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Hey everyone,

This will be one of my only shows I get to this year. I'll be going on a cruise during the Grand Prix (tried to convince my fiancé to move it a week later when I found out, no luck.) I'm pretty sure I'm going to get to Bucs Reading show.

Last year I got lambasted because of not commenting on the alumni/exhibition corps. Doesn't really stop me from writing my reviews, and had I seen more corps, I would comment, but this year I only saw Saints Brigade so I will start with them.

My perspective is from a fan who just wants to see something good on the field. Long time brass player, so don't shoot me if I don't give a lot of guard or drumline comments. I sat on the 50 YL about 4 rows from the press box.

Saints Brigade

I've marched in several parades with them over the last few years, so I know how they sound. Very young group with tons of $$$. I don't know what their long range goal is, but they really should start to march. They have a talented drumline and nice uniforms. Their brass is WAY to top heavy. 17 trumpets, 7 mellos to 6 baris and 4 tubas. I understand they probably just take what they can from the area, but start moving people over.

The low brass they have sound great, but they are fighting a losing fight. Had a few trumpet solos, all by the same person. Would have been nice to spread it through out the other trumpets. Had some pretty nice full moments from the corps, but their drumline is where they excel. They did a note-for-note arrangement of 1990 Crossmen's opener. Just because I know that tune so well, that was the only down moment I had from them. Otherwise what they did play, they played really well. Not a lot fatigue issues or stick outs. I really do hope they put on a field show some day. They would surprise a lot of people.

Skyliners

Starts out with a trumpet solo. Then a big moment with the brass, but they are too far spread out with their numbers they have. Good sound on the move but feet issues in many places. Young hornline means horn carriage suffers, upper body issues, and the horn moves aren't together. Looks like it was written for 10 more horns. Then onto a really nice jam session with a full tuba sound. I'm not sure what instruments they are playing on, but they sound like they are playing on bugles. I wrote down in my notes that they have that old drum corps sound, which I do like. Their body visuals aren't together and they don't seam to know on what counts they need to be in what position. As the show progressed, they did experience fatigue issues. During the pit break, the pit had a tear and while they recovered, they weren't together for the remainder. Afterwards, the Bari and Mellos need to play out more. When the hornline faces backfield, the pit is way to loud and swallows the nice sound they produce. The drill really seemed to suffer as the show went along. Towards the end, they take straight lines and rotate them and that wasn't together. Guard work is very incomplete. The trumpets are the strongest section of HL, but when they get fatigued, the entire corps suffers. The end of the show is a quick park and bark and while most of the crowd was expecting NY NY, they still didn't disappoint.

Good comeback from Sky. It's good to have more corps in DCA, but its even better when the Skyliners are on the field. I enjoyed the show, they just need to get a lot more bodies on the field and clean clean clean.

Hurricanes

They start off having a great tuba section, the strongest section of the HL. Like last year, the drumline is ridiculously too loud. 13 in the battery compared to 26 brass players, with 7 of them on snares. For a group that looks young, they seem to move well with decent horn carriage, but bad posture kills them in any slides. The HL is very Low Brass heavy. They have a company front section that the HL is too spread out, so some side-to-side issues as well as balance/blend issues. The guard is what you want to watch, however due to their extreme size of 24, they got in the way of any drill the hornline did. Start of the second tune, very loud dutting coming from the field. The pit plays very well. Some tuba interval issues going on and is physically impossible to hear the brass on any soft moments because of the drums. They have some really nice visuals going on with the flags and weapons. Fatigue is starting to really weigh in on the brass line just over 1/2 through the show. Then the trumpets that they have disappear. Baritone's have a wonderful sound to start Make Our Garden Grow, but as soon as they start to move, its a different story. Due to issues with not enough people, there is way to big of spacing going on in the trumpets which doesn't help them project their sound to the crowd. Some visual issues at the end of the show that were not together. Show is not complete, and with how it ended musically, I would have preferred them to keep playing at a stand still.

The comparison from this show last year to this year is night and day. Stronger corps, but small. They've seemed to put all their eggs in the guard basket and while their guard deserves much praise, I really do think they need to throw some horns at the percussion and guard to help the HL out.

More to come....

Edited by Kyle B
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Continued...

Fusion Core

They have a pre-show that I really liked, though was hoping for a little bit more sound when the HL let it go after they were introduced. REALLY great guard opening! I think the hornline can be louder in the opening statements. Fusions guard is one of the only guards that really performed their show, which considering last year they only know 2 minutes of work, is a big step. Some really nice flag to weapon moments, and while it works, so far their work does seem to be on the easier side then the upper corps. The hornline comes in loud and they are pretty good, but when they start playing below mf, they get very sloppy. Good double tongue sections, but when they move the feet are all out of phase from one performer to the next with no technique on the carpet. They have a lot of visuals in the show already, but move like robots. In Somewhere Over the Rainbow, I lose the mello sound. When the hornline is moving at a carry, some members are swinging their horns and it pulls from what they are doing. I wrote that it's hard to tell what the forms are because they are another corps that has a very large guard for their size. They have a nice drum feature towards the end, but when the HL is marching at fast tempos, their technique goes out the window. Towards the end, the trumpets got very tired.

The only time I was really clear on the theme of the show was actually in the pre-show for the Brahms lullaby and the beginning. Otherwise it just seemed to have a random bed on the field with people dancing in front of it or quads playing on top of it. Anyway, this hornline may cause a bit of a stir for some groups and their guard knows how to perform at a very high level of achievement.

Bushwackers

First corps that I've seen with amps. Starts off with a marching machine. Baritone entrance was not together. They play 3 against 4 to start with, but the notes are too low for the horns to sound good. They need to consider moving it up an octave because it will never be clean. The brass line have good feet throughout opening statement and they know how to play with dynamics. While everyone loves a good crescendo in drum corps, they love to play terraced dynamics, and I'm telling you, it reminds me of 2006 Bush. Drumline playing well and the hornline has a really nice blend. Trumpets then start to sound a little strident, but the mellos have a great sound. The half-time goose-step isn't together, some aren't going as high as the others. Other sections are starting to shuffle on the carpet. They then start to have more terraced dynamics that makes you think the corps has about 50 horns. Afterwards, during the jam section, hard to hear the hornline over the drums and the music doesn't fit what you were just listening too. During the slowdown section, small mini-tears happen with the horns to drums, but not enough to cause major damage. The amped Cajon's are a bit over powering for the vocals that are happening on the field. The small-ensemble sound really fantastic. In Blowin in the Wind, the trumpets play each others valves, though I didn't notice that at first. Either because I wasn't expecting it to happen or my eyes were focused elsewhere. When the drums cut out, again, you think they have 50 horns. Great blend and balance. After that, was let down by bad sectional attacks. The fp aren't as clean as the rest of their dynamics. Also, I'm not a fan of the 4 count pause before the last note of Blowing in the Wind. Afterwards, the hornline has this knack for getting loud very suddenly. Baritones are starting to stick out in the 3rd number. During the pit feature, the pit is too loud. I'm not sure if someone works the controls during the show, but have the pit play softer or lower the master. Good marching technique being displayed backing up. The mutes in the mellos and trumpets really cover their sound altogether, whatever they are trying to communicate, isn't being expressed to the audience. Was my least favorite part of the show. When the fences are being moved through the corps, at first I thought everything was being done randomly with no real set drill (at least my opinion,) but when they lock in the drumline with the hornline playing around them (or attempt too, 2nd week in a row for a fence malfunction, the same one too) it was one of those 'that is awesome' moments. Easily my favorite part of the evening. Going into the closer - Symphonic Met, they state the melody briefly, and before they bring the song in fully, there is a weird musical transition that again doesn't match what you've been hearing or what you are about to hear. End of the show, diagonal rotations aren't clean and form maintenance is starting to suffer.

This is easily the best corps Bush has fielded since 2008. Lots of excellent things happening, and while there are some programmatic parts that don't make sense, I really enjoy this show. I was hesitant when I heard the show announced in the early Fall and feared it would be hokey, but they have put a lot of work into fitting things in and the members are committed to being the best they can and as an alumni, I'm proud of where they are headed.

Cabelleros

Straight lines before the show begins need to be clean. Tubas sound good, but hard to hear over the amped pit during their sustained notes. They start marching fast and there were lots of phasing going on. Really nice moment with the guard on white flags and gave a great impact visually while the hornline is playing really well. Afterwards, some form and interval issues occurring, and the visuals aren't together. The uniform change doesn't seem natural IMO and it's very early in the show, would have done it later on, but I guess it makes sense with them starting from 1 tuba, to the section, to the hornline, and then finally the drumline. The hornline is one of the better blending horn lines they've had recently but during all the fast licks, it's extremely muddy. They have a jazz running section with a lot of people with great technique all together, and then the other half where the technique isn't as well defined, need better control. The baritone section needs to clean their feature up, very muddy. During the solo, the low brass are playing hairpin dynamics, but they sound very growly, ruins what is coming out of the excellent soloist. During the park-and-bark, lots of excellent sounds with nice blending, but as soon as they step off, the blend is lost and the step offs weren't together. Cabs was the cleanest when it comes to drill but still need to clean like others do. They have a lot of licks that go from low brass to high brass and while you really want to say "WOW, that was awesome" the entire thing is muddy. Fusions licks were much cleaner throughout their show. I don't know if its because of where they lie on the horn or they are just cleaner, but thats how it is. During the diagonal company front, tons of bad feet, especially right in front of the 50. While there really isn't a lot of fatigue coming through the bells, it is coming through the feet and horn carriage. They end with a really full sound.

As I've stated to a few people I talked to, I really like what the Cabs are doing both musically and visually, the theme is not being expressed to the audience and I don't get the uniform change. As a knit-picker, having the black shirts not match the pants drove me a little insane. As a person who really does not like side-line soloists, I've got to say, Cabs have done an excellent job not drawing attention to this fact, and the entire thing looks very natural. While I'm sure Frank would say he didn't have his best show, he definitely threw down in the victory concert. Cabs are going to be a very strong contender this year and I like this show much better than last year already.

Comments and opinions are still on the horizon...

Edited by Kyle B
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Sorry for my stream-of-conscious style of reviews.

While I've stated most of comments after each corps, there is one thing that really bothered me about the show.

Hurcs had no business beating Bush. Bush was in a completely different league. Bush only beat them in brass by a tenth, and beat them in music effect. But they lost overall music to a group that you could never hear the hornline due to the size of the drumline. I understand the Hurcs guard is something else, but I really don't see how all those judges could have possibly got that.

You may take this as me just being a homer, since I marched their for 3 years, but I didn't become very popular when I moved to Bucs and had my sister still at Bush. A lot of people I talked to agreed with Bush being a different level drum corps. Yes, I was watching an entire show and not just one section or focus like a judge would, but that was not a good call IMO.

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Great review Kyle ,good comments throught out ,i'd say your one of the best at this ,To bad you wouldn't be doing more show's Love your style .

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Thanks, though I would put BigW and Jeff about 10 notches above me. If I take notes, I miss a lot of the design and if I don't take notes, I can comment more on the overall show but not remember a lot. Was the reason I decided not to continue judging marching bands.

Edited by Kyle B
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Terrific, Kyle!!!

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Kyle,

Thanks for the review and the opinions. In my mind you nailed a lot of the problems whether obvious or not.

For the record, Sky is playing on G horns. They are a very young corps, compared to when I marched with them. ( I was 20 and was one of the 'kids'.) Many of them had NEVER been in any form of competition before, and all of the alumni who were there saw the "opening night jitters" and inexperience on the field. Given time, they will pull it all together and become the 'old pros' that a lot of us became before long. I think it was also the first time they marched on grass, since their rehearsal facilities are either an artificial surface or an asphalt parking lot. It is a different 'feel'.

All in all, they put on a good show for their very first time on the field in 8 years and we are very proud of the corps and their efforts.

The average age of the corps is probably in the mid to late 20s, but as Larry told us, take the 5 lead sopranos out of line and the average goes down to 17. In spite of the nerves, they put on a commendable show and can only get better from here on.

It was a very emotional experience to see THAT uniform back on the field and to hear the announcer introduce them as the New York Skyliners!

"We don't know when we are licked, and never will say die!" Sock it in Garbarina!

Ray

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Ya know Ray - at this point the important thing is for them to be out there, and developing a sense of what Skyliner style is going to be over the next few years.

In 2008 if anyone had told you Fusion Core was going to be a dominant power, you might have sneezed. I give them all the credit in the world.

Hopefully Sky will do what they did, i.e. a solid plan first; dedicated and affordable staff that has the ability to make mistakes and learn from them and LOVES THE CORPS AND WHAT THEY STAND FOR; a pipeline of membership to develop the new legend (as you say, you were 20 before you epitomized the Sky legend - even Andy was young once - although that's hard to believe).

Fans? That will come. I'll bet Fusion has started to see some tee-shirt sales by now.

Like "Field of Dreams" in more ways than one - you gotta build it. They'll come.

One of the things I'm most proud of in drum corps is something I had nothing to do with - my kid Ray Jr went to 7th Regiment when they had a challenge finding 20+ horns for a year.

That group had a plan, and a solid approach, and a staff that loves them. Here 6, 7 years later they're up in the 40s of horns and doing a great job, competitive with the best in OC DCI.

You have to have a plan and you have to care.

Who cares more than the Skyliners? One of the reasons they were my favorite corps to compete against.

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