Broken Arrow Review

[tigger2]

Pioneer:

They seem to be working hard. The Christian praise music has some familiarity but seems like pabulum over time. Some talent there and drive for sure. The administration needs to ask some serious questions about what the members are being given in regards to the content of the show. They could be so much more entertaining, proficient, likable, rewarded foe their efforts with a more thoughtfully constructed show. Fighting the impulse to be more blunt. Kudos members for your loyalty, hard work, and persistence.

Cades:

The show has some good moments of arrival. I am not sure the disjunct music allows for the best flow, though it makes sense considering that DCI and Cesario promotes the indoor drumline and WGI format of shows. I liked the drum writing and flags. This plumes are killer as well.

Academy:

The show is a great idea that for some reason doesn’t come together. I think it is the lack of conviction and the odd arrangements and lack of visual variety. The stools use and variety of how they move them is a huge strong point however. I liked the guard costumes. The sing along came across as silly.

Pacific Crest:

I have long been impressed by their potential. This is the best they have been that I have seen. All areas of the corps seem very even in regards to talent and execution. I love all of the visual colors and the percussion writing is certainly noteworthy in regards to musical intent, something however that seems to no longer be important to the activity as much as it should be. Cool ending.

Colts:

I liked that it was accessible. The visual uses the same tools over and over again: small gates to horizontal connected forms. Guard on the side, guard in between horizontal lines. The demand is relatively low all around. Some great trumpets and weapons as well. The uniform is a bit uneasy to look at. A good group, but I do not see them as a finalist.

Crossmen:

A better corps all around than Colts, but with less demand. The tempos dragged on to me. I thought the preshow made sense, but it came across as high school like. The show built to a moment where a big peace sign showed. That was their strongest moment. The brass and drum drill is strange and disjunct. The down ending is pretty fitting. Felt something was missing overall.

Troop:

A nice round soud. Great theme throughout. Relatively low to moderate demand should allow for “perfection” but possibly a lack of reward at the end. Beautiful flags. Extremely clean for this date. I enjoyed it and thought they were the best corps thus far.

Spirit of Atlanta:

I loved this show! I found it to be complex and wildly entertaining. As a fan of the 1920s, I found that the staff has done their research and stayed true to who they are as a corps. I can’t imagine asking a brass line or percussion to switch styles that often and do it so well and so true to the period. Brass sounds amazing. The best Spirit has been since their heyday for sure. The harmonic language alone throughout the show puts them in a top category of musical construction skill and they are handling the variety so well you could possibly overlook the complexity. Tons of variety of effects with a high frequency of effects.

Thought they should have been over BK, though Spirit is dirtier, but with much more demand.

BK:

A well constructed but very homogeneous show. The first half was much more engaging than the first half. The ball was interesting but I thought largely distracting. The brass sound better than last year, but with low demand compared to the corps in attendance tonight. The theme is circles, and that is clearly presented throughout. The colors used by the guard are amazing. I felt the show was pretty tame for my taste and did not have near the potential or entertainment value of Spirit.

Cadets:

In several given years, this would clearly be the world champion. The sound, march, and spin extremely well. The show is amazingly well constructed and they are pretty #### clean, for the middle of August. Great arrangements and drill has never been better. Lots of attention to detail. Best drumline they have had in forever. The clarity of the snares is frighteningly good. Loved the show. Will be interesting to see if they can overtake BD, as I think they should.

[theCHEZman]

Pioneer:

They seem to be working hard. The Christian praise music has some familiarity but seems like pabulum over time. Some talent there and drive for sure. The administration needs to ask some serious questions about what the members are being given in regards to the content of the show. They could be so much more entertaining, proficient, likable, rewarded foe their efforts with a more thoughtfully constructed show. Fighting the impulse to be more blunt. Kudos members for your loyalty, hard work, and persistence.

Cades:

The show has some good moments of arrival. I am not sure the disjunct music allows for the best flow, though it makes sense considering that DCI and Cesario promotes the indoor drumline and WGI format of shows. I liked the drum writing and flags. This plumes are killer as well.

Academy:

The show is a great idea that for some reason doesn’t come together. I think it is the lack of conviction and the odd arrangements and lack of visual variety. The stools use and variety of how they move them is a huge strong point however. I liked the guard costumes. The sing along came across as silly.

Pacific Crest:

I have long been impressed by their potential. This is the best they have been that I have seen. All areas of the corps seem very even in regards to talent and execution. I love all of the visual colors and the percussion writing is certainly noteworthy in regards to musical intent, something however that seems to no longer be important to the activity as much as it should be. Cool ending.

Colts:

I liked that it was accessible. The visual uses the same tools over and over again: small gates to horizontal connected forms. Guard on the side, guard in between horizontal lines. The demand is relatively low all around. Some great trumpets and weapons as well. The uniform is a bit uneasy to look at. A good group, but I do not see them as a finalist.

Crossmen:

A better corps all around than Colts, but with less demand. The tempos dragged on to me. I thought the preshow made sense, but it came across as high school like. The show built to a moment where a big peace sign showed. That was their strongest moment. The brass and drum drill is strange and disjunct. The down ending is pretty fitting. Felt something was missing overall.

Troop:

A nice round soud. Great theme throughout. Relatively low to moderate demand should allow for “perfection” but possibly a lack of reward at the end. Beautiful flags. Extremely clean for this date. I enjoyed it and thought they were the best corps thus far.

Spirit of Atlanta:

I loved this show! I found it to be complex and wildly entertaining. As a fan of the 1920s, I found that the staff has done their research and stayed true to who they are as a corps. I can’t imagine asking a brass line or percussion to switch styles that often and do it so well and so true to the period. Brass sounds amazing. The best Spirit has been since their heyday for sure. The harmonic language alone throughout the show puts them in a top category of musical construction skill and they are handling the variety so well you could possibly overlook the complexity. Tons of variety of effects with a high frequency of effects.

Thought they should have been over BK, though Spirit is dirtier, but with much more demand.

BK:

A well constructed but very homogeneous show. The first half was much more engaging than the first half. The ball was interesting but I thought largely distracting. The brass sound better than last year, but with low demand compared to the corps in attendance tonight. The theme is circles, and that is clearly presented throughout. The colors used by the guard are amazing. I felt the show was pretty tame for my taste and did not have near the potential or entertainment value of Spirit.

Cadets:

In several given years, this would clearly be the world champion. The sound, march, and spin extremely well. The show is amazingly well constructed and they are pretty #### clean, for the middle of August. Great arrangements and drill has never been better. Lots of attention to detail. Best drumline they have had in forever. The clarity of the snares is frighteningly good. Loved the show. Will be interesting to see if they can overtake BD, as I think they should.

Thanks for the review. RE:CADETS. I agree but these judging captions are so subjective so they could put any of these corps anywhere in ranking. It's frustratsting to say the least. Rogue judge almost every show sabotaging a caption.