general_tsos_chicken2 Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 venue. good i'm typing this fast so don't judge me for spelling/grammar blue saints: i don't know anything about this program (how long they've been moved in/rehearsing etc) but they were literally bumping into each other the entire time. Will reserve judgement until i see them later on if they do, for all i know they learned the show yesterday. colt cadets:these aren't the same little kids that were marching on the field a few years. entertaining and still 'cute'ish show. I was entertained. legends: this is the corps closest to where I live so i guess i can call it my 'home team'. they look larger than last year which is great to see that things are going in the right direction, BUT since they are my home team allow me to be a bit critical. Once again the guard uniforms are just eeewww (was not a fan of the guard uni's last year) and the choice of silks were about the same. let me go off on a tangent for a bit to guard designers (not just this corps). take a look at your corps proper uniform, decide a color on the guard costume, and pick a color scheme for the silks that fit!! I always see such great color schemes from corps like blue devils, cavaliers, carolina crown, non-09 phantom regiment, and other top corps... it shouldn't be so difficult to pick a good color scheme that only the top corps know how to do it, am I wrong?? the color scheme adds so much to a program ughhh!! anyway... going on let me apologize, I'm always much more critical of the corps i want to see do well, it doesn't mean they are any worse than others most of the time. the show is called 'ruins' and they played Ticheli's vesuvius and some other 'ruinish' type pieces. The brass arrangement doesn't sound very smart to me as far as setting them up for success. One example when they start the 'faster' part of vesuvius the trumpets start it with their separated notes but it sounds like they are playing A's below the staff or something (i know this is hard to understand) , the trumpets are NEVER going to sound good playing that, take it up an octave or give it to another instrument! I was very impressed with the low brass sound from the group however. The show is incomplete and I can't wait to see the finished product. During their ballad the jazz walked the entire movement, but it was very literal ballet jazz walk, I think there is a reason corps don't do that and do just the toe point, because it looks pretty ridiculous, they looked like frogs. i feel like such a jerk so I'm going to stop with the negatives (there aren't much more) From what I hear about this corps it sounds like it's very well run from a business standpoint, I look forward to seeing their growth. Hopefully with that growth will bring better designers. Drumline sounded good to me. And as negative as this sounded, they are light years ahead of where they were last year at the michigan city show :) Teal Sound: I just don't really remember much besides guitars. There was one really great brass moment where they started adding in musically and visually that the crowd responded to really well. The theme is 'in the presence of enemies' which I don't really understand right now. Drumline seemed to be overbalancing the brass for a lot of the show, but they play well. Good to see a corps growing strong Colts: wah, again I don't remember much. there is a guard member who puts on a corps proper jacket during the show except it's blue... i was expecting the rest of the guard to join in or see other colors of the jacket given the title of the show but it never happened :( . I think this was the corps where there was a big solo rifle toss (and if I'm not mistaken it was by the blue jacket guy) that was dropped and the whole crowd went "awwwwwwwwwww" :( poor guy, you'll get it next time! Madison Scouts: I will say that the only prior time i saw this show was on the fan network, and I wasn't a fan, at all. that being said, I enjoyed it a TON more in person. Was probably my favorite show of the night after the Cadets. That being said, slaughter is just boring to me. The intro of the show is great but after that is is pretty bleh (to me anyway) until they get to rhapsody in blue. Rhapsody in blue is great , minus one small section. I'm really not a fan musically of the beginning of the drum break. It sounds so old school, almost like a percussion feature you can buy on jwpepper, or something.... however the guard fixes it with their rifle feature over the scaffolding stuff they build, and even though they dropped the last toss it was very very very cool :) :) :). good to see madison with a well designed guard!!!!!! Maybe it's just me but the drums sounded weak... I'm no expert. This show should be beating glassmen Glassmen: I enjoyed the show more the first time I saw it for some reason. Maybe it's because I didn't know what to expect, same comments still go from my toledo review pretty much. I really like their guard. The Cavaliers: I was really really really wanting to like to like this show, but right now I just don't like it too much. I don't hate it tho, i DO LOVE the guard! wow oh wow they are just great. Brass had a lot of performance issues as well as percussion that I heard. drill is great as usual, but nothing like 2000-2003. As most of you have heard, their 'fight club' section this year is a rifle feature with the whole corps. the brass does pushups and apparently that's really cool. This is weird for me to say since I'm not a big fan of him, but the cavaliers really need richard saucedo back... he worked way too well for their style, and this new guy sounds amateur in comparison...which is weird because I loved the book he wrote for crossmen in 04, maybe he's just not a good fit for cavaliers imo. hopefully their visual designers stay in tact, because they are keeping them afloat and entertaining, especially the guard!!! Cadets: woo hoo!!! loved this show. strong guard, strong drums with an epic feature, pretty good hornline, good design and a lot of potential/opportunity. this is the corps I'm routing for for '10 champions. I'm not predicting they'll get it, I just think they deserve it, and have a great show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadwick Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 Thanks for the review! Curious, have you had a chance to see Bluecoats or Crown this year and if so, do you think Cadets are still the #1 corps? Not at all criticizing your opinion, just curious what comparables you have had to make this judgment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScribeToo Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 Enjoyed your review -- balanced and honest.. thank you! Stef Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fan of the Arts Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 Thanks for the review!Curious, have you had a chance to see Bluecoats or Crown this year and if so, do you think Cadets are still the #1 corps? Not at all criticizing your opinion, just curious what comparables you have had to make this judgment. I have seen Bluecoats and Crown this year. I feel the same way about Bluecoats this year that I did about Crown last year. Bluecoats are very good and expect them to be in the thick of things right up to Indy. I think the drum corps popluation is in for a real treat this year because the top 5 corps are really good (Cadets, Crown, Bluecoats, Blue Devils, and Cavaliers). As for who is the #1 corps....not seeing Blue Devils yet I still believe the Cadets' show has the most potential. From what I heard from those on tour Cadets are starting to get into that place where they're really good every night. Irving Fan of the Arts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
general_tsos_chicken2 Posted July 5, 2010 Author Share Posted July 5, 2010 Thanks for the review!Curious, have you had a chance to see Bluecoats or Crown this year and if so, do you think Cadets are still the #1 corps? Not at all criticizing your opinion, just curious what comparables you have had to make this judgment. i have seen the bluecoats. They are good, I think cadets show has a lot more substance that will eventually throw them ahead of bluecoats but i've been wrong before. as for crown I've only seen them on the fan network, but I will see them this weekend. and then there's bd.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnsolobird Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 Great review ! Last time I got that honest it upset some people! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triple Forte Posted July 6, 2010 Share Posted July 6, 2010 Great review ! Last time I got that honest it upset some people! Thanks general_tsos_chicken2 for the review...... Johnsolobird.....just curious what was Colt members favorite grub from the food truck ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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