bluestarsmello

i listened to radiohead before every show. :) got me in the zone.

actually yes, it is music!!! it's called dynamics, contrast, and a superb sense of musicality. plus the drill was still going so obviously so was the music. it's cohesive. that's actually why i think star 93 was so important to drum corps. not that anyone saw it that way at the time, but their incredibly unique approach to the music [esp. drawing the silence into the show as an active part of the listening/watching experience].

doooooo it.

and . . . Blue Stars. Totally new.

Totally the first thing I thought of when I read this.

they won't go div. til at least 2009 is what i'm thinking. i don't have any inside info or anything, but i don't think mark richardson likes to do anything half-###ed. and they are no where near ready for div 1. they have a lot of talent, but on the field you can tell they are lacking experience, and that . . . thing . . . that comes with it. i don't know how to explain it.

totally agree with this. i was looking for that bad ### bd salute and it just didn't happen. it was kind of a downer right off. then the scv DM gave HIS salute, and it was like shivers down my spine, and i was really excited for the corps to begin.

Hm, interesting. we're like totally opposite in our opinions lol! Last year everyone seemed to think they would win Div. 2, and after I saw them I thought "Not a chance." This year I think they have a great chance!

oh yeah, i forgot to mention that about the vocalizations. it was like "huh?" i caught "luca brazi" but the rest was just all mumbled and incoherent.

Did you see last year's show? I didn't like it at all, design wise or even performance wise. This show was much more entertaining and well executed this early in the season, IMO.

Well I understand that one of the brass judges is on the field, but isn't it what you hear in the stands that actually matters? If the individuals are playing like crap, it's going to sound like crap up in the stands too. As I posted in my review, BD's middle brass was actually horrible. They actually made me cringe, their sound was so bad. I don't see how it could sound so bad up in the stands and the judges could miss it on the field. And I was near the top of the stands, on the 40. So that had nothing to do with it. They just weren't playing well.

Ha ha, good point. I was getting so ###### off last night at all of the people arriving like an hour late and causing a big CF in the stands.

Visually, BD's show was cleaner but also easier. SCV's brass I thought performed better. I definitely didn't see a justification for the 4 point spread, technically and esp. as far as GE is concerned.

i posted a review in that forum fyi. bill i see that you caught that already. :)

I didn't take notes or anything, so here's some thoughts off the top of my head since no one has reviewed it yet. Jester-I was actually surprised. Tiny corps, some good sounding horn players and a cute show. It was definitely entertaining. Academy-This show is way better than last year's show for sure. GREAT sounding hornline, especially trumpets. Lots of talent there, but that's not surprising to me at all. What's going to hold them back is maturity issues. The basics are killing them--horns up, step offs, posture--things that I didn't expect to be plaguing this corps at this point. As far as I could tell percussion is definitely quality, colorguard is definitely their weak point. I was never wowed by them, I hardly even noticed them throughout the show despite good integration in the drill. I don't think this is going to be a Magic 2002 like many others seem to think, but they will probably destroy everyone else in brass come Madison. Blue Knights-Loooved this show a lot. Ballad was one of the most beautiful I've heard in a long time, and there were many exciting moments. It's probably the hardest show that I've seen them perform, and that closer is a killer. Three words--conditioning, conditioning, conditioning. This is going to be a tough summer for those members, but it seems like they love their show and it could be a really amazing production in a couple of months. Blue Devils-Okay, first off, didn't like the uniforms. I just don't think it had the desired effect. It made them look young out there. The Godfather music is just cool by default, so this show was pretty cool, but I really don't think the design was reaching the full potential of this music. There should have been a story there. But it was all chopped up and the exciting moments were somewhat lackluster. Also, being a mellow player, I couldn't help but notice how awful their middle brass sounded. I actually cringed a couple times. Highlight--colorguard (lots of wow moments), followed closely by the pit. Didn't like the colorguard unis, but those purple flags in the opener were gorgeous!!!!! SCV-YES. YES. YES. I loooved this show. They performed the crap out of it as well. It was so exciting, and they really lived up to the show title. Velocity is the name of the game. Without considering what the scores came out to be, I would say this is a championship show. Yes, I loved it that much. I said it in another thread, and I will say it again. The big surprise for me was their brass sound--so warm and full. Better than BD for once. This corps is showing a maturity in their musicality, resulting in quite the roller coaster ride for the audience. But colorguard--you're holding the rest of the corps back. Nothing impressed me there. OK, guess that's it for me. :)