Dallas, Tx

[JayM]

I don't feel like writing an entire review, so I will just post some random thoughts here. I was 30 rows up (just a few down from the top) on the side 1 45-yard line. I didn't see Frontier or the Mandarins, and I got stuck in the very front for Pioneer's performance. My background: baritone from 03-05 in a Div 1 corps. Also, I'm not really trying to write a cohesive review; I'm just putting some random thoughts down on paper. That said:

Pioneer: This performance was probably the most entertaining I've seen from them ever. Maybe it was just because I knew the music (First Suite and Horkstow Grange), but I definitely was not bored. Because I was so close, I was able to get a good look at the kids marching. They seemed to be having a good time out there, and they seem to like their show. If I'm being critical: individual marching technique is a mess, as is visual ensemble, and it's pretty easy to see why they're scoring where they are. I don't know much about color guard, but it was cool to see that they let the girls let their hair down, given how relatively uncommon that is. The drumline was probably loud than the hornline most of the time, and it looks like they attempted a split roll in their snareline at one point, which was a fairly ugly moment (even BD has had trouble with it in the past).

Crossmen: I like the black/white on the uniforms better than the black/red of the past few years. They might need to add a few more accents here and there, though. I was very surprised by the control the hornline displayed. It seemed like the crowd was very happy to see that the Crossmen are doing well. Though I marched with a corps from another state, the idea of having a top world class corps in Texas to call our own is pretty cool. IMO they are a lock for finals, and I predict they will only get better in the years to come. I think they performed well enough to get some kids in the crowd excited about marching with a corps that is relatively close to home (Dallas to SA is 5-6 hour drive ). I think they had the best guard uniforms of the night, and the show is pretty entertaining all the way to the end. Individual marching technique might be their downfall, IMO. They march pretty well most of the time, but technique goes out the window sometimes during the more difficult moves.

Scouts: The first few minutes of the show are pretty decent, and the crowd seemed pretty impressed. I think the Crossmen played a little better, brass-wise. I would be surprised to see this version of the uniform to stick around for very long. My thoughts haven't changed: they got the shade of green wrong; it's almost the exact shade of the pro-turf. There were maybe a couple of moments that felt like Madison to me, and unfortunately they didn't last that long. They win the award for the most pointless drum-break drill of the season. The last half of the show feels like transition after transition, intermingled with attempts at typical drum corps effect. I don't see them in finals. Hopefully they are able to retain members and staff, so they can build on what seems to be another re-building year for them.

Pacific Crest: Too much black. I think they should brighten the shade of the sequined area and possibly add other accents. The start of the show was pretty exciting and they're being asked to play some difficult licks. The loud moments are just loud, and lacking in quality. For how much they rehearse, they're actually pretty good, but I don't see them in finals. There's too much to clean and the show isn't designed well enough.

Blue Knights: The show is very typical of the Blue Knights, but in this case that's a good thing. I was surprised at the cleanliness of their many contagions and dance movements. The ballet influence is evident from the very beginning. They're sounding pretty decent, and the show is interesting enough to be entertaining. It's not traditional drum corps entertainment, and I'm sure some people probably don't like the show at all, but it's hard to deny that they've become masters of their niche.

Blue Devils: Clean is the word. The crowd ate this show up. They had the best show-design of the night, and they are performing the crap out of their show. The guard was tossing their rifles noticeable higher than any of the other corps. I don't think the ending works. I love Dance Movements, but I'm really not sure what they were thinking when they chose to throw it in there. They'll be first or second come finals. They aren't unbeatable, but any corps that is going to stand a chance has to bring their A-game all three nights in Bloomington.

Vanguard: I honestly don't know their 2003 show all that well (it was my first year marching, so I never saw it live), but that's what the beginning of this show reminded me of. I was expecting better drill than I saw. However, I loved most of the show, and it was probably my favorite musical package of the night. I'm a fan of the new uniforms, and the drum finish works well (it seems like they've used it before, though). If they get clean enough, they could do some damage, but I'm honestly still not sure where to place them. In any case, they have something to be proud of. This is easily my favorite SCV show of the decade.

Phantom: They're at the top of their game again. The gold is interesting, but I'm not sure if I like it or not. I love the ballad and the mellophone solo. I'm not sure what it is about that tune, but it's one of my favorites this season, easily. While I'm sure most appreciate their approach to show design, I'm still not sure if their storytelling method is the best approach for their brand of drum corps. With both them and the Cadets, I get the feeling that they've got the bread and butter, but that they try to throw something on top of it that just doesn't quite click. Anyway, they're pretty clean and the drumline was easily the best of the night. The show is definitely going to get some love, but I get this feeling that they might peak soon. It's not that the show's too easy, it's just that I think they still have some integration issues and color guard issues.

That's all I've got.

Edited July 18, 2008 by Jayzer

[nctarheels05]

thanks for your thoughts!

keep pushin crossmen!

2 weeks till DCI east!

[kyushujet]

Is noone going to comment on the show that attended? Ok, I'll give a few comments, but these are just my opinions and I am certainly not a DCI judge. And I won't go into extreme detail for each corps, just stuff that caught my eye, etc.

First, the stadium seemed to be a lot nicer after the retro fit last year. It seemed bigger, but it's probably the same size with different stairwells to give the illusion of more space. We were still packed in like sardines like in the past, but again it seemed like we had a little more room.

The first corps OTL was Frontier in open class. I don't mean to sound harsh and I'm absolutely not slamming the kids, but...this was one of the worst shows I have seen in over 20 years. The drumline didn't know where they were going and only a few of the snares were playing most of the time. If a member didn't know his music, he just didn't play. And during the drum feature, I just cringed. It was a total train wreck. The brass section was a little better than the drums, but it was still pretty embarrassing. The only saving grace for this corps was the trumpet soloist. He was pretty much on and had some nice solos. Again, I don't blame the kids for this performance. I blame the staff and corps director for letting the kids go out on the field to perform a show they obviously weren't ready to perfom. It was very disappointing and a bad start to the evening.

Sidenote: Frontier is scheduled to perform at "their home show" in Denton on Sunday. Again, this may sound like I'm a total jerk, but please reconsider performing. The kids deserve better than to tell them, "Go out there and do your best."

The next corps OTL was Mandarins. Going on after Frontier made the Mandarins seem like the Blue Devils. I saw their show in Denver and they have a nice overall show. Good numbers in the guard and nice snare line.

Pioneer was next. I wanted Pio to do well after reading the posts on DCP. But there's a reason why there's such a gap between Mandarins and Pio. The brass seem a little "blatty" in their playing, especially in the trumpets. And it seemed that the tempos were all about the same, around 120. Which made for the marching to be about the same. Now that could be because of the music they chose, but I think if you upped the tempos a little, the drill could go a little faster, and the GE numbers might go up. Btw, first time to see them.

Next up Crossmen, first time to see them. And sidenote, I went to college with the corps director and his wife, and am good friends with his brother in-law, so not trying to play favorites here. I liked their show overall. Again nice numbers in the guard (40) which I can imagine helps their GE immensely. Good drill design and nice playing in the brass. Nice "X" theme throughout this show. Beat Madison deservedly.

Next Madison. Saw them in Denver. In Denver, there were a few guard members that were really off. It was good to see tonight that those members were much improved. But Ugh!!! The 2nd bass drummer was missing! The most important bass drummer in the line (IMO). But they seemed to pull it off tonight, even during the drum feature with bassline solos. There were a few holes in the brass line as well. In fact a lot of the corps had holes. I wonder if the Texas heat got to some of the kids today. I enjoyed this show better than I did in Denver. Brass was good.

PC first on after intermission. First time to see them. Didn't think they had a strong show. Could have been from heat fatigue or the fact that this was my first viewing of them. Maybe I was expecting too much from them. They had spacing problems in the drill and the brass had a few attack and release moments. Perhaps new drill that was put in yesterday? This corps does a lot of vocal grunts. And they do a little singing at the beginning of the 2nd song. Might have soured me a little.

Next BK, saw them in Denver. During their soft opener, you could hear metronomes going off across the street and drumlines and brass warming up, which took away from the beginning of their show. Nice Tuba sounds at the beginning. Nice guard work at the beginning as well in the big circle mass. I'm not fond of this show, but it's growing on me. But it usually takes me 2 to 3 viewings of their shows for me to warm up to them. Going on last in Denver really hurt them because they were following BD, Cavies, and PR. I marched with one of the drum instructors in Troop and have liked BK's drumlines for the most part. This is a very "artsy" show with a lot of ballet moves by brass. There is a nice ripple effect with two long lines off the 50 which is very nice.

BD next, saw them in Denver. From where I was seated, I was able to see a lot more things about this show than I did way up in Denver. The corps played the triplet rythm section pretty well tonight. Wayne Downey was sitting right behind me in the stands, and overheard him saying they were still pretty dirty. I'm warming up to this show but I really thought PR had them tonight, or at least was a lot closer than what they scored. BD had some holes tonight, wonder if the heat got to them in Little Elm. There was a tuba missing for sure. Overall, BD performed the show really well, which is why they won. Very nice guard work but a lot of the equipment catches weren't in the right position (if that makes sense, like the rifle was upside down)

SCV next, saw them in Denver. Really warming up to this show. Couldn't quite figure it out in Denver, until my wife said they had 3 parts to this show which was revealed by the color guard uniform changes. SCV played really well tonight. I especially like the cymbal line (sucker for tradition). I caught this one move they did which I can only describe as the scene from "Matrix" where Neo is avoiding the bullets being show at him and he is falling backwards. Hilarious cymbal line and good job. Really like the guard work too. And brass seems really strong. Nice drill design. Oh, one last thing. It seems like the Vanguard yell should come toward the beginning of the show where the lead guard member is in the middle of the drill around the 50, than where it was yelled tonight toward the end of the show (JMO).

PR last, saw them in Denver. I felt like the guard unis in Denver kind of blended into the turf and you couldn't see them (as opposed to BD). And that there were so many guard, that they were practically running into each other during the show (in Denver). PR had a very nice show in Dallas. The brass line is out of this world. And the drumline is pretty hot as well. Nice bass drum solos. Noticed tonight they were playing Dynastys. They sounded ok to me; in other words, they weren't distracting to where it bothered me. I really listened to the mello solo and he did a great job. In fact, on all the exposed mello parts, the sound and intonation was incredible. Very, very nice brass work, nice full controlled sound. Possibly the best line in DCI (Haven't seen Cadets or Crown). Guard work consistent and nice solos by the main characters.

Retreat, just DMs w/ brass lines from BD and PC. DMs that were missing from retreat were Frontier and Mandarins. What is the deal with that? If you're going to have DMs missing because the corps is going on to the next show site, then why even have a retreat?

That's my take for the most part. I'm starting to think that noone's opinion on a show is wrong. Because where you sit in the stands in relation to the corps really plays a huge part in your perception of each corps. Like tonight, I had a much more enjoyable time watching the corps than I did in Denver. And when I watch the corps in Denton, I'm sure my opinions might change again. Overall, I liked PR the best, but looking forward to seeing the Cavies in Denton.

Thank you and good night. Please forgive spelling mistakes.

[drumrguy]

FYI- Frontier is an all-age corps, not exactly "kids." :) Some are, yes, but not many.

Looking forward to Denton.

[CowboyTauinDallas]

Note to self...

Write 2000 word review in word then paste in DCP. Do not write review in DCP and then have internet go down.

####.

Main thoughts...

Frontier -- The old guys got plenty of cleaning to do. But the show elements are there.

I thought Pio scored about 1.5 points too low tonight. And they weren't quite the mess in their feet as others think. They're definitely behind Mandarins, but not that far behind. Drums are ahead of horns. Guard was pretty dang good. This corps is really, really young and if they can get some confidence going, I think they can make a little noise. I think the problems in their feet stick out more because of the hornline's size.

Mandarins - Got stuck underneath bleachers. Dang. Friends said they were a little better than Pio. Sorry guys.

I think Madison is getting shafted. They've got lots of points to pick up in cleaning forms. I thought their show concept worked much better than Crossmen and I was really, really surprised to see them down to them last night

Crossmen play well, but I don't think they have any more points to get out of their show. Had them below Madison especially in GE. Wonderful World is their best piece. Would like to see them return to jazz and go back to the '93 unis.

PC -- Wasn't really sure if this was their best night. Their previous scores didn't match up to what I saw on the field. I'm chalking this up to a bad evening and saying this corps is better than what happened in Dallas.

Blue Knights -- Good. Clean. That's all I can remember. Same ol' Blue Knights.

SCV -- Great music, forms need cleaning. They aren't catching Phantom or BD.

Phantom -- Power and passion. Loved it. Working hard at velocity. But they're not there with BD yet. Just a smidge behind.

BD -- That's how you work concept into music. Loved 'em and they'll be in the hunt at the end.

Edited July 18, 2008 by CowboyTauinDallas

[GABA]

Note to self...

Write 2000 word review in word then paste in DCP. Do not write review in DCP and then have internet go down.

####.

Main thoughts...

Frontier -- The old guys got plenty of cleaning to do. But the show elements are there.

I thought Pio scored about 1.5 points too low tonight. And they weren't quite the mess in their feet as others think. They're definitely behind Mandarins, but not that far behind. Drums are ahead of horns. Guard was pretty dang good. This corps is really, really young and if they can get some confidence going, I think they can make a little noise. I think the problems in their feet stick out more because of the hornline's size.

Mandarins - Got stuck underneath bleachers. Dang. Friends said they were a little better than Pio. Sorry guys.

I think Madison is getting shafted. They've got lots of points to pick up in cleaning forms. I thought their show concept worked much better than Crossmen and I was really, really surprised to see them down to them last night

Crossmen play well, but I don't think they have any more points to get out of their show. Had them below Madison especially in GE. Wonderful World is mode their best piece. Would like to see them return to jazz and go back to the '93 unis.

PC -- Wasn't really sure if this was their best night. Their previous scores didn't match up to what I saw on the field. I'm chalking this up to a bad evening and saying this corps is better than what happened in Dallas.

Blue Knights -- Good. Clean. That's all I can remember. Same ol' Blue Knights.

SCV -- Great music, forms need cleaning. They aren't catching Phantom or BD.

Phantom -- Power and passion. Loved it. Working hard at velocity. But they're not there with BD yet. Just a smidge behind.

BD -- That's how you work concept into music. Loved 'em and they'll be in the hunt at the end.

I heard PC was stuck at the airport till 3am Thursday morning, plus they did not practice with instruments for 3 days. Hopefully they can get into touring by Saturday.

-G

[CowboyTauinDallas]

I think those circumstances could have definitely contributed to last night's performance. I really wish them well and I'm sure they've got some good stuff to share.

[Bevinator]

I heard PC was stuck at the airport till 3am Thursday morning, plus they did not practice with instruments for 3 days. Hopefully they can get into touring by Saturday.

-G

Stuck at the airport?

[Linda Slocum]

Stuck at the airport?

They start their tour in CA, then fly to Dallas and meet up with their buses for the rest of the tour. Then they fly home from Indy.

I heard they had visual Monday, day off Tuesday to pack and get ready for the rest of the tour, travel on Wednesday. 3am Dallas time would be 1am CA time, but still a long day. Not all were on the same plane, either... I believe there were two departure airports for Los Angeles area and San Diego area members.

Edited July 18, 2008 by Linda Slocum

[crfrey71]

I found the colorguard scores to be quite interesting. PR only .3 down from BD and ahead of SCV in guard? BK scored a pretty high score, in the CG caption and only .3 behind SCV?