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jonplaysbari

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  1. some of my favorite ballads: 1993 Cadets- Hymnsong on Phillip Bliss 1993 Phantom- Fire of Eternal Glory 1999 SCV- Barber Symphony #1 (I think) 1990 Cavaliers- All Things Bright And Beautiful 1994 Blue Devils- My Spanish Heart (my pick for best of all time) 1984 Garfield Cadets- Maria (okay, it was the opener, but even so....) 2000 Boston Crusaders- Con Te Partiro 1994 Cavaliers- Humming Music (I think) 2001 Cadets- Vide Cor Meum 1989 Phantom- "Going Home" theme from New World 1982 Blue Devils- Pegasus I could go on but that's a nice start
  2. And so my drum corps summer ends tonight in a sullen rainshower in upstate NY. Because of family/real life issues I shall not be attending any regular season shows in the next 2 weeks OR DCA Finals in Scranton, which is a huge bummer, but I am glad that even in a summer of retirement, I got to see some hot DCA action multiple times and a huge thanks to all corps for giving me my money's worth. Apparently, this time of year is the time for nature to try to drown the East Coast; this isn't the first time that Kingston has been held in the rain (93 comes to mind as another inclement weather show) and while it wasn't a storm to rival, say, Bayonne in 1996 (one of the few times I can ever remember a show being cancelled) or Allentown Finals in 99 (the less said about which the better) or last year in Toms River (pardon me while I have a flashback) it was still hard steady rain that started while I was in the diner across the street from the stadium having dinner with my mom pre-show and was still going on when we left after Hurcs show was done. We were both fairly well soaked by that time and neither one of us felt our life would be significantly worse for NOT seeing Blessed Sac so I am indebted to the DCA webpage for releasing the scores this early so I can include them in my review. For this particular show I sat on Side A, about the 30 yard line, 3 rows from the top of the stands. It was a very large crowd, although as it's a small stadium I'm sure it was easy to fill, There were the usual rain issues of having to crane one's neck to see over umbrellas in the rows below and I won't name any names but some people should realize that talking about your former corps when they're not on the field at the top of your lungs both makes you look like an a**hole band parent and gives your corps a bad reputation. And I'm not talking about just one corps either. This went on in the stands around me during the entire night and this after the Kingston announcer (NOT Legendary Fran Haring, #### his eyes) gave one of the best speeches on crowd etiquette I've ever heard, likening a drum corps show to a theatrical performance and positing that it's VERY disrespectful to try to enter a theater in the middle of a scene. Indeed. All that being said, a drum corps show was perpetrated tonight and let's get cracking with the review. Blue Saints, Sudbury (?) QUE First up in exhibition was a DCI Div. III corps on its way home to Canada. Unfortunately the program notes did not state the musical program so my mom and I entertained ourselves guessing what it was. As the corps was only marching 8 brass this was more difficult in spots than it may sound. According to www.corpsreps.com, their opening number was called One Fine Morning. I shall have to take corpsreps at its word as I don't recognize the song name but it had its groove on, starting with a contra "walk beat" solo. Second tune corpreps states was "Itty Bitty Pretty One", which I don't recognize said name either but I knew the tune (I think the old G E Smith band on Saturday Night Live used to do it sometimes) and it devolved into a singalong with the crowd anyway. 3rd tune was "Age of Aquarius" from HAIR and my mom got that right away. Go mom. All told, it was a decent show by a VERY young corps. Hope they have a safe trip home and good luck to them in the future with the whole junior corps thing. exhibition, no score New York Skyliners, Garfield NJ Sometime around here was when the heavens really started opening up and I had to dodge umbrella points or risk losing an eye. I'll warn now: none of my reviews from here on may be 100% accurate due to the fact that my program remained in my backpack to stay dry. Okay, back to Sky. This was the first time I had seen them since Clifton so I was stoked to see another bangup job in their quest to return to Finals. And granted, there were some fine moments. The guard is now in silver/grey jumpsuits (I believe these are new from Clifton although I don't remember) and shows up better staged in some spots, especially a pas de deux during the "I Have Dreamed" number. But there were at least 2 smear/tears in the opener that I counted and overall this was a much less energetic show than I had hoped. Granted, just like everyone else they were fighting the elements, but not everyone else let it hurt their show. As there are at least 3 more shows for them to do this year that I won't be seeing, I hope that this was just an aberrant night on the road to finalist status, but I won't be there to see any of that, and this isn't how I had hoped to see them for the last time in 2003. Good luck, Sky guys and dolls. Keep at it; it's yours to take if you want it bad enough. 8th place, 74.925 Bucaneers, Reading PA So I should've expected that a corps that, for the 2003 season, with apparently not a trace of irony, decides to give themselves a high seas/pirate theme, would get all jazzed up at the possibility of performing in a howling rainstorm. If I had, the Bucs performance would not have come as such a shock. And by shock I mean good lord, could you all be more inspired tonight to lay a job down! As my yucky crowd neighbors were being snotty and talking over the Bucs' opening notes, to the point where I barely heard the bosun's whistle that I so wanted to point out to my mom (I have a cousin in the Navy who had told her about it but she'd never heard it before), it took the Bucs' first huge hit (the one with the oversized white flags) to shut them up, although from there on Bucs had pretty good control over the crowd response. As I have already seen Bucs twice before and they haven't made any significant changes you can look up my previous reviews for show content. It was more of the same but much MUCH crisper and cleaner. I would venture the opinion that their spread from Empire and Cabs was probably too large. Also: Josh Decker is so totally the man. Where your Jim Russos and Dave Brunis practically script their crowd interactions, Mr Decker was obviously either a darn good actor or on a huge high re: Bucs performance tonight. Such high being totally justified. His corps has a high-quality package being made ready for finals weekend and I think there are a few corps that should be feeling breath on their necks right now. Good luck to MR Decker and co. and this is one show I truly with I was going to be in Scranton for. 3rd place, 87.975 Crusaders, Rochester NY Let me get to the good parts first. I saw Cru 2 weeks ago in New Brunswick and I was irked that I was watching from about row 4 and so couldn't get a read on the drill program. Well, tonight I was almost at the top and so could get a read, and it's pretty good drill. It ought to be; it's by Mr. I-made-Bishop-Kearney-a-bunch-of-superstars Vince Monacelli. There are very well staged musical moments in this show, particularly in The Swan and also in the drum feature Comedian's Gallop/Sabre Dance part. Also, the guard gave much to commend itself, particularly considering the weather conditions. All that being said, you gotta MARCH the drill just like you gotta play the notes. I'm not gonna waste anyone's time going over the music arranging choices; I spewed enough bile for one season in my New Brunswick review. Suffice it to say that nothing has changed since then. I'm slightly appalled, however, by the marching performance. For pete's sake, it astroturf. And also it's 3 weeks from finals. There's no excuses any more for missing stepoffs or playing the accordion with your intervals. As this is the last time I will see Cru this year I might as well say it: this corps gives me the impression that they are getting away with having a drum corps. The least amount effort put into design, performance, and end result that one can possibly get away with and still be able to call oneself a DCA finalist. Cru has done the worst thing to Camille Saint-Saens, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Dmitri Kabalevsky, and Aram Katchachurian that you could possibly fear: they have made their music boring. Shame on the design team for causing it and shame on the corps for allowing it to be performed that way. Their score tonight was absolutely jestified as a badge of mediocrity. Not as low as a newly returned Sky, not anywhere near the 4 corps that will make a difference at finals. 5th place, 81.05 Grenadiers, Kinston ONT This was my first read in Grenadiers, whom I have been tracking in the DCA recaps and I have been wondering why they haven't been scoring higher. Having finally seen them, I'm still wondering. Okay, so they're smaller than your average DCA Open class corps. Also, they're Canadian, and so have horrid travel issues. But they've got a decently programmed show and there's no lack of salesmanship from the corps in performing it. Grennies have chosen an all-Pat Metheny vehicle for this year's production, reminiscent of Crossmen's 1991 and 1998 explorations of the same tunes. There is an initial vaguely ponderous opening of Minuano that moves swiftly into the uptempo Third Wind. As the show wore on, I caught the design in the flag silks as mirroring some drill formations, which I thought was a neat subliminal trick. Specifically, an "X" in the silk that the hornline eventually made on the field in similar proportion. Neat. I do have to admit that the hornline may be undermanned for the task put before them regarding dynamics and stamina. Not that this is different than a few other corps I saw tonight but when your program is that of a DCI finalist, intentional or not, you're gonna be fighting history. I caugt myself a few times thinking that Grennies' program was "wrong" because it didn't follow the pre-existing script in my head from my Xmen played it back in whenever. Yes, that is wrong of me, but it happens, and who's to say judges aren't doing the same? That being said, yes, they do have size issues that they need to account for in performing (no overbearing from the sops, more effort from the lower brass. you know, the usual stuff that happens in smaller horn lines) but this is a well-*written* show and I hope that Grennies can take it as far as they want. 6th place, 77.95 Bushwackers, Harrison, NJ This is the point in the review where I wish to pause for a moment to pat myself on the back. 2 weeks ago in New Brunswick I said that in August, Bush attacks drum crops like they were at war. Since then, their score has jumped 8 points, even with new features added in for completeness. Noted tonight: in addition to the "one small step" chant in the opener, there is now a "one giant leap" coming out of the ballad and a "FOR MANKIND" flag at the very end. Also: much of the dancers in the ballad have "expanding globe" thingys used as props while they dance. I know that Pegasus winter guard used them in their 1999 production, also East Coast Jazz corps used them but I don't remember when. But in this show they make for a sweet little addition to the space theme. A very minor negative: yes, I love the moon landing scene at the end of the first half of Perilous Skies, and I understand that said Moon Boy is gonna have to come back and reprise it at the very end of the show, but as he's the only one who looks like himself I found myself watching him instead of the guard or corps in some places, and the guard and corps were totally kicking ###. I don't like to miss the Bush guard or corps when they are totally kicking ### because I am watching Moon Boy. I'm sure no one else does either. Huge positives: Bush was second in intensity tonight only to Bucs. Especially when you consider the weather conditions, the marching performance tonight was nothing short of phenomenal. The new parts didn't look new tonight either, and little things like the one-handed brass feature in the first half of Perilous Skies are crisp enough to be considered features in their own right. This is now a corps that's going places, and I feel about 2 inches tall for saying back in Clifton how panicked I was that they were attempting Perilous Skies with a small hornline. Said small hornline, along with the rest of the corps, is now less that 2 points from Bucs and less than 3 from Empire. For everyone except the champion, there are only 4 shows left in the season. 4. If I were the rest of DCA, I'd be in a panic right now. If I were Bush, I'd be totally loving my life, because Bush now has the spoiler role, and that's a good place to be for them. Remember 1986. Remember 1988. Remember 1992. Remember that I told you so. :) 4th place, 86.175 Empire Statesmen, Rochester NY Okay, first of all, about the hats. Or lack thereof, this being "Statesmen Style" we're talking about. Some old textbook I had a while ago talked about how comic book characters were always drawn with much less detail than a portrait or other representational art, and the less detail one could get away with the better. This is by design because it is human nature to "fill in the blanks" and project the identity one wants to on said character. I think this is true in drum corps as well; when watching your favorite corps you identify with being a Cab, a Bushwacker, a Cadet, a Blue Devil, etc. as there is a sameness to each marching member. ####, that's by design. The whole point of visual performance is not to stick out, to do as everyone else is doing, to lose individual identity and become one with your corps. I tell all that to tell this: it is exceedingly difficult if not impossible for me to make that emotional connection with a corps whom I can see which is male and which is female, which is blonde and which is brunette, which is old and which is young. So to make a long story short, I'm predisposed to not dig an Empire show. All that being said, I found them very impressive. Once you get past the Dave Bruni pandering, and the huge props stuck on the back hash, and girls tapdancing on dimes that have been abusing steroids, this is a corps that can flat out march and play. The hornline especially has a darn good book, a solid (and talented) line to play such book, and a few screamers to handle the necessary flash and pizzazz. This ain't a case of all sizzle and no stake, not by a longshot. Some highlights: the ballad of "I only have eyes for you"; the corps split into 2 parts scat-singing drum riffs for various battery sections to play ala this years Blue Devils; the full corps dance step section. All told, one #### of a show to bring into Scranton. And, as I've stated repeatedly above, at least 2 corps breathing down their necks on the way in. This is great for DCA. All these guys striving to wring every last ounce of product out of their performances is gonna spell an excellent weekend for the fans. 2nd place, 88.813 Caballeros, Hawthorne NJ This is kind of a freaky situation, although it may be one that is standard for front-runners. I wouldn't know, having never been a front-runner. But in the space of 3 weeks Cabs have gone from being a juggernaut and justifiably crushing the rest of the field to a corps about whom I almost wrote that their score was too high(after reviewing the results, I think the spread is correct in the top 4 corps). The fact is, I didn't think they were significantly better tonight than they were 3 weeks ago in Clifton. I do think they're still better than any of their competition, but the gap(s) are closing fast and the last thing you wanna do is get lazy at the end of the season. At this time, in this season, there are too many hungry corps that are gunning for you. Much like Bucs, Cabs haven't changed a whole lot if anything at all in their show so if you want show content read my Clifton and New Brunswick reviews. Some highlights: they actually made my mom's eyes bug out with their first hit in the opener; ballad was particularly strong tonight; for some reason, Kingston announcer (NOT the Legendary Fran) didn't announce Jim Russo's impending retirement. Final word: ths is the point in the season where you should be coming on the field totally inspired. I had said in Clifton that Cabs come on the field with a unique masculine swagger That was not in evidence tonight. If you all get lazy now, instead of being Tampa Bay whipping AFC ### in the Super Bowl, you'll be the New York Giants collapsing to the 49'ers when you least can afford it. I would've thought you all would be spitting venom after last week's loss to the Group 5 b*** in upstate NY. Am I incorrect? It's your championship to win or lose; I still believe that. You all need to decide that now. 1st place, 90.338 Hurricanes, Derby CT I've already seen Hurcs once, back in clifton. Since then they have added some more Vegas-style gimmicks: notably, giant dice in the very beginning of the opener, and later a wedding portrait thingy during "Everybody needs somebody sometime". Since Clifton the corps has cleaned considerably and also seems to have filled some brass holes. While I can respect the improvement this is still a show that I just can't get along with. It still looks to me to be disjointed; I still don't believe the guard is given enough roleplaying to do; most notably, previous weeks' scores have shown that they are regularly losing to a Grenadier corps that they, on paper, should be beating. Hurcs are a former champion and a perennial DCA finalist. Grennies have made finals only since the late 1990's. Unless Hurcs are having a cataclysmic Bush-of-2000 season of purgatory, which to all perceptions they are NOT, there's no reason they should be where they are. Except that they are, and from seeing them tonight in this lineup, they are exactly where they should be. What else is there to say? It's disjointed, it's not that well written in any event, for that matter didn't their drill writer do this show for his high school band last fall? I would think that he could do at least and equal job with the corps. :( And Hurcs are now stuck with it until Sunday August 31. Good luck, guys. You're gonna need it. 7th place, 77.675 And thus ends my first non-marching season since 1991. 1986 if you count all the foolishness I did prior to drum corps. Peace all. See ya next year.
  3. I am indeed. I bought a t-shirt and everything. It's tie-dyed, yet. I'm so proud...... :)
  4. I was originally going to attend the DCI Div. II/III show in Wayne, NJ today, as I had been made aware of it last week by Raiders visual guru Izzy Delgado. Unfortunately Wayne chose against being involved with drum corps at the last minute and I have psychically blocked the location of Leonia from my mind, as it is where my dad first moved when he left my mom. But enough psychoanalysis, we want drum corps! And so I hoofed it on down to New Brunswick, home of my old alma mater, Rutgers U. Actually, I lie; I only went there for 3 semesters and drank myself right out of a scholarship :(. Ah well. The show wasn't on campus anyway. It was way the #### down Kilmer Ave at what I reckon is the local high school stadium. Decent size facility, however, and as it was a junior/senior combined show there were fans of all stripes in attendance, many of whom I would imagine were getting their first taste of either "weekend warrior" drum corps or "DCI's OTHER division" drum corps. I fall largely into the latter category, as the time I could have previously spent attending shows as a fan I was marching in DCA. Therefore, be warned that I may tread on some toes regarding the juniors as I am unaware of a lot of the rivalries, competitive scene, scoring trends, etc. Note: my ticket location was for 7th row up Side A, on the 40 yard line. As I was wandering about pre-show, I met up with Annie's Mom, being, curiously enough, the mom of a color guard girl (well, the ONLY color guard girl) of the itty bitty Boonton marching band that I helped out with last fall, and also a Jersey Surf guard girl. For Heat Wave, Cabs, and Bucs I sat with her and her crew on 4th row side A, about the 45, after which the ones who had that seat made me move to the actual seat on my ticket, which is where I sat until after intermission, when I moved back down to the seat I had previously. Why anyone who paid 17 dollars would want to only see half a show is beyond me, but their stupidity was my gain. At around 6:45 a NJ State Trooper drill team took the field along with another trooper who gave a startlingly good rendition (a capella, yet) of the Star Spangled Banner. Shortly afte which the Phoenix Cadets entered the field in exhibition. Now, mind you, this ain't no SCV Cadets. These cadets looked mostly to be in grade school, with the oldest looking to be around 10. While they were inexperienced enough that I couldn't recognize any of their selections (note: they were not listed anywhere in the program either) the "awwwweee, aren't they cute" factor was much in evidence and anyhow, a group at that level should always be commended simply for their bravery and gumption in taking the field for public scrutiny. All of us were that age once, and you never know, the next George Zingali could be that little mello player who couldn't seem to keep his hat on his head B) . On to the competition corps! You know you want to! Heat Wave, FL I have never had to travel more than 45 minutes to get to drum corps practice. The farthest I have ever traveled to a drum corps competition was in 2000, when I had a show in Buffalo, NY, which ride took around 9 hours each way. So it's pretty darn jarring to hear Heat Wave DM Vic Kulinski tell the crowd before saluting "...it was only 22 1/2 hours this time. We're getting better!" <---- me thinking "you drove almost 2 days for DRUM CORPS. You are either extremely dedicated or possibly the most foolish group of people I have ever seen." Eek. So anyway, announcer Legendary Fran Haring (yup, back for a second week in a row)announced them as being a corps of "sultry" regard so I had high hopes for them. I wasn't disappointed, either. Okay, so for the second week in a row a show opened with a corps smaller than Cabs' soprano line. Small enough as an overall corps that they pleaced the pit emsemble on the front hash on the 50 and marched the whole show in front of it. Even with this staging there were still balance issues within the hornline, unfortunately. This is always an issue as it's hard enough keeping balance and blend together over large distances even with a full-size hornline. With the 18 that Heat Wave brought on, it was just about impossible. I gather that my being so close to the ensemble only excacerbated it. But let's give the (other) orange blue and white team credit; they hung in for the duration and had some very sharp moments. Show highlights: The ensemble was as sultry as legendary Fran had promised; the opener brought on a latin feel right from the start in the percussion, adding in backfield horn chords as the guard got thier groove on with decorated white sticks. Once the full hornline turned frontfield to kick in the melody, the guard switched to firey orange and gold silks in a sweet impact. In the second number, more latin feel, and to punctuate the groove, the guard brought out benches for the contras to stand on. Once the contras rejoined the drill, the guard took center stage and added a 3-dimensional efect to their work by performing a lot of it on said benches. In the third tune, the same benches were pulled into a diamond shape for an extended mello solo, paired with a saber solo on the other side. A decent gimmick used for just the right length of show, appropriately focusing what needs to be focused. The last tune started with Drum Major Vic asking if we liked to party in NJ. Apparently we don't so he asked it again:D. Cue guard leading the crowd in handclapping, etc. Overall, this is definitely a Class A show, if only just based on size, but small doesn't mean unenjoyable. God Bless Heat Wave for making the yearly trek and I wish them only the best. 5th place, 63.35 Hawthorne Caballeros, NJ Having already seen (and reviewed) Cabs once, I won't dwell on them too much. It doesn't appear that any major, life-altering changes were made in the past week and any differences otherwise in the program that I saw I would more than likely chalk up to my changed vantage point. All that being said, yes, the Cabs Imperial Progression made its next stop the New Brunswick show, and I have to believe that DCA slots are still picked at random as who would want to have Cabs perform second by choice? Anyhow, they did, so I'll just have to move on with my life . Due to the low vantage point, my scope of them was definitely "warts and all"; yes, even the Galactic Caballero Legion is human just like the rest of us and had the appropriate amount of missteps, color guard drops, sails, etc., horns cracking notes, and all that. Nevertheless, as is the true mark of a quality corps, none of that ultimately mattered. A blip and a half second later, any error was like it had never happened and the show rolled on like the juggernaut it is becoming. Man, you can't buy that kind of field presence. Well, maybe you can *sees the line on the ground and sensibly steps back from it before the demons erupt ^0^ *but I don't think these cats need to. In my own perverse way, I tried in last week's review to impress upon the reading audience who might be unfamiliar with either DCA or the Cabs that this is a group that is literally historical. They've been read into the Library of Congress for pete's sake. I have to believe (having never marched there myself) that having a mystique of such enormous proportions will translate into a stronger presence and, ultimately, stronger proportions. Any Cabs wanna help me out here? Do you all hype the history? 57 years of competition? Most DCA champs of any corps? Absolutely OWNING the 1970's ? Jim Russo being DM since before I was born(disclosure: I'm 31)? For an average joe like myself, especially an average joe whose corps wasn't founded until after Cabs had already won 5 DCA titles, it gets surreal. Anyway, as I said last week, this is the corps to beat in DCA, and even though it was at 2 separate, locations, the scores bear it out. Cabs are your frontrunner. Note: to the little kid who had one job to do tonight, just one (for his parents: this is my perverse humor of 4 AM). There are some things you don't do. You don't whistle "Yankee Doodle" in a crowded bar in Mississippi. You don't say the "M" word in front of a Crossmen alumni. And you don't ever, EVER drop Jim Russo's cape. Ever. You can now return to your regularly scheduled life. ;)^ First Place, 85.35 Buccaneers, PA Even at my lower, nitpicky vantage point, Bucs continue to impress me. This is one flat out quality corps. In some DCI article I read once, Michael Cesario defined a proper show concept as being 1/3 innovation, 1/3 tradition, and 1/3 state-of-the-art. Okay, so it's everyone's favorite whipping boy who said it, but it holds true and I think Bucs are a good model for it. They bring on all the old sea songs we've heard a thousand times before in the middle of the show and bookend it with 2 quality "modern" concert band pieces. And the show theme is literal enough in the marching and color guard design that the crowd has a "hook" (no pun intended) to identify with. Unfortunately for them, they're not getting the credit they deserve, and probably won't as long as they keep going to the same shows as Cabs. I'm not being sarcastic here, either. There are many shows done by many different corps who have been forgotten by history because they were done in seasons where the competition had manifestly better programs. I've marched a number of those seasons myself . Now that I've put everyone in a blue funk, some show highlights, which I hope history treats better than I expect it to: As I knew what to expect and so wasn't writing furiously in my notebook, I watched the entire opener and got to see some righteous strong staging in action. The drill designer certainly knows his guard staging and uses it to the fullest, especially the red & gold flag work near the end of the opener. That's worth the price of admission right there. The "Eternal Father" ballad is still a magical moment as well, and I think that my being closer to the ensemble worked regarding the focus of sound. Just a wonderful, wonderful lower brass this corps has developed over the last few years, and in long chords it just adds so much depth. One thing that I hadn't picked up on last week: in the closer, during a standstill horn arc during a guard feature, I'll be ###### if that wasn't the full brass line on a sixteenth note run. Nothing flashy about it, just about 16 counts of run and then back to pumping through the ending drill, complete with fake ending/real ending like I discussed last week. You don't want to forget a moment like that during the "horse race" for DCA champion. I'm gonna do my best not to. 2nd place, 83.125 Bushwackers, NJ Now that I've gotten my emotional trauma taken care of, I hope that this week I looked at Bush with a more objective eye. Oh, who am I kidding? Of course not. This is my review and it'll reflect my biases whether I admit to them or not. I'd rather be honest about them. After hearing "Surrender" again, there was a disturbingly long pause before Legendary Fran did the "are the judges ready" thing. Why this was, I dunno. But DM Chris Kilian kept the corps at parade rest and refused to do any mugging to the crowd AT ALL. Wouldn't you know it, the Bush field presence actually got the crowd down to just a few whispers so as not to disturb. God, I love having that kind of cache. As I was waiting for DCA to get their collective butts going, I did a horn numbers check, I counted 34 this week. Swee-ee-eet. Bush grows in numbers and strength! Wh00! Eventually the show starts, and a new gimmick has been added: after the obligatory countoff, there is an extra 8 counts where the corps chants "one-small-step" and takes a step forward. It's so quick you might miss it, but it's little details like that that make corps so much fun as a spectator. Other neat stuff: the end of the opener is still one of the great DCA moments this year, and floored this crowd as much as it did Clifton; in the ballad duet (played by Dave Minero and Jamie Coolbaugh, I found out) I watched the guard dancing this time and it was just so beautiful, even in flight suits; later in the ballad, during the horn standstill, instead of counting brass I watched the guard and got the full effect of the layered shades of blue in the flags, and even noticed the little crescent moon on each flag; the moon landing has changed a bit-now there's a Neil Armstrong character in a flight suit who strikes the actual landing "pose" much like what's on those MTV VMA trophies(note: I met the flight suit boy after the show and I promised I'd mention him in my review. His name's Brian and he's a nice young man. Brian, I have just given you 15 minutes of fame. Peace.); After the moon landing the closer has new drill and what I think are new flags, being now red white and blue. So last week's closer drill didn't look new as it wasn't, I guess. I dig the new ending though and the reprise of the end of the opener drill works for great continuity. It isn't all holding hands and singing kum-by-yah for the show though. As I was much closer to the field I could pick up errors just like in Cabs show, and, just like with any smaller corps, every error is magnified due to there being less people to watch. And even more so, as I held forth on the level of complexity in Bush's show last week and none of the apparent changes have decreased the difficulty level. It's a hard lonely that Bush has chosen to travel on. That's nothing new, I understand, but I'm still rattled at seeing it from the outside. I also now from much past personal experience that theis always happens, and Bush will assault the show like the US Army storming the beach at Normandy until it cries uncle, but I'm writing as a fan now and I want my beach stormed RIGHT NOW *insert Robert Frost quote here* 3rd place, 79.238 Rochester Crusaders, NY This is the first time I have seen Cru at all since 2001, and when I saw them then the show was all about latin Stan Kenton jazz and stuff, so hearing earlier in the year that Cru was doing an all-classical show, my initial impression was "huh?" Cru does not equal Phantom Regiment, any way you slice it. But I'm not a show designer, never have been, and I figured that the guys making big bucks to put this together up in Rochester know what they're doing and I don't and if I DID, I'd be writing it, not them. Well. (disclaimer: I'm about to get negative here so anyone who's in Cru, or who knows someone who's in Cru, or any Cru fans or whatever had better stop reading here or you'll get an anyurism or something). Where to begin. First off, classical pieces aren't exactly well-suited to drum corps necessarily; one of the prime reason Phantom has had success over the years with the Romantic period is because they had an over-balanced lower brass section. Traditional obbligato sop parts don't cut it when you're doing Scheherezade and your bari line has to cover cello, trombone, and sometimes french horn parts. Or doesn't cover them. In which case it's boring as all ####. Or when the very beginning of the movement of Scheherezade that you have chosen kicks off with delicious double tonguing in the trumpet section and for some godforsaken reason you CUT THE DOUBLE TONGUING. Not even to single tonguing. Just nothing there at all. I don't want to ridicule anyone but you understand there's a passel of cats outside my house right now and they're all meowing something fierce. Moving on, the next piece is "The Swan", from Saint-Saen's "Carnival of the Animals" suite, which I have a fine recording of played by Yo Yo Ma, with Daniel Barenboim accompanying on piano. It's not anything that would be the worse for wear to not ever be performed by any drum corps, ever. But if it's gonna be done, the first thing you DON'T do is ruin the stately idea of a graceful bird proceeding through the waters by taking it at andante tempo. The next thing you don't do is write it in a key that makes your soloist take the second half of the second phrase down an octave. You do that and the cats start meowing again. And once you get to Samson and Delilah, you don't take it at the same tempo as the Swan and then somehow forget to jack up the tempo once the Bacchanale kicks in. Playing everything at a monotonous andante is BORING. That's why pieces of classical music are in DIFFERENT TEMPOS. So there's contrast between pieces and said pieces stand out as various moods and flavors. For pete's sake, who wrote this stuff? And the worst part is, Cru in many ways performed better than Bush tonight. The corps as a performing ensemble is not bad at all; heck, nothing I've said should be construed to say that the corps didn't do the job on marching and playing their show. But for the love of god and all the saints, they are not going to play and march the book as written and get anywhere. Sorry folks, but just like last week with Hurcs, I call them as I see them. Cru should've crushed Bush tonight and thrown my roommate into an alcoholic wreck. Unfortunately, instead I write that they are boring as all heck and they deserve exactly the score they got. 4th Place, 78.2 *break for 10 minute intermission* So as I stated earlier, I know nothing about the Div. II "scene" so treat all this as a true rookie having his first drum corps experience. Esperanza, CA First up was a relatively new corps that from what I understand shouldn't have even appeared tonight. However, Leonia's loss (stupid town *kick*) was New Brunswick's gain and I got to see a corps that is definitely on the rise. The repertoire is your typical DCI obscure we-know-our-Sam-Goody-classical-section-better-than-you-do, except for the Phillip Glass opener, as Glass is the original perpetrator of repetitive ostinatos (i.e., it all sounds the same B) ). But by the end of their show, I didn't hardly care. There is a definite SCV infuence in their show design, and the more the merrier as far as I'm concerned. The flow of this show is very reminicent of SCV 99 and 00, what with the flow of the music from minimalist to 20th century orchestral and finally to modern symphonic jazz/pop (or did I just make that genre up?). Anyhow, they were easily the class act of the night in any division. Some highlights/notable thingys: the hornline used both silver and brass colored instruments, which wasn't nearly as obnoxious as it sounds; the guard was excellent all around-a whole bunch of the first piece was nothing but dance but i didn't really notice until they picked up silver flags for the first big hit (note: because of the nature of Glass' work, the first hit was long delayed. instead of being boring, it was a huge pressure cooker build to the horn turnaround and the guard's first big color statement, then BAM!); this is GOOD drumcorps I saw here. I frankly find it hard to believe they're only 4 years old. I certainly hope they return to the east soon. 1st place, 84.10 Phoenix, NJ Phoenix had the unenviable task of performing right after Esperanza. Phoenix is also obviously not a Div. II corps, if just because of size. And much like Heat Wave in the senior class, size worked against them. The ideas and flow of the show were A-ok, but with under 20 brass, you can't play a show built for mood changes and color ideas built for a much larger group. That being said, it certainly wasn't doom-laden or anything. The corps marched well, the guard was mostly fantastic and sometimes only good ( you know, I don't think I saw one bad colorguard tonight) and they got a decent crowd response. Sounds like a successful night to me. If they suffered by comparison to the other juniors, I will chalk it up to being just that: there was a THICK amount of quality here tonight for anyone to compete in. 5th place, 57.35 Spartans, NH Spartans might be feeling a bit of a burn right now. After all, Esperanza was a late addition to he show so it's easy to make the connection that, if not for Esperanza, I might be writing about how much Spartans dominated the field tonight. Well, such are the vagaries of fate. Regardless of the competitive scene, Spartans have a well designed quality show put together, and are yet another reason I was spectating. The show is Robert W Smiths' Divine Comedy suite, the first movement of which I played last year in corps. Spartans certainly don't suffer by comparison, however, taking a much different approach that stays much closer to the original piece. As the show wore on, I noticed that the corps was keeping a sense of continuity in the visual aspect; specifically, the guard uses a series of flags all based on the same basic visual of a set of concentric circles in the outer half of the silk. A nice little detail that keeps the crowd hooked in. Other than that, there's not much new to report. The corps just flat out marched and played well, keeping within the boundaries of their ensemble size (which to be honest was rather large, certainly bigger than Bush) and again, if esperanza wasn't here I'd be talking about a crushing win by them instead. 2nd place, 82.45 East Coast Jazz, MA I know East Coast Jazz much more as a winter guard, whom I competed against back when I was still spinning. So I expected a show written around the guard with some decent music thrown in. I wasn't all that far off, although that's not to denigrate the musicians in any way. The show was classic gershwin Americana, centered around the Concerto in F, with some Porgy and bess thrown in the end to kick it up a notch. The corps proper wore the pseudo-SCV uniform that's so popular nowadays, with the guard in light blue unis with a vesty thing on top, I reckon to add a little flair of old 1920's NYC. If that was the reason, it succeeded admirably. ECJ was noticeably smaller than any junior tonight except Phoenix, and it showed to an extent in their musical quality. The brass got a little edgy at times, although, as I've said previously, that might've been my vantage point of being right up in the brassline's face. All in all, hoever, a tight show, which I frankly expected to take out Surf, although I'm not shocked it didn't. Yet another corps I hope to see much more of in the future, and quite an enjoyable show. 3rd place, 78.05 Jersey Surf, NJ At last, the moment I've been waiting for. As mentioned previously, I was sitting with Annie's Mom, Annie being a Jersey Surf guard girl. So I got an earful of Surf politics and Surf mom gossip and a lot of rundown of Surf show changes, etc., none of which I shall repeat here. Long story short, I felt like a Surf expert before they even took the field. And then they took the field. Picture if you will a small army of kids in blue and white t-shirts, blue and white bermuda shorts, and white tennis visors swarming the field, and then all sitting down crosslegged facing the end zone. Meanwhile, the guard is wheeling out 5 huge candy-striped cabana tents in all different colors and setting up equipment that includes beach balls and those long floaty tubes that are now so popular. And if you're not giddy yet, the crew pushes out the podium which is a LIFEGUARD CHAIR. And when the drum major SITS IN IT WAITING FOR THE CORPS TO SET UP HE'S TWIRLING A WHISTLE. By this point I was already making a spectacle of myself. Fortunately, so was the rest of the crowd. Ah, the hometown advantage can be so sweet. Fortunately, the gimmickry extends well into the program. The very first brass notes are a huge hit of "School's Out", a la 1990 VK. How could the crowd not go nuts for that? And somehow it leads into a mutant hybrid of "A Summer Place" and "Niner-Two". And somehow in the reality of the show concept that makes perfect sense. And meanwhile the guard has already used the tubey flotation thingys as equipment (i think; it all got weird at some point)and somewhere in there the percussion sat on big wooden boxes and ued them as what's called Tako (sp?) drums. Slapping the side of your seat in rhythym taken to an art form. And somehow all of a sudden there's a bari solo right out of 1997 SCV doing On he Waterfront. But the corps doesn't WANT to play On the Waterfront. They want to play Wipeout. So a compromise is reached somehow. And it hasn't stopped making sense yet. Except I'm starting to think it never really did, right from the first moment someone decided that it would be really cool to wear sun visors instead of hats. And the whole time the crowd is laughing and cheering and applauding every time Surf cuts loose with a huge ballsy brass chord and I have to wonder; what in #### was Surf doing getting scored so low earlier in the season? This is not a loser show; this is not boring or poorly written. The whole design team has reinvented drum corps as physical comedy, in the tradition of the Bridgemen and the Velvet Knights. Curiously enough, the show is not yet complete; it ends at an obviously arbitrarily chosen place with much work still to come to make this package a contender. Regretfully for them, its already the end of July. I am hoping with all my heart that this comes together for them like it should; ####, like they deserve. Drum corps needs more shows like this, that make it okay to laugh at convention and be kids again, taunting the oh-so-serious authority that want everyone in a little box labeled "the way WE do things". Screw that. Play loud. Flaunt your calfs in a pair of shorts. Go march on the beach, if that is your desire. Be different, for god's sake. Peace. 3rd place, 79.15 That's all for now. Please see your local psychiatrist if you read this far. I shall be in Kingston in 2 weeks for my last show and review, after which good luck to everyone at Finals. Peace.
  5. I dont think it was rude to beat Bush.This is a competetive sport,and sometimes someone wins and sometimes not.The better corps won.But,I think the crowd enjoyed EVERYONE. I think he was saying it as a compliment to the CV. I saw it as a "welcome to the big time, CV" type of thing. Mike Yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes. Of course I'm gonna be a bit #####y if you beat my corps. Come on, I'm only human over here. If you want complete objectivity then read nothign but those threads where people are trying to come up with ranking systems that account for everything including the average humidity on nights with a full moon in Southern Louisiana in leap years. If you're gonna read reviews, the biases of the reviewer will rear their ugly heads no matter how hard you try to suppress them. So YES, I am ###### that CV beat Bush. Actually, it feels good to admit that B) . And yes, I do think that CV show is comparatively simpler. Having said that, I respond to my own comment with a resounding "So?". Simple doesn't mean bad or boring. The least notes I ever played in a drum corps show was the 1992 Bushwackers, which was ANYTHING but a bad show. Neither was it boring, so people tell me. CV on saturday night was nothing but good drum corps, whatever many notes you played or didn't play. And good enough to beat Bush. Also, so I hear, good enough to win best guard. *Tips hat in congratulations* Peace, all.
  6. Hmm, that's odd - Cabs haven't won the Grand Prix in Clifton since 1998. Jon, please be nice. We don't write stuff like this on DCP - save it for RAMD. 1) Has it really been that long? Remember, I had been marching in these things myself a long time and honestly I don't pay attention to who wins when it's not me. Which brings me to- 2) I'm sorry if I sounded nasty as that is entirely opposite to my intent, which was to emphasize just how much Cabs dominated last night. The very LAST thing I said in my review of Cabs was that no one else was in their league. I would like to imagine that that has a lot of cache coming from someone who competed against Cabs for over a decade and lost to them far more than I beat them. If my intent was that of insult or ridicule I would've left that part out. which leads me to- 3) For my money, this is the best Cabs corps since 95, and by corrollary (sp?) the best I have ever seen them hands down (my DCA involvement only goes back to 1992, so sorry). I apologize if my attempt at humorous exaggeration didn't work. I personally think Cabs' score was too low last night and I shall try to catch future shows to see if my first impression holds up. peace, all
  7. A beautiful night in northern NJ for drum corps, in historic Clifton School Stadium, for the 39th annual Drum Corps Grand Prix. How many grand prix is that? To put it in perspective, there were 8 of these bad boys before I was even born. There is maybe what you could call the oppressive weight of history in the air. For the record, I was sitting in Section C, row 32 (that's second from the top, pretty cool eh?) on side B of the field, around the 35 yardline. Therefore my perspective of musical sound, marching performance, etc. will necessarily be skewed. You have been fairly warned. 7:15ish Raiders The first exhibition corps of the night took the field sometime around 7:10, and so I was treated to the spectacle of a whole buncha teens taking off their shakos for the singing of the national anthem. Shortly thereafter legendary DCA announcer fran Haring announced them as the first performing corps. A quick perusal of the stands before they actually started performing showed Clifton Stadium as being roughly 75% full. That's a decent thing for 2 reasons: one, it lessens the possibility of someone walking in front of you during a performance, as they're hopefully already seated, and two, it reflects (hopefully) that the fans are there to see ALL corps, not just their favorites. Band parents are notorious for showing up to see their kid and leaving shortly after. Not this crowd. So. Back to the Raiders. The brass started off with a standstill hit of "O Fortuna" with the guard on big silver pipe things. Considering the brass counted about 18, it generated decent size and energy, and immediately grabbed the crowd's attention. In the second tune I wasn't able to get emotionally involved too much as a whole passel of rude fans decided to traipse all the way up the stairs of Clifton Stadium and file into their seats directly in front of me. I suppose the caveat from Legendary Fran about not moving around during a performance only applies to the competing corps. Ugh. ampssuck Next up in the show was darling ballad consisting mostly of 2 consecutive soloists (mello then sop I believe) withthe rest of the brass playing backfield. Due to the sound balance, it really brought out the front percussion parts; as I am a brass player, I normally won't notice such subtleties so kudos to the raiders in being creative. exhibition, no score 7:30ish Sunrisers The first COMPETING corps of the night was the resurgent Sunrisers making their return to field competition after a 3 season layoff. Sun has always been one of my favorite corps to enjoy as a speactator. Even in all the seasons I competed against them, they were one corps I always tried to watch after I had marched my own show. And of course they are historically one of the most competitively successful senior corps, you know, six titles, tiebreaker controversy, and all that B) . So just to see the Orange, Blue, and White on the field again is cause for celebration. No matter what the future holds, every one of the Sunrisers corps members tonight can say that THEY were the ones who returned Sun to the field. That's a huge accomplishment just by itself. Of course, now that we've celebrated the return, they had to COMPETE tonight too. And as a competitive corps, they were outgunned by every other corps tonight, including Raiders. I think their entire corps is smaller than the Cabs soprano line, but I didn't get a chance to compare numbers. That being said, Sun's score and placement is accurate based upon the show they performed. They have a long hill to climb, and I wish them all the best. Here's hoping that this becomes a yearly thing again. 7th place, 62.438 7:50ish Skyliners The first thing I noticed as Sky took the field was size. I have gotten used to the corps being class A size over the past few years, and their opening set was definitely all about the field coverage. The second thing I noticed was Drum Major Konga working the crowd, which played all the way up to those in the nosebleed seats like myself. Excellent. Nothing like a down to earth drum major for a down to earth corps. And it bled over quite well into the corps performance. Sky's show doesn't seem to have any artistic statement to make whatsoever, and this works well for them I think. Seems like nowadays everything has to be "art", and have "aesthetic value". F*** that. With Sky, you get good old-fashioned goodtime drum corps, just the way god intended :D . The show style reflects this mindset well. The opener is traditional firey jazz, lots of emphasis on the colorguard, second tune more of a latin feel, with the guard on what appears to be the Garfield "commas" from their 2001 show. Third number is a power ballad complete with obligatory company front (also complete with Konga mugging to the crowd for extra cheers :) ) And top it all off like icing on the cake with New York New York(the Sinatra, not the Bernstein, natch), which even has the shuffle step and NY skyline flags from back in the early 90's. I think that's doubly appropriate as this is the best the corps has been since about 1995 and I hope they can build on the cache they are generating with this show. 6th place, 72.363 8:10ish CorpsVets I'll leave my griping about tonight's results elsewhere, or maybe keep it out completely as the last thing I want to do is rain on their parade. But. I hope these guys are ready for the intrusive microscope that is 21st century drum corps. Defeating a perennial contender (and multiple DCA champion, for that matter) in their home state is a big deal any way you look at it and, well, now that they've done it once, they're gonna be expected to do that a lot. And hey, it's only July. And now they've got everyone looking their way. Ahem. Back to the actual SHOW review CV immediately showed they know how to get attention just by the way they came on the field. A full corps length vertical pass in review right along to the 50, and open it up into a box. You could hear the crowd "ooooh"ing over in Paterson, I bet. In fact, that set the tone for their show in a way. A lot of big, blatant visual moves at midtempo that average joes in the crowd can gush over. Also, very catchy hummable tunes in the music book. Not a whole lot of challenge for performer or crowd. But hey, you can't argue with the result. These cats beat Bush and slaughtered Hurcs and Sky. They are now a player. You have all been warned. there are no blatant weaknesses in any section and they were certainly just as clean as anyone else out there. Show hilights: opening hit (blast really) as the corps rotates the parallelogram; the section later in the opener with the whole guard on rifle; the bluesy "groove" section complete with pool cues being spun; the furious ending drill. All HILIGHTS. Not just "oh, this stuff was better than other stuff". HILIGHTS. Again, you have been warned. 3rd place, 79.463 8:30ish Buccaneers This is one corps that I have been hearing a lot of buzz about, and also has been taking more of a "modernist" track the last few years. They went so far this year as to play band music, even :). The whole corps in this year's production starts in a huge curviliner figure that i believe stretched from the 20 on side A to the 10 on side B. That's a pretty daring start for a corps that Jeff ream griped about having a lack of brass players (I think ). And it develops in an "unzipping" pattern to a huge brass hit complete with guards on huge white flags that billow like sails. Genius. Getting the pirate/buccaneer motif started right from the get go. Later, there's the medley of: a swingin' Russian Sailor's Dance, Blow the Man Down, and another swing tune, this time Drunken Sailor. It looked like a heck of a good time for the corps, especially the guard, all frolicking around huge wooden barrels, that I reckon were to contain grog. Last tune was a MacBeth band piece ("Sea Traders") that cranked up the tempos and marching demand 2 or 3 notches. There was even a fake ending/real ending trick. *huge horn chord here at a standstill* *horns cut off, crowd cheers* *wait a few beats* *do another ending, with complicated drill* It worked like a charm. Apparently I'm not the only one who thought so, considering they are continually dogging the Cabs, to the point of even winning percussion tonight. And seeing as how this is one of the Cabs' strongest corps in years, finals looks to be a very interesting weekend. 2nd place, 81.600 8:50ish Hurricanes I'm not gonna write a whole lot about this show, and to be honest, a lot of what I AM gonna write is negative. Maybe it's just the fact of having to perform after Bucs, who impressed the bejeezus out of me. Or maybe it's the fact that whoever designed the show chose not to do a whole lot of roleplaying, ala Bucs' pirates or Bush's astronauts, so it's more difficult to get "involved" at a fan. I mean, the setup to kick off the performance couldn't have been better. "Is the corps ready?" "Oh yeah, we're ready,' says the cute feisty blonde drum major. *crowd laughs/cheers appropriately* *colorguard takes its position, holding huge playing cards* And then the whole thing goes to ####, and becomes essentially lightweight jazz/swing with a bunch of famous melodies spliced in with no real rhyme or reason. Okay, so it followed the original piece pretty closely, and yeah, I get that they're all Vegas associations(the Rat Pack, Elvis, um, I guess you can make the Bacchanale a vegas thing even though it's a stretch, and I have NO IDEA what Mag 7 was doing in there; neither did the crowd, apparently, a substantial amount didn't really respond)but there was no real "hook" to make it a show as opposed to a few tunes slapped together. Quite honestly, I expect Sky to pass this corps up and once that happens, it's anybody's game. Sorry Hurcs, but I call them as I see them. 5th place, 74.600 9:05ish Bushwackers Okay, so I'll do as best I can to keep my prejudices out of this review. I doubt that will work, but I'll start by describing my impressions of watching a corps I marched with for 11 straight years perform in competition without me. First impression, warming up towards the crowd while in opening set. Due to the way the opening set is written, the hornine ends up withthe center of the arc pointed right at me. So it's like they're playing "Surrender" just for me *heart melts into goopy sentimental mush*. As soon as the corps steps off, one thing is immediately clear: Bush marches their opener faster than anyone else marches anything in their entire show. As there has been a preponderance in the night's corps to save the speed until the closer, one can only wonder what Bush has in store for later in the show. As the opener winds to a close, I get to see the guard/brass passthough in the end-of-the-opener drill that Jeff ream had mentioned in a previous review. Genius. The crowd responds joyously. Unfortunately, it's the first time they respond in the show to that point. I shouldn't complain; after all, Clifton is Caballero Country (heh, I made an advertizing slogan; that'll be $10,000 plus royalty points B) ), but this is MY corps marching here and I want everyone to love them as much as I do. Second number is "First Contact" which solo in it is now a duet on flugelhorn. During said beautiful flugel duet, the hornline engages in standstill body movement. As the show design is somewhat avant garde, the standstill body movement works very well. As I am watching the standstill body movement, I *don't* watch the guard dancing, which is saying a lot for me as, as a spectator, I generally consider the corps to be a backdrop to the guard. Once the brass kicks in to finish off the ballad, I finally get to count heads. 31. Thirty-one. Thirty one brass. My corps is about to attempt "Perilous Skies" with 31 brass. Jeepers. Well, they're already in the middle of the show so it's not like they can stop and ask for a 5 minute water break. So part 3 scoots right to the moon landing including the planting of the flag, and the final end reiterates the guard/horn passthrough, but from a different angle. Hands down, this is both the most physically demanding and also (I think) the best designed show of the night. Okay, so Sky doesn't need to be "art". But Bush does. This is obviously a show with a "higher purpose", with aesthetic goals in mind. and that's okay. ####, it's wonderful. Challenging the both the performers and the crowd with the unfamiliar and with deeper ideas can kick butt. Bush has made its corps identity in doing just that. The difficulty in doing so, however, is that at this point in the season the competition is done working out the kinks while you're still trying to made your vision a reality. It also can't help that Bush might have been the smallest senior corps tonight next to Sun. On the positive side for Bush: one, getting one point closer to Cabs, at Cabs' home show; two, apparently the ending I saw tonight was a new ending. if so, it didn't look freshly learned; three, and this might be my prejudice as a currently non-active member, Bush by far had the cleanest individual marching tonight. they were the only corps where(and this was from the top of the stands, mind you) i could see feet rolling, the "flash" where all the legs come together at the midpoint of a step, straight legs and high posture in backing up. On the negative side, the corps is outgunned in brass. This doesn't mean doom, of course. 31 brass made for a very successful corps in 2001. But I would easily believe that the difference in size had a lot to do with the scoring tonight. Okay, that's as close as I will come to griping. As a spectator, I thought the show was genius. "Nuff said. 4th place, 78.675 9:20ish Caballeros Oh come on, really. It's the Cabs in Clifton. What do you think? I mean REALLY. If all the Cherubim and Seraphim in heaven formed a corps, they would lose to the Cabs in Clifton. Okay, maybe a corps of solely Seraphim would lose:). Seriously, now, the Cabs are by far the best they've looked since 1995. The overhaul in staff has certainly worked to their advantage, the modernizing of their visual design also. This shouldn't be news to anyone, but one of the most appealing things about Cabs is also what I believe is so appealing about their drum major. I detect no irony in either one of them AT ALL. Whether it's Russo whipping off a spangled cape on the podium or just the whole blatantly masculine unreconstructed pre-feminist swagger the whole corps exudes; they mean it. They honest-to-god BELIEVE this stuff. Taking the field tonight in Clifton they strode on like they owned the field, which I guess they did, seeing as how it's the grand prix and all. But it's like that at every show I've ever seen them at. And the crowd at every show I've ever seen them at eats all of it up like my dad chowing on spare ribs. And tonight more than ever. You'll notice I haven't mentioned their actual SHOW at all. There frankly isn't very much to say. Okay, maybe the smoke coming off the drums in the closer or something, but it's not like they haven't done stuff like that before. It's always the same old stuff. Oh, and the rumps are at the end of the opener, not the end of the closer. Eek. Stop the world, eh? But it's always the same stuff, yes? It's the CABS, for heaven's sake. As Bush's identity is to always push the envelope, it's the Cabs' identity to change as little as possible, to be the anchor for the fans and the activity to use as a baseline. 39 grand prix? Heh. That ain't nothing. As an old DCA program said, when the world of drum corps ceases to be, there'll be a Caballero there as the last one to turn out the lights. With that kind of cache, it's no wonder that tonight no one else was in their league, not by a long shot. I'd say the rest of DCA has their work cut out for them First place, 83.65 As I was with my sister and her boyfriend, who wanted to go out for some diner chow, I skipped the alumni corps and actually I am indebted to www.dcacorps.org for having the scores up before I even got home. I shall be attending the Kingston show in a few weeks and may do a second review as an update to the themes dicussed tonight. Peace, all.
  8. Picks based strictly on seeing live performances: Cadets 1994. I'm biased as 2 of my best friends from h.s. were in the guard, but it's my personal fave for the corps. Cavies 1999. Best I've ever seen them and matched the show concept perfectly (disclaimer: I did not see Cavies at all in 2000 or 2001) Blue Devils 1996. Pure ###### gangsta color guard. Winter Guard: Emerald Marquis 1992. When I saw them during the season I thought the show was kinda "cold", but since then it's become one of my favorites. San Jose Raiders 1992. Escapade 1992-1995 Well, you know, um.......I have never EVER in any band/corps/guard medium heard the kind of ovations this guard received at championships ALL 4 YEARS. And in every case it was justified. Anyone who wants to see what it takes to turn on an audience and still be a clean, championship-caliber group needs to watch this guard's videos until they go blind. Bishop Kearney 1995
  9. Well, if you had mentioned specific years, any one of a number of mid-80's Spirit guards would rank in there. As you did not, then it's all about Cadets. :)
  10. Mmmkay, some of my faves: 1994 BD, soprano tutti soli in "Night Streets" 1995 BD, full hornline (?) runs during "Caribe" 1999 Bush, the "trading fours" section of Putting It Together (disclaimer-I was in the baritone line) 1984 Garfield, a whole bunch of stuff during "America" Jon Bush 92-infinity
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