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thanks to google who let me pull this back up

some things are just so right in the world. Walking into Hershey stadium to see

drum corps is one of them.

Before i get into the corps, a few things:

tshirt of the year at the Bluecoats table...Amplification and electronics, not

now, not ever. $7. best 14 i ever spent!

Hershey traffic....i love the new arena, but getting into the stadium now is

eh...less than great as there is only one entrance for all Hershey related

events.

a huge thanks you to the Cabs for allowing Christine and i to sepnd so much

time with them, even inviting us to a gathering after rehearsal. and Brett,

next year buy more beer so dad doesnt have to show up at midnight w/more :)

Show day. hot. hot hot hot. thunderstorms predicted. and they showed up.....at

retreat thank God. the stadium crew ran the event well, tho please Hershey, and

this happens every year...tell staff members where to go to watch, even make

signs. I have had the same seats for, well, most of my life, and every year, i

miss parts of shows because security is telling staff where to go watch.

pre show fun time in the parking lot, even had a critic of my reviews point me

out to his snare line. got to see a cool Crown ensemble music run(i love you

guys). saw nanci who gave me scoop from the NY senior show, as well as

Geoffrey, who sat with us., Doc Z, a bunch of Shore alumni, some Cabs and a

bunch of Bucs.

new turf looks great. Fran on the mic is always a good thing. seats are as

always, backs against the press box, 45 yard line

Cabs are up after show gets delayed due to traffic. Having spent a lot of time

with them, i am very familiar with the show now. Corps starts out backfield w/a

soprano solo, that when on is beautiful. corps picks up speed, turns around and

hello G bugles! This isnt your mom's Cabs, but at the same time it is. This

corps is moving a lot and fast, and unfortunately, not all can keep up at this

time. It affects the music too. Loved the rumps in the opener, and especially

loved the bass line under the rumps....now thats a bass run. horns sound very

tired, and at times, the drumline seemed to over power them, even without

scoops on the snares( if i can hear it in the top row, the judges should too eh

Gary?). Ballad is very pretty, but again, horns seem tired, and it loses some

effect.

drum solo. this is the line Cabs needed. starts off w/snares on

jam blocks, and basses up front behind basses on stands....on the first attack,

water flies everywhere off the basses, and they are jamming, including a very

clean, long run.(best use of stingray drums since, oh what 1987?) snares and

tenors are running up from back fild, and when they come in, there are more

notes in this feature than some Cabs drum solos past had total. tough to clean

w/that many notes in there, but played pretty well. nice little drill move, and

boom full ensemble drum solo going, tenors wailing, big run in the keys, but

something didnt feel right. horns come back in, and i can hear that a) they are

tired) and B) ensembly they are not quite locking in, and it stays this way til

the end of the show. guard work almost done, and what they have is nice, tho

the flags seemed a little bland to me. good weapons work, but there were some

struggles with it.

all in all, this show, when on, which i saw saturday is great. last night,

there were issues, and, if this offends cabs sorry, but you got away with

one.you have maybe too much demand, and at a senior corps schedule, it may make

it rough to max it out.

Bucs: still in those cool blue unis, and the guard outfitted very piratey,

which fit the show very well. 33 horns, looked like 36 spots....risky for this

show, which i'll go into.

intro statement strong, and another great drill by Eric. drumline performs

very well, and imo, should have won drums (no nasty emails now Fiest?)

percussion book not as crazy as cabs, but performed better...he who has the

most notes doesnt always win, and Bucs do a lot of cool drum stuff at the low

end. Hornline seemed to tire at the end, and this is the danger of a small

hornline w/this show...if the stamina doesnt arrive, you could end flat brass

seemed very bottom heavy, but it worked with the show.. guard work seemed ok,

but some of the play acting in the 3rd tune seemed to need more fleshing out.

all in all, another strong effort by Bucs, light years ahead of where they were

last year at this time. if i were them, i'd be mad about the numbers last

night...IMO, should have been higher.

Bush. loved the new unis. top could be a touch brighter but it looked cool to

see the keyboard back. Show is 12 seconds to the moon and Perilous Skies....and

needs some oomph. brass seemed tired(and after the heat this weekend it makes

sense) and the show has some GE needed to pull it off. drumline performed

ok....some errors felt like maybe design flaws, but also could have just been a

case of everything not locking up yet. still better than this time last year.

guard had some cool flags, but seemed uncomfortable with the work in some

spots.

this could be a fun show. it seemed really flat, lacking major oomph. in time,

i am sure Bush will add it. top 5 material? possibly, but with much work ahead.

junior division...using most of the same judges.

Crown. I adore this show, and what a difference a week makes...visual so much

cleaner, yet a bit to go. the problem with white is if you have no form

definition and rough transitions, you look like a white blob at times. the

percussion scoring in the intro and Stained glass is so cool....such a cd

moment, and so creative, esp the pit use of bells and crotales to tie into the

theme. guard unis looked great in the sunlight, and they have some great flags

that add color to thee show. brass has picked up some stamina, and it's nice to

hear Crown let it out. Carol of the bells came across much better last night,

and i think this show could and should be in. if it's not, it's a crime.

Bluecoats...first view in uni(saw them at PA camps) and wow.still needs a

little bit of oomph but by far their best show. drum line performed very well,

especially the bassses who seemed to be a worry early. guard fit in very well,

and loved the tango dancing. hornline played with a maturity and confidence

that was so nice to see. the storyline of pursuit and capture is still being

fleshed out, and i loved the flashback momentsof Red cape tango and traffic.

drill was very smooth, and no major performance issues.ending still needs a

little beef, as it comes out of nowhere and leaves on wanting just a touch

more.

love the moment where the corps breaks into sections, and the melody carries

down the field, until a lone soloist is playing the melody. very cool idea and

well done.

Crossmen. saw this from downstairs, as i ran for food and i got stuck behind

people who were lost and couldnt remember where their seats were...thanks

ushers.

another huge imnprovement in a week. last week i couldnt stand them...seemed

way too much rehash. this week,, wow. possibly the loudest hornline of the

night, even over Cabs. Rainbow is still gorgeous, and the colored fabric the

guard uses is so cool and creative. the next tune was much better than last

week, as the corps seems to have found the groove. Blue Rondo was lightyears

better, and had no major ensemble issues. percussion performance was also much

better. weapons line wow...downstairs i got a great view of you guys and gals,

and you dont stop..ever!! closer was very in your face. drums on the racks is

better, but when they start moving there are still some uglies. the ending,

where everyone rushes the sideline and wails was cool.(heard the Birdland tag)

Becky you look great in the uni now that it's in. hope ya liked the home show

crowd, we liked you. also noticed cymbals seemed to be cut and just stand at

the drum racks the show show. that sucks.

all in all, a fun show, and much cleaner.

Boston. wasn't sure what to think...i was afraid it would be 2000 rehash. well,

it is and it isn't. and i loved it! Bolero intro, much shorter than 00, and

also had snippets of Malaguena in it. drill, simple yet effective, very GE

"crowd goes ooooo" feel to it. 10 snares played very well, as did the 5 tenors

and basses.nice Conquest hits too! Ballad has the potential to be very tear

jerking moment, and no singing! Once again, Bocelli delivers a ballad for the

ages. beginning of Malaguena...15 snares?? yes and very clean at that! guard is

well done, and had some cool flags. heard snippets of Spanish Fantasy( i

thought Geoffrey would have a coronary sitting next to me, and i think he liked

it)...more Conquest hits!! and a nice tie in to Bolero to wrap it up, including

the drill move from 00 that every band in the world has ripped off.

wow. fun show. still dirty, as with weather and illness they got behind, but

think about it...which corps, in the last 4 years, has the best track record of

August surges? watch out BAC is BACK

Cadets. cleaner than my last view. DM didnt salute tonight. guard was a show

unto themselves, and the red unis stand out. emotionally flat. I want to like

this show. moving wamrup was fine, and Fanfare and Allegro into was ok, but

once the tempo picked up, it took me nowhere. even Malaguena seemed flat. hey

everyone has off days, they're allowed.

what stunned me most was the fact the when the Zpull hit in Rocky Point, maybe

10 people clapped. WHAT? the most famous drill move in modern DCI history and

10 people clapped?? it's true. the crowd wasnt into them.. i am not sure if it

was the heat, fearing the coming storms, or what, but the crowd actually didnt

go gaga over the Cadets, and Hershey has always been a friendly show site for

them.

the spreads on the junior side were too large. Blue, Boston and Xmen should all

be closer to 80, if not over it, and Crown should be not far behind them.

Marines up next, and again, i loved the. the Chicago stuff was great. that

drumline rocks....if you get to see them drummers please do.....this is some of

the best marching percussion going today.

dm only retreat, and good thing, as the heavens opened. parking lot party

confined to the Hummelston Gman, and man, what a cool guy Jimmy Russo is.

definately a guy i want to party with again...what cool stories he had. always

THE man.

I saw so many people. if i didnt mention you i apologize. again thanks to cabs

for the hospitality.

Reading next week...i may even review Al's too :)~

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Before i get into the corps, a few things:

tshirt of the year at the Bluecoats table...Amplification and electronics, not

now, not ever. $7. best 14 i ever spent!

yea right ..

all these corps talk .

but you wait till next year and all these corps , like everybody else , will be using amplification electronics..

they all said the same about Bb's..

bunch of bull...

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Crown. I adore this show, and what a difference a week makes...visual so much

cleaner, yet a bit to go. the problem with white is if you have no form

definition and rough transitions, you look like a white blob at times. the

percussion scoring in the intro and Stained glass is so cool....such a cd

moment, and so creative, esp the pit use of bells and crotales to tie into the

theme. guard unis looked great in the sunlight, and they have some great flags

that add color to thee show. brass has picked up some stamina, and it's nice to

hear Crown let it out. Carol of the bells came across much better last night,

and i think this show could and should be in. if it's not, it's a crime.

White unis make it a lot harder to cover up on imperfections in forms as well as marching style, i definitely agree on that. But ive been hearin lots of good news about the show so far, and i cannot wait to see them at Nightbeat!! And if (when!) they make finals, that would be music to my ears!! :huh:

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Before i get into the corps, a few things:

tshirt of the year at the Bluecoats table...Amplification and electronics, not

now, not ever. $7. best 14 i ever spent!

yea right ..

all these corps talk .

but you wait till next year and all these corps , like everybody else , will be using amplification electronics..

they all said the same about Bb's..

bunch of bull...

i doubt Blue will. their administration is very anti a&e.

in fact, one of the overlooked things is Larry Hershmans rebuttal to Hoppy in Orlando, and his very public and negative statement he made at Serenade in Brass in APril.

if Larry left Blue maybe i could see it. but he isnt leaving Blue.

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Crown. I adore this show, and what a difference a week makes...visual so much

cleaner, yet a bit to go. the problem with white is if you have no form

definition and rough transitions, you look like a white blob at times. the

percussion scoring in the intro and Stained glass is so cool....such a cd

moment, and so creative, esp the pit use of bells and crotales to tie into the

theme. guard unis looked great in the sunlight, and they have some great flags

that add color to thee show. brass has picked up some stamina, and it's nice to

hear Crown let it out. Carol of the bells came across much better last night,

and i think this show could and should be in. if it's not, it's a crime.

White unis make it a lot harder to cover up on imperfections in forms as well as marching style, i definitely agree on that. But ive been hearin lots of good news about the show so far, and i cannot wait to see them at Nightbeat!! And if (when!) they make finals, that would be music to my ears!! :huh:

they should be 3-4 points higher now IMO

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