Brassman53
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Posts posted by Brassman53
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Stockton Commodores took 12th place at DCI Finals in Whitewater in 1973 with only three snares.
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Well since I performed in the show, I only had the opportunity to see a little bit of it. I'll offer comments on what I saw both at the rehearsals and the show itself.....
Rehearsal...
Snare Drum duet..not sure what corps these guys were from ( I think I saw one guywith the Sky Alumni), but they were amazing. Sort of like a two-man Hip Pickles. I'm a brass player but these guys did it all: old school, new school, slings, Harnesses, modified trap set, Blast-type moves, unbelievable stick work that cut across all eras, razor-sharp rudiements. Wow!!! Much fun to watch!
Brooklyn United- eventually grew to about 24 horns and about 5 perc. Nice balance and repertoire of melodic tunes.
Night time show....
Selden - Wow ! It was like my "60's Fleetwood's came alive!! Powerful sound for a 20 something member hornline. Real nice blend. Had the crowd going nuts. Guest DM really did a nce job! After a 40 plus year absence, these guys really put on a show!! Particularly exciting were the Wailing sops, "Fanfare, and "Blood and Sand"
Melrose - about 23 Brass. Nice blend. Percusssion was clean! Played all recognizable tunes, including a Beatles Nedley and a Jimmy Buffet tune ( first time I ever heard a corps play that- Yeah!
Blessed Sac- Much better than when I last saw the at the Archie show in April. A lot of DCA corps would like to have their lead sop Line!
" Slaughter" and Free Again, got the crowd pumped.
After BS I had to get ready to perform, anybody see Lambertville (my corps)?
RCC
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How about music from "Saturday Night Fever"? There's lots of "New York" style material there.
RCC
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Ok, this will be a review from a less than prime location ( that's what I get for ordering tickets a month before the show). There I sat, high above the Goal Line, to the left of the fifty. I'm sure my observations will be different than most, since Ii didn't have the horn lines in my face and I know some percussion things can get distorted based on distance and angle I was away from , and probably missed alot in terms of stuff that you can't hear unless the sound is right in front of you, nevertheless, i alawys liked reading reviews of anybody I marched with, so i thought I'd share my thoughts from a horn player's view.....
SoCal Dream- Well I guess you can't argue with a two point spread from top to bottom, but I thought they won Class A. They appeared very confident and aggressive ( loved the 60's tumes (She's not there, Don't be misunderstod). Thought they marched well, and sold their show. For a small hornline projected very well. Much improved over last year ( and I liked them then too) . Didn't look at recaps but perhaps percussion was a little off? Nice show!!
White Sabres- Another corps that has made great strides since last year. Appeared to ahev about 30 brrass, and an aggressive battery. Couldn't tell from where i was sitting, but I'm guessing this is a fairly young corps. Some nice solists. Like the Michael Buble stuff. This corps is an example of one where the staff knows how to write a show for the talent they have, and not over their head. They're definitely on the right track....
Govenaries- Very entertaining show, that holds your interest. Tunes like Birdland, and Big Noise from Winetka draw the audience in. Very clean percussion, and lot's of field coverage from the smaleest of the Class A Corps. However with the field coverage comes exposure, and from where I was sitting individual brass players could be heard, and at times sounded less than confident. That said, to go out with 14 brass, all you need is one horm player to have an off night and you're in trouble, obviously they were on their game overall. iId also like to add that the Govies looked extremely smooth in all of their visual moves, and that defiinitely helps sell a show....
Open Class
I've been attending DCA Prelims and/or Finals regularly since 1980 - Without a doubt this year's finals crew is the best I've seen from top to bottom. I can remember in the early 90's where after the top five there was a significant drop off to the point where the sixth place corps then, couldn't have held a candle to this year's 10 place finisher. I also think the number of quality soloists this year was amazing. I've never heard so many outstanding soloists- what a treat!!
Ok, on with my thoughts....
Carolina Gold- Being a major Tower of Power fan, I anxiously awaited this show, and they didn't let me down. Great soloists. Powerful brass. Groovin' percusssion. My favorite was Mr Toad's Wild Ride. I thought it's be a good tune for drum corps year's ago, and the Gold truly did it justice. like I mentioned previously, in the early ninties this would have been a top six show. Just shows you how good DCA has become...
Corps Vets-The first three corps that really to me seemed to totally sell their Vegas show. Really cool with the corps members "gambling" at the start complete with "dealers" and cocktail waitress,They had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. The performance just seemed to fly by. The opener of "Luck be a Lady" was great. Loved the powerful Michael Buble tune, and all the Vegas gimmicks in the closer ( including Elvis , and , i think get me to the church on time, medly , etc). I had them beating The Hurcs.
Hurricanes- The good stuff.... Guard is very active, and really enhances the visual package, Percusssion was the best so far. Outstanding Sop soloist- he nailed everything. the not so good... the brass line seemed to be marching at a early July level- a number of forms were off ...also even down where i was seated, a number of individual horns stuck out of the ensemble. All that said, I still enjoyed the performance...
Renegades- Let me start off by saying that these guys have wowed me every year that I've seen them previously. This year, however there weren't enough WOW moments. Based on what I read I think it's truly amazing that they were able to pull together the percussion section they did. It's easy to plug in horn players along the way- not so simple in the battery. That said, this year's show didn't do it for me- too dark.... I appreciate the diffculy of the brass book, but the only real WOW moments were the lead sops screaming in unision at the end, and a particularly difficult articulated part in a bit earlier. The drill seemed relatively safe, kind of follow-the- leader type, and couldn't recall anything of note from the guard. Oh, there was another nice moment, very pretty with a brass quintet in Stairway to Heaven. Hope to see you guys next year with a more accesible show - there's no denying the talent lvel with this crew....
Brigs- Another disapointment for me... I think back to their 2000 show, that just blew me away. i know they reportedly had a rough winter, so the fact they were able to put out such a high quality product is testimony to their resolve, but like with the rengaes there were no WOW moments for me. Everything was solid, just nothing I could get real exicited about
Minnesota Brass- When I heard what they were playing stuff from three of my favorite bands, I eagerly awaitted their annual trip to the east. They did not let me down. In my opinion this is the Best MBI corps I've seen. The difference being the quality of the arrangements. In the past when they've played stuff from Chicago EWF, Metheny, etc the charts were too predictable. Not this year... They had interesting twists to them that had me saying " Wow I like what they did there". They also marched extremely well, and the perc cooked... and oh yeah, those who ripped in the past for having the pit soloists... this year they marched, and still nailed it!!!
Great job MBI!!
Cabs- two words... On Fire. They were in your face the whole time, but not to the point of overplaying. I'm a brass player, but there battery seemed extremely tight to me. in my opnion the best of the night- clean and in your face at the same time. Marching had some slight bumps, but considering how they move, nothing major. Lead Sop line is on par with the previous few years rengaeds line, and that;s saying something!! What a great comeback season!!!
Bush- I confess, idon't usually care for their shows, but this year is an exception. I loved the brass book, (proabably a little too controlled for my tastes, but well executed). They took tumes previously be some big name corps (i.e. Argonne Rebels and Garfield), and put their own stamp on them. i don't usaully notice guards, but bush's seemd to be very active and gigantic as well (in addition to performing well)
Empire- Very clean performance, enjoyable, but I don't know, seemed to be missing something. Even where I was aitting surrounded by locals who were anxiously awaiting their show, they didn't really get overly excited about the show. I will say that the solists are worth the price of admission. Price aPero are a show by themselves. You sit there saying " i can't believe what I just heard....
Reading- To wait for the fireworks would have driven me nuts if i had been marching... didn't seem to phase them .... outstanding percussion..... brass executing quite well, just a quality performance. Seemed very controlled, but did what they had to do to win the title. When your the champs, a contender has to knock you out, and no one in my opnion did that tonight. Congrats Bubs on a repeat....
Thanks for reading...
RCC
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How about a little different take on the show, things I liked in alphabetical order....
Awesome- The trumpet features of SCV and Bluecoats
Blend- Impressive balance and tone quality of Blue Knights brass
Cool- Purple Ludwig snares of Magic
Daring- Rifle tosses of The Cadets
Entertaining- Radio segments of the Crossmen, one of the coolest new approaches in a long time
Fan Friendly- Jersey Surf's show- and well done also
Great Idea- the "Hometown" flags of the Crossmen- neat to the see all the "PA" kids- shades of the seventies
Hot- Not only the weather but the Crossmen Trumpet Trio, and Bluecoats trumpet solo
Intense- Magic Snare line
Kerry Dancers- snippets played by Pioneer nicely woven into program
Moving- Crossmen's ballad
Notes- plethora of them in SCV's jazz piece- played very well
Outstanding- the groove being laid down in The Cadets percusssion feature
Pit- tasty stuff goin' on in the Pioneer pit ensemble
Quads- The Cadets... Holy Cow... cookin baby!
Rockin' - Pioneer battery- always intense, and darn clean
Steppin' up- Magic...plesantly surprised with them ... threat to make semis
Tunes- Bass drum version- Surf.. neat song lick by bass line... haven't melody like that since Troopers years ago
Uniforms- Like Crossmen's red sequin addition- really stands out- don't remember that last year
V- Letter V formed by SCV Cynbals in closer
Wailin' - Blue Knights trumpets nail high notes at end of opener
Xcellent- pretty mello high range solo by Magic
Yellow- Uniform by "Alice" in Cadets- kinda looked like Hullabaloo outfit from 60's TV Show
Zero- Boring shows- everybody had highlights
Great night of Drum Corps!!
RCC
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This brief review is, from a horn players perspective...
Sky- 22b , 5 snares, 2 quads, 4 bass, 10-13 in guard, Much better blend than last year at this time, perc much improved> If they fill out low brass spots will have a real nice sound. Opener a departure from typical SKY sound. Most musical SKY hornline in years. Awesomw Mellophone soloist... neat take on Bohemian Rhapsody... drill unfinished
Hurcs- 32 B, nice sized battery and guard. ... Brass line putting out lots of sound for first show... could turn out to be an excellent guard. JC Superstar music is enjoyable. Screaming Sop Soloist (this guy's been there for years). Nailed everything. About 7 horns sat out half the show. When balance/intonation issues get settled could move up in DCA Standings... drill work in progress...
Bucs- No other DCA corps attempts what these guys do visually. PERC would challenge upper eschelon DCI lines.... Seemed better prepared last year at this show, but will still be in the hunt for the TOP. At times perc overshadowed Brass- maybe because of indoor setting. Guard marched whole show, and I believe did work for all as well.. al ittle smaller brass -wise (49 still good sized). Sops seemed a little tired (only 12 makes it tough)...Low brass really resonates...
Empire- 50 + brass Came out very confident... This show will challenge for the top. Perc amazingly clean for first show. well prepared guard. Pero's jazz lickks in ballad were awesome... most powerful overall brass sound of the night.... can see this show getting more exciting each week...
Cabs- Holy Sh***. 60 + brass...One of the best lead sop lines I've heard in years- plus really playing some difficult licks... Their Contras were only one's that had an impact tonight....Drumline had most impressive perc feature of the evening.... show seemed like it flew by ( a good thing) ... Cabs are in the Hunt!
Surf- Most polished Surf crew yet... loved the ballad..... should scare some of the DII powers this year... probably the most musical I've ever heard their hornline... 53+ brass, 25 + guard.... by August should be dynamite!!
Cabs Alumni- Really Cookin' Perc - old school clean as a whistle... . Brass excellent blend... no typical alumni overblowing here.... Ponzo's solo's were awesome... really like the new Mac Park.....
Great night of Drum Corps...show was well attended!!
Rcc
MCA Harrisburg - Review and a little more
in DCA All-Age Corps and Alumni Corps Show & Event Reviews
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Thanks for the review. It's much appreciated. We in the Volunteers had fun playing in front of such a receptive audience. Heard the Capital Brass warming up, and you guys really have a nice, polished, sound- excellent soloists and a tuba/contra player that was awesome.
RCC