Reading PA review

[Jeffsjetta]

The scene...Albright College, Reading PA

ah Reading....the place Dougie told us he knew like the back of his hand in 93. What a shocker to get there around 4:30 and see not one single corps rehearsing on any of the field by the stadium. walk over to the ticket booth, get good seats for 2 hours before the show, harrass Sean Holton, and back to the parking lot.

btw Sean hope the water heater is ok.

good crowd on hand, fuller than i remember Reading for a while. vantage point is 50 yard line, 6th row, so i have basically a great view of the #### lightpole on the 50. feels like West SHore Stadium....Albright you're not a poor school, move the pole. it pollutes the viewer.

first up is LVK, my first view of the year. big step up since last year, in terms of book and performance. the 18 person hornline does have a few stamina issues, but for the most part they pull the show off well. nice arrnagments of the Firebird btw. the battery was especially strong, tho were some mistakes that shouldnt be made at this time of the year...it happens. drill was pretty smooth, as expected when Prato writes, and for a D3 corps, at times they seemed large enough to be D2.

this corps is so fun to watch...slowly sliding up the ranks...it'samazing how far they have come. the corps new percussion equipment looked great....thank you Mr Cook for showing us the class act that you are.

Jersey Surf.

I am not going to Orlando this year, and my sadness is that i will not see this show when it is done, til the videos arrive anyways. What a huge improvement in 2 weeks, both musically and visually.

the "jersey shore" parts of the show have been fleshed out by now.....waiting to go up on the podium, the Dm does the traditional lifeguard twirling of the whistle. and he had time to kill as getting all the percussion toys seemed to take a while tonight. cool surfboards and beach towels.

opening blast of Schools Out blew the house down......they sounded like a d1 powerhouse, i mean loud and good...and the crowd let em know it too. Open Wide up next,and the corps moved and performed so much better than 2 weeks ago....tho the hornline seemed out of gas from the opener. next up was Wipeout on the Waterfront, w/Hawaii 5-0 thrown in...genius. pure genius. Some performance issues still, but the way this tune is written is amazing. high 5 to the keyboards for the wipeout lick played pretty darn well.

next up a cool ethnic solo drum wise....very fun...i missed the guard and hornline drill. the piece reminds of what Blast plays at the end of the show, and the kids did it well. and finally Surf brought us home, and wow....i wish i would see this show again.

East Coast Jazz. Very controlled reniditions of Gershwins Concerto in F and Porgy and bess. maybe too controlled. hornline had a great sound, but felt they held it in too much on tunes that require a little more oomph. corps marched very well, and the guard was fabulous....i personally didnt like the blue guard unis against the red/white/green ECJ unis, but the colors of the flags used seemed to dim that.

pit had some issues within itself and front to back, but the battery was pretty strong and performed. visually i can see why they beat Surf.

then...the 30 minute break. 8 corps show, 30 minute break. odd

which extended longer as someone in the stands took ill, and Mickey held the show up til paramedics could remove them. that was ok. Sky's drumline warmed up on the field.....kept me entertained anyways.

Skyliners.

bigger than last year good. in those Skyliner unis, good. younger than i ever remember seeing them...could be good. Sky is not dead, and not as bad as some say. yeah, they have some issues, especially learning the closer that day. but this could be a fun show by the end of the year. soprano soloist seemed to have an of night. the music of Linda Eder is very Sky, but the corps isnt in control of it just yet, tho i saw some flashes of what could be. pit is very good, and expressive, reminding me of the Teleky years.

coulr guard was young, but big, and had a few cool moments too. the silent transition into NYNY means it isnt all done yet, and the newness of NYNY being on the field showed....but give it time.

my gut feeling...by years end, this will be most improved. young corps, very energetic staff, and a fun show. keep plugging SKy...yer haead of where youwere this time last year

Bush....big jump in one week. 12 seconds to the moon caught my attention from the get go, especially some of the brass articulation stuff. color guard was especially show stealing in the end of the opener, as the crowd oohed and awed as they passed thru the corps. percussion writing seemed so much clearer tonight and the drumline performed very well. brass still seemed a bit tired at the end of the show, but the improvment is so noticeable, and the show reads a lot better under lights. horn holes seemed filled, except for Bob Stike's hole, but hey he was getting married we can let that slide.(congrats Bob and Tracy).

this corps now has my eye as the one that could screw everything up...and thats a good thing.

Hurcs.....first viewing. snares and tenors not wearing hats, and it shows how young they are. wow. I thought Jamie was Dm.....she wasnt there. ok.

Godzilla Eats Vegas. interesting...cool welcome to LV sign up on the riser set up one stage 2, which i didnt notice used very much. hornline much more comfortable marching this show as opposed to last years, and Rich is wailing on his sop...a best soloist candidate for sure. I dream of Jeannie made me laugh, and it morphed into the Mag 7...Vegas and Mag 7 i dunno, but it worked, even if the crowd was confused.

bassline was very good, playing a ton of notes...snares performed well, if the book may have been easy. tenors were honestly not noticeable....i dunno if they are still eing worked in or weak. Brass line wailed during the obligatory Elvis tune and the guard had a field day with it. which reminds me, i liked the guard...the right mix of work and dance stuff, and had a cool ripple saber toss..had to be a 5 by everyone, and it went aound the whole corps.

this show too will be fun to see later in the year.

Cabs. what a difference one week makes. opening statement much controlled up to the hit...soprano soloist has that Latin flair. big hit was much better and the corps moved a lot better tonight as the drill becomes familiar. drumline playing the way i know they can and the guard looked a lot better. the new version of the rumps still makes me giggle...that bassline added underneath it just kicks butt.

Ballad came out very pretty tonight, and i love the flags the guard uses.....subdued, yet eye catching.....and the corps seemed a whole lot more confidant moving. seemed there was bit of confusion as the bass drums come down front, and basically are putting their stuff down where guard equipment and members are but that will be worked out.

drum solo....that bass line feature is hysterical. the crowd dug the water, and you can see these guys have so much fun playing it. what doesnt get caught right away is the snares and tenors running up behind them, merging into one, and when they come in wow. has to be every hand motion conceivable in there, and tonight they nailed it. in fact, the entire drum solo was light years better than last week, except for one roll, and one single. what makes it that more impressive is the movement these guys and gals are doing while playing it...whoever wrote that is either a loon or a genius, and if i were tech trying to clean it, i'd hang out on the sideline.

into the closer from there, and while tempos pulled a little bit, they held unlike last week. hornline came back in strong and ran with it, and didnt really lose any stamina until right before the very last push. drums were wailing away, and now things seem to be locking in. pit seemed a lot more comfortable, especially on the impact moments, and IMO, this time they should have won drums hands down. but they tied. this is why i dont judge

ps Jared...love the plates. keep up the great work.

The hometown Bucs up next. I missed the old announcer..."lets give a cheer cause the Blue is here".....he added so much life to the show.

Bucs opening statement very well done...the ocean effects and ships bell from the pit came thru nicely.hornline seemed stronger tonight, tho very dark....seemed maybe a lack of upper brass is needed to help roundout the sound. guard performed very well, and the play acting in Sailors dance was nice. a cymbal line to die for...thanks Steve.

Horns did have an issue leading into Sailors dance as they condense into the circle form. but for the most part they held together well. snaeres had an issue leading into the feature when they turn around, but it came back together.ballad was handled well, and the finale, while still lacking a little steam, was much more confidently performed than last week at Hershey. I can definitely see the jump in their score.

great time at the show...Mow Knox loved thepic of Haley Gill w/Cabs guard. Liz, Rob, Mikey, Sean, Glen, Siglow, Richie, Alma.....loved seeing you all

Jimmie Cossetti forgive me, i was sober. Bucky always a treat.

Siglow did not step on Glens kids this year, and hey Glen...lemme know if you didnt find Kevins stuffed animal. Uncle Jeff will help him get a new one. Haley Gill is my favorite child on the planet.

Cabs loved the victory run, especially Matt Ware's creative way to play the end of the show on his bass w/a broken head.

thats it for me til DCI East.

[TomMoore]

It was a great evening and a fun show. The Bucs' improvement is pretty impressive, and it was my favorite show of the night, but since I live here in Reading, that's hardly surprising!

I sat right on the 50, so I got a great view of that light pole! Jeff's right. In addition, the grass portion of the field isn't big enough to have an entire end zone! So what does a football player do if he runs a corner pattern? Probably stumble as he leaves the grass for the track (the height difference of which is exaggerated because there's a curb there). I thought long and hard about that that stadium needs the most, and I've come up with it. A wrecking ball.

All that said, it was still a great night and a great show!

Go Bucs!!!!!!

[DrumCorps21]

I got a review to post... it'll be on later today. B)

[jth1206kp]

Glen...lemme know if you didnt find Kevins stuffed animal. Uncle Jeff will help him get a new one.

Got it, bro. But thanks anyway.

[Senagod]

I sat right on the 50, so I got a great view of that light pole! Jeff's right. In addition, the grass portion of the field isn't big enough to have an entire end zone! So what does a football player do if he runs a corner pattern? Probably stumble as he leaves the grass for the track (the height difference of which is exaggerated because there's a curb there). I thought long and hard about that that stadium needs the most, and I've come up with it. A wrecking ball.

You know, my husband attended the show (and the whole show at that, amazing for such a non-drum corps type person. As for what he thought of everybody, while I found him highly entertaining, you really don't want to know what he thought)

He was in the stands, and he noticed the lack of a full end zone as well. He made the comment about what would happen if you had to run a corner play, and somebody in the audience said that he was an Albright alum and a football player, and they did have a lot of trouble running those kinds of plays with that field the way it is.

[alexnielsen]

You know, my husband attended the show (and the whole show at that, amazing for such a non-drum corps type person. As for what he thought of everybody, while I found him highly entertaining, you really don't want to know what he thought)

actually, i'd love to hear a non-drum corps person's reaction...

[DrumCorps21]

DCP Review - Reading, PA 7 - 12- 2003

It's been a nice day all today. When I left West Chester on the trip to Reading it was pleasant and sunny. About halfway there, I noticed some dark clouds and there was a brief shower on the turnpike. I kindly reminded Mother Nature that it wasn't supposed to rain tonight... not for my first drum corps show of the season. I suppose Fate didn't like that reprimand too much.

I pulled up next to the curb on Bern St. near Albright and was excited to see some of my old buds from Bucs. East Coast Jazz was warming up on the other side of the road. My thoughts... "ah drum corps, it's good to be back". I grabbed my notebook to start taking some notes and to catch up to my friends from Bucs and possibly chat with some people in other corps. Unfortunately, I needed to sit next to my car and wait for AAA since I had locked my keys in my car in the rush. I wasn't happy. Good thing I got there an hour early.

Anyways, AAA comes and I'm saved. And I can start writing about drum corps. Whoohoo, what an adventure so far!

I haven't seen East Coast Jazz in a while, not since 98. I like their new unis a lot better than their 98 versions. Very green, but very Cesario too. Whoever thought of the whole DCA, div II/III thing for these shows has got it together. It's a great idea to have these junior corps at the same shows as senior corps. It works out pretty well.

I enter the stadium... I'm on the 45 yard line side 1, so my view isn't completely obstructed by THE POLE. First up, Lehigh Valley Knights.

Still a small corps this year, 18 horns or so. To begin the show off, they had the lovely situation of having the sun right in the eyes of the corps, while the DM was in the shade. Kevin, timp player in the pit, look like he was struggling with the sun in his face the whole time. There were some tempo tears in Firebird. I could hear a lot of feet in the sound... typical for such a young corps. The drill doesn't look like it's finished in places, with the hornline just standing around. Probably footwork or other kinds of motions are planned. Ave Maria was pretty, but the climax, or anti-climax, just didn't do it for me. I'll have to wait to see how the show comes around in the month left of the seaon.

Overall, better than their corps last year. I'm glad they're doing a more original show than the Millenium Celebration in 2002. The show needs to get completed ASAP, and a good bit of tracking for the horns would do them good, I think. My placement, 3rd place.

On second tonight, East Coast Jazz.

Did I hear Carry On My Wayward Sun for an on the field warm up? Sweet. A bigger corps than LVK, and a much more experienced one from the moment the stepped on the field. I got a chuckle as the drum major turned to salute and I could barely see him thanks to THE POLE. This was a pretty clean show, but lacked somethign emotionally. I just couldn't really appreciate a lot of the music until It Ain't Necessarily So. In that number we had the first real volume of the evening, as well as the first (but definitely not the last) park and bark. I heard a couple people around me recognize that tune. A solid ending with a company front with lots of volume gave the crowd something to enjoy.

Conclusion: A solid little corps, but hate the guard uniforms... so did everyone else around me. Bright blue and yellow... I dunno. It just didn't seem to fit in at all, and really was an eye sore compared to the green and white of the corps proper. As the show gets closer to Orlando, I'm sure the energy will get bumped up and it will be a lot more enjoyable all the way through. My placement, 2nd.

Jersey Surf

What a cool corps... but I do miss the old white uniforms. This show has everything to do with the shore... lifeguard chairs for the podium, surfboards, beach blankets, you name it. And a "way-to-go" to Todd, one of the DM's for Surf and a fellow WCU student.

The best opening of the night. Loud sounds right in the audience face with School's Out. The audience really was digging it... I was too. There was a great arrangment of On The Waterfront, Wipe Out and some other tunes. Really neat stuff. I didn't have very high seats, so I really couldn't see much in the way of drill, but what I could see wasn't too impressive. If their visual were as strong as their horns, they'd be kicking some drum corps booty this summer. The guard work wasn't done in parts of the show.

Overall, really really fun show. Audience favorite of the evening. Clean your drill, finish the guard work and keep the horns blasting out fff. This is one show I'd love to see in Orlando. My placement, 1st.

Intermission Time. I took the time to introduce myself to the people around me and got to meet some interesting folks. The man on my right, an older gentleman, a teacher in the Reading School District, hadn't been to see a DCA show in decades and had all kinds of questions about the judging and criteria and things like that. I tried to fill him in to the best of my ability. His wife had been to see the show in Hershey last weekend and enjoyed it. She was asking me if I had my tickets for DCI East or DCA finals. I laughed and said I usually just get everything at the door.

In front of me was a couple who had never been to a drum corps or marching band show before. They really were curious about everything, since they only came because a friend had bought two tickets but had to be out of town tonight. Their overall impression... they loved Surf. I told them that, once the seniors gor started, it was gonna get a whole lot louder!

Skyliners

Bigger corps, an actual field drumline, and a significantly improved guard over last year greated the fans at the start of the senior half of the show. The guard has these sliver/green prop... thingies, spun like rifles. They do some interesting stuff with them, like hanging them from the hornline while they march around. The sop soloists seemed to be really struggling tonight. Most of the show was ok, but once NY, NY came around, the corps was visibly running out of gas. But, that's just a problem all the northeast corps will be dealing with, due to the lack of outside time this spring thanks to all the rain.

Conlcusion: Far better than last year. I'm not worried about Sky this year, and it's going to be a fun show by the end of August. My placement, 4th, 66.0.

Bushwackers

New Unis, very very Cesario. Dark blue pants, dark blue and dark purple tops with a psuedo-keyboard pattern across the torso.

Opener was 12 Seconds to the Moon. Some parts were exciting, others lacked umph. There was a really spectacular moment at the end of the opener with a guard pass through of the corps. The crowd oo'ed and ahhh'ed. In First Contact, there was a flugel duet. Bb flugels? Anyways, the climax and impact in First Contact was just gorgeous. The visual program included a lot of running throughout the show which definitely added a bit of energy, but at the expense of the sound. Again, there were endurance issues towards the end. I did have some issues with staging, as for a good bit of the end, the hornline was playing at the 30 yd line, side 2. Guess I'll need to see it again to figure that one out.

Conclusion: Solid corps, didn't like 12 seconds too much, but the guard has come a long way since last year. My placement, 3rd, 71.1.

Hurricanes

Ok, did I ask this question last year? When did Hurcs start wearing black pants? It makes them look so much smaller on the field.

The guard is really flashy with lots of sequins. I had the enjoyment of having my hair parted by one #### of a soprano soloist, the best of the evening. The brass was very top heavy, thanks to great sops and only 3 contras. All though, I have to admit that those 3 contras put out a lot more sound than I was expecting. Ok, I know the music is Godzilla Eats Las Vegas, and I love Eric Whitacre and all.... but I don't know if this actually fits as a senior corps show. I just didn't feel much connection from the music to what the theme was... etc. I'll keep my eyes on Hurcs to see if I feel better about it by finals. There were also a couple of cool visual moves yanked from the DCI Green Machine from last year's Frameworks show.

Conclusion: Please bring back the white pants! This show will be enjoyable, especially if there is more programming done to make the show seem to flow a little better. Until then, I don't see how Bacchanale, Mag 7, and lots of jazz fits together too well these days. My placement, 4th, 70.2.

Caballeros

Huge. Huge was my first impression when they took the field. And here comes Mr. Sequins himself, Jimmy Russo. At the start of the show, there was some incredible backfield playing which I'm sure is still reverberating around Mt. Penn somewhere. Then, at the turn around, one #### of a blast from the horns. Ok, I'm not a drumline person, and never pretend to be. But I KNOW that that drumline was not there last year. Holy cow! Neat trick (audience ate it up) with the basses on the sideline. A great Hawthorne show, one that will be remembered for a while.

Conclusion: Possible contender for DCA Champion. My only conerns is that the show is starting to get really clean already. Cabs might plateau a little too early and get passed before August 31. My placement, 1st, 75.6.

Buccaneers

I'd say this corps has about close to 100% when it comes to brass... more than any other corps. There is all of 38 or so horns on the field, and yet they play louder and more in tune than I'm sure a lot of other bigger corps will play this summer. This is definitely a departure for the Bucs this year, a combination of modern and vintage Reading. Pirate get-ups for the guard, jazzy tunes in Russian Sailors Dance, and in your face loud chords throughout the show. There are still holes on the field, but in my years of marching, the hornline was never filled until after the Reading show.

Conclusion: Fill the holes, clean the drill. I really wish Russian Sailors Dance were longer, but it's good that Reading is trying to delve into their history a little bit to come up with a show. It'll be a top 3 or 4 show at DCA this year. My placement, 2nd, 74.3.

At retreat, there were a few shake ups. Surf lost to East Coast Jazz, bringing down a chorus of BOOO's from the audience. I'm pretty sure that Surf has made some new friends in Reading tonight. In the senior half, Reading caught Cabs in percussion with a tie. This could be a sign of things to come if Reading really really starts cleaning their show. Other than that, the corps played themselves off, except for Surf and East Coast Jazz who just walked out. I tell ya... junior corps these days... they don't know how to play themselves off. And, if LVK weren't associated with the Chieftains, I'm sure they would have just walked off too. Oh well.

Overall, it was a fun show with a great crowd on an absolutely beautiful night for drum corps. There were plenty of first time drum corps fans in Reading tonight and I think they had a good time. Hopefully they'll all come back next year, and I think they will. I hope everyone enjoyed the review. Hopefully I'll get out to another show sometime this year before DCA champs.

[Senagod]

actually, i'd love to hear a non-drum corps person's reaction...

Yeah, I generally like non-drum corps people's take on shows as well, but trust me on this one, you don't want my husband's take on the shows.

Suffice it to say, he had a smart-### comment about every corps, including the corps I'm marching in this year, so no one was spared! And he didn't comment on the performances per se, because he doesn't know enough to say if something was "good" or not. He pointed out style issues that he didn't like. But what do you expect from somebody that went to an all-boy private high school that didn't even have a concert band, let alone a marching band? (Not that I'm saying that drum corps is the same as marching band, but an average person seeing a drum corps show generally has seen a marching band before, so they have some sort of a reference to go by. Rick doesn't have even that.)

Frankly, I'm truly surprised he showed up for the whole thing. When I marched indoor guard, I could only get him to one show a season, and I had to tell him what time we performed so that he could show up just in time to see my group, and then leave as soon as he thought he could get away with it!

I've come to accept that this activity just isn't his thing, although he does try. He knows who the Cadets are (he liked their 1995 show because it was about World War II, but hated last year's show) and he seemed to take a liking to East Coast Jazz, but I think that's only because they're from Massachusetts (sp?) and he grew up in Maine. Someday I'll convert him into a drum corps nut!

[totalee]

I Think all the reviews have covered the event pretty good. It was a beautiful night, the corps seemed ready and the crowd was good. I was sitting at about the 35 on the performers left. I didn't have any pole issues so maybe getting in general admission at the last minute wasn't so bad.

The crowd around me also included several parents from the DCI corps who had no idea that there were also grown0ups who did this. My pet peeve at all shows is the nunber of people who show up with Cavaliers and Cadets stuff decked all over when they have no real connection and then spend the whole show saying how great The Cavs or Garfield is. I usually wear a shirt from a division 3 corp for this show it was my old Teal sound shirt. My new Jersey Surf shirt will probably be my fashion choice if I go to another show this season. I guess the big boys need money but the $15 in shirt money you give to the little guy may make a vital difference when they are trying to tour next year. Enough of the soapbox and onto the show.

Lehigh Valley Knights. They seem to have recovered from their equiptment trailer woes. This was my first time seeing them and they appeared headed in the right direction. It appeared as if there were two members one horn and a guard member who are new to the show and at several times appeared lost on the field and unfortunatley it really stood out. However the guard member had just about the biggest smile I saw all night and picked back up and finished the show. The horns had a good sound for their small size.

East Coast Jazz. They were a little more together than LVK and had a good sound but it seemed as if there horns were holding back and the show never really generated a lot of excitement. When they took the field it wasn't announced where they were from and it wasn't printed in the program several people asked me where they were from and it was a distraction throughout the show. I thought the guard work looked pretty good and the program seemed well structured.

Jersey Surf. I really thought this was a well written show. The kids all appeared enthusiastic about presenting it. The Schools Out really blasted the audience who wasn't quite sure if they had started their show yet. The drill seemed to fit the music and the corp had the right attitude. I was surprised when the scores wer announced and they were behind the Jazz. I think the show might have been missing structure from a judging viewpoint with a lot of running from one spot on the field to another in a chaotic fashion. I think it helped establish a beach dude attitude but it may have hurt the score. The horn line was loud and spirited.

Skyliners. Glad to see they are stronger than last year and appear younger. One of the main reasons I came was because I saw them at a parade and Maryland and wanted to see their show. Liked the DM beating on the basses

Bushwackers. Show was OK I had some wierd memories of a visit to Cape Carnaveral with a buddy who died in Iraq and the Nasa uniforms were a distraction for me so I really never got into the show.

Hurricanes. I am not sure how well they used the Vegas motif but I agree that it was good to see them younger and the show seemed more energetic than their 2001 show when I last saw them. They probably don't have the most talented corps but they seemed to work well with what they had. A few parts of the show everyone was movin and trying to swing with the music and a few stiff people stood out. I really don't know how to fix that. The soloist was very good and they seemed a lot looser than 2 years ago.

Hawthorn. The Drum line was an imense improvement over last years, in size and performance. I don't know where they got all the new talent but they definately recharged from last years moress. I hope they go far this year.

Reading When I was growing up The Reading Buccaneers and Ayatollah Khomeni were equally hated so it is strange that now I can sympathize with them. 2 years ago I thought they had a really good show at DCA but just didn't have the numbers. This year i think it is the same again. When you only have 38 horns you have a tough time competing with someone who has 65. I liked the pirate theme and there were a couple of really cute girls in the guard. I thought it was a well executed show but 38 horns no matter how loud they play can't overpower the Cabs.

One of the first times I took to the field I was with the Hershey Chocolatiers and we had maybe 20 horns and Reading was huge at the time and it was frustrating because we all knew that no matter how hard we practiced, and how much of our souls we put onto the field there was no way that we would even be in the same leauge as the Buccanners. The Buc's are much closer to their competitors than we ever were but I think numbers will make it tough for them to stay in the top 4. However I spent $13 to help them at least get some new equiptment or maybe recruit those extra 20 horns that they need

All in all it was a great Show. Lots of new people to DCA saw a good presentation of the senior activity. I never did see the Reading Railroad, I figured it would cover half of the town.

[Jeffsjetta]

you marched Hershey? wow!