Charleston, WV

[AlexL]

Because it's a regional (err... championship) show. The BIG shows get full panels. (Not an official answer, just a guess).

Id say you could justify it for some of the bigger midwest\east shows at least then. Normal And madison i believe have more world class corps attending than the stanford show does.

[Newseditor44]

Id say you could justify it for some of the bigger midwest\east shows at least then. Normal And madison i believe have more world class corps attending than the stanford show does.

I'm thinking its probably a money thing. The bigger the show, the more its promoted, the more money it brings in, the more money they have to spend on judges.

[AlexL]

I'm thinking its probably a money thing. The bigger the show, the more its promoted, the more money it brings in, the more money they have to spend on judges.

Normal is a pretty big show every year.

[Elmo Blatch]

Those exact same scores were posted elsewhere (on FB for instance). I think Fred posted what was announced....

Correct. I was there. The scores were announced as boxingfred suggested, with the weird tenths in the scores.

[chaos001]

Correct. I was there. The scores were announced as boxingfred suggested, with the weird tenths in the scores.

you wouldn't be interested in some candy in exchange for a brief review, would you?

[Elmo Blatch]

you wouldn't be interested in some candy in exchange for a brief review, would you?

Quick review....longer one tomorrow.

Teal Sound--fix the electronics problems or throw away the guitars. Also, fix horn angles, both left to right and up and down. Good programming and consistency. Great first World class show for this group--this has the potential to make Semis. Great job Teal Sound!

Spirit-ABSOLUTELY LOVED THE UNIFORMS--BEST OF THE NIGHT. Programming is more challenging than last years program. Interesting voice sampling. Hornline didn't have the same "power" as last year, but played with better control. Color guard uniforms (bright orange) offered great color contrast and work was easily defined. When the guard work is finished, it will help tremendously.

Glassmen--Typical Glassmen, good but boring. Played well but didn't take me anywhere emotionally. Solid drumline. Dirty visually, but with room to grow. Great brass teaching--good attacks and releases. Will it make Top 12, who knows? It just needs more. The corps can do it.

Crown--Cleanest drum corps I have ever seen in June--they were as clean as early second week of July--no kidding. Actually, the two other guys I was with have both marched and said the same thing--squeaky clean. They march and play the living daylights out of 9 minutes of music, the ending is not on the field yet, and its very apparent to everyone...when it comes, it will help, as the current ending doesn't help. There were 5-6 absolutely captivating drill moves and performed AMAZINGLY well. The run-through follow the leader drill was incredible--best drill move of the night. However, the opening 2 minutes (pre-show warm up) does this brilliant corps no favors--too lengthy and slow for too long. We thought that this show is catchable in August by two other corps there tonight...

Cadets--Visually a very, very dirty show for Cadets, however, best interactive show of the night. High demand visually and musically. Toy Souldier is a great concept conveyed very well. Drumline played a mezzo piano section--which was simply amazing--best drum feature of the night. This group has to find a way to get the guard totally out of the corps proper uniform...while it looks great and fits the theme, when they are doing work (especially with the hats and plumes with the striped pants) this is a great distraction visually--too many mistakes show up WAY too easily. Visually, the corps is typical Cadets at lightning speed and doing a great job. They have the vehicle to contend and the demand is definitely there--whether they can clean this monster by Finals is another thing, but it is possible.

and the Bluecoats--Best crowd reaction of the night. Multiple audience applause points (probably 12-15 times). Again, best tuba/contra section of the activity...wait for tuba feature...brilliant tuba writing and playing. Most tasteful use of electronics (with a nod to Cadets in the pre-show warm up which was adorable). Best show I have ever seen the Bluecoats program and easily the best guard the group has fielded in a long time, if not ever. On a negative note, the corps jackets/uniform are just too dark--their drill is very high demand and the uniform does not help show this. The show is very dirty visually. I would consider this show angry/mean in places. Horns, guard, and drums are on fire. It has the vehicle to challenge the top 3, maybe even higher depending on everybody else. No kidding.

Phantom Regiment--Beautiful horn sound. Mellophones are tasty. Into the Light is a great concept, but other than everything in white, it isn't being conveyed. This is not the great drumline from Phantom that we have come to expect from the past. Visually, the drill is weak and there is a lot of masking front to back--close intervals and cluttered. Additionally, they don't march as well as Phantom marches. Good first show, but the corps is capable of more. The guy doing the trumpet solos (I think there were 3) on the back sideline has the best job in DCI--I don't know if he marched one step of the show. Sad to say, but we enjoyed the encore more than the actual field show. How this show was only .1 under Bluecoats was a complete and utter mystery to me and every non-Phantom person I spoke with at the show. The guys with me agreed.

As far as scores, I would have had this (honestly).

78.00 Crown--this show is that clean right now.

75.50 Cadets

74.25 Bluecoats

72.50 Phantom

70.50 Glassmen

68.00 Spirit

62.00 Teal Sound

Edited June 22, 2010 by Elmo Blatch

[capstone]

Show hosts? Heck no -- the economizing probably helps them directly (although I don't know that for a fact).

Ding ding ding!!!!!

This is the reason for smaller panels in earlier shows. In order to help sustain the number of early

season shows it was decided that using a smaller judging panel would help save the show sponsors money.

They are the ones who pay for judges, not DCI. It's not just the judging fee either, it's travel and lodging as well.

A lot of smaller shows barely break even (and sometimes they don't) so every little bit helps.

I happen to think these smaller early season shows are very important for everyone involved, so if DCI feels

that lessening the burden on sponsors so they keep hosting their show every year is a good idea, it's ok with me.

I don't think I'd have a problem with using full panels at the larger, DCI sponsored events like Normal, btw.

Worth considering.

[Elmo Blatch]

don't let the Interstate fool you...it's barely heard in that stadium.

Actually, during Phantom's ballad, there was a quiet moment when a semi-trailer came rolling through and "beep beeeeeeep" really ruined the moment. It was a moment where many people started laughing because of it (but not as many people laughed as did for the "singing" of the National Anthem). I can tell you, that was the worst rendition I have ever heard. Somebody was holding up their cell phone recording it, too.

[Elmo Blatch]

# boxingfred Everybody in the stands are laughing our ##### off less than 20 seconds ago via mobile web

# Ethan Howard ethanxhoward High five for the most harmonically diverse rendition of Star Spangled Banner of all time? Oh wait... less than 20 seconds ago via Seesmic

# Jenna Sturgeon jennasturgeon That was the most butchered national anthem...

True, true, and true.

[wvu80]

First, don't believe everything you see in the papers. Cadets have a fantastic show and Crown is not going to run away with anything. What Crown has is an unbelievable horn show.

Cadets: Wow, what a great show. They have some incredible moves from shows of recent years. They can't yet put together the perfect blend of march and play, but they will. I thought the guard wearing Cadets uniforms created way too much clutter on field. They ditch the unis later, but until then it's too busy. Cadets will notice and work this out.

Phantom: Great horns, weak drums. I didn't like their music and I didn't like their show. They did the encore and I guarantee you the horns are good enough. My goodness, LOUD, and what a sound.

Crown: They spread from goal line to goal line, and they play LOUD to the 20's, which means this is a big-time drill design for winning championships. Crown was the loudest of the night, and they play with great confidence spread 80 yards apart. Incredible demand on the horns and they pull it off. I thought like in past years the ballad goes on too long and frankly drags (like Clare de Lune). The guard wears brown outfits and they disappear on the field. Crown does NOT have an ending, they just kind of make a Crown symbol then quit playing, then march off.

Bluecoats: I saved them for last, because WOW, what a drum line!!! One of the most incredible drum lines I have ever seen. They DON'T stop moving, the stick tricks are non-stop, the marching is drums only, then integrate into the horns, then re-form. They are a show unto themselves, you could remove the horns and guard and the battery would keep you interested the whole time. You are really going to have to see them to believe them. I saw PR and Coats back-to-back and PR should have scored 5 points behind Coats drum line, there was that much of a difference.

I hope some of this made some sense. Bottom line, is whoever is Out West and has a decent drum corps ought not to fear the East or the Midwest.

Watch out for Bluecoats though, they have an incredible show and they have horns, a good drill and they never stop moving. They lack nothing except accessibility since they are playing Metropolis, which is obscure music to the rest of us.

This is BY FAR the best June show I've seen in the 30 years I've been going to these shows.

+++

Things nobody cares about:

Crowd: very knowledgeable, large, the stands were filled from the 20 to the 20. Maybe 4,000 in the seats

Weather: Perfect, 75 at game time

Venue: Steep seating for good viewing and loud listening, but I-64 can be seen from the seats and is very noisy

Concessions: About as bad as it gets, lots of candy, no real food

Show organization: Terrific. Show ran on time, no wasted time. The national anthem was sung by some local "Idol" winner babe and she ruined the song by singing it slowly. It took at least 4 minutes, she changed the notes, the melody. It was awful and unpatriotic.

Encore: Phantom, the best encore in the business. Melt-your-ears loud and all the best tunes from yesteryear.

Loudest horn line: Crown

Best drums: Bluecoats by a mile, both playing and marching

Best guard unis: Phantom was elegant

Worst guard unis: The guys in the Glassmen guard lost all hope last night of retaining their man dignity as they wore teal leggings with little skirts and did all girly guard moves. Most un-manly.

Worst staff: Spirit. The staff guy who thinks he should climb to the pressbox at the 50 and be a cheerleader for the corps at the top of his lungs needs to act like he's been there before. Very unprofessional and it reflects on the corps.

Best Staff behavior: Tie, Cadets. They probably had 10 guys at the pressbox on the 50. They were respectful of the audience and walked down the steps when their corps was done, instead of running like 4th graders at recess (see Spirit staff guy, above). Tie, Bluecoats staff who took open seats alongside the crowd, and were equally as professional. Both acted like winners who had done this before.

+++

More later on Spirit, Teal Sound, and Glassmen.

Edited June 22, 2010 by wvu80