Corps at the Crest (Walnut) - 6/20

[PCSoprano9702]

This may have been the least satisfying drum corps show I've ever been to. You can excuse some of it as "opening night jitters" but there were a lot of fundamental mistakes on the field and a lot of uninspired programs. These corps have a lot of work to do yet. It's disappointing to pay full price and get a partial production. I can't imagine June 20 snuck up on them! SCV, the traditional worst offender in this regard, saved the show with a great production.

Kingsmen - small exhibition group, saw them from the side waiting to get in. Guard uniforms look like nuns. Playing West Side Story

SoCal Dream - playing Santana, some drill issues and feet in their horns but sound great standing still. Soloists rock!

VK - A decent show, but not terribly funny. I hope more gags get added in as they clean their show. The "story" of the girl who falls of the highwire is hard to follow, and doesn't present the emotion their striving for quite yet. I liked the running man bit.

Mystical - best part of the show was helmet-watch. Though you'd think with 3 drum majors for a ~40 person horn line, one of them could walk out there and pick it up (psst. this is why you have field judges!). Much improved over last year.

Impulse - needs a lot of work. I was so annoyed by the design and performance that I was forced to watch the drumline exclusively. Coincidentally, they have a great drum line - possibly the best in Div II. I hope the rest of the corps can catch up.

Incognito - old school BD uniforms and brass horns look very cool from high up. The code names for staff and the DM are pointless and cheesy. By far their best sound and look was before the salute (do they get credit for that?) big GE moment with their inexplicably timed/sized corps flag seemed wasted so early in the show.

Gold - can't remember the show, but I enjoyed it. Clear winners of Div II with a solid sound and an apparent effort to acheive in their demanding drill.

Intermission - met up with a number of old friends. Drum corps shows are great for that. General disappointment with the whole keyboard business among them. Parking the drum line for the ballad seems to be a requirement in Div II this year. A waste of bodies in the drill and clean marching demonstration by the silent drumline. Not sure why they all seemed to do that.

Mandarins - Finally some drum corps! Keyboards add a low end to the brass impacts which still feels like cheating ("where'd all those contras come from" *look at left hand of girl at keyboard* ... "Oh...") Great show. Most demanding book I've heard from them in ages (ever?). Pretty clean and well poised visually - they look like their trying. Loved the show, don't see a theme but don't need one to enjoy it.

Academy - This music sounds familiar. Last year's show made better. Musically and visually dirty, but I can see what they're going for. I look forward to seeing how this develops by 7/3. The guard is vastly improved and really contributes to the show's emotion and design.

PC - Love the new uniforms, very fitting to the corps personality and visually very striking. The reflective shakos can be distracting. I don't see much potential in this show. Hopefully I'm wrong and a cleaner show will pop for me. A corpsmember operates the mixer board throughout the show. While I don't care for mixerboards, I believe this is more appropriate than some staffer in flip-flops operating it. Seems like it should be a requirement, actually. Love the 6 person cymbal line!

BD - CHAIRS! It's a drum, bugle, and chair corps. Reminded me of the dice from 92 in the opener, then like caterers in a banquet hall rearranging chairs thereafter. The drum line is exceptional! Some neat horn parts, a taste of Happy Days are Here Again from a late 80s BD show. It'd be neat to get more melody out of them. There's an emotional disconnect. Very busy show, but could contend for the title... I think it has what judges like.

SCV - I saw this corps at the gate and turned 16 all over again. Love the uniforms! The DMs look good from high up, but weird up close. This show is great. I have watched SCV shows develop a lot over the years and I see this growing into a great show. Very clean, and a little safe visually - but clean drill is so much more striking than running around chaotically. App. Spring is great! If I had a baby, it would have been on the track by the end of the company front.

PC "victory" concert - sounds much better standing still. Loved Ave Maria. I think it would have been better after retreat as a) that's when I/we expect a victory gig and b) there were a bunch of people who clearly had no interest and were distracting. So yea corps, boo show schedule!

Retreat - DMs only. no medals (economy?). Scores were uninteresting and as I expected. VK's retreat routine continues to fall flat. They made me more angry than amused. Would have rather seen them in folding chairs. BD might have some they could borrow!

Audience - 3-4 friends of VK kids snuck into the seats behind me and babbled non-stop. I realize they're high school kids, but I really wish they'd show some tact and not talk through the show they stole seats to see. If you want to trash talk, whisper, that's what the adults do! VK's DM came and sat with them for a while. He was quiet and respectful. I wish he could have taught his friends a lesson (he looked tired, actually).

A guy a few rows back took a phone call in the middle of Mystical's production. There was a grand pause after a loud part and this loser completely yells, "What?" into his phone. The stadium's built into a hill, in 20 steps he could have been behind the press box! I decided to stare at him for the rest of his phone call (I enjoyed Mystical's show more when I was just listening and not distracted by the helmet drama). Phone guy didn't get the message, but his wife sure did! She turned red and mouthed an apology. Even with her pleading, he stayed on the call that clearly wasn't urgent.

Fortunately I get another show next week on the beach in Santa Barbara. While my favorite (SCV) won't be there, I'm looking forward to Bluuuuuuu! I hope there's a good turnout for this show, it's been 12 years since we've had drum corps on the Central Coast.

[Scoutnout]

This may have been the least satisfying drum corps show I've ever been to. You can excuse some of it as "opening night jitters" but there were a lot of fundamental mistakes on the field and a lot of uninspired programs. These corps have a lot of work to do yet. It's disappointing to pay full price and get a partial production. I can't imagine June 20 snuck up on them! SCV, the traditional worst offender in this regard, saved the show with a great production.

Kingsmen - small exhibition group, saw them from the side waiting to get in. Guard uniforms look like nuns. Playing West Side Story

SoCal Dream - playing Santana, some drill issues and feet in their horns but sound great standing still. Soloists rock!

VK - A decent show, but not terribly funny. I hope more gags get added in as they clean their show. The "story" of the girl who falls of the highwire is hard to follow, and doesn't present the emotion their striving for quite yet. I liked the running man bit.

Mystical - best part of the show was helmet-watch. Though you'd think with 3 drum majors for a ~40 person horn line, one of them could walk out there and pick it up (psst. this is why you have field judges!). Much improved over last year.

Impulse - needs a lot of work. I was so annoyed by the design and performance that I was forced to watch the drumline exclusively. Coincidentally, they have a great drum line - possibly the best in Div II. I hope the rest of the corps can catch up.

Incognito - old school BD uniforms and brass horns look very cool from high up. The code names for staff and the DM are pointless and cheesy. By far their best sound and look was before the salute (do they get credit for that?) big GE moment with their inexplicably timed/sized corps flag seemed wasted so early in the show.

Gold - can't remember the show, but I enjoyed it. Clear winners of Div II with a solid sound and an apparent effort to acheive in their demanding drill.

Intermission - met up with a number of old friends. Drum corps shows are great for that. General disappointment with the whole keyboard business among them. Parking the drum line for the ballad seems to be a requirement in Div II this year. A waste of bodies in the drill and clean marching demonstration by the silent drumline. Not sure why they all seemed to do that.

Mandarins - Finally some drum corps! Keyboards add a low end to the brass impacts which still feels like cheating ("where'd all those contras come from" *look at left hand of girl at keyboard* ... "Oh...") Great show. Most demanding book I've heard from them in ages (ever?). Pretty clean and well poised visually - they look like their trying. Loved the show, don't see a theme but don't need one to enjoy it.

Academy - This music sounds familiar. Last year's show made better. Musically and visually dirty, but I can see what they're going for. I look forward to seeing how this develops by 7/3. The guard is vastly improved and really contributes to the show's emotion and design.

PC - Love the new uniforms, very fitting to the corps personality and visually very striking. The reflective shakos can be distracting. I don't see much potential in this show. Hopefully I'm wrong and a cleaner show will pop for me. A corpsmember operates the mixer board throughout the show. While I don't care for mixerboards, I believe this is more appropriate than some staffer in flip-flops operating it. Seems like it should be a requirement, actually. Love the 6 person cymbal line!

BD - CHAIRS! It's a drum, bugle, and chair corps. Reminded me of the dice from 92 in the opener, then like caterers in a banquet hall rearranging chairs thereafter. The drum line is exceptional! Some neat horn parts, a taste of Happy Days are Here Again from a late 80s BD show. It'd be neat to get more melody out of them. There's an emotional disconnect. Very busy show, but could contend for the title... I think it has what judges like.

SCV - I saw this corps at the gate and turned 16 all over again. Love the uniforms! The DMs look good from high up, but weird up close. This show is great. I have watched SCV shows develop a lot over the years and I see this growing into a great show. Very clean, and a little safe visually - but clean drill is so much more striking than running around chaotically. App. Spring is great! If I had a baby, it would have been on the track by the end of the company front.

PC "victory" concert - sounds much better standing still. Loved Ave Maria. I think it would have been better after retreat as a) that's when I/we expect a victory gig and b) there were a bunch of people who clearly had no interest and were distracting. So yea corps, boo show schedule!

Retreat - DMs only. no medals (economy?). Scores were uninteresting and as I expected. VK's retreat routine continues to fall flat. They made me more angry than amused. Would have rather seen them in folding chairs. BD might have some they could borrow!

Audience - 3-4 friends of VK kids snuck into the seats behind me and babbled non-stop. I realize they're high school kids, but I really wish they'd show some tact and not talk through the show they stole seats to see. If you want to trash talk, whisper, that's what the adults do! VK's DM came and sat with them for a while. He was quiet and respectful. I wish he could have taught his friends a lesson (he looked tired, actually).

A guy a few rows back took a phone call in the middle of Mystical's production. There was a grand pause after a loud part and this loser completely yells, "What?" into his phone. The stadium's built into a hill, in 20 steps he could have been behind the press box! I decided to stare at him for the rest of his phone call (I enjoyed Mystical's show more when I was just listening and not distracted by the helmet drama). Phone guy didn't get the message, but his wife sure did! She turned red and mouthed an apology. Even with her pleading, he stayed on the call that clearly wasn't urgent.

Fortunately I get another show next week on the beach in Santa Barbara. While my favorite (SCV) won't be there, I'm looking forward to Bluuuuuuu! I hope there's a good turnout for this show, it's been 12 years since we've had drum corps on the Central Coast.

Very busy show, but could contend for the title... I think it has what judges like.

what they have that judges will like is the STAFF

[Thom]

VK - A decent show, but not terribly funny. I hope more gags get added in as they clean their show. The "story" of the girl who falls of the highwire is hard to follow, and doesn't present the emotion their striving for quite yet. I liked the running man bit.

Retreat - DMs only. no medals (economy?). Scores were uninteresting and as I expected. VK's retreat routine continues to fall flat. They made me more angry than amused. Would have rather seen them in folding chairs. BD might have some they could borrow!

Audience - 3-4 friends of VK kids snuck into the seats behind me and babbled non-stop. I realize they're high school kids, but I really wish they'd show some tact and not talk through the show they stole seats to see. If you want to trash talk, whisper, that's what the adults do! VK's DM came and sat with them for a while. He was quiet and respectful. I wish he could have taught his friends a lesson (he looked tired, actually).

Thank you for the review.

The "highwire" act is a work in progress.

We will be inserting the Gags during the cleaning process.

As for the Retreat, The Staff and Management have discussed the behavior with the kids. We will be paying more attention to that.

[saxfreq1128]

This may have been the least satisfying drum corps show I've ever been to. You can excuse some of it as "opening night jitters" but there were a lot of fundamental mistakes on the field and a lot of uninspired programs. These corps have a lot of work to do yet. It's disappointing to pay full price and get a partial production. I can't imagine June 20 snuck up on them! SCV, the traditional worst offender in this regard, saved the show with a great production.

Maybe fans at the first shows are being cheated...

But I mean... If you acknowledge that there are often corps that don't have full programs this early in the season, isn't it fair to expect fans to realize this if they want to go to one of these shows? Shouldn't they, well, get over it?

Or maybe you're right. 12 corps pouring their hearts out for you -- complete shows or otherwise -- isn't worth it at all.

Edited June 23, 2009 by saxfreq1128

[MusicCub86]

Maybe fans at the first shows are being cheated...

But I mean... If you acknowledge that there are often corps that don't have full programs this early in the season, isn't it fair to expect fans to realize this if they want to go to one of these shows? Shouldn't they, well, get over it?

Or maybe you're right. 12 corps pouring their hearts out for you -- complete shows or otherwise -- isn't worth it at all.

I don't think he's at all wrong in feeling a bit cheated by lackluster, unfinished performances year after year... especially when paying the same price for tix as those lucky enough to live east of the Rockies late season. For many of us on the west coast, this is the only time we get to see drum corps live. The first two weekends are usually all we get for the big boys, save for Pacific Crest and occassionally the Mandarins who traditionally stick around for another week or two. It'd be nice to have a late season swing for DCI West once in a while, but that's probably never going to happen... I don't think he was knocking the kids at all either, they're obviously working their tails off just like everyone else! It's just unfortunate for their local fans, alumni, and potential recruits that this is the only time we get to see them perform.

[saxfreq1128]

That's fair.

All I'm saying is that there's a degree to which fans at these shows have to account for how early in the season it is, and how this obviously affects the shows on the field. I mean, calling a corps "lackluster" at the first performance of the season seems a tad unaccommodating, don't you think? They're busting their ##### to be as minimally "lackluster" is they can; but as its their first show, there are going to be some performance issues.

I agree that there should be a late-season West Coast push to give these fans the benefit of top notch performances...

But that wouldn't make the opening shows any less raggedy or lackluster than they're obviously -- by nature -- going to be.

[MusicCub86]

Nah, I really don't see it as unaccomodating (for the staff more than anything), but then again that's just IMO. Granted some shows these days may be a bit more complex, but there's no reason why they can't just play the closer or whatnot at a standstill, is there? They obviously have it all memorized at this point. Especially when year after year at these shows it's almost every corps cutting the show short. When it's one right after the other, yeah... it seems a bit lackluster. Especially when that's all we get to see on the West Coast.

As Newseditor44 so eloquently stated the other day, "You feel cheated, kinda like a prom queen who lost "it" in the back seat of a Chevy and then got bailed on without a hug." No one's knocking the kids, their dedication/work ethic, or their performance with what they're given. I don't think there's anything wrong with being a West Coast drum corps fan and wanting to see a FULL live show from the hometown corps, or any corps for that matter, when you pay to see it. Doesn't mean it has to be August-ready, but give us a little something more than just the tip, just to see how it feels...

[PCSoprano9702]

I didn't mean for my show comments to be aimed at the corps membership. The quality of the show at this early stage has more to do with staff than members. The staff need to budget their rehearsal time to have a complete, decent program by the first show. This allows them and their membership an entire summer of cleaning/tweaking resulting overall in better shows at the end of the season.

I don't think anyone in the stands expected a championship performance.

[MusicCub86]

Exactly :)

[DcFr3aK]

I didn't mean for my show comments to be aimed at the corps membership. The quality of the show at this early stage has more to do with staff than members. The staff need to budget their rehearsal time to have a complete, decent program by the first show. This allows them and their membership an entire summer of cleaning/tweaking resulting overall in better shows at the end of the season.

I don't think anyone in the stands expected a championship performance.

Oh, I beg to differ! I expect perfection right out of the gate!

[sarcasm off]

I enjoyed this show immensely! Before intermission was a bit disconcerning, but after int. was more then I could ask for! Mandarins all the way to SCV...I was blown away! This being my first year on the back side of the DM's still brings tears to my eyes every once in a while, but just gives me so much joy to know I was apart of it!

Great job to everyone!

Now...STOP SUCKING!