InspaDave Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 I will write a full review/report later after I have had some rest, but for now . . . 1) Yokohama Inspires 2) Yokohama Scouts 3) Tokyo Phoenix 4) Sonic Lancers Scouts High Drums. Inspires brass and visual. Sorry for not having scores. I did not take notes as it was raining. If anybody is interested I have a recording of the Inspires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bawker Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 Color me interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddie Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 http://www.dcjpn.org/ja/recap/tokyo/Tokyo2009.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InspaDave Posted October 25, 2009 Author Share Posted October 25, 2009 (edited) As promised here is my report/review/observations. I am going completely from memory except in the case of Inspires, where I have my cellphone-recorded audio. I would have taken notes but it was raining, and I did not have any waterproof paper. It was cold and raining, but people still showed up. Probably 500 or so people were there to watch. Japanese drum corps fans are few, but hard core. The venue, Ota Stadium, is partially crappy. It's an artificial turf baseball field, which is not too bad. At least the drum corps are performing outside where they belong. The stands are not that big, and for the people in the lower rows there is a fence that obfuscates their view. Nevertheless the stands are close to the performing area, which was partially in the infield. The stadium was part of a complex of small stadiums. Next to us was a football field, and there were games being played. Occasionally we would hear whistles, and other such noises common to football (not futbol). Also, the stadium is almost directly in line with the departure end of runway 34L of the Tokyo International Airport (Haneda). Fortunately it's far enough away that the planes are turning away before they fly over us. As I was walking towards the stadium I could hear the sounds of drum corps warming up. That, to me, is one of the most exciting things to hear. I am already excited about going to see some drum corps, but when I hear those sounds, even if it's just a drum line playing 8s, I get that much more energized. I arrived far earlier than I needed to, but was able to see the corps rehearse retreat and the DCJ mass brass tune, You Raise Me Up. As usual Inspires lead Sops take the last note up an octave. After retreat rehearsal all corps warmed up on the field at the same time. The first corps on was Sonic Lancers. They had fifteen horns, four guard, and a battery of 4-2-4. Show title is "Zorro". A often played piece in the marching world, but Sonic's arrangement was one of the better I've heard. The drill was also very well designed. Enough to challenge the members, but not something they could never master. In the past Sonic has not been very strong, especially early in the season. Not so this year. This is the best I have ever seen them. Lots of good moments throughout the show. There were a couple of nicely done solos. It was a great way to start the show. Phoenix Regiment was scheduled to be the next corps, but they withdrew from competition. They are a high school group and the decision was made in the interest of the health and well being. Next was Tokyo Phoenix. Again they are smaller than the year before, but no less excellent. About thirty horns, twelve guard, and a battery of 3-2-3. They still have one of the best brass sounds on a field that I have ever heard. The first thing I noticed about their show was how aggressive it was. Normally T.Phoenix's shows are, for lack of a better word, mellow. Not so this year. Looking at the program after they were done I saw that the show title was "Dark Side". I do not know the pieces used. Again, great things to see and hear. Third on was my former corps, the Inspires, with the most ironically titled show of the evening, "Spanish Rain". Bias aside this was the coolest show I have ever seen. So much being done musically and visually in particular, that it is easy to see why the only recently completed the show. Last year the design team was new, and it was their first experience working with a Japanese corps. It showed. They got their act together this year, and have delivered a great product. Brass and pit are arranged by Vince Oliver, battery by Murray Gusseck, guard by Andy Toth, and visual by Wesley Bullock. Gusseck's writing is unmistakable, and Wesley Bullock's work with Blast! really shows up. LOTS of body work. Like '93 Star amounts of body work. The drumline also has plenty of WGI style movement. The show begins with the drumline up front, a feature dancer on the podium instead of the drum major, and the brass on the back line with their horns on the field. There is some tribal percussion work with the brass players coming forward like rain drops. Pick up their horns, turn backfield and play (some nice backfield moments throughout), build tension, turn to front and BAM! Really takes your breath away. The opening number also has an aggressive tympani feature. I do not know all the tunes they played, but the closer of A Mis Abuelos is instantly recognizable. The transition out of the ballad into the closer is a hair raising moment. Number wise brass was forty-something. Noticeably bigger than T. Phoenix's 36, but not as big as Scouts. One number that sticks out are the TWELVE mellophones. 14 guard, and a good sized battery of 6-3-5-4. Inspires (and Scouts) both utilized cymbal lines to great effect. Effects that could not have been accomplished by one person in the pit. BTW, the feature dancer that began the show is absolutely the hottest, sexiest woman in drum corps. Jessica Allen has got NOTHING on this lady. Last up was the defending DCJ Champions, the Yokohama Scouts. Show title is "The Dramatic Love". No listing of individual pieces in the program, but no true drum corps fan needs a program to know when Nessun Dorma is being played. The first hit after the solo is another musical punch in the gut. Absolutely wonderful. If I wasn't holding an umbrella I would have jumped up screaming. It was that good. Great transition from Nessun Dorma to Bacchanale. Scouts have always had great ballads and this year is no exception. Claire de Lune always gets me. The closer was something I recognized, but couldn't place at first but then realized it was the Cadets closer from '07, Adiemus: Cantata II. They even pulled off another Cadet moment drill-wise when they did the opening/closing block from Farandole. This year's Scouts seemed to be just a little bit smaller than last year. Maybe it was that they only marched 5 cymbals instead of eight or ten. They still march six bass drums, which is something I would like to see more of. All in all, despite the crappy weather and so-so stadium I had a great time. It is unfortunate that so many of you will never experience these corps in person. I would seriously recommend you take a trip over here just to see some marching. It would be money well spent. Well spent if you're a hard core drum corps otaku. Edited October 25, 2009 by InspaDave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddie Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 Thanks for that. Wish I was there. I'm really excited for Sonic this year. They earned a Gold rating at the Saitama Prefectural Contest for the first time ever, which really says a lot about the talent level this year. I'm still going to try and make Championships this year. I have some part-time work on Sunday night, but will again probably take a night bus and arrive Monday morning for the gig and take the bullet train back home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InspaDave Posted October 25, 2009 Author Share Posted October 25, 2009 (edited) Wouldn't you know the championships would have to be on a Monday. I have work, but was taking the day off to go and take a practice version of the new Japanese Language Proficiency Test. I could tell my chain of command that I am going to take this test, and just go to the show instead. It's not like the test counts for anything. Edited October 25, 2009 by InspaDave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InspaDave Posted October 25, 2009 Author Share Posted October 25, 2009 Yokohama Inspires 2009: Spanish Rain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bawker Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 Thanks for the review . . .and the audio! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InspaDave Posted October 26, 2009 Author Share Posted October 26, 2009 Pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddie Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 weird seeing Tokyo Phoenix as small as they are now. They were a full force D1 corps 4 years ago. Sonic looks awesome, by the way... look at those intervals!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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