Jump to content

Chillin in Alburquerque (More like roasting)


Recommended Posts

Finally got around to posting this! When I got back home the power was out for most of the night. Then yesterday I typed out the whole review and when I went to go preview it the page had expired. Then I clicked the “back” button and that page had expired! Lost all my typing. Anyway, this is my second review for the year – hope you enjoy! I made it to Albuquerque thanks to some last minute planning! Man was it hot there! I’m use to the heat here in Arizona, but man was it toasty hot! Lots of red and pink backs out there on the practice fields.

Phantom Regiment Practice (Sunday Night)

Went to go see Regiment practice at Los Lunas H.S. about 20 miles south of Albuquerque. This was my first viewing of the year. I was more than impressed which I’ll go into more detail down below.

Made it just in time for the start of ensemble practice on the field. By the sound of it, they were working on changes in the show. Looks like they changed some of the pod formations in “Wild Nights I”. They went through set by set to clean it up. Next they worked on the closer which they had a lot of problems visually. Staff was getting pretty fired up at them.

The most exciting thing is a change that might be coming. I thought they were going to throw this in for the show, but I didn’t see it. As they hit the rotating pyramid for the “Canon Reprise” in the closer, they complete the rotation and move audience right using the old “crab walk” a la ’93! As they are crab walking they put in a little hop in there which looks cool and then the full spin around also like ’93. It looked a little dirty and the staff was telling the corps that when they crab walk it needs to be parallel. So maybe they didn’t clean it up to throw it in on Monday. Oh, I just read they’ll throw it in for San Antonio – watch for it!

The staff works great with the corps. A little less positive and more intense then BD. At BD they’re so relaxed yet professional and positive with their members. At Phantom there was no voices being raised, but they were definitely on their members and individuals who made mistakes. It seems to work great though for them!

Blue Knights Practice (Monday Afternoon)

BK was practicing at the host site at Manzano H.S. I also made it just in time as they were working on the field. Just lots of cleaning was taking place. I was very pleased with how positive and pumped up their staff members were to the corps. Unlike Regiment that seemed to be stopping set by set to clean up, BK tended to practice in larger chunks as a whole. The more I watch this show, the more I’m impressed with its subtlety and complexity. The wind was pretty bad and the guard was dropping equipment left and right. Staff told them that they better be able to adjust to the wind that night. Keep reading to see if they did.

Two things of note. There was a bad pile up in the snare line when they were practicing the closer. 3 or 4 snares went a tumbling. It looked bad and must have been bad because one of the snares was hobbling around and sat out awhile. One of the percussion staff was pretty ###### they didn’t stop the run at that point (BK just kept on playing until they were suppose to stop). I tended to agree with him. Yeah during the competition the show must go on, but during practice you need to do what you can to avoid injuries. Some of the snares looked like they wanted to stop, but because the drum major kept going, they had no choice but to walk over the dude and many didn’t make it and fell over to. Scary! I was glad though the snare drummer who got hurt winded up marching that night!

The next was during the run through. One of the guard girls got overheated and had to come off the field. I didn’t see it, but before I knew it she was laying on the sidelines. The first one there was director Mark Arnold. He was standing on the sidelines and rushed over to her when he saw. He stood by her giving her water and pouring water on her to cool her down. He stayed with her the entire time while the rest of the guard staff sat watching the run through in the stands. Another staff guy came out to help a couple minutes later. I guess that’s your job a director, but still that’s why Mark Arnold is so well likes by his organization even after two years of not being in finals. Mark Arnold you’re a true class act!

Showtime!

This is the 2nd time I’ve been to the Albuquerque DATR show. Last time was in 2000. And like last time very few corps people were there. The stands were packed with high school kids and their families. Also there were many novices there. The announcer asked how many was this their first show and a good portion raised their hands.

It wasn’t bad though. The crowd kept it fresh, were enthused with every corps and really seemed to get into the night. Every single horn hit or drum phrase was met with applause even if there was a phrasing problem or the drums sounded less then clean. The whole evening I saw a total of 7 people wearing corps shirts and one was a little girl wearing a Troopers t-shirt (she looked so cute)! One of the funniest parts of the evening was this older lady telling here junior high age daughter to watch the drum majors salute. She showed her by waving her hands all over the place like she was swatting flies. I guess she don’t know drum corps much either. Sorry no glitter or 20 second salute here in drum corps. The afternoon’s wind stayed and wrecked havoc on all the guards.

Revolution

Last years Div. III champ comes with a very sophisticated program. They’re playing Edward Gregson’s “Connotations”. Even I was like “huh?” on some of the music. This show is definitely a lot less fan friendly then last year’s offering, but is also a step up design wise.

The corps is wearing what looks to be the Glassmens’ old uniforms minus the triangle. The guard is dressed in a black costume with bright navy blue, red and yellow highlighted across the upper body and down one side to the leg. The color really sticks out well especially with the lack of coloring in the corps uniform.

It was very hard to remember parts of this show. It just seemed like one total bland package. The only parts I do remember are the guard using pretty flags in the ballad as they integrate into the corps. I also was impressed with their body movement. Revolution is marching a coed guard (1/2 guys and ½ gals). The end is pretty fast as the guard picks up the same blue, red and yellow designed flags as their costumes.

It’s a good show designed to impress the judges and compete well. They will be a Div. II finalist, but they will not beat Esperanza and more than likely Spartans and Patriots.

Buying, Selling, Undecided

Selling. Way to bland for me. Don’t get me wrong, the staff did a great job moving them to the next level, but when I can’t remember much it tells you something.

Troopers

Best Troopers in awhile. The fans went crazy for this corps. In fact they got me into it as well. The horn sound in the Troopers this year is bright and fresh. I always thought the Troopers had a very crass sounding horn line. This year you can hear the horn line crystal clear. New uniforms and this corps seems to be getting the most out if its members this year. When I saw some photos on the net I wasn’t too sure about the new uniforms. I thought the yellow part around the waist was getting lost and looked too thin. In person they look much better!

What an entrance too! They come out onto the field walking in a straight company front just like Madison does. They get to the 50 and every other member in the line does a directional change (looks very cool)! Then they break up into a circle and do the “Sunburst”! This is all before the program begins.

Music is contemporary, yet still has that western flavor. The guard although not clean, has a much better book to work with this year then I’ve seen recently. I had some difficulty reading forms and it looks like they have some holes to fill. Percussion was once again pretty solid like recent Trooper editions. Another show that had nice moments here and there, but was very bland.

Buying, Selling, Undecided

Undecided. Like most Trooper shows, I am not a fan early season, but by finals it’s a complete 180. I’m expecting that again.

Seattle Cascades

The 2nd favorite show of the night for the audience next to Regiment. Man was the audience disappointed and groaned when they were announced 5th. Myself, I was impressed with the design of the show. Guard uniforms looked kind of gross seeing pictures, but looked pretty snazzy under the lights. So what’s the problem? Why are they scoring lower compared to their competitors? Cleanliness. Where as the other corps are now cleaning for more clarity. Cascades are still in the process of just plain cleaning. Intervals are still an issue, clarity in drill is still a problem and the guard isn’t doing nearly as well as their competitors.

Folks this show is top 12 material in terms of difficulty and design. The drill is very cool and pretty difficult, but right now they just don’t have the goods. Some of the blame I would have to place on the techs. Of course it’s hard having drill writers who are more closely affiliated with other corps and aren’t always on hand to consult.

Besides the competitive standpoint, this is a great show! “Hupango” is absolutely a catchy tune. This whole show has very catchy melodies throughout. I’m quickly becoming a fan of Lewis Norfleet’s arrangements. Even though they played songs last year pretty much associated with the Cadets, I felt they held and made it their own. The Piazolla pieces are fantastic! I think more corps need to play more of his music. I’m a big fan of Piazolla and the Cascades are playing two of his most famous pieces. “Oblivion” has wonderful color in the brass choir. “Libertango” starts off straight ahead true to the piece, then breaks off into a percussion feature and finally a park n’ blow. Crowd ate it up tonight! “El Salon Mexico” was great, but felt a little out of place with the other tunes. Ending was terrific with some awesome middle horn runs. What everyone is writing about their mellophone section is true. They are pretty good and you can hear them throughout crystal clear, sometimes they stand out too much. Percussion was solid, but not as good as their competitors.

Buying, Selling, Undecided

Buying. This is a very good yet dirty show compared to their competitors they’re trying to chase. Them with Regiment are the corps shows I caught myself humming home to. I want to see this show again.

Magic of Orlando

Hmmm? This is a very solid drum corps, but they have been given a show that will not grab many fans this year. Don’t get me wrong again. They’re performing the #### out of it, but I sat there losing concentration and watching the crowd and the sidelines. It was good to see Spirit up-end them tonight. It just makes you wonder if they’re getting a score because Michael Cesario, Thom Hannum, Colin McNutt, Gino Cipriani and others are on the staff and the judges respect that or if they’re truly earning these marks. In my opinion this show should be getting killed in GE. Oh well!

Another corps I had a hard time remembering what happened. There were some brass hits here and there that were very solid and strong. “Abram’s Pursuit” was o.k. but I felt Seattle did a better job with the piece when they were a 17th place semifinalist corps in 2001. The “Mass” piece was the weakest part of their show. There’s a part where they turn backfield and they stay turned for what seemed like an awfully long time. It brought nothing to the show.

The percussion line was very solid. Colin McNutt and his staff are doing a fine job and he’s showing that he is starting to become one of the great percussion arrangers of today. His Magic drumline is good, but not as good as his G-men lines. It’s getting there though. If he stays with Magic next year I think they’ll be one of the best in the activity.

The wind really picked up during their show and the guard had an insane amount of drops on all equipment. Visually they are pretty clean with individual errors starting to stick out. I just wish there is more I could praise about their show.

Buying. Selling, Undecided

Selling. This show had me yawning and I even like the Glassmen every year.

Spirit (Sorry no baby blue)

Man are these guys loud like everyone said. I would say they’re just as loud as Regiment! When I heard the program I thought pure cheese, but this is a great show that actually starts slow, but builds with excitement as it progresses. Uniforms stand out well. The guard uniforms although kind of on the ugly side work well visually.

Memorable parts of the show include a wonderful horn line that just blasts away and a very capable and loud sounding drumline. In fact this section of the corps just gets better every year. Kudos to Clint Gillespie and his crew.

Then the ballad. A white flag with the word “seems” written on it floats throughout the corps as “October” is being played. Then came a flag with a black and white picture of a man. I thought here we go with the cheese like Boston last year. I saw a “Z”, but the wind was blowing the flag like crazy. Then it hit me – that was George Zingali on the flag! Now remember the audience that was at this show. They were absolutely clueless who this guy was. In fact a lady behind me even said “ugh!” How dare you think George Zingali was not handsome! J/K Then a picture of Gail Royer with the words “Royer” written on the side appeared. Then flags with the pictures of the Bridgemen and 27th Lancers drifted across the field. Finally the rest of the flags with words on it appeared that made out something like “Seems Only Like Yesterday”. Talk about milking the GE for all it’s worth. I wanted to yell “What a maneuvah!” BTW, I think that would be pretty cool if the whole audience yelled that when George’s flag pops up. The DCI champion crowd is going to like this part of the show. The Albuquerque crowd had no idea what was going on and didn’t clap once for any of the four flags.

“Nutville” and “No Jive” rocked the house tonight. Very loud and the crowd loved it! I think it would be neat if they got into finals with “Nutville”, when back in ’99 they were getting slammed score wise especially with the high expectations they had going into that season. Visually they were o.k. Sometimes it looked very cluttered with many individual errors. Also the effect with the hourglass with the guard going back up it was lost with the audience tonight. Soft endings can kind of hurt, so they need to keep working on selling it.

Buying, Selling, Undecided

Buying. This is a great show that deserves to be beating Magic. I also want my own miniature Royer and Zingali flags. That would make a great seller for any corps or DCI. We keep talking about baseball cards with corps legends, how about miniature flags instead!

Blue Knights

I thought they had a very good practice and drill moves were a lot easier to read. Tonight it just looked plain messy. They might have over-hyped too much. I heard one of the staff say they wanted an 82.0 tonight jokingly. Visually there were missing forms and in the end they just didn’t sound good – too much over blowing. All in all, this is still a great show and I continue to be a fan of it since I saw it last.

Out of the four corps that were here tonight that are fighting for the top 12, the Blue Knights have the show that has the best chance to go far in terms of its complexity and design. Make no mistake, just because their horns aren’t screaming, doesn’t mean this show is easy. The show is full of subtlety and finesse. The drill is full of curvilinear design with members going through each other, rotating and running to spots where they have to be dead on. Is it clean? No and that’s where the problem is. The corps will need this last month to clean. If they can’t then others will pass them up.

The opener remains excellent. Beautiful melody is backed up by some ethnic beats from the pit. The opener where the corps yells out their chant and the percussion plays their part got a nice reaction from the audience tonight. The ballad is my favorite part of the show. Just great sounds and chords are coming out of that horn line. I love stuff like that! The closer, which is an original piece, starts off very staccato like and moves into some very fast drill with a nice drum pop at the end.

I was one of the few who digged the guard’s outfits at the beginning of the year, but they looked weird tonight. They looked very dull out there like they were losing some color. Maybe they need to be re-dyed. By the way, the guard did better then the ones below them in catching their equipment, but they were still dirty. This could also hurt them where it looks like every tenth counts. Blue Knights also made a great move in getting Andy Smart on their staff. He’s a great instructor from what I saw at practice. Plus he’s an alum of the corps and sometimes it’s good to have staff members who want to keep the tradition of their corps alive.

Buying, Selling, Undecided

Still buying. Even if this show doesn’t make finals, it’ll still be one of my favorites musically this year.

Phantom Regiment

This is one #### of a show that is full of emotion. Everything that has been said by others is true. I feel they will catch BD in music and possibly win brass this year. But, it’s also true what they’re saying about their visual. It’s good, but not in a league with the other top 2 corps this year. The question I had this year along with others was how were the pieces in this show going to fit together when on paper they all look different based on their composers. In one word, they fit seamlessly.

The show starts off with “Canon” led by the trumpets, then builds with each section into on of the lushest sounds I’ve heard in awhile. You think the first part is emotional already, but from the sounds of the staff they want to sell it even more. They want the guard to interpret the piece with even more emotion. Something they’re not satisfied with right now and will be working on. “Canon” segues into “Wild Nights I”. It’s a great piece for them, but probably the weakest part of the show in terms of design, which isn’t bad at all. Lots of body sculpting in this part of the show. Well pretty much throughout they do a lot of horn movements, leg lifts and poses. One complaint is they end “Wild Nights I” on a down note. It makes the transition into the ballad smoother, but I think the audience would go nuts if they closed with a high impact. Also the guard did not throw their orange rifles when the corps is in lines at the impact point in “Wild Nights”. Smart move due to the wind. (Ugh! Orange rifles)

Then there is the ballad. When I heard “The Lords Prayer” on the computer, I felt neither way about it. Then I heard it live! What a great moment musically! I absolutely loved it when they got into the arc and leaned one way during the impact moment and then the other way to finish to it off. They all did it together, which the audience really didn’t appreciate, but I sure did. The silver poles as they’re doing this get lost. Flags would work much better. I’ll probably get all choked up when I hear this at finals.

“Ostinato” is typical Regiment. Fast, furious and bold. A wonderful low brass sound stabs as the higher voices make their runs. Crowd went absolutely nuts when the corps hit the giant oval and section by section made their 16th note runs each leaning their bodies when it was their turn to play. By the end they had the audience eating out of the palm of their hand. The “Canon Reprise” with the pyramid rotation was even better then I expected with them in uniform. Like I stated earlier, they did not throw in the changes with the crab walk and hop. I can guarantee that by the time Regiment finishes the show the crowd will be standing in Orlando. Wow!

Regiment getting Rennick was genius. Their drums actually got some meat to it and are playing really well. Their victory concert was something else! Made me appreciate the music even more. They were like statues out there, no need to bend their knees to play loud. They are even louder then dare I say, BD. They also played “Amazing Grace” to close. The crowd must have given the corps about 3 standing ovations throughout the VC. Then something I rarely see, the drum major turned around and thanked the audience. Great night!

Buying, Selling, Undecided

Buying. I even had to go out and buy some of their souvenirs. They are carrying two long sleeve t-shirts. I wish more corps would sell more of these. I buy them up no matter which corps it is. Thanks Phantom for also playing music that you can actually sing to and remember after the first time you hear it.

How’s it shaping up?

Your guess is as good as mine on who will make the top 12. Each corps here tonight has strengths and weaknesses. For Magic it’s a solid corps with an experienced staff to get them there, but a weakly designed show. For Cascades, it’s a great show, but poor execution. From the sounds of it this corps might also be starting to get a little negative in their thoughts on how the season is going. Heads up – you have a good show! For BK it’s a superbly designed show, but it’s so complex in its design, they might not be able to execute it solidly enough or sell it to the audience. For Spirit they’re pretty good in all areas, but not exceptional in any one. Consistency though might win the race. I know for sure one of these corps will be in finals. Two is slight possibility, but not three. I’m also laying it out on the line saying Phantom will finish 3rd this year. Just a hunch.

All I know was the crowd although not drum corps savvy was very excellent. For those who watch drum corps religiously like me, we can nit-pick every mistake we hear and see, but sometimes entertainment and being around a group of fans that are enthused is just as intoxicating. I can’t wait for a couple more weeks until Orlando to see how it plays out. I’ll be there and I’m quite sure I’ll be happy and disappointed by the corps I want to do well. I’ll try to write a review, but it may take me several days to do so! Until then – keep writing those reviews. Some of you are excellent writers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is interesting that a lot of people seem to be on the bandwagon that Phantom's drill is not as hard as other top 5 corps and that this will hurt them in finals. Yet it seems that the other top corps are having musical problems in terms of continuity and depth of musicality and this seems not to hurt them one bit...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Phantom has been pulling down quite respectable Visual scores lately. If it works, it works. I'm not worried one bit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

BTW, I negelcted to say "thank you" for writing such a thoughtful and complete review.

THANK YOU!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So you're the one! b**bs

I've always wondered who it is that plants the seeds of creativity into the minds of drum corps loyalists as Finals approach.

I wanted to yell “What a maneuvah!” BTW, I think that would be pretty cool if the whole audience yelled that when George’s flag pops up.

Also interesting is your "teaser" about Regiment's possible inclusion of a crab walk at the San Antonio show. Everyone will be watching for it. (And won't they all be disappointed if it doesn't happen?) :(

I also liked your "stock market" approach in the

Buying, Selling, Undecided

feature in your review.

Thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...