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Maleko13

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Posts posted by Maleko13

  1. I feel like Season pass isn't giving me everything that I want. I would think that theyy could have more coverage of larger events i.e. DATR and you should also be able to preview APD's. And what is with the next APD's coming from the Alamodome, that place is an acoustical nightmare. UGh just frustrated I guess, seems like there could be more coverage during tour, like it is made out to be.

  2. I decided to write my review as I was on my 1200 mile trek home from Denver to kill time. Nothing like living in Pullman, and Denver being the closest big show. With that said it is hot and I envy all the corps kids with their AC cooled busses.

    Blue Stars: I commend them for moving up to Div. 1 it is nice to see a new face. They had a good sound and marched fairly well, however the American theme is just old and overplayed so I did not enjoy the show much. But it was nice to see that they were big and obviously working hard.

    Cascades: My personal feelings were they have made a lot of improvement from last weekends shows and things are coming together. My overall opinion is the kids need to invest more, feet were all over the place still and there are a lot of balance issues Plus I think they could be at least 10 times louder, but it is improving and I know that given the opportunity to clean will help them out big time.

    Crossmen: I was very impressed with these kids. Their show was fun and they were playing loud. I hate people talking into microphones but it worked for their show concept. On a design note I thought the guard costumes were cool with the cross on them. I think they will have a good rest of the summer.

    Intermission: it was nice to get out of the seats for a moment, I had forgotten how crammed in they were, apparently Broncos fans are all 5’8” and 100 pounds.

    Vanguard: These guys always impress me; they are so professional when they are in the zone. They had a good show, played like Vanguard and marching is getting there, still some minor phasing. The new ending was awesome, and talking with a sop friend he says it will get even better soon.

    Cadets: I have many things I could say about this show but I will refrain from being to crass. With that said I don’t know what this show was but I do know that when the 77 Lancers Marching band opened the show their show was more drum corps than the Cadets. Absolutely, positively there should never ever be someone walking around the field with a microphone just signing, sure she can sing but it definitely doesn’t belong on the DCI field. When I saw George Hopkins across from the stadium at Brooklyn’s I contemplated asking him what it was like ruining drum corps. But I decided against it and went on my merry way. I thought last year was a stretch but I went with it, but this year takes it too far. On one note I thought the movement that the colorguard did was pretty good they had some cool stuff, and the hornline and drumline were pretty good when they played, to bad it was ruined by talking and singing through a mic.

    Caveliers: One word: WOW! What a great show, it was really making me feel the drum corps vibe. Music was great, marching was great, and the drill was really cool. They definitely earned the gold medal. I just can’t believe they are 2 points back of BD.

    Blue Knights: while not one of my favorite corps, I think they did a great job. That had some awesome energy for their home show and they rocked the crowd. They were the loudest I have heard them all summer and they looked like they were having fun. Feet were dirty but it is getting better.

    Well back to wind in the face with the windows down, we only have 550 more miles to go!

    p.s. While it seemed like a good idea before hand driving 1200 mile to Denver from Pullman, WA not the smartest or most fun thing to do, however I think the show was worth it, plus it got me out of the wheat fields for a weekend.

  3. Simply having a music degree by no means guarantees that its owner is a talented composer, teacher or technician. I have 3 degrees in music but my attempts at composition don't deserve to be heard outside of my own home, let alone on the drum corps field or in a concert hall.

    I know that, I was just stating the fact. I know I would be absolutly no help to a corps in a capacity other that logistics or cooking, anything that didn't have to do with the show.

  4. I tjust so happens that they have music degrees. Chris brown marched with BD, pretty sure he knows what going on. Other staff members including matt and n8 marched the cascades. there is experience there. Steve Menefee marched Cadets back in the day. In another discussion I mentioned the fact is right now it is the members not stepping up to the plate, the staff can only have them run around the track so many times and do so many pushups, sometime it has to click in their heads that they need to work harder. When I saw them last night I was telling them they have a ways to go, but keep digging in and giving it there best. I just don't understand the attack on the staff, these kids have a good product on their plate and need to run with it. Many of the problems are mental errors, which means people need to focus more. And in the case of people wanting to see their own stuff on the field I don't know what to tell you, is every person supposed to just write the same thing then?

  5. Generally, I'm speaking of Seattle. However, there are still writers out there who want to write their own crap and push it onto an audience....

    I know many people like BK's show, for instance... however, I DON'T. But I do love the corps "Blue Knights".

    What about Seattle? They just picked up Steve Menefee to step up as brass caption head, he has been a music educator for years, not to mention on brass staff during the rise to the top 12. The techs Chris Brown Graduated with a degree in music, Nate Savalza graduated with a degree in music education, Matt Smith is getting a degree in music education, noticing a trend here? They are also Techs, not design staff, they are in charge of cleaning up music, hel;ping out Steve and generally making the corps better, why is it bad if they are younger? It seems to me that your statements are ignorant and unfounded, not to mention ridiculous. Think you can do better than go out and help, if not then shut you mouth.

  6. I agree with many who have said the show is not written extremely well, but I ultimately found what I thought was a bigger problem. The Cascades have a staff that clearly will not give up until they acheive their goals, however I wonder if the experience is their to match the expectations they have. I mostly spent time around the hornline, and while they do some things very nicely, there is an underlying problem of not having mastered basic concepts. To contrast this, I was able to spend some time with the Oregon Crusaders hornline, who by all accounts is younger and probably less talented, yet has a VERY firm fundamental grip. I do not mean this as harsh on anyone that is giving so much time to an organization, as I respect that VERY much, however I do see this as the main contributor to holding the Cascades back competitively this year.

    I would agree, a major problem is not having a Brass Caption Head. While I either marched with or was instructed by all of the brass staff, they are all very intelligent and musically adept people, there is only so much they can do as younger staff members. When Gino was a consultant for brass that was a big help, he was able to bring out a better hornline in us and I think that something like that is necessary on top of having a caption head like say Steve Menefee.

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