DCI Southeastern Championship

[Meaghatron]

This is my third year venturing from Florida to see the DCI Southeastern Championship in Atlanta. Usually, I’ve gone with other drum corps/marching band people. This time around I brought four newbies with me- my grandparents and two female cousins (18 and 16). One of my cousins does concert band, so she’s more familiar with music than the other two. It was interesting to hear their thoughts about shows. I’ll probably include their comments here and there…

AFTERNOON SHOW

Pioneer: Unfortunately, I missed a group that I really wanted to see live. The last two years at the Atlanta show, I saw Pioneer start off a great day of drum corps. Plus, my grandma really wanted to see the show (she’s Irish). I did catch part of it from the side on the first level. But that doesn’t really do the show any justice to type up thoughts from that view. Here’s to hoping they put on a great performance!

Mandarins: The sound coming from this pit our awesome. The opening music really sets the mood, along with the hornline members swaying. It was a good show to start of the afternoon (for me, at least). I thought the guard did a good job, and the horns packed some power despite being a smaller line. The ending is really cool. The quiet impact reminded me a lot of a WGI show for some reason. That’s not a bad thing, just something I noticed.

Troopers: I was waiting to see this show live… and it was great! So much fun from the opening stuff to the end. The best part of it is probably how much the members seem to enjoy themselves. I watched this one tuba really break it down right on the 50 yardline. That made my day. The train effects, the drill, the acting by the hornline... just great stuff. Definitely one of my favorite shows this season. Plus, they play well! This was the first show my grandpa saw. He thought it was pretty cool. He liked the uniforms too.

The Academy and Pacific Crest: Missed them. The hotdog I ordered during the time between Troopers and The Academy mysteriously took much longer (like 10 minutes longer) than the nice concession people told me.

Spirit: The last two years, I’ve really enjoyed this show. But as I stated in my Orlando review, this theme just doesn’t do it for me. In fact, I don’t really see the point of having the “periphery” theme. I don’t really see it too much. Maybe it’s because I’m not being hit over the head with it. I don’t know. They sounded pretty good, and the crowd gave them a great reaction. I do like their color guard. Gorgeous flags.

Colts: Another show I’m not sold on. Although, I did like it more than my viewing in Orlando. The drill is better, and the first half of the show matches the excitement of the second half, for me. I like the opening moments. Cool stuff. My younger cousin really liked this show. It was one of two she didn’t zone out of, haha. She didn’t really dig the fact that the guys and girls in the guard wore the same outfit. I agree with her. If during part of the show, a guy and girl are acting like a couple, you can’t have them in the same (femine) costume. It looks weird, IMO.

Madison Scouts: Ah, another corps I was waiting to see live. And it’s fantastic! At first, I wasn’t really digging this show (when I saw it earlier this season). But they seemed pretty “on” today. The horns and percussion sounded really good. I thought their little visuals were executed pretty well and added to the show. Next to Crossmen, I can see how their visual package is a little lacking though, especially in the guard area. I don’t know if Madison can overcome that. However, if they end up 13th, it will still be a pretty kickin’ 13th place show. It’ll be a great show no matter where it places. The last movement is still my favorite. Love the music!

Blue Stars: Saw it in Orlando and loved it. Still love it! The consensus of my group showed that this was their favorite show. They thought (as did I) that the music is beautiful (especially the warm-up). They liked all the guard stuff, with the bicycle tires and handlebars and everything. (I think some of it is cheesy, but effective.) The guard was great. The hornline still sounds fantastic. The new ending was cool! I figured they must have one when I saw the podium set up in the endzone. The arrow pointing was just great. I got a pretty good picture of the entire field for that set.

Glassmen: Still can’t get into this show, even after seeing it live now twice. Huh. I don’t know. I love the guard though. They are easily the strongest section of this group. The percussion feature is nice, too. The brass had really come along since the beginning of the season. They are blending much better now.

Crossmen: Such a step-up from Orlando. I didn’t see then how they could make a finals run. Now, I can. The music is really coming together and doesn’t sound as “over-arranged” as I previously thought. The horns don’t pack as much power as some of the others around them, IMO, but they sound good. The guard is great. Seems like there is a lot of them on the field, which really helps their scores, IMO.

Boston Crusaders: They are improving slowly but surely. As an ensemble, they sound better than when I saw them in Atlanta. There’s a great visual book there, and I think the music is pretty good too. I love the start of the show. Lots of movement. What I love is that this show is just… drum corps. I don’t know. It doesn’t really seem like there is anything to get or to look for that resonates the theme. Just great music and drill. I hope they can work hard and put up a good fight against BK. They have a good show. They just need to push for that 8th spot.

EVENING SHOW (which my grandpa did not attend… sucks for him, haha)

Missed Crossmen and Glassmen. I did hear the Blue Stars, and they sounded magnificent. Maybe a bit louder than the afternoon show.

Boston Crusaders: Had a good run. About the same as the afternoon I thought. Still a good show. I wasn’t too surprised to see the Blue Stars pass them though. Too much GE, I think. Oh, and I think that BAC is the corps that utilizes the new airblades the best.

Santa Clara Vanguard: The first movement is insane. The drill is great. They just keep moving and moving. However, they’re dirty. A lot of us expected them to clean up by now. But it seems like the cleaning process is just taking too long. I agree that the last portion of the show just doesn’t work like the rest of it. The drum breakdown is so fun. I hope that SCV continues moving in this direction. They have been putting out great visual books lately, and the music is really starting to match the level of drill. I’m so glad I was able to see them live.

Blue Knights: I don’t want to label them boring, but they don’t captivate me. I do think that their hornline is underrated though. Pretty good sound is coming out of those horns. I think they tend to get overlooked because their shows aren’t far-reaching. Their ballet technique is pretty good. The body movements seem a little… different… but they do them well. My younger cousin, who has no music background, actually liked them. I was a bit surprised. So, hey, I guess BK is doing something right.

The Cadets: They play and march so well. I love their musical choices this year. The storyline has been changed a bit- Sarah Jones is now a grandma. The voice just doesn’t cut it though. It’s hard to listen to a 20-year old talk about having grandchildren. Unfortunately, too many changes have taken place. I think the narration is beyond fixable, to be honest. Things don’t flow very well. However, I do like the ending narration. The ending drill is crazy. Great stuff. FWIW, my grandmother and cousins didn’t care for the talking. They didn’t bash it though. It wasn’t like a super big deal to them. Just kind of like, “Eh. I didn’t care for it.”

Phantom Regiment: After seeing this show live, I still can’t get into it. I have no idea why. PR has some of my favorite shows ever (89/03). I really like Faust. In fact, I think they tell that story better than they do Spartacus. The hornline sounds fantastic, and the drums are at (possibly) an untouchable level. The music is even great. Just something about the design I don’t like. The guard is ok. I think that’s the weakest point of the show. The three family members with me loved this show. I could feel the emotion. It was pretty cool, yet I still can’t get into the show.

Bluecoats: Love it. The story, the music, the drill. This show was okay when I first saw it. But after seeing it live twice, I’m floored. I think it is a far better show than Criminal. The ballad is gorgeous, and I left the show humming it. Their singing gave me goosebumps yet again. My grandma fell in love with this show. She couldn’t understand why they placed 6th. I hope they keep moving in this direction.

The Cavaliers: I have been waiting to see this show live since I heard the announcement. After watching it many times on Fan Network, I was kind of left a little flat compared to past years. Seeing it live changed my mind. The sounds coming out of the pit are so unique and perfect for this show. The dulcimer is so neat. The battery writing is wonderful. The drill book is great, and the hornline performs their visuals really well. The new ending is incredible. I’ll have to watch it again to catch everything. They obviously have stuff to clean, and I think they will keep gaining ground on the Blue Devils. My grandma loved their drill. Oh, and to those who say that The Cavaliers don’t play loud, they did last night. I was actually surprised at their volume in certain moments. They don’t play loud through the whole show (it doesn’t call for that), but at moments they matched the volume of the corps that played before and after them.

Carolina Crown: Such a beautiful sound. I love this hornline. Definitely a strong suit of the corps, along with the colorguard. I don’t know why they got 4th. They were easy in the top 3. Their rifle line is insane, and certain parts of their flag work are Finals clean. I love their performance. The drill is a little lacking, IMO. I think that’s what may keep them from the top 3. I believe they are at where Phantom was a couple years ago. Parts are nice, but their isn’t much clarity or direction to it. Obviously, there are the moments of famous moves, but that’s about it. They’ll continue to get better though. I see them as the next new corps to win a Championship.

Blue Devils: I was waiting to see why this corps is already being crowned the winner by many people. I didn’t see it. They sound good. They march good. Just like the corps close to them. They aren’t a clear winner though. I think PR, Cavies, and BD will be the top three this year, but I don’t automatically assume that BD will win. They have an awesome musical book. The percussion writing in the first movement is really cool. Besides that, I wasn’t really blown away. The running around everywhere got old. The stick figure man made by the pvc poles and then the corps was neat. I got some good pictures of it.

My top 3:

The Cavaliers

Bluecoats

Blue Stars

Grandma’s top 3:

Bluecoats

The Cavaliers

Phantom Regiment

My cousins favorites:

Bluecoats

Carolina Crown

Phantom Regiment

The Cavaliers

Blue Stars

An amazing night of drum corps! I think my grandma is a new fan. She talked about coming back next year. My cousins thought it was neat, too. I can’t wait to see how the next couple weeks play out. This is a great year for drum corps.