OttoReyer

Got a chance this last weekend to check out the Southern California shows. (Nobody says "So-Cal" or "Nor-Cal" in real life.) Watched some rehearsals, hung with some old friends from a couple of staffs (staves?), and checked out some rehearsals and warm-ups. Spent a lot more time in the lots than in the stands. Since it's all about The Experience, I think what we really need are reviews of The Experience, not just the show. And since I got lotsa time on my hands in the summer, here it is, my Experience Review of The Weekend. Bakersfield - Yeah, right. Like I'd drive to Bakersfield. Long Beach - Try the teriyaki chicken at The Elephant Bar, but avoid the full police lockdown with hovering helicopters as you try to get there. Don't stadiums have visitor side seats, anymore? Really big rabbits hopping around at Long Beach City College. BIG rabbits. The rabbits outweighed a couple of the hornlines. And marched better. Coulda used their fur for a coat tonight. Brr. Stupid long line at the snack bar. Why not open both sides? Missed a couple corps for a Starbucks run. Wasn't there supposed to be some kind of retreat thing? And if you're going to have an encore you can't make the audience sit around for 30 minutes. Riverside - Not at RCC, so no Art's for martinis and prime rib. Cactus Cantina (in the heart of the 951) was really good. Nice margaritas. Too nice in one case. What happened to 110 degrees for this show? Had to wear a jacket. Terrible parking, construction all around the school, sprinklers on in some fields, nowhere for the hornlines to warm-up, dirt EVERYWHERE, not enough bathrooms. Yuck. Not a great show site. But visitor stands, so an OK show site. Got to hear the America/Oh, Canada retreat thing, but it sounded like only one corps was playing, and after talking to a couple friends, I know which one it was. You really couldn't find time to play the tune a couple times? A performer has responsibilities to the audience and to the art. Was that "It's a Small World"? Westlake - You've got to be kidding with this site. No back stands, and 50 feet from an intersection with lots of traffic. The whole school's built on a hill. There are NO flat spots. Anywhere. Dirt ramp to the field, no room to get around. Dirt, dirt, dirt. Parking was a mile away. Dark campus with kids trying to find their trucks. The trucks were 15 minutes from the buses. Buses parked on the street. Stupid show site. Long Beach had rabbits, Westlake had frogs. Millions of frogs. Or maybe toads. Something of the order Anura. The frogs were louder than two of the corps tonight. Did I mention this is a terrible show site? ... Oh, the corps? You want to know about the corps? OK, fine. Instead of reviewing each show, here are some thoughts about each corps. I'm a brass player, by the way. That's what I usually pay attention to. And I don't take notes or anything organized like that, so these are very general impressions. Hawthorne Gold - A young group having young group performance issues. Address the fundamental performance issues first. It's an interesting organizational concept, making it a school activity. Jester - My heart goes out to the kids. I admire your courage. I can't imagine what the staff was thinking. Janacek? Address the fundamental performance issues first. Give the members a compelling reason to return to your corps. Mystikal - Another program that is way too hard. I just don't get it. Smart, talented kids in the corps. Address the fundamental performance issues first, and give them a better chance to be successful. Impulse - A corps in search of its soul. Some cool sounding spots, but absolutely no connection to the audience, the material, or from what I can see, each other. All the resources are there, but it's just so… distant. It's not solid, and it ain't zany. What happened to zany? Vanguard Cadets - Weren't they way bigger last year? Many significant music ensemble problems. Good fundamental ideas, though, and when it cleans up it will be much better. Blue Devils B - What a good sounding corps! Very solid, exciting and fun. Great performers in the guard, lots of connection to the audience. Way cool. The Academy - A very fine corps. Really nice staff and management, got to meet a few of the kids. I disagree, though, that they're ready for Div.1. They sound really good and move with real control, but the demands of the current show are not at a Div. 1 competitive level. Not to say they won't be in the future. I like their approach to travel and money. Esperanza - Great percussion ensemble sound. Brass section not as strong, smaller than last year. Is it a travel/cost thing? Show isn’t as well constructed as last year's. The whistles are LOUD. Ick. The Academy and Esperanza are very comparable, even look alike. Mandarins - Good drum corps. Clean as snot, but with such a limited visual vocabulary it's no surprise. Brass has a very bright sound. Lots of edge and bite. One of my friends asked if they were playing on chrome horns. Not my kind of sound at all, and intonation is not real good, but they do play well together. Attacks, releases, crescendo/decrescendo. Very consistent, but sometimes mechanical. They beat PC on Sunday, but I don't see that happening again. Pacific Crest - Very good drum corps. Not clean as snot. Sort of the anti-Mandarins. Nice, controlled open sound, but having attack/release/precision problems. Got much better over the three days, but the end of the show on Sunday virtually exploded with time problems. I think one of the baritones actually exploded like those little guys in the old Lemmings game. No question it cost them 2nd place. The guard is really good, but the little silver mirror gizmos made me crave a vodka tonic. Are they supposed to be ice cubes? Was there a twist of lime that I missed? Vanguard - Great drum corps. Definitely well ahead of PC in most areas. Still having significant pulse, pitch and blend issues. Much of the enthusiastic reaction from the crowd seems forced or contrived, like they're applauding a show they expect to see, or a show they remember. The drums are odd. I suppose someone's explained why they hang the way they do. The white pants are cool, both PC and Vanguard just have beautiful look to the corps. That's it. That's how I saw the weekend. Rabbits and frogs. But no locusts, at least.

My first review, take it or leave it. First a little background: I’m a working musician, a brass player with a Masters. I love corps but never marched, as I lived overseas during those years of my life. I appreciate the visual parts of the show, but not with the same depth of knowledge as the musical show. This Monday, with the holiday, I was able to see a show for the first time in a few years. I have some different opinions than those I’ve seen elsewhere, so let’s get on with it- First, a general plea to all audience members – Turn off your cell phones. Mystikal: A young group with overly-ambitious music arrangers. The show has too many notes, especially for the upper brass, and is simply out of their reach at this time. Nice playing by the keyboards; that was the highlight of their show. Good efforts from all the kids, but the adults have bitten off a little too much. I like the all-black uniforms and helmets, and when the group is bigger it’ll provide a nice background for the guard, but right now it reduces the visual effectiveness of the group. I have to wonder about the 80’s era misspelling of the corps name. Is it reference to something? Impulse: I was told this group has a reputation for zaniness. I didn’t see any zaniness last night. The music is obviously referential to classic cartoon music, but isn’t classic cartoon music. I could never tell what I should listen to; what the primary, secondary and tertiary musical elements were, nor could I tell where the visual focus should be. Maybe it’s built for a higher stadium? The guard costumes were distracting, as I kept expecting a Max Sennett-type clown chase to start. Again, great efforts from the kids (and I really appreciated their connection with the audience as they left the field. Where was that during the show?), but the adults have let them down. The Academy: Clearly the best of this division. Striking in black and red. A very nice approach to brass and percussion playing (they were playing music I know and have played). But an extremely conservative visual program, with a lot of standing, helps their sound out a lot. If they are to move on to compete with the corps in Division 1 they will need to have a more complete and more complex visual package. Personally, I would prefer their kind of visual performance to much of what I saw tonight if it meant that more corps could sound the way they do. A very mature and professional approach to performance was evident throughout the corps. Competitively, without considering classes, I would’ve had them WAY ahead of Mandarins in music, but well behind in visual. Intermission: People around me complained about having a break, but you have to sell hot dogs if you’re the show sponsor. I hope they sold enough to make some money, as the crowd was pretty small. Pacific Crest: I was having a hot dog and catching up with some old friends, and I missed the very beginning of the show, but the fanfare from The Man Who Knew Too Much brought me right back in. (I’ve played the original/orchestral versions of much of their Bernard Hermann show.) A welcome visual contrast from all the other groups, an entirely different colour palette. The black, white, and silver of the brass and percussion and the grey of the guard costumes and drums all make perfect sense with the film noir music they were playing. A very nice approach to brass playing. A big, dark sound, but still some sizzle from the lead trumpets. Combined with the difficulty of the drill, a much more impressive performance than The Academy earlier or The Mandarins later. A variety of timbres and techniques from the percussion, including a good chunk of African drumming, and a section with muted trumpets (harmons, maybe? Not sure, it’s a timbre I couldn’t put a finger on.) All in all, a total package. They had some timing problems that seemed related to instrument placement, but the kids recovered well and I expect that’ll get cleaned up. Death Hunt is very difficult and needs more attention. A very good drumcorps. Not in Vanguard’s league, but clearly the second best corps of the night. Mandarins: I saw the Mandarins years ago when they were Division 3, and I thought they were amazing. I have to say that, at this show, despite an interesting visual package, they didn’t play well enough to compete with the Division 1 corps (or with The Academy, for the matter). I can’t understand the placements, as I would’ve had them below Esperanza. I mean, there should be a minimal level of brass performance and musical ensemble demonstrated, right? The horns stand and sing for way too long, and the pitch and tone production (both playing and singing) is very poor, so I don’t understand how they can earn credit for that. The taiko drums are so loud that they just obliterate much of what the brass and other percussion are trying to do. Everyone around me was wowed by flags that didn’t do much and the carp kite that did nothing, but I just didn’t get it. A good little corps, visually impressive to most of the crowd, but musically not close to Pacific Crest, Esperanza or The Academy (or Vanguard, obviously). I would’ve had them fourth tonight, behind Vanguard, Pacific Crest and Esperanza (and The Academy would’ve been close). Vanguard: I’ve seen some reviews and discussions about this show, and I have only one thing to say. Wow. Wow, wow, wow. No other champion-calibre corps for comparison tonight, but if this is the quality of the top few corps now, I need to find a way to see more shows. An amazing group. Esperanza: Does the host corps always go on last? I thought the performance order hurt their competitive comparison to Mandarins. Some very nice, if very safe, musical moments. Good, solid brass and percussion playing, but not a lot of creative ideas, or much variety in tempo or timbre. It all sounded like very-well-performed background music to me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very solid, complete package, with strong if simple visuals, but no chances taken. Was there a sale on copper, red, maroon and black lately? Following Vanguard made it hard to appreciate what this group was doing. A very fine corps, and I would’ve had them third tonight. In closing, I had a great time. The last time I sat and watched a corps show everyone was playing bugles in G. The change in brass instruments has really helped the quality of the brass performances. Thanks to the Esperanza people for hosting a well run show. I didn’t agree with some of the competitive results, but it was absolutely wonderful to see so many young people doing such great things.