MikeN

Just for fun, here's the list (by # of championships) of DCI's champions: 11 Blue Devils, Concord CA 8 Mandarins, Sacramento CA 8 The Cadets, presented by YEA. :) 6 Santa Clara Vanguard, Santa Clara CA 5 Cavaliers, Rosemont IL 5 Ventures, Kitchner-Waterloo ONT 4 Blue Stars, LaCrosse WI 3 Les Chatelaines, Laval QUE 3 Pioneer, Milwaukee WI 2 Academie Musicale, Sherbrooke QUE 2 Madison Scouts, Madison WI 2 Southwind, Montgomery AL 2 Spartans, Nashua NH 2 St. Francis Xavier Sancians, S. Weymouth MA 2 St. Ignatius, Hicksville NY And here's the one-timers... Americanos, Appleton WI Anaheim Kingsmen, Anaheim CA Arbella, Salem MA Bengal Lancers, Trumbull CT Black Watch, Auburn WA Black Watch, Willingsboro NJ Canadian Knights, Peterborough ONT Carolina Crown, Charlotte NC Dutch Boy, Kitchner-Waterloo ONT East Coast Jazz, Malden MA Esperanza, San Diego CA Florida Wave, Miami FL Greece Cadets, Greece NY Les Etoiles, Dorion QUE L'Insolite, St. Jerome QUE Magic of Orlando, Orlando FL Patriots, Rochester NY Phantom Regiment, Rockford, IL Revolution, San Antonio, TX Seattle Cascades, Seattle WA Southernaires, Kenner LA Star of Indiana, Bloomington, IN Vanguard Cadets, Santa Clara CA Wausau Story, Wausau WI

I'm in a pipe band, so we have a little different take on the snare sound. We tried a few snares on White Max aramid heads as an experiment, and found that while they're bouncier and have a wonderful feel, they just can't be cranked up to the tension that the Tendura's can. They also never got the same level of crisp attack to them. So, we're going back to all Tendonitis, er... Tendura heads... Mike

God, I love this part of every online year... :) Mike

I think you'll have to wait until next week when most of the attendees get home. Only a small percentage actually have time and capability for web access there. (We've found that out through experience last year!) Mike

They should - other corps are already advertising for next year's members as well. If it's not ready, they'll put you on a list until it it, I'm sure. Either way, call them. (Though you might want to wait until next week - most corps offices are ghost towns this week, I'd think!) :) Mike

Thanks for the review, Jeff! Mike

About "the" frack, all I'd ever heard was the version on the Finals video - it wasn't until last year that I heard the semis performance and what it was *supposed* to sound like. Quite honestly, I'm used to the solo as is, and it really doesn't bother me to hear. (Of course, after 14 years of hearing it the one way...) SCV '89, the tenor had the misfortune of being right in the focus of the camera when it happened. Didn't seem like that big a deal, but maybe it's just me. 2002 Magic tenor... ouch. Poor guy. The DCI VHS caught it from high cam. Bits seem to go flying. And the "drop" of the Cavie guy in Fight Club - well, I heard about it live from Greg Gilman when it happened (he was giving us messages via AIM that night), but I don't think they caught it on the video? Mike

Seems like too many drums - why do you need two 6"'s if you have an 8? I'd just use a 6 and an 8. But then again, I didn't think they'd have ever fit a 6th in there, so... :) Mike

I actually did a survey of brass lines last year, and it averaged out to 20-12-20-12 = 64 horns. 20 sopranos and baritone voices, 12 mellophones and contras. Again, that's just the "average" - of course every corps is going to have a variation thereof. Mike

Thanks for the review! Mike

Due to a family emergency I will not be able to attend the San Antonio show tomorrow. If anyone wants to buy my pair of tickets (Section 113 - on the left 40 yard line), please let me know. You'll probably have to be in the Central Texas area to pick them up - I won't be able to drive very far. Thanks, Mike

It was a non-jazz, almost Bolero-like restatement of Time to Take Back the Knights, but I was too low to see the drill. Sounded like a regular 'ol drum corps ending to me - didn't sound tacked on. I guess that's the full one. Mike

I apologize for the length in advance, I know I get chatty. -Mike For the first time, my wife wasn’t my companion at this show. She didn’t want to go to a mid-week event, and arranging childcare would have been difficult (we maxed out our credit with my parents with the San Antonio event on Saturday). So I dragged my best friend from high school Stephen with me. He was a brass player in HS, and has dabbled a bit ever since. I figured he was a good match for drum corps, as he liked marching band as much as I did back then. I also gave Chris Maher of corpsreps.com transport to the show, as he was in town for business. (And he had the neatest corpsreps.com shirt, too!) The stadium parking lot was half-closed due to construction, and the other half was full of a row of corps buses on one side, and a row of corps 18-wheelers on the other. So, parking was diverted about 2 miles away at a Leander middle school. I didn’t really find it to be much of a bother – in fact, it was kind of fun to watch all the adults cram onto a yellow school bus to be shuttled – but it did cause the stands to fill up late. I know a lot of other people had problems with it. We bought our tickets at the gate; they asked where I wanted and I told them “as close to the 50 as possible.” Well, the closest they had were *on* the 50, but on row 6. Row 6, in what can only be “new math” is actually row 3 of the stands. So we were *really* low, but I thought we were in a pretty good impact zone for the music. Chris took one look at are seats, said, “I can’t get pictures through the fence (there’s a fence at the front of the stands) and this is too low,” and went to find a better vantage point. Can’t blame him – it was hard to see any marching details. So, my review’s going to be a lot more music-oriented than visual. The crowd seemed to be a *lot* older than DCI’s intended demographic, and I think it had an impact on the crowd. Just in eyeball scanning, the majority of the fans in attendance seemed to be either parents of marchers or at least that age and older. I think that’s why the crowd was so unresponsive. Nobody got a standing O during their show, but everyone got one at the end. It just “felt” like a parents’ crowd. And as Stephen – the former band student – mentioned, “how many teenagers are going to spend $22 or $30 to see what’s essentially a “band” show?” Hmmm. I’ve heard that argument somewhere before in regards to the show marketing and target audiences… National Anthem was pre-recorded. Huh? There’s only 480 brass players here tonight… Troopers (8th – 69.20), Casper, WY Reflections of the Blue and the Grey The Great Locomotive Chase Gently Flows the Amber Grain Battle Music Corps has changed the grey pants to black this year and added a yellow sash. I thought it made them look pretty good – they stood out really well against the Astroturf. They enter from the left goal line in a company front, form a circle and then a starburst, all for their warmup. Really nice. I really, *really* liked The Great Locomotive Chase. Music like that is exactly what I want – and expect – to hear from the Troopers. Even from our low vantage point, I could see that they were attempting some pretty difficult drill patterns in the opening. There seemed to be tempo issues and some phasing – the DM kept trying to push them a little quicker than they seemed to want to go – but it didn’t really bother me all that much. Gently Flows the Amber Grain is a nice ballad, but it didn’t really leave me with any lasting musical memories. The percussion was kind of just parked off to the right during the song – I’d rather them have marched, even if they weren’t playing. It’s a pet peeve of mine. I thought the battery parts to Battle Music were great, but the song… well, sing “bamp… bamp bamp…. bamp” and that’s pretty much how it goes. They did add a melodic ending to the show, and I’m sure it’s a restatement of one of the melodies here, but I’ll be darned if I can remember which one right now. So overall, I really enjoyed the Troopers show this year. I thought it was a vast improvement from their “patriotic” programming while still staying in their style. It’s still a dirty show, but it really does show promise. If it gets cleaner, I think they could move up to challenge the pack at the bottom of Semis. Really. They get some really nice dark horn tones from their line, and the battery is pretty solid. They also put some visuals to their horn/drumline during the show that keep it fun to watch, even from my drill-challenged vantage point. Stephen did *not* enjoy their show very much. He blamed it on the music – he just didn’t care for the Western style of the corps. I don’t think there’s much the Troopers can do about that – they are what they are. So this one’s all in *his* head! (I mean, how can you not like the Troopers’ DM at least?!?) (Oh, and the announcer was a little shaky all night – for the Troopers he said, verbatim, “On the field, from Casper…” And just trailed off. That was it. He didn’t say, “… the Troopers!” But keep reading – it gets better…) Colts (7th – 73.15), Dubuque, IA Symphonic Visions: Ritual, Song and Dance Cantus Laetus Harrison’s Dream Blue Sapphire I only knew a few things about the Colts this year going in – they’d been struggling, they’re young, and they had a hecka-long jazz section in the middle of the show. That was about it. Stephen really liked their uniforms – he thought the red and white really made them high-contrast with the field, and for the better. They had 6 contras – same as Troopers – and even with a smaller hornline, their opening fanfare made Stephen sit up and say “oooooh.” Heh. I knew he’d be got, eventually. Musically, the show is really well done. I’m guessing their low and flatlining scores are due to the visual, because I sure didn’t hear any of it in the music! This is one of the shows that I’ll be listening to over and over on the CD’s, I think. Cantus Laetus features a great opening fanfare, and that was the highlight of the piece – the middle wasn’t as engaging. For me, Harrison’s Dream is the song that the entire program is built around. It stands out more than the other two, and they do use it as a reprise in the closer, which to me always works so well – it just ties the whole show together, no matter what other songs are in there. Speaking of the “what other songs,” the jazz section of the show (Blue Sapphire) wasn’t as long as I’d heard it was going to be – maybe a victim or rewrites – and they have a nice park and blow in there. I’m amazed that it didn’t get more people in the audience excited. Watching them, you really got the sense that they were laying it out there for you. So they’re selling the show, at least. I just hope more people are open to buying it! Musically, I consider this at least on par with their 2001 show, another one of my favorites, and – again, without seeing the visual very well – I’d be amazed if this isn’t a Semis show. Stephen said for him, the brass sound they had was wonderful – bright and open, compared to the Troopers’ much darker sound. Blue Knights (5th – 79.25), Denver, CO Primary Colors Kaval Sviri Izpoved Prologue I warned Stephen that this corps is a lot more dance-oriented than what we’ve seen so far. The guard uniforms are… interesting. White bodysuits with yellow, pink and blue pastel swaths across them. The pink is up on the right arm and chest, so they look like they’re uncovered on quick glance! Their show, while based primarily on pieces from the Bulgarian Women’s Choir, has a lot of tribal drumming in it. I thought the two choir pieces were engaging, fun, energetic, you name it. I loved them! There is *not* as much dance from the hornline in this year’s show as there was in 2002, which I actually think is a bad thing. I don’t want *every* corps to do it, but I really enjoyed seeing what they’d come up with next. Kaval Sviri – to me, anyways – sounds like a distant cousin of the Colts’ 1999 Flamma Flamma. Maybe it’s an Eastern Europe thing? The corps did a great job of marching in multiple meters, too. The soloist at the beginning of Izpoved is laying down on the field at the front of a horn cluster – that got an appreciative laugh from the audience. Once the show hits Prologue (written for the 1999 WGI line of BK, and part of their “The History of Flight” show), the tone of the production changes a little. Prologue sounds a lot like To Tame the Perilous Skies in points, and I think that might have colored my perceptions a bit. However, I think this is absolutely a finalist show, even if I’m the only person in the nation who thinks they’re not avant-garde *enough*! :) Stephen did *not* like this corps, however. He commented that, “If I’d wanted to see modern dance, I’d go to a recital, where they do it better anyways.” Ouch. I’m guessing that BK’s a hit-or-miss sort of group right now, then. Hit me, anyways – I loved both the show and this new style that they’ve developed. Magic of Orlando (6th – 78.55), Orlando, FL Silver Voices Sinfonia Voci Abram’s Pursuit Sanctus Easter Symphony Ah, the fun of small crowds. There was a little boy behind us, maybe 5 or 6, who wouldn’t shut up. At one point in Magic’s show, he piped up with, “I hate this band!” While I’m sure we all appreciate his honesty… <sigh> As a parent of a rambunctious little girl, I do sympathize with his parents. However, he did continue to provide his commentary on groups for the next two hours. The show is made up completely of pieces that have been done by corps before, so as a fan, I had a pretty fair idea of both how it was going to be arranged and where the impacts were going to be. The corps starts out in a spread formation, facing backfield, and as performers turn around they’re playing on little bells. They’re all pitched the same, so as more and more turn around, a singular ringing sound fills the stadium. It’s a neat effect, but it takes a *long* time to develop before the first hits of Sinfonia Voci. Sinfonia Voci and Abram’s Pursuit are combined into the opener in this production, and you know what? It really works. Huh. Show me. This was the first corps whose pit really grabbed my attention – their mallets are making some wonderful – and loud – sounds! The bulk of the show, and I mean that literally, is Sanctus from Bernstein’s Mass. You’d better like this piece, ‘cause you’re going to hear a *lot* of it. For me – too much. Goes on waaaay too long, and I got heartily sick of the musical motif that runs through it (da da da dit… da dit dit da) by the end. I perked up when they brought in Easter Symphony (really about the last 45 seconds of it) and a reprise of Sinfonia Voci, but then the show was over – the Mass section takes up the middle-to-end of the show. Performance-wise, this is certainly a finals-caliber corps. They’re tight, bright, and full of energy. They’ve got a wonderful smooth brass sound, and Stephen got some major jollies from the soloists. For me, though, the pacing of the show was just so stretched that it bothered me. As much as Stephen liked the brass sound, though, he did *not* like the program at all. I caught him reading the program to the show during Sanctus. Echoing in some ways his comments on BK, he said, “If I’d wanted to hear concert band pieces, I’d hear them indoors.” And this from a guy who was *in* concert band, too. I was feeling kind of bad at this point, as he didn’t care for 3 of the first 4 corps. I kept promising him that there’s more styles coming, and it’s just going to get better. For me personally, I was having a ball! 8 corps is a nice number for a show – it gives you a feeling of having seen a lot of corps without the fatigue factor that just kills you by the end of the big regionals. This was the first “local” show I’d gone to since Killeen in 1998, and I’d forgotten how much fun they are! Intermission The sun had finally started to go down, and if you’ve been to Texas, you know what a difference that makes. The weather went from godawful to pleasant in about 20 minutes. Light breeze kicked up, too. We went and got some drinks, and I must say, the Leander Band provided a rather large array of concessions to choose from, at fairly reasonable prices. I got a bottle of Gatorade and a bottle of water for $4, or about the price of one cold French fry at the Alamodome. Chris came and found us, and said that from the top of the bleachers, the noise coming from the concession area below was overpowering the quiet parts of the shows. He also mentioned how quiet the crowd was, and that this was a first for him. He told Stephen as everyone started settling back in that he was really going to like the Bluecoats up next. Bluecoats (3rd – 82.60), Canton, OH Capture and Escape Time to Take Back the Knights Prelude: Adagio for Theresa Mediterraneo Libertango Code Name: Eternity Bluecoats’ guard uniforms were really nice – red bodysuits with gold accents. Looked good next to the corps uniforms proper. I wasn’t sure what to make of this show going in – the song selection seemed a bit suspect. And I *really* wasn’t looking forward to hearing the Bluecoats play Melillo. Okay, so I was wrong – so sue me! This show is as jazzy as any other they’ve ever presented. Time to Take Back the Knights has a groove to it that our whole row found ourselves tapping or bobbing along to. The theme of the show pops up everywhere in the drill – there’s constantly a performer being surrounded by a group. In the Mediterraneo/Libertango segment, which has a lot of tango (a la 2001) to it, the guard brings out poles and starts fencing in performers. I don’t really have a lot to say about the show, because it’s just so solid and … groovy! People have said that this might be their best corps ever, and I’m inclined to agree. They just carry themselves like one of the “big boys,” and is shows throughout the performance. (And the opening drill sets, where they lean into and then away from the various soloists, is a hoot!) Stephen thought this might be his favorite corps of the night. Boston Crusaders (4th – 81.65), Boston, MA Bravo Danzas de Pasion La Oracion Fantasia del Torero Spanish Fantasy You may not recognize the names of the pieces, but believe me – you’ll recognize the source material when you hear them! This show is a “sequel” to their wildly successful 2000 production, and ends in much the same way that that show ended – with a diamond around a rope drummer playing Bolero. Once they get that out of the way, though, the rest of the material is new. Much of the drill, however, is similar to the 2000 show in that there’s a *lot* of ranks along the yard lines moving and a lot of horn players leaning this way and that. It worked just fine for me, and the audience sure got into it, but if you didn’t like the 2000 show visuals, you may not like this one either. The opener felt a little *too* chopped up in places, like they had some definite melodic lines in there that got half cut out at some point, but if you take it as a whole, it’s a fun piece to listen to. I personally preferred the opener in ’00 better, but it was the same type of arrangement. La Oracion is based on The Prayer, most famous I think by Josh Groban. I’ll say this for the current BAC writers – boy, they can pick beautiful ballads! I mean, what else can you say? Pit plays a line from “Time to Say Goodbye” during the fade out at the end. Fantasia del Torero is … Malaguena. Stop groaning – it’s not the jazz version. And well, it’s not the classical version, either. It’s a truly-original arrangement of the piece that doesn’t just give lip service to being “original.” It’s in a *fast* ¾ and just zooms right along. In the opening, the tenors all move to snare, so the big hit at the beginning of the song has 15 snares, centered on the front 50, playing some darned clean rolls and licks. Sadly for me, the tenors then go back to their own drums – I wanted more! I didn’t really hear a lot of Spanish Fantasy in the end of the show. There were a few strains here and there, and one direct part from the piece, but that was about it. The show really felt like three movements, not four. This show could be their third 5th place finish in 4 years. I really believe that. Of course, the competition is just as razor-sharp at this level, but I think their show has that top corps “feel” and presentation to it. I can’t begin to tell you how much fun it is to see all of these corps raising the bar against each other so high, so fast. The intense competition this summer is truly breeding a new level of drum corps. Stephen didn’t have a lot to say at this point, just “wow.” And might I mention that the drum major looks much better in the pure white jacket than the off-white that they used to use? Santa Clara Vanguard (2nd – 86.55), Santa Clara, CA Pathways Orawa One Man Show Anima Mundi Orawa (reprise) Okay, our erratic announcer’s batteries must have finally gone out. In all seriousness, I quote him thus: “Santa Clara’s musical selections include the following – Owawa, One Man Show, Aneema Mondy, and Owawa.” And finally, “Drum Majors… is your corpse ready?” That one even got a smile from some of the pit members. <sigh> SCV spent the day at Westwood HS in Austin, right across the street from my office. I spent all day peeking my head out, listening for drums, and about 2pm, I finally heard them. Wandered over to take a quick look, and all I can say is that they’re better than I could ever hope to be, even in my dreams. (funny, though, when they were just hacking around while setting up, the tenors kept playing the “Fight Club” beat from the Cavies 2002 show. Guess it gets stuck in *everyone’s* head!) This was the first time I’ve seen the new SCV unis outdoors, and that green – ugh. It’s just a shade too light for me. (Of course, my wife informs me that I’m fashion-challenged, so you’re instructed to take absolutely no notice whatsoever of anything I say about clothing.) The show might was well be titled “pulses” because every piece has a driving rhythm to it *somewhere.* Or it could be called “volume,” because they took it up a notch over everyone else. Troopers were about an mf, while Colts, BK and Magic were an f. Bluecoats and Boston were an ff, and SCV just killed my decibel meter. They’d play the same loud chords that every other corps did, at about the same volume, then (I noticed this at least 3 times in the show) they’d crescendo right into the cutoff. Wow. Orawa (or “Owawa”, whichever you like) begins with half the corps on the left goal line and half on the right. The left half plays 8 measures, then the right half plays – and I was listening – there was *no* break between them. Perfectly seamless. The two halves keep trading off as they march ever closer to the 50, and the drill does a great job in building the tension along with the music. The riffs they’re playing are pretty repetitive, but you’re not really listening to each note as they ratchet it up and get closer… closer… (Feels a lot like The Canyon from 1999 with that slow build, but this one takes even longer.) When they finally meet, the payoff licks are good, but I’d have made them even louder. Sort of as a notice that the drill segment is over. Eh – may be just me. And if you watch it, be sure not to overlook the mellophone runs in there that remind me almost of Star of Indiana – those guys must be tired by the end! One Man Show features about 16 horn players lined in a row behind the pit with mutes in their horns. Makes for a neat effect for that driving pulse that underlays the piece. I felt that the pit was a bit too loud for the ensemble, but Chris told me later that it sounded fine from up top – the horns were likely just playing over our heads in the low seats. Anima Mundi, while originally about the seasons, has been converted into an almost tribal type of piece. Lots of ethnic drums, lots of cymbals. And did I mention how great their cymbals were? At one point in the drum feature, they’re actually banging their faces on the cymbals. Good visual, if nothing else! And that drumline – ay, caramba. Can’t say enough good things about them. I noticed that they dropped a snare tonight, though – they had 8 in the afternoon, and 7 at the show? In the closer, the snares are playing stuff that I couldn’t even fathom, all while having a stick height that was practically vertical. … wow. The show ends with a restatement of Orawa, and actually, if you listen in One Man Show and Anima Mundi, you’ll hear strains of it. (by the pit in OMS, and the horns in AM.) And it’s really, *really* fast. I’m not a great judge of tempos, but I know it was over 180 to be sure. Without question, and I don’t give a care where they place, this is my favorite SCV show since … well, maybe Carmen. I realize, though, that this one is going to be *really* hit-or-miss with people. Stephen was just getting tired at this point. Didn’t have a lot to say. Phantom Regiment (1st – 87.35), Rockford-Loves Park, IL Harmonic Journey Sanctus Wild Nights The Lord’s Prayer Ostinato I read this morning where all of the parents of the Texas Regiment kids were at the show – I believe it! There was a pretty tangible buzz in the crowd before they started. The DM and the opening stuff (look around, get the baton, et cetera) is always great to see. Sanctus (Canon in D) is everything I hoped it would be. The horns all lean in as their segment to play comes up – that’s a neat effect. I said that to myself a lot in this show – the horns do a lot of fancy footwork, leaning, et cetera. Anyways, when they hit the impact and everyone turns around to blast us and the guard starts running with their flags – that was my goosebump moment. Their hornline is absolutely as good as advertised. High Brass this year? Why not? I can see, er… hear it. Wild Nights is a fun piece – well, at least the first half. It has a groove to it, set by the pit, that keeps the whole thing hurtling forward. And this would be a good time to mention that the drumline is so much improved that you wouldn’t expect it to be the same group. They’ve got a definite swagger to them, if not as flashy as some of the other groups. And they do a *lot* of triple sticking, I noticed (rrr-lll) The second half of Wild Nights is just sort of there. It’s a lot more chaotic-sounding than the almost cheery first half, but it doesn’t really have a melody to follow. It’s almost like listening to an extended musical battle. Which I think is what they intended. It ends on a really loud (though not as loud as SCV) chaotic chord, too, which is unlike Regiment. The Lord’s Prayer, which I’d thought of as that “other” ballad to the show, may end up being the one that everyone remembers years from now. It’s classic Regiment – from the low horns carrying the first melody to the huge push at the restatement to the drums actually playing at the end – it’s everything you want from your Phantom ballad. Ostinato is fast. Did I mention that it’s fast? How about that it has velocity? And a lot – LOT – of horn runs. They do a neat moment in it where the corps is in an oval, and they trade off runs that travel section by section around the oval – nicely designed. They’ve added some horn runs to the bottom of the Sanctus restatement as well, which is something that I’ve thought they needed to do. After that big push, they unveiled their new ending, which while cool – and involves a hop right in the middle of it – was a little bit of an anticlimax as the horns aren’t playing while they do it. All in all, though, this is by far my favorite show of the season. I haven’t seen BD or Cavies yet, so I can’t tell you about how they stack up to them, but they towered over everyone here at this show. It wasn’t a question of who’d win – as Stephen said, “If these guys don’t win, I want whatever the judges are smoking” – just by how much. It’s a classic Phantom Regiment show. It’s a classic drum corps show, period. As Phantom passed by the stands, I broke a promise to myself. As loud as I could, I yelled “way to go, Chipper” hoping Mike Miceli (of Mike’s Memoirs fame) would hear it. I mention this because, if I’m found dead with a throwing star in the shape of a chevron stuck in me, I’d like people to know why I brought it upon myself. Chris came and found us while we were waiting on the scores. He said that Boston just blew him away – he didn’t expect to like them as much as he did. He didn’t sound like he’d decided on how he felt about SCV yet. The retreat was DM’s only. I’ve put the scores and places up in the review, but I’ll mention that the only placement the crowd had a problem with was BK over Magic. That drew some boos. Otherwise, it went pretty much like everyone had wanted. I, however, didn’t see Bluecoats over BAC coming. And Chris and I both felt the scores were a little wacky – that SCV and Phantom were *way* low. But since this is the only time I’ve seen them so far, maybe this was just a low-energy night from corps and crowd. Dunno. Stephen completely flaked out on me at this point. He was too tired, and left right at the end of the scores. Bum. Missed the concert. Oh well, more sound for me. :) He did say, though, that he both enjoyed it and would be coming back with me next year. So I’ve made at least a semi-convert. For the concert, Chris and I went down on the handicapped ramp leading down to the track. So essentially, we were on the track. In front of Phantom’s hornline. About to play for us. Pinch me. They played their show again, and in the arc they hit that meter-breaking volume that SCV had. The difference was that SCV had it at the end of their power chords – Phantom had it through the whole show. I paid a lot more attention to the drumline – it’s much easier to look at them when you can make them stand still – and they really don’t bring a lot of visuals to the table. However, they do bring a lot, and I mean a *lot* of notes. Over all, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I liked every single corps, top to bottom. I liked them so much that if the Troopers sold a CD of their show, I'd buy it as quickly as I would Phantom's. I really hope that DCI does in fact bring another show to Leander. Once the construction in the parking lot is done, that will take care of what is probably the biggest issue with the show right now. Looking over my review, I’d promised that I was going to write a short one this time. Man, I just don’t keep promises well, do I? <sigh> Can’t wait to see how my San Antonio one turns out. Maybe I’ll just throw everyone for a loop and write a one pager… And remember – if you want to meet other corps fans in San Antonio, stop by the Hard Rock Café between shows – that’s the designated meeting point! As always, feel free to send me questions and comments. Thanks! Mike New

Chris Maher and I will be in Leander tomorrow night, so I'll give you that review on Friday, and I'll post my usual ... <ahem> lengthy San Antonio review on Sunday sometime. Mike

Oops - my bad. I'll change my poll to reflect that. Thanks! Mike

Got to hear a remote of the SCV line playing some licks from their show, and the thread title is all I can say. Amazing playing, and a book to die for. Let's put it this way: When you can tell what the horns are doing in the arrangement by what the tenors and basses are incorporating into their parts, it's an unbelievably well-integrated book! (And their snares always have such a soft attack to them. Soft as in non-harsh. It's a very distinctive sound...) Mike

Use whichever definition of "better" you like to choose. :) I picked a trio of the older and more distinctive beats / corps percussion licks to choose from. (Hey, it's just to get some discussion started, don't nitpick!) Mike

I've got a copy of the Maynard Ferguson piece, and the Phantom arrangement is *really* faithful to it. Well, except for being louder, tighter and overall better. :) Mike

I'm sorry, I think I misspoke. The show starts with no color, but over the 11 minutes they add it to the mix. They do have colorful flags / guard unis - they just save them and add them as the performance goes on! :) Mike

Just got back from Revolution's Family / Media Day picnic and performance. First off, let me congratulate the city of San Antonio on actually using the display screens above their freeways for pertinent information. It was nice to actually know that there was an accident ahead and how long it would take to get there... Wish Austin would actually *activate* the brand new screens all over town that have been put up over the past few years. The performance was at King's Cross High School, a tiny little school in a poorer section of San Antonio. They had a teeny little set of bleachers, but a wonderful looking track and field surface. I guess the recent rains helped. There was about 50-100 people there to watch (I'm a terrible judge of crowd numbers, BTW), and I think they should have renamed this the Family / Mike Day event, 'cause I think I was the only media there. :) (May not be true, but it felt like it!) I brought my wife and daughter (18 months old), figuring that she likes my tapes so much, she oughta get a kick out of the real thing for the first time. The schedule was running a bit behind, so we got to watch the guard warm up while we were waiting. The guard unis are black, with stripes of blue, yellow and red on the left side. I don't know a whole lot about guard, but they seemed to be pretty together to me. Corps proper is using Glassmen's old uniforms, without the logo on the chest, of course. Makes them look a lot more... dunno... professional, I guess, than the old uniforms. Makes them look bigger and older, that's for sure. While we were waiting on the corps to finish setting up, director John Rodriguez gave a speech about the program. It's titled Explorations I, and is intended to be the first part of a 3-year series. The music is from Edward Gregson's Connotations. (Listen to Sky Ryders 1993 for the only other corps to try playing it.) He did drop on the parents there that they are hoping to be Division I by 2005 or 2006, depending on how the finances work out, but they're not going to move up until *they're* sure that they're ready organizationally. Good for them. The field program this year is intended to be more of a wavey program - up down up down - rather than an "impact" program. And they're going to start with no color on the field, and work in colored flags (and reveal the guard unis) as the show goes on. Finally, they had gone through several versions of the closer since they'd returned from 1st tour (where they only had 3 of the 4 songs on the field) and the full show we were watching had only been installed for 3 days as of today. Naturally it was going to be a little rough around the edges. About this time my daughter is getting grumpy, and the people around us are getting grumpy at her. :( Feels bad to be the one with the irate kid at a function. The corps comes up and does their backfield warmup. I think it's the same Mahler 5 that Cavies used in 2000. Pretty cool. Corps is small for division II, but has a pretty big drumline. I counted 7 snares, 3 tenors, 5 basses, 7 pit. Couldn't count brass or guard - sorry. They move too much. :) In total, I think they had about 75 members. Musical program is presented in 4 pieces - opener, ballad (waltz), drum feature, closer (multi-meter and very, *very* fast). You'd better like the theme to Connotations, which is a theme and variations, by the way, or else this is going to be a long 11 minutes for you. It's in there a *lot*. Happily, I really like the original piece, so I was fine with it. :) Once the music started, my daughter not only forgot her tantrum, she started watching everything going on. Then she started conducting with the DM. I mean, the girl is 18 months old, and she's waving her arms around happily while sitting in my lap. I never regretted forgetting my camera so much in my life - she's never done anything like that before! The strength of the corps is absolutely the drumline. They get a few exposed segments throughout the show, and a *long* drum feature in the 3rd movement, and they stand out and command attention when they do get those parts. My only complaint is that they're on the move so much during those segments, that it's hard to get a read on what they're doing sometimes. Stand still and let us bask in their glory! :) Pit also shined - they added some tremendous volume to impact points throughout the show - far more than would be expected. The horns, however, need work. There are a lot of exposed segments for them in the show, and I counted at least 3 sets of measures where different ends of the line were trading off 16th note runs. Once they get this cleaned up, it's going to be an awesome effect. As best as I can tell (I'm a drummer) the horn mix sounded nice and balanced - it was just a raw sound sometimes. Again, nothing cleaning can't fix. The guard was hard to watch - we were low, and they spent a lot of the time either behind the corps or off to the wings, but they had nice ensemble work, and a *really* nice wave of rifle tosses that go down the line, around a curve, and to the end of the formation. Our vantage point - the tiny bleachers - was *really* low, so the entire drill was pretty much lost on us. All we could make out was "okay, that's supposed to be drill, all right" or "okay, that's a company front." Beyond that, the subtleties were lost. However, the marching program at this point is *really* dirty. My wife noticed a fair amount of collisions, and I saw weird intervals and more than a few get-back-on-step type hops. To be fair, though - this is a reworked and new program to them. It's not anything that's not cleanable, I think. Just a matter of time. I'm not dogging on the corps at all, and don't mean to sound like I am - I think it's a tremendously sophisticated program, far more ambitious than even last year's championship show - and it will be a monster when it's clean. It's still early - so they've got to just go out and do it. :) After the performance, and the percussion trooping the stands (woohoo!), they took a break to water themselves down before doing a standstill of the show. I went to harass Cathy Benford, their Booster Coordinator (among many hats), about souvies. They didn't have any XXL shirts :( so I couldn't get anything to wear from them for San Antonio, sadly. Also at this point, my daughter was getting hungry (and past her bedtime) so we bid farewell to Texas's only active junior corps and headed home. I'm glad we went - it reminded me of how much fun live corps are (after only having DVD and CD since last summer) and how much progress Revolution has made since the first performance I saw them at when they played on the patio of the Alamodome in 2000. (And Evan Morgan was MIA! Was going to introduce him to my family... :( ) Will they win D2 this year? Right now, probably not, though I'm also the idio... er, guy that said after San Antonio last year that "they're definately top 6 material in Division III." The show is obviously dirty right now. But I couldn't see or hear any issues that couldn't or shouldn't be corrected as they get more familiar with the entire show, and if they can clean it to the standards they had last year, then they will *certainly* make a run at the top. It does have that much potential. And that prediction I *will* stand by! Feel free to PM me with questions or comments. Mike

I'll fix that. Thanks for the review! :)

Thanks for the unique review! :) Mike

In percussion or overall?

Sorry - can't allow the requesting or posting of previously copyrighted material - that could get DCP shut down... Mike

We will move topics here as necessary, and only topics specific to this forum (eg. 1988 Finals) will be moved here. "Best of all time" discussions and whatnot will still be in the general discussions forum. Basically, just like it was before the forum redesign! :) Mike