Crossmen 2010

[DrinkinOuttaCups]

A standstill video of their show from facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=748932711056

I think Guidry's stuff for marching bands is top notch (e.g., love the Ronald Reagan stuff early to mid 2000s, current Broken Arrow stuff), but I've been pretty unimpressed with his work with the Xmen thusfar. This show, however, will get some seriously play on my ipod after August.

I'm about 4 minutes into the video as I type this...so far, so good.

[noneofyourbusiness]

It gave me chills !! I so hope and want to see Crossmen return to finals !

G

Based on a high cam video I saw of their whole show from their family night, and after seeing videos of some other corps that were placing around them at last year's championships, I believe you will be disappointed again this year. I do not think the grand Texas experiment is working for them. The show is very, very rough and there were some huge tears, including in a percussion feature right in the opener. Just does not seem like a finalist corps at this point IMHO. Guess we'll see how the judges feel in a few days.

Edited June 20, 2010 by noneofyourbusiness

[kdaddy]

Any truth to the rumor that Xmen will be in Bartlesville, OK, tomorrow? Bville's newspaper is reporting it, but the Xmen website shows Broken Arrow as tomorrow site. Any ideas?

[CrossmenAlumni]

Based on a high cam video I saw of their whole show from their family night, and after seeing videos of some other corps that were placing around them at last year's championships, I believe you will be disappointed again this year. I do not think the grand Texas experiment is working for them. The show is very, very rough and there were some huge tears, including in a percussion feature right in the opener. Just does not seem like a finalist corps at this point IMHO. Guess we'll see how the judges feel in a few days.

I'm not sure anyone can say for sure at this point what will happen for this corps and this show. I've attended many a Crossmen preview show over the years and have some recordings of those performances that were flat out awful and pathetic, including 1992 and 1997 which ended up being two of the best shows the corps ever fielded. (The 1997 preview show in particular was embarrassingly bad, almost unrecognizable as to what it was supposed to be!)

I was at the preview the other night in Texas, and you're 100% correct. It was a mess. Lots of timing and stamina issues. The corps is young and will fight those physical and musical maturity issues all season long, as anyone would expect. However, when you witness ANY corps do a preview performance such as this, the primary things you're looking for are what the show is, how it's constructed, the pacing, the impacts, the coordination and staging, etc. You're looking at a very light overall sketch of a painting that won't be ultimately finished until August, trying to get an idea of what they're going for. That being the case, the three things that jumped out at me right away were:

- The complete show (minus some guard work here and there that need to be filled in and tweaked) is on the field. Since moving to Texas, they have never been able to accomplish that. Last year, they were about 3/4 of the way complete at the preview, and they had to use the metronome for that performance. Friday's preview show was indeed rough, but it's all out there and they've already taken the metronome training wheels off with several days to get used to it before their first show in Ohio on Thursday. Definitely a positive. As is not having to finish learning drill while on the road.

- The show is a very nice homage to previous Crossmen Metheny shows, which I think was the right move coming off of last year's admitted disappointment. They wanted to reconnect to something that fans and alumni have responded to in the past from the Crossmen. The kids absolutely love their show this year and understand that they're treading on sacred ground, and are working very hard to give those people something exciting and engaging to respond to again that is respectful to those previous shows and corps.

- They're not trying to change the world with this show. It's not trying to make any huge artistic statements, tell any elaborate stories or throw abstract concepts at the audience. It's the Crossmen, it's Pat Metheny, they're coming "Full Circle" back to some of their more famous and popular musical roots. Period. End of sentence. No other explanation about the show is necessary. I believe that as the show gets cleaner and the performers start to grow into themselves on the road, there is an energy inherent in the show design that will start to come through and really connect with audiences. I think the Crossmen needed that this year and their design team has done a fine job in recognizing that and constructing a show that will eventually make that happen as the summer rolls on. Time will tell, as always.

Negatives:

- The hornline is very young and will probably take the longest to develop from a performance standpoint, both musically and visually. They are struggling in a big way with consistency at this point. They do have a good staff and a sound fundamental technique to playing the instruments that I've seen in rehearsals, it's just a matter of getting that to the field every rep, every show. Again, maturity.

- BLANKS. They have, from last I heard Sunday, five holes in the brass section that still need to be filled, primarily in the tuba and mellophone area. If anyone is looking for someplace to march who can fill those spots, please contact the Crossmen ASAP.

(Side note: another thing that wasn't evident at the preview show was that yes, the color guard uniforms and silks will be ready for their first official performance this Thursday. They wore practice uniforms and used practice flags for the preview. Last year, this was an enormous problem as they went through the first couple weeks of the season without those things. This color guard, I believe, shows a lot of promise, both in the written work and their performance quality. If they develop into what I think they can develop into, there is an opportunity there for them to steal the show and be a tremendous asset to the competitive direction of the season.)

The last thing I'll say about what you've brought up is this: this is not a "grand Texas experiment." This is where the Crossmen call home now. There is no turning back. There is no packing it up and heading back north as if some experiment has failed. And nobody went into this endeavor thinking that magic will happen overnight without several years of hard work and sweat and sacrifice. The people running the corps are acutely aware of the challenges they face in the DCI competitive arena and are gradually chipping away at realizing several goals they've set for themselves. They know it will take time, but things are slowly starting to take permanent hold down there. I think this show is a positive step in the right direction and I'm very eager to see them again in a few weeks.

Here are some of my favorite photos from the Texas Preview in Austin this past Saturday night. These photos are a prominent reminder for me that even though the corps has gone through tremendous organizational turmoil in the past several years, moving 2000 miles away from their geographic birthplace, some things NEVER change:

Edited June 21, 2010 by CrossmenAlumni

[BigPapiBass5]

will guard have uniforms at the beginning of the season?

[chadwick]

Fantastic post!! Wishing Crossmen the best of luck!!!

[CrossmenAlumni]

will guard have uniforms at the beginning of the season?

Yes. And most show silks, minus one set I think.

[zachariaswmb]

Just watched the video. However it turns out on the field, the music just reached out and grabbed me, which I haven't gotten from this corps in far too long. I'm optimistic, though things may be a little rough. They're young, but it seems like they have a good package to work with. I'm going to say...13 or 14 place when all is said and done? I don't think they'll make finals this year, but it's a definite improvement.

[KeepItReal]

Any truth to the rumor that Xmen will be in Bartlesville, OK, tomorrow? Bville's newspaper is reporting it, but the Xmen website shows Broken Arrow as tomorrow site. Any ideas?

I was thinking they might be at OK Mozart, as part of the X-Series, buts its a few days too late for that. I'm checking them out in BA, I've not heard of any performances prior to the Toledo show.

[UNTdrummer11]

I'm not sure anyone can say for sure at this point what will happen for this corps and this show. I've attended many a Crossmen preview show over the years and have some recordings of those performances that were flat out awful and pathetic, including 1992 and 1997 which ended up being two of the best shows the corps ever fielded. (The 1997 preview show in particular was embarrassingly bad, almost unrecognizable as to what it was supposed to be!)

I was at the preview the other night in Texas, and you're 100% correct. It was a mess. Lots of timing and stamina issues. The corps is young and will fight those physical and musical maturity issues all season long, as anyone would expect. However, when you witness ANY corps do a preview performance such as this, the primary things you're looking for are what the show is, how it's constructed, the pacing, the impacts, the coordination and staging, etc. You're looking at a very light overall sketch of a painting that won't be ultimately finished until August, trying to get an idea of what they're going for. That being the case, the three things that jumped out at me right away were:

- The complete show (minus some guard work here and there that need to be filled in and tweaked) is on the field. Since moving to Texas, they have never been able to accomplish that. Last year, they were about 3/4 of the way complete at the preview, and they had to use the metronome for that performance. Friday's preview show was indeed rough, but it's all out there and they've already taken the metronome training wheels off with several days to get used to it before their first show in Ohio on Thursday. Definitely a positive. As is not having to finish learning drill while on the road.

- The show is a very nice homage to previous Crossmen Metheny shows, which I think was the right move coming off of last year's admitted disappointment. They wanted to reconnect to something that fans and alumni have responded to in the past from the Crossmen. The kids absolutely love their show this year and understand that they're treading on sacred ground, and are working very hard to give those people something exciting and engaging to respond to again that is respectful to those previous shows and corps.

- They're not trying to change the world with this show. It's not trying to make any huge artistic statements, tell any elaborate stories or throw abstract concepts at the audience. It's the Crossmen, it's Pat Metheny, they're coming "Full Circle" back to some of their more famous and popular musical roots. Period. End of sentence. No other explanation about the show is necessary. I believe that as the show gets cleaner and the performers start to grow into themselves on the road, there is an energy inherent in the show design that will start to come through and really connect with audiences. I think the Crossmen needed that this year and their design team has done a fine job in recognizing that and constructing a show that will eventually make that happen as the summer rolls on. Time will tell, as always.

Negatives:

- The hornline is very young and will probably take the longest to develop from a performance standpoint, both musically and visually. They are struggling in a big way with consistency at this point. They do have a good staff and a sound fundamental technique to playing the instruments that I've seen in rehearsals, it's just a matter of getting that to the field every rep, every show. Again, maturity.

- BLANKS. They have, from last I heard Sunday, five holes in the brass section that still need to be filled, primarily in the tuba and mellophone area. If anyone is looking for someplace to march who can fill those spots, please contact the Crossmen ASAP.

(Side note: another thing that wasn't evident at the preview show was that yes, the color guard uniforms and silks will be ready for their first official performance this Thursday. They wore practice uniforms and used practice flags for the preview. Last year, this was an enormous problem as they went through the first couple weeks of the season without those things. This color guard, I believe, shows a lot of promise, both in the written work and their performance quality. If they develop into what I think they can develop into, there is an opportunity there for them to steal the show and be a tremendous asset to the competitive direction of the season.)

The last thing I'll say about what you've brought up is this: this is not a "grand Texas experiment." This is where the Crossmen call home now. There is no turning back. There is no packing it up and heading back north as if some experiment has failed. And nobody went into this endeavor thinking that magic will happen overnight without several years of hard work and sweat and sacrifice. The people running the corps are acutely aware of the challenges they face in the DCI competitive arena and are gradually chipping away at realizing several goals they've set for themselves. They know it will take time, but things are slowly starting to take permanent hold down there. I think this show is a positive step in the right direction and I'm very eager to see them again in a few weeks.

Here are some of my favorite photos from the Texas Preview in Austin this past Saturday night. These photos are a prominent reminder for me that even though the corps has gone through tremendous organizational turmoil in the past several years, moving 2000 miles away from their geographic birthplace, some things NEVER change:

yea jake!!!!!! (pic number 2, right snare) NT in da house!!