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Since some people can't wait, and I don't have my notes with me, here's the start of the review....details on competing corps to come.

First off, announcer Ed Otto was a hoot. When the crowd didn't cheer loud enough, he scolded them he gives a good guilt trip, plus the threat of "this is my stadium, I can have you removed' was quite humorous

Amy Snook and crew as always run a great show.

Marines...got to see off to the side, as babysitting and a death in the family made departure slightly behind schedule. needless to say, they are pure class, play well, move well, and Stars and stripes and the Marine Hymn never fails to get a good reaction. bass line still stupid sick.

drums in DCA...well I've been saying on the DCI side drumming is off the hook this year....well, drumming in DCA is alive and well too. In fact, as much as I hate to ever give Greg Banks a compliment, I'll say it...C2 had the best bass line of the night. Bucs weren't far behind, but C2 made me laugh out loud.

Adam Burdett as DM of Sky.....if there was ever someone with the personality to be on the box in front of this legendary name...it's Adam. In fact, I thought he held back. But the really cool this is you can see he is having the time of his life. No they aren't winning, but he's on the box for the reborn Skyliners!

and speaking of Sky...wow. They have a young man in their front ensemble named Tanner who is an incredible dead ringer for Sean Holton. Plus the kids has hands too! I had been warned, even that night by Seans parents, but OH MY GOD!!!. the resemblance was scary!! through Facebook I have not been able to confirm Tanner is a Jets fan as well, but to my friends in Sky...please let Tanner know his presence is making many people smile.

Oh yes..Minesh said "hi". I told you I'd get it in here. But I do need to talk with you guys about Anthony being the smartest guy on staff.

very entertaining sitting in front of staff members you know watching their corps...gain great insights to the show.

more to come....when job, family and notes all cooperate

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ok...where possible, if folks around me in the crowd had good lines,I'm using them.

I'll be brutally honest...first read, guards really didnt grab me Saturday night. I don't know if I was too starved for live drums or what, but I guess i was too much mentally in GE music mode.

And first in competition, from the concrete canyons of Scranton PA, The Skyliners ( yes, I almost said NY. I know, I know, old habits die hard.). First off kudos to Larry and the gang for finding a new base of operations, then operating period! DCA has been without this great legend for far too long. The corps started off with "Feeling Good", and right away you can see the wide range of experience the corps has.....very young and somewhat timid, young and not afraid to go for it, and "seasoned" vets that get how it's to be done. Which is why from time to time the corps locked into some nice jazz phrases and others didn't quite connect from bar line to bar line. But the slow push forward did connect, and woke the crowd up.Once the tempo picked up, great staging helped the mellos shine, but when it came for the...uh..."NYNY" sop lick...or is it NEPA NEPA...(sorry guys I had to. Ask Adam)....the soloist was, IMO, pushing too hard. One standout section was the contras upfront with some nice walking passages. "Round Midnight" had some really pretty moments, allowing the corps to show they can do pretty too. Caravan started with a nice percussion break, but there were some side to side issues when the brass came back in. Plus at times the battery tended to rush through phrase endings. Of course it's not Sky without the "Skyliner Signature" push, no matter how brief, and then into a recap of the show musically seeing the corps end upfront for yet another little NYNY touch.

Plusses...they're back! good young nucleus to build off of. A guard trying a very active book, but not quite achieving it.In fact, the big plus is, the room for growth is enormous. The corps rght is stronger musically than visually, but neither is over written.

Minuses....A group is as good as it's weakest members. The key here is for Sky to get everyone to the same level. Oh and fill in the holes I noticed in the brass and bass drums.Also..from my vantage point, it loked like there were 2 versions of the uniform top being worn...doesn't lead to a unified look.

The keys here are getting confidence. Skyliner swagger even. Some serious woodshedding can improve this corps a lot in a short time.

comment from in front of me:" thank God they're back. Now I can die"

Excelsior: With their show of "On The Way to Mars", the corps featured songs not from the Planets, but more to the stylings of Moondance, and Bruno Mars songs. Moondance especially had some nice grooves going, and showed off the guard on side 2. While not the most demanding guard work of the night, the ensemble moment did help. One major complaint for me was during the drum solo, the pitted soloist was blocking the view. The Bruno Mars tunes had some nice uptempo "poppy" feels to them, but you could tell the brass was fatigued. in fact, if the soloist upfront cut out, the volume of the brass decreased noticably. The corps and drum major had some interaction trying to etermine the tempo for the closer, but the crowd seemed more confused by it than getting into it.

Plusses....the show isn't overwritten. They made some smart design choices musically and visually to not stretch them beyond their size. Guard work while not hard, is performed well and adds to the show

Minuses....as I said above, every corps is as strong as it's weakest link. When one horn player cuts out and the volume drops in half, thats an issue. Also the snares need to not overhype the "lifts" they do at the end of most prhase endings, so they actually end together

comment from my left: "I can't believe I'm saying this, but to make Bruno Mars work, you need 10 more horns"

Bushwackers: With their 2014 show the Resistants, I was immediately intrigues with the corps coming in from both end zones, with some large fences while prerecorded vocals played setting up the protest like mood.

First off, a minor editorial. For years, even some I lost to Bush and hated them for it ( LOL), I respected their approach to always going outside the box. Then, after a while, they stopped going outside of the box. Well this show has that outside of the box feel to it, and quite honestly has me captivated to see how it fleshes out more than any Bush show since the legendary 1993 show.

I'm intrigued from the get go with the brass and percussion seperated by the fences which cut across the field diagonally, which help set some visual tension, but at no time does the music suffer. A really cool moment was seeing the brass back into a diagonal that lined up with the fences and freed up side 1 for the guard. as they pushed to the end, it seemed as if the high brass were needing to push some more air to get a truly rounded sound, which would add power to the overall ensemble. the show stealer to me is "Blowin In the Wind". With the corps members portsing various things, and the pit plus some battery members grooving with ethnic percussion toys, it really sets the stage so that when the brass gets their moment, you feel some power without seeing quality diminished. As the somg dies out, the bari soloist has a really nice dramatic pause that adds just enough tension...'play it..play it...PLAYIT...then they do. We then get into the for lack of better terms "fight scene" with the fences moving around and various percussion voices being featured....it felt IMO like it went on too long, yet it also went by so fast that I couldn't keep up with all I saw and heard to get notes on paper. The battery being "fenced in" for "No One's Gonna take Me Alive" was an awesome monet that just needs cleaned. If anything, the one part of the show that needs to be smoothed out is the arrival of "Symphonic Metamorphasis" which just seemed to come out of nowhere and took a few seconds to lock in. There was a really nice rotating block sequence that then unfurls and the corps powered to a very strong ending.

Plusses....tons! The best Bush corps since 06. visually not far behind C2.Music now needs to be the focus. Clarity is the key, and if need be, layer or thin a few spots to allow it to happen. Then, get all of the brass to let loose when it's called for. Percussion has a tasty book, it just needs cleaned.

Minuses.....right now it's about performer.it appears so much focus has been on visual and concept that maybe music is behind. Balance the focus out.

I wish I could see this live again. I would buy the dvd just for this show, words I rarely say for either circuit.

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So White Sabers next, picking up where they left off. "Arabian Nights' is the show, with a lot of Scheherazade in there, which is ballasy for an A class corps. The corps starts ala last year backfield, with lots of dynamic shaping teasing the viewer along until they finally turn around and hit you with a sounda corps that size shouldn't have, but they do! At times the battery can overpower the brass, but that will get ironed out much like last year. A Flugel solo takes into a pretty ballad moment, but the hit needs a horn pop to project up more. Some really nice shaping in the ballad, even mid phrase to really help. the king of mashup ballads, this year they mix Scheherazade with Nightsin White Satin by the Moody Blues, and it works. Good visual staging sreading the corps out and integrating the guard so their work on double swing flags make the corps appear much larger. Filling in the brass holes can only help! Some brass fatigue coming out of the ballad, and then the percussion took over with some seriously good beats. At this point for them, it's all about balancing player to player and not letting the body work affect the hands. When the big push we all know and love comes around, some brass fatigue was evident, and the missing bodies had to hurt some. But it's late July, and they have lots of time.

Plusses....designed wonderfully for A class, not trying to be more than they are. Genius ballad mashup again this year. Battery ###### strong, just needs to level off a bit

minuses....get the missing bodies in, get rid of the fatigue issues in the brass and woodshed the hell out of it. Could be a repeat champion.

Cadets 2 followed White Sabres with "our Favorite Things", and the intro hit to Rocky Point was what it's supposed to be.....in your face! What a percussion section, and the drill is staged so you can follow the lead lines as they go. When the corps hits the famous Z Pull, the brass holes really become evident and this has to hurt numbers. While many on here have crucified the guard...hey look out, ony .9 behind Bucs! Those kids do some really cool things and it's just going to get cleaner! Phillip Bliss was next, and the melody so known to all cut well across the night air....but the big hit needs more. Not cymbal, it has plenty of that. The brass needs to unleash the hounds! Childrens Hour has tons of fun and the battery nailed their moments, but when the brass came back in, fatigue and visual spread caused them to lose steam. Ballet Sacra was the closer with some really nice backfield moments, and again the corps maxes out field coverage,,,,,so that when they do turn around, the brass sound is thinner than most likely intended. From there, you can see the intent, but with a strong battery and a gassed brass section, the ending doesn't quite connect as it should, and the ending ends up flat at this point.

Plusses...not as over written visually this year as in past years, percussion not that far behind Bucs, guard has come a long way from early season reports

Minuses...too many brass holes this late in the year!!! In todays DCA, you can not cram bodies in after DCi finals and get as clean as everyone else. The percussions been strong since year 1, the guard, which had been their achilles heel has turned major corners...now the brass needs to be full early and lose the fatigue issues.

comment from below me:" This is the show Cadets1 should have done in 2003"

Bucs....so if all rumors are to be believed, they're dead in the water, the ensemble cant play together, concept is killing them...right?

Not so fast ye mateys. Yes the pit is staged halfway between the sideline and front hash, and the corps proper is mostly side 2 behind them ramed by boxes with an orange material connecting them. The show starts with the pit for the Doors break on Through, which seques into the 4th ballet...some really nice teases before the hit, and while staged far back there, you can start to feel some power coming through. From there, the corps charges into orawa with tons of voice tradeoffs all over. it was here I felt the only real ensemble tension of the night, but the corps kept it together. The ballas worked well the snares joining the pit for tons of ethnic groove stuff, and then of course Metheney's "heat of the Day letting the mellos have their moment as well as some ###### good drumming. During this piece there's some comical "break on through" moments by some brass players upfront....it's funny. Of course when they do Break Through, you can really start to feel some power, but my hunch is more is to come, especially at the end when they charge front to the front ensemble line. Really, to sell the concept, the hounds MUST be unleashed when they break past the pit, but while that develops, check out the cool way the guard frames the rest of the field with wongas!

Plusses...starting to gel, far less ensemble issues than previously reported, percussion still the leader in the east, concept easy to get

minuses....clarity and power, especially when they finally get up front. Don't get me wrong, I'm not all loud, all the time, but with the concept as it is, fatigue is going to be the downfall if the corps can't truly push some air at the end of the show.

Can they catch Cabs? I dunno, haven't seen them yet. Will they make it interesting? Yep. When sitting in front of staff who is syaing "yes, finally it's coming together"....anything is possible.

see ya 8/23 at the Exeter Twp showdown. Hoping Amy and crew have my fat ### splitting the 50 again!

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As always, a well-done review. I note your willingness to provide negative impressions when necessary. Not everyone is courageous enough to do that. Better still, you suggest corrective action. That's the key. You might be found off-base on things, but do provide feedback for consideration. That's helpful.

The Bushwackers have come back, Cadets2 is showing signs of being a player at the top, and the CV performance I watched from Atlanta should put them on late in Rochester.

I'll continue to be concerned about Bucs' staging and volume. I noticed the Downingtown Stadium has no track between corps and grandstand. Clearly, that elevates every corps' decibel level, too. Get back to us with your analysis of the Bucs moving everything up just 5 yards further. Seems like a doable fix without much disruption. Or, having been in Downingtown, maybe you can relay they actually did move things forward a bit since the early shows. They should make that tip-toe brass player routine even MORE perilous!

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I had not seen them in person til Saturday Fred so I have no idea what moved if at all. I mean they end up to the front line in the pit area so they have no more room to move at the.

I think the only place that really needs more RMFL dynamics ( if you need that definition ask) is after they break through which is at the end and fatigue has to be an issue. That's fixable with reps and breathing.

For the compliment, thanks! When I judge, I don't just point out what's wrong, I offer solutions. Well I started doing that in reviews and even had a few corps thank me for it. If the corps or fans think I'm full of it, so be it. Do what the judges say, not me

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Jeff .... always a pleasure to read your reviews and your suggestions. PLEASE do not ever stop your reviews as so many others have. You help us that can't be at some of the shows to really understand what's going on. Thanks again :-)

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Thank you, Jeff. Good thoughts on A.

With only 5 corps in A, I know we haven't seen CT yet, etc... is Excelsior's show good enough to make the top 4 based on past top 4 corps? I don't mean are they performing it well enough, just is the show itself good enough?

A's kind of strange this season- there seems to be a fight to win it and the small battle to make it.

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Dub...I have only seen 2 A corps in person and Govies online. I'm guessing Sun Devils have their stuff together based on scores, so I'm guessing WS, Govies and SD are locks. After that don't know until I see scores and or fan network.

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