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Rochester Review


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Having been completely divorced from the activity for two years, it was fun to go to prelims and finals as a spectator. I had heard from many friends, current staff members, fellow alumni, etc., that DCA was having a down year... I couldn't disagree with this statement more. I was very impressed with more than a few groups, and thought that just about every corps was very "watchable" (I can clearly recall years past where this was not the case; I did not find that to be the case with 2008)

For what it's worth, here is my review. I did not take notes, but I did watch every single corps, most of them twice... at least those that made finals. I will attempt to stay mostly positive, but I do have some negative things to say. On a side note, I don't know why people in this activity are so sensitive. I guess I was the same way when I was marching, but I'd like to think I was able to honestly asess a performance of which I was part - good or bad. I have a friend who used to say to me, "It's never as good, or as bad as you remember" I believe that to be fairly accurate. And sometimes in order to be honest, a bit of time to remove yourself from the the emotional investment you've made is all that is necessary.

I just want to share some thoughts of the weekend.

I am not going to review every single corps, just those that left an impression... good or bad.

I was most impressed with Fusion. This was a very well designed show that as a spectator, was enjoyable to watch. I would love to see this corps in Open Class next year. With a few more horns and a larger guard, I think they could be a serious contender. I hope they keep moving forward. They were a breath of fresh air.

I very much liked the sound of the Grenadiers hornline. I was very surprised that they didn't make it into the top four. After Saturday's performance, I was certain we would see them again on Sunday evening.

I loved the drum major from Music City legend, then again, I'm a sucker for a good looking girl in a corset. I thought the soloists were great. But I have to say.... too much tuba for my taste. I'm sorry, I've never seen the tuba as a solo instrument. I think one decent tuba solo would have been fine. And dare I say... perhaps a few less sop solos.

Kilties: I was actually pretty impressed. I thought it was an entertaining show. And the brass chorale in the middle of the show was one of the most musical moments of the weekend.

Rochester Crusaders: Much improved over previous years. I thought this was a good corps with a fun show. I thought the opener, Russian Christmas Music was perhaps a tad too challenging for the corps, but they handled it rather well. And the closer, the Great Gate of Kiev was well done.

CorpsVettes: I appreciated the attempt at a different style of music. I really enjoyed the Simple Gifts show.

Renegades: I have always liked watching this corps. They are fun and loud. And as a horn player, I have always appreciated their abundance of talent. But here is my criticism, they were dirty as hell and it seemed as if they were going out of their way not to compete. This corps could contend every year if they wanted to, but it almost seems that they don't want to. I know I'm going to get a ton of responses to this review, and that's fine. They have the talent, they have the size, but they don't put together a show that could win it all. It just wasn't clean enough, especially the feet. Nor was it designed to win. I expected more after a few years. It's like they've stopped evolving.

Brigs: I thought the first half of the show was very strong. But after a while it seemed as if I was watching the show for twenty five minutes. It seemed a tad redundant, and the hornline seemed to run out of gas. I thought the guard was strong.

Bush: I liked the show, definitely the most original thing on the field. I liked the sound but I have some criticisms here as well. First off, the hornline was too small for this show. I'm sure they anticipated having more than 30+ horns when they picked the show. With that said, this music needed a lot more oomph. They lacked the overall volume that every other open class corps had. And the show was a bit redundant. After their quasi-ballad sort of number, they went back into a groove in the pit that we heard several times already. Which brings me to my next point, I couldn't hear the front ensemble unless the rest of the corps wasn't playing. On Saturday I was in the mezzanine/vip section and at finals I was down on the field. And for both performances, I couldn't hear the front ensemble well enough. I thought the drumline was very good, especially the snares. I thought the hornline had a very good sound, and they were one of the few corps that moved and played difficult parts, and they did it very well. (several corps have lost sight of the fact that this is a marching activity) I thought the guard was excellent. Through most of finals I thought they were a lock for high colorguard until I saw Reading. I think their placement hurt them. If they were on later in the evening (perhaps in the top three) I think they could have taken high guard.

From what I've heard, Bush had a difficult season. I think they ended pretty strong... as they usually do. I agreed with their placement.

Cabs: I actually liked this show. The knock on Hawthorne has always been that they only play Latin music, and the year that they tried to do something different (the Egyptian show) it almost killed them. So they are relegated to spanish/latin music. But I thought they did a very good job presenting Latin music in a new and exciting way. When this style of music is done well, it's as exciting as anything on the field. I thought the mellos overplayed much of the opener. There seemed to be individuals sticking out of the ensemble. I thought theirs was the best trumpet section on the field. The trumpets played difficult lines well (while moving, which few other corps attempted to do) and they had a well balanced sound throughout the section, all the way into the upper register of the instrument. And their low brass disspelled the myth that their baritones can only handle whole notes. They handled difficult parts and they sounded very good... and they did it while moving!!! They seemed to be lacking a bit down in tuba land. I would have liked more bottom end. The drumline was very good, although perhaps not as strong as I remember them from past years, but I could be wrong there. I thought their guard was very aggressive and consistent with the style of music. I had Hawthorne in third place

Hurricanes: The best drill on the field. This show, visually was very well designed. You always knew where to look. The hornline, drumline and guard were always perfectly staged. The guard was excellent, and I do not have a problem with them taking high guard Sun night. For me it was down to Bush, CT and Reading in this caption, and almost too close to call. (I thought Reading had an amazing guard performance Sun night. I'll talk about that when I review them) I thought the hornline had a bit of an immature sound but vastly improved over past seasons. I can't wait to see where this corps goes with this next season. They certainly have a lot of momentum going into 2009. I think their placement was right.

Empire: This is where I get critical. If you are too sensitive for criticism, please jump down to the review of Reading. Okay, it's an anniversary show, I get it... it's hard not to understand. But did we need the gigantic signs? I think the music is powerful enough. I was insulted by the cue cards telling me what they were playing. In my opinion, they were unnecessary. But then again, I've never been a big fan of props. You tell your story with music, color and movement. Which brings me to my next criticism... the hornline doesn't move. It's as if they have decided to ignore the movement aspect of the activity. They make no attempt at a marching technique. In fact, often times they are walking around the field in a formation. This is a marching activity. They had the cleanest hornline on the field, no doubt, but they were rarely moving and playing. Far too often, the hornline was either walking or they were parked for extended periods of time. The judges should have nailed them on this and they didn't. They are suppose to be judging the "How" and the "What" and they were only judging the "How" Now, I will say, they had one of the best sounding hornlines of the night. And I thought Joey sounded better than ever. (and the the solos were more tasteful than they've ever been) I can see the argument for them winning high brass. I just wish they had marched. I would have had them in fifth place.

MBI: I thought this was a great show. I loved the "Wrapped Around Your Finger" ballad. Very well done. They had a poweful hornline and one of the best drumlines on the field. My criticism is with their marching... the middle of their show had them not moving for what seemed like two minutes. Then they kneel, they play with some egg shaped maracas and then blow the stands down. This should have hurt them visually. Yet one judge had them in first place in GE Visual. I don't get it. Overall I was happy for them and I agreed with their placement.

Reading: Definitely the clear winner, no question about it. From top to bottom the best show and the best performance. I would liked to have seen a more challenging show. When you win three times in a row (and you're going for your fourth) I think it affords you the opportunity to take a few chances, and I don't feel that they challenged their members enough. They designed a great show, and they are the gold standard in DCA right now, but I found myself wanting more. The hornline was solid with a very warm sound. The drumline was the best on the field. And the guard had a great performance on Sunday night. In fact, right after the show, I had them winning guard. I would really have liked to see them right after CT. (and I think Bush going on as early as they did, hurt their guard's chances) Overall, Reading was the clear winner.

So what will 2009 bring? Reading has defined the activity and what it takes to win over the last four years. They are the king of the hill. If there is a corps out there with intentions of dethroning them, they had better get to work on it right now!!!! It's all about designing a strong show and coming out prepared. That's what Reading has done exceedingly well the last four years. The days of the "August Push" are over. It takes preparation, design, and strong internal communication, combined with hard work to win a championship. I hope someone can make a run at it next year. And no, that's not a knock on Reading, nor do I wish them any ill will. I just believe that competition brings out the best in people, teams, organizations, etc. I would like to see several corps competing for the championship next year. But I will say again that this year's preliminary and finals perofrmances were very enjoyable from top to bottom. I would like to thank all of the corps for a very enjoyable weekend.

"Had Cab's in Third Place":

So did I. Still shaking our head over the SEVENTH PLACE one of the "Drill Judges" dumped them into. I watched all the corps, both nights and saw no real difference in any of their performances. Congrats to you for the great (And honest) review and to all the DCA units for a fine season.

Elphaba

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I don't think the ES member was taking offense but was asking the OP to clarify what he meant by Empire standing around. If somebody is going to post his/her opinions, you should be able to question it especially if that person is tied to another corps and you feel that he/she is wrong. The OP did have positive and negative(or constructive) points for each corps but I did find it very inconsistent. For example, Buccs stand still for approx 40 counts in Canon which to me seemed a lot longer than anything any other corps did. This wasn't mentioned in the review though to me it stood out like a sore thumb.

Just my opinion though.

Well, hopefully we're not going to devolve to the point where everyone takes out his stopwatch and times how long one group moves compared to another. As most of us should be aware, good show design (and judging of same) takes into account not only how long performers move and stand still, but also stride length, tempos, variety of motions, and difficulty in maintaining dress & form.

Dave has his opinions and made the calls as he saw them. I didn't notice any appreciable difference in how Statesmen moved versus the other corps in Scrantion, but that's my opinion. I just find his reasoning a little flawed when he cacked ES for not moving, and then stated that he would've put them in fifth place (not third), yet he also cacked MBI for the same thing, but thought their second place was correct.

Also, I read with interest his (and others') opinions singling out the exceptional quality of Reading's colorguard, yet the judge(s) scored two other guards above theirs (and three scored higher in the Excellence subcaption on Sunday). Not a knock on Bucs guard - they were obviously very good. But, it does highlight the subjectivity with which we all view this activity.

Edited by Dale Bari
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"Had Cab's in Third Place":

So did I. Still shaking our head over the SEVENTH PLACE one of the "Drill Judges" dumped them into. I watched all the corps, both nights and saw no real difference in any of their performances.

Well, that Ensemble Visual caption was weak both days (6th on Saturday), so while the spread opened up (-1.3 change) the Cabs hardly lost places solely because of that (accounting for 0.65 of the 2.25 point loss from Prelims to Finals). If all their other scores had remained the same, Cabs would've gotten a 95.225, which would've kept them 3rd (behind MBI and ahead of ES). So, no, that judge did not cost the Cabs anything.

For anyone having Cabs still in 3rd on Sunday, I'm wondering to what you were reacting.

The guard held up its end, and the brass did the same, but the percussion, visual, and effect captions all lost ground. All but 2 captions had Cabs placing lower on Sunday. All but 2 captions had Cabs scoring lower on Sunday. (And, those 2 pair consisted of 3 different captions.) The 2 GE Vis judges agreed within 1 place and 0.3 on Sunday relative to their caption winners. The 2 GE Music judges agreed within 1 place and 0.3 relative to their caption winners. In Perc, the Field and Ensemble judges agreed on place and within 0.1 relative to the caption winners, which echoed the results on Saturday (agreed to place and within 0.2 from the winners), except 2 places lower.

No, the judges got that call right.

PS: Could we all please do some judicious snipping when replying to long posts, esp when all that's being added is a "Ditto to that" or an "Agreed" or what have you? Thanks

Edited by Dale Bari
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Well, hopefully we're not going to devolve to the point where everyone takes out his stopwatch and times how long one group moves compared to another. As most of us should be aware, good show design (and judging of same) takes into account not only how long performers move and stand still, but also stride length, tempos, variety of motions, and difficulty in maintaining dress & form.

Dale,

I agree. I justed wanted to use the timing as an example of how the OP's review was flawed and in my opinion a wee bit biased. I personally didn't use a stopwatch but I have heard it from others over the summer and it is noted and shown on You Tube. I do hope Dave replies to the ES member.

By the way I think you have posted some of the most honest, unbiased and straight forward reviews over the last couple of years. It is much appreciated. Wish you had been at finals this year.

Edited by Canuck DCGroupie
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By the way I think you have posted some of the most honest, unbiased and straight forward reviews over the last couple of years. It is much appreciated. Wish you had been at finals this year.

I wish I had been at Finals too. But, it wasn't in the cards. Thanks anyways.

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So one he picks on one thing and he is biased?

If that was true, he would only be singing praises about Bush, which you can clearly see that he doesn't.

Guys, it is one person's view. Don't get all upset. He feels one way, you guys feel another way. Such is life. Can't reach everybody. Don't try to after it's all over. Just move on and look forward to next year.

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Any review of Alliance, or the other A Class Finalist? Just curious... I enjoyed the other reviews, but I wanted to hear about both classes (at least in Finals).

The Alliance drum line scares me. They're good, know it, and perform their hearts out because of it. Oh, and they were 8th overall in percussion.

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So one he picks on one thing and he is biased?

If that was true, he would only be singing praises about Bush, which you can clearly see that he doesn't.

i've found former members can be the MOST biased reviewer. not just positively but negatively as well.

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So one he picks on one thing and he is biased?

If that was true, he would only be singing praises about Bush, which you can clearly see that he doesn't.

Guys, it is one person's view. Don't get all upset. He feels one way, you guys feel another way. Such is life. Can't reach everybody. Don't try to after it's all over. Just move on and look forward to next year.

Well, if you're picking on Canuck, he said "a wee bit biased", and I don't think he meant that, because Dave marched Bush, he was tilted in favor of Bush. It's just that Dave seemed to pick on one aspect of one corps (and some others somewhat) but didn't apply that criticism equally. I pointed out that Dave did not seem to draw the same conclusion about another corps that he criticized the same way. So, no one here that I saw was accusing him of some major bias - just for hitting some corps differently.

It's his review - he's allowed to his opinion, just as others are allowed to call him on some kinds of judgments. Overall, I thought his review was pretty good. I'm glad he wrote it, because it gives me a chance to see what others thought of the show. OK, so he thought Cabs were still third on Sunday. His opinion differs from the judges'. Take that for what it is. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, in drum corps, as in most of Life.

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