crossmen, just a fantastic show and what a job last night with that performance. That opener is classic drum corps. I loved the bright, crisp sound they went for, yet at other times it was dark and warm. Texas now has a top 12 corps. I wonder how this might change things. As for the Santa Clara Vanguard, what can I say other than from top to bottom this was also one of the best shows on the field. Brass isn't where they want it yet, and at times I am not wild about the music arranging, but the drill was the best in DCI this year. So readable and logical.

4. Madison Scouts/The Cadets - it's a tie here because each show has some flaws (minor) that with the right changes could have made a big difference. I love that the Scouts CLEARLY know how to begin and end a show. The music choices were mixed in an odd way and there were times the show felt "off" in the middle. The Cadets had GUTS to give us Christmas and for the most part they put out a great show. Classic Cadets drill, fast-paced music, and some exciting hit points. The ballad never materialized as they wanted (I assume), and the closer was tweaked a good bit but still feels a little off before the company-front hit. Love both shows though.

5. Bluecoats/Carolina Crown - Musically, this Bluecoats show will be on my iPhone all year. Brass and Percussion was just stellar this year and the arrangements were incredible. The total show is wonderful, but I do feel it dies after the spoken dialog. I don't think the last 3 minutes were what they were hoping for, but still a solid show with outstanding music...and that BALLAD! The same really goes for Carolina Crown. LOVE THE MUSCAL BOOk, and that brass line might be the best I have ever heard, and it takes me a lot to say such a thing. Visually, they were much like Blooo. Very good at times (and the drill was very hard), but I never connected with the total visual program. I felt somewhat more connected after last night's dazzling performance, but most of my LOVE for this show is music.

Honorable Mention Best Show = Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets! YES, wow did I love that show, and those guys/gals were awesome. Loved the music book. To me (an 80s guy) that was drum corps bliss!

OTHERS THAT I LIKED

Blue Devils, Boston, Glassmen (man did I love this music book - brass and drums), Oregon Crusaders (love that show), Spirit of Atlanta, Blue Devils B, and Spartans (you guys rock, best Darn small corps I have ever seen).

So as you can see I liked a lot of shows. I think that's a good thing. I think the activity was fairly healthy this summer and the performance levels were quite good. Having said that there was no show that absolutely "killed it" like last year or say 2008 with Phantom. We had some shows come close, but in all cases they were missing something.

NOW MY RANT

Part of that something that a lot of these shows are missing is just straight up better arranging, better drill writing, and better marching and playing. I'm not against the body movements and poses, but it gets really annoying after a while. If better drill could be written to substitute for such poses then I think the audience would connect. There are not a lot of "TRUE" standing ovations at the end of shows. Madison, Crossmen, Cadets, Crown, SCV (classic down ending), perhaps a few more. Most shows seem to be ending and then the audience says, "Oh they were good" and they stand.

The reason for this begins with great music construction. Music is the central connector for any great show, and the mish-mash of parts and ideas, especially with all the body posing, intricate themes, snippets that never develop, all combined with light-speed drill that often goes by before the eye and ear can connect the two, are most likely to blame for the lack of audience involvement in many shows. Let's face it, the audience is not made up of college professors and composers who might love this stuff. It's mostly parents, alumns, youthful fans, and others just looking for some excitement. The John Cage approach is not going to work.

Body movement and posing is another reason (I believe) that audiences are not connecting a bit more. I truly believe that when something gets done that often (the poses) then it is assumed their is some "meaning" in the movement, some reason; but the audience may not know what that is, and body movement, poses, smiles, facial gestures, etc., do NOT translate all that well as you get 25 to 50 rows up in the stands, let alone second decks. Some of this is done very well, so I need to be fair about that, but I believe the audience gets tired of it very quickly. More importantly, I see too much of this as a momentum killer.

For some corps it's like a cheap design choice when they chicken out of holding a form, or when trying to express individuality, and other times it's used to save crappy drill. If the drill is crappy, re-write said drill. Nothing connects with an audience better than straight-up marching and music.

COMPETITIVE PLACEMENT

I thought BD was clearly the best corps on the field. I like Carolina's music book better, but the variety in BD's show is excellent and they march better than everyone. My only beef with their show is too much scatter drill/free form. I tend to lose my train of thought when this happens. Still, one heck of a show.

I agree with all the placements last night. Thought the Cadets were vastly underscored. They were HOT last night and should have been a 95.5 or higher. I really did not think Phantom was more than .2 better (and I love Phantom's show). The Cadets do have some GE issues, but also their percussion score was really off last night. While SCV is very good and I love their show, I felt the Cadets 2-pointed them easily when they finished. I do not expect SCV to catch the Cadets. One of the great things about the Cadets is we get to see DRILL DRILL DRILL. And the music aint bad either!

Agreed with Blue Stars in 13th, but I loved thier show and boy did they clean that thing compared to Akron. Credit must also go to Blue Stars for putting a visual program on the field that compares with Cadets, Crown, and SCV.

Had the Glassmen had about 1 more week, they would have made finals. I LOVE THAT MUSIC BOOK! Truly one of the best constructed music books this year. I think they got a late start this season and it cost them, but at the cinecast I actually would have had them over Crossmen and Blue Stars.

MOST IMPROVED CORPS OF THE SUMMER

• Blue Stars: had to clean a very demanding show and make sense out of it.
  
• The Cavaliers: had to literally re-write their entire show and make sense of it. They looked and sounded like the Cavaliers the last few nights. Bravo to them!
  

BIGGEST SURPRISE (at least for me)

• Open Class: boy has this group of corps become THE SHOW. Strong top 12 here and some amazingly fun shows. I'm really sorry I missed their FINALS, but please DCI, think about showing Open Class Finals via FN for an additional cost ($20). Honestly, it would be worth it. I'd pay for that. Frankly I hope to be there LIVE next year.
  
• The audience record at DCI Atlanta. Way to go South! Now let's get a few more healthy corps down there.
  

BIGGEST DISSAPOINTMENT

1. The TOC shows. Not needed, not anything all that special in relation to other normal DCI shows. It's an elitist attitude that has no place in drum corps. There are better financial solutions out there.

2. Electronics: rarely does a show go by and some electronic device doesn't malfunction. Some of the mic'd solos this year were flat out horrible, and the use of synth and synth bass is still hit or miss.

3. Still too much body movement and needless posing

4. Show themes that never materialize because seemingly everyone had their hand in the "idea" cookie jar. There are a lot of shows that look like an "a la cart" cafe of music/visual choices in which only God can make some sense. Clarification is needed at this level. These groups are the best of the best, right?

OVERALL

Another excellent year. I continue to rant about some things that others probably like, so I keep that in mind. In the end, I think the performance levels of the students are amazing, and I will always be there to cheer them on. Congrats to all and good luck to the top 12 tonight.

Edited August 11, 2012 by jwillis35

[wesleyrp]

You the man as always.... Great Format and review. I agree in every sentence for the most part. I think perhaps some of connectivity has gone because corps have gotten so good top to bottom they start to feel the same. Thus the audience isn't as engaged from the middle of the pack corps and even the upper tier! The top tier is still truly elite and usually dazzles us, but with corps being so even, are we getting bored because their products feel too similar... That's why I've enjoyed BK doing something completely different, it doesn't feel like just another show. Personally I really like most shows out there this summer but Xmen, SCV, Cadets, BK and Crown speak to me emotionally:) great job man

[TexasPRfan]

Wow, Jonathan. What a stellar review. Easy to read, and wow, I think we agree on almost everything(which seems to almost always be the case). Why did I even bother to write a review? LOL

Harvey

[Fran Haring]

You, sir, are a writer of great reviews... and this one is no exception!