mello916

Duuuuuuude!

There were 14 corps at this year's Moonlight Classic in Stockton, with a combined SCV/BD horn line as part of the encore. At the show, my buddy was reminiscing that back in the 1980s you'd get to see 1/3 of the Top 12 at Nor Cal shows: BD, SCV, Freelancers and Velvet Knights. We sure miss Freelancers and VK around here, but Phantom, Madison and Cadets have all done West Coast tours over the last few years. I love all corps, but as far as regional shows go, I still think West is best ;)

My favorite part was when the amped vocals came in

Renegades got caught!

Wow, what a great crowd and show at Moonlight Classic. There was a fantastic turn-out Saturday night, and the crowd was showing lots and lots of love for all the corps. It's always so good to be in an audience that's extra keyed. I arrived at the stadium a couple hours early for some tailgate action with some longtime friends. I was practically in a tri-tip food coma until we headed over to see the start of the show. I'd seen River City Regiment nip at Renegades back a couple weeks in Modesto and was looking forward to this match up. So the Renegades enter the field, and like always, I feel for the members who have to wear those black smocks when it's about 100 degrees out. Evil, indeed. But the Renegades' show was summed up best by the person sitting behind me. "That was OK," she said when Renegades were done. There's definitely some fun moments in the show, like the lip trills of death, but the program just feels kind of flat in the stands. And I'll say it again: If you're going to do "Stairway to Heaven," why do you leave out the best part of the song (e.g. the "As we wind on down the road" section?) What this arrangement needs is a couple of solo sops going nuts on Jimmy Page's outro solo, while the rest of the corps honks through a A-/G/F progression. Think of how much build up there'd be. C'mon Renegades! It's boring as a ballad ... Now River City Regiment comes on, and they're no Clean Machine by any means but this corps has shown major improvement in all sections, especially guard and drums. I love the heart that they're putting into this year's "en fuego" show, and it is connecting up in the stands. And even though their brass is about half the size of Renegades, River City Regiment has better blend and quality. Believe me, in past years I'd see RCR come on the field and think, "Great, I just drove 45 mins. to see 8 horns with one screamer limp around the field." That's no more. So congrats to RCR and let the competition begin. After the senior corps, I headed back to our tailgate soiree, and then went to watch some corps warm up. Even though I'm an SCV guy, I spent most of the time watching BD's drums and brass. And all I can say is "THEY BLEW MY FACE OFF!" Wow, what a fantastic and talented group of kids that BD has. The drum line is just burnin' (to quote Chuck Mangione) and the bass drums were just killing me with their rolls. Whew ... and then I went over to hear BD's brass and they were just awesome. They were pumping HUGE amounts of quality sound and are very much in-sync as a line. I love their warm-up exercises, with all the "space" chords and weird flexibility exercises, and when they hit triple-forte, best hold on tight. Loved it! So now we're heading back to the stadium, and the crowd sounds especially loud in the distance. Perfect ... And we get to our seats right as Blue Knights are coming on. BK really has a solid corps this year, and I can see why they're just a few points below SCV. They have a lot of control over their show and are marching with confidence. I especially like the way they spread the field. I just wish I liked their music more. I'm not always big on that concert-band mumbo jumbo sounding stuff. And then BD comes on and in two seconds I can tell how much better they are now than back in Modesto. The brass and drums were just killer ... shoot, so was the guard. But as much as I like the kids, I just don't like the "Godfather" show design that much. Now I've always been a huge "Godfather" nut, but the movie trilogy doesn't have a whole lot of memorable musical themes. You have the main theme (done by BD's sop soloist), a sweeping theme when the Corleone family is mouring, but that's about it. I do like the way BD plays with those themes (especially the jazzy variation of the theme), but it's like this: It took Francis Ford Coppola three movies to tell the "Godfather" story; can a corps really tell this story of family honor, murder, immigration and assimilation, and underworld mayhem in just 12 mins.? I'm not so convinced. Anyway, SCV caps the evening, and I'm saying, "Yes! GO SCV!" I really enjoy this show design, with all of the movement and trickiness in the brass book. The guard also looked like it was having a good night. SCV just needs to get better control on this show, because it has huge potential. But I'm rooting for them and feel like they can pull it off ... So after the corps are done, we get the treat of a combined SCV/BD horn line playing some fanfare kind of thing. (anyone know what song that was?) The sight of both hornlines - red and blue next to each other - was truly majestic. Too bad it wasn't very in tune. And after the scores were announced, SCV gets to do an "encore" performance and woo! they were great. The drum line was especially fierce, and some more of that fire needs to come through when they're on the field. By the end of the standstill, many people jumped to their feet. I know I did. And then SCV's brass line played "Clowns" while the rest of the corps huddled up and hugged, and that always gets a lump in my throat. What a way to end the day. Congrats to all the kids out there marching and playing their hearts out. It's really been a fun drum corps season.

Congrats River City Regiment! Woo Hoo!

I miss Sound Expo! p.s. Why don't the Mandarins host a Div. 1 show in Sacramento, a la Sound Expo?

I give this reviewer an A+

In that restaurant scene from "The Godfather," there's hardly anyone in the place. One table has Michael Corleone with "the Turk" and the crooked police chief. There's maybe only two other tables being used. That makes for fewer witnesses when Michael kills both "the Turk" and the police chief, drops the gun, and gets the heck out. So either BD isn't quite referencing that scene, or they're not being very accurate. "bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla Vito! Vito!"

Great report! Thank you for sharing. I was also struck with the horn line when I saw them warm-up in Modesto. There's something special about this year's corps, and this SCV alum is really proud of them. (Well, I'm always proud of SCV, even if they break my heart every so often). Can't wait to see them in Stockton next week. GO SCV!

dablablalablabladablablablabla Vito! Vito! (anyone who's seen BD this year will know what I mean); wsssb was right on the $$$ with his review ... but in Modesto, it was BD that had the over-amped pit.

Go SCV!

Modesto: - Bought a $25 reserved seat at the gate (my buddy and I were going to get the cheaper general-admission ticket, but said "what the ####, do it for the kids" and spent the extra $$$) - $6.50 for a trip-tip sandwich "meal" (chips and soda included) - Didn't do the math re: gas, but it was about 140 miles round-trip from Sacramento - No souvies this time, but I'll get my yearly SCV children's size t-shirt (for my son) at Moonlight Classic. Overall: Had a great time in a very great seat, took care of my munchies with just $6.50, and can't wait for the next show. The start of drum corps season is always one of my favorite times of the year ...

Yay Mandarins! I enjoyed your show tonight in Modesto. Best of luck this season ...

I caught a few minutes of the horn line doing pre-show warm ups in Modesto, and I really like this year's line. There's some nice depth and quality of sound to SCV, though personally I'd like just a little more "oomph" in the bass. But overall I thought this line had some gorgeous moments, and yes, they can get loud. It'll get even better when the show's more under control and they can dig in emotionally. Go SCV!

There's also the fact that RCR pretty much owned the Renegades tonight in terms of performance (at least it sure felt that way in the stands). And trust me, I can't believe I'm saying this.

Just pulled in from the Modesto show, and this is what's on my mind: I can't believe I'm saying this, but ... I enjoyed River City Regiment more than the Renegades tonight! Now, I've always enjoyed the Renegades' shows, so it hurts me to say that the corps is lacking major balls right now. RCR has only half the amount of horns than Renegades, but RCR outplayed them in terms of intensity and impact. RCR didn't have much in the way of horse-whinny lip trills, and have pretty much just one jet-fighter soloist, but I'll tell you this: The crowd was feeling RCR's performance. The end of Renegades was pretty much "zzzzz" in the stands. And that's too bad. (p.s. if yer gonna do "Stairway to Heaven," why do you leave out the coolest part of the song? Let a couple sops go crazy on the outro guitar solo and it will be madness in the stands. It's kind of boring as a ballad). I know it's very early in the season and much can change, so I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again. But I LOVE the fact that RCR is nipping at the Renegades heels. Bring on the competition! p.s. RCR's drum line rocked. SCV - I know they dropped in score from last night, but this SCV die-hard is still feeling good right now. The corps is off to a solid start and is marching much better than this point last year. And after last year's lackluster drill, it's great to see SCV moving and grooving again. This is a tricky show, with lots of notes and drill charts, but it's fun to watch and hear. I'm usually not big on "original" drum corps music (save Suncoast 85) but this show has some cool musical elements. One of them is almost like 20th century classical with a jazzy swing. Might sound weird on paper, but it works. This horn line is definitely showing some depth, and they're marching good as well, so I'm looking forward to seeing how they improve. Go SCV! BD - Eh ... the hornline hardly plays for the first two minutes of the show, and that's not much of an exaggeration. But the hornline definitely has some blast when it kicks in, though I'm not quite feeling that bloodthirsty BD vibe yet. Overall this "Godfather" show didn't do a whole lot for me. The drill isn't nearly as complex as SCV's drill (though that's nothing new), and the music isn't sucking me in yet. But I was definitely digging on BD's drum line, and the pit had a very awesome accelerando part in one section. I dunno ... the show seemed just a little too safe for me right now, and I have a hard time picturing it as a "championship caliber show." But again, I'll use the caveat that it's early in the season and much can improve. I just want to see this corps move more. As for the rest of the corps, I'll say God bless all the young people out there who are doing their thing. It always strikes me as to how much better the "smaller" corps are these days. Both SCV Cadets and BDB had cookin' shows, and BDC even played a bit from Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train." Love it ...

I've read "Tales of a Drum Line" probably a dozen times over the past year, and never get tired of reading it. "Mike and Ty Remember SCV '87" from RAMD does the same thing for me, even if it doesn't have the Touchstone ending.

1984 Cadets

Yeah, maybe a corps that doesn't wear one of his unfiorms? I remember how much he was creaming himself in the 1987 broadcast over Garfield and Phantom - two corps that he worked with that year.

The only year I marched was SCV '87, and yes, SCV had been my favorite corps before I marched with them. I wanted to march SCV so bad that I commuted twice a week from Sacramento. For Thursday night rehearsals at the SCV Hall, I'd have to leave right from my high school and drive 2 1/2 hours to Santa Clara. Actually, it was my dad who drove me (I didn't have a license yet) and he'd even leave work early so we'd make it to the SCV hall in time. I could never thank my dad enough for driving all those times and helping me fulfill that dream of marching SCV. And yes, SCV still is and will always be my favorite corps.

1984 was the year I was exposed to DCI. And I became hooked thereafter because of: Blue Devils - "La Fiesta"!! What a killer of a concert tune, and that horn line - yowza! SCV - That first hit in "Fanfare and Allegro" just about made me leap out of my set; from then on SCV was my favorite corps. Garfield - "West Side Story" still brings the chills; this one of the few shows from the early-1980s that could go toe-to-toe with anything on the field today.

Blue Devils present Mingus Amongus - a tribute to Charles Mingus Selections would include: - "Better Get It In Yo' Soul" (killer 6/8 groove + a place for soloists to go nuts = drum corps nirvana) - Selections from "Epitaph" (dig on these huge, dense chords) - "Goodbye Porkpie Hat"

The Freelancers sparked my interest in drum corps in sort of a roundabout way. The first drum corps show I ever saw live was "Sound Expo" at Hughes Stadium (e.g. the Freelancers' "home show") back in 1984. And we all know what a year that was: BD blowing everyone's hair back with "La Fiesta," SCV's killer horn line on "Fanfare and Allegro," the Freelancers doing the Tower of Power thang with "What is Hip?" All of this kept me coming back to "Sound Expo" (and Stockton's "Moonlight Classic") until I finally took the drum corps plunge and marched SCV in '87. Not marching your hometown corps is for another thread, but Sac Town has never felt the same without the Freelancers. I miss 'em ...

True, but could they even read the sports ticker?