DCUK Rolls Into Town In Leicester – A Review

Saffron Lane Stadium in Leicester has seen many DCUK spectacular events over the years and on Sunday 19th July the end of the first half of the 2015 season was no exception.

The journey to Leicester was a damp and miserable one and after the excellent weather two weeks ago it looked like we were in for a wet day, however right on cue at lunch time to sun shone and we had a dry, sunny, if a little breezy, day.

First up Concord AllStars. This enthusiastic young group continue to improve their 1980’s pop music production, for such a young ensemble they produce a great brass sound and the percussion have some innovative moments. Colour Guard has always been strength for Concord and this year’s group do not disappoint. Great to see young people enjoying performing and a credit to your organisations long and distinguished history. (1st Place Junior Class – 48.75)

Moving to the Open Class sees the Comets at their first DCUK event. If they were nervous it did not show with some very accomplished musical moments – my favourite being the “I Dreamed A Dream” from Les Mis. Were there really on 9 brass players? The Colour Guard came into their own with the change of tempo moving into ‘Oh What A Night’ with some very accomplished dancing. Hope you enjoyed your experience and look forward to seeing you back to future events. (9th Place Open Class – 40.05)

Next into the arena – Stafford Lancers with their distinctive blue uniforms. The show music is from War of the World’s and their performance levels were significantly improved from 2 weeks ago with some excellent vocal work and strong percussion. If the corps continues at this level of improvement this will be a show to watch in the second half of the season. (8th Place Open Class – 49.20)

Third corps in Open Class sees East Coast Elite take the field. An impressive sight with their columns bringing focus to the performance. A challenging show with members being stretched across all sections, a pity that their electrics failed at the beginning, however they did not let this hold them back and with an impressive company front clearly this corps has a strong instructional and design team behind them. (5th Place Open Class – 55.05)

Beeches enter the field with their production of The Sword In The Stone. An impressive horn line and a small colour guard performing for the first time this season. This corps has made excellent progress during 2015. (7th Place Open Class- 51.05)

Final Corps before the interval was Revolution. A show which is well designed to maximise the members abilities and thus allows for confidence to build and be exploited in the effect captions, a fitting climax to the first part of the competition. (4th Place Open Class – 57.50)

After the chance to visit the food stands and catch up with friends the show restated with 37th Kingswood. A Corps who knows how to portray a story to the audience. The show is high in demand across all sections and if cleaned for the second half of the season one to watch in September. (6th Place Open Class – 54.05)

Cadence enter the field with their distinctive red uniforms. A Corps which has progressed in recent years now bringing to the field a quality production including a huge black flag running over the whole corps – a well-deserved 3rd place. (3rd Place Open Class – 58.75)

The host corps for today The Company – from the moment the pre-show commences the atmosphere transforms you to France for a magical 18 minutes with so much innovation and showmanship on display at times you don’t know what to watch! A Corps which always aims high and today delivered. (1st Place Open Class – 76.95)

And so to the final corps of the day – the much anticipated and eagerly awaited Kidsgrove Scouts. Always a firm favourite with the audience with their own brand of demanding Drum Corps this corps never fails to deliver. This year’s show sees the stone circle with Stonehenge clearly on display. Some excellent colour guard work with impressive sunrise flags and with such a large horn line how can you fail to be impressed with the quality of the sound. Today is the final competitive performance before Kidsgrove travel to the USA for the Drum Corps Associates Championships and we wish them every success for their trip. (2nd Place Open Class – 74.95)

Thank you to the Company for hosting the show and for the audience for travelling to support the event a fitting climax to the first half of the season and can’t wait for September and Finals time !

Report by Tony Bourdain