Irreverant Theatre

[ScribeToo]

Okay.. first I have to start this by saying we both thought the show started at 6.. so we planned to feed the kids and be out the door by 5:30 to get to Oshkosh in plenty of time to catch the full show.. so at 4, I went over to my house to check online and see the details.. which is where I learned it was 6pm EASTERN time..

Oh. Crap.

We worked fast and had the kids fed before 5 but we didn't get to the theatre until nearly 6.. halfway through Scouts show.. so, we apologize in advance for missing the first few corps. It was an honest mistake.

Now.. I'm thrilled we were able to get to a show in the theatre this year as it has turned out to be the only other show we could "attend" after Naperville this season (much to our dismay). The popcorn was fresh (and hey, free refill!!) and the bathrooms were clean and line-free..and actually plumbed into the ground (not portapotty style).. so.. heck yeah. Fresh popcorn and running water? We'll take two tickets, please!

As I said, we came in during the middle of Scouts show and I could tell right away that they'd done a LOT of cleaning. I still like the show but it lacked.. I don't know.. lustre, I think. I know a lot of corps "hold back" for Quarters just to jockey for performance time on Friday night.. maybe that's what this was. In all honesty, after seeing XMen, I thought they had two pointed Scouts (from what I had seen) and I also thought they'd at least one pointed G-men. Strange.. I guess not being there and seeing it live plays a role, afterall.

Mike: It was obvious they have refined the show since we saw them in Naperville and the crowds (both in our theater and in Bloomington) seemed to appreciate it. Crossmen got jobbed, though. I think they'll overtake Scouts tomorrow.

Crossmen's show took a little time to get going, IMO. Seemed like they were a little sluggish at the start.. and after listening to DeLucia talk, I wasn't expecting much from the second half of their show.. turns out, that second half is the part I liked best! They really cranked the afterburners tonight. This was my first viewing of the show and I thought it was fantastic. I can hardly wait to see it again. Guard could use some work on the details (match your counts and angles, kids! match your counts and angles!).. thought the brass line was great.

I liked their drill -- they use and re-use the X's and it comes across without being cheesy. Where the heck was Bones?

Glassmen left me kind of flat. I liked their music but their show theme, IMO was sort of contrived. I didn't feel like it took me anywhere.. I just sat there and listened. I like being more involved in what's going on down there.. and this one just sort of made me feel left out. Their score was surprising, especially with all the visual execution issues the camera seemed to have been catching.. again, I know the judges aren't watching what I'm watching.. but man.. some of that stuff was hard to miss! Oh yeah.. and something in the mid to low voices was poking me in the eardrum through the whole show.. that needs to stop... or be tuned.. or something.. sheesh! I did like the balloons, though.

Blue Stars.. holy crap. We loved this show in Naperville in the early season and it's only gotten better. For the first time tonight, we both thought "this is what a hornline should sound like!" Couple that with a fantastic, totally integrated visual program and you've got my attention in a good way. Their creative team clearly put some really good thought into the design of the show and it has become one of my absolute favorites. Familiar themes, easy to catch visual cues.. and the surprise tonight.. A MOUNTAIN BIKER BROKE INTO THE TOUR DE FRANCE AND WON!! Un-be-liev-a-ble!! the crowds went wild. I think they are only at about stage two of this race.. the best is yet to come.. their miracle season is far from over!

Somewhere in here, Blue Knights performed -- I can't remember in what order. This is another show that sort of leaves me flat. I like the homages to Blue Knights past.. and picking them out is fun.. but really the show is kind of un-memorable to me beyond that.

Boston Crusaders also came on in there somewhere.. a show I didn't dislike, but didn't like especially, either. It was kind of non-descript to me.. but I thought it was pretty awesome how they have that one color guard guy around (it seems) just to hoist that one girl up onto his shoulder and haul her around the field while she poses like the friggen Rocketeer.

The crowd in the theater was totally digging the show -- especially Conquest!

Intermission was wonderful. I got to partake of the free popcorn and soda refills and indoor plumbing.. what a treat!

I just looked at the schedule for tonight's show and realized where Blue Knights and Intermission fell.. so.. I guess that means it was a little to easy to mistake Blue Knights for Intermission.. hmm. I don't think being interchangeable with intermission is ever a good thing.

Bluecoats -- for what it's worth, even though I was making fun of the show, I really liked it. Drumline is pretty incredible and they have some cool effects (including the bass drum/speed bag thing.. awesome).. not to mention great music and an easy to follow story-line and not entirely cheesy vehicle.. some of those horn entrances, though.. eesh!

Okay.. so now it's 1/4 to 12 and I'm starting to fall asleep. We'll add more tomorrow.

Stef and Mike.

[ScribeToo]

WHEW! Sorry about that, you guys.. I was literally falling asleep with my hands on the keyboard last night.. now where did I leave off? OH YEAH! Bluecoats..

Love the show.. In terms of storytelling, it's simple and effective.. easy to read, fun to watch and listen to. I know everybody was orgasming over the park and blow in "The Boxer" but I thought the horn entrances were sloppy and that detracted from the impact for me. I still liked it (if only for the potential) and thought it was beautiful staging and impactful design.. This is truly one of my favorite Bluecoats shows, ever. I think it's the little details in execution that's holding them back. Things like those horn entrances and some form development issues.. I was not distracted by feet like I was in some of the earlier corps last night.. but there's a crispness missing.. you can see a form is about to take shape and it never fully "snaps" in until they are already moving on to the next image. Also, I'm not a gimmick lover.. but I love their gimmicks.

Vanguard was up next, I think.. holy drill-sets, batman!! I'm EXCITED about Vanguard. This year isn't the one.. this show isn't the one.. but mark my words, folks, it's coming and soon. The show is probably hardest to sell because of the music .. my initial reaction was similar to my initial reaction to their Copland show from the late 90s.. I didn't recognize any of the music but the integration of visual and music sold me on it.. no, I wasn't humming any of it, but I liked it a lot. Pete Webber is a genius. There were so many wow's built into that drill I eventually stopped saying 'wow' and could only utter sounds and grunts everytime something else cool happened. The corps seems like they're young.. just on the brink of being able to execute the design they've been given.. Vanguard last night reminded me why I fell in love with them in 1985.

That wave move they did was awesome.. right before the VANGUARD yell.. I wish we'd seen that live instead of the bad camera shot of the center of the field

Next up was Cadets.. it was kind of hard for me to keep my mouth shut in the theatre when all the other corps honks around us where hissing and groaning melodramatically. Seriously people.. shut the f up. I'll bet 1/2 of them had never even seen it before they were watching it that night but were just flapping their gums about the narration blah blah blah.. OMG I was ready to POP OFF. Anyway, with that said, I liked the show earlier in the season much better.. believe it or not, with the earlier narration. I thought it was disjointed in its present form and didn't gel. I wasn't drawn in like I was in Naperville. I will say I was much more impressed with the music and drill but I felt like their show design/concept suffered for it and I found that, honestly, disappointing. It's a shame they seemed to have bowed to popular opinion on this one -- something I'm not accustomed to seeing the Cadets do.. EVER.. I wish they'd stuck to their guns through the whole season and taken their placement as it came. I'm also looking very much forward to next year's show -- Bernstein and the Cadets? Yes, please and I'll be back for seconds.

If we hadn't had so much of that dang popcorn, I would have gone to get my hot dog.. AGAIN.

Regiment was up next and okay, I'm going to say some things that are not going to make their fans very happy. I'll just say that right up front so you can choose to read or not read right now. I think the show was emotional and gripping and they are fully committed to it. I like the music choices (though not always the execution of them) and I think Rennick has grown into his genius (even though I still associate him with the young, inexperienced Rennick whom I remember making a lot of misteps with VK years ago). Bottom line, I think they peaked last night. The show was fiery and passionate and exciting -- not what I think you can do on Thursday night of finals week and then find a way to top it. I think those kids maxed it out last night and shot their wad and I'm not sure they will all be able to collectively muster that kind of magic twice more in a row. What's more, I thought some of the other corps around them were holding back a bit while they didn't -- which is why their show seemed to sparkle an extra lot last night in comparison. My gut says there will be some placement changes tonight and tomorrow night and they will involve this corps -- but I don't think it's the direction their fans are hoping for. In a nutshell, I found their visual a little bit directionless. I'm sure it's difficult.. but what good is difficulty that doesn't make sense? It really started to irritate me towards the end of the show.. so much so that I was actually laughing when they finally killed the drum major.. not because I was glad the "bad guy" was dead.. but because it struck me as funny that somebody finally offed the guy who was responsible for prolonging my irritation. There, I said it. You all can quote me in two days if by some stroke of fate my expectations of their finals placement is completely wrong -- i can take it.. but I gotta say what I see. Not even the Leg Wedge is going to make this show a champion.

The lady behind us thought the show was completely off the charts. I had to keep from laughing when she kept exclaiming, "I cared about them!"

Crown was after Regiment and they have really made some strides with their show. Musically, I think they have one of the best sounding hornlines out there and can you really go wrong with the great finales of all those great works? Not sure I fully understood the deal with the guard's hair.. they all looked like a Thomas Dolby video (yes, I'm dating myself.. you old farts around my age will know what I'm talking about) and other than the Beethoven connection, I didn't get it. It wasn't overly distracting, though so I guess it was fine.. I guess I just wish I knew why. Why!? WHY? okay.. existential moment over. Crown felt, to me, like they were holding back.. which is why I wasn't surprised by their score or placement and why I think they will ultimately find themselves in third or second place by Saturday night.

I really can't say anything about Cavaliers. I think they'll pass BD and be crowned champions this year. I got a text from a friend who was watching in Atlanta after they finished. Three simple words summed it up completely for me, "Good Gawd Almighty..." was all it said.

I thought it was awesome when the camera was panning around the field before they started and "That Guy" got some face time. The people behind us laughed when I shouted, "NATHAN!"

I wanted to like BD this year. I didn't like their show last year so i was really looking forward to liking it this year. Unfortunately, I don't like it. I think they should change the title to, "Constantly Setting on the Yardlines." because for the first 3/4 of their show, that's all they do. I get that absurdity is the goal.. but I don't find the absurd all that entertaining and I didn't find this show that entertaining either. Like PR, I thought their visual was without direction.. movement for the sake of movement. Loud for the sake of loud. Their program started getting interesting towards the end but by that time, they'd pretty much lost me.

I think they should have spun those bass drums the entire show -- in fact, don't even play them. Use the pit bass drums to play and just spin those m'er - f'ers for the whole show.

So there you have it.. if you were wondering in the first half where the irreverence was.. there it was. We're looking forward to the broadcast tonight on Fan Network.

Stef and Mike

[nccavie]

I so agree with what you said about Phantom!!! Their drill is so generic to me!! Give me one cool move their drill does that is unique and never seen before? Despite that....I likeD them, just I like Crown and Cavies a lot better (maybe biased here since I marched with both!!) Hopefully the Green Machine will take it home Saturday night and Crown will be a close second! (or the other way around!) Either way...I will be the most proud of Crown wherever they end up. What a great couple of years they are having! As for the Blue Devils....I've seen it three times and I'm just bored with them. What's absurd is that every year they put on what feels like every other show they've done and get rewarded like nobody's business. However, the last time I really liked BD was in 1987...so maybe I just never get them. Oh well....I still have to say the top 4 is crazy good and entertaining!

[CozyChopsCom]

But, Stef, tell us what you really think.

Thanks for the review. Wish ya' coulda been there. The view was fantastic from the 50 low, Corps Entry Hill, corps parking....

[Geoff]

There, I said it. You all can quote me in two days if by some stroke of fate my expectations of their finals placement is completely wrong -- i can take it.. but I gotta say what I see. Not even the Leg Wedge is going to make this show a champion.

Whoops. :)

[CrunchyTenor]

Whoops. :)

Heh, heh, heh.

Garry in Vegas