Turner's Take on Quarters....

[Ryan H. Turner]

Such is the life of the self-proclaimed "Voice of Southern California" where for the first time in a long time--A REALLY LONG TIME--I didn't get to see ANY drum corps nor announce any shows this year. Strange coming off of last summer where I had the absolute dream of my announcing career, and then come completely to the other side of the spectrum. Very surreal. I even had the publisher and owner of Drum Corps Planet have to step in for me this year--and now HE'S hooked on announcing. Great...more competition. In any event, I was stoked to be able to see what I only was able to "experience vicariously" through the reviews of DCP'ers.

So the following is my take on some of what I saw yesterday--done by memory. I'm a geek, but I'm not THAT geeky to "take notes" in a movie theater. I do want to say as I said on another thread--I was very disappointed by the decision to air such a "dark" fundraiser for the South African Field Band Foundation. Just inappropriate in my mind for that message at THAT time. I'll leave it at that. The theater I was in was the Edwards Cinema at the Irvine Spectrum, where I saw my first live telecast 5 long years ago. And yet again, as it was 5 years ago, I was first in line with my best friend, a SOPRANO player from SCV. Good times in line as I was able to shake hands and give a few hugs to some Kingsmen and VK alumni, band directors, etc, etc. Tried to get the Edwards manager to "crank the sound" by turning on the "H charm", but he shot me down claiming it was the broadcaster, not the theater, that set the volume. Well...after I put on my hip boots having to wade through THAT flood of B.S. from the manager, we were able to go inside. PERSONAL NOTE OF IRRITATION, AND THEN, MOOT POINT: Kingsmen Alumni had a "special deal" with the manager to get in early and reserve seats. Uhhhhh...that was irritating. But then, when they only had a 2 min lead time before the rest of the crowd in the hot sun, plus I got the seat I wanted ANYWAY, it was moot point. Sound and picture quality were pretty good, except for the side 1 "in the stands" camera. It seemed to NOT be broadcasting or filming or whatever in the same level of "definition" as the rest of the cameras. Did anyone else notice? My friend had a certain DCI official's cell phone number and texted him my displeasure so he could pass it on to Tom Blair. Something must have happened because I stopped noticing it. Another thing--the picture had a very "washed out" look anytime there was sunlight. The overall "feel" of the telecast was very very well done until the very end, notwithstanding the South African FBF fiasco. Steve Rondinaro had to do some "vamping", and I can tell you as a professional announcer, it SUCKS when things don't go as scheduled. I felt his pain. Appreciated the camradrie between Steve and Dennis. The "new guy", John Madden, was ok. Not terribly engaging. Anyone know why "A Barrell Full of Beach Balls" wasn't there? Also--my theater was NOWHERE near packed like it used to be when it first was telecast five years ago. Maybe 100-150 people tops. But a fun crowd. Even without Sam Signorelli in the audience yelling non-sensical things at the screen.

A few show comments...

Appreciated DCI including the previous corps that didn't get to be on the live telecast. I was disappointed (and that's being MILD in my opinion) with the performances I saw, with the exception of the Troopers "blurb". I let out my first of many "hoots" when they came on the screen, and while the kids in the audience couldn't appreciate the Troop as I could from a historical standpoint, it goes without saying that Troop was VERY good this year. BIG BIG BIG MAJOR BIG TIME props to that organization. Whatever went wrong as being righted, and if they can keep this momentum and NOT allow the tradition to overshadow progressiveness and innovation, but rather somehow MARRY the two extremes in show design, I predict semi final and final status for this organization. NOTE TO SELF: Do you think Seattle's demise led to Trooper's able to draw bigger numbers? Hmmmmm...curious.

Spirit--A show, like Cavaliers (as you will read later) that I was disengaged with. However, I must say that I really do like your uniform. But I have to like a lot more than that to stay engaged in what you're doing. I don't know why there's a reluctance on the part of this group to embrace their roots and give us some demanding southern Jazz. I'm SURE you can come up with something more exciting. Sorry guys....

Colts--GREAT and recognizable opening to the show. POWERFUL fanfare and it set the tone for the rest of the show. VERY solid corps, and I thought blew the doors off of Spirit's performance. Great job Colts!! Thank you--and that's a pretty cool uniform you have on.

Madison--Was so stoked to see them, and they seemed to start off with a BANG! And then....where'd they go....perhaps it was MY problem as my expectations of "MAD IS BACK" was ringing in my head. But after the opening fanfare, I didn't get what I wanted out of the show. Guard uniforms were....uhhh....uhhhh...well, they had the potential to show an "edge" to what they were doing, but again. Something felt sort of flat and not quite gelling, especially the last part of the show. Difficult to put into words. Technically, good stuff out there. But--I don't know. Nice to see them back, and nice to be knocking on the door of finals.

Crossmen--While I appreciated the work it took to take Holst and MAJOR screw with it, to me, the entire show just didn't sell well. I found myself every so often saying "Ohhhh I hear Jupiter" before it morphed away into something unrecognizable. Drill was ok, and the corps uniforms were MOST unusual and unique. Very interesting. I think Madison, while a little blah themselves, came across better to me than Crossmen, so I wasn't surprised at all at Madison getting by them.

Glassmen--A guard show with corps accompaniment. That was my impression. I bristle--badly--at "characters". I too as another reviewer immediately thought of Suncoast's envelope-pushing and completely underrated Karl Lowe 1988 fantasy. I know theatrics play so much more a role in drum corps, and heck, I come from the VK who sort of led the charge in terms of characters. But...really...I guess I'm too old school to fully appreciate it. Liked the drill, although it was dirty, and appreciated the "balloon" moment.

Blue Stars--Absolutely great show--well coordinated, well played, and the drill was pretty dang good. VERY much appreciated what I understood was a "new ending", with the final bicylist riding across the field to victory. I thought while he was riding "OH CRAP!!! This turf may be too slippery--please for the love of all that is holy DON'T CRASH!!!" He didn't. He was great. Great show--and boy--they are going to be having a dogfight to stay in the top 12.

Boston--What can I say? I can say they bored me to tears last year. This year...quite the opposite. THANK GOD!! What a great show. Just fantastic, and I appreciated the way they marched their ##### off. The ending was spectacular, and thank you for playing the main theme of Conquest as you came forward. Just a taste. But it was a GREAT taste. Their was a certain amount of 'TUDE that came from this corps that harkens back to the days of parking lot beat downs between corps and rivalries that could fracture a nation, much less an activity. AND I LOVED IT!!!! Great job Boston...just do me a favor. PLAY LOUDER!!! A LOT LOUDER!!! Oh and by the way--I loved the Matrix music. REALLY cool...almost forgot about that.

Blue Knights--If they were to crown a champion of "anti drum corps" drum corps, Blue Knights would win hands down. I don't mean that offensively, I mean that respectfully. They are so out of the norm with the way they move and gyrate all over the field that it's difficult to "compare" them. Sound wise it's hard to have a real opinion sitting in a theater, but I was fairly happy. Drum line to me--and I'm no expert, just a frustrated wanna be drummer--was smoking hot. Really liked what I saw and heard from them. Guard--ehhh. Pretty good.

Santa Clara Vanguard--OK, since I'm a drill designer, I look at form and function and staging. That's my gig. I also look at marching technique and ensemble stuff. That's where my eye goes. SCV's drill is without a doubt some of the best this year in all of DCI. I relate to Weber's drill much like I related to his predecessor, Myron Rosander. There's just something about it. SCV's show, a minimalist adventure, had potential to be boring, but personally, it was a musical HIT. I have a special something for "Cloudburst". My wife was a professional singer with the Pacific Chorale and performed the world premeir of "Cloudburst" several years ago as Eric Whitacre was the "composer in residence". To me, it's a very very emotional song, and I think SCV took something that my wife said "....can't POSSIBLY be done on the field" and did a great job with it. True, in the original, there are rain effects that Whitacre wrote in that is performed, and that probably couldn't really be done on the field as it's intended in the original....but the BEAUTY of the piece and the way SCV handled the "storm" effects was top notch. So why aren't they in the top 5? Because they're really really good--but so is everyone else.

Bluecoats--A BRILLIANT show, a theme I thought would never work, a "ringside" announcer who, despite the technical glitch, did a great job of voice characterization, and one of the greatest brass moments of the night. That fanfare in the ballad where the hornline stacks on side 2 is ABSOLUTELY #####IN!!!! I loved it. The way they threw in "Eye of the Tiger" and the way they did the Rocky music was fantastic. A true story (gasp...with characters...DOH!!!!) on the field. LOVED IT!!! Guard was great as well!! As usual....

Cadets--OK, I will finally speak to the show that everyone has been gnashing their teeth about this year. READY?? Here's the final opinion of opinions. That entire show, complete with the narration, was extremely well done, well performed, well designed (HOLY COW ON THE ENDING!!!!), and....here it comes...could have done without the set piece in the center of the field. With all due respect, THAT part of the show was unnecessary, and to me, VERY distracting. Lose those two and set piece, and the show would have worked for me. Oh--and WHY was it distracting? Because there's only so much you can do with 2 people 100 yards away from your intended audience on a stage that's about an acre in size. That's NOT designed for the audience--that's designed for TV cameras. And if so, then they need to be given more to work with. I'm no thespian, but...eeek. Let the guard tell the story. I have spoken...so shall it be. GREAT JOB CADETS by the way!!

Carolina Crown--what a BRILLIANT concept, and what great music. You know what? Besides one other corps, I could have listened to about 15 more minutes of their show. So next time Carolina, come out and do a 22 minute show. FOR ME. It's a great show with what in my estimation is the best drum major in drum corps today. That kid--he does me proud. From one "showman" to another--BIG BIG BIG TIME PROPS!! You are a great drum major. PERIOD. And this is a great show, with a great deal to offer. Is it going to win? Nope. It will be 3rd or 4th place this year. But it will be judged against the greatness and deemed worthy to stand shoulder to shoulder with the greatness that is Top 5 this year. FANTASTIC show. As a matter of fact, as I was sitting in the theater, I wondered if this could have been a show better suited for the Velvet Knights. There was a vast amount of times I had the inner VK in me screaming, "Ohhhhh, we could have done THAT...and then done THAT...and then put the shark THERE...and then, and then...." Pretty funny. Appreciated the light-hearted moments in Crown's show.

Cavaliers--I'm supposed to, as a reviewer, give an opinion without coming across as being a jackass. And this is the corps where I think I'm going to fail in my duties. Why? With no insult intended to the kids at all, I think you were given a show that is one, getting FAR too much credit, and two, with a drill that unfortunately (and with the exception of the drum solo 50 yard line greatness) was phoned in. Yeah...I said it. This was by far the most unengaged I've ever been with the Cavaliers since 1990. Truly, a very drab show to me. Now, granted, I was in a theater and not in the stadium. So maybe I was missing something. But when their 2nd place score came across, I was blown away by the gift they had received. Sorry--not a good show for this reviewer this year.

Blue Devils--first thing that came out of my mouth after the last note of their show...well, two things. First....HOLY CRAP THAT WAS LOUD!!! And second....I think I'll need to see this show approximately 73 more times to "get it". No...I didn't get it. No...I don't like poetry. I like a good Stephen King book, thank you very much. No...the running around didn't make sense to me. And no...Jamie Holly was about as uncomfortable a human being I've ever seen attempting to explain the show with Dennis DeLucia and John Madden. Wow...they couldn't get Pete Emmons up there? Or Jay Murphy? And yes, the show itself was clean, and loud, and....well...absurd. I don't get it. It's great, yet, I don't know WHY it's great. Someone show me the way.

and finally....

Phantom Regiment--I'm an old calloused "old timer" who's all "revved up" according to Steve Rodinaro. I chuckle. An old timer. I'm 42, having marched in DCI in 85, 86, and 87. I love this activity. And I hate it sometimes. But with the exception of 1987 Vanguard, and of course 1987 VK , I have NEVER EVER been as excited as I was at the conclusion of PR's mega-opus "Spartacus". I don't care if this show doesn't win. It doesn't matter. They are MY champion corps. Truly. That drum major they interviewed at the end summed it up perfectly, and we all gave him a round of applause for his words. It doesn't matter the score--we could be in LAST PLACE--as long as we affect people the way we do with our activity, we won. A-FREAKIN'-MEN BROTHER!!!! Welcome to the world of "THE H"!!! That's what I preach. PR's show from the SECOND they take the field to when they leave is to me maybe what's more the direction that Hopkins talks about that drum corps should be going. No set pieces, no narration....just solid theatrics on a GRAND scale, with a horn, drum, guard and visual book to lay the smack down. I'm not above saying this...but Phantom Regiment grabbed me, shook me up, slapped me around, kicked me in the ###....and I bought a ticket, and asked for it again!!! PR....you are what drum corps is and should be. Power, passion, and the ability to get me off my fat ### and to TRULY give it up. I've been waiting for you for years. PLEASE--don't shoot for the World Championship. Shoot for 25,000 to ROAR their approval and throw rolls of toilet paper at you!!! I LOVE YOU PR!!! Truly....I really sincerely do.

Overall, even with some of my negativity (apologies to Cavies...), I think this is the best "bang for the buck" year for drum corps. Appreciated the entire 23 hours I was in the theater.

Well...it FELT like. Dang....I was sore leaving.

WAIT WAIT WAIT--late addition. Hostrauser just reminded me of something UBER important. DEAR TOM BLAIR--love ya man! But FIRE THE CRANE OPERATOR!!!!! Goooooooooooooooooooood GOD all Friday. I had people barfing in the aisles trying to watch that hack job. Your cameramen need to understand that this is NOT a football game, and you don't have to "follow the ball". Jeeeeeeeeeeezo pete. Slow pans...slow zooms....slow fadeaways....and for the love of all that is holy, SLOW DOWN THE CRANE!!! OK...oh oh oh....and BUY A FREAKIN' SUN FILTER FOR YOUR CAMERAS. OK...NOW I'm done.

REASON FOR EDIT: Added Spirit review, Colts review, something about Boston, and my camera work rant at the end. Apparently this is a "living review", subject to constant revision and change. HEY--guarantees me an audience.

Edited August 8, 2008 by Ryan H. Turner

[esch]

Ryan, I DO appreciate your passion and "voice"... even in your writing. Thanks for a great review!

[Corkie]

Ryan, you should have stayed closer to home and come to The Block. We had a great time!

[84BDsop]

Even without Sam Signorelli in the audience yelling non-sensical things at the screen.

Hey....when Brandt fouled up "absurdity" I thought of a certain Long Beach show near and dear to YOUR heart!

I only yelled stuff during the tech issues we were having in Burbank....and the VANGUARD yell. Burbank may be a LOT closer to home, but it wasn't the same kind of crowd experience as 04 in Irvine when they had to open a 2nd theater!

[27Socal]

The sound at the Huntington Beach Bella Terra theaters showing was superb. Perfect volume in the theater. Excellent miking. Even clearly picked up the soft snare passages way at the back of the field. Not sure how they did that so well. Maybe a dish mike. We did have the little video/audio cut out during the middle of the Cavies show, but that was negligible. Technically (video and sound quality) was the best of the five years I have seen, by far. These were just about brand new theaters, so maybe they had more state of the art equipment on this end. They were broadcasting in HD. Could tell by the HD quality of the talking head overlays before each corps performance and the very last credit at the end said they were using the Dish Network HD network. The video was best of the all the years, but still didn't look quite HD during the corps performances. Maybe the Cameras and/or transmission equipment at that end of the chain were not HD quality yet. Maybe next year. Even so, I able to get into the shows much more this year due the step up in quality of the broadcast. DCI has to be really commended this year. Between the excellent broadcast yesterday and the vast step up of the Fan Network this year, what a great improvement to follow the shows. Can't wait to see what next year brings. I have been known to criticize when I felt it's necessary, but I also give credit when credit is due. Great job DCI!

Late addition due to Ryan's late addition: Crane shots: I kinda liked them. A little unusual, but creative. Woke me up during some slow patches of some shows. The speed of the boom camera seemed to complement the speed of the drills. I do agree about the sun shots. The bass drum heads in the pit looked like they had painted psychedelic patterns on them. Or was it my acid starting to kick in? (just kidding). Maybe sun filters or better white balance or something else they need to do. This director was pretty darn good (is this Tom Blair?). He nailed almost all of the important shots in every show. There were a few shots I wish he had stayed on a little longer. Like the drill development in the middle of Boston's show that was starting to get really interesting and then he cut to the guard not doing much. But overall much, much better than some of the multi camera directing in the earlier Fan Network broadcasts. He/she has 1 more broadcast to learn the shows better for Saturday night. But, in total, excellent directing.

Edited August 8, 2008 by 27Socal

[gnp]

I agree that PR has a great show this year, but if they try to march a Cavie type drill, the kids would be falling all over each other. Cavies visual is on an all together different level. PR must give up something visually in order to play the type of show they play. This is why I laugh when I see the G.E. visual scores..It's all opinionated. DCI should consider going to a judging panel that holds up numbers, as in figure skating i.e,...10, 10, 8, 8, 7, 9, etc. what a joke.

[Ryan H. Turner]

[Ranger Rick]

The crane operator was a maniac. I stood about 5 yards from him at full retreat in front of Vanguard's block, and he would stick his camera literally an inch in front of their faces to see if they would break.

[TexasPRfan]

Great review & terrrific read, Ryan! I enjoyed the entire thing.

Harvey

[CozyChopsCom]

Vox de SoCal,

I just wish for once that you would express what you really think.

Once again, you have written a review that tells it like it is. I agree on most everything you state.

Ya' need to make it to Rochester for DCA. I'd like to say much more, but this has just been a summer of me flying low buzzing the DCPlanet deck.