cfirwin3 Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 (edited) That is a very competitive recap sheet. The point spread across the top 4 is almost entirely accounted for in visual scores. If a corps could nail down consistent second best placements across the board... they could win it all without winning anything (assuming that everyone else split up captions for 1, 3 and 4). It's that tight. This is one of those moments where it could be tempting to be concerned about the placement of your favorite group... But just look at that score spread. I hope it shuffles every night until the end. Edited July 19, 2017 by cfirwin3 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post jwillis35 Posted July 19, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted July 19, 2017 (edited) This is a continuation of my review from page 156... Cavaliers: In general I like the visuals, do not care for them musically -- especially the last song. Much like years past, the Cavaliers do visual really well. This corps is marching well and I really like the unique look of the field, the props, the uniforms, etc. They bring you into their world. This is something not lost on the judges I am sure. Musically however I feel the construction of the total book sounds like snippets, bleeps, blips, and tags. Continuation of musical thought is lacking. Phrasing and effect builds are lacking. The Cavaliers do have an excellent brass line and their percussion is wonderful, but because of the chopped-up music book I find the show less appealing to me. This is not a top 4 show, not even close and that will be reflected as the season progresses. The members of the corps are talented and really perform well, but I could see them getting beat by a hot Boston Crusaders corps...maybe even The Cadets. The Cadets: Not their best run last night. Even from FLO I could tell. Still there is much to like about The Cadets this year, and there are some concerns. In a nutshell, the first 2 sections of this show are really good. Fantastic music, good pacing, nice visuals, the costuming works, and they blend the elements well (pit, battery, brass, choir). The 3rd section of the show needs major work. Poor timing, bad use of props, too literal, visual feels mundane and weak, and they seem to be begging for applause rather than letting the artistry of Bernstein's music do the job. In fairness, there are some tweaks that would help sections 1 and 2, and I loved some of the new music they introduced at the end of section 1. Reminded me of the 1990 show. At this point in the season the Cadets cannot afford to dilly-dally around with too many changes. They need to clean, as was evident when they tipped their cap to the mighty Bluecoats with their jagged line company front. As we have seen with Crown, just clean baby, just clean (said in an Al Davis kind of way). Crown's show is far from perfect in design, especially in music source choices, but Crown is so much cleaner than most and that paid dividends last night. The Cadets were easily one of the dirtiest corps of the night. So yes, the 3rd section of the show is weak, but I wouldn't spend much time re-writing things at this point. Just clean. If anything, the Cadets need to pull things out of the show. Less is more. Take out the cross tarp in section 3. Pull 50% of the narration. Pull back on your chorus just a little at the end, despite the fact that they are wonderful and I just love their contributions in sections 1 and 2. Pull the big cross off the field, and find a better place to discard uniforms for section 3. All in all it's a really good show that has some magical and very musical moments in sections 1 and 2. The music in section 3 is beautiful but needs to build faster and more confidently. The company front was anti-climactic. Still, I like it and wish the Cadets the best. Much improved over last year. Phantom Regiment: The first half of this was odd for me. I kept waiting for the old Phantom Regiment to show up. The 2nd half has some great music moments that definitely say "That's Phantom." This show is a departure for Phantom and making sense of it is also difficult. Show design aside, what struct me as a negative was the brass performance in the first half of the show. Very weak for a Phantom corps. I thought they began to get some mojo going in the second half. I love the music in the closer (Sibelius, yes?). Their guard is HUGE, but also very good. I'm not sure how the uniform in the brass & percussion is supposed to be interpreted. They seem muscular and imposing, and the guard is supposed to be scary? I'm not as familiar with the material or the show theme, so maybe someone can shed some light on that. All that said, I liked the visual drill. I may need some more views before this show grabs me, but clearly the members are having fun with it and performing very well. Blue Knights: This corps has become synonymous with colorful, esoteric, intrigue, artistic, and adventurous. All apply to this show. Visually they are sloppy, but I sense there is a great visual book underneath. Musically they are wonderful. They have a nice mix musical timing and styles. The flow between brass and percussion is also well done. It doesn't feel choppy. What it lacks for the first 1/3 of the show is any real climactic points that grab you and pull you into the show. The pacing seems slower at first, but it ends well. The uniforms are great. Percussion was fantastic! The Knights need to work on clarity of impact points in my view. They need to drive each section and hit point to logical conclusions so the GE scores will show just how effective this show can be. Had fun watching them and can't wait to see them live. Great performances by the members! Edited July 19, 2017 by jwillis35 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdaddy Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 5 minutes ago, jwillis35 said: This is a continuation of my review from page 156... Cavaliers: In general I like the visuals, do not care for them musically -- especially the last song. I'm with you on My Way. I listened to a video where the staff explained the show, and I didn't understand their explanation of the closer tune. I like the use of a sample used on top of the Holst, but I don't think that's the right tune. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zachariaswmb Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 11 hours ago, shofmon88 said: They have so many guard they had to reduce their hornline to 60 members (I think that's the number) and amplify them the entire show. Everything you wrote here is entirely incorrect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madera Dons Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 13 hours ago, drummer5485 said: Because..."Staging"... Could you explain "Staging" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeRapp Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 If Cadets dropped 100% of the narration, it wouldn't hurt the story line in the least. The Let us pray line in particular, ugh. I get being true to the source material, and maybe the Bernstein folks are requiring some of this, but at that point you can just feel the audience go, WTF?! At that point you feel like this show was not created for the crowd, but to make an artistic statement. And you are done. Personally I love the uniform design and choices for Cadets. Especially the robes. Props do nothing to elevate or advance the show concept. But compared to last season, it's better. Overall, what will hurt Cadets is GE down the stretch. I feel like cleaning this show will help, but it won't push them forward. I don't care for Cavaliers but there is no doubt the kids love the show and the crowd reacts at the right times. Boston still has a ton of up side in show design and scoring, especially GE. I won't beat the dead horse of Knights, I keep cheering for them and loving their music book, esp the arrangements. Their visual show feels tagged on and unimportant to the show runners. Knights remain the one corps that, with a fresh commitment to a total show concept, could medal. They have the talent for sure. Carolina Crown, if they cut the soloist from the second half, the show would probably medal. From a show design and playing standpoint, it's a spectacular display. Same old one band, one sound from CC. Marching figures almost look like they are being run by a computer. Amazing professionalism. Obv they are hurting at guard from the departures to Boston, but if this is a rebuilding year, wow. Bluecoats, just get the feeling that a portion of the judging community has decided the Blast approach is not what drum corps should become. Which is totally up to DCI. I don't think BC will change or care either way, but to me this show is the most demanding show on the marching members, and it's not even close, and it is obviously the most well received show by crowds...and yet, the scores don't seem to indicate that. If BC doesn't even medal, I will be profoundly disappointed. BD, I couldn't hear the first third of the show. I dig the direction, and I love that there are so many Easter eggs for those who marched and followed drum corps for years. They remain the corps to beat, and I wouldn't bet against them at this point. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newseditor44 Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 (edited) 6 minutes ago, MikeRapp said: Carolina Crown, if they cut the soloist from the second half, the show would probably medal. From a show design and playing standpoint, it's a spectacular display. Same old one band, one sound from CC. Marching figures almost look like they are being run by a computer. Amazing professionalism. Obv they are hurting at guard from the departures to Boston, but if this is a rebuilding Crown's issue is not the vocalist, it's the color guard. In fact, they've been doing extremely well in music GE this season, so any talk that that vocalist is hurting their scores should be null and void. Where Crown is getting killed is with their Color Guard, which is also dragging down their visual GE scores. Put last years color guard with this years brass and percussion and they would most likely be leading. Edited July 19, 2017 by Newseditor44 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GlenI Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 12 hours ago, Phillygwm said: I liked this show in the theatre, I like the source material and I REALLY want the show to do well but...it's a bit of a slog. I remember seeing Crown's Inferno at the beginning of the season. I thought "very nice but it's way flat and not too exciting." They spent the rest of the season layering colors and adding drama and it ended up being one of my all time favorite shows. I'm not saying that this year's MASS will rival that. But The Cadets have a fair amount of subtle tweaks and visual additions yet to add along with to the time clean everything. I'm expecting a much more emotional product by final time. I think they will hang tough and place better than one might think from what we see now. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeRapp Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 Funny, I was tjink 19 minutes ago, GlenI said: I remember seeing Crown's Inferno at the beginning of the season. I thought "very nice but it's way flat and not too exciting." They spent the rest of the season layering colors and adding drama and it ended up being one of my all time favorite shows. I'm not saying that this year's MASS will rival that. But The Cadets have a fair amount of subtle tweaks and visual additions yet to add along with to the time clean everything. I'm expecting a much more emotional product by final time. I think they will hang tough and place better than one might think from what we see now. Funny, I was thinking about Inferno this morning, and how that show slowly and steadily evolved into a monster. The difference is that it had an emotional story line that fans could understand and relate to, and their few prop ideas completely delivered their concepts. I could see this year's show getting closer to Inferno, but I don't think Mass is a subject matter that most people can relate to. Or want to relate to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geneva Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 3 hours ago, jwillis35 said: This is a continuation of my review from page 156... Cavaliers: In general I like the visuals, do not care for them musically -- especially the last song. Much like years past, the Cavaliers do visual really well. This corps is marching well and I really like the unique look of the field, the props, the uniforms, etc. They bring you into their world. This is something not lost on the judges I am sure. Musically however I feel the construction of the total book sounds like snippets, bleeps, blips, and tags. Continuation of musical thought is lacking. Phrasing and effect builds are lacking. The Cavaliers do have an excellent brass line and their percussion is wonderful, but because of the chopped-up music book I find the show less appealing to me. This is not a top 4 show, not even close and that will be reflected as the season progresses. The members of the corps are talented and really perform well, but I could see them getting beat by a hot Boston Crusaders corps...maybe even The Cadets. The Cadets: Not their best run last night. Even from FLO I could tell. Still there is much to like about The Cadets this year, and there are some concerns. In a nutshell, the first 2 sections of this show are really good. Fantastic music, good pacing, nice visuals, the costuming works, and they blend the elements well (pit, battery, brass, choir). The 3rd section of the show needs major work. Poor timing, bad use of props, too literal, visual feels mundane and weak, and they seem to be begging for applause rather than letting the artistry of Bernstein's music do the job. In fairness, there are some tweaks that would help sections 1 and 2, and I loved some of the new music they introduced at the end of section 1. Reminded me of the 1990 show. At this point in the season the Cadets cannot afford to dilly-dally around with too many changes. They need to clean, as was evident when they tipped their cap to the mighty Bluecoats with their jagged line company front. As we have seen with Crown, just clean baby, just clean (said in an Al Davis kind of way). Crown's show is far from perfect in design, especially in music source choices, but Crown is so much cleaner than most and that paid dividends last night. The Cadets were easily one of the dirtiest corps of the night. So yes, the 3rd section of the show is weak, but I wouldn't spend much time re-writing things at this point. Just clean. If anything, the Cadets need to pull things out of the show. Less is more. Take out the cross tarp in section 3. Pull 50% of the narration. Pull back on your chorus just a little at the end, despite the fact that they are wonderful and I just love their contributions in sections 1 and 2. Pull the big cross off the field, and find a better place to discard uniforms for section 3. All in all it's a really good show that has some magical and very musical moments in sections 1 and 2. The music in section 3 is beautiful but needs to build faster and more confidently. The company front was anti-climactic. Still, I like it and wish the Cadets the best. Much improved over last year. Phantom Regiment: The first half of this was odd for me. I kept waiting for the old Phantom Regiment to show up. The 2nd half has some great music moments that definitely say "That's Phantom." This show is a departure for Phantom and making sense of it is also difficult. Show design aside, what struct me as a negative was the brass performance in the first half of the show. Very weak for a Phantom corps. I thought they began to get some mojo going in the second half. I love the music in the closer (Sibelius, yes?). Their guard is HUGE, but also very good. I'm not sure how the uniform in the brass & percussion is supposed to be interpreted. They seem muscular and imposing, and the guard is supposed to be scary? I'm not as familiar with the material or the show theme, so maybe someone can shed some light on that. All that said, I liked the visual drill. I may need some more views before this show grabs me, but clearly the members are having fun with it and performing very well. Blue Knights: This corps has become synonymous with colorful, esoteric, intrigue, artistic, and adventurous. All apply to this show. Visually they are sloppy, but I sense there is a great visual book underneath. Musically they are wonderful. They have a nice mix musical timing and styles. The flow between brass and percussion is also well done. It doesn't feel choppy. What it lacks for the first 1/3 of the show is any real climactic points that grab you and pull you into the show. The pacing seems slower at first, but it ends well. The uniforms are great. Percussion was fantastic! The Knights need to work on clarity of impact points in my view. They need to drive each section and hit point to logical conclusions so the GE scores will show just how effective this show can be. Had fun watching them and can't wait to see them live. Great performances by the members! J Willis I appreciate your viewpoints. Thanks for taking the time to share them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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