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Chambersburg 6/19


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Jeff thank you for the review. How were the fans reaction to the use of synths. If there was any. In your mind was most of the shows fan friendly, Judge friendly or a good balance for the first show of the year.

Dean

well...

i sat amongst a mostly older crowd. if anyone was for it, they didnt really speak up. More than a few near me did mention the balance issues, and there a few folks complaning during breaks about them in there.

to be honest, since nothing was really overdone in terms of how the synths were used except Cadets intro, which per Hops blog could be a moving warmup, no one was offended. the best usage of the 5 was Boston when she took a bite out of the apple.

but it is June, so who only knows what is to come.

as far as fan friendly/judge friendly...

it was a nice blend from each show actually. While the Crown stuff may not be mainstream tunes like WSS, the presentation and arrangement of it really works. Boston also with the storyline and visual enhancements came across well. Glassmen were musically and visually fun, but the concept its defined enough to really suck the crowd in yet. Colts you get right away, but their biggest issues are performance.

Cadets...if you dont know something about WSS, you're in need of a social life. If you know drum corps, you catch the 84 and classic cadets moments. this to me reminded me in tone of the 2001-2003 shows...very fun and appealing, even more aggressive. There is detailing to come and some really abrupt transitions to be smoothed out.

I feel for them in a way......old fans worship 84, as they should. and even 94. So you have that dillemma.....keep it fresh, but yet the music basically dictates some things have to be as they were before. Like i said...there are moments where i close my eyes and i hear 84. There's some cool twists in places to freshen things up. Honestly, if they dont throw in a Z Pull I'd be so dissapointed. But the key is to get the twists that arent considered rehash done in a way that it doesnt come across as change for the sake of change, and it's too early right now for that to be totally readable.

they are right now at a double at least. I am sure the ending drill when done can be a triple. The key is as they change tweak and refine......will they be held at third, or be able to score at will.

Edited by jeffsnewjetta
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Each stadium is going to 'sound' different. I highly doubt that the fields the corps have been rehearsing on have the exact same 'sound' as the performance stadiums. That, said, though...they should be able to work things out better. I was not there, but did the corps' do a sound check before the performance started?

a few did, but the worst offender had rehearsed in the stadium for 2/3 days

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Thanks for the review!

From Hops blog, it sounded like The Cadets were going to be overtime by about one minute - was this the case? They don't give penalties this early in the season for overtime so, in spite of not marching the closer, if The Cadets had as much drill on the field as Crown they would, therefore, be able to have enough build-up in their score to still come in first.

In addition, wasn't there something about DCI deciding not to affect scores for electronics issues early in the year as it was felt that it takes longer for corps to figure out the balance issues and such, as they start moving from place to place and performing in various different sized (often larger) stadiums than they have been rehearsing in during spring training?

How do band circuits handle this? Do they allow for amp/electronics issues in the early shows to allow the bands to experiment with how things sound in differeing stadiums? Or do they "zapp" the scores right from the start of the season?

no idea what the time was on the show, tho i'd guess long, plus tempos may not be where they want them.

as for a free pass, really if you do spring training as long as some of these corps do, you should have an idea on balance.

the circuit i work with in the fall gives breaks on time early, but not balance, as it should be

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Jeff - Thanks for the excellent review!

Try Five Guys if you want a serious burger moment ( their freedom fries rule )

oh been there. but there wasnt one 4 minutes from the show site.

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Remember, Hop has a veto on all timing penalties. I think it says so in the DCI bylaws :rolleyes:

Jeff- what'd you have at FR's?

why thanks for asking :w00t:

1/2 pound cheddar bacon burger, added steak sauce.

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I THINK the MAJORITY of fans want to hear "somewhat recognizable" music and want to be entertained.

They just like to see the kids having fun, which translates to THEM having fun.

The last few years GENERALLY, I THINK MOST judges have been rewarding more exotic music and concepts.

My PERSONAL VIEW is the judges are so connected to "educational" music they kind of look down of more popular offerings.

I remember when I was in college how much fun it was for most of my peers to make fun of "My Sharona" by the Knack because it was so "easy". Sorry, but I LIKED that tune.

The confusion is embedded in the activity; sometimes we call it A SHOW and sometimes we call it A COMPETITION.

Fans like A SHOW; judges adjudicate a COMPETITION.

Not meaning to hijack this topic, but there a many people who enjoy both "somewhat recognizable" and "not so recognizable" music. There are many levels to what entertains us. Just because you may not 'know' the music being played does not mean it isn't fan friendly or entertaining. The same thing can be said in either direction. I personally would prefer not to hear another version of Malaguena, but I'm sure I will...and I'm also sure it may or may not be entertaining. It all depends on how well it is arranged/performed.

IMHO, the words "show" and "competition" are easily interchangeable. They really do mean the same thing, for the most part, in this genre.

I think the judges rewarding more exotic music and concepts really is a reflection of how well those productions are being performed...not a statement towards the positive or negative of using recognizable vs non recognizable.

All shows, that are put together well and performed well will appeal to the masses (fans and judges). There are many shows I've not liked, but recognize the quality in the production...as well as shows I've liked, but just didn't quite cut it from execution or design issues.

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I really don't think it is....Cadets have just too strong a program this year. Sure Crown may beat them MAYBE once, but I highly doubt it. I guess we'll see. All I can hope for is some great drum corps this season!

You are absolutely correct! Crown has a good corps but they took a strange turn with their show design this year. The Cadets show design is on a different level than Crown (in a good way). The fact that Crown beat Cadets in visual is a head scratcher. I was also at the show friday night and the "REVIEW" (opinions) given by the originator of this post was nothing more than one persons opinions. As a matter of fact, some of his observations are based on nothing but opinion and personal taste. I am sure I will be slammed for this response but it angers me when I read a "REVIEW" that is nothing more than one persons opinions. Jeff, if you insist on sharing your observations, please try to use even a little obectivity! Some of you observations are just flat out wrong. Folks step away from the computer and go catch a show in person. The Cadets have a wonderful show this year and they are real treat to see.

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Each stadium is going to 'sound' different. I highly doubt that the fields the corps have been rehearsing on have the exact same 'sound' as the performance stadiums. That, said, though...they should be able to work things out better. I was not there, but did the corps' do a sound check before the performance started?

In 1984 my line got hit for balance problems at a mid-season show. It was a covered statium and the bass sound just kind of reverberated under that roof. I was told in critique that as caption head it was my responsibility to get to the stadium and check it out to see if there was anything I needed to adjust for.

In a smaller Open class type corps this may not be logistically possible, but with all the rolling stock a World class corps has, isn't it feasable that they do this? I mean they've had amps for a few years now, shouldn't they be able to at least go and assess the field for anything that might cause balance problems (If they don't know it already?)

Or is all this stuff about every field being different just an excuse to cover the fact that they can't get it right?

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I feel for them in a way......old fans worship 84, as they should. and even 94. So you have that dillemma.....keep it fresh, but yet the music basically dictates some things have to be as they were before. Like i said...there are moments where i close my eyes and i hear 84. There's some cool twists in places to freshen things up. Honestly, if they dont throw in a Z Pull I'd be so dissapointed. But the key is to get the twists that arent considered rehash done in a way that it doesnt come across as change for the sake of change, and it's too early right now for that to be totally readable.

I'm not worried about Cadets ability to salute the past and keep it fresh. Remember the Z-pull in the 1990 championship show? Anybody learning the 84 show from old videos should check out the end of 1990 - amazing, and pretty funny too. My first DCI experience was Cadets 1990. No reference for me at all to 84, and I laughed my a** off when they backed up that Z-pull.

Then again in WSS 1994, they hit the company front only to turn around and march backwards. Pretty funny stuff.

I'm sure the design team will keep it new with an appreciating wink to the past.

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