yellvanguard

Your post made me so angry! How dare you try to be rational. Oh, don't think I don't get it you Blue Devil fan you. I love the Cavaliers so anything that has any negative slat at all is poop and stupid and dumb and the poster obviously has it out for the Green Machine. I am so mad my face is purple and I'm flailing so much I knocked my coffee over. Oh, and an eye just popped out. I did curse but quietly because the kids are still asleep. Argghhhhh! Okay, got my eye back in. Well any way, so there mister! BTW, you had some typos.

My comment was not necessarily triggered by your post. Maybe I should have stated, "Long before reading anyone's guess as to the basis for the show design, upon hearing the show title, I assumed the production was about Don Warren." We all have our own life experiences and perspectives. While I am completely open to and respectful of others' perceptions of what certain colloquialisms mean to them, I will continue to find this show title bothersome.

So sorry. Whoops. Made the correction. THANKS!

Do you really mean 100% lack of creativity? Not one visual or musical thought that lasts even one measure that is creative? I am greatly encouraged by what I hear! I have heard five show runs now from the top 12. My two favorite hands down are Boston and Regiment. Hands down. The theme? Below is a link I encourage you to look at regarding themes. There are many other sources out there that support this view of limited stories in all of literature and related arts: https://lenwilson.us/seven-stories/

I have assumed the production is a nod to Don Warren. I think they could have picked a much better, more aware, more informed, more sensitive show title. Even if Don Warren referred to himself in this way (I have no idea if he did or not). I hope the show is fantastic.

1. Cadets 2. SCV 3. Blue Knights 4. Bluecoats 5. Blue Devils

Cadets: GUTSY BD: UNEMOTIONAL Bloo: THREATENING SCV: FINALLY Crown: PUNCHY BK: REFRESHING Cavies: MUDDLED PR: PREDICTABLE Boston: CLUTTERED Blue Stars: DISTANT Crossmen: SHALLOW Madison: HOTDOG Troop: OPEN Academy: PLAYFUL Colts: CONFUSING PC: UNCLEAR OC: UNEVEN SOA: MISDIRECTED Mandarins: MESSY Cades: CLEVER Jersey: UPBEAT Pioneer: YEP

I do not remember which rain-out show that was live-streamed as a stand still concert. It wasnt until then that I feel I really heard the talent depth of the horn line. Compared to Blue Stars in that venue, it wasn't even close. Hearing that caused me to pay more attention to the show. Other than really not caring for Happy Days/Come on Get Happy, the arrangements sound fresh. The use of NYC near the end is wonderful. That said, the show just seems all over the map to me. Though I know "Singing in the Rain" quite well- watched it again three days ago, the shows theme is hard to follow. If the show was a claer tribute to Gene Kelly, or a drum corps take on famous dance segements from that era of film, I think the theme might have been easier to follow. I am glad they put the roar at the end. The fidelity however needs to be improved. The guard preesence if much better. The visual is okay for me, but the drums are much too removed from the drill most of the time. It is hard to ignore in that drumlines, due to the nature of all of the hardware, look visually heavy. I do think they can make effective chages without gutting anything. I am not sure that there is room above them for movement up.

Now that's a review. Thanks for all the detail!

Understandable. We type what is spinning in our brain and it sometimes comes out wrong. To answer your question as best I can, it depends on that judges's background, their teaching and judging experiences, the experieces they have in their given caption: performance, analysis, GE. Personally, I like the idea of new judges going right to the tough calls if they are qualified. I know they also have training and mentors that they consult with before judging.

Brad T, I have to agree with westcoastblue on this one as hard as that is for me. And, you have to admit, that last line is funny.

You do agree that all of your questions and thoughts would apply to any drum corps in this circumstance, don't you? Your opening statement makes if seem your suspiscions of administrative error or even sloth is high. I do think your statements are legit ones and I am also curious about many of them as well, however, my mind is more focused on the members perfoming well and having a good time at tonight's event.

(I know it isn't over yet) What is the biggest story of the summer? The major wow!? The surprise happening? The newest innovation? The over-the-top effect? Come back of the year? Competitive surge of the year? I will save my own opinions for later. Discuss.

Though there were severe performance issues, I would not say it was so much that the performance was phoned in as the show concept and design were phoned in back in the winter. Pretty shocking actually. There are much better designed shows 15-19. I would not be surprised if some others catch up to them. Don't hope for any one's downfall, but other deserving groups deserve the recognition and reward.

Santa Clara. As a proud alum, and as an open minded fan, this show is just really great. Wonderful, melodic music interpreted beautifully in a visual way. They have found themselves again! Cadets. They are just so well trained and perform so confidently. Amazing drum line. Can anyone make straighter lines? The show is so well put together. Spirit of Atlanta. Why I fell in love with corps and why i keep coming back. Have restored my faith that Cesario's plan to allow for diversity and audience engagement is perhaps for real. Super crafty show. Crown. Doing what they do at a very high level. Love the guard and of course that brass line. These four shows for me represent a diversity of styes and types of drum corps entertainment as well as a staff's ability to stick to their style and yet continue develop it to its next level. BD and Bluecoats a distant 5th and 6th rank as for my favorites this season.

Great question. Its so fun that every summer now fans try to find the spot. LOL. I admit to trying tonight. Heard a couple of other attempts. We'll see where it ends up.

Was at the show. Enjoyed everyone, especially top three. SCV spread to Scouts seems right. Yes, I am an alum, but old enough to be intelligently subjective. Madison spread to Spirit, too far. Scouts have more design flaws and long periods of move over there and we will play non-related music sections. Spirit to Colts. No offense to Colts but this is a joke. No way. Not close. Someone is kidding. T-league vs Yankees. Shows are no where near the same ball park. Colts to Academy. Should be closer in that Academy is risking more and achieving nearly the same. Either over 71 seems premature. Colts drum line a big issue tonight. Cascades to Colts. About right. Weird scoring throughout. Colts over Spirit in anything is really not plausible. Again, no offensive to Colts. They are a good drum corps.

BD's reckless abandon to convention. Phantom' sense of visual musicality and great story telling. Spirit's amazing reinvention of a unique brand of drum corps with great depth of craft. Pacific Crest constantly challenging the typical touring vs. the end of season results norm.

Think SOA, along with Crown, BD, SCV, and Crossmen are the headliners of this year's season. Even with just an OK performance (though I do NOT expect that to happen), anything less than 10th place would be a disjustice to the system, and a huge black eye to Cesario's statements about the purpose of the new sheets and the recognition of entertaining, yet competitive and accessible drum corps. Best of luck SOA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My flight was delayed so I missed everyone prior to Crossmen, which sucks in that I was hoping to get to see everyone twice, SA and finals week. This review will be a bit more candid than my last. CROSSMEN: This is definitely the best they have been in a long time. The opening set of most of the continents and the standing cut out figures makes for an intriguing opening.I found myself waiting for the Fragile concept to be unveiled from there. Didn't really. They play pretty well and other than some drums to brass balance issues and tuning, I would have their brass/musical analysis above Blue Knights and Blue Stars. The show was paced well. The guard gets a bit lost because of their tan costumes, but most of the flags are beautiful to look at. The animal skin section didn't quite work for the guard, but it did seem one of the few moments where I got a "world" sense to the show. The drumline is a bit rockus at times, and had a few front to back issues. The drill is strange in that is doesn't flow well. The guard has stages and the right voices are in the right places, but the craft of connecting and reconnecting all the pieces, especially drums and brass seems disjunct and not artistic in regards to flow and the basic elements of design. The performance level was very good most of the time. I would have them above Blue Knights, and Blue Stars in 11th. BLUE STARS: The talent level in every section is good. The show theme is quite evident and is clearly displayed through props and guard costumes. I liked the first half of the drill a lot and then felt it became much less interesting. The guard is good. The brass strong, mostly under low visual demand. Pitch was a big issue many times. The drum line was good, but had a few rough moments. While the show flags play into the show theme quite well, like the entirety of the show, I have seen it all before, many times. The arrangements were OK considering there are some stellar examples from the past of which comparisons can be made. Not to negate the fact that the corps is good, it just seems too safe conceptually and predictable. I would of had them above both Crossmen (though not by much), and Blue Knights (by several points). BLUE KNIGHTS: It is interesting how the show goes from very odd, if not totally bizarre, to fairly accessible and drum corps-ized. The use of color of the guard uni and the guard flags is also interesting, though the red color at the end seemed to not be the right color at all considering the visual palate of the entire show. Like Blue Stars, the drumline has some great moments, and some less than. I can't say I find the writing particularly musical. The nod to Marty Hurley at the end of the drumline's first statement is touching, but doesn't fit at all. Some of the running and chasing bird moments are cool, but get old quickly. There are a few moves that aren't crazy amazing, but very well crafted. The brass were simply not good throughout. Pitch was constantly a problem as was feet in the bell sounds and articulation. The am not a fan of the arrangements. They seem written as if anticipating a weak horn line. The lack of brass demand bothered me in that they did not play much over the course of the show. When they do march drill, it is filthy. I would have had them easily in 13th if not 14th. Sorry. I tried to like and appreciate what they are bringing to 2012. Not buying it enough to see them as a World Class finalist and fear politics will prove me wrong. SPIRIT OF ATLANTA: They started their show and I thought, "OK, here we go. This is clearly World Class drum corps." I loved how fresh and exciting their approach was to a theme that has been done. It was not predictable yet I felt at ease and totally pulled into the performance. The overall sound of the corps is terrific. Though maybe expecting some old school Spirit edge, the sound was round and big. I thought that other than one short spot in their closer, the music ensemble was pretty amazing and as good as several of the top six corps. The theme is extremely easy to follow, but as I stated before, not predictable or trite. Wow! do they have some soloists. There were several different solos and small ensemble that really delivered throughout the entire show. The guard is the best they have been since they last won guard and the drum and pit writing refreshingly musical and tasty. There is plenty of dirt yet to clean and I don't sense they are letting down any time soon. The variety is almost overwhelming. I am amazed that the brass in particular are asked to play so many styles, versions of legit swing, Latin, jazz, symphonic. I felt they should have been a place or two higher. CAVALIERS: The show seems to be getting better. The drumline is impressive as hell. I don't get the show and the pacing is rough. The brass were the weakest of all corps I saw in my opinion. They just didn't blend and fundamentals of pitch, balance, and musicality was rough. I really dig the flags and thought some of the drill moves were great. Would have had them down a spot. BOSTON CRUSADERS: I had heard they were extremely clean in all captions. While I thought they were one of the cleaner corps, they still have plenty to do. They do a great job of setting up the theme in their preshow with soloists placed in different corners of the field. The guards opening flag is cool and adds to the Titans feel. Though having thematic icons in the show, it seems the corps' objective for 2012 was to march, spin, and play a well designed, tidy program. All captions seem equally good and able to handle the demands placed on them. The pacing of events is great and everything seems clearly in its place. They just seemed flat to me. There are things yet to fix and I am sure they will get to them. I kept wanting more, something to jump out, to be different. Because of the lack of variety and not selling their show convincingly, I would have had Spirit over them. MADISON: I really like the swagger and the overall concept. The tuba feature is pretty great and the ending is fantastic. They are one of the cleanest corps visually except the color guard. All that said, unlike the masses, I am not in love with the show. In love with the performance communication qualities . . .sure. The guard seemed to have a rough night and I do not find them well-integrated into the production except for a few places. but in those spots, they hardly spin or dance. I personally do not think most of the brass arranging to be done well. Beyond a measure of two, the layering of tunes is forced and obstructs both. I was always taught to separate musical ideas to creat clarity. Much of their's are written in the same octave/range so you have to work hard to hear things. When playing the original music alone, it works quite well. I also found the drum writing to be pretty a-musical fairly often and extremely similar to Glassmen's drum book from 1998. Though I too have been pulling for Madison to get back to where they once were, their show just seems like a lot of smoke and mirrors to me. And how about the use of synth, sorry can't help my next line, but I keep thinking they should change their name to the Madisynth Scouts. Please turn it down if not off. The biggest over use of synth support of anyone. I would have them behind Crusaders and Spirit but ahead of Cavies. BLUECOATS: The play great. March well. Spin well. I like this year's show much better than last year's and find some of the masque images and music to be clever. The flags are the best in the activity this summer. I think the ending leaves you a bit short. Well done and in the right spot in my opinion. SCV: Yes, I am a homer. I love the show and feel it is really starting to sell. All captions are strong with the percussion of course being a real strength. Lots of cleaning yet to do. Can the guard uni be altered a bit to make it look less like PJs? There is some musicality yet to explore and the very end needs a tweak or two. I am eager to see where this goes. Depending on everyone else and their own ability to clean, I see them any where between 7th and 3rd. CADETS: I applaud them for winning and then taking a risk the following year. Something I wish Cavies would have done more often. All sections are just great and as usual, demand is not something they are missing. The opening is pretty exciting and as drum corps as you can get. After the opening, I especially liked the ballad and closer. They are a bit dirtier than expected, but I a sure that will be addressed. Not sure if this will be 3rd or 4th. PR: Simply great and as PR as you can get. Clean Clean Clean and big, bold, and classic. The brass were the loudest of the night and made some wonderful musical statements. The drill is super musical and the guard my favorite of the evening. The drumline had some dirt and some parts I think they need to look at from a musicality standpoint. I thought their placement was deserved. CROWN: Unbelievable. I loved it and can't wait to see it again. Got to get drumline and drill cleaned. Lots of room to grow. Would have had them in 1st by a small margin. BD: Weird. Great performers.Weird. Great performers.Weird. Great performers.Weird. Great performers.Weird. Great performers.Weird. Great performers.Weird. Great performers. Would have had them in 2nd. Think they have no room to grow that would be noticable. Different performances on different nights will be their biggest variable at this point.

Easy for me: In THIS order CROWV SCV SPIRIT OF ATLANTA

Yes. I feel like I have to work really hard to hear the overlap of melodies and know somethings are there just because I know the old Scout's tunes so well. I feel the switching back and forth at times happens too quickly and all gets muddled. Agree that the straight up orchestrations from what Mussorgsky wrote are solid. And that coming from an SCV guy.

Caught the show in Metamora. LOVED IT! Is there something in the gatoraid you guys have been drinking the past two years? CANNOT wait to see it again.

I figured my first post should be a review. I know I always appreciate reading reviews throughout the summer when I do not get to see many shows until finals week. I do enjoy DCP, but try to avoid the anger threads. I think healthy disagreements are necessary, but sometimes it doesn't help at all in my opinion. The way I figure it, with corps struggling left and right, better we are all in this together for the good of the activity and thousands of young people out there who now, and hopefully in the long term future, want to have the same opportunity that most of us had. My tastes for corps and the arts are very wide and like many others, I wish to cast no ill feelings or bad karma anyone's direction: corps, members, designers, alumni, etc. I have not had time to see videos or read up on the summer until now, so getting to attend this show was exciting and marks my start of summer vacation and time for drum corps. COLT CADETS! This show was fun and reminds us of the larger picture of what drum corps can offer its members and audience. The show was entertaining throughout most of the show. It was great to see so many really young members getting solid training and in some cases, performing like a world class member. The percussion section was the biggest stand out. Have a GREAT rest of your summer enjoying your show! CASCADES! I have never seen this corps outside of finals week, so it was good to get to see them earlier in the season. I did enjoy the uniform. It is quite distinctive and gives the corps a strong, unique identity. I tried to follow the show concept at first, but let that go and just allowed the show unveil itself over time. The guard had a few good moments, especially when standing and I liked the first flag and ballad flag a lot. The drum line also had some good moments as did the brass. It is still a bit early in the season and some time needed to clean the show visually and musically was evident. It was great to see you in early July representing the West Coast! BLUE STARS! The start of the show is pretty exciting and was of course made more so by where they were in the line up. The first hit was pretty solid musically and fairly clean visually. The visual images and props seemed to shout a show about sailors and sailing the high seas, but the music seemed to not say the say thing a lot of the time, though there were ship bells, etc. It was interesting to hear hints of New World Symphony throughout, though I cannot say I liked the arranging very much. The big famous moments from the original just could not come close to matching up to PR 1989, or some other versions I have heard since. Any way, the drill was pretty exceptional up to the ballad, then seemed to loose steam and guard integration. The horns sound well trained and had some very fine moments. I loved all the shaping in the softer moments and arrivals in the ballad. There were marching and playing issues and I felt the brass book was fairly light on world class demand, especially considering what the next three corps were playing. The percussion section was pretty clean for this time of year. They are extremely aggressive, and are out of balance a lot in my opinion. Some of the writing also seemed odd to me from a musical phrasing point of view. I really like the bass drum and tenor tuning. I loved the guard flags and thought their rifles had a very ON performance. The character acting from some of the guard members was very strong. I didn't like watching the guard run to and from the blue flats over and over. The siren section was interesting and the costumes did suggest mermaids/sirens to me. The big wave-like form at the end seems very fitting. It will be interesting to see this clean up. I am not sure that will up the GE value for me. I appreciate how hard it is to play while doing some difficult drill moves, and like that there seems to be an effort to do a show the crowd can understand. I liked all of the body writing. The uniform has grown on me the past few years and do think all the colors with all the musicians and guard unis work well. The show is perfectly fine and has lots of good moments, just not sure what it brings in areas of uniqueness, creativity, or originality. I kept thinking about how many times I have already seen a extremely similar show over the years from various groups with similar flags, props, etc. Thanks for your hard work and clear visual theme! SPIRIT OF ATLANTA! Sorry, but I am going to gush in that I loved this show. Been a long time since I have reacted like this to a Spirit performance, though last year was great. This is so much more. They certainly carry themselves with a lot of confidence as they enter the field, like they know they are going to rock it out. I wish the drum major salute was a bit more convincing since it is the very first thing we look at once the corps is set up and announced. She seems to enjoy receiving the crowd however. I must say I have loved their split drum major podiums the past several years. SMART! After the opening hit which was stellar on all accounts, I was grinning ear to ear, You just can't help it when a corps comes out with that much power and control. Though they and Blue Stars are both doing a theme we have all seen before, Spirit's take on Vegas/Sin City is nothing like what I have seen or heard prior, so the uniqueness, creativity, and originality part of design was on fire for me and kept me excited about what was to come next. The opener had so many well coordinated and interesting effects, it just kept coming at ya. The trumpet soloists for Luck be a Lady is fantastic, maybe one of the best, if not the best of the summer. Though not yet matching perfectly player to player, the fact that they are playing legit swing and Latin jazz on the field is IMPRESSIVE. No one does it any more cause its HARD. The crowd ate up the production of Luck and Spirit seems to be harkening back to its past with last year's and this year's production tunes. Some moments were so well done it would be easy to not notice how spread, split, the horn line is. All the Vegas-y show girls stuff with feathers, the poker chips, dice flags, sequins, etc. was almost over the top...AS IT SHOULD BE! Loved the GaGa ballad and when this gets all balanced out and the minor glitches gone, this will certainly be a leading ballad of the summer. The two featured dancers were stunning. A few chill bumps already which doesn't often happen in ballads until late summer. I had not heard about the Eminem intro of the closer, so when I heard it and saw the guard guy who does the flips and lip syncs, I thought, how perfect and modern for this show theme. He rocked that moment. I totally felt the take risks vibe visually and musically, this drill never stops and has lots to look at all of the time, totally supporting what I took away as the gambling part of their show. The stacking of poker chips near the end and the roulette guard flags seem perfect as does the gold flags once the corps comes forward and hits you again with the Luck be a Lady theme, but arranged totally different from the intro. Once that happens, it just keeps coming at you. The ending seems perfect with the guy on top of the poker chips. I guess this guy did not let his "one opportunity slip" and leaves Vegas a big winner. So well put together with lots of demand all around. The musical arrangements, brass and percussion, are pretty awesome and very melodically drive. LOVE THAT! There is lots to clean yet, and I see that continuing to up the GE value until finals. Cannot wait to see this one again. Thanks for figuring out how to be new Spirit and writing a show with competitive quality and depth, while entertaining our sox off! MADISON SCOUTS! Like Spirit, they enter the field with some swagger. And, I must say, they too are bringing some fine entertainment to the field. The use of frames for the show theme is evident right off the bat as we see the guard, and brass/percussion in a large frame forms. Though moving and playing with confidence, the intro took a while to get going. Once it did, the pay off was pretty awesome. Lots of goo however as some would say. That happened a lot throughout their show. The uniform is serving them well and probably helps some with the heat. After the intro, the battery parks and barks for a while. A little too long for me, though it was impressive how clean that moment is already for this early. Speaking of, I found the battery to be pretty clean throughout the entire show. The parts are pretty square, but speak clearly and show the drumline as much improved over last year. After the first drum break, were got to hear melodies passed around the corps with famous past Scout's tunes woven throughout. Those moments most often did not work for me at all. I found myself working really hard to hear and understand how all the voices worked together with the music from Pictures. The overuse of amps to support the brass, weak trumpets, and some odd scoring didn't help. Especially the Malaguena section. That was very muddled and almost annoying. The crowd reacted to their volume, but I figure many did not know it was supposed to be Malaguena. I am sure they will get the electronics thing worked out. The ballad is very nice but a little too long in my opinion. The tuba feature, certainly considering the field spread, was very nice. A second drum break is again very clean for early July. I liked the first one better. Both need to somehow tie better into the horizontal music flow of the show. The guard costume is very cool and works perfectly for the show. The guard started off very strong, but were fairly dirty for a lot of the show. The ending is a great nod to Scout's past and works extremely well no matter what decade it is. A big rotating front builds with the penultimate phrase of Great Gate, delivering the big hit once the front is done rotating and then comes at you. They were the loudest corps of the night, though I did not care for all the synth support. They delivered the best ending minute of the night. The corps communicates very well with the audience. I am not sure what can be done about the arrangements at this point to make the melding of Pictures and all the nostalgic Scouts tunes work/speak better. I assume they are still looking at changes, especially the middle part of the show. This is the third year in a row of good work by the Scout's team and I am glad they are again a solid finalist. Not sure if they will place higher in that everyone seems to have up-ed their game. Thanks Scouts for the entertaining show! PHANTOM REGIMENT! One hears and sees such sounds and sites and what can one say but, Phantom Regiment. This show is quintessential Phantom with big forms and big sounds. The red and white all over the field is beautiful to look at. I like the front of the uniform a lot and think it perfect for the show theme. It was interesting to see the use of curtains between movements like they did in the early 90s. The overall stand out for me was how clean they are. There were moments where nothing stuck out as flawed, visually or musically. Not that you look for such, it is just what you expect this time of year and when compared to everyone else, it just sticks out. The guard moves stunningly and the flag choices are simply gorgeous. It is evident that Jamey Thompson is writing the drill because of how well it flows, how well all the voices are staged, and how methodical the overall visual ensemble is married. The show flows so well it is hard to pin point a lot of specific moments, though there are of course well performed and paced GE events throughout. The brass are again great, but there seemed to be cracks and fracks scattered across the performance. It happens. I LOVE the overall grand feel and the tasteful use of Eastern sounds, indicative of the show theme. The pit is quite good. The battery had some strong moments and should do pretty well competitively in percussion, though from a music ensemble stand point, I am not sure all of it works. Like Madison's book, it seems to not always flow horizontally from musical phrase to phrase. They were clearly the best corps of the evening. Like Blue Stars, I am curious to see what happens with the show the rest of the summer. I am not sure they need to add demand as some have suggested, but I do think there needs to be more layers, depth, detail, for them to max out an already fine show. Thanks Phantom for being Classic Phantom in 2012. The is no corps like you!