Crown's Homage to '87 Garfield?

[vferrera]

Actually, Phantom did the step over the guard in the 1812 as well, I believe.

My favorite Phantom stepover move was the Beethoven year when the stepover included new yellow Beethoven flags (hidden beneath a black sheeth) popping up on the other side of the company front.

1978. but it wasn't a stepover. The guard knelt down as the horns passed through them.

You can find it on Youtube, just search for phantom regiment 1978

[Tom Brace]

1978. but it wasn't a stepover. The guard knelt down as the horns passed through them.

You can find it on Youtube, just search for phantom regiment 1978

Thanks. You are correct. Bend down and slide past. Then pop...the Beethoven flags. Then when watching the Ol' SKool 51 clip....wasn't that similar to the Anaheim Kingsmen move...circa '72?

Edited July 21, 2008 by Tom Brace

[Medeabrass]

Given the title of this thread and the past few posts, this statement is laughable.

You're right...that is pretty funny. I thought Phantom show was very entertaining start to finish. I thought they also played complete musical thoughts and had plenty of melody. Blue Stars too. There were many other moments from SA that I thoroughly enjoyed. Phantom, Crown, Blue Coats, and BS seemed to have the most for me though.

[chris ncsu]

Boston did a disintegrating front when they played ApSpring...what, 2003?

[jordsterr]

Crown does a great job of blending OLD SCHOOL and MODERN. They have been the most entertaining corps the last two years. It wasn't even close at San Antonio IMO as far as being ENTERTAINED goes. The staff and management of Crown apparently GETS IT that most people could care less about the individual captions. We want to be entertained and hear RECOGNIZABLE music. That's what it's all about.

BD, Cavies, Phantom and Boston all had some entertaining elements to their shows, but fell far short of Crown.

You could throw all the rest in a box. All pretty much carbon copies of each other doing the SOS. (Non stop movement with unrecognizable music)........

Hmmmm.... Perhaps you did not notice that the Cadets do very nice arrangements of music by Frank Ticheli with totally complete thoughts. I've actually conducted much it, and it is very well arranged.

I do understand that it may be new music to you, but perhaps the overture to Candide was also new to you when the Cadets did it in 1985 (also arranged by the brilliant Michael Klesch). Surely there must have been a first time for you to have heard the 1812 Overture.

I also understand that the dialogue may not be to your liking, but there are complete arrangements of one piece.

Let's be fair and recognize that Crown also has short snippets that are not complete ideas in the sense that they are not complete arrangements of one piece. That is not a criticsm...just an observation.

[Medeabrass]

Hmmmm.... Perhaps you did not notice that the Cadets do very nice arrangements of music by Frank Ticheli with totally complete thoughts. I've actually conducted much it, and it is very well arranged.

I do understand that it may be new music to you, but perhaps the overture to Candide was also new to you when the Cadets did it in 1985 (also arranged by the brilliant Michael Klesch). Surely there must have been a first time for you to have heard the 1812 Overture.

I also understand that the dialogue may not be to your liking, but there are complete arrangements of one piece.

Let's be fair and recognize that Crown also has short snippets that are not complete ideas in the sense that they are not complete arrangements of one piece. That is not a criticsm...just an observation.

You're right about Crown using snippets, but in this instance, it's brilliant. I was really affraid of what it would sound like when I heard the concept, but the way Klesch has woven the pieces together is masterful. I liked the Cadets' music, but found it didn't relate to the theme...not that that is very important to me. The explaining was distracting, but not to the point that I couldn't enjoy the music.

I am in the same camp as you as far as being open to new music. I can't tell you how many times my first exposure to one of my favorite pieces was through drum corps. On the other hand, I am with the other poster in that the lack of complete musical ideas and ESPECIALLY the lack of longer and/or lyrical phrasing is kind of disappointing.

As I sat there in SA listening to all of these great hornlines (they are much more accomplished these days IMO) I found myself starting to get jaded simply because they were all so great...something was missing. Then, Crown came out and I realized what it was. They had much more variety in their use of dynamics and phrasing (ie longer phrases were actually used). The little details and sensitivity in Claire de Lune was unmatched that night. There seemed to be much more exposure both in the book itself and in the way sections were staged. When they finally did open up on the big chords, I was totally blown away. I know I'm probably in the minority here, but I think the "all loud all the time tendencies" of most corps just left me flat after awhile. I know I should just be jumping out of my seat (and I usually do for the first few big hits at my first show of the season) but I just don't after awhile (maybe I'm just too lazy).

I kind of alluded to this before, but I have noticed that no competition is ever as entertaining to me as the first one I attended. There seems to be a diminishing return on my enjoyment over time. I think it has more to do with my own expectations than what is being put on the field. I seem to get more joy these days out of hornlines who pay attention to details as opposed to peeling my face back.

[ampfan]

Boston did a disintegrating front when they played ApSpring...what, 2003?

2002