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DCFANIOWA

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    Grandpa's Allentown Synopsis

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    Just back after around 11 hours on the road. This isn't intended to be a show review, I'm sure others can do a better job than me on that front. I just wanted to keep my promise to check in with my general impressions and commentary on the state of the art.

    Everything here should be prefaced with - "In my humble opinion"..

    Most important - as I have been saying all along and had confirmed for me this weekend - the kids are incredible. Talent is off the chart and the work ethic is still as strong as ever. We sat in on practices for Crown, Teal and Surf and can't say enough about how hard these kids work, and how well rounded they are as mucisians and performers. Bravo!

    :worthy: :worthy: :worthy: :worthy: :worthy:

    Overall....

    There were some incredible shows out there. Loved Phantom, Crown, Crossmen, Scouts, Crusaders and despite the responsibility I place on Hopkins for the charge toward amps etc that he has spearheaded over the years, I loved Cadets. I felt they were the better corps over BD last night. Despite some rumblings I heard about SCV I thought they had a good show, but there were a few things, DCI, that got on my nerves and stop me short of being an unqualified fan-boy again.....

    1 - Themes. Who gives a rat's ###? I would have no idea what half the themes were out there unless you told me, and then - what's the point? Yet we seem to go out of the way to sell the theme. I really don't care and wish you would lighten up on this intellectual-emotional wanking.

    2 - the big one - A&E. This will take some explaining.

    There were two big problems for me on the A&E front. One was the use of what I will call "non-standard" instrumentation in the pit. Teal Sound absolutely buried their battery feature with a violin, electic clarinet (?) and bass guitar. As a former snare drummer, if I had been out on the field all day trying to clean up my part in the feature to be tromped on by three over-amped instruments in the pit, I'd be some ###### off. Yes - the violin and hammered dulcimer sound leading into it was pretty, but frankly, I don't want to hear it at a drum corps show. Yanni concert, yes, Nigel Kennedy concert, yes, DCI, no. The violin player was very talented, but used WAY too much. Sorry to pick on Teal, they actually had a fun show for the most part, but gave me too many cringe moments to really be enthusiastic.

    Crown was another example. I have to say for the most part I LOVED Crown, but the piano thing at the beginning was a "so what?" moment. I would have been far more impressed with the mallets handling this than one guy playing it on the synth. The hit of Bohemian Rhapsody was incredible, but the lead in - not so much.

    At the end of their show - the synth again, sounding a lot like the guitar riffs at the end of the "Frampton Comes Alive" album. Didn't need it, certainly didn't want it, and to me, it killed an otherwise powerful ending to a great show.

    There were many other examples. Those are the ones that especially stand out in my memory as great moments ruined or reduced by the pit toys.

    Second - the goo....

    I thought Colts were bad for this until I saw Spirit - big grungy pedal notes stomping all over the tubas on every push. I was ready to get behind them but just couldn't. I'm sorry but there's nothing impressive about one finger holding down one key for 8-12 bars. You've got between 12 and 16 tubas out there working their guts out - let me hear their hard work, not one finger on a key.....

    Sound effects - what was the killer bee buzzing I heard in a couple of shows? What purpose did it serve other than to annoy? Same for the moog sounds, B-move sci-fi special effects, etc etc. I'm sure they're intended to set a mood, and they certainly do, but not the one you want, if you know what I mean....

    Samples and voice overs - Cavaliers show was a bust for me because of the constant Nature Boy clips. After the third one I was thinking "Again? Really???" and of course, it wasn't over yet. The energy just dropped out of the show in those moments. The best thing in Cavies show was the jumping bit and that was all of 10 seconds. I personally had Phantom ahead of them, but I never seem to get it right with the judges. Same for Devils. You have arguably the best hornline in the world out there - why waste so much time with sirens, movie quotes and gun shots? I felt like Devils were holding back throughout their show, but maybe they were being held back.

    Last thing - props....

    I didn't like them in the 80s and this "innovation" hasn't really gone up in my esteem. I thought Devil's props were pointless and cluttered the field. Cascade's cube hid the battery for most of the show and was an unnecessary blob in the centre of the field. Most effective use of props goes to Blue Stars, but I'm pretty sure I saw this prop in WGI 8-9 years ago.

    The good stuff...

    Shows are pretty entertaining. Crown won me over as a fan (despite the comments above), Boston and Regiment had wonderfully emotional programs (although I had no idea what Wagner has to do with Romeo and Juliet!!!). Crossmen were all kinds of fun and were probably the most goo-free corps over the two days. Glassmen are no longer "boring their way into our hearts" - I really enjoyed them. I had to look past the sampled singing on the entry but Blue Knight's block entrance was impressive as hell and the show was engaging from beginning to end. Overall it's good to see the guards being featured with equipment exchanges and high demand work, which they are handling extremely well. I forget who it was but someone had a flag-rifle feature down the 50 which brought back memories of the Kingsmen.

    My theory....

    I don't think the pit has ever been really respected in the corps. They're the kids that don't do parades and don't do the sweaty marching blocks, etc etc, and the designers are trying to give them some well deserved respect by overbalancing the show design in their favour. There are multiple pit features in many shows, at the expense of horn and battery playing time. They are also huge - too big for me. And for all the talk of improved technique as an anticipated result of amplification, I'm not seeing it. I'm just hearing a lot of mallet over top of the rest of the corps.

    So I'd like to see the pendulum swing back to a more balanced position in featuring the different elements of the corps. Right now, it's pit - heavy.

    Final verict.

    There are many points where I have to grit my teeth, or am ready to cheer, only to have that enthusiasm sucked out of me by the goo. Including it in the show is a grave disservice to the kids on the field. However, I don't think those cringe moments are enough to keep me from going back next year. Walking around the busses in search of some kids who we know are marching was like coming home. I know this place, these smells, these sights. I have missed it for far too long. I'll be back, DCI, but with reservations. Please don't take my concerns, or my continued support, for granted.

    Epilogue.

    For the stalwarts that stuck it out through the rain, Bridgemen Alumni were a blast!

    When are corps going to come back to their roots?

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    Color Presentation - involves presenting the American or Canadian Flag with honor and following flag codes.

    Review the presentations of the Chicago Royal-Aires at DCI Semi Finals 2002 and the Kingsmen at the Semi-finals in 2007.

    It also promoted the crowds to stand and honor the flag as well as the corps to come up with a great moment in their shows.

    It is a great loss as well as full retreat with the corps playing themselves off the field with a 'special corps song' ie: Madison Scouts, Phathom, the Cadets, and Cavies.

    Old School YES - effective YES

    Learn your history folks!!!!

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