World Class Finals Week

[azul]

So as list in the description, I performed with a corps this past summer so my review will be of the Fannetwork and how much improvement happened by the DVDs. I have biased opinions on some corps because I either marched there, have friends marching there or college instructors teaching there so bear with me lol. Now on to the shows

Cascades-Wow the progress this corps made was amazing Epsecially with mostly rookies!!!

Design-I'm sure the designers had the 08 corps in mind before the corps went inactive so I can see where the designers were trying to go with this. But the numbers had a lot of deficit on the matter, especially the overbearring percussion section.

Performance-These guys went for it. Sure it wasnt the highest quality ever but man did they put out a lot of energy in their last run. Hope they continue to grow.

Pioneer-Well its the first time this corps hasnt gotten last place since 05 but the quality was up from previous years. Really enjoyed the Raging River segment.

Design-Well it was Irish but not over done irish which was cool. They did more difficult music and drill which should help improve recruitment since it shows they're more about taking risks than avoiding them all together. Loved all the visual symbolism by the way.

Performance-Like I said earlier, up from last few years but the soloists from 08 were better trained.

Jersey Surf-Welcome to world class! Good to have more competitors to make things fun and shows longer.

Design-It was a good first time in world class design which is a step in the right direction. A note though, you showed us the corps could sing at the end of the ballad so why not take 2 of them and have them sing the parts you wrote for the synth instead? I think that would have put your musical demand score up a few tenths. Besides that I had no real musical gripes. Liked the mic effect with the bari solo and the latin section too.

Pacific Crest(biased opinions warning)-Well from the rough start in Walnut (I think their first broadcast) to finals there was tremendous amounts of improvement. The brass section was at its highest quality of sound and performance yet.

Design-2008 was designed way better overall. The guard costumes spoke to me like beatle juice outfits than latin amercian save for the few girls that had roses on their heads. The music was a little too arranged but it was good to hear it show the brass lines strengths. Percussion wise though I didn't like the pit playing a pitch as their last note. I like cymbal crashes and bass drum booms.

Performane-The brass was at a high level this year. Higher than I can remember. Sound quality was pretty consistant through out but lots of spots had loss of sound definition (especially mellos during the closer). Drums weren't so hot, clarity issues were everywhere but the attitude of the corps during the last run was gung ho. Thought they shouldve passed mandarins and at least pass spirit visually.

Mandarins(biased opinions warning)- Sound quality and performance quality up from 07 and 08. They looked taller and sounded bigger too especially for their size.

Design-Sort of wish I could've figured out the show with out listening to the comentary from san antonio. But even if I didn't, I enjoyed the marching and playing just fine. The guard plume and sleighbell stick were a little confusing to me since I thought they were going to do baccanahle. But that was another corps.

Performance-They went for a big sound and they delivered. Although there were lots of individual things and some dirty sets. Good show though overall.

Spirit-What happened here? 2 years ago I loved em and now its like their lost.

Design-Too much synth just way too much. Let the horns play the loud chords not turn the synth up. The whole entire stage setup was cool at the begining with the flags being oriented with the lights turning on. The brass ballad hit and the pit ballad groove were two things I liked. The excessive cheering at the end of the show was a little....wierd.

Performance-Good brass playing and drumming but the visual perfomance was low quality for this corps. And all the self cheering was like they needed it for themselves incase the crowd didnt give it to them. Hope the move back to Atlanta works for them.

Crossmen-Wow. For 16th place this show was awesome. I was hooked on it after seeing them from the gate at a show.

Design-Great concept, synth was a little overused but I understood what they were going for. The capes helped get the erieness across along with Medea. They could've used another dark piece in the show though just so the Medea motif isnt overused and leads to it being annoying. The character personalities were well thought out and portrayed.

Performance-The fannetwork had better performance qualities than the DVD. Too many individual "tics" for a last show. The mellos had a really good run though. Loved the medea lick at the first impact. Hopefully they can make a push back into finals.

Madison-Opener was awesome. Everything else was a blur.

Design-Cool concept but not well portrayed on the field I felt. The opener was the strongest thing designed in this entire show. The rest was kind of...a different show.

Performance-The opener had the most energy. That last chord was amazing and the drill and visuals were very well done. Very aggressive madison scout like. I'm glad they rediscovered it. The rest of the show wa like I said eh. Excited about the new staff though.

Academy-Glad they were back in their area from 07 and with a good show.

Design-Concept was good. Guard costume was good. Music selections fit very well. Just don't turn into a stutter placememnt corps. (13th,18th,14th)

Performance-Great brass section. Colorguard is better than past but still lots of dirt from them. You could tell the kids loved this show though.

Colts-Visually I thought their book was more demanding that troopers. I even thought they should've beaten them this past season but I'm not a judge lol.

Design-Very accessible and easy to follow. Music was cool. Loved the in your face begining. Costumes and flags were good. Typical colts guard (good way).

Performance-These guys and gals wanted finals bad and it showed in their performances. They left the field with no regrets. Loved it. Maybe next year kids

Troopers-I thought the visual book was too dare I say high school like?

Design-The demand wasn't very high until the fight sequence. And the kids loved that section. They should get more of that for them since it is about the kids right? Musically it was great. The way the western themes and the westside story themes were mixed together was genius!!! And I'm a music comp/arranging major so I know the challenges of doing that. Oh almost forgot. The other visual moment that I liked was the sunburst remake the end of the show. That was cool

Performance-Great brass and drums. They deserved 11th in those captions. Visual performance was a bit flat to me especially compared to Colts. The corps was running on high emotions though and I love those kinds of performances.

Blue Knights-Ok so watching this show with the heater on and drinking hot cocoa I still got cold. Nicely done Knights

Design-The show fit like a glove. The white plumes were a great addition to the uniform too. The body movement the corps does is so cool. Really liked the shako off portion during the drum break. Music really spoke winter to me. Great use of synth by the way.

Performance-Young corps, young corps mistakes. Notably foot timing in tubas and mellos. The first brass hit was one of the loudest moments all season. Nicely done! Love the way these guys and gals move especially the guard. Keep up the good work kids

Glassmen-Love the new uniform! When I'd see them in halfs in the lot they looked like aliens. It was kinda funny.

Desing-First two movements were great. Drum break got me a little angry due to the synth use. Don't use electronic video game sounds! If you need a harp sound (i.e colts, bluecoats) or citar (boston) then use that. Not these video game noises. The closer piece was good until the minor chord pregression. That just felt a little disjoint.

Performance-Strong performance. No safe moments. If some one made an error they looked or sounded good in doing so. Brass is great too.

Phantom Regiment-Great musical corps. If the visual design was better they would've gotten 5th.

Design-Very Faust like as in making a deal with an evil entity for your lovers benifit. Music was great but visual design was not up to par for this group. Thank god the kids didnt care and just went for it instead. The story line was fun to watch develop too. But note to Phantom, stick with classical beucause jazz insn't your thing unless it's gershwin.

Performance-Strong musically, very strong. Visually not so much, especially guard. The guard was pretty low quality compared to past years. Hopefully the visual design problem is fixed for 2010.

Blue Stars-Lovely sound. Nice concept and tribute.

Design-Very well thought out. When I heard the show title that wasn't what I was thinking at all. But man did it work. Brass book was good. Visual design was good. Guard costuming and flags were good. Great design overall. Especially the ballad when the guard girl thinks that her sailor was killed at the war but then he comes to her at the last minute. O man I was on the verge of bawling.

Performance-Very good brass sound. Stronger drumline than last year. Guard was "gettin it". The emotion in the ballad was just awesome. Like I said, it had me tearing up. Nicely done Blue Stars.

Boston-Thank you for giving me a guard to look at and enjoy it!!! Now for a more serious portion.

Design-It fit your corps image and they carried it very well. Strong brass book and drum book.

Performance-They were aggressive. I like aggressive like a fat kid loves cake (unless he's diabetic). But great show, great concept.

Bluecaots(biased opinion warning)-When I first hear the concept of this show, I was a bit skeptical. Once it got rolling I loved it.

Design-You must have been on some good stuff to design a show like this. But I'm ok with that. THe symbolism of breaking free from uniformity was well portrayed. The "portal" at the beggining was cool. Especially back when the tubas didnt get watered down. If you caught it, the low brass would play the motif as they passed through the mellophone portal. Nicely thought out. Wabbits was weird but it made sense. "That Idea will happen when pigs fly". Nice visual demand and musical demand. Arrangements were mostly good. A little more notes would have been nicer.

Performance-Top 6 quality. Great horns, great drums, guard greatly improved over recent years. Very emotional performance saturday night. Now give me some asphault cocktail.

Santa Clara-Ok so I miss the yell, and the cymbal V already. And the difficult as hell vanguard drill. Can I have that back? PLEASE?????

Design-Beautiful idea. Beuatiful music. Just wish the drill was of higher demand. Seemed easy for what they normally do.

Performance-From a friend that marched there "semis was better". Well I loved the company front. That's all I remember.

Cavaliers-Liked all the gimmicks of being on the edge and the return of the pole from the 95 planets show.

Design-Loved the actual music in their show. Drill design was great as always.

Performance-Not so hot. From one of my friends there "all of our good shows never got recorded". There was a baritone player at one point during the show that changed direction 8 counts early. And several not well timed visuals. Strangely enough, they had a stronger musical than visual performance.

Cadets-Please Mr. Hopkins, can I have some more of this corps? Not the one from 06-08?

Design-March and play. Its what they do best. Great music design save for too much piano in the "cool" movement. Great ballad and great ending.

Performance-Strong. Still havent seen the snare player fall. This show was a title winning show but just not rewarded so. But I'm glad they're back to their old ways.

Carolina Crown-Holy brassline!!!

Design-Wizard of Oz revamped some. Very nicely done. Wish the color was different in the saying cuzz the guard blended into the field Storyline was very well thought out. High music and drill demmand Great corps.

Performance-Besides that missed coverdown it was great to listen and watch. The breakdown was awesome. Loved that part. The music box synth section in the balld was great. The ending=emotional overload. What can I say? Hopefully they can keep this momentum up.

Blue Devils (biased opinion warning)-How? Please answer me how?

Design-What happened to the Blue Devils I knew and loved? Please don't make easy shows a trend with you guys. How do you get a perfect in visual demand when you sit down in a show??? Ya you went 256 but how much of that were you actually marching at that tempo for? And if you're going to have a tuba feature, don't add an overbearing synth part over it. Let the tubas freaking shine!!!

Performance-This show seemed way too easy for the talent level BD has always been at this decade. I mean, Why have the Yankees play a junior league team? That's just wrong. You robbed the kids of having the greatest show ever. I even think some of your 90s shows are harder than this. But kudos to the guard. You guys and gals made me wanna watch you and that says a lot

P.S how do you lose brass sitting down and playing? You know, the way the instrument was origionally designed to play? I'm sorry BD but you let me down this year. Please do what your good at? Playing hard music and marching rediculous drill!!! If you revamped 04 (my favorite show from you guys) that would be freaking awesome!!!

[Schickmeister]

Interesting perspective..thanks!

Btw...where did you march? I think I know, but feel free to PM.

[bluublood]

Blue Devils (biased opinion warning)-How? Please answer me how?

Design-What happened to the Blue Devils I knew and loved? Please don't make easy shows a trend with you guys. How do you get a perfect in visual demand when you sit down in a show??? Ya you went 256 but how much of that were you actually marching at that tempo for? And if you're going to have a tuba feature, don't add an overbearing synth part over it. Let the tubas freaking shine!!!

Performance-This show seemed way too easy for the talent level BD has always been at this decade. I mean, Why have the Yankees play a junior league team? That's just wrong. You robbed the kids of having the greatest show ever. I even think some of your 90s shows are harder than this. But kudos to the guard. You guys and gals made me wanna watch you and that says a lot

P.S how do you lose brass sitting down and playing? You know, the way the instrument was origionally designed to play? I'm sorry BD but you let me down this year. Please do what your good at? Playing hard music and marching rediculous drill!!! If you revamped 04 (my favorite show from you guys) that would be freaking awesome!!!

(biased response warning)

Edited January 3, 2010 by bluublood

[azul]

(biased response warning)

lol I'm glad I have a sense of humor or else we would've gotten into it. Btw it's biased cuzz I marched with a good chunk of the people in there and went to high school with the 09 horn sergeant.

[Abbevillekid26]

lol I'm glad I have a sense of humor or else we would've gotten into it. Btw it's biased cuzz I marched with a good chunk of the people in there and went to high school with the 09 horn sergeant.

So I was correct in assuming the whole BD comment was a joke?

[azul]

So I was correct in assuming the whole BD comment was a joke?

In the review? No. My opinion on that still stands. I'm just laughing at the worlds smallest violin.

[Plan9]

Blue Devils (biased opinion warning)- How? Please answer me how?

Design-What happened to the Blue Devils I knew and loved? Please don't make easy shows a trend with you guys. How do you get a perfect in visual demand when you sit down in a show??? Ya you went 256 but how much of that were you actually marching at that tempo for? And if you're going to have a tuba feature, don't add an overbearing synth part over it. Let the tubas freaking shine!!!

Performance-This show seemed way too easy for the talent level BD has always been at this decade. I mean, Why have the Yankees play a junior league team? That's just wrong. You robbed the kids of having the greatest show ever. I even think some of your 90s shows are harder than this. But kudos to the guard. You guys and gals made me wanna watch you and that says a lot

P.S how do you lose brass sitting down and playing? You know, the way the instrument was origionally designed to play? I'm sorry BD but you let me down this year. Please do what your good at? Playing hard music and marching rediculous drill!!! If you revamped 04 (my favorite show from you guys) that would be freaking awesome!!!

You asked. Here's a suggestion: When you return to your corps rehearsals (where ever that is) this year bring along the DVD you reviewed from. Sit down with your corps designer(s) and ask them. If they're worth their salt they'll be able to provide you with some insight to your questions. Argue your points to them, I'll bet you'll be surprised at their response. Afterall, they're designers and are paid to be competitive and bring the best show to the field. They'll know "how".

Also, as was reviewed by David Hill - http://www.drumcorpsplanet.com/forums/inde...howtopic=131617 - the "kids" marched the best show of the 21st century (so far), so my guess is that they aren't feeling "robbed" at all.

Finally, a shark never stops moving forward, if it does.... it dies. If you loved BD04 that's why DCI sells DVD's, so you can reminisce. But don't look to the Devs to move backwards, it's not in their DNA. Other than that, good review.

[azul]

You asked. Here's a suggestion: When you return to your corps rehearsals (where ever that is) this year bring along the DVD you reviewed from. Sit down with your corps designer(s) and ask them. If they're worth their salt they'll be able to provide you with some insight to your questions. Argue your points to them, I'll bet you'll be surprised at their response. Afterall, they're designers and are paid to be competitive and bring the best show to the field. They'll know "how".

Also, as was reviewed by David Hill - http://www.drumcorpsplanet.com/forums/inde...howtopic=131617 - the "kids" marched the best show of the 21st century (so far), so my guess is that they aren't feeling "robbed" at all.

Finally, a shark never stops moving forward, if it does.... it dies. If you loved BD04 that's why DCI sells DVD's, so you can reminisce. But don't look to the Devs to move backwards, it's not in their DNA. Other than that, good review.

I know their worth it. The head designer was asked to go to corps such as Blue Devils, Cavaliers and such but turned them down and came to us instead. He's designed some of those groups championship shows too. But I value the intellectual challenge to bring my corps design staff the DVD. But I'm sure they've all seen all the shows by now on DVD or the fan network. I'm also not saying the corps I marched with should have beaten them either. We weren't up to par this season.

[BlooContraGuy]

You asked. Here's a suggestion: When you return to your corps rehearsals (where ever that is) this year bring along the DVD you reviewed from. Sit down with your corps designer(s) and ask them. If they're worth their salt they'll be able to provide you with some insight to your questions. Argue your points to them, I'll bet you'll be surprised at their response. Afterall, they're designers and are paid to be competitive and bring the best show to the field. They'll know "how".

Also, as was reviewed by David Hill - http://www.drumcorpsplanet.com/forums/inde...howtopic=131617 - the "kids" marched the best show of the 21st century (so far), so my guess is that they aren't feeling "robbed" at all.

Finally, a shark never stops moving forward, if it does.... it dies. If you loved BD04 that's why DCI sells DVD's, so you can reminisce. But don't look to the Devs to move backwards, it's not in their DNA. Other than that, good review.

At first I didn't understand where they got most of their visual demand from. Then I watched the guard. Yeah there were some moves that looked "difficult," but those were short and were preceded and followed by a serious lack of visual demand in most sections. The show is well designed to showcase one section at a time and it always has something going on somewhere, which I never really noticed before. So touche' designers.

Also, I love the tiny violin

[bluublood]

At first I didn't understand where they got most of their visual demand from. Then I watched the guard. Yeah there were some moves that looked "difficult," but those were short and were preceded and followed by a serious lack of visual demand in most sections. The show is well designed to showcase one section at a time and it always has something going on somewhere, which I never really noticed before. So touche' designers.

Also, I love the tiny violin

It really is the perfect response in many cases.