Lawrence Review

[funkrocker049]

I had the pleasure of attending the East Coast Classic this evening. It was warm and muggy to start, but the rain held off and it eventually cooled off nicely. My seats were between the side 2 30 and 35 yard lines, and about 1/3 of the way up. I got a good impression of sound, a great view of feet, and not so much on forms. Most of tonight's viewings were first reads.

Defenders (I think that was their name)

I don't remember what they played, but this ensemble had some obvious chops. There were several nice moments for both the upper and lower brass. Following their performance, one of their mellophone players sang a nice rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner. I don't remember this group being on the schedule for the evening, but no real complaints from me.

Boston Crusaders All-Age

At this point I was ready for the competition to start. I have never been fond of all-age/alumni corps but they played pretty well. Some stick-outs were evident at times, but the ensemble demonstrated that they had put some serious time into preparing for this performance. They ended their portion of the evening with Conquest (obviously), and it drove the hometown crowd crazy.

Spartans

I previously marched with this group, so I don't want to comment too much. There were evident improvements since the last time I saw them in Nashua. The kids are working hard, but the 'metallic soundscapes' concept has much more room for growth. I like the relocation of the pit to the front of the field. The props on the field help this small corps take up space. The battery is clearly the strongest section and there were nice moments with the cymbals. If they can clean this one...especially feet...they could go places.

Pacific Crest

This is the first time I have ever seen Pacific Crest live. Their show has some really great musical and visual moments that, if clean, provide for some real effect. I didn't catch the title of the show (which I now see is Primality...), but I definitely understood what the feel was supposed to be. To me, this shows some success on the part of the designers. The hornline had a good sound though the stick-outs became more apparent as the show progressed. The tuba line projected well during their feature, they just need to do a bit more work on tone-matching. The Wind and the Lion was a great choice of music, and I always love seeing it on the field. The show has the bones, they just need to clean clean clean.

Academy

There is definitely a lot of meat in this horn book, but that's about it. The general design of the show is lacking any real direction. The brass can play...LOUD...but if the product isn't there.... The show begins with a nice hit, some meaty dissonance, and just lapses into generic classical. I couldn't see anything too interesting in the drill either. Like I said, this line can play but they need a better design. They placed correctly tonight.

Santa Clara Vanguard

They are flying all over the field! I like the new uniforms but it's not the best iteration...I still like the white pants from 2005. I don't remember a whole lot about the music except that the 'groove' section is one of my favorite moments of the past few years. These guys performed at a level that was CLEARLY above and beyond anything previously seen this evening.

The Cavaliers

The samurai theme is well played, especially in the guard. As usual, the Cavaliers are performing all sorts of crazy visuals that draw your attention all around the field. I really enjoyed this show, but I wish the hornline would play more. They sound great, with terrific blend and balance, but it seems like they have their horns down half the time. The pit really sold all the sound effects and looked the part in their costumes. More of the taiko drums would be nice, too.

Boston Crusaders

I saw BAC in Nashua and was blown away by this show. The product is there for them to grab by the horns and take it wherever they can....but they aren't. Their performance tonight was flat. They need to figure out how to clean...fast. It felt like they were holding back from the first hit of "2001". I noticed numerous missed releases in the upper brass, lack of direction in long phrases, and just little mistakes that all add up. The home crowd still ate it up when Conquest closed out the show. I just really hope they can get it in gear.

[purexitement]

TY for the review.

The highlights for me last night were SCV and Boston Sr.

SCV has a great hornline and a great drumline.

Thoroughly enjoyed their show.

Much better than what I had anticipated from this website.

I enjoyed their show much more than Cavaliers.

The cavaliers are a great corp.

I would say top 4.

I am surprised they are battling for the title.

I have enjoyed past years drill much more.

Boston Crusader SR corp was great.

First the obvious - What a drumline.

Their drumline was great.

The highlight was when the corp marched off the field-old style.

WOW

Then they formed a block and blasted Conquest as they marched back towards the stands.

The soloists were great in all songs.

I enjoyed both of the North Star songs they played.

Although since they are the Boston Crusaders wouldn't one have been enough.

I would pick This Masquarade over Ole.

Most I have enjoyed them in recent time.

[7567BC]

TY for the review.

The highlights for me last night were SCV and Boston Sr.

SCV has a great hornline and a great drumline.

Thoroughly enjoyed their show.

Much better than what I had anticipated from this website.

I enjoyed their show much more than Cavaliers.

The cavaliers are a great corp.

I would say top 4.

I am surprised they are battling for the title.

I have enjoyed past years drill much more.

Boston Crusader SR corp was great.

First the obvious - What a drumline.

Their drumline was great.

The highlight was when the corp marched off the field-old style.

WOW

Then they formed a block and blasted Conquest as they marched back towards the stands.

The soloists were great in all songs.

I enjoyed both of the North Star songs they played.

Although since they are the Boston Crusaders wouldn't one have been enough.

I would pick This Masquarade over Ole.

Most I have enjoyed them in recent time.

[7567BC]

I have one question/curiosity about last nights scoring in Lawrence. How is it that Bostons scores have not reached or come back up a previous score from last week (an 86 I believe) when it is obvious they have improved visually and musically since that show? I ask this because I reviewed scores from the most probable top 14 corps over the same time frame and ALL other corps scores, every one of them, have improved (some dramatically) over their score from that same time period. This is just an observation and a consideration at scoring from a logical viewpoint. It defies all probability that a corps cannot get better with rehearsals and shows and not have their score reflect it. I don't think they should have beaten SCV but I thought they should have been closer to 86.5 - 87. I think SCV should have been 90-91. Cavies seemed to be a touch higher than they should have gotten.

[purexitement]

And BOSTON usually gets a high score at their home show.

Ouch!

What is going on?

[Geneva]

I disagree about the placement of Pacific Crest and Academy seeming correct. To my ear there was no comparison between the horn lines. I felt the Academy executed much better with a lot of dirt evident from PC. I also liked Academy's selections and sound quality much better. From brass perspective I could not understand their defeat by PC in all but brass technique and music ensemble. I can't understand how GE music was felt to br better with PC. Granted PC may hve been stronger visually and with the guard. I thought that perhaps Academy lost due to percussion, but this was actually taken by them. I am confused as to what were the brass judges listening to?!

[funkrocker049]

I disagree about the placement of Pacific Crest and Academy seeming correct. To my ear there was no comparison between the horn lines. I felt the Academy executed much better with a lot of dirt evident from PC. I also liked Academy's selections and sound quality much better. From brass perspective I could not understand their defeat by PC in all but brass technique and music ensemble. I can't understand how GE music was felt to br better with PC. Granted PC may hve been stronger visually and with the guard. I thought that perhaps Academy lost due to percussion, but this was actually taken by them. I am confused as to what were the brass judges listening to?!

I agree that I would probably score Academy higher than PC in brass; but, the very obvious advantage held by Pacific Crest in GE more than makes up for the difference in the hornlines. It's hard to pinpoint why the scores turned out as they did. There is a very real difference in the way things sound on the field vs. up in the box. Just look at the Music Ensemble scores...Academy beat PC handily...sound quality absolutely plays a role in this caption. I've heard numerous tapes by Don MacTaggart and he has a great ear for what brass players are doing on the field. I trust that he called it like he heard it. Besides, sometimes it all comes down to where the judge happens to be standing at any given time.

To my ears, Academy has a terrific hornline but that is not enough to make up for the many shortcomings of their program. The show is poorly designed and fails to generate effect. The members are playing the crap out of it, but it's not enough. The visual scores are also holding them back, but it was a toss-up between them and PC that night.

Edited August 2, 2008 by funkrocker049