profhill

My friend and I had a little traffic difficulty, so we arrived later than expected. Going 40 on the interstate because you are stuck behind something that is taking up both lanes is rather frustrating. Mandarins Good choices were made in relation to the ability of the performers. The show was written well within their abilities and was pleasant. Pacific Crest Impression was they had a bad run. Not sure how developed the idea of the no strings attached was carried through the entire show. Oregon Crusaders Well designed from both a creativity and matching the abilities of the performers. Enjoyable. The Academy Thought it was really good up until the closer. There seemed to be a change in performance level, so what I was perceiving as lack of development could just be the section of the show that hasn't been detailed yet. Troopers Many good choices were made. Liked the trumpets sound, wasn't as direct as most corps, more rounded. Look forward to see how they develop in the future. Spirit of Atlanta Seemed to have a bad run, which often occurs at a home show. Sort of confused by the design choices that were made. Not exactly sure what the intent of the show was supposed to be. Colts Smart staff which wrote a creative show that fits the talent level of the students. Too bad about the mic problems. I'm sure the show would be more enjoyable if I could have understood what the actor, who did a good job, was saying. I also like how much they've improved in two weeks. It really shows how good the staff is, that they are delivering quality instruction making the performance level of the corps better. Madison Scouts GREAT color guard...too bad about every other design choice. Drill isn't well written, brass arrangements are not programed well. Cool trombone moment. If you're going to use the trombone, it should be used for it's unique trombone qualities. The use of the slide, the really high notes, the pedal tones. Blue Stars Another group that has a good teaching staff that is getting the most of the kids. Interesting concept, gets a little lost in the middle section. Like the opener, the slow section and the closer a lot though. Crossmen Pleasant... Phantom Didn't see. took extra long break. Boston Crusaders Love the direction they are taking. Some of the moments are staged as well as they could be staged and the different elements are used to lead the eye around the composition. It is clear that the visual person designs good winter guards, because that's what this looks like, which is a good thing. It's also clear that it's written too hard for the members visually. I hope that the organization commits to this direction and stays the course. It would be interesting to see what develops. If I were still able to march, I know I would look at Boston as a place to go because of how interesting the show was this year. Blue Knights Written about 7 degrees easier than Boston, but also performed better. Smart staff wrote a show that the kids can perform. Like it a lot, loved the new uniform. The Cavaliers Not embarrassing like the last two year, but still not great. It was pleasant, but still has problems with brass arrangements in both how they are scored and how it is programmed. They are now experiencing talent problems, especially in the guard. They have two different guards, the rifles (who are good) and the flags (who are not as good) Last year I got the sense that there was bad (or no) teaching going on brass wise, I don't get that sense this year. They are closer in score to BK that to SCV. I wonder if the organization will ever take the steps to get better again. Carolina Crown Man can the play their horns. Some suspect choices in the middle of the show visually, but also some cool stuff. I enjoyed it. Santa Clara Vanguard Really confused by some of the choices that were made. Not a fan of the brass programming. It seemed a lot of the drill was written as a one step spacing. I'm not sure why the trombone were used. The slight difference in tone wasn't exactly worth the effort. (See Madison Scouts.) This show seems to be an aberration for the design team. It's clear they are great teachers though, since they have improved greatly over the course of the season. Blue Devils I have no idea what the GE judges are reacting to. I appreciate the high performance level of the corps, but I just didn't care. I would have rather hated the show than to get no effect. I had no reaction at all. It will be bad for the activity if they win, in that this is not something that we should be rewarding. Usually BD has a high performance level and engages the audience when seen live. That did not happen. I didn't have any of the three types of effect. Bluecoats Best effect in years with the pitch bend. Liked how they played brass wise, liked the arrangements. Some of the programming may get a little boring at times. This might be fixed with a more cohesive performance from the members. Doesn't have to be necessarily technically better, just needs more commitment to sell the product. The Cadets I'm indifferent, but not in the same way as with BD. This was more pleasant, but I cared just about as much. While the voice is well integrated into the program, what he is saying doesn't flow from beginning to end, especially the JKF quotes seem to jump all over the place. The section before the horn line comes to the front to change cummerbunds just seemed like a lot of work for not much effect. There were also a few moments of questionable percussion writing, where it was slightly too aggressive for what horn music.

I have an extra ticket to the show in Charlotte on Saturday. Anybody want it? Email me: jsannv@yahoo.com

Crown was closer to fourth than first last night score wise. And really, 1.4 is a very small difference.

Sadly (or thankfully), there aren't going to be two Crown alumni able to call the show, like in 2008.

Close your window and open another...that fixed it for me

I don't like this show because it was the weakest Cavalier show since 1997. I don't like it because it was bad.

Another easy answer: Bluecoats 2006 I also noticed I was sort of underwhelmed by the shows that finished fourth. I was much more excited by the list of groups that finished 5th. Which is odd, because I've noticed I only like good groups in my old age.

Best: SCV '09-one truly great show, which probably should have finished higher, explored many things that aren't usually explored in drum corps, loved their approach to color guard that year, had I been judging I would have put them in second Favorites: SCV '09-one of my favorites of all time Boston '00-The opener was a little slow, but once "Time to Say Good Bye" started it was great Boston '02-Easily overlooked, should get more appreciation for how good they were that year Biggest Waste of Talent: Cadets '06 Least favorites: Phantom '02-hated it, sounded bad, stupid visual ideas Phantom '04-So talented, but it didn't matter because of decisions made in October.[/left]

Yes I'm a snob. I want everyone to be good and in my old age I can't handle anyone being bad. Why would I want to spend time watching something that's bad?

I'm going to say no, they will not be in the top five. But, for those of you saying they may fall out of finals, so their horn line is the worst you've heard forever I question your abilities to make that determination. They are very rough right now and they have a long road to go before it gets good, but I would be surprised if they finished lower than 8th. This seems to be a continuous problem for the organization the last few years. I'm not sure what is causing this to happen each year. I would have thought Jeff would have made it better before now.

1. Cavaliers 2. Cadets 3. Blue Devils 4. Crown 5. Bluecoats 6. SCV 7. Phantom I can only give my opinion on the top 7. I'd be surprised if anyone I didn't see last night in the theater would be higher than 8th, but I could be wrong. The top two are set...No one else has the show to stack up. Either one will win. BD seems like they weren't even trying. Crown looked much better last fall when it went by the name of Avon. Bluecoats are what they are, I guess last year was a fluke. Drill ain't great. It's hard with no effect. SCV is really, really dirty so I'm given them credit for getting better. They may not. Phantom was a waste of my time. There was nothing there.

I was at the Fort Mill show (when the Cavaliers lost by 4 points) and I told everyone that The Cavaliers would beat Crown at the end of the year. The problems within Crown's show were pretty evident at that point in the season.

Go back in time to September of last year and start with a new show. While vicious, this is what would actually need to be done to make the show better. I feel that the entire effort wasn't great. I'm not really sure what the whole point of it is, and the new ending doesn't help me. When I saw them early in the summer it was pretty clear they were farther along in the performance process at that point in the season than they had been in previous years. So, it's safe to assume they are probably more talented than in previous years. However, the package that those performers were given was a little thin. So, what you get now is a great bunch of kids performing a show that doesn't rise to meet that level of talent. I have a friend who calls it a "lost year." Where decisions made by the staff derailed the year even before the first chart of drill or measure of music was written. There are many examples of these throughout the history of drum corps.

Uh no....still doesn't make it good.

The new ending isn't more effective. In fact, I would say it's less effective. It seems unrelated to what came before it and doesn't complete the concept, which isn't very strong to begin with. I hope that the design staff takes this summer as a learning experience and produce something better next year.