ToneDeaf

Test your knowledge :) http://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/25656/world-champion-dci-corps

Test your knowledge. :) http://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/25656/world-champion-dci-corps

Nicely done. Agree on Mandarins and Troopers placement comments all the way. Thought the SCV comments were a bit harsh, but that's what you get for selecting that music which everyone will forever link with Star, even though they didn't play half of the selections SCV is doing. Phantom is getting killed in visual, so I was intrigued by your comment on them visually. Totally understand the love/hate BD thing. It's brilliant, but just not enjoyable on a basic surface level. I imagine folks who really don't know and understand the activity would not like it at all.

It adds so much to the musical impact of a show. I am a huge fan of this!

About time too. Two weeks in and their show still ending where it did on the BD family day performance on June 20.

Thanks for the review. It's too bad you let your bias against the synths get in the way of an otherwise strong review. One other quick comment... Your quote: "Mandarins.... First, the "warm-up" time is used to play this windy East Indian-ish music as the corps slowly enters the field. I get the idea that the mood of traveling off to faraway lands is "trying" to be set, but it really is just distracting." Distracting from what? If you mean the time where all the other corps stood there in utter silence waiting for the required time on the stopwatch to elapse for them to begin their show, then yes, it did distract from the nothingness. :) Again thanks for the review!

I've only seen Troopers out of the group you are asking. I would say that top 12 is probably not realistic based on what I've seen in the past and from what I've seen of Blue Knights, Bluecoats, Blue Devils, and Vanguard. I think 14-17 is where they will end up. It is a good show and they should make semis.

I know it's late, but here it is. I went to all 3 shows in NorCal this weekend (Clovis, Stanford, Stockton) Here's the link to the Clovis Review: http://www.drumcorpsplanet.com/forums/inde...howtopic=126004 Stanford is the best stadium I have EVER been to for drum corps, and I've been to a lot all over the country. Simply perfect. If you are ever thinking of coming to California for a show, come to Stanford. You will love it. Unlike Friday night, I got there in time to see the entire line-up. Renegades Simply put, the best show I've seen Renegades do. The new uniforms make them look SOOOOO much better than the matrix look they've been sporting for many years (probably 7 years, knowing them). This year's show seems to have a better balance from a design standpoint. The energy and momentum keep going all the way to the ...... almost to the end. The solos in One More Time Chuck Corea kinda killed the flow for me today, awkward transitions between solos, horn line, and percussion. Should get better with time. Drum line was solid, especially liked the 4 tenors! Velvet Knights The drum line has some fun rocking beats and are by far the stongest performing section of the corps at this point of the season. The horn line definitely is not balanced well to the percussion ensemble sound (they're getting buried!). The color guard was small and quite honestly, I was distracted (negatively) by the costume design. This show will obviously get stronger and should do better if they can get those brass players to blow. I hope they are able to start telling their story a bit more effectively as they add the rest of their show visually (they stood for the last couple phrases) as well as the characterizations that are there minimally right now. Good to see the red converse!!! Vanguard Cadets First impression, I LOVE the new uniforms. They are bright and crisp. They make the corps look bigger and are quite sharp. The show is definitely quite a bit more sophisticated from a design and performance stand point than VK. The show is a collection of love songs from different musicals and operas (Rent, Moulin Rouge, and Nessum Dorma amongst others). Although the show is accessable because of all the recognizable melodies, the pacing tonight didn't work for me, I found my interest wandering. The horn line has a nice rich sound, but design-wise there isn't a lot of contrast stylistically, musically, or emotionally. Doesn't seem to be as strong as last year's program. Blue Devils B Wow, they are huge! This is a very well paced show, good balance for the most part (percussion to brass). This is one of the best, if not the best, BDB corps I have ever seen. The show designers do a great job of delivering impacts every 60 to 90 seconds, keeping the crowd engaged and interested. I was particularly impressed by their percussion section tonight, the class of the class for sure. I know BDB has had these uniforms for a few years now, but I really like them a lot. The corps looks good and sounds good. The brass sound quality was a bit thinner than SCVC, but they also have the numbers to make up for it. I look for BDB to be at the top of Open class, or very near. Mandarins Nice improvement in one day! Holy cow! The brass really stepped it up today. Although the stadium makes everyone sound LOUD, I could tell that everyone in the horn line seemed to be putting in a stronger effort tonight. They added a few things to the guard performance tonight. There were two costume changes added; a headband with a tall feather in the drum solo, and a skirt/pant thing in the closer. And then there were air matresses that they just dragged around the field during the ballad until they produced flags from under a sheet on the bed... I don't get the beds, hopefully they will do something to make sense of this show, it is a mess right now from a design standpoint. Not well conceived, at least in it's current shape. See my last post for more on the design. Troopers Seemed like an off night tonight for the Troopers. They just didn't have the emotional connection that they did at Clovis. They drum line seemed to not have as clean of a show either, particularly the snares. The show is interesting in concept, they just need to not take nights off as performers. I know with corps of this experience and skill level, consistency is going to make the difference between them and the folks in their range. At Clovis I felt that they were better than Mandarins in every aspect. Tonight I though their percussion performance and energy/emotional output was topped by the Mandarins. I think it is a cool concept and I DID notice the guard more tonight. I saw some connections to the "indian" theme (the guard is wearing "squaw" costuming). But for the most part I noticed this in the beginning when the guard encircled the soloists. I'm also not sure if there is a love theme (kinda reminded me Dances with Wolves) between one of the corps members and the guard. Once again, if there is a storyline I'd like it to be more obvious. I feel that the guard is still too much of an afterthought for THIS show. Blue Knights They really stepped it up tonight! I was harsh on the percussion for their consistency at Clovis, they seemed to be much more consistent tonight. All in all, high energy levels from the group. I like the use of the wind theme, but I thought the synth patch was a bit harsh sounding (as in not pleasant to listen to) when they "blow the corps away" at the end of the opener. I would like to see more moments where the corps connects to the theme, right now that seems too minimal to me. They do their usual body movement stuff and knee kick coming out of halts, but let's see more connection to the idea of being in the snow, being cold, being in blizzards. I think these guys are stronger that I first thought, but I don't see them being higher than 9th with this show. Just not as sophisticated, mature, intricate, or well put together as the next 3 corps at Stanford tonight. Bluecoats A lot of people are making a big stink out of the corps uniform change in the last half of their show, but I like it. I think it gives the corps a fresh look and feel halfway through the show. I'm not sure how it connects to a theme, or if it is necessary, but I dig it. This drumline is really quite good! Wow. The pit is amazing too, they actually catch your attention with what and how they are playing on several occassions. These guys also stepped up tonight at Stanford. The energy in the back half of the show was better than at Clovis, still think the ending needs something more. On the negative side, this show is not as well constructed thematically as the last 2 years. In that aspect, it is a bit of a let down. Great brass sound, amazing percussion, guard gets lost visually a lot with the uniform matching the corps so closely. Vanguard Well, not every corps stepped up tonight. SCV was a bit flat tonight. They still sound gorgeous and the push at the end of the show is drum corps magic. If you don't get chills, you're not paying attention. Percussion was not as strong tonight, more dirt was evident. I did take more time to focus on the guard. I feel that they are doing what they do VERY well, it is just not as spectacular as last year's work was. Maybe it is more sophisticated and matches the subtlety of the show, but they don't demand your attention. I get the show, I like the show. The whole program is a build with some minor peaks and valleys, all leading up to the arrival at Simple Gifts (as Copland did in the original!). Too many times my complaint about shows is that they are too loud, too much, not subtle, just in-your-face constantly leaving you kinda numb by the back half of the show (leading to less clapping from the audience... see BD from any of the last 6 years or so). This is a beautifully paced show, leaves you anticipating that arrival and when it happens, it truly feels special. All that said, off night for them. :) Blue Devils Like I said with my Clovis post, this show has it all. I love the music, I LOVE THE GUARD, this is the best BD show I've seen in a long time. I definitely haven't enjoyed them this much since 94 or 95. They seemed to be hitting on most cylinders tonight. The snare line seems to be one section that is not playing as consistently as others in the corps. I noticed tonight that the chairs seemed to be moving well, not any crashes that I noticed. I still am not sure of the connection to 1930. I did see them put the chairs in the form "1930" and the corps shadowed the chairs forming their own "1930" in the closer, I see some of the fast walking with stiff legs (in character) from horn members which are reminiscent of some of the silent films. But still don't get the connection to 1930 yet. Still a lot of fun to watch!!!

I arrived as BDB was on the field, had every intention of seeing SCVC and BDB (sorry folks, I'll see you tonight at Stanford). BDB sounded good and looked good from my vantge (which was NOT good). I sat just off the 50 about halfway up the stadium, so maybe 15th row or so. I tried to look at the entire package of each corps, although I tend to get drawn to whoever is "asking to be looked at," that is the section, or individuals that are really selling it. I am intentionally trying to write more about corps other than SCV, BD, or Bluecoats because they tend to get a lot of attention on the forums. The first corps I saw was the Mandarins. All in all, enjoyable, nothing stood out or grabbed me. The show seems to be the run-of-the-mill opener, production, ballad, drum solo, closer with a different color associated with each piece. Seen that theme a million times, it works, but isn't the most original concept. Seems to me with a corps that appears to still be smaller than their competition (although bigger than past seasons) they need to come up with stronger conceptual ideas and "story lines" since they are not going to outplay, out spin or out march anyone. Highlight for me was the second production, a latin piece. The piece starts off very smooth musically (with a guard uniform change from purple vests in Festive Overture to smaller red vests, sabres, and great red flags) and picks up tempo and energy with a percussion break and goes strong to the end. I also really liked a grooving drum solo, a Beethoven piece with a 12/8 Latin rhythm underlying the entire way. Awesome tenor break!!! Would still like to hear the horn line put out a bit more sound at impact moments and you can tell they were losing steam the last minute or so of their show, although I realize the tempo is FAST at the end. Finalist corps, no. Semifinalist corps, might be a stretch, probably 17-19 range again for these guys. Troopers were next. Similar to the Mandarins, enjoyable show, but nothing really grabbed me and made me feel compelled to watch more. The conceptual idea is interesting in "Western Side Story, a mix of "West Side Story" and some Americana symphonic music (like "Billy the Kid" drum solo). But where does the concept make a connection after the music? The guard is wearing mustard gold Indian costumes but I didn't notice them, they didn't reach out to me and make me want to look at them. Was there a story line, was there a connection to the theme being portrayed by the guard? I don't know. I will get a better chance to look at this again tonight, but seems to me that an audience member shouldn't have to put the show under a microscope to find the theme (like looking at a "Where's Waldo" book). The brass sound was generally rich and warm, a good sound, seemed much more mature than Mandarins, but they too started loosing steam the last 30 seconds of their show. I know with the "less experienced corps" (for lack of a better term) that this happens more at the beginning of the year as the members are still learning how to properly pace their output and are working to build stamina. The percussion section seemed solid, although there were some pit moments in the opening minutes of the show where they were using very articulate mallets (unforgiving) and the lack of rhythmic cohesion was very noticeable (yes, I'm a percussionist). Finalist, no. Semifinalst, very posibble. I'd say 16-18 for these guys. The next corps was Vanguard. I have heard a lot of hype from friends this year about how enjoyable this show is, and they were correct! The show was rich and mature sounding musically. The percussion writing was very well done, per usual with SCV. This really took me back to the Garfield 87 show, made me feel like I was a kid watching that all over again (this is a good thing SCV). BUT.... that said, there was something lacking too. The show (in contrast to BD and Bluecoats) seems very simple, doesn't have the layers or depth. It is very much on the surface, which can be nice, but just doesn't have that impression of watching something spectacular. I know it is early on and I expect this show to improve and for Vanguard to push to the end as they always do. The big bug-a-boo for me was that I didn't notice the guard, for the most part. Last year the guard drew me in and I found myself watching them with great interest. Considering their show is about Martha Graham, they need to continue to work on getting the guard in the forefront, make them more noticeable. Don't get me wrong, they might be the best guard out there, I really don't know much about guard, but I do know that the show was over and I was saying, "oh wait, where was the guard?" Once again, as with Troopers, I think that I will watch this more closely tonight. I must also comment that the last chord of the company front at the end of simple gifts portion of the show must have lasted 20 seconds! It was great! hahaha I'm going to go out on a limb here (sarcasm) and say that they are going to be top 7, but not top 3. 4-7 place for these guys. Blue Knights were next. I like the new uniforms (I didn't see them last year, so they may be one year old, I don't know). Once again, Blue Knights guard is in all white. Is it just me, or do they always go out in all white? What stood out to me with this show was the percussion section. They have some nice moments, still seeking consistency though. Again, early season these things happen, but they need to finish phrases better to compete with the lines in the next echelon. The brass sound was big and strong, and the show was not as "out there" as some of their past shows have been. I came close to drifting in terms of interest, but for the most part, this show did keep me interested, which hasn't always been the case with BK. (Sorry) I did notice a lot of awkward transitions for the guard. This happened a few times with the guard staged up front. Each time I was completely distracted by a random guard person marching (without any work or body movement) through other members who were doing work. Seems like something a design team shouldn't have at this level. Perhaps the work is incomplete, but give them SOMETHING to do; look up at the audience, do some simple dance move, but not MARCH TO SPOT. :) The horn line did some nice movement work in the middle productions especially. I am not a fan of their trademark knee bend step off, but if you like it, boy you'll love the show. Again, I find it to be visually distracting. Finalist corps? Hard to tell, they are in that group that will probably be the most interesting battle (once again) other than the top spot. I'm guessing 11-15 for BK. Bluecoats were next. The few people in the stands that knew the Bluuuu yell scared everyone else. There were a LOT of people around me who didn't understand why they were being booed. I don't say anything, I just sit there and laugh at people's reactions. :) Fun show!!!! The opening piece is a Mingus tune (I believe). An aggressive piece with a lot of cool rhythms and dissonant harmonies. I know BD did it in mid 90's (95 or 96?). The horn line is strong! The percussion is REALLY good. Definitely the best of the night thus far, right on par with BD's percussion section. I always LOVE their pit and once again, I wasn't disappointed with that aspect. I like how they used the synth sounds to really help solidify the low-end of their ensemble sound. There were also some neat wind effects coming out of the ballad as the guard took off the drum line jackets revealing under armor type shirts that look like a blue sky with white clouds. During the next piece the horn line moved to the front curtains and also removed their jackets and shakos leaving the whole corps hatless and wearing the "blue sky" shirts. This is the point where the show really started rocking to me. The energy from here to the end was awesome, the crowd was totally into what they were hearing and seeing. About 45 seconds before the end of the show the energy is simply amazing, then there seems to be a sort of tag to the end where they lose some of that momentum and intensity which is probably what's keeping that crowd from jumping to their feet. Get that ending to match the intensity of the previous section and the audience with be on their feet. I feel that Bluecoats are probably going to be with SCV most of the year, so I'm guessing 4-7 finish. Blue Devils were last. I want to start by saying that I haven't liked the Blue Devils shows in quite a while. They are always a demonstration of technical excellence, with not much connection emotionally. This year, I REALLY like the show. I don't care what people are saying about the chairs, they use them brilliantly to highlight different members of the guard, the horn line, and the percussion, creating different visual layers that gives them something the others don't have. Still a couple minor problems with the chair placements once they start moving them, but only noticed it twice. I loved the snare feature with every other person on a chair to give a high/low//high/low visual effect. The color guard REALLY grabbed me, how could they not? They are in bright yellow, spend much of their time in, on, or around the chairs, and are spectacular performers. The dance work on the chairs at the beginning is really nice. The drum line is really quite good, only one major "ewww" moment with a rough extended roll passage. They too (as well as Bluecaots) really use the synth sounds well to enhance the ensemble sound, particularly the low end. Musically, the whole opening is smooth and beautiful. I am so glad they are over the idea that playing random stabs for 45 seconds in row is somehow cool. The question that does come to mind is the connection to the show theme of 1930. A lot of the music is more contemporary sounding. Is there a story line the guard is acting out? When I think of the 30's the first thing that comes to mind is the Great Depression. Obviously this isn't a show about the Great Depression. Musically, there are some connections with moments of Gershwin's I Got Rhythm as well as some other big band pieces. Is that the connection, some musical references? So I'm interested to see what they can do to sell the thematic elements of their show. They are good enough that they might not need to do anything other than out march, out spin, and play the other top corps. There really isn't any connectable visual element to 1930, unless that was the year folding chairs were invented. :) Last comment. The crowd last night was very passive. Most corps were trooping the stands to a few scattered ovations and a lot of people talking and ignoring the members trooping the stands. Please folks, clap for the members as they come off the field. Let's have some class and show our appreciation. Don't be afraid to clap during and after the shows! The corps members respond to crowd energy. The more we're into what they are doing, the more energy they give in their performances.... really.

I just happened to see that the Mandarins announced their 2009 show titled "Absolute".... Anyone else think what I did? This also helps explain their uniform colors finally!

You're a good man!

People don't seem to feel motivated or get excited about drum corps unless it involves BD, SCV, Cadets, PR, Cavies, and on a lesser scale, Crown, Coats, or Academy. That might be one reason DCI is failing (losing corps left and right... and don't even start with the gas prices, I know that has something to do with it too.). My friends who attended were really impressed with VK, said they were a blast. I'll ask one of them to write a review.

This is great! I love the idea.... just don't chaunce out once you get past the top 6-8. I would love a detailed review of Pioneer, Mandarins, Pacific Crest, Crossmen, Colts, etc. Also, I can't wait to hear your input on the open class corps because there are some great shows this year.

I heard the sound too and I believe that you were hearing the wind through the mics. At least that what I thought it was.

Yeah, I noticed her too. I friend of mine, who knows some folks in Mandarins, told me that this is her age-out year after 5 years in the snare line. I think that is pretty cool that she stuck it out with one corps too.