JFitz19
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Posts posted by JFitz19
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Really enjoyed the review and have to agree regarding Cadets and Bluecoats. Saw both in Lawrence. I have never been a Bluecoats fan, and this year they have my favorite show. Also agree that they have the best use of electronics on the field this year.
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I think that drum corps' new era really started with the Santa Clara Vanguard in1972. That corps’ routine was the watershed program that placed us on the road we are still on today. SCV introduced the "cool" show, as to what I would refer to as "hot" shows that corps had always done. It was sophisticated, understated and, one can surmise, directed to the judges. After all, Gail Royer had been a judge. SCV really introduced esoteric to the drum corps world. I think that everything that followed stems from that. They opened the door to innovation. Next Madison fought back with the big sound concept in brass. The Blue Devils improved on that and made proper musical technique a requirement for competitiveness. That knocked the 27th Lancers out of the game. Then SCV, once again, pushed the boundaries with its asymmetrical drill in 1980, and George Zingali became the most innovative drill writer in drum corps history, beginning, in 1982 with his precedent shattering, dizzying drills for Garfield. Star added body movement. Big deal. Corps had been dancing for a long time, and body movement just added a new dimension to something already ongoing. 'Spirit of Atlanta had introduced the modern color guard back in the 80's with more dance and choreography. And Brubaker, with the Cavaliers, fought back against Zingali with his symmetrical and computer generated drills. As for concept shows and story telling, that's been around forever. Just take a look at the Madison Scouts and Cavalier shows from 1971. Star was a great corps, but other than incorporating body movement, not a major factor in my book, presented no innovations in drill or color guard.
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SCV and Garfield back to back August 15, 1987. So sorry I missed it.
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After seeing the selections, I went on You Tube and listened to a performance of Danzon by the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra conducted by the amazing Gustavo Dudamel. It is a wonderful piece with terrific Latin rhythms. Can't wait to hear it, as I'm sure it will be a hit with audiences.
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Can't say that I'm enthralled by a show teaser that includes a gun and blood spatters.
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I'd have to go with Cadets 2005.
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I first heard Procession of the Nobles as a 12 year old, and it's always been one of my favorite pieces of music. When I heard that Cadets were playing it, I feared that Bocook might overindulge himself with the arrangement, as he sometimes does, IMHO. Soon after, however, I was fortunate enough to hear the complete version on the site that shall not be named before it quickly vanished and was quite happy to hear that Jay has been quite faithful to Nicolai R-K's original. For some reason, I've always had a strong, positive emotional reaction to Procession, and I really like that I have the same emotional reaction to the Cadets' version. Can't wait to hear it live. Thanks, Jay!
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Thanks for the Update. Procession of the Nobles is one of my favorite pieces. How did it sound?
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And so are the Colts.
And so is Phantom.
And so are the Cavies.
If your read the article, you will see that Crown is asking everyone to vote for all the drum corps.
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It was interesting to watch the crowd on Finals night. The overall lack of emotional response to the shows was amazing. Vanguard brought the crowd to its feet with genuine applause during the company front. Looking around during the top 4 shows, I noticed that the crowd, as a whole, was not as emotionally into the performances as much as Vanguard's. Obviously, the top four shows didn't keep my attention either if I spent the time watching the members of the audience.
Have to disagree with this. I was at Finals, sitting in the 400 level on about the 15, a good vantage point to gauge audience appreciation of the shows. I found that the excitement factor really kicked up a notch when SCV entered the field. And, yes there was a great response to the company front. Things died down a bit for the Cavies. However, when HNC entered the field the noise level immediately went up, and you could feel the excitement in the crowd. It held through the Cadets' show. Then, when Crown entered the field, the noise level again went up, and again, you could feel the excitement in the crowd. Again, it continued through Crown's show. It slumped a bit for BD. I think one of the things I enjoyed most about Finals night was the excitement/audience buying into SCV, Cadets and Crown to such a great extent.
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what did you guys think of the audio of crown?
I just bought the download of Crown's Quarterfinals performance, and I was disappointed because the pit frequently overwhelmed the horn line. I actually thought that the Fan Network video recording of Crown from Allentown was better. I think it is interesting that the excerpt that DCI chose is one in which the pit is downplayed, and the horn line is up close to the front sideline for the climax of that piece. I noticed that when I listened to the Quarterfinals clip. I am concerned about the quality, given this.
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Cadets 1996: Changes to Promise of Living; there were several. Loved it at the beginning of the year. Didn't need "improvement".
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Regarding 1987, I think that SCV was hardly the only one everyone was talking about. IIRC, that was Cadets' Appalachian Spring year--only one of the greatest feats of marching music ever put on the field. I think they got a lot of attention and talk that year.
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I first saw them in 1960 and although they were "The Garfield Cadets" most corp people in the east called them "Holy Name".
As time went by the "Garfield" name took over.
I still call them "Garfield"
There is another corps from the east that I still refer to as MPB and NOBODY knows who I'm talking about !!!
Most Precious Blood.
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27th Lancers: 1981 (before they took out Spitfire and substituted Danny Boy)
Anaheim Kingsmen: 1974
Blue Devils: 1979
Blue Knights:2002 (Wish the 2007 corps had played this show.)
Blue Stars: 1972
Bluecoats: 2001
Boston Crusaders: 2000
Bridgemen: 1977
Cadets: 1987
Carolina Crown: 2007
Cavaliers: 1995
Crossmen: 1997
Glassmen: 1998
Madison Scouts: 1974
Phantom Regiment: 1993
Santa Clara Vanguard: 1978
Spirit: 1978
Star of Indiana: 2001
Suncoast Sound: 1988
Troopers: 1970
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Just got a new IMac. The only directions I could find on the Fan network had to do with streaming videos. So, I followed those and downloaded Flip4Mac and changed the browser setting as instructed. Nothing happened. DCI support told me to try downloading Flash Player, but that didn't work. I am not very computer savvy. Can anyone help? Thanks. I haven't even tried to figure out how to make the audios work.
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I was at the show tonight. Thought Cadets were terrific. I am not a fan of their narration and hated it on Saturday's DCI-cast. However, it is much easier to take on the field and better integrated than last year. I could still live without it, but there are long stretches when there is no talking and the corps' presence and impact are wonderfulf. They really surprised me. I thought Boston was overscored. I found them disappointing, and I am a fan. They seemed to be rushing the show and not marching with confidence. looked sloppy. Crossmen, on the other hand, were a pleasant surprise; much, much better than Saturday night. They looked quite professional out there. Show still needs work, but the score was well deserved in my book.
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I listen to "This American Life" from time to time, and while the show deals with "ordinary" people all the time, the folks it profiles have stories that are compelling, unique, or just so appealing, that the show holds your attention. Aside from whether or not one approves of narration in a drum corps show, I think this effort fails because Sara's story is not only not unusual, it is not in the least interesting. It is actually quite mundane. Really, who cares about Sara’s privileged, upper class life? What does it have to teach us? Not much, in my opinion. And the lesson that one can "choose happiness" is such a cliché today that it makes for a laughable climax or, if you like, a very disappointing aha! moment. What is to be gained from participating in this story as a spectator? I have no idea. What was the Cadets’ creative team thinking?
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The arranger is Michael Klesh. It will be terrific.
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I was watching a one-hour PBS program about composer Aaron Copland last night. It was narrated by Michael Tilson Thomas, the Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony, and it was quite good. Tilson Thomas was discussing "El Salon Mexico", Coland's 1st "popular" composition done in the 1930's. The SF Symphony began to play an excerpt when the picture changed to filmed coverage of the Cascades playing the piece at a field competition. Tilson Thomas said, "This is drum corps," and gave a nice and complimentary description of our activity. He then introduced a string player from the orchestra, who was shown doing field judging, I assume, of the Cascades' brass at the competition. I didn't catch her 1st name, but her last name was Nicolaris. She spoke, IIRC, about the music education aspects for the marchers. Then they switched back to Copland's life. It was quite a nice surprise in an excellent program. Check your local channel for repeat showings.
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Back in the 1960's many corps played selections from Ben Hur, King of Kings and El Cid, including St. Kevins, St. Mary's Cardinals and Blessed Sac. It would be great to hear this music on the field again.
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Also, don't forget that BD finished first in brass with a 19.8 to Crown's 19.2. That is actually only a diffference of 0.3 in the final score, as the brass score is divided by 2. We really had parity in the brass caption this year among the top 7 at the end.
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Crown beat Phantom in brass at the Lawrence Mass show on July 6th.
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This is a great review and you articulated some things I was thinking about, but couldn't quite get out, mainly in relation to Crown and Bluecoats. As you said, Crown's theme was pulled off more successfully, and that surprised me. On the surface, before seeing them it seemed that "horses" was going to be more of lightweight show than "criminals, " but because of their attention to detail and simplicity of idea, the essence of horse movement, gracefulness, and even humor came through so clearly that it was a joy to watch. The viewer became completely captivated and swept away. You didn't have to figure anything out, it all just came thorugh clearly.
Now Bluecoats suffered from overabundance of ideas. From prison break to pickpocketing to lasers to briefcases to dropping of weapons - everything in between served as a bridge to the next gag. In the meantime, a lot of the guard kids performed with big smiles..not very menacing. Sooooo...who is the bad guy here? It was a jumble. Were the cops pursuing the crooks? Well, not really, because they were all often intermixed.
They have had this problem for a few years. Connexus - are they always connected? No, just sometimes. Caravan - is it always middle-eastern/african? No, just here and there. Capture and Escape - once they're caught, the don't get away, right? No, we let them go.
The fits and starts wreak havoc with a clear message coming across. They are great peformers, if they can just edit their ideas down to one or two key points to convey, they'll really go places. Look how one idea, maxed out works for the Cavaliers (well..not this year :P )
I don't usually quote a whole post. However, I must say that this is a very, very insightful analysis of the Crown and Bluecoat shows. I'm quite impressed. I couldn't agree more with your analysis of each corps. The Bluecoats design flaws you point out have bothered me for years.
An Idea: Set Annual Themes for All Corps
in DCI World Class Corps Discussions
Posted
How about a one year moratorium on boxes in the drill? Make all drill designers write shows with NO boxes for one year--make it a requirement. Wouldn't that be refreshing and probably cause a few heads to explode?