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Corps at the Crest - San Diego


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1 hour ago, ComeHomeShane said:

PR - I'll admit, it was better than I was expecting. But it put me into that "why?" mode where I don't like the design and I just keep asking why this why that... 10-12th come finals..  really not digging the 'mic the whole corps' thing... especially since in the first minute the mics weren't turned up, then after the first impact the sound board guy cranked and all of a sudden the horn line was twice as loud. Another issue with the mics is that any form that had front to back field depth created unbalanced horn amplification... The horns up front are already louder because they're closer, and now they're also closer to the microphones... uhg... this is becoming a very slippery slope of microphoning. 

Is PR really amplifying their hornline with mics upfront?? Is there something I'm missing there, like is there a purpose other than to fake more volume, cause that seems like a real bummer. That can't be a normal thing with other corps right? I know Bluecoats does it in their ballad when playing backfield but that's nowhere close to as sketchy imo since it's obvious and transparent. 

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2 hours ago, Narrow said:

Is PR really amplifying their hornline with mics upfront?? Is there something I'm missing there, like is there a purpose other than to fake more volume, cause that seems like a real bummer. That can't be a normal thing with other corps right? I know Bluecoats does it in their ballad when playing backfield but that's nowhere close to as sketchy imo since it's obvious and transparent. 

They are and it's definitely noticeable, especially when snares are crabbing by them and they're magnified x1000 (unless that's part of the show, not sure yet)

At the Santa Barbara show, every corps had mics arranged across the front of the field and the amplification is pretty clear.

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7 hours ago, Narrow said:

Is PR really amplifying their hornline with mics upfront?? Is there something I'm missing there, like is there a purpose other than to fake more volume, cause that seems like a real bummer. That can't be a normal thing with other corps right? I know Bluecoats does it in their ballad when playing backfield but that's nowhere close to as sketchy imo since it's obvious and transparent. 

Yup. Like the last poster said, it seems like every corps has atleast one mic on a tall boomstand. To be honest I prefer mic'ing the horn line over layering the sound with keyboard patches... but with phantom it was total overkill. They have a mic every 10 yards from the 20 to the 20. SCV has a small group of 12 horns that are mic'ed the entire show and can match the horn line sound with a simple mezzo forte... I can't say I'm surprised by this trend, but when is enough enough? I'm curious to find out which corps are recording the horn line and then patching it through a synth.... 

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10 hours ago, ComeHomeShane said:

really not digging the 'mic the whole corps' thing... especially since in the first minute the mics weren't turned up, then after the first impact the sound board guy cranked and all of a sudden the horn line was twice as loud. Another issue with the mics is that any form that had front to back field depth created unbalanced horn amplification... The horns up front are already louder because they're closer, and now they're also closer to the microphones... uhg... this is becoming a very slippery slope of microphoning. 

Is that legal, and if so, where do I apply for a refund on advance ticket purchases?

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first show of the season :) 

I was only able to see the corps after intermission, so I unfortunately won't be able to comment on the Open Class shows. From what I've heard, very entertaining.

Mandarins: Guard was HOT, well deserved score for them. The pillowcase costumes (the first screaming guy got some laughs from the crowd, but it was also creepy), the giant ink streams that connected to the props, and the creepy ink hoods were all extremely effective. Overall a very cohesive and well-executed design. Could have used a little more hot sauce in terms of brass book and drill difficulty, though. Hornline/drumline sounded great, definitely a step up from previous years, entertaining and full sound! Couple foot timing issues, but nothing that distracted too much from all of the fun. Will it make finals? Maybe, lots of competition within 15-7th I think! 

PC: Members are performing the heck out of this show! You can tell that they are having a ton of fun out on the field, and even though it was blatantly a home show with lots of family and friends in the crowd, the energy translated directly to the audience. Really fun brass jam session, beachiest sounding hornline of the night (also nice and full). Also cool and exposed visual moments from all captions, choreography from the horns/drums and lots of big and juicy rifle tosses. My issue with this show was the design, however. Every time I hear BK 2014 rep in a show that's not BK 2014 I yawn. Cringe-worthy and generic prerecorded narration too, sounds like some early 2010's tumbler blogger spilling their heart out to a sea of anonymous internet users... It had it's fun moments and a lot of fantastic performer energy, but this corps deserves a better show, in my opinion, especially if they're trying to tap in to their unique Golden State identity. Props to the trumpet soloist! 

Academy: Really really fun show! Hornline was loud! Drill had some really cool moments too. The new uniform jackets and feathers really popped. Visual design was tasteful, despite the cutesy/cheesy theme (not complaining about the theme, think it's great!) Sometimes the silly bits were super distracting from what the corps was doing, maybe detrimental to GE scores... Cool staging moments, especially in the ballad/closer, but sometimes these were distracting. For instance, the drum feature had a lot of fun sound effects and a rubber chicken and all that, but my eye was drawn to that instead of what the corps was doing. I usually like it when there is so much going on in a production that you don't know what you should be paying attention to, but this really didn't work that well. Also the hopping around and pretending your horn is a gun thing was GREAT the first time, but got a little heavy handed when I saw it again a few minutes later. Like PC, I feel like this corps deserves a better show, especially after last year's monster finalist show. The talent is SO there, kids are doing an exceptional job. Didn't expect them to be this far behind Mandarins, being honest.

BK: WOWOWOW. The announcer called their show Metamorph, yikes... I saw a lot of negativity towards them pre season, have no idea why. The intro to this show is so riveting and beautiful, the audience was stunned into silence. Builds very slowly, keeps delaying gratification until you get hit by an UNGODLY MASSIVE wall of sound. Well done from both performers and design, I feel like BK has found a niche. If this is the direction DCI is going, then get me on the train. Choreography and movement was stellar from the hornline. The call/answer part where the horns are split into two groups was technically impressive and fun to watch. Percussion was quite clean/on fire <3. The only "weird" thing that didn't vibe with me was the array of guard equipment. I didn't think the yellow optical illusion discs were all that effective, and the strange eye shaped stuff later on in the show didn't add much compared to having rifles/sabers in my opinion. Ballad was gorgeous, some of those cutoffs were thrilling. The volume control of this hornline is special. Couple of fast technical moments to iron out, but overall amazing.

Phantom: I'm historically not a huge phan of the shows that this corps puts out, but the theme and concepts in this show are freakin awesome. The guard is so creepy in the first movement with the red face covers. The rest of the corps uniforms work very well, looks quite intimidating while still recognizably phantom. Bit of a rough start with the electronics/mixing dude, microphone situation was a little weird and honestly throughout the whole show I wasn't a fan of the moany vocals and think it would have been fine/possibly more effective without them. This corps is hauling, which makes the show visually interesting but seems to sacrifice timing and musical integrity at times. The opening hit seemed a bit off timing wise, but once they got their groove it was generally smooth sailing. Having the drumline right up front during their feature and the hornline way back playing staccato hits is INSANELY difficult to time right-I applaud the boldness but this was another timing issue tonight. Like BK, technically impressive brass playing at times, but some stuff still needs to be worked on. Ballad was great, really nice solo. A lot of people don't think this show is thematically coherent, but I think it follows a pretty clear storyline from evil to good ghosts. If this can be cleaned and if the corps can get more comfortable producing a big sound while running their butts off, this will be an immensely impressive show come finals. Tuba features were great! 

SCV: Takes the cake for shows you wish you could march in. This corps exudes expertise, it doesn't look like they're breaking a sweat despite no hats but they are moving fast and playing loud and doing gymnastics and etc etc etc... I saw a video of them before coming to oceanside, but it does no justice compared to seeing them live. I caught myself and my neighbors laughing at times just because of how ridiculous and entertaining this show is, very well paced in terms of drawing your eye to things that need to be seen. The opening brass hits with the rifle tosses have a showing off kind of vibe, but that's basically how the whole show is. And it WORKS. Brass book is ridiculous, can totally see why they beat BD a few nights ago (although haven't seen the latter live). The microphoned members threw me off guard a little bit, especially in terms of timbre compared to the not-amped ensemble. There were moments when the whole ensemble was playing and running and the mellos and tubas cut through the ensemble and it gave me goosebumps (thinking of a moment closer to the end). Percussion was crisp and soul-healing, like some well-fried churros. Spinning bass drum feature had the crowd in awe, myself included. Marching was stellar in terms of timing and uniformity. There are no weaknesses in this show, and I think the vibe and costumes and writing are significant elevations from the past. Cannot wait to see how well it does later on, these performers and staff are bringing it!

All in all, fantastic evening. From a design perspective, I like what I am seeing on the west coast much better than what I've seen from the midwest and east so far, can't wait to see what happens when everyone's in the same spot.

 

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I am surprised no one has mentioned the BK guard uniform change toward the end of the show.  Looks like some white panels around the "eye" are removed to show a black panel underneath.  I didn't notice until they were in the last minute or two of the show...a "darker" ending in the works?

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My show review is posted in the review section with a few pictures.

Hope you enjoy it!

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