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gak27

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Everything posted by gak27

  1. I have VERY fond memories of going to Denver in '77 and '78
  2. You and me (horn wonk also) both...personally, they have a nice, focused sound
  3. Getting a red mark for expressing an opinion? Wow... You weren't the least bit offensive; your only "transgression" was casting a negative light on some of Crown's show. For shame. FWIW, I agree with you (and offered a similar opinion in my review).
  4. Greetings all! This won't be a very detailed review, since others have done a GREAT job in offering the look and feel of last night's show. I just wanted to provided a different/additional viewpoint of the show - not that my perspective will be in any way unique or earth-shattering - just different. And I did my best to view the shows from a 'first of the season' viewpoint... I was right on the 50, 10 rows up in the upper deck (above and to the right of JWillis, I believe) Overall impressions - I loved Bluecoats - I loved Phantom - I loved most of Cadets - I loved parts of Crown - I loved parts of Blue Stars - I tried to love Cavaliers The truth be told, I actually liked more of the Blue Stars show than the Cavies. The Blue Stars don't leave much to the imagination, although the guard outfits were, um, interesting...I guess they were intended to represent the 'earth/soil' portion of our world? Anyway, yes, the drill is challenging and dirty, and yes, they had problems throughout the show, but it's entertaining, esp. from a musical sense. My take on the Cavies was their show is all about the 'look at me! look at me!' aspect of fame and how fleeting it is. On the whole, it just seemed disjoint, quiet and uninvolving, kind of like so much of Top 40 music. The guard did do a good job of selling the story in the first half of the show, but overall, I'm not sure about this one... Crown. Yes, I was very impressed with the horn line (horn line in my marching days) and yes, they are all over the place in a very demanding visual program. But there is WAY too much rolling/prancing/foot/body/movement for the sake of rolling/prancing/foot/body/movement going on, esp. in the middle part of the show. Honestly, a couple of times I found myself thinking how much more powerful and enjoyable the show would be if they just marched... I liked the Cadets show more than I was expecting to, probably because the arrangements/treatment of the source music is (for the most part) very well done. Parts of the show are a little too cute, but nothing near "little Jeffrey" level (hopefully this remains the case). The flag feature early in the show is a big impact. I was looking forward to Phantom's show the most (being my 2nd favorite corps behind SCV). The visual impact of the red against the white/black works very well and the guard uniform change is well-done, striking and changes the whole tone of the show. Horns and percussion are powerful (esp. in the first 2/3 of the show). To be honest, Nessun Dorma will need work. Projection of the soloist could be better (he was drowned out on his lower notes); maybe they should double up or mic him (heresy j/k), but overall, the show has great promise. Bluecoats surprised me, in a good way. Their show was engaging, powerful, sharp and didn't need an extensive explanation of what the show designers are trying to convey. But please, please, turn down the pit amplification! YMMV, prices higher in Hawaii and Alaska, cash value 1/20 cent.
  5. TubaJon is right - after the first player fell and the second tripped over them, they got back up and attempted to rejoin the form. One of the players was late on a direction shift, bumped into the other player, and that player "threw an elbow" to/at the 'bumper'...it was a little disconcerting
  6. Upper deck, just to the right of the 50 facing the field, 10 rows up. I'll have on either my '93 Bluecoats "Standards in Blue" or '99 Phantom "Tragedy and Triumph" shirt (don't think the wife would let me wear any of my really old ones... ) All those coming from out of town...welcome to Akron!!!
  7. With a hint of Chris O'Connell's Nightwing mask thrown in?
  8. Same with us, same location...if i think of it, I'll post what corps shirt i'll be wearing...
  9. Personally I'd prefer full retreats, but there are enough dead horses here on DCP already (and I'm sure there was complaining about it at some point). As far as your second question - so you're saying after the last corps is done, just leave? Huh...it's already weird enough that those of us who stay and applaud the winners are only applauding the DM... A West Coast season opener?!?! I would go to the theater show in a heartbeat, whether or not the scores had already been announced - I would want to see the shows and knowing who won in advance wouldn't bother me.
  10. Well, at least they had the chance.....j/k I'll make sure to cheer extra-loud to make the theater experience that much better - will there be audience cue cards?
  11. What? I said part of the show experience is seeing how they placed. I never said it was a big part, major part, only reason, etc. of why I attend. But it is part of the drum corps show experience and (in a way) not announcing the placement/scores makes it akin to a judged exhibition (from BITD). I am still looking forward to the show (the weather is going to be great and no sun in your eyes - stands face east) and the corps' shows but still believe the fans in the stands aren't getting the complete package that comes with a drum corps competition. --- DCI could REALLY bring in the $$$ and build excitement over results by having a theater production 2 days after Finals and announcing the scores then, also
  12. So, who decides that the theater goers rate higher than the people in the stands the night of the show regarding when the scores are announced? I have not seen any mention anywhere in the advertisement for this show that the scores are not going to be announced, and I would guess that more than a few show attendees, who know it's a competition and then do not find out who won, will be a little miffed. I will certainly enjoy the performances, but this just doesn't seem right, b/c part of the show experience is finding out how the corps placed. After I started crafting this, I saw the "format" on dci.org, so I'll amend my gripe - how will this play to the show attendees who don't frequent dci.org? I do, and didn't know about this "format" until i read this thread.
  13. Cool! Did you know Tim Fuller (soprano)? He would have marched around the same time as you - good friends w/ him...
  14. I'll be housing 10 minutes from the site at my house... Sorry, I couldn't resist... Welcome back to the area!
  15. I knew 'Spence' very well - quite the comedian on the bus...he was one of the group who hung speakers in the back from the roof in fish netting and tied the 8 track into the bus' electrical panel. I believe they used one of the warning light switches since those were covered and "not in use", although at night you could see them blink behind the covers if the stereo was switched on...
  16. We always rode school buses - repainted in corps colors - although we didn't have the luggage compartment "upgrade" Figured it appropriate to have this posted adjacent to the GBV post...
  17. Not currently a FN member, so I may not be up to date on availability but: So you're saying that there's a difference in the rights between Semis and Finals? The shows were the same, right? And yet you currently can watch the Semi show through FN and not the Finals show? Rights change day to day? Insane...
  18. I think it was in '77 -- we waited out one of the rain delays on our buses behind the back stands. When we were given the OK to get ready to go on, we were all stiff from sitting for so long so when we went into the stadium onto the track, our director and DM had us jog up and back along the rear portion of the track. The crowd loved it... I was a spectator during the '73 deluge and remember the water running down the drive between the stadium and the school overflowing the curb. My mom had several sealed packets of aspirin in her purse and when we got to our hotel (Holiday Inn in Delaware - Holidome, baby) all of the aspirin was dissolved. My parents put all their cash on the AC to dry it out. I think it was the first year of RC's new uniforms and all the chaperones stayed up all night trying to salvage the plumes. Man I loved the U.S. Open...
  19. SCV Living in Akron --> going to 1st show of the year
  20. Ithaca, 1974 (I was 11): - the overall excitement level, right from the beginning of the night - how good our seats were - my first time (second if you count prelims) seeing most of the 'biggies' - the Muchachos absolutely freaking the crowd out and raising the emotional response for every corps after them - Anaheim - the gasp from the crowd when the Madison guard member fainted right after they started their show - SCV: I was hooked during prelims, but by the push in "Send in the Clowns" I KNEW that they would ALWAYS be my favorite - that the tapes my Dad made (shhh, don't tell) are still listenable
  21. Keith, Just to be clear, are you talking about 1) Finals, or 2) Championship week?
  22. So approximately 1 minute per piece, average? Huh...
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