Hi all.
This is my first time posting in DCP. Seeing how many people are curious about Vanguard, I figured I'd at least right some brief reviews on the corps in Albuquerque the other night. Take my opinions for what they are, opinions. I'll write Academys and Vanguards tonight, and write Phantoms and Blue Knights tomorrow.
-The Academy
I'm sure seeing their score of 54 was quite disappointing to many of the fans who have not yet seen the show. However, don't be too discouraged. Academy is going for quite the dark fast pace show this year and should prove to be an exciting and demanding show for the corps throughout this season. Academy started off with the Stravinsky and made their impact on the fans quickly! If there is one thing they new how to do, it was their holds. They had the audience yelling and standing many times within the first movement. However, individual music performance outside of the holds was quite poor, not terribly surprising though I suppose. They did however have a Baritone soloist who was very pleasant to listen too. The drumline was very exciting throughout as well and considering that it was their first show, pretty clean. The second movement definitely was not as polished as the first movement, made apparent by the falling Contra and weak solo trumpets and individual playing in general. I must say though, they carried a confidence throughout the entire show that you don't see from all of the lower end corps. Now, for those of you wondering why they scored so low, it would be because they marched a 7 min show and played the rest in arc. I feel like they were more than likely penalized quite heavily for this. Criticism asside, I feal as if this could be the show that bumps them into finals.
-Santa Clara Vanguard
Being a long time "Phan" I must say, I was pulling for Vanguard when it came score time. Boy did they perform! The new staff changes have really done something for that brass line. They started with a gorgeous rendition of the ballad section of Jupiter. I've never heard a June brass line sound so clean, balanced, and polished. I feel like they do have something visually planned for this section, because it was about a minute and a half stand still. (Honestly it could stay just how it was and be just as phenomenal). They then go into a frantic Mars/Leonardo rendition and get things going. Being vanguard, individual basics where quite good throughout. The show had a number of exciting tosses as well (maybe it's due to me being a brass player, but I didn't notice any obvious drops either). The guard uniforms seemed a bit "cheap looking" in my opinion, but stood out well on the field. What hurt Vanguard throughout the evening was intervals in the drill, particularly in the Contras. It was blatantly obvious at times. Yet, you could tell they've worked on many of the difficult drill moves, and therefore the more demanding sets were much cleaner. After the first section, they really showed off their talent and control in the Blue Hour. Wow, how beautiful! That will be one of THE moments come finals! Mellophones really stuck out as impressive to me, particularly in the ballads. Very nice. Percussion throughout was as you'd expect from a Rennick line. Clean, crisp, and well blended. After the ballad, the lead Baritones performed a very demanding feature and executed it near flawlessy. The rest of the corps then followed with the main mars impact with a fantastic unison rifle toss. They then go into a very Cavaliers like drill cross-over pattern which was quite clean considering it being so early. To close things off, they mixed through various parts of their pieces in a well arranged closer and finish off strong. What an applause they received afterwards! I must say, although it's still early and the drill is dirty, they may be the underdog coming into the later season.