DCI Finals - and the season - in Review

[TexasPRfan]

Well, here we are with another season in the books. I'm going to write one review for the entire weekend (Quarterfinals through Finals) and mix in my thoughts on the season along the way.

Overall, I think this was a solid year for DCI, marked by terrific depth. There were very solid shows all the way down the ranks. I dare say Madison's 15^th place show would have made finals just a few years ago. We truly had an outstanding "top 14" this year, as Academy, Colts and Troopers all had finalist caliber shows. Additionally, the corps in the 18-20 slots were all very capable and entertaining. Jersey surf was a pretty darned incredible 20^th! Within the top 12, the 6-9 slots were filled with perhaps the best bottom end of a top 9 ever. And the top 5 were all excellent – though none, in my opinion had a powerhouse entertainment show like any of the top 4 had last year. 2008 was stronger at the top in terms of sheer entertainment, but 2009 was solid from top to bottom, only lacking in competitive drama.

As far as Finals being in Indianapolis, I didn't hate Lucas Oil as much as I thought I would. But the acoustics were far from great. DCI just deserves to be in an outdoor stadium, under the stars. It feels bigger that way. In many ways, despite the venue being large, the stadium made finals feel small and isolating. The sections of the stadium, and the hallways leading to each are very divided. It took away, in my opinion, some of the festiveness and opportunities for chance reunions that DCI Finals usually brings. It also made the event feel more sterile, since there were so many pockets of fans in small sections. I truly hope we don't end up going back there for 8 more years. I left longing for the days of Madison, Denver, Pasadena, Kansas City, Buffalo or even Orlando. We'll see, I suppose.

Now on to the corps!

Cascades, all in all, made a nice return to the competitive field this season, and it was great to see them back. This show was written appropriately to their level. I actually thought they outperformed Pioneer on Thursday, but apparently the judges saw it differently. Cascades certainly have a lot of room to grow, especially in brass maturity, color guard numbers and performance, and in BALANCE. Far too big a pit & total percussion group for the size of this corps. Still, I appreciated what the kids gave us, there were some nice musical moments, and I hope they go back to Cascades next season & help this corps climb back up the ladder.

Pioneer had easily their best season in the last several years. There was more maturity in their production this summer, and they had some very effective moments in the latter half of the show. I am beyond tired of the Irish themes, but at least this show felt less stale and forced. I saw Pioneer 4 times this summer, and it never became an exercise in discipline to be there. Thanks for entertaining us this summer, kids!

Jersey Surf had in incredible first season in Open Class, in my opinion. While I didn't see them until Allentown, I loved what they had done to this show by the end of the season. The music book didn't always clearly come up into the stands, but it was an aggressive, difficult and entertaining music book. Surf had a great presence on the field, with a big bold hornline and a large, competent color guard. If I had my druthers, I would have liked to see Surf finish ahead of Pacific Crest, PC was just a bit more mature and polished – even if their show wasn't as enjoyable or engaging.

Pacific Crest looked sharp in their new corps uniform this summer, and brought us another large corps, which is always great to see. I still am not a big fan of their show designs in recent years, though. Perhaps the worst guard unis in DCI this year (they did not speak South American Village to me at all), and the music seemed far too over-arranged. Still, there were moments to appreciate, and the performers did a nice job with the program they were given. By far the best drill PC has had in recent memory, and marched with more strength and confidence than I've seen from this group in some time.

Mandarins had one of my favorite shows in the bottom 1/3 of the World Class corps. Certainly, all the recognizable music helped – but hey, shouldn't the music entertain us? I enjoyed – watered down as it was – their Festive Overture edition – that fanfare is so perfect for the field. My favorite section of this show was the Libertango section. Very entertaining. Mandarins seem to have lost a bit of the execution excellence they used to show mastery of each year as a small corps, but they have more than made up for it in my book with entertaining shows like this.

Spirit. What to say, what to say… Musically, I found some things that I liked quite a bit in this show – with the highlight being Dust in the Wind. I also thought the brass and percussion performers played well the book they were given. Some great big chord moments that I really appreciated. Visually, gosh, maybe they were a little better than Cascades and Pioneer, but not much more than that. Spirit seems to be stuck between being a college marching band and being a drum corps. As recently as a few years ago I really liked some of their programs, but the last 2 years have just been hard to watch. I hope this design staff takes a big step back and decides what kind of direction they want to take their corps, and what identify to give it. That is not meant to take anything away from the performers, though. Thanks for all you put into your show this summer. Your improvement was terrific along the way!

Crossmen had what I thought was one of the most creative and entertaining shows on the field this summer. If only they had another month to clean it up. I understand that they were both slow to put their show together this summer and late to start every-days. I hope those preparation issues are corrected. They are sitting on so much potential down there in Texas. Back to this show, I loved the atmosphere they created, both musically and visually. Erie, exciting, and mature, all at the same time. Crossmen again brought another great ballad to the field this summer, with Immortal. The drill was very engaging – and quite difficult. Along with Scouts and Phantom, this corps was also one of the corps I felt made the biggest improvement from Texas to Finals. Nice job, Bones!

Madison Scouts, as I just mentioned, had a remarkable run of improvement since mid-season – most noticeably in how much they cleaned up their drill and in the improved clarity & power of the horn line. I think the ultimate weakness of this show was just that the theme or program was too much of a mixed bag – part latin, part superhero, part comedic. It was just hard to get a cohesive lasting impression from this show. There were certainly moments that I liked, including some of the memorable closing strains of the show. From the top deck in Indy, I also got to appreciate some of the lightning bolts that I hadn't noticed before. I just don't like the look of this corps from a visual perspetive – the current uniform is too dark, adding no flash or sizzle. The guard program, while better this year, IMO, than years past, also does not bring the same effect to their shows as do the corps in the lower half of top 12.

Academy, for the first time, really feels like they belonged in World Class this year. What a terrific show! Easily the most improved corps from 2008. Giant steps forward in brass performance and in the quality of the music book. I think I actually liked this show more than Cavaliers' similarly themed show. Don't get me wrong – that doesn't mean I'm saying Academy performed better than Cavaliers, I'm just saying I thought the design, and particularly the music book was much more appealing. In the middle sections of this show, Academy had an almost Phantom Regiment-like richness to their sound. Terrific stuff. I actually thought Academy was right there with Colts & Troopers this year for that 12^th spot. We really did have a top 14 this year! I thought the closing piece of the show, with the great uniform change in the guard with the white signifying the mountain top, was terrific. Nice job, Academy. Good move getting Klesch to do the arrangements – huge step up for your program this year & I can't wait to see you next year. With a few more brass players and a more demanding drill, Finals is there for the taking!

Colts had what I thought was their best show of the season at Semifinals. Just outstanding. Rock solid execution, with terrific intensity. Some of the less than clean flag statements I saw the previous weekend in Allentown were cleaned back up, which was also good to see. I was thrilled to see Troopers do so well this year, and I didn't think we would see Troop dumped to 13^th on the last show of the year, but I really do think Colts outperformed Troopers on Friday. Troopers had a much better show Saturday, but were somewhat tentative, with more dirt in their drill as well, on Friday. If ever there was a year to tie 2 corps for 12^th, this should have been it. By far the best Colts have been this decade, IMO. Great job, Red Team! I loved the big ensemble flag statements, and the music was accessible, powerful and entertaining.

Troopers had one of my favorite shows all season long, and I'm as thrilled as anyone to see them back in the top 12. It was a real thrill to be there Saturday to witness live their introduction to the field as a finalist for the first time since the 80s. It was also great to see Troopers have a much stronger show on Saturday. This was a very well designed show, with great drill, guard integration, and effective music that created a distinctive theme and a unique take on WSS. What a difference having a top 12 quality color guard makes! The silk choices were excellent, with some nice ensemble flag statements staged very well, and the weapons work was clean & exciting, too. The horn line never quite achieved the power I was hoping to hear from them this year, but the quality was terrific. Special kudos to that soprano line for the nice statement after the "lovers" are split up. I hope this becomes a great stepping stone to even greater things for Troopers in the years to come!

Blue Knights had what I thought was their best show of the year on Saturday night, which is always great to see. In Allentown, and again at Quarterfinals there were unfortunate, large guard breaks with weapons and flag drops in key feature moments. Thankfully, the guard nailed those moments on Friday & Saturday night, which was great to see. I just loved the drill BK brought to the field this summer. Incredibly creative and intricate – though never cleaned to a point they could move up. It felt like this was a younger corps this year for BK, and I hope it's a good stepping stone year for them to regain a higher placement. I enjoyed this year's show so much more than last year. The winter theme was pulled off very nicely, and musically, the corps was enjoyable to listen to, with some terrific power chords. Just a very competitive year for the top 11!

Glassmen were a very interesting corps to watch this year. Their new uniforms gave them a huge, bold look on the field, and with a drill sporting good field coverage and interesting forms, this corps was kind of eye candy this year. Unfortunately, like most candy, it wasn't ultimately particularly fulfilling or lasting in impressions. I found the show to be a bit generic, and the music was largely forgettable. I also didn't like the "1" and "I" drill forms at the end of the show – talk about hitting the audience over the head with a theme. Maybe the closing "I" would have been enough? Still, this corps marched well, and executed their show with a level of precision and strength that I haven't seen from Glassmen since 2001, so that is a very hopeful sign of things to come from this corps!

Phantom Regiment performed like a champion in Indianapolis this weekend, with three heartfelt shows that the members put everything they had into. They also got better each night, with their best show on Saturday night. Musically, this corps never got credit for what they achieved – perhaps due to their early performance times in part. Stellar performances by those brass and drum lines. Regiment easily had my musical moment of the year with the release from the end of the ballad, with a gorgeous reverb in the stadium for several seconds. Gave me chills every time. This was, sadly, easily Phantom's worst drill & visual design this decade, which is a huge shame. That said, this was NOT a 9^th place show. If the music captions had gotten the credit they deserved, and the corps had not been dumped in GE Visual by a certain judge who tends to do that every time she has an opportunity to do so, they would have been 7^th, and not far behind Bluecoats, which is where I felt they belonged. They marched a pretty darned clean show on Saturday night, as well. Easily one of my 3 favorite shows of the summer, along with Crown & SCV. This show, though, is exhibit "a" on the down side of the "Spartacus Effect." Clearly this was a theme that seemed forced & unnecessary. The need to tell a story that was neither large or engaging sacrificed a lot of drill opportunities for staging, and even put constraints on the music book. I think the show would have been 3X better if they had just played that great music & marched a drill. I know that PR doesn't have the financial resources of most of the other top 6 corps, but you also can't tell me they haven't seen their revenue spike after the last 4 seasons – in large part because of the competitive and entertainment success of 2005-2008 that was enhanced by elevating their visual design. Make the investment, Regiment. Fast.

Blue Stars easily had their best show of the season on Saturday night. Even the closer that was their achillees heel all summer long was better on Saturday night, more locked in & sold with more enthusiasm. I loved this horn line all year – some terrific, big statements throughout the show. The props and clutter on the field were annoying – though I didn't mind the tables nearly as much as the un-needed fabric lines in the back. It was a bit amusing & fitting to see the guard throw tons of cloth up in the air at the close of the show. If your show was a cluttered mess, why not take it to the Nth degree? It felt like Blue Stars took a competitive step forward this season, with more talent and better execution, but with a less coherent and effective show. It's too bad they could never find a closing 2 mins to match the first 9 minutes of the show. That said, this was still among my 6 most favored shows of the summer, and I was very entertained. The ballad was gorgeous, and the guard very entertaining. Nice job, Blue Stars!

Boston Crusaders were perhaps the 3^rd most improved corps of 2009, behind Academy and Troopers. What a nice step forward for Crusaders. This was a bold, aggressive show that was tailor made for what Boston does best. It was great to hear more power and better clarity out of the brass line this year for Boston, and the drum line threw down quite nicely. The theme itself was stellar – and how can you go wrong with Bachanale as a closer – as long as you execute it well, which Boston did? It's a bit ironic to me that PR got edged by someone using one of their greatest hits. Boston had their best show on Friday night, though, and I felt like PR should have passed them on Saturday. There was just a bit less intensity & power on Saturday night. Another one of my top 6 this year from an entertainment perspective, however. Great job Crusaders! I hope the momentum continues into 2010. Easily my favorite Boston show since 2000/2001.

Bluecoats really performed the crap out of their show in Indianapolis. I thought in Allentown PR might have had a chance to catch them, but they really came to play in Indy, with a very clean show and excellent performances by all sections. From an entertainment perspective, I think this was Bluecoats least effective program since 2004, but it was still a very solid show. The ballad and the closer really saved the show from that perspective in my opinion. I miss the bigger, more wide open drill shows the Bluecoats performed in the 2005/2006 seasons, though. I hope they move back in that direction.

Santa Clara Vanguard is back, ladies & gentlemen. This show, to me, was the epitome of what Vanguard is all about – beautiful, artistic, powerful, emotional, and moving. To me there was not one minute of this show that didn't work, and the ending – despite everyone knowing exactly what is coming – was the moment of the year in drum corps. I do believe this is the show that many folks will remember the most from 2009. It was that kind of statement show. And you better look out for this corps in the next few years. Fiedler obviously is getting the foundation together for great things! This show scored, IMO, about 1.5 points too low – should have been right there at a 97, and in front of Cavaliers. To play so softly, sonorously, and beautifully – with amazing control – is so difficult to do. Sadly, the noise cacophony of Lucas Oil probably robbed you of some of the credit from the stands that you deserved. Bravo, SCV, Bravo.

Cavaliers also had their best show of the year on Saturday night, I felt, with some of the annoyingly still visible visual dirt less obvious by Saturday night. Easily, IMO, the weakest drill design & visual execution from Cavaliers this decade in my opinion. Still, not a bad show at all. They performed well, played well, and marched pretty well. This show just didn't have an emotional connection to the audience or enough high points to really command respect and adoration. The climax "highlights" of the guard member climbing the horn line, or the hornline members "climbing" for a moment at the end were creative, but did not come across as big visual moments from the stands. Kudos to the Green Machine for pumping up the volume this year, though. Now go create some deeper colors and textures to your music program. Easily the most sterile of all the shows in Indy, with the possible exception of Glassmen. 2000, 2004 and 2006 are getting a bit distant in the memory now. I hope this corps find the creative & emotional spark they need.

Cadets were everything one could ask for in 2009. I was thrilled to see a straight forward drum corps show from Cadets this year, and I loved every minute of it! Easily the drill of the year in DCI, performed darned well considering the difficulties placed on the members. A very fitting anniversary year for the Cadets. Similar to 97 in some ways, pushing the corps to the edge of what could be accomplished. If Crown hadn't just come out on fire on Saturday night, I think Cadets would have edged them for 2^nd. I'm not in any way a percussion expert, so I can't say if the drop Cadets had in perc. scores that cost them 2^nd was valid. Regardless, I loved this show. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Cadets! Please, please, please take stock of how well this show sold to audiences all summer long and incorporate that into your show design thinking in the coming years.

Congratulations to Carolina Crown on their most successful competitive season ever. This is the first time we've seen a new member of the top 3 since 1990 when Star crashed the party, and it was great to see. This is a show that I struggled for much of this season to enjoy as much as I had their 2007 and 2008 masterpieces. I don't know that it ever got there, but you know what, I really got into this show by Saturday night. Things really clicked for me as an audience member over Friday & Saturday nights. The genius of this show, I think, was that you could take out of it as an audience member whatever you wanted to. What I got out of it by this weekend was that really, this show was the Wizard of Oz, without blatantly being the Wizard of Oz. Pretty ingenius all around, and very creative! The "heartland" moments at the bookends of the show evoke "Kansas" or home, with swirling music and drill to evoke the tornado or "cataclysmic event" that transports them to & from that home. Then you have a fairy "burst" onto the scene (what a great moment as she is unveiled) instead of Glinda arriving in a bubble. Of course, being Adam Sage's guard, Crown's "Dorothy" was instead a boy, but so what? The "munchkin" like section was terrific, with a great musical throwdown at the end, as well. I ended up loving this show – it just took me all year! J

Blue Devils were just not going to be denied this year. Maybe the cleanest performances I have ever seen. I can – and have – quibbled with the design of this show. The chairs got to be too much for me, and I simply don't think the demand was there in this show that it should have achieved a 98 or 99, but BD was still a deserving champion this summer. I thought, though, based on Crown's terrific Saturday night show, the margin should have been a couple of tenths, not a point and a half. At least I was glad to see Crown won music. BD justifiably won visual by a wide margin. The GE scores, though, were another matter. That show was 4^th to me in GE, both musically and visually, behind Crown, SCV and Cadets. Again, not arguing that BD shouldn't have won, not at all. They just won by too much. There WAS a lot to like in this show, and I found something more to like each time I watched it. I loved the guard character featured down front in the middle of the show. Vary appropriate "vaudeville" type work, and what a dancer. Lots of neat moments in this show to appreciate. I just wish the music was more coherent and not so choppy.

All in all, as I said at the top, a nice solid year for DCI. There were no powerhouse entertainment shows like the top 4 were in 2008, but good, quality shows throughout the ranks in World Class this year make this a good year.

My favorite shows from 2009 in order:

• SCV
  
• Crown
  
• Phantom Regiment
  
• Cadets
  
• Boston Crusaders
  
• Blue Stars
  
• Academy
  
• Troopers
  
• Colts
  
• Blue Devils
  

That's it until next year. This week after DCI is always so hard to get through!

Harvey[/size]

Edited August 19, 2009 by TexasPRfan

[fecontra]

Thanks for the Review!

Excellent thoughts and opinions!

Hopefully you don't have to deal with the reception bob964 met

from another discussion area:

QUOTE ( Aug 11 2009, 06:09 PM)

Thanks for the review! They are far and few between on DCP lately. Thanks, again

given how people react, can you blame them?

Edited August 12, 2009 by fecontra

[Feathers Up]

Nice review. Thanks!

[TexasPRfan]

Well, I always welcome feedback and other opions, since opinions are all I have myself! :) It would be boring if we all agreed. Hopefully nothing gets personal, LOL

[tja273]

Thanks for the Review!

Excellent thoughts and opinions!

Hopefully you don't have to deal with the reception bob964 met

I agree. Exellent review. And, I don't think he will have any negative response here. Why? Let's compare:

"TexasPRfan"

Blue Devils were just not going to be denied this year. Maybe the cleanest performances I have ever seen. I can – and have – quibbled with the design of this show. The chairs got to be too much for me, and I simply don’t think the demand was there in this show that it should have achieved a 98 or 99, but BD was still a deserving champion this summer. I thought, though, based on Crown’s terrific Saturday night show, the margin should have been a couple of tenths, not a point and a half. At least I was glad to see Crown won music. BD justifiably won visual by a wide margin. The GE scores, though, were another matter. That show was 4th to me in GE, both musically and visually, behind Crown, SCV and Cadets. Again, not arguing that BD shouldn’t have won, not at all. They just won by too much. There WAS a lot to like in this show, and I found something more to like each time I watched it. I loved the guard character featured down front in the middle of the show. Vary appoprieate “vaudeville” type work, and what a dancer. Lots of neat moments in this show to appreciate. I just wish the music was more coherent and not so choppy.

"Bob984"

Blue Devils..........well, I guess color guard rules (and they do have a great one), because the numbers in other captions given to this corps this evening were ABSURD..............a perfect 20 in music effect???? Oh, yes, the epitomy of musical communication (yes, much sarcasm intended).........pit is strong, but they carry way too much of the musical product, as does percussion....battery has much demand........but program is choppy and certainly did not merit a 19.8, as yes, they play many notes, but it's not always very musical...I find it unbelievable that a corps can come out, sit on chairs, pose on chairs, stand on chairs, and for a significant amount of time, and that is deemed "state of the art" visual by the judging community.....................brass performance issues tonight, and to have them within .2 of Carolina Crown's brass is truly laughable..........................I can't even comment on that score...............

See...when you state your opinion intelligently and avoid using inflammatory language, people are much more likely to respect your opinion. Then, you can actually have a conversation about where you may disagree. TexasPRfan fan did this extremely well.

Then again, if your point IS to inflame...well...how many pages of comments have we got on Bob's review??

[do.it.up.]

Respectful, enjoyable, insightful, a great read.

Thank you!

[G-Rott]

Harvey...excellent review...I think I pretty much agree with everything you said. And thank you...Until I read your reveiw, I never thought of Crown's show as "The Wizard of Oz"...It does make alot of sense, though...very insightful...

[huskerman15]

The “munchkin” like section was terrific

...but no 86 Sky Ryders. Now THAT'S a munchkin section!

Great review!

[NCSU_Crown]

Awesome review, thanks!! Also concerning Crown's show, I can definitely see the Wizard of Oz theme, but technically they were going more for Jack and the Beanstalk, just FYI. And I too really liked Phantom's show this year...I hope we see them back at least in the top six in 2010.

[G-Rott]

Awesome review, thanks!! Also concerning Crown's show, I can definitely see the Wizard of Oz theme, but technically they were going more for Jack and the Beanstalk, just FYI.

Really? I think Wizard of Oz actually fits better...Just my opinion...