pearlsnaredrummer77 Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 (edited) This is a very brief review-I didn’t take notes last night, so this is all from memory. Unfortuantely, it's a lot less detailed than the reviews that I write when I go to a DCA show. After a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem by two (?) vocalists, the show kicked off on time. It was a humid night and had threatened to rain all day, but luckily, the show went unmolested. First up: The Spartans The Spartans are a small corps with brass line of about 14 and similar sized guard. The Percussion section is quite a bit larger with seven snares, five basses, two tenors and about four plates. (Numbers are only estimates) Despite the small size of the corps, the Spartans were quite the dashing unit with beautiful uniforms of blue/cream. Clever use of the field-the pit was actually on the field-helped the drill show the small brass section to best advantage. The battery however was the best section with skillful playing in most of their charts. With a few more members the Spartans will be formidable competitors. Jersey Surf Wow! The Surf is very large. The hornline must field 55+ and the guard and battery are also of World Class size. They got the crowd pumped with their big size, expansive drill and flashy guard work. At times, however, the Surf’s book seemed to overwhelm them. The battery had some tastey licks that they didn’t execute as well as they could have. Nevertheless, I last saw the Surf two years ago at the Dover NJ DCA show and they have improved in all sections. In another year they could be knocking on the Crossmen’s door. The Raiders A little smaller than last year-mainly in the brass section, which seemed to number about 18. The percussion section, however, played very strongly. Their sections were nicely articulated. I felt like they may have been very close to Surf in drums, but not in the other captions. Still, the Raiders have an impressive corps and use their small numbers to great advantage with a clever drill and nicely written book. The Crossmen The Crossmen’s “Planet X” show is very entertaining. The percussion section still has that Crossmen edge-tough licks, played well. The Crossmen brass seemed a little weak compared to some of the other corps who would follow. Yet they were crowd pleasers. Boston Crusaders. BAC indeed. Judging by fan reaction, the Boston Crusaders won the show. They have powerful show with plenty of familiar musical parts. One section of the drill where the brass stop and then turns and runs the other way had the crowd in amazement. Beautiful silk work by the guard and an aggressive drumline. In a lot of ways, the Crusaders were old school drum corps and the crowd was appreciative. Carolina Crown The isolated brass sections were pretty amazing-beautifully played. Crown was well-received with a mostly classical book. The Percussion section played very cleanly for this early in the season. After the Crusaders who have a show built upon power and brute force, the Crown’s show was much more finesse. The audience seemed to prefer the Crusaders, but I can see how Crown may have beaten them from an execution standpoint. The Cadets I was marching back in 83 when the Cadets set the drum corps world on fire with their revolutionary changes. I loved that show, and it’s probably still my all-time favorite. Unfortunately, this year’s show, “...and the Pursuit of Happiness” is a hot mess. The corps played, marched and handled equipment brilliantly. But the general effect is poor because of the banal dialogue. After the opening “statement” the audience members were saying “huh?...” And it only went downhill from there. I tried to ignore the dialogue after the woman with the irritating voice got breast cancer, but it’s tough to focus on the music when that a loud voice is butting in constantly. The music is synchronized to follow the narration and the show loses any sense of intensity (ala the Boston Crusaders). The Cadets will not win the DCI championship this year-not because the talent is not there or the staff isn’t up to the task. Mainly, the show conception is not up to par. I feel sorry for the marching members, who likely would win another DCI championship if they had a better show. One last complaint. Their was no food 20 minutes before the show!!! You couldn’t get even a bag of chips. Not only is that terrible treatment of fans, but also a lost chance at making some cash. The fans deserve better-especially after you’ve paid nearly $60 in tickets!!!!! Therefore, I didn't get to see the Bridgemen because my husband was starving-he'd got off work and we hit the road to the show. He had planned to eat something at the show, but as stated above, there was nothing to eat... Edited July 7, 2008 by pearlsnaredrummer77 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudes Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 I found the recap... World Class First Places GE Visual - Cadets GE Music - Cadets Visual Performance - Cadets Ensemble Visual- Cadets Colorguard - Crown Brass - Crown Ensemble Music - Cadets Percussion - Cadets Open Class First Places GE Visual - Surf GE Music - Surf Visual Performance - Surf Ensemble Visual- Surf Colorguard - Spartans Brass - Surf Ensemble Music - Surf Percussion - Surf Looks like surf and cadets dominated... spartans and crown ruined clean sweeps... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thelaw Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 This is a very brief review-I didn’t take notes last night, so this is all from memory. Unfortuantely, it's a lot less detailed than the reviews that I write when I go to a DCA show.After a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem by two (?) vocalists, the show kicked off on time. It was a humid night and had threatened to rain all day, but luckily, the show went unmolested. First up: The Spartans The Spartans are a small corps with brass line of about 14 and similar sized guard. The Percussion section is quite a bit larger with seven snares, five basses, two tenors and about four plates. (Numbers are only estimates) Despite the small size of the corps, the Spartans were quite the dashing unit with beautiful uniforms of blue/cream. Clever use of the field-the pit was actually on the field-helped the drill show the small brass section to best advantage. The battery however was the best section with skillful playing in most of their charts. With a few more members the Spartans will be formidable competitors. Jersey Surf Wow! The Surf is very large. The hornline must field 55+ and the guard and battery are also of World Class size. They got the crowd pumped with their big size, expansive drill and flashy guard work. At times, however, the Surf’s book seemed to overwhelm them. The battery had some tastey licks that they didn’t execute as well as they could have. Nevertheless, I last saw the Surf two years ago at the Dover NJ DCA show and they have improved in all sections. In another year they could be knocking on the Crossmen’s door. The Raiders A little smaller than last year-mainly in the brass section, which seemed to number about 18. The percussion section, however, played very strongly. Their sections were nicely articulated. I felt like they may have been very close to Surf in drums, but not in the other captions. Still, the Raiders have an impressive corps and use their small numbers to great advantage with a clever drill and nicely written book. The Crossmen The Crossmen’s “Planet X” show is very entertaining. The percussion section still has that Crossmen edge-tough licks, played well. The Crossmen brass seemed a little weak compared to some of the other corps who would follow. Yet they were crowd pleasers. Boston Crusaders. BAC indeed. Judging by fan reaction, the Boston Crusaders won the show. They have powerful show with plenty of familiar musical parts. One section of the drill where the brass stop and then turns and runs the other way had the crowd in amazement. Beautiful silk work by the guard and an aggressive drumline. In a lot of ways, the Crusaders were old school drum corps and the crowd was appreciative. Carolina Crown The isolated brass sections were pretty amazing-beautifully played. Crown was well-received with a mostly classical book. The Percussion section played very cleanly for this early in the season. After the Crusaders who have a show built upon power and brute force, the Crown’s show was much more finesse. The audience seemed to prefer the Crusaders, but I can see how Crown may have beaten them from an execution standpoint. The Cadets I was marching back in 83 when the Cadets set the drum corps world on fire with their revolutionary changes. I loved that show, and it’s probably still my all-time favorite. Unfortunately, this year’s show, “...and the Pursuit of Happiness” is a hot mess. The corps played, marched and handled equipment brilliantly. But the general effect is poor because of the banal dialogue. After the opening “statement” the audience members were saying “huh?...” And it only went downhill from there. I tried to ignore the dialogue after the woman with the irritating voice got breast cancer, but it’s tough to focus on the music when that a loud voice is butting in constantly. The music is synchronized to follow the narration and the show loses any sense of intensity (ala the Boston Crusaders). The Cadets will not win the DCI championship this year-not because the talent is not there or the staff isn’t up to the task. Mainly, the show conception is not up to par. I feel sorry for the marching members, who likely would win another DCI championship if they had a better show. One last complaint. Their was no food 20 minutes before the show!!! You couldn’t get even a bag of chips. Not only is that terrible treatment of fans, but also a lost chance at making some cash. The fans deserve better-especially after you’ve paid nearly $60 in tickets!!!!! Therefore, I didn't get to see the Bridgemen because my husband was starving-he'd got off work and we hit the road to the show. He had planned to eat something at the show, but as stated above, there was nothing to eat... You shoulda looked for me. I had some extra sandwiches in my cooler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunbari1 Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 You shoulda looked for me. I had some extra sandwiches in my cooler. Brian, How did the corps do at the show? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lp1955 Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 This is a very brief review-I didn’t take notes last night, so this is all from memory. Unfortuantely, it's a lot less detailed than the reviews that I write when I go to a DCA show.After a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem by two (?) vocalists, the show kicked off on time. It was a humid night and had threatened to rain all day, but luckily, the show went unmolested. First up: The Spartans The Spartans are a small corps with brass line of about 14 and similar sized guard. The Percussion section is quite a bit larger with seven snares, five basses, two tenors and about four plates. (Numbers are only estimates) Despite the small size of the corps, the Spartans were quite the dashing unit with beautiful uniforms of blue/cream. Clever use of the field-the pit was actually on the field-helped the drill show the small brass section to best advantage. The battery however was the best section with skillful playing in most of their charts. With a few more members the Spartans will be formidable competitors. Jersey Surf Wow! The Surf is very large. The hornline must field 55+ and the guard and battery are also of World Class size. They got the crowd pumped with their big size, expansive drill and flashy guard work. At times, however, the Surf’s book seemed to overwhelm them. The battery had some tastey licks that they didn’t execute as well as they could have. Nevertheless, I last saw the Surf two years ago at the Dover NJ DCA show and they have improved in all sections. In another year they could be knocking on the Crossmen’s door. The Raiders A little smaller than last year-mainly in the brass section, which seemed to number about 18. The percussion section, however, played very strongly. Their sections were nicely articulated. I felt like they may have been very close to Surf in drums, but not in the other captions. Still, the Raiders have an impressive corps and use their small numbers to great advantage with a clever drill and nicely written book. The Crossmen The Crossmen’s “Planet X” show is very entertaining. The percussion section still has that Crossmen edge-tough licks, played well. The Crossmen brass seemed a little weak compared to some of the other corps who would follow. Yet they were crowd pleasers. Boston Crusaders. BAC indeed. Judging by fan reaction, the Boston Crusaders won the show. They have powerful show with plenty of familiar musical parts. One section of the drill where the brass stop and then turns and runs the other way had the crowd in amazement. Beautiful silk work by the guard and an aggressive drumline. In a lot of ways, the Crusaders were old school drum corps and the crowd was appreciative. Carolina Crown The isolated brass sections were pretty amazing-beautifully played. Crown was well-received with a mostly classical book. The Percussion section played very cleanly for this early in the season. After the Crusaders who have a show built upon power and brute force, the Crown’s show was much more finesse. The audience seemed to prefer the Crusaders, but I can see how Crown may have beaten them from an execution standpoint. The Cadets I was marching back in 83 when the Cadets set the drum corps world on fire with their revolutionary changes. I loved that show, and it’s probably still my all-time favorite. Unfortunately, this year’s show, “...and the Pursuit of Happiness” is a hot mess. The corps played, marched and handled equipment brilliantly. But the general effect is poor because of the banal dialogue. After the opening “statement” the audience members were saying “huh?...” And it only went downhill from there. I tried to ignore the dialogue after the woman with the irritating voice got breast cancer, but it’s tough to focus on the music when that a loud voice is butting in constantly. The music is synchronized to follow the narration and the show loses any sense of intensity (ala the Boston Crusaders). The Cadets will not win the DCI championship this year-not because the talent is not there or the staff isn’t up to the task. Mainly, the show conception is not up to par. I feel sorry for the marching members, who likely would win another DCI championship if they had a better show. One last complaint. Their was no food 20 minutes before the show!!! You couldn’t get even a bag of chips. Not only is that terrible treatment of fans, but also a lost chance at making some cash. The fans deserve better-especially after you’ve paid nearly $60 in tickets!!!!! Therefore, I didn't get to see the Bridgemen because my husband was starving-he'd got off work and we hit the road to the show. He had planned to eat something at the show, but as stated above, there was nothing to eat... Nice review I thought that from where I was sitting Crown was the crowd favorite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coathope Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 You shoulda looked for me. I had some extra sandwiches in my cooler. Really? I was feening for some sandwiches at the show... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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