Chesapeake Review

[leadsop97]

Got the show, checked out some lot action, saw some old friends, twas a good time.

I saw the last half of Teal's show from next to the bleachers. Couldn't get a good read on form. The main thing I noticed visually was phasing in the feet. It's still fairly early on in the season so I'm sure this will be fixed, and it will be a solid show. The corps as a whole is far better than when I saw them last year. The hornline sound was warm for the most part and definitely pleasant to listen to. Drumline = huge. Biggest drumline of the night I believe (9, 5, 6, 6). They were definitely chugging along and playing some notes which made me happy.

Went up to my seat for Boston. I was on the 35 yard line, almost as high as you could go. There were alot of things I liked and disliked about this show. I'll say that this is definitely my favorite Boston show in a long time. The hornline has some very good moments. However, some of the staging seemed awkward to me. There were times when 2 or 3 mellophones were separated from the rest of the section which made them stick out like a sore thumb. The same thing added a cool effect with the trumpets however. Visually, the show is demanding. There is a lot of running around going on. However, this caused a lot of issues. Once step size grew larger than an 8 to 5 upper body technique went completely out the window, which hurt the brass sound. There was also a bit of a collision going on between a tuba player and a mello player due to poor spacing, which I'm sure will be fixed probably tomorrow. Drumline sounded fairly good, and looked REALLY good, which is a plus.

Crossmen were on next. I went to the show not sure of what I was going to think of this show. I loved it. It's probably the best Crossmen show since 2003, in my opinion. It's very do-able for them as well, which I think is what's key for them at this time. there was some major phasing in the opener, but other then that, time was good. The hornline is better than the past couple years which I'm excited about. Feet are probably what's hurting the hornline the most at this point. Once they get comfortable with it, I think things will start moving faster for them in terms of rising in standings. The drumline was kind of distracting at times, not because of their playing so much, but because of their visual package. One of my biggest pet peeves is a drumline that can play fairly well and not look as good as they play. Spacing was a mess at times, especially in the basses.

Crown's show was unreal. They have by far my favorite brass sound in Drum Corps. It's lush, full, rich, warm, and a million other words like those. The trumpet section was great, and the hornline's overall intonation was outstanding. I didn't really have any qualms with their hornline at all. Marching is a different story. They have some problems very similar to Boston's with upper body control. There are also some different approaches to technique. Once these are ironed out, I don't see any reason for them to not climb the ladder. The end of the show musically = Also, Crown has the best Drum Major I have seen in years. Rarely do you see a drum major conducting instead of flapping their arms.

didn't watch Cadets as I was catching up with my friends from school/ECJ. Overall it was a fun night, and because of it, I have decided I have to march my age out next year.

[ruag8tr2]

Thanks for the review. Where will you march? Based on the review my guess is Crown.

D

[Medeabrass]

Nice review James. Where do you plan on marching next year?

[Dash Fieldpaint]

(long and rambling)

I'll preface this by stating that I marched in Crown's hornline 94 through 96.

I was at the show, sitting too high for my tastes (the very top row), right next to the pressbox. Since I'll be seeing all these corps at Allentown I didn't go into the stadium until just before Crown went on. I was planning on taping some of Crown's hornline warmup, but I couldn't find them. Where did they warm up?!! I decided to head over to the stadium when I remembered the video I have of them warming up in 2006: a full 45 minutes of air blown through the horns and then a chord played twice.

Crown's hornline is everything everybody says they are. GREAT sound, AMAZING sound, and the first loud hornline I've heard in a decade. Not that they're the only loud hornline out there, I just haven't had the opportunity to hear one since Cadets in the late 90s. The last two local shows were rainouts, and I had terrible seats for the standstills. I have to say, Crown's hornline is everything we wished we were in the mid 90s. I take that back, not just the hornline, the entire corps. Who we wanted to be, who I wished we could be during my most ridiculous delusions of grandeur is the Crown that is on field today.

They were LOUD, 80 horns loud. 16 tubas loud. ...but, being a product of the 90s: I remember some G hornlines being louder, more powerful, with more of a physical effect on my body. Still, those G lines didn't have anywhere near the clarity of 2008 Crown. I've come to prefer the cleaner sounds of today, even though I miss the full volume soprano burn and the raw power of a G baritone line pushing directly into my chest, both of which made my body forget to breathe until the release. I remember having headaches after watching shows in the early 90s due to hornline volume alone. Things change, and championship class G hornlines are gone from DCI forever.

So about the show, I agree with the lack of upper body control for Crown. The marching wasn't up to Cadets standards, not by far. It's still early season and they'll have a few weeks to gain that control, hopefully. In 1996 our first show wasn't until July 6, so to me, this is the beginning of the season. I remember one particular mellophone during a drum break: marching horns down, his upper body was rotating a full 30-35 degrees to the left, and the same to the right, with every step for about 12 counts or more. Just a total lack of upper body control. I know it's early season, but it's early season for Cadets too, and they had no such control problems.

I like the show, not as much as I liked 2007, but this may grow on me with more viewings. I actually liked it more the first time I watched it (online) because I wasn't expecting the changes in music. As was the case for 2007, I wasn't impressed with the drill. It just didn't have any moments that grabbed me. It works for what it is, but nothing about it stood out.

Cadets: hornline wasn't as loud as Crown and slightly less clear. (still feels slightly surreal to be writing something like that) They had mic problems tonight so I was able to concentrate on the horns and percussion. I think the show, musically, can stand on it's own without the NPR narration. If they're going to do radio they should just change it to the Crossmen stations. Those were much more listenable. I liked the show, musically and visually. I'm not sure, but I might even like it more than I liked Crown's show. I'll know after Allentown. It's a very good drum corps playing a well written exciting show.

Yeah, here it comes. I'm one of these people too. I said before, for me narration is like a drum break. I like it. Unless it sucks. Well, this narration sucks. It sucks in ways that I didn't think things could suck. It redefines suck. It makes everything else I've ever labeled as sucky in my entire life suck just a little less. It sucks more than basics block in the rain on a muddy field while stricken with tour-arrhea, a pulled groin muscle, 3rd degree sunburn, and a hole in the bottom of your left shoe so only one foot is waterlogged and squeezing water out of the sides of the shoe with every other step. In short: I don't like the narration. I don't think the show needs it. Still, I enjoyed the rest of the corps so much that I'll suffer through it and still watch the show. There's a lot of good stuff going on that's worth watching, even for the narration haters.

I looked at the recaps and I agree with the placement of Crown and Cadets, with the exception of the drum score. ...but, I'm a brass guy, so what do I know about percussion? Or at the very least, percussion at this level.

Oh yeah, they forgot to call Crossmen's score. I was half listening because I was trying to get my smartphone connected to DCP to upload the scores. (big FAIL for me) They called Teal out as the Open Class gold medalist. Then they called out Boston's score. I thought: Crossmen beat Boston!?? Then they called Crown's score and I thought: Crossmen beat Crown?!! WTF?!!

Edited July 8, 2008 by Dash Fieldpaint

[Medeabrass]

Anybody know who is Crown's Visual Caption Head this year? I thought it was Bob Medworth a couple of years ago and am not sure if he's still there. With all the talk of body carriage issues, I figured there's no way he's still there.

[danjuan2000]

Anybody know who is Crown's Visual Caption Head this year? I thought it was Bob Medworth a couple of years ago and am not sure if he's still there. With all the talk of body carriage issues, I figured there's no way he's still there.

I believe it is Andy Ebert.