Jump to content

MikeN

Consigliere
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    13,789

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    21

 Content Type 

Posts posted by MikeN

    Drum Corps Miniatures for Sale! Rare items!

    in DCP Marketplace

    Posted

    Hey, all:

    I am selling my collection of Drum Corps Miniatures on eBay. I have 20 for sale, from the Blue Devils, Cavaliers, Cadets, Phantom Regiment, Glassmen, Madison Scouts and Santa Clara Vanguard. All are in mint shape, except for one Blue Devils Mellophone (see item listing). These are not in production anymore, and won't be for the foreseeable future, so this is your best (and maybe only) chance to get your hands on these collector's pieces! Auctions end on Sunday!

    PM me with any questions.

    Thanks!

    Mike

    -----

    Each item has "DCI Drum Corps Miniature" in its listing title, or use the following exact links.

    1997 Cadets Contra http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...=896931179&rd=1

    1996 Phantom Contra http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...=896931460&rd=1

    1996 Phantom Snare http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...=896931868&rd=1

    1996 Phantom Mellophone http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...=896932106&rd=1

    1996 Phantom Soprano http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...=896931688&rd=1

    1997 Blue Devils Mellophone http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...=896932447&rd=1

    1997 Blue Devils Damaged Mellophone http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...=896935755&rd=1

    1997 Blue Devils Snare http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...=896932767&rd=1

    1997 Glassmen Baritone http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...=896933624&rd=1

    1997 Glassmen Snare http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...=896933764&rd=1

    1997 Cavaliers Snare http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...=896933114&rd=1

    1997 Cavaliers Soprano http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...=896933264&rd=1

    1997 Cavaliers Mellophone http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...=896933466&rd=1

    1999 SCV Snare http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...=896934989&rd=1

    1999 SCV Tenor http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...=896935165&rd=1

    1989 SCV Guard –Collector’s Piece- http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...=896936417&rd=1

    1997 Madison Scouts Soprano, Leaning Forward http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...=896934021&rd=1

    1997 Madison Scouts Soprano, Leaning Backward http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...=896934247&rd=1

    1997 Madison Scouts Mellophone, Leaning Backward http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...=896934500&rd=1

    1997 Madison Scouts Mellophone, Leaning Backward http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...=896934599&rd=1

    DCI Southwestern Evening Show Review

    in DCI (All) Corps Show & Event Reviews

    Posted

    Thanks, Tim - I try to include absolutely *everything*, for people who don't get to go. I want readers to be able to at least envision the atmosphere. :) Sometimes I leave stuff out, but that's 'cause I don't normally take notes while I'm there. For instance, I'd have had a lot more about the Colts in the morning and Bluecoats/Crossmen in the evening if I'd just remembered to write stuff down while viewing them! :)

    Mike

    DCI Southwestern Evening Show Review

    in DCI (All) Corps Show & Event Reviews

    Posted

    This one's only 8 pages in MS Word - shorter than the other one. -Mike

    When last we left me, I had just finished the afternoon show and did my Mike Tyson spend-money-like-it-was-water routine in the "Souvenier Marketplace." Who thinks of these names, anyways?

    After spending all of my money and rendering me as urchin-like as Pioneer’s guard, we went and dropped off the <stupid DCI policy, grumble, grumble> camera at the car, and went to eat at Fuddrucker’s. Has to be the rudest staff I’ve ever seen in a restaurant. “Bill, I *said* your order is ready! Get up here!” Great burgers, though. By the time we ate, drank and rested, it was already time to get back up and trudge in for the evening show. Like last year, DCI left everyone out until the last minute. Unlike last year, it wasn’t 110 degrees. So we were in a much better mood, which made the evening show much more pleasant than last year.

    We were in the same seats again, with new company, though. A bunch of Glassmen supporters sat around us, including the family (or at least extended family) of Kyle the Glassmen DM. They had no clue what it is he did, but they were there to support him. Good for them! There was also a lady who brought her 3 or 4 month old little girl and plugged her ears with cotton. Guess what – it didn’t help much. If I know to not bring an 8 month old, they should have known better. She was an awful cute baby, though. So happy. Then, so asleep. :) We also had a *lot* of corps members who’d been let loose for the night looking for empty seats to squat in during the shows, but they were very polite and never made a fuss when they had to move. That makes it a lot less annoying.

    Okay, we get the National Anthem – no frills trumpet arrangement – from a guy at the Bandmaster’s Association. Nicely done. It was funny, though. Nobody sang at first, then it kept getting louder and louder to the end. What, did everyone forget the words?

    And on to the show!

    First - Bluecoats (8th - 84.20) presented “Urban Dances,” the music of Concerto for Bass Trombone, Dancer in the Dark and Pedal to the Metal. I loved their tom players last year, and they’re back doing more of the same. It’s stuff that you have to see in person, ‘cause they’re usually being covered up by the hornline, but they’re almost always playing something cool. Jenna thought the guard uniforms were nicely designed. The main thing that stood out about them was the intensity and energy of the program. You could tell that we were in the “big boy” corps now. The tempos seemed a bit higher than what others had performed to that point as well. I liked the taxi flags, and … well, that whole segment, really. I didn’t see anything that just killed me on the drill front, but I was low, too. Unless it’s *really* obvious, I probably missed it. I wish I had more to say, but they’re just a solid, clean, fun corps. I thought they should have been in 7th.

    Crossmen (9th - 83.80) appeared next, performing “The Signature Series,” containing The Heat of the Day, Candle in the Window, and Strawberry Soup. I’ve heard this show a bunch, so I knew what I was getting into musically. This also makes it hard to write a lot about *what* they do, since I know it so well, so I’ll just remark on generally *how* they did it. They didn’t disappoint! Incredible drumline. Fun to watch. The silver stripe on the jacket adds a flash of brilliance to the group, but I think I liked the red better. Funny part – in the snare solo in Strawberry Soup, a snare lost his silver sash. Don’t know how, but the judge was nice enough to pick it up for him and lay it on the sideline. I don’t think he meant to draw attention to it, but he left it shiny side up, so it sat there reflecting for the rest of the show… This is one of their best corps ever, but I don’t know if they’re better than the 1997 group. They seemed a little tired tonight. Especially after the mile-a-minute Bluecoats. The fun part is, I don’t have to decide which Crossmen show is better – I can simply like both. :)

    Seattle Cascades (10th - 79.95) got to perform next, and the second time was the charm for them and me. Maybe it was the familiarity with them at that point, but the music seemed a lot more accessible. No fatigue at all, and the guard was that tiny bit sharper that made all the difference. I felt they lost the tiebreaker to Spirit, but I wouldn't say 11th for a first time Division 1 corps is bad - would you?

    Also reprising their afternoon performance was the Blue Knights (12th - 78.50). They seemed to have lost most of the energy they had in the afternoon, which was a shame. The second time, though, I was able to discover the melody and repeated motifs in the opener. Boy, did that make it more pleasant to listen to! So, in retrospect, this one is a show that requires repeated viewings to really get into. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not! If I’d gotten to judge them based on the early performance, I’d have put them in 10th over both Spirit and Seattle, but based on that night show, 12th was the right spot for them. At this point, I don’t think you’d hear them complain!

    Spirit (10th - 79.95) came out to perform again, and Jenna watched them this time. She had trouble, though, ‘cause they marched a hole in the hornline. I left out of my afternoon review that the horn movement in the opener where they’re facing left to right and back while crescendoing was a blast to both hear and watch. Nice effect. I thought they were a little looser than during the afternoon show, but I’d still have put them in undisputed 10th. The opener grew a little more on me, much like BK, but I still say it’s not a pleasant piece to hear.

    Boston Crusaders (7th - 84.55) finished up the afternoon advancement pack. This time, since I knew where the program was going, I got to concentrate a little more on the total package. Well, even with that, my opinions didn’t change. It’s a nice show. The guard uniforms are still nice, contrasting the dark uniforms.

    Intermission – during the intermission, a group of … elderly … gentlemen, some in DCI shirts, some not, had a lengthy meeting in the middle of the 50 yard line. They then took out what looked like tape strips and started to remark the hashes. I don’t know if it was tape, but if that’s adhesive paint or something, that’s too cool. The absolute best comment of the night: the kid behind us (cousin of Glassmen’s DM Kyle) said, just as the group broke up, “The gentlemen in the khaki shorts have won the toss and elect to receive.”

    The Blue Devils (3rd - 90.35) began the performance after the break. They presented, “Jazz – Music Made in America,” containing Ragtime, Fascinating Rhythm / I’ve Got Rhythm, House of the Rising Sun and Channel one Suite. Fairly early time for them, I’d say. I’ve heard … audio … of their show a bunch of times, so I was already familiar with the early season version of their music. Most of it, though, has since changed. Ragtime now has a lot more vaudeville in it, and I think it’s starting to clutter the song up. I much preferred the early season version. The guard’s uniforms are pretty bad, but they’re really the only color that stands out of the entire corps (those blue and black unis blend into the field a bit), so they were welcome in that respect. In my review last year, I blasted them for using the hats more than any particular flag, and I wasn’t pleased to see them using that gimmick again in the opener. Thankfully, they put them away after that. I still think Ragtime is a bit too legato for my taste, almost to the point of sounding mushy, but it’s still my favorite song from their show. My initial impression, as I was composing the review in my head while watching them was, “they’re so quiet!” They didn’t get as much projection as even the Crossmen or Bluecoats. I was quite disappointed. That didn’t last long.

    We got to the Rhythms medley, and the visual program started to work. The horns are split up, with each block playing one of the medleys. Okay, I can go for that. The rack of cymbals on the sideline is cool, with the drummers mixing and matching, weaving in and out to play them. At the end of that song, where they’d been playing, “Don’t Mean a Thing if it Ain’t got the Swing” they’ve changed it. To what, I couldn’t tell you. The volume meter suddenly blew through the roof, and I don’t think it’s landed yet. The drums cranked up the volume to the point where the little baby down the row startled and started crying, and you couldn’t hear her. The wall of sound – and I mean this literally – was so loud that you couldn’t tell *what* they were playing. Only that they were. I have never heard anything like that in a corps show before, and I’ve been to them for 7 years now. Simply incredible. So, forget what I said about their volume. Until that point, you got the feeling that this was a laid back performance for them. In retrospect, that was by design.

    Rising Sun worked nicely as a ballad, especially since it wasn’t that slow. The only complaint I have about that piece is the same charge I leveled against Crossmen’s Harlem Nocturne last year: it’s basically a theme and variations. That gets old. A half-dozen or so guard members with really long hair do a dance with it where they let it hang and whip it around and stuff. Was odd, but fun to watch. Also in this song, the guard got some incredibly fast flagwork going. What was even more odd was that they were the first ones in *either* show that I’d seen do stuff that fast. Channel One, as has been said often online, is too short. They do, however, hit a company front for the push at the beginning of it, and that’s a neat effect.

    Overall, I really liked BD’s drill. I thought it was much better than last year’s. Much like the Cadets in ’01, there’s not a lot tying this show together either musically or visually, so you have to just take it in pieces and not concentrate so much on the whole. Here’s how good they were tonight – even Jenna liked them. (And she’s never forgiven them for “One Hand, One Heart”!) If it was possible, I’d have had them either closer to or tied to the Cadets. The major question, I guess. Can this show win? Yes. Will they need outside help? Yes. Cadets or Cavies are going to have to peak, *and* the Devils are going to have to perform the heck out of their show.

    Glassmen (5th - 86.15) performed a show called, “Odyssey,” which contained Javelin and Millenium Symphony. I still like, and Jenna still doesn’t like, the shields on the corps uniforms. Their guard was about the only ones to keep the brown/yellow colors that were so much in vogue last year. Javelin is the overarching theme of this show – if you like it (as I do), you’ll have no problem “getting” it. If you don’t like it (as Jenna doesn’t), then you’re in for a loooong show. The timpani in the end zone was a neat touch to start things off, though it really wasn’t used after that. The snares have djembes or some such drum mounted on the snares, and I don’t think it added a whole lot to the show. But, if they’re happy, I suppose. A busy drummer is a happy drummer. There’s a lot more ethnic drumming throughout the entire show than I was expecting. As everyone and their mother has mentioned before, the Flugel soloist is back. I actually like the “ballad” piece better this year than last. Well, if you can call what’s essentially a 132 tempo a ballad. Oh, and for the people who sat behind me. GO KYLE! There, I’ve written it. :) Their DM’s were downright friendly tonight – and they were part of only a few. Lots and lots of body movement in the show. To me, it wasn’t as good as ’99 or ’01, but better than ’98 and ’00. In the race for the 5th spot, I think they currently have the advantage over Phantom Regiment.

    Now we’re in the meat of the title contenders. Jenna’s comment, “How much longer until the Cavaliers?”

    The next group to perform was the Cadets (2nd - 90.50). They performed, “An American Revival,” consisting of New York, New York, The Place Where Dreams Come True, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy and an original closer. Jenna was waiting to see them with her teeth practically bared. She just doesn’t like their shows very much. I tried very hard to go in with an open mind. I didn’t like the ‘98, ‘99 or ’01 shows, but I very much loved them in ’95 – so I was going in with the attitude that I’d like this one, too. And you know what? It’s easy to like. I hate New York, New York, I really do, but they managed to sell even me on it. For me, the main weakness is the ballad. Like the Troopers from the morning, it’s a game of “which one of these pieces doesn’t fit?” That said, though, their weak song is still better than just about everyone else’s strong one. BWBB is everything that’s been advertised, though after the Blue Devils you kept waiting for the volume to go a tiny bit higher. And that’s a small complaint. The DM turned around and tried to get people standing and clapping, but the crowd was generally sitting. I think there was *one* standing-O *during* a performance during the entire day, and I’ll be darned if I can remember who got it. One of these last five groups. Back to the Cadets – I missed there being a tenor feature – that’s what the Cadets have always done so well over the past, well, 12 years or so. The snares did a wonderful full-of-notes solo, but it just wasn’t the same. <longing sigh> The closer, well, it just was sort of there. It’s a reprise of “America” themes, but it doesn’t have a whole lot to do with the rest of the show musically. It does have velocity, though. “Typical” Cadets, in that way. I liked the Appalachian Spring melody in there – nice quote for them to use.

    Jenna noticed, as I did, that they sure aren’t marching as much time-wise as the other top corps. Stuart Rice once timed their ’95 show and found that there was less than 6 minutes of marching in the entire performance. I’d say this is around 7 minutes (just guessing), but there’s still enough “down” time to make you notice. However, quantity does not equal quality, and the Cadets’ marching this year is much improved over some of the older models of their corps. No head bobbing, etc. There’s an American flag drill set in this show, too, much like Boston, but the Cadets’ set is a waving flag, and they don’t lay down. The real strength of this corps is in the guard and the visual “story.” Jenna thought they had the best guard unit tonight, and they sold the performance so well that she still remembers what visual moments went where in the show. For her, that’s the equivalent of jumping up and down for them. :) She thought the guys in their skivvies was fun, during the enlisting bit. She also liked, as did I, the WWII posters on the bottoms of the boxes. I was indifferent, but Jenna hated the Pledge in there. Her point – if they’re going through so much trouble as to have a 48 star flag and all of the original posters, why not the “original” Pledge, if you’re going to do it? She felt it had more to do with current politics than patriotism. Didn’t spoil the show for her, but it was noticed. The major complaint she had about the guard, and I wholeheartedly agree, is this: if you’re going to set the mood for all of this, have the guys enlist (and stay on rifles for like the last 6 minutes of the show – bravo!), WHY ARE THE GIRLS (dressed as regular lady-type folks) SPINNING SABRES? It breaks the mood in jarring fashion. C’mon, Cadets – you’ve given us spinning apostrophes and those S’s in 1991; you can do better than this.

    I guess it says a lot for just how good they were that we noticed such little details to be critical about. Like I said about BD – can they win Finals with this show? Yes. Will they need the Cavies to stumble a bit? A little, though not as much as the Devils.

    Santa Clara Vanguard (4th - 89.30) came on next, presenting “Sound, Shape and Color.” Tour shirts have that stained glass snare picture that was mentioned online a while back. Musical selections were Trivandrum, Symphony No 2 (Romantic), and Symphony for Organ and Orchestra. This, like every SCV show since about ’96 or ’97, needs more than one viewing to appreciate. Again, I don’t know if that’s good or not. Since I only got the one viewing, the only comment I can make is – odd. The music doesn’t seem particularly accessible, including the ballad, which is normally a pretty straightforward piece (I’ve played it before). Nothing in here you’re going to go home humming, that’s for sure. Not the first time, anyways. Drummers never really made it to the front sideline, which was a shame, considering they were throwing down some great stuff! Guard had white elastic straps on their flagpoles in the opener which they’d pull out from the middle to make triangles. Okay, I can deal with that. The “box” thingies, though, didn’t serve much use. They’re a lot like the car parts from the Cadets ’99 show – all you can really do is just run around with them. The new uniforms are a nice design, but that bright green is … yuk. Jenna, though, thought that it was much nicer than the older ones. So, I suppose it’s a matter of personal taste. The guard uniforms were very nice – they have a diagonal silver stripe to match the ones on the corps jackets. That makes for a lot more visual cohesiveness between the two. I have to reiterate the same thing I say every year about these guys: they didn’t do much for me here, but ask me again in 6 months and I’ll probably list them among my favorites. I didn’t like the ’99 show the first time, either. :) Or the 2000 show. Or the 2001 show… (Oh, and like Spirit – major points to them for incorporating the ballad into the closer.)

    The Cavaliers (1st - 92.45) *finally* got to perform next. The all-original show is titled, “Frameworks.” I liked the Tron uniforms. Jenna didn’t. There’s 3 main sections to the show, with a lot of subsections. The opener is essentially two different pieces, the ballad is two and the closer is … you guessed it, two. Or maybe three, even. The guard marched with their frame flags for a goodly portion of the middle of the show – long enough to make you notice that they still had them. They used the color of the flags to good effect, accenting different blocks of the corps. Musically, the show is kind of bland. Good, but bland. Felt like a concert band piece on the field. In case you’re wondering, the tapping sound in the dance section seems to be the horn players tapping their valves. Really neat effect.

    Drill-wise, where do I begin? Too many moves to recite. If I had to pick one show to watch on high-cam, theirs is it. While the “Fight Club” is neat for the dancing, pay attention to the corps forming around it. You won’t believe just how *fast* they’re moving. It’s like the final move last year where they’re compressing to the corner – they look like they’re gliding at a different rate of time than the rest of the world. Like I said – too many moves to recite, so I’ll stop here.

    I know I’ve spent less time covering them than some of the others, but this is a show you have to see to believe. Me telling you how neat it is won’t do it justice. If you’re anywhere near a stadium where they’re performing, run and get tickets now! I can wait to continue until you get back…

    …

    Having seen the big 4 contenders pretty much in a row, we felt that BD and the Cadets were virtually tied. The Blue Devils’ musical book was a match of the Cadets visual story. Like I keep saying – I’m glad I didn’t have to decide. We were both pretty much agreed, though, that the what the Cadets and BD have over the Cavies for a denser musical book, the Cavies more than wax the entire marching activity in drill (nobody can touch them this year – period) and performance.

    Closing out the evening competition, Phantom Regiment (6th - 85.80) was the unlucky recipient of the “Alamodome Acoustic Victim” award. Their show had two dynamics – f and fff. Any musical subtlety was lost in the thundering echoes of the arena. And that hurt them. The musical arrangements are nice, if not the instant classics that they have created before. The ballad isn’t one of those classic “Phantom” power songs, but it works well enough. The opener’s a bit shorter than last year’s. The drum feature that wasn’t is okay, though I’d much prefer that the drums not play their stuff on the back hash mark. Their guard was the only unit that came close to matching the Blue Devils’ velocity tonight. Let’s put it this way – the two guards did such fast work it made me, a drummer, sit up and notice how different they were from everyone else.

    The closer, though, is where it’s at in this piece. Jenna captured it best when she remarked, “I find this music – disturbing.” Yep, it was dark, brooding, full of conflict – you know, the stuff that Phantom Regiment always does so well. Nobody really ever talks about it (maybe ‘cause I’m the only one that thinks so), but both their drill and individual marching are improving by leaps and bounds every year. I loved the throwback wedge (front rank kneeling) at the end of the show! For whatever reason, though, whether it was having to follow the Cavies or just being tired (like last year), the show didn’t reach out and grab you. Oh, and Dan Potter neglected to mention that they were the 1996 DCI Champion. He mentioned everyone else’s titles except theirs.

    Full retreat tonight. The corps were played on by the Cavies’ bass line. Nobody clapped during the cadence. <sigh> The crowd was surprised by both Crossmen’s and Phantom’s placements – it seems most people had them one spot higher. A few groans for the 10th place tie, but no real complaints. Jenna and I both had the Bluecoats in 7th, and the Crossmen over Boston. Cavies got the most applause, which I found a bit strange. Until a couple of years ago, they were just one of the other big corps. Now, they seem to have new fans everywhere! No matter what some people think about their “esoteric” shows of the last few years, that’s gotta say something right there. Their DM came up to conduct AmeriCanada and God Bless America, and stood right behind me! If you saw him, I was the guy in the gray shirt on the row below. :) I figure that I ought to add that there, since *nobody* stopped me in the hall, even after posting my picture and everything. <sniffle> Somebody’s horns – Jenna thinks it was the Crossmen – were off during AmeriCanada.

    Some notes about the facility. Like most pro football stadiums, the Alamodome had a couple of jumbotrons in the corners. Only problem with the one you could see from the concert side was that three of the mini-panels in it were burned out. Was just annoying. Plus, the right – hand overhead bank of lights was burnt out, so the entire right half of the field was cast darker than the other side. Pearl had a great commercial that got played on the screen – they need to make it downloadable! Honestly, so does DCI with some of the spots they ran. They showed a clip of time-lapse from the San Antonio show last year that covered the entire day in 45 seconds. Too cool! I could tell the corps just from the drill forms that flew by. DCI needs a multimedia section with all of this stuff! Too cool. And I’m sick of that Magic Music Days commercial – it’s been the same for 3 years now. Uck.

    Cavies got to do their victory concert. A couple of thousand people stuck around to watch and listen. We just stayed where we were – it was enough to see everything. They started with a drum warmup, then their 60-second one. (All Things Bright and Beautiful) They then played the first and last movements of their show (chanting, but no dancing), Stars and Stripes forever (only a few people clapped – heathens) and Over the Rainbow (with a gorgeous mello solo). It was nice to be able to hear the show in a standstill ‘cause a lot of what they do out there musically got lost in the dome tonight. See my review above. The show’s not so bland when you can hear everything. Also, a lot of the percussion visuals got lost earlier ‘cause they were running all over the place at 204 bpm. The horn book is a *lot* more intricate than it seemed on the first viewing. I can see, though, why some people complain – even if I don’t agree. Drummers are also doing a lot of flashy visuals in their show, which also impresses since they’re usually running at the same time!

    Overall, I felt that the quality of all of the shows this year was leaps and bounds ahead of 2001. I found something to enjoy in every single corps I watched, including the ones I don’t traditionally like so much. CD’s, DVD’s and videos are in my future – bank account, beware!

    Anyways, some souvies were still being sold when we were leaving after the concert, and some were packing up. I had no more money, so we just walked back to the car. Was kind of nice, if a bit humid, and we got to the parking garage without incident.

    We get in the car, and the battery light comes on. I figure, hey, if it’s the battery, I’d better keep the car running so we don’t get stranded. Oops. Turns out it came on ‘cause the fan belt quit. Makes sense – battery light=fan belt? So, 15 miles north of San Antonio, kablaam. Head gasket blew. Ouch. Took 2 hours for a tow truck to come get us. (My uncle owns a company, so he made “arrangements.”) We were just over the hill from a rest stop, so I pushed the car off into the driveway. We tried to stay away from the trucks parked there, ‘cause we didn’t, you know, want to be killed.

    Also called Jenna’s parents in Austin to come give us a ride home. They were watching Maddy for us anyways, so they brought her along when they picked us up. Seeing that little baby at the show made us miss her a lot. We’d never left her for so long before.

    Funny note - while we were waiting in the soup of the Texas night, we did see the MIA Kiwanis Kavaliers semi trucks go rumbling down the highway. Heh. Wonder where they were all day?

    Tow truck got there a little before 3. Jenna’s parents got there 5 minutes later. By the time we got home, it had been quite a long day! Stayed up long enough to put Maddy back to bed, type a quick note for dcp and then off to sleep!

    Anyways, that was my day / night in a rather large nutshell. If you have any questions / comments, feel free to PM me. Wish I’d had my camera – I’d have won the DVD’s for sure!

    Thanks for reading this stuff,

    Mike.

    p.s. Speaking of DVD’s, I did get to watch the ’90 and ’92 ones. I love the format of them, with the menus and all. I love the quality of the video and sound, the retrospective, well, heck, everything about them! I know what my Christmas presents are going to be now. Well, after a new car…

    DCI Southwestern Afternoon Show Review

    in DCI (All) Corps Show & Event Reviews

    Posted

    (Part 2 is coming tonight)

    Not for the faint of heart – this is long!

    Okay, here’s my Southwestern Championship review. I’m posting it in two parts, afternoon and evening. I’ll start at the very beginning.

    We dropped off my 8 month old baby girl with her grandmother in Austin at 10am. We arrived in San Antonio about 11:45am. Parked at the Rivercenter Mall Parking Garage (I guess a lot of people don’t know you can park there – it’s $8.50 for the day, but it’s covered, attached to the mall and about a 5 minute walk from the Alamodome). We stuck around the mall and ate bad Chinese food. At 12, we started over to the dome – got there at 12:10 or so. The Alamodome is hosting America’s Team in their training camp starting next week, and there’s a huge sign on the windows of the corner facing the highway advertising the fact.

    We get up to the dome, and there’s a handwritten (magic marker on copy paper) sign on each door that says, “No Cameras Allowed.” Furthermore, Alamodome personnel are checking every single bag of every single person and confiscating the offending cameras/video/mp3 recorders, and will give them back after the show. (They give you a claim ticket. You should have seen the stack of stuff inside!)

    I don’t want my camera confiscated, and I don’t want to go back to the car and miss the corps. Soooo, we pulled an end-around on the poor attendant. Basically, we snuck by when he was checking another bag. I didn’t want to break the rules anymore than I did so far, so the camera stayed in my wife’s bag for the rest of the afternoon show, and back in the car that night. So, no pictures. DCI is to be faulted for that. They really are. I wanted to get pics of the souvie trucks, the personnel, the corps members in the hallways, the CAVALIERS DM WHO CONDUCTED AMERICANADA IN THE SEAT BEHIND ME! I do understand their reasoning – especially for this show, which was to be recorded anyways, but I wasn’t happy. I wanted the dcp DVD’s soooo bad! :) Was gonna submit a photo essay.

    Didn’t really get time to hit the souvie booths thanks to the delay at the entry, and Jenna and I found our seats (49 yard line, row 25 of the lower deck – about 7 rows or so under the press box) just after the onfield warmup for:

    Revolution (1st place Division II - 66.15). Still moving up the ladder, the hometown corps presented their show “Celestial Mysticisms” featuring works that have been done by top 6 Division 1 corps (Montage – BK2000 and Ballet Sacra – Cadets 1993). I’m normally not a big fan of that type of programming from a Division II/III corps, much like when Lone Star played En Fuego (Madison’s drum feature in ’96) as their opener in ’97. For most fans who have seen some corps, there can’t help but be comparisons. (In retrospect, though, I have to admit that their Landscapes show last year was one of my favorites, even though it used some recycled tunes as well.) Anyways, no matter what I thought of the music choices, they did a wonderful job in playing them. The brass had a warm tone throughout, the drums – while never really getting too much into a groove – carried the corps along quite nicely, and the guard did what my wife said was a pretty good job for a Division III corps. Despite my lack of enthusiasm for what they were playing, they sold it very well. Our dcp polls have had them flirting with the 6th spot in Division III, and I think that’s accurate, if even a little low for them! After the performance, Dan Potter interviewed John Rodriguez, who said that they plan to grow, but are going to wait until the financial situation is strong enough to allow it. Bravo! Here’s hoping that we get to continue watching this corps grow and improve for many years to come.

    No national anthem or anything for the afternoon show – just straight to the corps.

    Kiwanis Kavaliers (9th - 69.40) led off. Their show, “Hall of Justice,” presents music from G-Force (I think that was it), Spider Man, Flash Gordon, some tribal thing that I couldn’t name if you paid me to, and Batman. My wife liked the guard, even though there were some ensemble problems and a few drops. She thought the total show concept was great, and that they sold it with such enthusiasm that it ought to make up for some of the dirt in the show. I agree – we both had them over Southwind. Wow – what a large drum section. The tribal dance with the drum feature was great – whole corps dancing around. The energy was palpable off of this corps, and you couldn’t help but feed off of it. After the more laid back Kavaliers of the last few years, this was a welcome change. If they can continue to bring these kinds of shows to the field, they will start moving up the ranks.

    Next to perform was Southwind (8th - 73.35). The show was entitled “Evolution,” and contained Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, March Slav, Prelude, and Esprit de Corps. To sum this one up, it was a fairly clean show, but it lacked passion. Felt technical rather than artistic. Some of that has to be blamed on the musical choices; Southwind seems to be searching for an identity. I don’t mind the classical music from the last two years, but quit sprinkling the band music into it! Ruins what flow was being built. Okay, I’ve got that off of my chest now. My wife doesn’t like the yellow uniforms, but I think they look great in the artificial light. The black drums look deeper and they yellow brighter. One advantage of a dome show – more vivid color.

    An aside – the dome plays merry havoc with corps’ musical programs. The bass can get amplified by all recognition, the upper voices can get lost in the shuffle and the drums can, without that much effort, just make your ears bleed. I really do think that a lot of the mixing problems that we heard can be blamed on the peculiar acoustics of the Alamodome. If they’d had a couple of days to practice there beforehand, I bet the sounds we heard would have been a lot different.

    Back to Southwind – Toccata and Fugue does have some spark to it, but March Slav is the highlight of the show. The guard (who were dirty, but so was just about everyone in the afternoon show) had more enthusiasm, the drumline started to click better, and the hornline picked up the energy. After that, it sort of dropped back down. I really think that Southwind is a potentially explosive corps waiting to happen, just as soon as they can figure out what they’re trying to do musically. It won’t be this year, but I bet they do figure it out eventually. Oh yeah, the drums all had little splash cymbals mounted on the sides, and that made for some neat sound effects.

    Next up was the Troopers (11th - 67.10). Casper’s finest throw down with “Red, White and Blue: the American Spirit.” The show contains Javelin, An American Elegy and Into the Storm. (As a fun game, play “Which one of these doesn’t fit?”) The first thing that both my wife and I commented on was just how *small* they were. Made me sad. They’re the Troopers, for crying out loud! People should be lining up to get in. <sigh> To the show. They did a great job of selling Javelin. They really did. And that’s pretty high praise, considering that I heard it from 3 different corps during the two events. I wasn’t familiar with An American Elegy, but they did (surprisingly!) put out a fair bit ‘o volume during it. Into the Storm was okay, but that was about all you can say about it. Again, I think it was the repertoire choice rather than performance faults. My wife did comment that they do a great job of making the male guard members look macho through their choice of attire. I agree – hard to look anything else in this corps. :) The white drums gave a bright and clean look, especially since hardly anyone uses plain white anymore. I hate to sound like an old fogey, and I’m not even old, but I wanted to see the sunburst. They finished Javelin in the form to do it, so why not just DO it? The beginning of the ballad felt incomplete when they just wandered off out of it. The best thing I can say about the Troopers, though, is this – even though they placed 11th, they didn’t *feel* like an 11th place corps. The competition was just that good. More “what everyone else did better” than “what Troopers did wrong.” Oh yeah, the visual judge got caught in a collapsing circle of 5 or 6 guard members who were revolving around a drummer. He had to actually crawl out to get away. Poor guy. Glad I’m not a judge – I don’t envy them having to run around for 24 performances. Oh yeah – the pit did this thing before the show where the guy on the left end tapped fists with the person next to them, and on down the line to the timp player on the right, who looked at the guy on auxiliary, surrounded by all of his equipment, and just waved at him like, “never mind.” It was funny!

    An emotional moment for us - Spirit (4th - 80.40) was on next. Jenna knew Jason Lowe (fmm Spirit, passed away 2001) very well. He was supposed to come down and see the Southwestern show with us last summer, but he was too sick to travel. Jenna’s a cancer survivor, so she knew firsthand what he was going through. She didn’t think she could watch Spirit, so she went to get concessions. I felt I could watch, so I stuck around to see what they were up to this summer.

    I’m glad I did – this is, no question, a finalist corps. First really meaty drum parts of the afternoon, and the hornline took the volume up a notch. The show is “Darkness Into Light” which is a nicer way of saying, “Easter Symphony, mvt 3: Symphonia Resurrectus.” Let me get the bad out of the way – the opener is an awful song. It’s performed very crisp – Finalist crisp – but it’s just discordant, rhythm driven music that I’ll be darned if I could detect a real melody in. Honestly, though, considering the subject matter, I think that’s the point. Speaking of Darkness Into Light, my opinion of them went that way after they started the ballad. Beautiful. Gorgeous. Insert word here. Major props to the cymbal player doing the Jesus pose on the right 30 (complete with another holding up a cymbal behind his head as the halo) who kept his arms out for a good two minutes. You try holding a 3-liter coke in each hand out at your sides and see what it feels like. The more I got into the ballad, the more I got convinced that the opener was meant to be so … well, ugly, of music. The closer also gets major points from me by beginning with a recap of the ballad. That’s a great way to both tie your show together and let the audience know that we’re arriving at the conclusion. The guard did take their jackets off and reveal brighter tops, but it wasn’t as much of a change in overall color as I was expecting. So to recap – bad opener, but the rest of the show more than makes up for it.

    The unenviable task of following Spirit was given to Pioneer (10th - 67.25). Read a lot about them this summer – including the online journal – so I was curious as to how this was going to go. And before I start – Jenna hates the musical. The musical in question is “Oliver.” Pioneer played Where is Love?, Be Back Soon, Consider Yourself, Oliver, As Long as he Needs Me, and Who Will Buy. (I’m reading from the official summer program here – a bargain at $10, I might add – and I think a couple of those pieces didn’t end up in the show I saw.) From where we were sitting, the picnic tables were a success. They did a great job of focusing your attention on their little piece of real estate in front of the hashes and between the 30’s. From a high-angle, though, I don’t know if it’d have been received so well. But that’s what I saw, so I say it worked! Despite the small corps, Pioneer’s greatest asset has to be their enthusiasm. Their energy level sells the show. The guard – again, like everyone in the afternoon – seemed to be a bit off, but not enough to make you go, “Ugh.” 3 pit or cymbal members joined the tom line in the opener and closer with what looked like tri-toms with a 6” quint added to them. What’s up with that? I also thought that the guard had non-matching uniforms, but they all had the same thing on down here. Was that a recent addition? As much as I normally don’t like individual variation, dressing them as dirty urchins would have worked better! I’m sure there’s more details that I’m not remembering, but it was a nice, solid performance. I’d have had them closer to Southwind. The aforementioned visual judge got smacked again. Heh.

    Blue Knights (3rd - 81.35) took the field next, with a show entitled, “Fear and Trembling.” The music is from two piano concertos, by Shostakovich and Barber. I saw this show twice, so I’ll limit my initial impressions to what I was thinking at the time. Dark, dark, dark. Corps and guard are dark. Pit’s scattered across the front 3rd of the field. Then they started playing. Holy cow, was everyone online up to now wrong! The dcp polls and various score comparisons have had them sitting about 15th all summer. Not after this performance. Whether it was the changes they made or just being “on”, they blasted the roof right off of the dome! The unquestioned highlight of their performance – the entire visual package. Not the drill, but the visual. There’s always *something* going on in this show. Simply amazing guard work and horn dancing. Musically, I feel about them much like I did about Spirit – terrible arrangement / choice of opener, but boy does it get better after that. The keyboards getting moved around are actually pretty unobtrusive, and the corps and guard moving in and out of them makes for some great effects. First thing my wife said to me, “Do you see that tall guard guy!” Heh. Yeah – we’ve already talked about him in threads online. The guard uniforms actually work – after a while, you forget that they’re almost completely sheer. They also did an interesting feat, which was use those rather revealing outfits and not make the guard try to act “sexy.” See my comments on Cascades below. Most of us in our little section thought that they’d won the afternoon show hands down. Even over Boston. If they can continue to keep this energy level up, they will be a finalist. Wow. I’m still glad I’m not a judge, and has to decide which of these wonderful performances is not going to advance. (Plus the aforementioned heart attack that I’d have had on the field from running around so much.) And believe me when I say that – ‘cause I’ve now seen them all back-to-back. This is such an “up” year for DCI. Wow. Dan Potter interviewed “Tiny” the contra player (290 lbs and plays football) after the show. Heh. Nice guy.

    Next up were the Seattle Cascades (2nd - 82.85). Their show, entitled “City Riffs,” contains Profination, Simple Song, Prelude, Fugue and Riffs and Make Our Garden Grow. I’d heard many times online about how they were both the stunner this year and using recycled Cadets music. Well, yes and no to both. They were good, no question, and had the first really big drill moves of the afternoon (their spinning triangle block at the end of the opener – wow!), but they didn’t quite grab me the way I thought that they would. Nicest guard outfits – everyone in business attire – so far. Until they took the tops off and started the whole, “look at me, I’m sexy” thing. Didn’t really work. If we’re doing a show about city life, well, people don’t normally act like that. Anyways, just didn’t grab me. I liked the baldrics from last year’s uniforms better, I think. The green was a nice splash of color. Now don’t get me wrong – I did like the show. I just didn’t think that they were quite as good as the judges did. But, I’m glad they’re doing so well, and hope they keep it up. Percussion seemed to be more of a strength than the brass, which is more of a compliment to the drums than a criticism of the brass, ‘cause they were on fire! Jenna and I both did have them advancing, but in 3rd. Good, solid program, but on this day it was BK’s world and everyone else was renting space. (I can’t believe that I just wrote that…)

    Was starting to get hungry about this point. An intermission would have been nice, ‘cause I’m not going to miss anyone if I can help it. Jenna commented that the guard uniforms are much improved this year as well as general flag design. There also seems to be a trend of a lot of corps using a flag on each hand with short poles. Anyways, back to the performances.

    Up next were the Boston Crusaders (1st - 84.90), presenting “You are my Star.” The program contains Appalachian Spring, You are my Star, some Artie Shaw piece, and more Appalachian Spring. Nice new uniforms – very clean looking, beautiful guard uniforms and nice distinctive new drums. Hope they keep ‘em. For the Appalachian Spring opener, what can you say about a piece that’s been played so many times by so many corps? The oft-discussed quote banners work a lot better than I thought they would. It was a good design choice by the visual team – they made you look at the section of field that they wanted to highlight. You are my Star was a very pretty piece, even if they sang a good portion of it. Jenna thinks they must have a choir teacher on staff, (she’s a singer) ‘cause they sang with good tone and intonation. More quotes – nicely done. One of them, however, did break off of it’s roller. They fixed it for the late show – glad to see. Those things must be expensive! The battery unrolls pictures of 20th century America during the ballad – Jackie Robinson, Martin Luther King, Marilyn Monroe, et cetera. We both agreed, though, that we’d have left the last two pics off, which were a fireman from 9/11 and JFK Jr. saluting at the funeral procession. Didn’t really fit. Especially when you go into a big band piece less than a minute later. The big band number (whatever it’s name was – what, is it classified?) was great! Hornline did a lot of dancing in place – was both funny and fun. Some of the battery played on a rack of trap set equipment. Only complaint – and it’s minor – if you’re going to do that, don’t leave guys out. Who ever heard of a big band jazz number from a corps where 5 snares had to park on the sideline and not play? (Forgive my earlier comment about the jazz piece’s name – here it is in the program. Concerto for Clarinet.) The closer from Appalachian Spring is presented in two parts, Shaker Dance and … well, whatever you want to call the quiet, reflective part that people always tag on the end of it. Nice move at the end when they lay down and form an American flag. We were so low, it took about 10 seconds to register what they were doing.

    Three more to go, then I could shop and eat! Carolina Crown (6th - 79.45) was up, presenting “Greek Mythology: Stories of Gods and Heroes.” Music as Medea, Javelin (take no. Two – see Troopers), One Day I’ll Fly Away and an original piece based sort of on Medea. I asked my wife, who doesn’t read anything about corps online, what she thought of the male guard members’ outfits. “I think that’s appropriate – it *is* a Greek show,” was the response. ‘Nuff said. Neat column props on the field. I was skeptical about this production, ‘cause nobody’s really tried to get too close to Medea since 1993. I wouldn’t, either. But, Crown does a great job of presenting the music (mostly *different* parts of the ballet) without evoking comparison. If you’ve never heard the source music, you’re not going to know that they and Star of Indiana shared music from it. Neat lightning bolt props. Like I keep saying, dirty guard, but right in line with everyone else so far. Javelin seemed a bit truer to the original than the other two versions I heard. The whole Eros thing was cleverly done. And they used bows to shoot sabers to other guard members! Fun. The Moulin Rouge ballad, to me, is the highlight of the show. Beautiful brass sounds. The soloist got overpowered by the hornline, but I think that was a casualty of dome acoustics. Well, and the battery just clobbered everyone in the volume contest, which was a bit annoying, but again – dome acoustics. I’m certain that it blends better outside. I missed them last year (wife was pregnant, so we had to leave the show early), so I hadn’t seen the black pants in person yet. They looked good. Jackets are starting to look a little dated, though. Overall, I thought that they were good, and I’ll like watching them on the videos, but as it stands right now they’re not a Finalist corps. This year, the competition is just too good. Now that I’ve said that, they’ll go on a tear and storm right up. :)

    We’re starting to get a bit fatigued. The Alamodome seats are made for people from a planet with more gravity than Earth’s, and are thus smaller than Earthlings. That’s the only explanation I can think of. This year, we did have a bunch of staff members up behind us and around us, but they were much more well behaved than last year.

    Okay, next was the corps my wife was dying to see, the Madison Scouts (5th - 80.25). After everything I’ve read about them, I was scared to see them. The show is called, “Conquest!” and contains Captain from Castille, Asturias, an original drum feature and Conquistador/Save El Dorado. Okay, let’s get into it. First off, the guard armor looked fine. Those and the big drums seemed a little excessive for a warmup that wasn’t going to be scored, but if that’s what they want to do, fine by me. They did the company front, but not the fleur-de-lis. Well, until they sprung a surprise one in the first 10 seconds of the show. I spent most of the show not watching my beloved drumlines, but the guard, to see what was the problem. All I can say is, I didn’t see anything glaring. A lot of little stuff, but no major breakdowns. (Well, one major breakdown – in the ballad, the guard guy on the right end was one count off of everyone else for something like 12 measures.) And honestly, their guard wasn’t any worse than everyone else’s in this early show. The corps’ marching technique seemed passable – I didn’t see any major phasing in the feet. The only *major* problems that I could tell is that there aren’t as many big drill moves as there are in their other shows, and that the music’s a bit blah. Not as exciting as what they’ve done before. The timp / tom feature was amazing, but they didn’t do a good job of highlighting it for you – you had to know where to look. The capiera fight was cool, but short. Made me wonder what the Cavies’ “Fight Club” was going to look like later. And the X-Guard was underutilized, big time. One latin-rhythm feature/background rhythm in the entire show, at least that I saw. Anyways, overall they were solid, if not as exciting as in years past. They still do throw down that energy and get a good vibe going. Jenna and I had them in a virtual tie with Spirit for 4th.

    The last corps in the afternoon show were the Colts (7th – 79.25). Their show, entitled “Revelations,” contained Dawn, Concertino for 4 Percussion, Be Thou My Vision and New Century Dawn. Guard unis were nice colors, but the flared parts attached to the hips made everyone look wider than they really are. And that’s weird next to corps uniforms that make everyone look taller. I was humming along with Concertino for a good minute before it occurred to me that Crown did it last year. I don’t have a whole lot to say about this show, really. It’s nice, but it doesn’t grab you quite like last year’s did. The brass, guard and drums weren’t spectacular, but they weren’t bad, either. They were just … nice.

    The retreat took forever, and was DM only. I liked that the Madison DM escorted Southwind’s DM (Marjorie Bielat) arm-in-arm, and that he also went to attention when she presented her salute. Very classy. Were Jenna and I picking, we’d have had the top 4 as the Blue Knights, Boston Crusaders, Seattle Cascades and a coin toss b/w Spirit and Madison. I don’t know what they put in the water in Denver, but they must have brought some of it with them to Texas. You thought Seattle beating Madison was stunning, we were all astounded after seeing the Blue Knights’ performance. This was one of those that I’m going to remember for a long, long time. Magnificent.

    SCV did the clinic, but we saw the Cadets in 2000, and unless you’re on the field, you might as well go watch an electric meter or paint dry. So……Yay! Shop, shop, shop. Eat, eat, eat. Finally got to hit the souvie booths. Kiwanis was MIA. Never did hear what happened to them. BK had bins of stuff just sitting out, and you could look for yourself – never seen that before. They also had a *lot* of stuff. Crown had a lot of generic drum corps stuff, but not a lot that was “theirs.” Boston had a neat baby t with the Lion Rampant, but they didn’t have an 18 month size. Spirit did, though, have a baby shirt that says, “Baby Blue” on it. I got it for Madeleine . She’s wearing it today – I’m going to take a pic and send it to Spirit. Heh. Spirit also had a shirt that said, “Spirit – No Amplification Required.” Too funny! Good for them. Also got Maddy a “Phuture Phantom” T. Has a cartoon chevron with a smile on it. Too cute. The Phantom Bobblehead is just plain… odd. Cool, but odd. SCV’s hockey jersey is to die for if you have that much money.

    Speaking of, I saw three different corps that had the staff members wearing hockey jerseys with their year numbers and names on the back. Unusual trend, but I thought it was too cool!

    The Cadets and Crossmen didn’t have much merchandise out, and what they did have was fairly standard. Colts were tucked in behind the Cavies, and had only a few items. The DCI booth had … dum, dum, duuuuum. DVD’s. Bought ’90 and ’92. Watched them already, too. Lady at the booth told the guy next to me that the 2002 DVD’s were expected by Xmas, and the vids in November. So if DCI says Xmas, plan on spending your tax refund on them, ‘cause it’ll be about that time. :) Instead, I got a “Property of Cavaliers” shirt. Madison had nice shirts if you like colorful ones. I did see the poster, Andrew, and it was okay, but I was hoping for one with photos on it. Cavies had a huge selection of stuff, and it was kind of surprising to see that they were the busiest. As I noticed later as well, you can say what you like about their shows the last few years, but the average fan on the street loves them! However, all I wanted was a 2001 championship shirt in XXL, and was told that they were all gone. I got my 2000 one at the ’01 San Antonio show, so I was bummed. If any Cavies are reading and have an XXL one they want to get rid of, I’ll take it! :) Revolution got the prime spot up by the front doors, but was out of last year’s tour shirts in XXL. Wish I’d bought one then. They were nice. Blue Devils had a rather small sampling of merchandise out, considering their incredibly diverse lineup. Didn’t buy a drum shirt from them this year (first time since ’96 or ’97). I just didn’t like the pattern. Glassmen have a series of shirts that say, “Boring,” “Boring our way into your hearts” and “BorinBb – we took the G out of Boring.” Heh. Way to take the offensive in that little argument. They also had a surprisingly varied lineup of merchandise, and very high quality at that. The bowling shirts are great! I bought a Bluecoats drummer shirt as well – it has what looks like a watercolor photo of one of their drummers on the front. Very classy.

    END OF PART ONE

    (Coming in Part 2: Dinner, the evening show, the victory concert and getting stranded on the highway at 1 am. - Mike)

    Quick San Antonio Review

    in DCI (All) Corps Show & Event Reviews

    Posted

    It's 3:10 am.

    Initial (quick) impressions - that's all I'm going to do for now. My car broke down on the side of the road on the way home, so I've been outside in the hot and humid for 2 hours waiting on a tow truck. (However, it's my family's business, so it's free, at least.)

    Better than expected: Cavies' otherworldly visual program. Blue Devils - such volume! Blue Knights - everyone online has been wrong about them! Boston's use of the "quotes". Madison's entire show, and especially the visual component. Troopers and Pioneer's whole shows. Kiwanis's musical book. Bluecoats' toe-tapping rhythms. Sprit's show minus the opener. Crown's entire program. Overall quality of souvies this year. DCI's DVD's! Bluecoats' t-shirts. Fuddrucker's on the river. A-Dome air conditioning.

    About what I expected: Cavies' all-too-worldly musical program. Cadets' entire show. Glassmen's show. Cavies' almost 2 point spread on the pack of followers. Crossmen's show. DCI's discontinuation of the prize patrol. Judges indeed screwing Madison in the early show.

    Not as good as I expected: DCI's asinine policy that nobody can even take a camera into the dome - and security checking every single friggin' bag. Colts - lackluster program. SCV - see Colts. Southwind - March Slav rocked, but not much else. Spirit's opener. Phantom Regiment's entire show. Blue Devils merchandise. A $3.75 hot dog at the dome. Broken lights in the A-dome, casting half of the field darker.

    Anyways, I'll fill in the details tomorrow, or Monday - whenever I get enough sleep.

    Thanks,

    Mike

    Dallas Review

    in DCI (All) Corps Show & Event Reviews

    Posted

    Thanks for the review!

    Bluecoats are officially partly from Cedar Park, Texas, which is (no matter what they think) a suburb of Northwest Austin. I work not 5 minutes from the HS. Their paring was a novel experiment at the time (what, 3 years now? 4?) and seems to be working out quite well.

    Mike

    16 years of DCI books / programs for sale!

    in DCP Marketplace

    Posted

    If you've ever wanted to fill out your DCI programs collection, or wanted to start one, here's a deal for you!

    I'm selling the 1986 program, 1988 - 2001 programs, Brass Theater 1 and 2 programs, and the rare and elusive 1996 DCI Year in Review photo book, all for $9.99 each on eBay! These are short, 3 day auctions, so get your bids in quickly! (and yes, I do combine shipping for multiple auction wins. :) )

    E-mail me with any questions. Thanks a bunch!

    Mike New

    mjnew@alumni.utexas.net

    1996 Year in Review http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...&item=893599345

    Brass Theater Programs http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...&item=893599848

    2001 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...&item=893601671

    2000 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...&item=893603363

    1999 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...&item=893603140

    1998 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...&item=893603022

    1997 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...&item=893602892

    1996 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...&item=893602773

    1994 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...&item=893602564

    1993 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...&item=893602149

    1992 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...&item=893601996

    1991 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...&item=893601806

    1990 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...&item=893600167

    1989 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...&item=893600374

    1988 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...&item=893600551

    1986 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...&item=893601499

    DCI Programs 87, 89-01, 1996 yr/revw and others.

    in DCP Marketplace

    Posted

    Hey,

    As a favor to my dcp friends, I'm offering the following DCI programs for sale *before* I list them on eBay or mention this on that "other" forum. PM me if you're interested. The unsold ones will be listed on eBay midday Saturday.

    1987 DCI Program

    1989 DCI Program

    1990 DCI Program and DCI East Program (sold as set)

    1991 DCI Program

    1992 DCI Program

    1993 DCI Program

    1994 DCI Program

    1996 DCI Program

    1996 DCI Year in Review - VERY RARE - don't think this has been listed, even as a garage sale, in quite some time.

    1997 DCI Program

    1998 DCI Program

    1999 DCI Program

    2000 DCI Program

    2001 DCI Program

    1994 and 1995 Brass Theater Programs (BT 1 and 2) (sold as set)

    All programs show wear and tear commensurate with their age, some do have writing in them (in the "fill in the blanks" sections). Pictures are available upon request.

    Price is $20 for the 1996 year in review, and $15 or best offer for the other years. Would like to ship Priority Mail, so $5 shipping charge applies. Multiple programs can combine shipping, of course. :)

    Would prefer electronic payments (Paypal and Billpoint), but will take a check / mo in a pinch.

    Anyways, if you're looking for that one program to fill out your collection, or if you're just looking to start a collection, let me know! DCI doesn't sell *any* of these anymore (including the 2001's, as last I've heard), so this is one of the few chances you'll have to find a bunch of these in one place.

    Thanks,

    Mike New

×
×
  • Create New...