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Reading 8/23 the Showdown before the Showdown


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As the season developed, all eyes slowly started turning towards this show...the throwdown in pretzeltown. I know I often joke when I do reviews that I'm going to get hatemail like I used to, but this one may. Before I dive into the corps themselves, some thoughts.

First off, Amy Snook and crew run not one, but two well oiled machines for shows and partner with great school with great stadiums. I've judged in the rain at Exeter, and the field looked great. When I got there, the Big Sounds team wasn't letting the weather slow them down and to them it was business as usual. Kudos to all for keeping things running as smoothly as possible, especially since 4 different weather sites listed the rain to be minimal if any and done by 7 PM.

Darren Delaney...is there any better person at running a souvie stand? I mean ok, I wanted an Orange is the New Bloo Shirt and he didn't have any, but he had fun checking anyways :)

Jimmy Gruber, aka the Commodore.....Here is a guy that took over a ship that was truly sinking the early to mid 90's. A Charter Member, ending up missing finals for the first time ever.....yet with solid work, dedicated staff and committee members, and a low key, humble personality that had the approach of "well if I have to do it, I'll do it"....he helped rebuild the Bucs into the behemoth they are today. We've all seen directors who think they are part of the show...not Jimmy. I cherish his pet nickname for me that he gave me my year with Bucs in 2000, and still calls me to this day. I'm amazed at the amount of time, energy and sacrifice he has put into the running the beast that is the Bucs. Sure other DCA directors, especially in the past got more press, but seriously folks....this guy is the real deal, an unsung legend, and one helluva great guy. Jimmy, I return your Sgt Schultz like salute and thank you for everything you have given me, the Bucs, and DCA. Your humble presence will be missed.

Now, to some less fun parts.

I really feel the lack of the field visual caption is allowing serious #### to be overlooked, and even rewarded. It's a week before finals, and you have people out of step, blowing visuals, horns up...and I'm not just talking the bottom of the pack. I mentioned this in my finals weekend review last year, but at the shows I have been to this year, it's even more obvious. With the game being driven by upstairs sheets, and the desire for weekend only corps to continue to do more and more crazy stuff visually, there is some god awful visual performance and technique happening. In a thread on here someone said "well the upstairs guy should catch it". Well, no, because that's not their sheet. Again, and I mean this...if I'm catching this stuff, it's obvious, and it goes top to bottom. I know where to find the points to being it back.

and those points come from the communication sheet. It's redundant. The stuff mentioned in another thread is stuff that is part and parcel of every GE sheet out there. Being able to hear an effect judges every word Saturday ( and I do mean every, they were loud), if that's how the sheet is to be judged, it's nothing more than a clap sheet, because with one exception, communication was only referenced when a corps did something that got applause. And here's why the calp sheet thing is skewed as well as how it was judged Saturday....one corps didn't get a lot of applause. Sure it was the hometown teams competitor, yet communication comments flew while the crowd was, at least during the show, polite. Yet the hometown team Wowed the crowd, sure they were biased....but few communication comments came out. You have, at least at regular season shows, 2 judges responsible for 60 point between GE and Communication. That's a huge imbalance, especially since the sheet is, at least in this case, mostly applied as a clap sheet, even if clapping isn't happening.

I'll let this digest, especially since I held back ( and I need to do some work) before I dive into the corps themselves

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I really feel the lack of the field visual caption is allowing serious #### to be overlooked, and even rewarded. It's a week before finals, and you have people out of step, blowing visuals, horns up...and I'm not just talking the bottom of the pack. I mentioned this in my finals weekend review last year, but at the shows I have been to this year, it's even more obvious. With the game being driven by upstairs sheets, and the desire for weekend only corps to continue to do more and more crazy stuff visually, there is some god awful visual performance and technique happening. In a thread on here someone said "well the upstairs guy should catch it". Well, no, because that's not their sheet. Again, and I mean this...if I'm catching this stuff, it's obvious, and it goes top to bottom.

You sir... ARE THE MAN for calling this out. I wrote a review for the Bridgeport show and absolutly NO ONE marched well. I don't care about the point assesment, but I do care about what I see. And man, there was such a lack of technique and definition of style that I had trouble attempting to give a review on that component. But seriously, cheers to you for bringing this up. I feel like I'm the only one who calls people out on this. I'm certain I'll get hate mail on my review, as well, but that's ok. I've prepared myself mentally for it. If I get something outrageous I'll send it your way to read. hahahaahahahahah.

I'm eager to read your view of the show. Thanks for being an umbiased, honest voice in the virtual marching pitch.

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You sir... ARE THE MAN for calling this out. I wrote a review for the Bridgeport show and absolutly NO ONE marched well. I don't care about the point assesment, but I do care about what I see. And man, there was such a lack of technique and definition of style that I had trouble attempting to give a review on that component. But seriously, cheers to you for bringing this up. I feel like I'm the only one who calls people out on this. I'm certain I'll get hate mail on my review, as well, but that's ok. I've prepared myself mentally for it. If I get something outrageous I'll send it your way to read. hahahaahahahahah.

I'm eager to read your view of the show. Thanks for being an umbiased, honest voice in the virtual marching pitch.

well, if no points are assigned to it, who's going to focus on it?

(crickets)

exactly

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you mean like they're focusing on it now?

ah ha... see what i did there?

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As the season developed, all eyes slowly started turning towards this show...the throwdown in pretzeltown. I know I often joke when I do reviews that I'm going to get hatemail like I used to, but this one may. Before I dive into the corps themselves, some thoughts.

First off, Amy Snook and crew run not one, but two well oiled machines for shows and partner with great school with great stadiums. I've judged in the rain at Exeter, and the field looked great. When I got there, the Big Sounds team wasn't letting the weather slow them down and to them it was business as usual. Kudos to all for keeping things running as smoothly as possible, especially since 4 different weather sites listed the rain to be minimal if any and done by 7 PM.

Darren Delaney...is there any better person at running a souvie stand? I mean ok, I wanted an Orange is the New Bloo Shirt and he didn't have any, but he had fun checking anyways :)

Jimmy Gruber, aka the Commodore.....Here is a guy that took over a ship that was truly sinking the early to mid 90's. A Charter Member, ending up missing finals for the first time ever.....yet with solid work, dedicated staff and committee members, and a low key, humble personality that had the approach of "well if I have to do it, I'll do it"....he helped rebuild the Bucs into the behemoth they are today. We've all seen directors who think they are part of the show...not Jimmy. I cherish his pet nickname for me that he gave me my year with Bucs in 2000, and still calls me to this day. I'm amazed at the amount of time, energy and sacrifice he has put into the running the beast that is the Bucs. Sure other DCA directors, especially in the past got more press, but seriously folks....this guy is the real deal, an unsung legend, and one helluva great guy. Jimmy, I return your Sgt Schultz like salute and thank you for everything you have given me, the Bucs, and DCA. Your humble presence will be missed.

Now, to some less fun parts.

I really feel the lack of the field visual caption is allowing serious #### to be overlooked, and even rewarded. It's a week before finals, and you have people out of step, blowing visuals, horns up...and I'm not just talking the bottom of the pack. I mentioned this in my finals weekend review last year, but at the shows I have been to this year, it's even more obvious. With the game being driven by upstairs sheets, and the desire for weekend only corps to continue to do more and more crazy stuff visually, there is some god awful visual performance and technique happening. In a thread on here someone said "well the upstairs guy should catch it". Well, no, because that's not their sheet. Again, and I mean this...if I'm catching this stuff, it's obvious, and it goes top to bottom. I know where to find the points to being it back.

and those points come from the communication sheet. It's redundant. The stuff mentioned in another thread is stuff that is part and parcel of every GE sheet out there. Being able to hear an effect judges every word Saturday ( and I do mean every, they were loud), if that's how the sheet is to be judged, it's nothing more than a clap sheet, because with one exception, communication was only referenced when a corps did something that got applause. And here's why the calp sheet thing is skewed as well as how it was judged Saturday....one corps didn't get a lot of applause. Sure it was the hometown teams competitor, yet communication comments flew while the crowd was, at least during the show, polite. Yet the hometown team Wowed the crowd, sure they were biased....but few communication comments came out. You have, at least at regular season shows, 2 judges responsible for 60 point between GE and Communication. That's a huge imbalance, especially since the sheet is, at least in this case, mostly applied as a clap sheet, even if clapping isn't happening.

I'll let this digest, especially since I held back ( and I need to do some work) before I dive into the corps themselves

Right on Jeff! There are certain aspects of this activity we have some to enjoy with precision and quality of performance being on the list behind the overall entertainment value of a program. I'm not so sure that the lack of a sheet is the culprit because the staffs would not disregard basic marching technique because there is no specific sheet. Professionalism of drum corps is and always will be a major consideration is quality of performance and scoring.

The effectiveness of the corps you are referring to was very obvious at this show. Having witnessed earlier viewings of these corps, I understood the scoring at that point in the season but not Saturday. The rapid late season improvement by Reading is bringing their program to life and that is trouble for the field of competitors. I though their level of communication Saturday was like nothing I have seen from them this season. After seeing the recap, I was baffled. Its too bad for the members of the Bucs that they were not rewarded for the efforts on Saturday night. It's not supposed to work that way.

As a drummer, I was more baffled by the drum numbers. I did not see the Cabs even close the Bucs. Or C-2 for that matter. I watched C-2 and Cabs warm-up. What's going on?

Lastly, it was nice to see the Bucs play a post contest run for Jimmy Gruber.

Looking forward to your assessment of the corps Jeff. I think we might have a similar take on the show.

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As a drummer, I was more baffled by the drum numbers. I did not see the Cabs even close the Bucs. Or C-2 for that matter. I watched C-2 and Cabs warm-up. What's going on? .

C2's percussion had some *major* issues during the performance that led to even bigger ensemble issues! and that's why Cabs were so close to them in drums.

As for the effect comments, I can see where some folks are coming from, but for me, Cabs were the clear winner in Music Effect, though Bucs have made major strides to catch up. Visually, I can see it going either way (Bucs drill is their strength while Cabs guard is there's) it shouldn't have been a huge spread in either corps' favor.

As for the visual performance comments, that caption was supposed to be folded into Ensemble Visual, but clearly isn't being taken into account. Had visual performance been judged like it used to be, I would have seen it like this:

1. Fusion - strong guard, very clean feet

2. Cabs - strong guard, clean feet

3. Bucs - ok guard, clean feet at times (though more demand in drill)

4. White Sabers

----huge GAP---

5. Cadets2/Gold

Crediting only for what was achieved, not merely attempted, Fusion would have been the clear winner in my book.

I'm not sure what the visual ensemble judge was considering...I'd love to hear that tape.

Edited by Kamarag
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I was going to write a review of the show, but with school coming up I'm pressed for time. So here are my thoughts.

(I missed the first 2 corps.)

Fusion - I like the show. I was down pretty low so I'm sure a lot of things were literally going over my head from the last time I saw them, but they had an off night. Lot of the hornline licks were dirty, a few small ensemble tears and the guard thought they were the star of the show since you could hear them all the time. Super distracting.

Cabs - It was a tale of 2 shows. The first half of the show was off. Lots of individual issues, solo issues. I like the beginning electronic intro, though it seems a tad long. They did seem to have a very short tear between the battery, but they fixed it immediately. Second half of the show was noticeably better, though I feel they didn't really communicate well. I've seen the Reading crowd go nuts for Empire, so I can't really say that it was completely biased. I like that they got rid of the soft ending.

C2 - I like the show. Would have been nice for it to keep to the original Cadets theme where they took favorites from some DCI corps and did it there own style. Still, enjoyed it none the less. They still have some holes and are plugging them in. Lots of feet and spacing issues. Really enjoyed the Z-pull at the end of Rocky Point. Had better communication to the audience. Was the first corps that I saw that I felt had a good show.

Reading - Really liked this show. Not a complete fan of some of the arrangements and the Heat of the Day section seemed to go in and out of a groove (I'm biased however after 2002.) Was down low so I couldn't see a lot of the drill, but feet were a lot better. They move about 100 times more than there competitor and at times feet came through the sound, so it's really about pulling off what you have. The mello feature where they are moving across the field didn't seem as clean as the rest of the show. Lots of communication to the audience, however I think there were some more individual issues then usual for this time of year. Loved when the corps finally passed the pit and they just let everything rip.

I thought that the contest would be close, and really felt that it would go in Bucs favor. Only because the Cabs did not have a good show, but I wasn't sure if Bucs individual issues would hurt them.

I enjoyed the final encore and the send off of Commodore Gruber. He's put in a lot of work and has never been the type of person to demand the spotlight. A lot of people owe a lot to him and whoever comes in next has huge shoes to fill.

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I've seen the Reading crowd go nuts for Empire

Heck... I've seen every crowd go nuts for Empire!!!

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Heck... I've seen every crowd go nuts for Empire!!!

FREE EMPIRE!!!!

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Right on Jeff! There are certain aspects of this activity we have some to enjoy with precision and quality of performance being on the list behind the overall entertainment value of a program. I'm not so sure that the lack of a sheet is the culprit because the staffs would not disregard basic marching technique because there is no specific sheet. Professionalism of drum corps is and always will be a major consideration is quality of performance and scoring.

The effectiveness of the corps you are referring to was very obvious at this show. Having witnessed earlier viewings of these corps, I understood the scoring at that point in the season but not Saturday. The rapid late season improvement by Reading is bringing their program to life and that is trouble for the field of competitors. I though their level of communication Saturday was like nothing I have seen from them this season. After seeing the recap, I was baffled. Its too bad for the members of the Bucs that they were not rewarded for the efforts on Saturday night. It's not supposed to work that way.

As a drummer, I was more baffled by the drum numbers. I did not see the Cabs even close the Bucs. Or C-2 for that matter. I watched C-2 and Cabs warm-up. What's going on?

Lastly, it was nice to see the Bucs play a post contest run for Jimmy Gruber.

Looking forward to your assessment of the corps Jeff. I think we might have a similar take on the show.

well Bucs had a snare drummer break big time. that could have affected the drum numbers

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