Denver CO review

[Galen]

I had the very fortunate privilege of attending the Denver show tonight after spending the day visiting a friend of mine in the Denver area. We spent the afternoon traipsing around Lookout Mountain outside of Golden (about 7500 feet above sea level), so the altitude at Invesco Field seemed a little easier to bear. Speaking of Invesco Field, that is without a doubt the best venue for drum corps I've ever been to in my entire life! I say DCI should forget Indy and have finals out here more often! I was up in the 3rd deck and watching the show was like watching drill on Pyware. Only complaints I have about the stadium were the lack of WiFi (no live updates during the show as I had hoped) and the fact that if you wanted something to eat other than a hot dog or a beer, you had to ride the elevator downstairs and then pay Mile High prices for grub (but I understand- they gotta pay off Tim Tebow's over-priced salary ). Pictures on the second page.

Thoughts on the corps:

High Country Brass: Came out carrying 4 square tents, and did an Arab-themed show. Only had about 20 brass and 8 guard and didn't march a complete show. Can't really say much about this one other than I don't think they marched behind the front hash the entire time, and one of their tents collapsed during the show. Good luck on their first trip to Rochester this year.

Colts: Good news is they've cleaned up a lot of the individual errors that I saw in Cedarburg last week. There's still a lot of forms that are slow to develop and don't look all that good until the moment they lock in. Need to work on that. I could make out little flashes of color underneath their white guard outfits, but we didn't get to see them tonight. I guess they're saving that for later in the year. Like seemingly every other corps tonight, they had a few hornline holes. Overall, my thoughts on this show haven't changed- it feels bland, doesn't have the same feeling as last year's show did and they probably won't be in contention for a spot in finals this year.

Glassmen: Guard comes out before the corps, and I finally realized how enormous that colorguard is! 36 at least. Some problems off the bat locking in their curvalinear forms. When the tempo is that slow, those HAVE to be picture perfect and the intervals have to be spot on- they weren't tonight. Fortunately, they got over that quick when their drill became more angular and block-a-linear. The drill seems a bit repetitive at times but it doesn't take away from the show. They make a really nice strong push into their last big rectangular set at the end of the opener and the music fits this very well too. Ballad had the great brass sound and shaping I was hoping to hear, and they did some really good Cavalier-style drill in the third movement. Honestly I feel that this corps is a bit underrated this year and should be a little closer to BK.

Troopers: Love the F-Troop, and love the "all fall down" ripple they did at the start of the show. But beyond that, this show wasn't my cup of tea. When I read

their announcement, I was expecting something akin to what Bluecoats did in '07 with their "Criminal" show but didn't really see any resemblance. Drill-wise, they do a lot of nice mirror-image drill on both the vertical and horizontal axis. This might be their downfall as it seems like they don't vary from this much in the show. One move I remembered well was when the drums came punching through a block of horns in a wedge, like an axe chopping through a log. Really good effect there. Low brass had some good sound in the opener, and sops had a nice staccato double-tongue part in the middle of the show but seemed to run out of air a bit towards the end of it. I honestly thought they had a lot more to offer than Colts did and were a lot cleaner as well. Not sure, though, that I see them making it back into finals again this year.

Blue Devils: Kind of a rarity to see them on this early at a show like this. Sun had gone down by the time they started. Side-note- they'd better hope their equipment truck never gets in a wreck, or they'll be in for 252 years of bad luck. Speaking of the mirrors, they do get used for a lot of good visual effects, including right off the bat when the guard is dancing in front of them and then out pop the horn players. Very innovative stuff. Then later they use them to simulate a kaleidoscope on the field with the horns dashing behind and around them in files. Really sweet playing from the soloists, they reminded me of some of their solos from the mid 80's, which you definitely don't hear much in drum corps these days. Beyond that though, the music seems VERY limited as far as melodic developemt goes. When you compare that to Cadets, Vanguard and BK who are playing fully-developed charts, it's almost a shame, especially when you consider how talented this hornline is. Definitely not any of the electronic stuff from last year in this show. The ending felt way too abrupt. Maybe when they're in the giant arc and sliding the two halves forward, they could be playing more of Los Suerte. I agreed with the placement, but ultimately not the score. But it's honestly pretty #### hard to compare this (and what they've been doing since '08, really) to any other product on the field right now. It's just on another planet, more in terms of overall design than performance (although the corps seems to be in August form right now). Closest I can compare it to is what Cavaliers were doing in the early 2000's with their 4 Corners show. They're just putting a completely different drum corps product on the field right now.

SCV: Man, did I LOVE this corps tonight!!! From a brass standpoint, the first 8 minutes was one of the best musical performances and arranging jobs I've ever heard in my time following drum corps. They're out to prove a big point with this show: Anybody and their mother can play loud, but it takes GUTS to play soft for that long, with that much exposure (tons of solo and small ensemble work in the book) and do it that freakin' well! Some examples: Contras play their opening feature in the far back corner of the field and are barely audible. Mello soloist gets my "Brass Balls" award from the night by playing a solo at the start of the show, on the center X, with nobody within 50 yards of him. Another thing that I loved was the use of musical silence all throughout the program. It was such a good contrast to when they were playing. Properly juxtaposed, you could hear every release, echo, rifle catch and horn pop. Best part was about 7 minutes end when they did a brilliant tease of the "Vanguard" yell. Just so good. Closer was rough and still doesn't seem like a proper ending, but I understand it's still kinda fresh on the field- which does leave me wondering why a premier drum corps organization can't get a full program on the field until mid-July.

Cadets: I had been eager to see this show from up high, and enjoyed it immensely. Marching was as crisp as you could ask for at this point in the year and forms locked in very well. The show's also getting more clever as the year goes on. I'll give a special mention to "Little Geoffrey" for being the best improviser I've seen on a drum corps field. Two horn players lost their plumes very early on in the show. After they got stepped on several times, he went over at one point in the show, picked them up and started conducting with them- and it completely fit what was going on. Brilliant! I thought they'd beat BD tonight- obviously I was wrong there.

Blue Knights: How nice it is to see this corps just play nice, enjoyable music! They've set aside the "dark", inaccessible music, the wacky dance stuff (mostly) and that bizarre marching style they've done for years in favor of a more traditional style. End result: they're enjoyable (great arranging of Farandole and Nimrod) and they're MUCH cleaner visually, although I don't know if I would have put them so close to Santa Clara tonight. Something that stood out to me- they've taken BD's "white plume head bopping" approach and incorporated it into several points of their show (as have other corps, now that I think of it). Nice moment in their encore when their DM made a marriage proposal to one of the baritone players (she said yes), although you could tell it was staged despite them trying to make it look spontaneous.

Generalities:

Lots of corps have a hole or 3 in the hornline

Lots of corps lost uniform parts (2 plumes for Cadets, hat for Troopers, drum stick for Vanguard and some kind of piece of plastic from a BD drummer). Can we get these kids some superglue?

Few if any corps doing an onfield warmup (except for BK's drumline and some random blowing for Devils)

Lots of corps adapting BD's visual height approach- lots of white plumes and head-bopping.

No synth buzz that I could hear, although granted I was at the top of the stadium and can't speak for the lower levels.

[gimpy]

Great review! I was there too and generally agree with you on all points. I thought Cadets and BD would be neck and neck, with BD maybe having a slight edge.

Edited July 11, 2010 by gimpy

[KeepItReal]

Thank you! Although idk about this 'improvisation on the field' you speak of... sounds like a slippery slope.

[Plan9]

Superb review.

[coloradocorp]

Anyone have a guess as to the size of the crowd at Invesco last night ??????

[NR_Ohiobando]

Go Tribe too!

[Lightness]

I had the very fortunate privilege of attending the Denver show tonight after spending the day visiting a friend of mine in the Denver area. We spent the afternoon traipsing around Lookout Mountain outside of Golden (about 7500 feet above sea level), so the altitude at Invesco Field seemed a little easier to bear. Speaking of Invesco Field, that is without a doubt the best venue for drum corps I've ever been to in my entire life! I say DCI should forget Indy and have finals out here more often! I was up in the 3rd deck and watching the show was like watching drill on Pyware. Only complaints I have about the stadium were the lack of WiFi (no live updates during the show as I had hoped) and the fact that if you wanted something to eat other than a hot dog or a beer, you had to ride the elevator downstairs and then pay Mile High prices for grub (but I understand- they gotta pay off Tim Tebow's over-priced salary ).

Thoughts on the corps:

High Country Brass: Came out carrying 4 square tents, and did an Arab-themed show. Only had about 20 brass and 8 guard and didn't march a complete show. Can't really say much about this one other than I don't think they marched behind the front hash the entire time, and one of their tents collapsed during the show. Good luck on their first trip to Rochester this year.

Colts: Good news is they've cleaned up a lot of the individual errors that I saw in Cedarburg last week. There's still a lot of forms that are slow to develop and don't look all that good until the moment they lock in. Need to work on that. I could make out little flashes of color underneath their white guard outfits, but we didn't get to see them tonight. I guess they're saving that for later in the year. Like seemingly every other corps tonight, they had a few hornline holes. Overall, my thoughts on this show haven't changed- it feels bland, doesn't have the same feeling as last year's show did and they probably won't be in contention for a spot in finals this year.

Glassmen: Guard comes out before the corps, and I finally realized how enormous that colorguard is! 36 at least. Some problems off the bat locking in their curvalinear forms. When the tempo is that slow, those HAVE to be picture perfect and the intervals have to be spot on- they weren't tonight. Fortunately, they got over that quick when their drill became more angular and block-a-linear. The drill seems a bit repetitive at times but it doesn't take away from the show. They make a really nice strong push into their last big rectangular set at the end of the opener and the music fits this very well too. Ballad had the great brass sound and shaping I was hoping to hear, and they did some really good Cavalier-style drill in the third movement. Honestly I feel that this corps is a bit underrated this year and should be a little closer to BK.

Troopers: Love the F-Troop, and love the "all fall down" ripple they did at the start of the show. But beyond that, this show wasn't my cup of tea. When I read

their announcement, I was expecting something akin to what Bluecoats did in '07 with their "Criminal" show but didn't really see any resemblance. Drill-wise, they do a lot of nice mirror-image drill on both the vertical and horizontal axis. This might be their downfall as it seems like they don't vary from this much in the show. One move I remembered well was when the drums came punching through a block of horns in a wedge, like an axe chopping through a log. Really good effect there. Low brass had some good sound in the opener, and sops had a nice staccato double-tongue part in the middle of the show but seemed to run out of air a bit towards the end of it. I honestly thought they had a lot more to offer than Colts did and were a lot cleaner as well. Not sure, though, that I see them making it back into finals again this year.

Blue Devils: Kind of a rarity to see them on this early at a show like this. Sun had gone down by the time they started. Side-note- they'd better hope their equipment truck never gets in a wreck, or they'll be in for 252 years of bad luck. Speaking of the mirrors, they do get used for a lot of good visual effects, including right off the bat when the guard is dancing in front of them and then out pop the horn players. Very innovative stuff. Then later they use them to simulate a kaleidoscope on the field with the horns dashing behind and around them in files. Really sweet playing from the soloists, they reminded me of some of their solos from the mid 80's, which you definitely don't hear much in drum corps these days. Beyond that though, the music seems VERY limited as far as melodic developemt goes. When you compare that to Cadets, Vanguard and BK who are playing fully-developed charts, it's almost a shame, especially when you consider how talented this hornline is. Definitely not any of the electronic stuff from last year in this show. The ending felt way too abrupt. Maybe when they're in the giant arc and sliding the two halves forward, they could be playing more of Los Suerte. I agreed with the placement, but ultimately not the score. But it's honestly pretty #### hard to compare this (and what they've been doing since '08, really) to any other product on the field right now. It's just on another planet, more in terms of overall design than performance (although the corps seems to be in August form right now). Closest I can compare it to is what Cavaliers were doing in the early 2000's with their 4 Corners show. They're just putting a completely different drum corps product on the field right now.

SCV: Man, did I LOVE this corps tonight!!! From a brass standpoint, the first 8 minutes was one of the best musical performances and arranging jobs I've ever heard in my time following drum corps. They're out to prove a big point with this show: Anybody and their mother can play loud, but it takes GUTS to play soft for that long, with that much exposure (tons of solo and small ensemble work in the book) and do it that freakin' well! Some examples: Contras play their opening feature in the far back corner of the field and are barely audible. Mello soloist gets my "Brass Balls" award from the night by playing a solo at the start of the show, on the center X, with nobody within 50 yards of him. Another thing that I loved was the use of musical silence all throughout the program. It was such a good contrast to when they were playing. Properly juxtaposed, you could hear every release, echo, rifle catch and horn pop. Best part was about 7 minutes end when they did a brilliant tease of the "Vanguard" yell. Just so good. Closer was rough and still doesn't seem like a proper ending, but I understand it's still kinda fresh on the field- which does leave me wondering why a premier drum corps organization can't get a full program on the field until mid-July.

Cadets: I had been eager to see this show from up high, and enjoyed it immensely. Marching was as crisp as you could ask for at this point in the year and forms locked in very well. The show's also getting more clever as the year goes on. I'll give a special mention to "Little Geoffrey" for being the best improviser I've seen on a drum corps field. Two horn players lost their plumes very early on in the show. After they got stepped on several times, he went over at one point in the show, picked them up and started conducting with them- and it completely fit what was going on. Brilliant! I thought they'd beat BD tonight- obviously I was wrong there.

Blue Knights: How nice it is to see this corps just play nice, enjoyable music! They've set aside the "dark", inaccessible music, the wacky dance stuff (mostly) and that bizarre marching style they've done for years in favor of a more traditional style. End result: they're enjoyable (great arranging of Farandole and Nimrod) and they're MUCH cleaner visually, although I don't know if I would have put them so close to Santa Clara tonight. Something that stood out to me- they've taken BD's "white plume head bopping" approach and incorporated it into several points of their show (as have other corps, now that I think of it). Nice moment in their encore when their DM made a marriage proposal to one of the baritone players (she said yes), although you could tell it was staged despite them trying to make it look spontaneous.

Generalities:

Lots of corps have a hole or 3 in the hornline

Lots of corps lost uniform parts (2 plumes for Cadets, hat for Troopers, drum stick for Vanguard and some kind of piece of plastic from a BD drummer). Can we get these kids some superglue?

Few if any corps doing an onfield warmup (except for BK's drumline and some random blowing for Devils)

Lots of corps adapting BD's visual height approach- lots of white plumes and head-bopping.

No synth buzz that I could hear, although granted I was at the top of the stadium and can't speak for the lower levels.

It's a her : )

Great review for Santa Clara!

[CloudFuel]

Awesome review - thanks! :)

[Brian Lancaster]

I was in the lower levels, and there were times that I heard the synth buzz, but it wasn't bad.

I'd have to agree with you on all points, especially with the Cadets. I really enjoyed their show, which is great to say because I was never a fan of their narration (And therefore I didn't really like a lot of their shows in the mid-late 00s). I didn't necessarily like the recorded music at the beginning, but there's a certain amount of give and take, I suppose. It wasn't playing when the judging started, so it was just for the "warm-up" time.

And I definitely agree about the Blue Devils not fully utilizing their musical talents. The show was last night and I honestly cannot recall what they played, or even what the tone of the show was. It was just sound. In tune, and sounded great, but I just remember that there WAS music. I think they could do a lot more musically.

As for SCV, One moment REALLY stuck out to me... right near the beginning, the corps turned around, and the trumpets came in, and it sounded SO GOOD. I was REALLY impressed.

That's all that I have to add :)

[Guizeppe]

Excellent review. Very nice read...especially this part:

"Speaking of Invesco Field, that is without a doubt the best venue for drum corps I've ever been to in my entire life! I say DCI should forget Indy and have finals out here more often!"

Finals in 2004 was and is beyond compare.