madalumni

First off, I should mention, going three days in a row with 2-3 hours of sleep each night does not work for me...I may pass out in the middle of writing this. All that to say it was well worth it! I had better seats tonight - 9th row, right on the 40 yd line. Glassmen - I liked the show. The brass had a nice sound and the percussion was crisp. It was nice to hear strains of Medea and Appalachian Spring. The use of color in the guard was quite striking and tied the show together nicely. Blue Knights - Another really good brass line and they can never go wrong playing Trittico. Although it was hard to see a whole lot of visual from my low vantage point, I think they were pretty strong in that area and their feet were clean. Crossmen - Really enjoyed the call and answer feature with Mellos on the right side and sops on the left...especially the part where they were playing with mutes. Very cool. What strikes me about the overall show is how they just really know how to lay down a groove and how the percussion provides that traditional "pocket" for the rest of the corps to fall into. Madison - They cranked up their energy level tonight (Thank God) after a somewhat flat semi-fianls pefromance. I don't understand their low percussion scores because they looked and sounded incredible to my admittedly untrained ear. That aside, Colin McNutt's writing is a big improvement for Madison. The book has alot of musical flavor and is a perfect fit with the Nelson/Holman Jazz. Alot of people have been complaining about the first two thirds of the show being too soft or restrained. I see what they mean, but I still really enjoyed it. I personally love the subtle themes being repeated throughout "Sound Piece". But when they bring out Malaga, the crowd rightly goes nuts! From the company front to the end was pandamonium! One thing is constant during this show....well even before the show starts...the image and the aura are still there! And despite the relatively low placement, these guys are back and they have a plan! Boston - Call me crazy, but I dug the giant cubes and appreciated how the corps entered and exited via the cubes. It was a very tasteful way to bookend the program. They had a more solid and even brass sound tonight and their drumline was smokin'. One thing that really stuck out to me about this show was the good balance of highs and lows, both in mood and volume. I didn't care for the narration but I thought it was done a little better than Crown as far as how it fit into the show. But if they chose not to do it again next year, I wouldn't complain. Bluecoats - I've got to give it to the Coats. Both them and Crown have really stepped up their level of brass performance. Blue was really tight and well blended and because of their great intonation, I felt they had a very rich and focused sound. Crown - Another really nice brass line (as mentioned above) and the show flowed nicely....BUT, PLEASE GOD, make them stop with the singing and narration! It just doesn't do anything for the show. The "beat" section where the poor guard guy had to narrate was painful for me. Loved their rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody though. Overall a very pleasing show to the ear and if they had lost the vocal stuff, it would have been sublime! Phantom - OMG, what a wonderful hornline!!! That deep, dark, and dare I say "Chocolatey" sound was back. They really cleaned up this show since I saw them back in June. Their ballad was easily my favorite of the year. I don't know exactly what the chord progression is, but it melted my spine! Cadets - Very fun show. I loved the Tull music. Loved how the horns let lose in the second number (is that Songs from the Wood?) Also, I don't care what others say, that baton guy was freakin' awesome. At one point, he was juggling three batons and tossing them at least 15-20 feet in the air. From an execution standpoint, I felt their guard was the best. Every rifle toss was dead-on and that silent flag section was flawless! SCV - Another awesome horn sound. I've heard a couple people say that they've lost a little of the low end due to not having Euphos, but I really couldn't tell. Percussion deservedly won high drums. Not only were they tight, but they were so fluid. The magic trick at the very end was a great way of honoring the tradition while keeping things modern. Also, I thought it was a clever thematic element how the guard girls go into the tent followed by the main guy (maybe a Harum reference?) only to have the lone girl standing triumphantly at the end. BD - The cleanest and most powerful hornline I think I've ever heard! (well, 95 Madison may have been as powerful) Just unreal. Every hit was so clean and in tune, that you could hear the complete overtone series ringing out long after the releases. The soloists were legendary and the new surprise ending was awesome....although I felt bad for the Tenor guy who took a spill right at the end. Nice recovery though. Some have said that this show wasn't musical and it was centered around sound effects but I completely disagree. It was very musical and I was completely on the edge of my seat the whole time (except during standing ovations) Cavaliers - Well, they had the complete package and visually were sublime. As a Madison staff member (Scott Boerma I think) put it, their drill was constant eye-candy! The brass was a little off from the night before, but was still very excellent. From a overall musical standpoint, I think it was the best. They repeated hints of the Bond theme throughout the show and I really appreciate the strong melodic development. Alot of corps didn't take long enough to develope a theme, but these guys did it in a fresh and tasteful way. Even though Vanguard won percussion,these guys had my favorite drumline. Part of it I think is how they tune and what they do to dampen the drums, but it's just such a unique sound. My favorite moves of the night were when the circle moved through the block and right towards the end when the horizontal files rotated back through the vertical ones while the whole thing moved insanely fast from left to right. Hats off to the Cavaliers for their 6th title. I'm always impressed by the fact that every 4-5 years, they re-invent themselves and take huge risks, yet they are able to maintain the level of excellence! Well, that's it. I enjoyed myself thoroughly. It was great to hang out with some fellow alums that I haven't seen in 10-15 years and met some new ones that marched during my favorite year 1982! And I got to hang out with Paul Turner (BW) a little after the show. He had a great year and really loves being a Scout. In closing I just want to comment that the overall talent and design has reached levels I never thought possible. these kids are just amazing and I think if I were to audition for a top 12 corps these days, they would send me to the showers! This was the best year for drum corps in recent memory and the packed house at Mile High is a testament to that fact! Now bring on 2005 baby!!!

Sly - They had the crushed velvet gauntlets and hat bands in both 83 and 84 (85 is when they switched to the shiny red) I don't know the name of the bari soloist from 83, but he didn't play in the ballad duet of 88...that was Dave Teroller on lead baritone (he was a "rook-out") and Brian Gregg on Euphonium (and Brian's first year was 86) As far as visual ticks...there were ALMOST none. If you go to the very end of the drum feature in Malaguena, right before the horns come back in, look in the very right corner of your screen, toward the back of the curvelinear form, you'll see a lone contra player (name deleted to protect the "innocent") step into the form 2 counts early! He recovered very quickly though...to the point where most people never notice it at all!

Lonsdale is a great guy. He's one of the first guys I met during the winter camps at Madison. So, if you see him, also tell him Jeff Koehn says hi. Matt - were you around when Lonsdale uttered the famous line: "Has anyone seen a Blue Cooler?"

1) 1990 2) 1993 3) 1989 4) 1991 5) 1988 6) 1986 7) 1992 8) 1985 9) 1987

Michael - that's a good perspective on things. Every time I find myself complaining that 03 isn't as good as 95, 97, or 88 for that matter, I need to remind myself of the tremedous comeback they made! Also, Sal hinted that last year (03) was stage one of a 3 year plan....it was kind of a "play-it-safe" type show. They plan on cranking it up another notch in 04 and yet again in 05!!! I've listened to a portion of their source music for 2004 and they are definately increasing the musical demand and intensity!!! I can't wait to here the rest of the show and find out what the overall concept is!

1988 Phantom Regiment Nikk - ok this is a late post...but I had to chime in here and say that 88 Phantom is one of my all-time favorite Regiment shows...first of all, the drill was insane for that time...second, the music sounded so pure and maybe even darker than 96... Anyway, I loved it and I'm going to put my worn out cassette tape in tonight and listen to it again... interesting tape... side A: Blue Devils, Madison, Phantom, and Cavaliers Side B: Bluecoats, then cuts to our '89 open house performance in the East High School Gymnasium (VERY BAD SOUND!!!) followed by some guy lecturing on missionaries going to Uzbekistan...pretty weird!

For me, it's a toss-up between 87 Santa Clara and 95 Madison.... both shows had so much excitement and adrenaline... I guess I would give it to SCV though because of the higher demand and better execution...seeing that drum solo was what got me hooked on drum corps!!! But...95 MADISON STILL ROCKS!!!!

Blue Devils - 80,82,86, 92 (One of the best closers ever!!!) Cadets - 83,84, 87(best soft ending), 96,00 Cavies - 91,92,95,00 Crossmen - 92 (one of the best soft endings) Madison - 79,80,82,84 (AWESOME) 88,95(Pure Adrenaline) 99 Phantom - 84,87,89,91,96,03 SCV - 84 (another great soft ending) 87(simply THE best) 88,92 99,00,02 Velvet Knights 87,88,90,92 (loudest crowd reaction ever!)

Middle of the show tune...three or four drill sets...spaced out in terms of time. A chance to park & BLOW...and to feature the guard. Jeff...GREAT choices...although I'd sub '83 Strawberry Soup for Waltz. 'Course, the best thing about Waltz was watching Shaun Owens peel out a triple Z -- calling dogs for MILES -- and not even loot like he was trying...one handed! Yeah - I'll always remember the look of Shaun playing just about any solo...he just had that confidence! Also, probably the most classic look on a soloist's face....again, '83 "Soup" ...right towards the end of the piece, it's Shaun and Ira Erenson trading licks. Ira nails this impossibly long and high note and basically looks like he's gonna drift off to sleep! Hilarious! I also found it quite humorous that by the time that guy was around 19 he was almost completely bald. I heard that he was constantly getting approached by DCI officials suspicious that he was well over-age! On that 83 finals tape he looked like he was in his late 30s [:D]

My favorite concert pieces were: 84 Madison - "Waltz of the Mushroom Hunters" 84 Blue Devils - "La Fiesta"!!! 83 Madison - "Strawberry Soup" 82 27th - "Niner Two"

Hilarious quote from Frank Sinatra (Phil Hartman) there!!! And yes, Madison has a new drill writer - Jamie Thompson (formerly of Glassmen) and one of the techs is Jeremy Hunt (from 'Coats) We also have Jennifer Leseath (From Phantom) on color guard!!! This team has really pulled off an outstanding comeback in the visual department and I hope it does nothing but improve from now on!!! Next agenda - PERCUSSION...I have a feeling those young guys in the drum line will really improve next year and I hear rumors that they are looking to add some heavy hitters to the drum staff ...so look out [:)] ....Also, the hornline will be going Bb!!! When I first heard that I was skeptical...now that I've heard other hornlines like Phantom sound extraordinary, (sp) I'm totally psyched!!! Anyway Nick, excellant review!!!