My take from the front row at the Rose Bowl 2007

[gfpstudios]

OK, I sat in the front row on finals night. I won't mention how the DCI staff dropped the ball as far as selling tickets and getting people into the stadium...oops I guess I just mentioned it. Oh well, I may as well tell you all: I heard many say that it was the worst organizational mess they had ever seen and had they known they would not have made the trip....etc. Ask anyone who attended for more details about the looooooooooong lines which disintegrated into a chaotic mob. Because it was a drum corps event, the people were all civilized; had it been a rock concert, it would have made the national news.

Anyways, in the front row with my brother (both of us former soprano players; he retired; I still play both G and B-flat) we had a great seat to hear the sound and power of the corps. My niece was also with us: she is a trombone player. The giant monitor was working so we could also see the high camera view of each corps which helped us see the patterns, etc.

Three corps stood out that night. (I didn't get to see the corps I bought the tickets to see: The Academy, but that is another story...)

Carolina Crown was the first. Their rendition of the 1812/Lone Ranger was fabulous. The horns were clean, with good attacks and releases. The patterns they made on the field were appropriate and recognizable (horses running around a race track). The music was familiar and the whole show made sense.

Phantom Regiment was the second. The show was elegant and artful...these are the words of a man sitting next to me who made the comment spontaneously; he said this before the show started since he had been there for the prelims the night before. I agree with him totally. The Flugelhorn duet was sweet, melodic, controlled and quite beautiful. I noticed that the two trumpet players put their trumpets down and picked up the Flugelhorns just prior to playing: very impressive change over from one horn type to another and with no warmup the results were exact and precise. The giant framed pictures on the field were in contrast yet complimented the graceful field show.

The Cadets. This show was a study in unfortunate contrasts. Whoever decided to have the young girl narrate the show while the corps was performing...well whoever it was ought to be taken behind the stadium and have stuffings beat out of them. I was frustrated that the "announcer" thought we the audience were so stupid that we had to be told what was happening on the field and how much hard work may have gone into the show....and I am not making this up, if you have not heard the show this year. The show minus the interfering announcements may have been top notch but I could not tell. It was like trying to eat a ham sandwich with a fly buzzing you: it takes the enjoyment out of it....until you get rid of the fly.

I know I said three corps but there is a fourth corps that played that night: The Marine Corps. If they were competing that night their horns, drums, and music would have taken first place at least as far as the crowd is concerned. As a horn player myself, I appreciated their amazing skills.

The other corps that played that night all had hard working performers; but the shows that were thrust upon them were lackluster and forgettable. This is not any reflection on the performers but speaks directly to the management of each corps. The sting of badly designed music and field shows belongs to the managers and the DCI system.

What does all this mean as far as the actual placing is concerned: the DCI system is irrelevant to what the audience wants and likes. It may be time to throw out the current rules since they only make sense to the DCI judging staff and not to the performers or the audience.

Thanks for reading my verbose post,

Greg

[Einstein On The Beach]

k

Edited September 3, 2007 by Einstein On The Beach

[usmcontra]

Carolina Crown was the first. Their rendition of the 1812/Lone Ranger was fabulous.

Ummm, yeah...

[gdisney]

Carolina Crown was the first. Their rendition of the 1812/Lone Ranger was fabulous. The horns were clean, with good attacks and releases. The patterns they made on the field were appropriate and recognizable (horses running around a race track). The music was familiar and the whole show made sense.

I loved Crown's show - but I don't recall anything from Tchaikovsky's 1812. The "Lone Ranger" is actually Rossini's William Tell Overture.

[gfpstudios]

I loved Crown's show - but I don't recall anything from Tchaikovsky's 1812. The "Lone Ranger" is actually Rossini's William Tell Overture.

I stand corrected, thanks, but lets no lose track of the point.

Greg

[PhantomCrown]

I stand corrected, thanks, but lets no lose track of the point.

Greg

I don't see the point you're trying to make...

I guess you needed my seat for finals night. I was in the 2nd row and from where I was, 12 outstanding corps threw their blood, sweat, and tears onto a field and made for probably the most memorable night of the summer. I guess you had to be there, like, 1 row back.

Edited September 3, 2007 by PhantomCrown

[gfpstudios]

I don't see the point you're trying to make...

I guess you needed my seat for finals night. I was in the 2nd row and from where I was, 12 outstanding corps threw their blood, sweat, and tears onto a field and made for probably the most memorable night of the summer. I guess you had to be there, like, 1 row back.

I agree with you 100%. My point is that the performers are all excellent (top 8 corps only differed by 4 points) but have no control over what music they are given or any of the moves in the show. These are determined by the corps management. The management labors under the idea that they need to please the judges; not the audience. Most would agree that doing both may not be possible.

The drive to "win" interferes with the creation of a show that pleases the widest makeup of an audience. In other words, the shows were all demonstrations of top notch "performers"; it is the "performance" that I am saying is compromised for the sake of the judging.

Greg

[jpaul]

While you're certainly entitled to your opinions and preferences, I can't go along with your assertion that you, alone, can determine what appeals to "the widest makeup of an audience." I was there and my favorites were not your favorites. To each his own.

BTW: Are you saying that Crown and Phantom were not trying to win?

Edited September 3, 2007 by jpaul

[gfpstudios]

While you're certainly entitled to your opinions and preferences, I can't go along with your assertion that you, alone, can determine what appeals to "the widest makeup of an audience." I was there and my favorites were not your favorites. To each his own.

BTW: Are you saying that Crown and Phantom were not trying to win?

I never said I alone; I am only speculating without taking a survey. Of course Crown and Phantom were trying to win...and I think they did. I loved their performance. Naturally all here is only opinion, but this is America and the internet - we get to do that here. :)

[WMC85]

"The show minus the interfering announcements may have been top notch but I could not tell."

The narration topic has been thrashed out to death, however virtually all those who've discussed it (for and against) universally recognised the ability and talent of the members as "top notch". I personally was not sold on the narration either, but from where I was sat the show was still enjoyable - sorry your seats sucked.