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archbananas

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  • Your Drum Corps Experience
    Not yet. Almost!
  • Your Favorite Corps
    Carolina Crown, The Academy, Blue Devils, Bluecoats
  • Your Favorite All Time Corps Performance (Any)
    Carolina Crown 2009
  • Your Favorite Drum Corps Season
    2013
  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Rowland Heights, CA
  • Interests
    I'm a Music Ed Major.
    Trombone
    Basketball

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  1. Musically speaking, there are moments that sound AMAZING. Design however...... makes me slightly worried. POSITIVES: The hornline's aggression in the opener is the angry hornline sound I've been wanting to hear from Crown. That adds so much character to what is going on that it sucks me in right away. I literally feel like I have been transported to a dark and aggressive place. The sign was also a cool little touch I did not expect at all. Wow. The opening sequence is somewhat dirty, but all of the design elements feel 90% fleshed out to me in that section. Colorguard is outstanding. There really isn't much more to say. The staging REALLY helps showcase the guard as well. I love how musical the percussion section is. After the brass introduction, the percussion takes over and really drives not only the rhythmic intensity, but the musical intensity as well. Unfortunately, that does not translate well on internet video, but I bet in person, the percussion section's intense musicality really set-up the Verdi's Requiem hit much better than what was depicted in the video. Gosh. An aggressive Crown sound with Verdi's Requiem....... MORE PLEASE. The musical interaction with the colorguard was awesome. Once again, it probably translates a LOT better in person. The integration this year is outstanding! That ballad is WONDERFUL. I would have preferred it being somewhat more spooky. However, it is still outstanding. The ballad is something that also feels about 80% flushed out. The fabric over the ensemble......... simple yet effective. I love it. The ballad is also just a gluttony of musicality. Give me more please. All aspects of the corps seem VERY strong this year. NEGATIVES: Dirty. But that's to be expected. ELECTRONICS TOO LOUD. Oh my goodness. It better be the camera picking up the electronics too much, but the amount of goo is getting distasteful. There are moments where there are TONS of layers, but it is translating off as awful blurriness visually and musically. What's holding back those moments from being spectacular is the fact that there is no focus. NOW GRANTED. I know the show is called INFERNO. Tons of things going on at once = Chaos = Hell. Yeah sure I get it. But, I feel like subtle chaos can be more effective than "Let me hit you over the head with some layers and let me layer more things on top of that." One particular section that suffers from this is the section after the brass interplay with the colorguard all the way up to right where the ballad begins. The very complex brass double tonguing section after the ballad feels too happy for me. I was hoping for a more..... demented voicing. (I mean, you don't HAVE to go for a diminished chord. But you could have at LEAST gone into a Minor 7th or a Minor Triad with emphasis on the flat third). The ending. No. Just no. Sorry Crown. That ending doesn't work. You set up the audience with such an aggressive sounding intro that having an ending such as this is like.... no.
  2. I'm not even watching and I seem to be missing quite a bit
  3. You know from that perspective, I completely agree with you! I also agree with you on the Dance Derby...... Was a bit... Distasteful for me (for lack of a better term) . I think a show that would satisfy both our needs is a show that is designed to showcase a concept / storyline that is understood at a superficial level, but upon further research, the story expands to a much greater one. This will allow the second or third viewing of the show become like a new experience, seeing things differently than when you saw it the first time.
  4. It all depends on how it's designed and executed. I've seen a great number of poorly designed abstract concept shows and I've also seen a good number of awesomely designed explicit storylined programs. One common thing I noticed in programs that don't succeed when attempting any type of storyline/concept program is when they EXPECT you to KNOW the story before you watch their production. The audience should be treated like a clean slate, meaning, a corps should design like they are introducing something the audience has never seen or heard of before. That way, we as the audience can feel like we are involved with the development of the program and can become fully invested into what is happening in front of us. Programs should not feel like we need to do some prior homework to understand the program.
  5. I went to Corps at the Crest Oceanside and it was pretty much a full crowd! I have friends taking pictures of the Glendora show and it's packed. Attendance (from what I've seen) is pretty high. The reasons why people aren't posting on DCP? 1) A lot of the audience (old and young) are new to the activity! I overheard various conversations with many attendees asking veteran audience members what to expect and who to listen for. I even overheard a father and son duo behind me debating whether or not The Academy were the Cadets or Vanguard (I couldn't help but give a lighthearted chuckle). There were also a good amount of high school students in attendance, viewing drum corps for the first time because "their instructor was marching with -insert corps name here-" or "my band director told me this is what field shows should look like." I frankly am happy that people are entering the activity! Many were blown away with what they saw, some a bit disappointed with little things here and there, like the scores (judging by the many conversations I heard as I left the stadium). But for the most part, the feedback was positive! Despite there being so many newcomers, I did overhear conversations amongst veteran attendees and DCP was actually brought up! I didn't want to intrude on their conversation, but this leads me to my next point. 2) Many veteran attendees are somewhat turned off by what is discussed on DCP. The first couple I heard discussing the forum had positive things to say, but after that, the flood gates opened. It mainly came from the young adult crowd, but the attitude towards DCP was very negative. Statements ranging from "They don't take others opinions well" to "I am afraid to comment" were audible during the 5-7 hours I spent at the event. I wish I was the bearer of better news! (and I am actually having second thoughts about posting this because my Mom told me if you didn't have good things to say, then don't say it!) I would have gone up to ask these people why they felt the way they did about the forum! But, they were sort of busy with the fact that - 3) No one wants to be interrupted AT ALL during the event because they are enjoying the -bleep- out of what's happening in front of them. AKA. PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY PUTTING DOWN THEIR PHONES DURING PERFORMANCES. The Oceanside show was awesome. Every corps seemed to give it their all (minus a few corps dialing back a bit on the impacts, which is a discussion I will save for my Oceanside show review). Speaking of which, I read a review saying the audience was tough and I disagree with that, based on where I was at. People tried NOT to clap during the entire production because A) they didn't want to interrupt the performance B) they were trying to support their rear end from the awfully hard concrete seats (I know because when I stood up to have my butt breathe, the lady behind me said "that's a good idea" and stood up as well. Seriously though, ouch! My tuckus has not recovered) Whoah. Kind of went on a tangent there, I apologize for that. Tangent aside and to answer questions from people that were not in attendance, NO. Attendance is not down and fans are not leaving the activity but the buttload. (Once again, from my perspective). People are just new to the activity and haven't heard / been on DCP. Some are a bit turned off by it. And others are just trying to enjoy the awesome performances in front of them -edited for spelling corrections and grammar. Sigh. Been on summer break too long!-
  6. SCV will be top 3 (though honestly, after what I saw, I have them in first) Boston Crusaders will be 6th. A group usually in finals will be knocked out and will be replaced by a group that has never made World Class / Div I finals before. BDB and SCV will pass 4 World Class Corps on prelims Each major caption will have a different winner on finals.
  7. This is not a normal rehash. This show is a MONSTER. After watching the show, I have SCV as my frontrunner. Their brass seems slightly younger than last year, but wow what a SOUND. Visually, I already felt like Vanguard was top 2 in feet and this year they seem to be on track to be up there again. The drill is also a huge step up! (Especially staging wise! What a change from 2011!) I don't want to say anymore because this is SUCH a drastic change from 2013 (in a good way I may add) and nobody will see this coming. I'm calling it now. SCV Top 3 if not 1st.
  8. Saturday June 28, 2014 Corps at the Crest Los Angeles That'll be my only show of the year just like it has ever since 2008! Excited to see all the corps and hopefully do a play-by-play through twitter and an eventual review! Can't wait
  9. I'm absolutely terrible with technology so I can't provide any .gifs, but I absolutely loved - Phantom's book opening. Kinda cheesy? Sorta. But it still looked very cool. I just wish they closed the darn book at the end though - Crown's body movement during the pre-show. Seeing that in person made me wonder "How the heck do people think of these things?" - Bluecoats' parade block beginning. That was probably one of the coolest intros ever - Vanguard moving everyone but the soloist behind the props. When everyone disappears but the soloist..... it just made that ballad even more perfect.
  10. I'm planning to audition for Carolina Crown! (though I'm in SoCal so I'll have to figure out a way...)
  11. I'll be at the Oceanside show! I'll be tweeting! Username: archbananas
  12. I just listened to the recording and I have to say.... Thank you Blue Devils. Musically, that was wonderful! I enjoyed every second of it. I even found myself jamming out to the Dance of the Adolescents section I would have to see how this translates on the field... but I feel like this might be my favorite BD show musically in the past few years.
  13. Carolina Crown 2008 is a show I love to watch on the hi-cam! Especially the closer with all the famous drill sections. One of my favorite shows visually for crown! Another one has to be SCV 2007, that was some beautiful moving drill!
  14. Carolina Crown coming to Southern California. That's all I really need.
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