euphman89

From the Legends Facebook page: Tickets for the Legends Drum Corps Preview on Wednesday, June 20 will be available at the gate for $17 each on June 20 starting at 5:30 p.m. All seats are General Admission. Arrive early for the best seats.

Could be for some of them. From what I gather there's a lot of smaller props through the show. I think we'll see some of the bigger ones tomorrow and the rest added in as the season goes. Then again, it's all speculation from me

I have the Fan Network, I'm just impatient Don't really care about what the drill looks like right now...I just wanna hear the music.

From what I heard from the head uniform lady and BH at family day, props, guard outfits, some silks, props, and new shakos will be in for tomorrow. I'll snap some iPhone pics if I can.

Please somebody...if you're at this show tonight and are reading this...please post SCV's show on YouTube.

Location: Battle Creek Harper Creek High School Stadium, MI Hosted by Legends Drum and Bugle Corps Time: 7:30 EST Weather: 92 degrees at showtime Turf Field Lineup: (order performance TBA) Legends - Kalamazoo, MI Bluecoats - Canton, OH Blue Stars - La Crosse, WI Troopers - Casper, WY Glassmen - Toledo, OH Lots of interesting stuff for this show! First open class corps to perform this season, Glassmen and Trooper's first performance. Coming from a Glassmen honk, I'm hoping that usual gap between Glassmen (or Troopers) and the Blue Stars is a lot closer than normal. I'll be at the show working with the Legends All-Star Band who will be performing the national anthem with the Legends hornline - anyone else going?

BK posted this on their Facebook page. Capacity crowd tonight!

That's what I get for being up in the suite. Too busy drinking...not enough listening to the announcer (when his mic was working that is)

I amend my previous post. I'd be ecstatic if they did either Rhapsody or Children's Hour of Dream as their closer. I did keep waiting to hear it kick in again. I'd also like to hear some of those mello rips a la 96 the first time they play it too...

Just saw it. Very interesting. Can't wait to see a multi-cam of this show to catch all the little details going on. Things I liked: - Uniform changes acting as the major visual interest as opposed to numerous props. The jacket holders aren't really visually intrusive. -Some really, REALLY nice lush melodic moments from the hornline. Some great jazz tunes as well. Gotta love those BD screamers -The disappearing section trick they use where the trumpets play their lick with the mellos standing back-to-back (hiding them visually), then flip-flopping for the mello feature. Really cool effect. -The hoop props the guard are using. Can't explain why, but I think they are quite effective from a visual standpoint and I haven't seen anything like them in a while. Room to improve: -The narration still seems a bit much. Cuts have been made already from the audio recording. I think there will be improvements to this throughout the season. I like the idea of it, and I get why it's being done, but it's still a bit much at times, -Goes without saying but they need an ending. Still about a minute short of the average show (by my guess) and I've only heard a little lick of Rhapsody in Blue in the pit. I would LOVE to hear that as the closer. I'm digging this show. Innovative stuff going on and the order/chaos juxtaposition is very clear. BD is another in a line of contenders for the title this year.

Good call. Definitely think you're right regarding concession sales. Hoping for some updates and DEFINITELY hope for a YouTube video of SCV. I think they're the corps I'm most excited to see (who I have yet to see). Very interesting storyline with SCV vs. Phantom in terms of staff.

There's an intermission here but none at Akron?

Love the show so far. One of the hardest brass books I've heard in a long time. ***I don't mean for this to sound condescending or negative*** Can someone help me better understand the show concept? I've read the description several times and have seen the show a few times, but I am more or less lost. I know it's early season and most shows will develop their concepts as the summer goes along, but I really want to get behind this show's story since I love the rest of the program so much. Anyone?

Yay it's the drum corps season!! At least we're getting our annual applause thread out of the way early. I agree with earlier posts though. Some people just have the personality where they can't help but express themselves when they see something they like, and likewise there are people on the opposite side of the spectrum. I did like the poster who mentioned that it's good for the theater staff/management to hear us. Really good point there.

I think we'll see an expanded color pallet when the guard has all of their show silks. For the time though I agree. They look great, but it is very...very cream colored right now

Alright, now that I've had time to collect my thoughts (and after I'd written about 5 paragraphs when my cat walked across my laptop and hit the "back" button) it's time for my review. First, the drive to Wauseon High School from Akron was pretty terrible. Ran into three heavy rain storms that forced me off the road. I was a little worried I wouldn't make it in time. It was all worth it once I got there though. I arrived and caught up with some people I marched with and some volunteers, bought some raffle tickets and other things, and found my seat up near the top of the bleachers on the 50. I liked the venue at Wauseon much better than the set-up at Morenci that we've been using the past few years. The stands fit many more people, and were mostly filled by the time the corps came on. While most in attendance were associated with the Glassmen (FMM, parent, volunteer, etc) there were a good number of people there from the community, which was encouraging to see! The corps took the field and the hornline played an arrangement of "Simple Gifts." Brian did the usual "introduce the corps, introduce the staff, introduce the sections" talk, along with Rob "eyes up, Glassmen" Ferguson who introduced and talked about the drumline and front ensemble. The pit played their standard two pieces from "American Beauty," both of which were done well. The corps and drumline then played through the cadence and parade tune. The parade tune was new for this year and was called "The Men of Ohio." A nice touch for the corps out of Toledo. We also got some corps numbers (this is from memory, forgive me if I'm mistaken): 76 brass, 15 pit (largest pit Glassmen have fielded in some time), 5 bass/8 snare/5 quads, 35 guard (by my count) and 2 drum majors. Then we got to the part everyone was waiting for: the show. Brian did something new with the presentation this year in that he would describe a movement of the show followed by the corps playing said movement at a standstill. After all of the movements were played, the corps got water and set up for a full run of the show. Brian also gave the details out about the show, so I will presume it's okay to post about them. If someone from the Glassmen staff wants this removed until the official announcement, please let me know through a PM. The show is called Glassworks and is in five movements. Brian joked that this idea has been talked about since around 1997 and everyone who wanted a glass show should finally rejoice. There's not much of a story here, it's more like musical snapshots of different kinds/stages of glass. The first movement is called Sand and is based on Philip Glass' "Mishima." The second movement (I forgot its title...someone who was there care to remind me?) and third movement (Shattered Glass) are based on original Key Poulan/Rob Ferguson works. Shattered Glass is a minute-long/minute-and-a-half long drum break and is COOKING in terms of tempo. The fourth movement (Painted Glass) is based on music by James Horner from the film "Beyond Borders" entitled "etheopia iii." We actually played this as an encore piece in 2010, though this is a different treatment of the work. The last movement is called Stained Glass and is based on the Saint-Saens Symphony No. 3 mvt. IV. The hornline plays (and I mean PLAYS) the organ part of this famous work. Musically, this is one of the best brass books I've heard since the late 90s/early 2000s from the Glassmen. Very enjoyable and accessible with big hits. Key Poulan is doing a fantastic job bringing his style to this corps while allowing the Glassmen to establish their own image. There are great musical moments and impacts going on and even though it isn't a "story" or programmatic show the overall design cohesion is strong from movement to movement. I can also tell a huge difference in terms of quality of sound from the Jupiter horns versus the Dynasty horns. Can't tell which contributes more, the new horns or the new arranger, but this hornline is on fire. I was blown away by how good they sounded even on the move. The "organ" in the closer is really, really impressive. It is definitely still a "June" hornline, but there are many moments of mature brass playing going on already. I can't comment on guard or percussion as much, but they seemed just as strong from my amateur observations. There are some electronic effects going on from the pit during the show. Mostly sound effects or brief electronic effects in-between movements as they've done in the past. The ballad (4th movement) ends with a pit feature that uses synthesized strings and voice effects, but it is tasteful and not overbearing. The visual book is also pretty strong. There's more movement going on at faster speeds in this show (especially during the drum break) and I feel like some sections will see a bump in tempo as the season progresses. Many visuals have been added in already and the show ends in a...familiar set. Brian talked about some props happening as the season goes on. Mostly I think we are talking about mirrors (fewer and smaller than BD 2010) and other glass-related concepts. The new triangles on the uniforms (posted above) are a really nice touch and give the uniform some extra "oomph" on the field. It's subtle but effective. The effect is especially cool during horns-up when the triangles lead directly into the horn itself. I was also told that there would be new shakos, but not until the Battle Creek show. Guard didn't have uniforms or flags but also will have these in time for their first show at Battle Creek. I am really excited for the Glassmen this year. The program design is very strong top-to-bottom. The music is familiar and there are some long melodic phrases. Oh yeah...and it's ENTERTAINING AS HECK! The members really are buying into the show and the emotion is palpable from the stands. I can't wait for the crowds to see this show. The Glassmen are making a statement this year...and it ends with an exclamation point! Good luck this summer, G \^/ EDIT: Hey Glassmen alum - if you want some audio recordings from this, pm me your email!

Updates to Glassmen's uniform...subtle but a really nice look! New shakos are confirmed but weren't in for family day today. I was told they're creme and black still and will be in for Battle Creek this Wednesday (which I will be at and will try to snap some pics)

Updated uniform from Family Day: New shakos confirmed but not in for today. Will be posting my thoughts and a review later. My one word/emoticon review right now: WOW

Heh. I'll see what I can scrounge up at family day on Sunday. Excited to see this change! Although...the shako was my favorite part of the uniform.

RE: Crown Pre-Season Audio Recording:

Dat low brass

Indeed they did! I saw them so many times in the early season that my main memory of that show is from before the southern tour. Must have been operating on that assumption when I typed it. My bad! Still, I'm hoping for something else this year. Just some sort of pop on the uniforms that relates to the show. Maybe a (small) mirror somewhere? I know we tried those on the inside triangle of the shields on our jackets in '10, but I mostly just kept losing mine because they were so small. Not sure many people noticed them outside the corps (but I thought they were cool!)

Listening now. Sounds like an opportunity for audience interaction at the beginning of the show. The opener's voiceover had me a little confused (I thought I had another track on in the background). When I realized it was just voice-over I settled down and it didn't really bother me. The opening lush material is great and caused some big time goosebumps. I LOVED the introduction of Children's Hour of Dream. Some great jazz and small ensemble stuff going on throughout the show. Like other people have said, it does a good job of integrating melodic material with abstract material (which is what the show is about...so nice job!). I also think they'll be adding in another minute's worth of material. As it stands, the show time runs at just around 10 minutes. With some cuts, additions, and other changes that we all know are coming, this show will be cooking (would we expect anything else from this corps??). I really can't wait to see how they integrate the visual design with the music. I am really really excited for this show!! One final thought...the quality of this recording is OUTSTANDING. Played it on my nice Bose 5.1 speakers and boy did every voice come through clearly. My house was ROCKIN' (to the disdain of the others in the house I'm sure).

Those are amazing. Also WHAT UP G-WEST

I'm the same way (5 years instead of 41 though here). The tickets are too expensive and I don't get to see corps enough (something I would say even if I got to go to every show) to leave early. I almost always stay until after the encore unless I'm with a group of kids at a show who need to leave earlier. My general gameplan is get to the show an hour or two early, check out some corps in the lot, check out the souvies and buy/donate as I can, park my butt in a seat and get up when the last note of the night is over. I understand there are extenuating circumstances in some cases but I don't understand showing up for one corps and then leaving. I mean hey...it's your money! To stay on topic though, I don't really care that scores aren't being released until Monday. Most of the time I prioritize my scores over the announced scores anyway. The only scores that "matter" are the scores given finals week, and then it's only because they are the scores/placements most people remember and by which corps are judged by the community. Scores aren't even really relevant until the first regional either. Besides, nothing could stop me from being INCREDIBLY EXCITED for this weekend.