Most overrated and underrated shows of 2007

[thePerfectbuzz]

Overrated - Cadets by a ridiculously long shot. Yes they were technically impressive, but show design was abysmal. I cringed for the kids for 11 1/2 straight minutes. Theme was schlocky. Narration was badly written and badly performed. Content was preachy and trite. I still can't believe their staff had the huevos to put that tripe on the field.

Underrated - Santa Clara. That show was understated, classy, simple yet sophisticated, artistically clean, and the ballad was stunningly beautiful. You have to be able to appreciate subtlety to love this show, but for those of us who can it is quite a treasure.

you didnt have to cringe for us....we really liked the show. And none of us were bothered by the narration....most members liked it and i actually grew fond of it once i got past trying not to like it. I think many people will find the same if they stopped hating it just to hate it and approach it with more of an open mind. But i do understand not everyone is going to like narration, I just dont understand some people's arguments of why

[LAMystreaux]

you didnt have to cringe for us....we really liked the show. And none of us were bothered by the narration....most members liked it and i actually grew fond of it once i got past trying not to like it. I think many people will find the same if they stopped hating it just to hate it and approach it with more of an open mind. But i do understand not everyone is going to like narration, I just dont understand some people's arguments of why

Yeah, when you start using words like "tripe" to describe a drum corps show, you start losing credibility with me.

[nineiron]

OVERRATED- Phantom, Bluecoats. These are my go get a snack break before the Big 3 come on.

UNDERRATED - Madison, Boston.

[Sopboy7]

overrated- Cavies, I actually asked, "did someone turn them down". I think they may have hit the marching threshold.

Underrated-Cadets if you can get passed the talking some epic drum corps there. Blue Coats- This was top 6 drum corps, I hate it when there are just too many good corps to let them all get what they deserve.

[ScribeToo]

Underrated: Colts, Capital Sound, Colt Cadets .. not sure if I can talk about the non D-I corps.. but I really thought these shows were designed well for the age/ability level for the corps who performed them and the corps' performance level by the end of their seasons were amazing. I chose Colts because, while I understand why they scored and placed where they did (and I'm not complaining.. I think they did a fantastic job).. this is just a corps that makes me wish corps were judged on MY emotional response.. Runner up: Pacific Crest.

Overrated: BD, BK, BAC and *gulp* PR. These are all shows I had great expectations for but they all let me down. That's not to say there wasn't anything in any of these shows that I liked.. of course there was.. but of all the shows out there this year, these just didn't completely connect for me. Runner up: Glassmen

[cat699]

the two blues!!!

overrated! devils

underrated! knights

[luvs me sum mello!]

Over rated: Crown. This show was pumped up the most by people on DCP by far. I was excited to see it, but after watching it several times I still didn't like it. Especially as a designer, this show had nothing for me.

Under rated: Cavaliers. It's so funny. Everyone talks about how The Cavaliers deliver a visual package but never a music one (which is debatable) yet this year they do a great musical show and people can't shut up about how they didn't deliver visually. *sigh*

[pags]

Under rated: Cavaliers. It's so funny. Everyone talks about how The Cavaliers deliver a visual package but never a music one (which is debatable) yet this year they do a great musical show and people can't shut up about how they didn't deliver visually. *sigh*

It's funny, because this is exactly why I have them as my "Overrated corps"..

This, of course, purely my opinion, but I feel that The Cavaliers' show suffered this year because they tried to do something that they have not asked of themselves in awhile; work with music with more of a sustained melody to it. BEFORE anyone starts trashing me, I'm not saying they weren't musical, just not melodic. In my opinion of their shows since 2000, they have gone for a more percussive, fugue-related musical feel, which complimented their visual style and allowed them to create very intricate, standard-setting visual programs.

When they went with music this year that had more of an inherent flow and rhythm to it, their visual style did not match what you heard. The music passages did not often fit into the usual "counts" The Cavaliers use to set their visual program by. It seemed, to me, that in their effort to master both the different style of music and their traditional marching program that both suffered just enough to lose impact points. They tried to adapt enough of the music to allow for their usual visual program, but then also "slowed down" their visual program in other points to allow for the music, whereas they would normally have programmed some kind of killer visual moment that the music this year didn't seem to allow for.

Overall, the show seemed to lack both a high point visually and a high point musically, and for all the buildup there was when they started the year with a 9 minute show, then added another minute, then added another minute, each time with fans saying, "Wait until they put in their REAL ending..", the show just didn't live up to the hype.

I say all this, though, because I emphasize what I said earlier that I feel this was the first time in awhile I feel they have asked this of themselves yet they still finished 3rd with it. Personally, I would have had them lower, but I don't pretend to understand the judges. Nonetheless, with all the struggles I feel they had with their program this year, to finish 3rd should be a strong indication of their success possibilities for future programs like this.

[shawn craig]

Over rated: Crown. This show was pumped up the most by people on DCP by far. I was excited to see it, but after watching it several times I still didn't like it. Especially as a designer, this show had nothing for me.

Under rated: Cavaliers. It's so funny. Everyone talks about how The Cavaliers deliver a visual package but never a music one (which is debatable) yet this year they do a great musical show and people can't shut up about how they didn't deliver visually. *sigh*

I disagree that DCP is responsible for over hyping Crown. I attended 2 shows early in the season in which Crown got THE best crowd response of the night. The audience also voted for them through the Chops phone in competitions winning on at least two occasions, one guard, one brass (not sure about other ones). So they were universially liked by most in the audience at shows I attended.

I did notice that at the end of the season their show didn't have the same affect on me it did earlier (I still enjoyed it). The novelty elements had less effect each time I watched the show.

[luvs me sum mello!]

I disagree that DCP is responsible for over hyping Crown. I attended 2 shows early in the season in which Crown got THE best crowd response of the night. The audience also voted for them through the Chops phone in competitions winning on at least two occasions, one guard, one brass (not sure about other ones). So they were universially liked by most in the audience at shows I attended.

I did notice that at the end of the season their show didn't have the same affect on me it did earlier (I still enjoyed it). The novelty elements had less effect each time I watched the show.

I'm not saying the crowd didn't love crown. I said that I, personally, got all the hype from DCP. I wasn't at all those shows, so my news on Crown came from DCP.