Serenade in Brass

[buzzgok]

I found my notes last night, they were hiding in my car. On with the show.

Marine Corps

First up for the night to set the tone of what great corps we were going to see tonight were the Marines. They had 47 horns, 14 battery and 2 in the pit. The 47 horns sounded like 70 on stage. Wow, what a smooth sound! Everything was so balanced, you could hear the seconds and thirds coming through with no problem. They started the show with the Star Spangled Banner. A very beautiful arrangement! Nice touch with the Major turning around and leading the crowd in the singing of the National Anthem. The next tune they played, was "Another Opening from Another Show." They did a very nice arrangement of the tune and then they made it their own. During one part of the tune, the low brass keep the melody going for Another Opening, but then the upper brass went into The Stars and Stripes. The parts fit perfectly! Was realy awesome to hear. Throught their performance, you heard nothing short of a well balanced hornline and a drumline that was there, but not over powering. The Marines did make an announcement that they are celebrating their 75th anniversary. They ended their portion of the concert with their signature tune, Stars and Stripes Forever. All I can say is what a way to start a night!!

Mighty St. Joe's

Next up was Mighty St. Joe's. They brought 38 horns and 18 in the battery. They started the show with Amazing Grace. WOW! What a sound!! Full balanced sound and again, sounded like more horns then what was up on stage. The drumline complimented the hornline tremendously. Loved to hear them play their signature tune, Bully!! The arrangement of Battle Hymn was very well played. I loved how they came to the edge of the stage for Georgia on my Mind and literally blew the house down!

Swing House

Then it was time for Swing House. What can I say that I didn't say before. I love the arrangements that they play. The soprano screamers are incredible. They have 25 horns and it sounds like a full compliment of horns. You can clearly hear all the parts to the arrangements that Larry Kershner wrote. John Rozum on the trap set, you are the man!! For anyone who went to the after show party, Swing House played an encore performance. Listening to them at the Forum was great, getting to hear them up close at the Crown Plaza was incredible!

Navy

After Swing House, it was time for the Navy to entertain us, and that they did. They had 45 horns, 14 battery and 11 in the pit. The warm up started soft and then as they went, they built in volume. Was very controlled, not over-blown. They went the opening tune from the Batman movie. Being a Batman fan, I wondered if anyone would play any of the tunes from last year's Dark Knight movie. Yes they did, and was very well done! With the voicing, they played the tune just as dark as the original recording. Very well played!! I was sitting on the side of the pit where I could see the amp and guitar on the stage. I had serious reservations seeing this equipment on the stage as I think electronics and drum corps do not mix. (my personal opinion) However, they used the guitar for the drum solo which was two Guns and Roses tunes, Welcome to the Jungle, into November Rain. The guitarist lead off with the opening notes from Welcome to the Jungle. The volume on the guitar was not overly loud, but loud enough that you could hear it and still follow it when the battery came in. Kudos to the guitarist, he played the intro really well!! When the pit made the transition from Jungle to November Rain, the battery used lighters like they were at a concert. Nice visual! The hornline then gave the drumline a break and played a horn corale. Very well played being able to hear all the voices including seconds and thirds as well as the mellophone lines. Navy closed their portion of the night by playing a medley of service songs. This was a well packaged show, always look forward to hearing them.

Hip Pickles

Next up was the Hip Pickles. These four guys are nuts! What can I say. They can lay down a samba beat that sounds like it came right from Rio De Janeiro! I wish I could have one fourth the energy these guys have! They also played at the party after the show. Seeing them on stage was great, seeing them up close and personal at the party was even better. If you have never seen these guys play, if you get a chance, you really need to check them out!

Westshoremen

Ok, next up, The Westshoremen Alumni. I am going to apologize in advance if I come across sounding biased. I didn't get a count of the horns or battery since I was busy with videotaping the corps, however, I can tell you there were 18 contras on that stage! Holy smokes!! The battery came out and played the hornline on. Contras were the first out the door. Horns were like the energizer rabbit, they kept coming and coming till there was no more room on the stage, and then they fit a few more horns on the stage. They started their portion of the show with America. Nice full low brass sound to start the tune building with upper brass and then the contras kick in. For having 18 contras on stage, the sound and volume was very well controlled. They could have easily overpowered the rest of the horns for the night, but that didn't happen. Same with the battery. There was 24 in the battery and these guys can play! I know during sound check there were concerns of the battery overpowering the horns which, during practice did happen. Well, during the show, everything balanced out. Nice full sound from the horns and the quality of playing from the battery. Just one thing guys, bring back the pit for next year!!

Yankee Rebels

Next to take the stage, our friends from the south, the Yankee Rebels. It was nice to be able to sit back and enjoy the show. Nice full sound from 36 horns, and the crowd loved the show! The corps sounded great two weeks ago in Baltimore at their home show, and they sounded even better Saturday night. Was really great to hear the snares using brushes on the snares at one point in the show. I also loved the use of the rope snare during the civil war medley.

Skyliners

Ok, here comes a corps that I don't get to see too often. But everytime I do, they remind me of the Skyliners I remember as a kid. They come out with a style all their own, combined with the musical arrangements from Hy Dreitzer and just blow the roof off of the building! The entire hornline is very strong and all the horn voices come through. Then combined with the monster drumline they have is a recipe for an enjoyable concert. The snareline has incredible chops! They served up more singles than a Wendy's restaurant. I loved the New York medley and was great to hear them played the Skyliner national anthem, New York, New York. The only thing that was missing was the traffic jam. Then they kicked it into overdrive and played Elk's parade. It's so great to hear them belt out Elk's parade!! My only complaint, I wish they would have played the Skyliner cadence for the horns to come on stage. I thought when the drums came out first, they were going to do that. Oh well, maybe next time.

Buccaneer Alumni

When I saw the Bucs were going to follow the Skyliner Alumni, I was concerned, Skyliners are a tough act to follow. Well, I should have never even thought of that. It was really nice to see Reading come out on stage with 45 horns and 15 in the battery. This is the biggest I have seen the Bucs in a long time and it was really great to see them getting larger! The hornline had a nice full sound to it, you could hear all parts coming through. The arrangements were really well done. I loved the way they did Belivia. Nice controlled dynamics on the horns and drums. Low brass really came through the entire tune! I really loved the vocal ending to the tune, nice touch! Russian Christmas Music is my favorite tune to be played by any corps. I loved it when the competitive Bucs played it on the field and the alumni did an excellent chart of the tune as well!! Thanks for coming back to Serenade year after year!

Caballeros Alumni

What a way to end the night! This was the second time in two weeks I got to see the Cabs. They blew me away two weeks ago, and they blew away whatever was left of me Saturday night. I swear they moved the seats back 6 feet. From the beginning of their performance, to the last note, there was no let down in their show. The hornline was loud when it needed to be, and soft when it was to be soft. Very dynamic, very controlled. Everyone on stage was having fun with the show and you could tell, it came across with the quality of sound. The only downer, was the fact that our seats were not four rows from the front like they were for the Dixie Stinger so we could get the full volume of the horns. Maybe next time.

My take. I really enjoyed the night of entertainment and it was truly a full night of entertainment. There was no let down, all the corps performed above and beyond all expectaions. It's clearly easy to see why you need to send your ticket order back the day you get the flyer in the mail because you really do not want to miss the show! Five Star Brass, kudos for another great evening of entertainment, I'm looking forward to next year's show already. (hopefully performing with Westshore's pit) My fiance really enjoyed herself as well. She is looking forward to seeing a competition this summer. Southwest band boosters, thanks for working the show! I know you have been doing this for several years, but I don't remember how many years you have been doing it. Thanks again!

This was the 34th annual Serenade in Brass, I wonder what Uncle Larry has in store for next year's 35th edition.

Had this posted, and then realized I didn't acnowledge the DCP'ers I met. Tony, as usual, a pleasure to talk to you. Andyroo, JImF-3rdBari and Robbie Ellis, it was a pleaure meeting you both. Fran, as always, great to talk to you and hope for you and Barb to be back in Westshore's pit next year!

Edited April 22, 2009 by buzzgok

[steelcityrabbit]

Best line of the entire review:

They served up more singles than a Wendy's restaurant.

[Fran Haring]

Another terrific review, Scott.... good to see you and your fiance again!

And hats off to the Five Star Brass crew for once again running such a great event at a very affordable price.

At the Dixie Stinger a couple of weeks ago, a man from Pennsylvania came up to me and asked me for more info on the Serenade in Brass show.

When I told him who was in the lineup, he asked what the ticket prices were.... he said he thought it would be 100 dollars a ticket, with all those corps in the show. (NOT kidding here) When I told him the tickets were only 18 bucks apiece, he couldn't believe it. He said he was going to do his best to get to the show... I hope he made it there!

Fran

[TennTux]

Scott,

I've gotta agree with Fran's assestment...

"Another terrific review, Scott.... good to see you and your fiancé again!"

And John "steelcityrabbit" Gilliland, Jr's comment because I like Wendy's restaurants.. (and it was a great line!)

Had this posted, and then realized I didn't acnowledge the DCP'ers I met. Tony, as usual, a pleasure to talk to you.

That pleasure was all mine... Great seeing you and your fiancé again!

*edited to add my SIB photos links*

http://www.drumcorpsplanet.com/forums/inde...p;#entry2511017

Edited April 21, 2009 by TennTux

[Jeff Ream]

great review scott!!

[buzzgok]

Thanks for the kind words everyone, I appreciate it!

[TomMoore]

Buccaneer Alumni

When I saw the Bucs were going to follow the Skyliner Alumni, I was concerned, Skyliners are a tough act to follow. Well, I should have never even thought of that. It was really nice to see Reading come out on stage with 45 horns and 15 in the battery. This is the biggest I have seen the Bucs in a long time and it was really great to see them getting larger! The hornline had a nice full sound to it, you could hear all parts coming through. The arrangements were really well done. I loved the way the did Belivia. Nice controlled dynamics on the horns and drums. Low brass really came through the entire tune! I really loved the vocal ending to the tune, nice touch! Russian Christmas Music is my favorite tune to be played by any corps. I loved it when the competitive Bucs played it on the field and the alumni did an excellent chart of the tune as well!! Thanks for coming back to Serenade year after year!

Great review, Scott. Thanks for sharing your impressions with us. It was a great evening of fantastic performances by all ensembles, and I, too, enjoyed every minute of it.

I gotta give special props to the fine men and women in the Bucs Alumni. I was excited when I learned that they would be playing great Buccaneers tunes from the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s -- the men and women on the stage -- and their repertoire -- are reflections of the great history of the Balance in Blue. What's more, the improvement is tremendous and the new interest of many younger Buccaneers alumni is quite gratifying. The leadership of the Buccaneer Alumni Association has done a great job with an ambitious, forward-looking agenda. Well done!