ChiBoyinLA

Weather: Absolutely Perfect! Parking: Ingress and egress to the Rose Bowl is notoriously awful. Last night was no exception. Crowd: Big. Really BIG. I would very conservatively peg it at 11,000, but could have been several thousand more. For a Wednesday night in Los Angeles during rush hour, that is VERY impressive. And from where I was sitting -- 67 rows up on the 50 -- the crowd seemed very knowledgable, appreciative and respectful. DCI take note. Put finals on the West Coast and you will have the best attendance since Montreal. Venue: As others have said, the Rose Bowl is far from ideal for viewing drum corps. The crowd is quite far away from the action. Due to the elliptical shape of the stadium, the sideline is a good 20-25 yards from the stands at the 50 yard line. Nobody sits in the first 15 rows of the stands because they are covered and/or too low. Then, because the seating is a wide, slowly-inclining bowl, most fans are even further away. Like, hundreds of feet away. I think this hindered the corps from really connecting with the audience. Next time, I'd try Home Depot Center or even the Colesium. The Format: Wonderful pacing. Three hours of non-stop entertainment. No intermission. After each corps completed its field show, it would quickly move to the area in front of the pit and play a 5 minute or so "instant encore". While that was going on, the next corps would be setting up. As soon as the instant encore finished, there would be a 2 minute video introduction to the following corps, which were all very well done and fun to watch. By that time, the next corps was ready. The announcer was VERY good; I think DCI has got a replacement for when Brant Crocker retires. Individual Corps Comments As a general comment, I think most corps were slightly below their absolute performance peak. Understandable, considering that they've had little practice, lots of travel, and now no competitive pressue to focus the mind. All were very entertaining, of course, just a smidgen less clean than expected, and a bit more exhuberant with the volume (which is good in my book). Regiment Well done show. Some of the soprano runs were crazy. I could hear the pit in the cavernous Rose Bowl even though it did not appear to be amped -- gee, how is that possible? Played "Elsa's" for their encore. Scouts Sigh. Biggest disappointment of the evening. Anyone who says "the Scouts are back" can't be accurately remembering what the Scouts used to be like. In a word, they were boring. And their horns generated the least volume of the six, despite having the most "wailing horn" posturing. An earlier reviewer described this as a "neutered" version of the Scouts -- that's a PERFECT description, and exactly the same word my group of friends came up with. Played "Theme from Ice Castles" for their encore. P.S. I still think the new uniforms are cheesy. Cavaliers Best hornline they've ever had. Most entertaining musical book in years (IMHO). Visual program of the year. Had a fall and a couple drops. Encore was the Corps Song/Rainbow melody they've had for the past several years. Bravo, Gentlemen! (P.S. nice to hear some of the perfectionist members out in the lot afterwards grumbling that they need to keep their performance level high in NoCal because they "have a reputation to uphold"). Vanguard Huge fan favorite. I like the new ending, but it is a little disconnected from the rest of the show. ####, they can drum. Guard was very "on" tonight. This will go down as an all-time classic production. "Clowns" AND "Bottle Dance" (without guard) for the encore. Sweet! Cadets No baton boy!! Without that distraction, I could appreciate the performance as a solid drum corps show. The battery plays some serious notes, and quite well. Same for the hornline. I agree with everyone who says this is a super talented corps with a less than state-of-the-art product. Their fantastic encore was the best of the evening, hands down. Devils The show got a lot more effective (IMHO) since early July. Killer performers. It was difficult to hear some of the train effects, even when amped. The new unis look superb under the lights. The corps exited through one of the tunnels at the end -- Nice! Encore was "Chase the Clouds Away", then a reprise of the last two minutes of the show. I thought that repeating something that they JUST finished playing was a little weak. It would be great if they could add "When a Man Loves A Woman" to their repetoire in NoCal. Massed Corps Yes, it was cool, but certainly not the greatest thing ever put on the field, as some are making it out to be. Obviously, with 400 people on the field and only one day to rehearse, there are significant limitations regarding what can be done. Plus, there is a sort of "law of diminishing returns" when it comes to large hornlines -- once you get over 200 or so, the additional bodies really don't make the sound any louder. Has something to do with overtones or intonation. Of course, it was cool to SEE, and the crowd definitely appreciated the attempt. It would have been nice to throw a 50-man snare line out there or have 150 flags spinning in unison ... maybe next time! ;-) Conclusion Great event, with great performances. Worth every cent of the admission price and then some. Probably the best drum corps show in Southern California ever, and the best attended. And given the huge turnout, DCI darn well better not wait another 30 years to bring the corps out here!!!

What?! I swore that I heard he was in that car crash with Bob Barker! Doh! :sshh: Great idea. -- Red-faced Rob

Interesting that only dead people (Pesceone, Angelica) are the ones who "knew" the Muchachos' score. ;-) I have faith in my source, she has no reason to be evasive (big hint). I agree with everything else you say, Paul. But I think this is destined to always be a drum corps urban legend.

(1) The Muchachos' prelims scores were never tabulated. (2) Don Pesceone himself collected each of the individual judges' sheets before they could be tabulated. Where did they go? Only Don knows. (3) The judges never got together themselves to compare their scores for the night to determine where Muchachos "would have placed." This was recounted to me several years ago by one of the actual judges from that night. This person is a legend in the activity who I have absolutely no reason to doubt.

Rich -- I have seen SCV, BD and PR, and I doubt that SCV will catch either of those two.

This is getting like waiting for the next Harry Potter book.

Nice review, Dale. And regarding your avatar picture . . . nice heights! Rob W.

Great review, Ryan. I look forward to reading your Div. I review, and wish you luck with Impulse this season. Being an Impulse insider, could you offer any insights as to why the corps seems to have have plateaued the past few years in terms of number of members, particularly in the guard? Is the plan to stay mid-sized or eventually grow to the 120-member range? Thanks.

Nice to see you, too. If I'm ever brainwashed into marching again, I am really going to MARCH -- no pit action for me. I'm hanging on a drum! :)

Peer . . . pressure . . . getting . . . hard to . . . resist . . . . . . must . . . hold . . . . . . on. :P

Pacific Crest proved beyond doubt that it is ready for Open Class competition when it debuted its 2003 program before approximately 400 friends and family last night at Los Altos High School. This year's program, "Invocacion a Poderosos", is based primarily upon music from a ballet by Argentinean Composer Alberto Ginastera, with additional music by Rene DuPere. Like past PC shows, the music certainly has its dark, dissonant and esoteric moments (which, frankly, this reviewer does not particularly care for). However, much of show has music that should appeal to the casual corps fan. For instance, the opener begins with a very pretty melody that slowly builds for about a minute into a very nice and LOUD initial impact. The impact is visually accented by the guard's use of 3x3x3 foot cubes constructed out of aluminum pole, which are placed on a point and spun, creating a wonderful shimmering effect under the lights (very similar to something Star of Indiana did in 1993 with their props). The musical highlight of the show is probably the third movement, a swing number that has a much different feel than the rest of the show (I presume that this is the DuPere piece). During this piece the percussion -- particularly the snares -- show off some very difficult and flashy solos, and the horn line parks and cranks out some big-time sound. This production number is reminiscent of the Cadets' "Swing, Swing, Swing" and "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" in terms of feel, style and placement in the show, although PC's tune is not quite as raucous. Pacific Crest fielded a corps of 56 horns (18 tpt/10 FH/18 euph /10 tuba), 32 percussion (8s/5t/5b/5cym/9pit), 27 guard and 2DM, with a couple holes last night. All sections are strong. As can be expected this time of year, the corps still plays noticably better during standstill than on the move but that problem surely will be licked by Finals. It bears noting that PC is a little bit ahead of where they were this time last year AND since they are extending their season until Finals, they will have three more weeks to clean than they ever have had in the past. The corps is performing an Open Class caliber production. The music and drill is notably more difficult and sophisticated than in past years, and the mature membership appears up to the challenge. The performance level was quite high for this time of the year, especially given this corps' limited practice schedule as compared to its Division I competitors. However, given the strong competition in Open Class, and their limited touring, the realist in me says that they likely will not be a finalist contender this year. The program, while solid and more challenging than past efforts, is still perhaps a notch less demanding and innovative as the typical finalist-caliber show. But the corps certainly will be a Semi-Finalist contender, and this year's program is a progression up the ladder from last year's show. The corps has improved every year since its debut in 1993, and this year is no exception. Having consistently moved up through the ranks of Divisions III and II, it will be fascinating to see where the corps will go from here. So Cal Dream Prior to the PC Sneak Preview, I swung by Loara H.S. to catch the end of So Cal Dream's practice, and their first dress rehearsal of the season. While the performance is still rough, by the end of the season this will be a production that this first-season-on-the-field corps will be proud of. The corps is playing latin-flavored music from the movie "The Mambo Kings," including drum corps standard "Malaga." The corps is marching a well-balanced group of about 28 horns (approx 8 sops, 6 mids, 8 baris, 6 contras), 11 battery (4s/2t/4b/1c) and 12 guard. The corps has new uniforms this year, which I will keep under wraps until the first show but for this hint: VK meets Renegades. The strength of the corps right now is clearly the horn line, which puts out good sound, and has several fine soloists. The corps has a very committed membership, and some obvious talent in all sections, that will provide excellent building blocks for the future. The resumes of the members read like a "Who's Who" of top drum corps, from west coast powers BD, SCV and VK, to midwest and eastern favorites including Phantom and Archer-Epler Musketeers. VK Garry told me that they are following a 5-year development plan similar to the Renegades, and are actually a year ahead of schedule (uh-oh). Like most start-up corps, they need more members, volunteers and money, and hopefully their performances this year will help attract all three. This is shaping up to be the strongest drum corps season on the West Coast since 1992 -- I can't wait to get it started! Rob W.