FlamInvert122 Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 This was an outstanding event. Great crowd and great weather once it cooled down a bit. I couldn't ask for better seats. I was on the 48 yardline, side 1, a little higher than halfway up the stands. Outstanding! On to the review... As a disclaimer I'd like to mention that I'm going purely off of memory here. Colt Cadets: 68.400 Nice show. They actually put out more sound than I would have expected given how small the corps is. Cool music from what I remember. It was cool to see Greg Orwell out walking the sidelines during their performance. I'm sure the kids appreciate that a lot. Mandarins: 72.000 (7th) This was the first time I had ever seen Mandarins live, and I was actually quite impressed! Gave me my first chills of the season. Great full sound and big impacts. I really enjoyed their musical selections and was really surprised by the wall of sound they were able to produce with a less than full corps. I don't know if they are a lock for semi's but I'm sure they will be contender the whole way. Cool stuff! Troopers: 76.550 (6th) I was really looking forward to this show based on all of the favorable reviews the Troopers have gotten thus far. I love the show concept. "Western Side Story" does a great job of hinting at West Side Story melodies while staying true to the western theme. The drumline was really intense and high energy which was awesome. Very high impact points throughout the show brought some really loud applause from the audience. This show has potential to make finals with the right adjustments and additions. Very impressive show from the Troopers! Colts: 77.600 (5th) This show was a noticeable step up from the Troopers right from the beginning. Loooovvee the opening statement. Loud and in your face. Drumline is better than I have ever seen from the Colts. Wow. Lots of notes and stick tricks in the drum feature, which was a little hard to hear over the synths, but I'm sure they will continue to address that. Don't remember much about the show specifically, but the music was very intense and dark. Cool stuff. I see Colts in 11th or 12th in Indianapolis. Drill needs quite a bit of cleaning, but the music is solid. Great ending to this show, which got a huge crowd response! Blue Knights: 81.500 (4th) Favorite BK show since 2006 for me. Drill was a noticeable step up from Colts and a little more volume too! Drumline had some great features. I can't say much about this show other than that it is a solid finalist program. Probably not very exciting to watch online, but very entertaining in person! I'd say they finish 9th or 10th in Indy. Blue Devils: 89.300 (1st) Okay... let me start by saying I HATED BD's show last year, and I have admittedly not been a fan of their programs in the 2000's. However, this show is absolutely INCREDIBLE! By far the best BD show I have ever seen and I can honestly say I expect them to win in August. Wow. As a Cavaliers fan at heart, it's not always easy to like the Blue Devils but I just can't help but like this show. The music is outstanding, the whole presentation just works perfectly. Drumline is was on fire tonight and the scores reflected that. This show just grooves. I was smiling the whole time. This corps just blows your face off. Easily the loudest of the night. Heavy use of synths but I think they work well... almost hauntingly at times. I don't know what else to say, but I can see this corps going undefeated and winning it all. They're gonna be tough to beat. Of course anything is possible and I'm sure Crown, Cavies, SCV, etc. will have something to say about it. Should be a great fight at the top this year! Bluecoats: 84.950 (3rd) Bluecoats are not getting the love from the judges I believe they deserve. This will be one of my favorite shows this year. Drumline is even better than last year (didn't think that was possible) and brass sounds excellent. The music is so engaging. Not a fan of the removal of the jackets and helmets, but I guess it's something unique. The closer absolutely COOKS and of course they blow your face off too! Bluecoats also performed the encore which was great. I could see this show place as high as 4th or as low as 7th. This program is levels above last year's... it would be a shame if they weren't rewarded with a better placement. The Cavaliers: 88.100 (2nd) Not my favorite Cavaliers show by any stretch, but still great! Love the opening of this show. The echo effects are a theme throughout and are certainly innovative. The shouting got a big laugh from the crowd. Cool! Biggest ovation of the night (mid-show anyway) came from the moment when the guard member climbs up the wall of horn players. Drumline was outstanding, but I'd like to see them play a harder book. Not that many notes from Casella. If I had my way I'd either bring back Kuhn or try to land Mike McIntosh. The horn book sounded more difficult than past years, which was nice. All around a solid show but nothing that screamed championship. Look for them to finish anywhere in the 2nd-4th range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guizeppe Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 Nice easy read, thanks for the review. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CUDAKITE Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 Ah, positive reviews are such a breath of fresh air on DCP. Thank you so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasPRfan Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 Excellent review, with nice details. Thanks for the time you put into it! Harvey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plan9 Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 Superb! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milestogo Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 Thanks for all your comments - nice review. Also, thanks for taking the time to review the Colt Cadets! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kansan Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 I thought everyone was on par with last year of better than last year except the Mandarins. They had lots of Drops in the Color Guard which may have been partially caused by the wind on the Field. I did notice the other corps did not have near the Guard equipment problems that Mandarins had. I don't know if they have a lot of new people or started late. I would be suprised if a California Corps didn't have a jump on most of the competition due to their nice Cali weather which allows them to hit the field for most of the Year. I hope they improve of the Hutch performance. They have done much better in the past. I 1st saw them as a Parade Corps in the 80s so they have come a long way. Of course they are still performing while my former Corps has long since disolved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenton9851 Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Thanks for the great review. I photographed the event for DCW. This was a packed house of very tuned in and enthusiastic fans of DrumCorps. Hutchinson hopefully will continue to draw top corps to this event. The stadium is magnificent and field was in superb condition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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