2011 Sound of the South

[Sayre Kulp]

Maybe it's because I haven't been on a rehearsal field all Summer, or maybe it's because I spent nearly 3 hours in the air conditioned car on the way to this show, but I stepped out and it felt like a roaster to me, even though the thermometer only read around 88 degrees. Still, it made me wonder how the heat would impact the corps tonight.

The venue for the show was at Brentsville High School in Nokesville, VA. Known to locals as "Cow Pie High," I have to admit that the show site is kind of in the middle of nowhere. However, much to my surprise, the stands filled up and did so early. Clearly Shenandoah Sound did a great job promoting this show to the local community. Thankfully, I got their early and was able to snag a seat on the 50 yard line, one row from the top (though this stadium, like Wildwood, is not very high).

The show began with a vocal quartet honoring the stars and stripes (that were missing, by the way) with a barbershop arrangement of the Star Spangled Banner. This was well received by the crowd, and I enjoyed it as well.

First on the field was Windsor Regiment entering their second contest of the year. Word was that Windsor would be debuting their finished closer tonight and I expected their score to jump significantly. Taking the field with 22 brass, 11 battery, 8 pit, and 14 color guard, Windsor once again turned heads with their classy look and serious field presence. The intro to the program sets the stage very well with the entire corps engaging in the tango. The staging in the ballad is much better this week and more clearly defines the stage for the mellophone soloist. Speaking of which, the solo communicated much more clearly tonight, however the end of the solo is still buried under the brass line's re-entry. One other staging issue remains - the dancers down front are almost hidden by the pit. It's a shame, because they are doing some nice work. Moving them back just a few yards would allow them to shine through. The guard now appears to be outfitted in more permanent costumes. This helps significantly with their overall appearance. The drum line was more audible tonight, however I find their book a little too "notey" at times. It is a very complicated book for the battery and it sometimes toes the line between challenging and unreadable. Don't misunderstand that statement however, as this drum line is throwing down, however it needs to clean up to really get the credit they are looking for with that book. The finished closer is great and provides a much better flow of theme and color and adds a decisive finale to the program. There were some stamina issues in the brass that didn't seem to be there in Wildwood. I would suspect that long travel times plus a longer show might have contributed to that. It's something that I'm sure they will overcome by seasons' end. Overall a very good performance of a show that will only get better of the next several weeks.

Next on the field was another new corps, Tampa Bay Thunder, making their premier performance as a DCA drum corps. Preseason reports (including numbers) for this corps were very good so I was hoping they would live up to the hype. The corps looks very crisp and professional in their khaki unis. They are reminiscent of Phantom Regiments beige uniforms from some years back. One of the first things I noticed about this corps was the honor guard. It is always great to see a corps honoring tradition like that. I also noticed as they marched on that they were sporting a marching cymbal line. I often comment about how much a cymbal line adds to the overall presentation. I tried to really watch this corps, so I didn't take many notes - however I can make a few comments. The cymbal line, while being a nice addition to the drum line could do SO much more both musically and visually. One only needs to look at the Bucs' cymbal line to see what I'm talking about. The opening part of the program sets the mood of the high seas, but I think more can be done to establish this. There are numerous special effects that can be created in the pit to further achieve this. I must admit that for a corps marching 33 horns, 17 battery, 9 pit and 12 color guard, I was a little disappointed at the lack of volume and impact. Maybe it was first-show jitters or even just playing it conservative, but there are some points in the show that I would love to see them really open up and hit me with a wall of sound. As far as the programming goes, I am inclined to believe that this is where their score may be lacking. The writing is fairly simplistic. The drum line plays a lot of open rolls and tap rolls and not a whole lot of flams, cheeses, or any of that "fun stuff." Even the brass arranging is a tad "old-school" in chord structure and design. My honest opinion is that the show sounds like it was written about 10 years ago. The style and demand level in drum corps has risen over the years and this show, while performed very well, will not stand up to what today's corps are throwing down. Granted, there is a WHOLE lot that they can do between now and championships to add to the program and put themselves back in the mix. For one thing, they need to finish the show. Much of the end was performed at a standstill with no guard work. Just completing the show should help their scores improve. Still, I think this corps will learn a lot this season and has a bright future ahead of them. They are another great addition to the growing DCA South region.

Host corps Shenandoah Sound took the field next. The corps is toeing the line with the magical 35 number again this year, but fortunately it appears they have 35 players as opposed to several fillers standing in to meet the numbers quota. The corps is playing a Gershwin themed show, which is a great fit for this corps. The corps is more well-rounded this season, sporting 14 horns, 8 battery, 8 pit, and 4 color guard. I know some of you math majors out there are counting 34 total, but the two drum majors swap places on the podium and the field throughout the show meaning all 35 performers count. The opening soprano solo is a nice way to start the show, though it's almost TOO schmaltzy. It's okay to embellish on solos, but don't get so carried away with it that you lose the integrity of the melodic line. The female drum major also performs with the color guard for part of the show. In recent years, it has been noted that the drum majors for Shenandoah Sound that take the field are distracting because they are dressed differently than the corps proper. This year, both field conductors wore black, which fit with the guard costumes and helped ease this distraction, however the female major needs to tone down the outfit a little and the makeup a LOT. She stuck out both on the podium and off. That aside, the corps has a much more balanced sound than in previous years and that coupled with a more fluidly designed and fan-friendly program make for a very enjoyable viewing experience. The mellophone soloist did a great job, though the line is awfully low for that voicing. Now that I think about it, this corps is sporting SEVERAL really great soloist this year. The male drum major takes the field and plays the baritone solo with a great tone. And this corps has a young female contra soloist that will knock your socks off. She can really play the horn (an old 2 valve G horn, I might add) and rub some funk on it! It's worth watching this corps for the soloists alone. It is really amazing what they managed to do this year, again with small numbers. There's no question that the corps is improving each year. It would be great if they could really start to grow in size as well.

Last, but certainly not least, was Carolina Gold. This corps is currently sitting atop the Class A standings and one does not have to look hard to see why. There are fielding a fairly large Class A corps with 24 horns, 15 battery, 9 pit, and 13 color guard, and playing a VERY crowd-friendly book. Tonight the corps was really amped up and it showed in their performance. The soloists were on fire! In my review from Wildwood, I called certain parts of their show "vanilla" and indicated that there were times where there wasn't much going on. I noticed a few occasions where there were some arm motions added to create simultaneous responsibility, but that was about it. Honestly, if it were that or nothing, I'd choose nothing. There's much more variety here to explore and I would really love to see them take advantage of it. They're going to need to as the season draws on. They may be on top now, but no one else in Class A is going to give up the fight. They will need to continue to evolve if they want to stay on top at seasons' end. I did notice a spot in the show where it appears the drill was changed and added much more complexity to the visual package at that spot in the show. While it wasn't exactly clean (in fact, there were a few near collision, from what it looked like) it is a definite step in the right direction and when more cleanly readable, will yield great results. All in all, they were the clear winners tonight. Another very solid and well-rounded performance from the team at Gold.

Final Thoughts: This was a nice show with a "home-town" feel to it. The corps all did a great job and there were no major logistical issues to deal with. Show staff were friendly and easy to deal with. The two major issues for me were the location (like I said, kind of in the middle of nowhere) and the brevity of it all. Only 4 corps and no exhibitions (Gold played an encore, but that's it). Not a BAD value for $10, but when you consider the other show of the evening had 6 competing corps and 3-4 exhibition corps at half the price... well, it's not hard to see where I'm going with this. Hopefully this show, (like the host corps), continues to grow and become a major player in the DCA community.

Thanks for reading and until next time, take care of yourselves, and each other.

[irishbugle]

Thanks for the great review again Sayre. Keep it up!

Edited July 3, 2011 by irishbugle

[camel lips]

Great review.

[Latrobe's Finest]

Thanks for the honest review. That mello soloist is pretty good

[Shenandoah Vibrato]

So! Who you calling schmaltzy? You gettin' sentimental on me? Great seeing you and the familly again. Yes we have better numbers this year and we are on the move.

[Sayre Kulp]

So! Who you calling schmaltzy? You gettin' sentimental on me? Great seeing you and the familly again. Yes we have better numbers this year and we are on the move.

Oh, Dick - you sweet embraceable you... ya know I luv ya. Are you playing at I&E's this year? Think of all the notes you can play now that your horn has all it's valves!

[friceox]

Thanks for the great review! The Tampa Bay Thunder was pleased to get our first ever DCA show under our belt while on our 7 day mini-tour. They are doing parades until later today and then will make the trip back to Tampa.

Yes, we are incomplete and young, but a work in progress! We will continue to tweak every aspect of our show between now and our next contest in Tampa all the way to Rochester! We did have about 10 total holes this weekend that didn't help, but we all know how work and life can get in the way of drum corps.

FYI, thanks to Sound for having us Nokesville and a HUGE thanks to Windsor and Gold for making us feel very welcome in DCA! They are both class acts.

[Fran Haring]

As usual... great job, Sayre!

[Donny Drum Corps]

So! Who you calling schmaltzy? You gettin' sentimental on me? Great seeing you and the familly again. Yes we have better numbers this year and we are on the move.

too much vibrato Dick????

[Shenandoah Vibrato]

Oh, Dick - you sweet embraceable you... ya know I luv ya. Are you playing at I&E's this year? Think of all the notes you can play now that your horn has all it's valves!

I will play at I&E. I had so much fun last year playing the 60' and 70's tunes on my single valve slide horn that I think I will do it again this year. Less notes to keep track of that way.