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Bill_VA

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Everything posted by Bill_VA

  1. Excellent first score for Heartliner. I am sure those kids were stoked at the size of the audience. I am sure they got a great reception! They will be a happy and tired bunch heading back to King of Prussia. Pennsauken will come up fast for them.
  2. The advertisement claims 12 corps so I think there were several Alumni tonight some probably before the how and one afterward. Just a guess.
  3. Bucs 98.50 MBI 95.80 Cabs 94.83 Hurcs 93.?? Cadets2 91,63 I think this is what they said.
  4. Such a tragic news regarding Dick Pronti. My pryaers and condolences to the whole Pronti family. He was a gentlemen and a great friend of the drum corps community. His presence at the 2012 DCA World Championship and specifically the I&E will be a large whole in my heart. God bless you Dick!
  5. I agree that Kevin has provided some superior commentary of the shows. Not easy to do and stay up on all of the action on the field. Thanks to you Kevin and for DCP for all the hardwork you all put into brining this activity to the folks who could not come out and see this live. I hope it inspires some of you to seriously consider Annapolis, MD next Labor Day - It will be something special.
  6. I marched in the Black Watch in the 70's and the corps was fashioned after the Kilities.
  7. I swear I had this drum beat from Fusion running around in my head all night long. Drove me nuts - not a long trip for me!
  8. Drumline looked like they were kicking it tonight. Drummers love the open and jam parts - great aggression reliver!
  9. That is great to hear ! Will July 30th be your first official judged/scored show? Have you been given any score indications for all of your field exhibitions ? Looking forward to see you all at the DCA World Championship.
  10. Just curious , what is happening with the Kilties this season? Their schedule indicated several shows going back to June that they were to attend but have seen nothing as of yet. If this had been discussed before sorry for the repetition . I did notice that someone stated in a score ranking forum that their next show is July 30th - did they have a real first show yet?
  11. In a few words, not too shabby for a first show. Much is incomplete especially in the guard but what was presented overall had much to like. Some phasing between brass and percussion, some staging especially with the percussion mid show. Brass had spunk but at time ran out of air so it got a bit thin at times. One person I overheard said he felt there was a lack of a consistent pulse in the percussion section. The audience gave them a great reception. The overall "Blueccentric" program is pretty daring and if all the elements jive it could be highly appealing. It was hard to judge it fairly because there was definite missing elements in the show to add the cohesion and to make the "whole" show make sense. I particularly liked "Blue Rondo a la Turk and Bluette" number which had some nice complex rhythms. Guard show completed is a must to nail more of the visual aspects. Liked the multi-blue CG unis with the hoods though I am not sure the hoods were all that necessary. But hey time will tell. Hope this ansers your question.
  12. Hi Ray! Long time no see. Very interesting questions. Unfortunately I have no qualified answers. This is the first Open Class show I have attended in several years and it is unusual for this type of venue this far south. I use to attend and report on Open Class Championship at DCI for DCW so I use to have a lot of exposure to these corps. But that was a few years ago and I have not seen any others but these six corps. I do see the Internet and I have access to the Fan Network but that is woefully inadequate to make any real judgements. Spartans are fresh back on the field and seem to be doing a terrific job, BD B is looking good as a possible repeat. But these are opinions without basis of seeing any of their performances in person. And more specifically in the Open Class it can be any given competition that magic might happen and a corps simply makes it all happen for that one special night. We all live and love this activity just to see if that may just happen. I can answer these questions, it was not as large of a crowd that the show sponsored hoped for, the heat was unreal so I am sure it kept some away. The show was moved from one high school to another because the other high school received a private donation to update their field so it became unavailable. The show materialized almost out of thin air because it was offered to the NOVA DCI Group in April in order to get a show close by for those few corps that will be a part of the Boy Scouts celebration parade, remember the other World Class was in San Antonio, TX for that big show. the rumor is that the Boy Scouts had anticipated the Atlanta regional for this weekend so those World Class corps that are Boy Scout sponsored would be able to hoof it up here for the parade. But alas it was San Antonio so it was impossible for corps like Madison and them to make here in time. One good note is that Jersey Surf are performing a show that will fit nicely into the celebration. I digress, the audience may have been a little over 1,000 possibly, it was hard to say as they were stretch out a bit so as not to offend anyone in the heat (small joke here ). What audience was here was highly respectful to all the corps and had geniune interest in all of the performances. Their reaction was amped up appropriately when the right things happened, so it was more than polite. Drum Major only retreat, Surf brass did an encore as I mentioned before announcement of the scores. By the way, if you ever get to a show with the Jersey Suf in attendance, check out their souviner table and look up Bill Ives, because he is worth the price of admission. He is hysterical and tells such great stories. He hawks the Surf merchandise and is a master salesman. As I said, worth the price of admission.
  13. Nope! I am only a writer with a computer and Wifi connection. I wish someone was here to take pics. Maybe some will later.
  14. And here we go with the scores from tonight competition: OPEN CLASS 6th - 52.40 Spirit of Newark 5th - 64.95 Les Stentors 4th - 68.25 Racine Scouts 3rd - 74.50 Raiders 2nd - 75.25 Legends 1st - 75.65 7th Regiment WORLD CLASS 1st - 75.15 Jersey Surf Yea! Surf finally got that elusive 70+ number - it was well deserved, they were awesome. Excellent show tonight even if it was a oven prior to the start of the show. Several of these corps will be performing tomorrow for a parade honoring the Boy Scouts that start their national jamboree on Monday. Ok, that is enough of this tonight! Everyone go home and have a great evening!
  15. Jersey Surf brass line is back on the field for a special encore performance. Hardly anyone has left the stands. The brass performed a cool rendition of the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory number "Imagination" (remember it is used in that AT&T commercial with the paper cutouts).
  16. OH MY GOD!!!!! Jersey Surf entered the field with thunderous applause! They're new uniforms look stunning! The corps looks huge and tall! Color guard is also stunning in their skin tight cooper coloring outfits that really accents the show concept "Living The Dream" show. Front ensemble opening with lone rifle tokickoff Organ Variations on America is so cool! And it gets LOUD!!! Very patriotic audience this evening. Loving everything they are doing tonight. Wow brass was on fire tonight, powerfull performance, crisp and clean, Percussion feature with effects from front ensemble was beyond cool. Color guard was outstanding themselves they handled the equipment and their choreography with much style. The Ray Charles inspired number of America the Beautiful was awesome! The piano opening was oh so sweet. And brass came in with a solo bari that was brilliant! It is such a great number - well written and performed with panache! Words do escape me on how to best describe this program. Festival Variations On A National Air is such a mix of emotions and phrases all rolled into a outstanding number. It is so packed with visual and music and the theme is so well represented in the design. This programs has feet and the corps can make a great statement when they come to Indy. Surf has a mini-camp coming up so they can lock this program down and come out swinging at DCI Eastern Regional. Stand up and salute everyone - The Jersey Surf are passing in review! Fun! Fun! Fun! - much to love, listen, and simply enjoy! This ends the competition part - stay tune for scores.
  17. Coming up next was Legends from Kalamazoo, MI with their highy intriguing show titled "Ruins". Use of many interesting props on the field to enhance the theme. Vesuvius kicks off the show. Some really tough brass licks are attempted with many done quite well. Excellent pace to the program, high powered and in your face. Percussion is thunderous out there, they practically steak the show at times. They have a good demanding book and the perfdorm it so well. Eruption (from the Tarkus Suite) is very beautiful production with the backfield performance that comes off very nicely ensemble wise. Nice accented body from brass and the color guard works hard with the huge silks of blue, green, and silver. The music selection has such majestic overtones. Pines of Rome and Fountains of Rome for example gives the corps a lot to work from. The color guard looks great dressed in a dark cooper coloring flowing dress in the style of goddesses. It was a good overall performance but execution was a bit mixed. The show has a lot of demand and it will be a monster when it all comes together at the same time. This concluded the Open Class portion of the competition. Next up is the Jersey Surf and the debut of their new uniforms. I can't wait! But you will have too! Stay tuned!
  18. Coming out of the intermission, the corps is the Raiders from Wayne, NJ performing their 2010 production titled "Platinum Celebration" like several other corps this season, membership has been at a premium. This seasons corps is small but mighty as they have a nicely talented base of young performers. This is the corps 20th anniversary and according to Tom Maiello, Director, the corps wanted to make this a celebration season so the music is different than previous years with a more upbeat sound and tempo. Corps is looking sharp with their blue cadets tops over black pants with white trim. Color guard looks lovely in their white dresses with the slight trim in silver. Elegance seemed to be the theme this season. Kicking off their production was Celebration Fanfare, the corps lines up across the mid field and looks fantastic. Highly bold opening statement from brass and percussion from note one. Loud, strong, majectic. Great start! Very nice lower brass statement not highly demanding but performed very well and cleanly. The trumpets and mid-range brass take over with their minor feature and sounded very nice. Will say that the lower brass sounds marvelous and they support the musical theme well. Color guard is handling the nicely developed program with cool equipment handling. Very cool abupt ending. Exultate is the corps nxt number, that opens quietly with the front ensemble. Another place for the lower brass to shine coming off after the pit intro. Visually the color guard is spread through the brass with the front ensemble doing a nice feature and the brass accenting in bidy.. Cool, color guard has some beautiful pastel swing flags that complement their outfits. The celebration continues with Exhilaration with a ore upbeat tempo and more full brass ensemble. Visually the show moves a nice pace adding to the demand of the performers. Color guard on sabres perform nicely but could use more visual impact as the corps is not moving at this point. The show ebbs and flows tempo and style wise. This is especially true with New Beginnings where the color guard has moved on to some lovely multi-blue and orange silks. The show slides right to left and concludes with a bold statement. Brass was nice but mixed performance this evening. Percussion has a nice book but some mixed performance there as well. Color guard has a tough job staying visible at the right time but they work very hard.
  19. Looking really cool in their mostly black uniforms, the 7th Regiment took the field in a tight block. The overlay triangle of blue and white stands out prominently, and is the first corps of the evening to use special effects through the front ensemble. Wow! very bold statement from brass and percussion seconds after the announcements. Trumpets were fantastic with their intonation and overall tone. Outstanding opening with all elements. Color guard has a nicely demanding programs. Brass is excelling tonight. Several different tempo changes and total feel of the music and program handled with aplomb. Danse Macabre was well written for this corps talent which is in great supply. Excellent effects as the corps danced into the next number A Long, Long Time Ago (from Pan's Labyrinth). Very mysterious and surreal sounding. Nice control brass on the held long notes. Almost full volume. Percussion has been excellent in both support and feature. Good over drill design and the performers handle it well. Color guard's got real game, they have a nice book and they are doing a great job this evening. String Quartet in F Major is excellent when near the end of the number the color guard pulled out these stuff... somethings and danced with them to the number loud climax. Next up was the corps performance of Serenada Schizophrana (mvt. 1 Pianos). Certainly added to the corps overall crafty performance. This is a well engineered program and if they can get consistancy from start to finish will work well for them come Championships. Visually strong, musical sound, highly expressive, just an overall excellent program. It was much fun to watch, intriguing to listen to, many cool ideas that made this show a plus. Now intermission! Stay tuned!
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