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The Show was at James Hunt High School in Wilson NC. One issue with the stadium was that pressbox windows did not open so the judges had to make their observations from the top 3 rows of seats in the stands. Since the folks running the show like me they gave me the best seat in the house the (top row on the 50) however I heard parts of 4 different judges comments all through the show. Part of that is interesting to see what they are saying, put it does slightly distract from hearing precisely what is going on the field.

Before the show began there was a severe thunderstorm warning issued for the Wilson Area, The Gold Corps Director came out to the stands and asked everyone to go to their cars until the storm passed. It wound up taking about an hour and 45 minutes for the storm to pass. During that time I estimate that half the cars in the parking lot left. Once the storm passed everyone rushed back into place at the stadium and set 9:45 as the start time for the show. I believe most of the corps put many of their props back into the trailers during the storm to protect them form being damaged and may not have brought them back out because of the extremely wet conditions. All the corps put in a lot of time and effort to build a show and come here, they all did a good job and I respect them. Anything negative I say is not personal and believe me working to be out there on that field is a lot better than anyone who is sitting at home most weekends taking potshots at corps performances.

Alliance went on First. There was a light rain failing during most of their show. The color guard didn't have their uniforms for this season so they were dressed in black dancewear. They brought no props to the field. The corps is smaller this year and is competing in class A. I believe that had 21 horns, 6 snares, 3 toms, 5 basses and 3 cymbals 5 or 6 front ensemble and maybe 15 guard. Their show was called Sub Zero. They started a little rough I think they had been waiting out the storm in the gym then had to rush to the field once the storm cleared so I am not sure if they had a chance to clear their throats and do a quick warm up before hitting the field. However after the first minute the brass had a good bslanced sound and was louder than what I expected from those numbers. At times the drums seemed to overpower the brass. The battery and horns had pretty good movement however there was no standout moment from the show at this point. Because of the rain and wet field the color guard had some drops and appeared to slip on the grass a few times, then they appeared a little confused about what to do after a drop of if someone slipped which reminded everyone that this was their first show of the year. I did not notice if they were using any electronics. They ended the show a little early also which I believe they were penalized for in the final score. I am thinking that when they get their Uniforms and props and finish the show it will be quite different and then I will be able to get a better read on exactly where the show is going.

Carolina Gold had added Carolina Blue sashes to their Brass and Drum Uniforms. The Guard had 2 tome blue and white uniforms Which I thought looked pretty good. I believe that had 28 horns, 7 snares 2 toms, 5 basses , 4 or 5 cymbals around 10 in the front ensemble and over 40 guard. They had set up some rolling screen props showing falling snow. The rain had stopped by the time they went on. The first half of the show was themed around "Let it go" from Frozen and there were some nice brass ensemble parts in there. There were quite a few times when the low brass took the lead. I think maybe because of the weather there were occasional muted flat sounds coming from the horn line. Most of the time they had a good balanced horn sound and again sounded louder than their numbers. Musically they had good exchanges going from horns to drums and the front ensemble blended in well with the rest of the corps. They did use an electronic keyboard and from what I heard it spent most of the show harmonizing with the low brass. The Battery came into the show nicely at times, however I never really got a good look at them. The guard was very large, the individual rifle and sword work seemed to be pretty good however for most of the show the musicians were in the center of the field and the guard was on both sides of the field doing their thing. I am sure as the season progresses the guard and musicians will blend a little better and become more of a single unit. the show was fairly well executed last night. I think the show has a lot of potential I think they just need 10 more horns to give if a more robust sound

Atlanta CV did a show called "Eyeconic" . They were larger than the other corps at least 40 brass. 8 snares, 4 toms, 5 basses some cymbals, 10 or 12 pit , guard was smaller than Gold but I didn't get a good count. the guard was wearing purple body suits with white stripes. For props they brought put several rectangular upright boxes with blinds on them. The Corps started out behind the boxes

and gradually came out horizontally by sections a pretty good opening effect. The brass had a good balanced sound they did several linear box formations where the brass marched forward. The drum line also did several vertical lines with half stepping out to one side then the other half to the other side. I know that is old but it still looks pretty good. When they stated going their movement especially in the brass line was quite a bit better than the other 2 corps. They had a few times where they featured the drum line and in those spots they were clean and appeared relaxed. They had many standout drum and brass moments, but I really remember any guard moments in that show. The last few minutes of the show I know the guard sat out not sure if the musicians were standing still while playing. While Gold is improving at this Show CV was quite a few steps ahead of them especially in brass and percussion movement/marching, but the season is just starting.

CV ended as they were marching out of the stadium by playing "Georgia on my Mind"

Because of the late time (it was almost 11 PM) there was no retreat and scored were just read over the PA.

In the scores everyone got penalized I know Alliance had a short show not sure where Gold and CV got their penalties. CV won brass and percussion in my look though I thought Gold probably had a better guard. I think Alliance drums may have been better than the score indicated. I can't give a good attendance figure for the night. with all the umbrellas and piles of raingear the stands were not empty. I spoke to several people there who were attending their first drum corps show and in spite of it being a 3 corps first show of the year with an hour and 45 minute rain delay no one seemed to be too disappointed.

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Really appreciate your review. We seem to get less of these every year, unfortunately. I always look forward to everyone's descriptions. Seems Carolina Gold had no problem finding guard members this year! No disrespect to the corps, of course, that's terrific and I'm glad. Just curious how this happened. Are there many school and independent guards nearby to choose from? Is there a Carolina Crown pipeline? Kudos to Carolina Gold for successful recruiting!

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Thanks for the review. The conditions last night were less than optimal but the corps members took it all in stride and put on good shows.

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Fred, Carolina Gold has a WGI indoor guard which made it to finals this year, there are several independent guards and many school WGI guards in NC. I think that going to the WGI shows, and showing a quality product may have helped recruit a lot of guard members. On the Crown connection the Corps Director is a recent Crown Brass alumni and most of the visual staff were also in Crown brass, it would seem to me if I were a young brass player it might be a helpful step in someday getting to Crown. However they seem to have a tough time filling the brass section. They are considering fielding a unit in WGI winds next year. That could help recruiting brass like it has helped the guard.

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Thanks for the review!!!!

Always nice to get some information on shows we don't have a chance to attend.

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  • 5 weeks later...

I will add my DCI Atlanta review of DCA corps to this thread since it was the same 3 corps in the same order. First it was in the Dome and there was no rain. In the month since the first show all 3 corps have made great progress. My view was from the 35 yard line row 15.

1 . Alliance : They have gotten their new guard uniforms Which are light blue and look wintery. They have also added props the most noticeable were snowflakes framing the rear of the field. The Music played conveyed a cold sense, I had heard the songs before but can't tell you what they were. The horns had a good balance and the drums did not seem as overpowering as before, though the dome had some weird echoes from the bass drums. The guard this time not performing in pouring rain was very good they were well coordinated and integrated well with the brass and drums. I could see that that had put in a lot of work and made great improvements in the last month. I have not seen any of the other Class A Corps but Alliance will definitely be a contender on labor Day weekend.

2 Carolina Gold. this is my hometown corps so I may be a little harsher on them. They added a snowy front border to go with the dark screen with snowflakes that were in the rear. They started the show a little off for the first 10 seconds or so they hesitated a little but then got into the full swing of things. I thought the show integration had improved quite a bit, they were moving as a corps the guard and horns seemed to flow pretty well with the battery in movement. the large guard did a good job covering the entire field. The high point of the show is when the horns go into "Let it Go" from the movie frozen. This gets a good response form the crowd however I keep hoping that it will get louder. Maybe the winter theme calls for a more subdued version than what I want, however that is the ne spot were I think the show could add quite a punch. The one spot where the guard used the rifles as hanging icicles seemed to draw a good crowd reaction. The Guard in general seemed to carry the show well not sure exactly where they made changes (or it could just be that it wasn't raining) But they seemed to carry the show much stranger than last month. The drum also seemed a little better not sure if it was how they were presented or if they were just cleaner. I thought that their somewhat small hornline might hold them back. I really like the guard uniforms, at first glance the male and female uniforms look the same, but when they spread out you see the male uniforms actually are like princess, the female uniforms princesses with a half skirt. At times the Females get a good Elsa princess look, and the guys look classy.

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3. Atlanta CV. As one of three ATL corps here they had a large home crowd. I heard some glimpse of "In Your eyes" during the show but I really didn't fully pick up the 'Eyeconic" part of the show. The brass had a good balanced sound and the drum line seemed solid. However the people near me who were CV alumni were asking me to explain the show to them and I really had no answers. I didn't see any mistakes but there was no "wow" moment in the show.

I thought that CV would have topped Gold because of their larger and louder brass section, But In the end Carolina Gold won taking the GE sections CV won brass and Percussion. I thought Alliance had good brass and they topped Gold in the brass caption even with a slightly smaller brass section. One good thing about this show is that the DCA Corps go on first then the Corps can come back and watch 8 hours of DCI afterwards. I think they may have had some of the Bluecoats sound looping still in the PA system when the scores were announced because they said first while announcing the all age score "In First Place Carolina..." then 2 minutes later for the DCI Score "In first place Carolina.."

Which made it an extra happy day for the folks with ties to both of those corps.

These 3 corps have 2 more meetings in GA before going to finals, it is good that they have opportunities to perform, but they will probably all be able to play each others shows after seeing each other so much this summer.

Edited by totaleefree
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