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Hostrauser's DCI Finals Review (August 9th, 2014)


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Fantastic Review!! Very much in line with my thoughts.

I probably liked Crown's Saturday performance better, but they did have visual issues. I actually did have them winning brass over BD by .1, but in the end the judges saw things like you.

I actually loved the Cadets show up to the company front that ended the first part of Appalachian Spring. It was nice and stately, elegant, and really well performed. I didn't care for the cheese at the end. My buddy, however, felt as you did. He didn't like the stage and felt it hurt the visuals and the overall sound since they had to push the corps further back field. He hated some of the audio clips (although he liked the narration), and he couldn't stand the end of the show. I think they backed themselves into a corner with that show for which they couldn't recover in the last 2 weeks. So they cheesed it up with tarps, audio, flags, banners, people on stage, you name it. I actually do like Patriotic shows, but I will admit that they are more difficult to develop as the season unfolds. Ultimately there is always going to be the urge to add the gimmicks. As much as I love the Cadets, I was glad the judges didn't reward the unnecessary cheese at the end of the show. From a musical standpoint I love the charts and will be listening to this excellent brass and percussion section a lot.

You are correct about BD's visual program. It's on a different scale from what is being done by others. I think the Bluecoats have taken a small page out of their book. If you analyze TILT you can see some of the similar staging concepts and individual marching demands, in addition to some excellent full-ensemble marching maneuvers. I believe it's one of the reasons Bluecoats took 2nd in GE. It certainly wasn't the synthesizer glissando effect alone. The whole show has amazing focus and structure. I, too, was unsure if they'd pass Cadets. On Friday the Cadets were just technical monsters, and they were again on Saturday (incredible marching); but GE is a big deal and BLOOOO was vastly better in that realm.

Phantom Regiment was one of my favorite corps all summer. I loved the music, even loved the stately and elegant drill. They cleaned, and boy did their brass play. One heck of a guard too. In the end, they were simply more refined than BK on Saturday.

BK was just one of the best shows of the weekend!!! I love the theme and the music, and reading your review is the first time hearing that their narration came from American Beauty. It's funny, because while listening to their show I actually thought of that movie. The structure and cadence of the sentences and thoughts. But I didn't realize it really was from American Beauty. What a great concept for a show and they were one of the crowd's favorites as well.

One final thought, as I compare notes with your outstanding review, you are SPOT ON about Boston Crusaders. At first, from a Fan Network perspective, I hated their show. A difficult and dark theme to pull off, and I initially thought the music and drill were over-scored, too demanding. Seeing them live in Massillon, and then again over Finals weekend was an eye opener. I ended up really liking this show and could have seen them taking 7th with a cleaner performance. They certainly had the demand, and LIVE you really get the show. Some of the effects were stunning, and musically the ballad to the end was beautiful and riveting. Boy could they march. VERY demanding show.

Thanks, again, for the excellent review!

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This was a well written, interesting, and very insightful review ( probably because I agree with just about all of it.... and I mean all of it... haha!).

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How can a person who knows so much flunk a try-out?

If you play low brass-you have to Love Phantom- especially that chord in the ballad!

I loved Blue Devils - one of my favorite shows of all time.

SCV should have also passed Cadets ( who have awesome talent but so=so show )

Crown show much better than judged as

frankiE

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How can a person who knows so much flunk a try-out?

If you play low brass-you have to Love Phantom- especially that chord in the ballad!

I loved Blue Devils - one of my favorite shows of all time.

SCV should have also passed Cadets ( who have awesome talent but so=so show )

Crown show much better than judged as

frankiE

1. Can't march. Like not even a little. Pregnant ducks have better form than I do. Don't know why, it's just something I was never any good at, even in high school. Could play just fine, but I was a visual catastrophe.

2. I do, and I do. Started on tuba then moved to baritone/euphonium. So of course I've always loved Phantom!

3. Definitely the best performance I've ever seen, technically. I liked the show, probably the most I've liked a BD show in 6-7 years. Not one of my all-time favorites, yet, though that may change with time.

4. I liked SCV's show more, but their brass still needed some work. Nowhere near as clean as the rest of the Top 5. You could make the argument that SCV should have been ahead of Cadets and I might agree. Then again, you could also make the argument Vanguard should have been 7th in brass (behind Cavaliers and Phantom, too).

5. Nah, I'll disagree there. The show was very enjoyable, but the visual staging could have been a lot better and the percussion was filthy (by top tier DCI standards, not by normal human standards). Crown's visual design this year was the weakest of their past three shows, and unfortunately that was glaringly evident with several GREAT visual designs at the top (BD, Coats, Vanguard).

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