Rio Rancho Cantina

[mcjordansc]

Considering that the Bluecoats finished putting their closer on the field yesterday, maybe we shouldn't rush to judgment about their visual program or show design.

A little late for a "elite" corps to be finishing their show is it not? Maybe they made some changes in their closer, but to have just got it on the field? I am calling BS on this one.

[Elmo Blatch]

A little late for a "elite" corps to be finishing their show is it not? Maybe they made some changes in their closer, but to have just got it on the field? I am calling BS on this one.

Nah, it is true.

[MidTN Mello]

A little late for a "elite" corps to be finishing their show is it not? Maybe they made some changes in their closer, but to have just got it on the field? I am calling BS on this one.

Wouldn't surprise me. BD wasn't finished on saturday and Bluecoats finished on monday. BD seemingly finished on monday as well,which I infer from twitter, but even if they finished it sunday, that's just one day difference and the Bluecoats just traversed the country. Are the Blue Devils not an "elite" corps anymore? Didn't HNC just finish during this week too?

[BariEuph]

wooo, i'm excited for glendale tonight! should be a pretty good show!

[oldbandguy]

A little late for a "elite" corps to be finishing their show is it not? Maybe they made some changes in their closer, but to have just got it on the field? I am calling BS on this one.

You might want to rethink that. Along with Blue Devils just learning the end of their show you can add Holy Name Cadets to the list.

[Peel Paint]

Nice job, Terri, on your review. Thanks for sharing that. I'm with you on all the electronics stuff taking you out of the drum corps moment. Not good.

[Granny Smith]

Terri, that is how a review is done. Fantastic job! Thank you.

[kadune]

A little late for a "elite" corps to be finishing their show is it not? Maybe they made some changes in their closer, but to have just got it on the field? I am calling BS on this one.

I believe it's called copious amounts of rain.

[pistolpete]

Way to go, Bloo. Great score for your first show.

[wesleyrp]

HHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! I can't wait to show my husband that! but still: Go Horns!

Sorry I let down the Trooper fans in the stands. I'm not into the whole texting and iPhone thing. I'll have to learn how to do that someday. My hubby had an iPhone but I didn't want to try to rip it from his hands as he was getting updates on the Longhorns between corps.

I also haven't got time to finish reading the whole thread because I've got to drive out of ABQ toward Durango in just a few. So I'll give a very brief review:

Academy: solid show to work with, entertainment value is there once it's more readable from the stands. They're reaching (just like everyone else) and you'll enjoy what you see as they clean and gain confidence. Crowd reactions were pretty good.

Troopers: obviously I'd love to say how fantastic my home team is, and they are! The show is extremely well-written with both crowd and adjudicator in mind. Lots of good melodic content, rich brass - TRUMPETS! Woo! There's one section after the ballad that will part your hair! (in a good way, that is). Perc was rockin' last night. Of course there's the usual early season issues to work on with timing and ensemble and feet in the horns, etc. Guard is going to turn some heads once they get more confident.

SCV: hm. I have done tons of Copland research. I wrote my masters thesis on the Piano Fantasy and lots of other papers for my academic work went that direction as well. This show does seem to give App Spring a nice treatment. Why did I start my review the "hm" you might ask? The big push at the end would have completely blown me away if they just didn't have.... wait for it... the synth. Yeah, I said it. I don't like it in this show. (I'll post more about that later) But otherwise this is a really good show with a lot of Martha Graham-esque body movement. I enjoyed that a lot.

Bluecoats: Totally dominated the field. Show is incredibly enjoyable but also demanding enough to turn heads. I'm not sure it's demanding enough to turn top 3 heads, but we'll see. Definitely deserved to top SCV tonight, IMO. But please, please, PLEASE would someone tell the sound guys for the pit to TURN IT ALL DOWN? Please?

So, about amps and synths at Rio Rancho: the sound effects of wind from BK and Academy were pointless to me. They could have been achieved by other means and been MORE effective. The synth sounds of all the corps (when I could hear them, which sometimes I couldn't - which begs the question: why have it?) were entirely anachronistic. I am sitting there enjoying this wonderful sound from the field and then get JOLTED back into electronic-land because of the synth. I was displeased, and let me tell you I was trying very hard to keep an open mind about this and not pre-judge. So when SCV - one of my all time favorite ensembles - resorted to hyper-bassing their big push I cringed. It just makes me sad. We'll see if some of this improves over the season, but you can't improve on anachronistic. That's the problem.

Also, when the pit is over-amped I have the same "jolted" response. Bluecoats have an incredible show, and I don't like being pulled to far into electronic-land by the pit being too loud. Please turn it down when the venue is small. You don't need to beat me over the head with the pit.

Ok, have to drive now. Ya'll have fun tearing up my review since I'll have no internet access for most of the next week.

I guess you're already gone, but how about a few words to describe BK? No Review of them? Anybody else catch them last night? It'd be nice if they were included too ..... ha ha

WP