dbrddr Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 (edited) Great venue (Fayetteville High School), great weather, great evening overall. I sat on the 45 on the 3rd row up. Not too great visually, but man could I hear everything well. I wasn't planning on writing a review when I watched the corps, so please consider that this is better than nothing :) In order of performance: 6th place: Pioneer-Fields of Green (69.85) There were some cool moments and quite a few grooves. I'm a percussion guy, and it kind of hurt to see a tenor feature that ended in a couple of measures of double-stopped crossovers. It seemed like the pit wasn't at all challenged with their music, but they sure were performing what they had and loving every minute of it. There was some dirt, but the main impression I gleaned from tonight's performance was that I wouldn't want to be a staff member trying to make that product competitive day in and day out. It just wasn't difficult enough. I couldn't help but think that if they had another corps' uniform and book that their score would shoot up immediately. I also felt a bit sheepish when the crowd started clapping in time during the show. 5th place: Southwind-In the Loop (75.8) It didn't leave me humming anything, but they sure were loud and performed quite well tonight. There were some exposed rims on the tenor feature with the judge right in front of their faces: but crap like that happens, and I tend to be way too critical anyway. Good, clean rolls, a little right hand heavy. I wish their book was harder.. they played what they had well. There was one drill formation where the bass drums merged in a sort of lattice-like box set with the hornline, and either something went wrong or the move played tricks on my mind since I was sitting so low. I'm digging the uniforms, too! 3rd place: Colts-Equinox (80.5) Dang they were loud! I really like their uniforms, and I REALLY love the look of their red drums. I got a huge kick out of Midnight Sleighride from Lieutenant Kije by Prokofiev; I just wasn't expecting it. I do remember thinking that I wouldn't at all mind listening to this show on a Finals CD. Intermission 1st place: Cadets-This I Believe (89.65) I watched them rehearse for a while earlier, so I have a bit more to say here. They have amazing timing front-to-back with or without a metronome. During the show there were no people getting up and walking out, but there was a collective awkwardness during the Martha Graham section: "Athletes of God" got many a blank stare. The drum feature was fantastic.. I was just expecting a bit more volume towards the end of it. The narration does add effect in places: I couldn't take my eyes off the colorguard during the quads, 5's, and 6's section: wow! The trumpets articulate like madmen. I love the mellophone part during the Blue Shades hit.. unbelievable. The Cadets are technically wonderful, but their show is beatable. Rather than "here's the low brass,"here's the alto voice," "and now soprano," I think some other corps will pull off a different method of eliciting crazy GE scores. When I watched their show in Tupelo in late July in 2005, I knew with absolute certainty that it would take gold come finals. I can't say anything like that this year. There was something that disturbed me a bit during the show.. a front ensemble member rolled his/her eyes during the trumpet player's narration. If you don't like singing and floppy bunny suits, at least buy into it, you know? You chose to march there. And your notes are fantastic; just play them with a smile. 2nd place: Blue Knights-Dark Dances (83.1) I really appreciate how everyone buys into their unique style of marching. The battery wasn't exposed AT ALL for the first half or so of the show from what I could hear. The drum feature was outstanding, however. Tons of energy coming from that line, definitely towards the end of the show-the most energy of the night, even. The concert snare drum player in the pit did a great job of listening back and really added a lot stylistically to the production-thank you! I'm not sure how dark the crowd perceived this show to be.. I mean, I don't feel haunted or violated or frightened in the least. I was in a terrible position to judge anything but the music, and tonight they blew my socks off. 4th place: Madison Scouts-Unbound (76.95) This was definitely a crowd favorite. I like the opening move, especially when they're all in a line and groups of them stop sequentially-GREAT EFFECT!! I didn't notice any blatant direction change errors or the like. They sounded great to me and entertained as much as they could have, which is all the audience asked. To the one vibe player who plays during the opening segment: you were a little behind. :P Musically, they should be scoring higher than they are. That is all. All I could hear was what the people around me were saying. Most of the cognoscenti had the Cadets rightly on top, but all of the band campers and casual fans were sure the Blue Knights or Madison Scouts were going to take 1st. I mean, musically, it was VERY HARD to tell that the Cadets performed leaps and bounds better on a scoresheet than the Blue Knights. Whatever, though. Thanks to all the corps for being class acts and entertaining me tonight! Edited July 19, 2007 by dbrddr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdstar Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 Not too many percussion-centric reviews here... an enjoyable read! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dciguy01 Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 Great review, thanks so much :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guizeppe Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 Nice steady review. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marshamello Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 Thanks for taking the time to give us your review of the event. It's always good to get different veiwpoints to be able to get more and more from each show. I do have two comments: 1. I have very often been wrong when assuming the reason why an individual rolls their eyes or makes some other reaction. I would caution you from presuming what the rolling of the eyes by a front ensemble member in The Cadets was caused by unless you specifically spoke to that individual. You could have very well been correct in your assumption, but there is also the possibility that the eye rolling was the result of something else (even due to an individual error that performer him/herself just made) and simply occurred at that point in the narration. 2. I am surprised that so many would not see that The Cadets are performing leaps and bounds better than Madison or BK. Even with the love Crown has been getting and controversy The Cadets have generated, each of the three shows I've seen live have resulted in the most frequent comments being about how clearly better The Cadets were in execution even though people much preferred the design and content of Crown's show. It's especially surprising that "band campers" didn't see this difference. Oh well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wesleyrp Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 Thanks for taking the time to give us your review of the event. It's always good to get different veiwpoints to be able to get more and more from each show.I do have two comments: 1. I have very often been wrong when assuming the reason why an individual rolls their eyes or makes some other reaction. I would caution you from presuming what the rolling of the eyes by a front ensemble member in The Cadets was caused by unless you specifically spoke to that individual. You could have very well been correct in your assumption, but there is also the possibility that the eye rolling was the result of something else (even due to an individual error that performer him/herself just made) and simply occurred at that point in the narration. 2. I am surprised that so many would not see that The Cadets are performing leaps and bounds better than Madison or BK. Even with the love Crown has been getting and controversy The Cadets have generated, each of the three shows I've seen live have resulted in the most frequent comments being about how clearly better The Cadets were in execution even though people much preferred the design and content of Crown's show. It's especially surprising that "band campers" didn't see this difference. Oh well. I do have a couple of comments to your comments. :P I agree that no one should jump to conclusions about a reaction that we see. But, body language is what it is. As teachers and mentors to young musicians it is our job to ensure that performances are given without any reactions. We should try to teach our students to not react when they make mistakes so to not draw attention to themselves or make faces while in the public eye. That being said, it never can be fully stopped and we are all human and make reactions to things that get to us. I just think that maybe a member would need to be addressed about the importance of performing without drawing attention to themselves in a negative light. Secondly, why is it so hard to believe that the crowd might think that BK or Madison was better? Remember that the general population could care-o-less about DCI scoring and or the point rewarding systems. As a high school band director I think it is very important that students should not have to be told what they should like in a performance. Does that mean BK or Madison should win? No, but it means that there probably was a pretty well rounded crowd last night that liked a variety of styles of music and shows. I also contend that now- a- days the sound quality of corps are much closer to each other than they ever have been top to bottom. This again does not mean that BK or Madison's hornline was better, just that they are producing a qulity product and are well received! Just food for thought. Wes Perkins BK '97 '98 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victrussell Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 I am surprised that so many would not see that The Cadets are performing leaps and bounds better than Madison or BK. Even with the love Crown has been getting and controversy The Cadets have generated, each of the three shows I've seen live have resulted in the most frequent comments being about how clearly better The Cadets were in execution even though people much preferred the design and content of Crown's show. It's especially surprising that "band campers" didn't see this difference. Oh well. I am surprised that you are surprised. Only the usual suspects (you know who you are) think that the DCI judging system makes any sense. It is nice to hear that there are still people who attend drum corps shows who can voice an opinion regarding the quality of a show without having been poisoned by the DCI judging system. Vic Russell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiskey Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 This was a good one - thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medeabrass Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 I do have a couple of comments to your comments. :P I agree that no one should jump to conclusions about a reaction that we see. :P :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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