Jump to content

Allentown Friday Saturday


Recommended Posts

not a long review, try to touch on everyone with thoughts....no need to break down concepts, they are all known by now. Also, if applicable, great lines heard over the weekend about each corps will be thrown in. Some may rankle, but it's all in fun.

Friday:

due to a late start from home, and then traffic for reasons unknown to human kind in Harrisburg, got there as the show started, and did not get to see Academy. While not a fan of this show, I do make an attempt to see every corps, but unfortunately, I had to miss Academy.

Mandarins....liked this show a lot more in person...probably because unlike the Atlanta feed, I could hear the narration. Good power, and the story line flowed well, even if the end of the story seemed a tad rushed. Felt like the score should have been a little higher, but hey, gotta manage numbers.

Troopers......A classic show, IMO, under scored. Love the intro, love the Mag 7 stuff, love...it all. the build into the Sunburst and of course the guard girl in the old school uni doing the color pres is timeless Troopers, and of course this is a crowd that ate them up. My biggest issue was the battery nailed all the big stuff, but gave up so many little things, it had to hurt the score. I also think had they gone on after Colts, the score is higher.

line of the night: " in a world where "art" is more important than ##### out of the seats, along comes the Troopers"

Colts.....well.....I wanted to like the show. Thunderous goo and overall pit volume was way too loud. visually I can see why they are hanging with Troop, but musically it's no contest. The concept seemed ike a good idea, but it just isn't panning out.

Line of the night: "well, someone has to be 16th, may as well be PC"

Spirit......love the show, love the sequins, love the soloist. Spirit seems to have found a new niche, and while not Southern, the shows work. Fun show, and guard is the show stealer. Some really nice percussion moments, and did i mention the screamers? Always a hit in Allentown

line of the night; " are screamers still allowed in DCI? Thank god for Spirit!"

INT....seemed to go on forever

Blue Stars...........I loved the guard stuff, and if John Mapes and Ian Gromm write a drum book, I'm sold. The concept at times seemed thin, and was it me, or did the brass have a lot of downtime? Clearly finalist worthy, but not sure I'd have them over Spirit.

SCV...IMO, on way too early. Loved everything about the show. the opening drill set, the Vanguard drill set, the company front...all of it. maybe a touch heavy with the goo....brass with some power, and Jesus, the most musical percussion book in DCI. Not getting enough love for the actual book IMO. Loved the new touch with the flags going airborne behind the props only to see the guard come out with the french flags....do they have more tricks up their sleeve for this week? time will tell.

Phantom....I liked the overall show, and the book drill stuff is great. the evil queen looks..well...kinda bad, and distracts. The real issue to me IMO was the ending really went nowhere. It just kind of hung there like "oh, ok, we're done"

Line of the night: " haven't they learned to kill people at the end of the show?"

Bluecoats....IMO, after the intro, the bleachers felt a distraction, used only because they lugged em around all summer. The show just didn't reach me. I understand the concept, but....I dunno, Kids play and move well, but it appears music is their strong suit, visual is wahts keeping them back.

Cadets...loved the show. New addition to the ending with everyone climbing the props is nice. Drumline plays like monsters. I get the down ending, and it's cool, but I felt like I was denied my annual Cadets "holy ####" visual moment at the end of the show. IMO, they and vanguard should be closer to the top 2. Not sure why down to SCV in visual

line of the night: "####, I hate when I like them"

Saturday: Good times at the TOB judging clinic. Good times at Pineville tailgating, can't wait for Dan Potters interview with several friends. Seeing Mike Boo always a highlight.

Pioneer....thrilled to see they beat Scades, and that's nothing against Seatte.Pio seems to have made some smaller tweaks in design, allowing the kids to see some more success, as well as not being same ole same ole Pio.

Cascades.....the show just didn't grab me. the kids play and move ok, but I truly think Pio over them was the right call. I get why they are where they are, and applud them, but I think the kids could have used better material

Oregon Crusaders....love the show. play well, movewell, story easy to get...just don't like the corps proper uniforms. Much easier to follow the concept live than online, and that really helped my appreciation f it grow. This is the corps down in this range to watch as the years go on.

Jersey Surf....tough to catch last years overwhelming love and repeat it, but Surf tries. the electronic windophone thingie IMO was basically a sex in a different name, but I saw how it fit into the show. Some serious visual dirt is hurting the overall number, but a few days of good work can help that. it seemed to me the "schtick" which is fun only really came out in the 2nd half of the show...and the crowd ate it up, but I wonder if the front half could have used more. Appreciated the disco ball on the drum rack, and hats off to Rob Thatcher for getting the "Thurston lick" in there. Every year, a smidge better, and this is still a fun show!

line of the night: "DCi still allows fun music like this?"

Pacific Crest....they seem to have been poised to take that next step for a while, and this year, they do it. especially liked the closer, but a few drum moments didn't happen as planned which may have hurt them. PC has carved out it's own little identity, and this year it's paying off.

Crossmen......when you see Bones walking the back track, it's a good thing. I liked the concept, but at times it seemed like maybe it was too forced. Percussion seemed to have a rough night, and music is definitely their strong suit. Loved the Sound of Silence and Pink Floyd stuff a lot.

Line of the night "It seems their groove has finally adjusted to the move to Texas"

INt...flew by

Blue Knights....this show has grown on me a lot. In fact, I love it. the blue ball is a touch distracting, and I'm a sucker for well down Metheny..hell, I'm so sick of Adele after indoor 2012 and that was ok too! I get why they have pulled away from Spirit and are approaching the Madison/Boston/cavies pack! move well, play well...this show keeps growing daily,...it'll be fun this week.

line of the night: " holy hell, I liked BK!"

Madison Scouts....loved the "army" stuff pre-show...felt like the battle maybe went a touch too long. percussion seems to be an issue, as wel as some visual. Concept crystal clear and man....when they kick into MYNWA, seeing and hearing many alumni stand and sing along....so ####### cool...the only thing that makes me wish I could be at Indy. a touch gooey ( aka madisynth), but such an awesome, emotional show, and as predicted, this crowd ate it up.

line of the night: " will they get penalized for the people in the stands singing?"

Cavaliers....well.....i get the concept. IMO, the 2nd half of the show is far more engaging than the first half. the cloaks IMO hurt, not help. visual is carrying the day, and IMO, I'm a touch confused by the GE music numbers. Boston beating them in drums was a huge surprise. I had em just above Madison, under Boston, but they panel seems to have them inching away

dialog of the weekend: Dad "man I remember when they were soooo good" Kid "when was that?" Dad "2011"

Boston.....for a while the grey jackets seemed to add, IMO, a level of dull to the show, but I get the concept, and man, once the red came out, the crowd woke up. The show has room to grow yet, and if some visual things come together, they could be top 7. Always nice to hear snippets of Conquest

line of the night: "man, i wish they'd just play Conquest"

Crown......the show comes of better live, but I still found myself at times thinking it was the Purple Devils. brass is indeed amazing. I mean like holy #### amazing. No brass section in DCI plays on the move what Crown does. park bench being wayyyyyyyy off to the side was distracting. narration in the ballad...I mean talking over a soloist?? The counting is very cool. It's all going to come down to the percussion. Way too many things happening in August that should have been fixed in May...performance AND design, and it's on the field. pit is doing a great job.

line of the night" the hornline made up for the artsy stuff"

BD...I liked it more than most recent years, but the ending, IMO just kind of...eh. play well, move well, but I don't see a lot of the little visual demands they had the last few years that pushed them over the edge. It really is all about staging for the moments,, and transitions are clearly allowed to develop however they do, and not sually inn conventional ways. the poles at times do seem like clutter and can be distracting. that said....they are good. the show is still not beloved, but than God it's not last year or 2010.

line of the night" Do i go now and beat traffic, or do I stay and get ###### off".

At this point, we had to leave as my wife's dad retired after 36 years of being a Lutheran minister this morning, so i did not get to see Bridgemen Alumni. Sorry guys. Had to laugh when I saw the dci.org article talking about a standing O for BD. No, look again...it was a mass exodus from the stands. I know, I fought my way through it.

also very surprised to see YEA volunteers handing out $10 off coupons for the Sunday TOC show. Sales hurting?

also...I love watching Jeff Prosperie judge. I mean he actually crabs out there, he doesn't make a spectacle of himself, and man, when you see him run, you know that Army training paid off.

thus ends live viewing of DCI for the year. Looking forward to plugging the laptop into the tv Friday AND Saturday!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the write up

Agree with the "goo" comment about SCV

Also much else, although you seemed to like Crown more than I - personally felt there was a bigger gap between BD & Crown. I'm probably the only one who preferred Crown last year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well...I see the gap between Crown and BD being where it is as ok actually. Crown does things BD doesn't and vice versa. I feel, especially visually, BD has a different type of demands, and achievement is higher than Crown...in fact, IMO, I feel BD should be performer over the book visually. Crown's brass is phenomenal, and does so much more on the move than BD does.

as for Crown last year...after Fanfare, the show went nowhere. And this year, their percussion is the albatross. to take it, Crown needs to be absolutely golden visually to overcome the gap in drums. BD having a meltdown, ala 08 wouldn't hurt them either.

It's tight...they're both #### good, but going about it differently. And really, since drum judges are the only ones with the balls to put realistic spreads in there, that's why we are where we are.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awesome review, and thanks for sharing!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My wife , who politely attends a few contest with me asked " why do they play so little music?" - ( Blue Stars )

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...