East Coast Classic

[Grumpy]

OK, I have never attempted this one before, but have my flame retardent suit on and here's my honest opinions.

Let me start by saying it was an AWESOME night for drum corps. The heat and humidity of the recent past were swept out Thursday night with a front, so Friday night at showtime it was clear, dry and in the low 70's. Only complaint weather wise is that it was somewhat breezy. The venue is very good-solid concrete bleachers with metal benches, in good repair, all on concert side. Extremely easy access off of the highway and plenty of parking close by at the shopping plaza. Paul Cain was the announcer-IMO, the BEST in drum corps (sorry Brandt fans) and there were a few minor problems with the PA system but nothing like the poor guy had to deal with two weeks ago during Miission Drums at the same venue. As a disclaimer, I won't be commenting much on the visual or drill aspects because I was unfortunately seated in the second row-that's OK, I'll get the visuals in Indy. Large crowd, Boston Crusaders home show so obviously a large contingent of BAC fans and alumni. My one BIG complaint-whatever happened to not entering or leaving the stands during the corps' performances? I felt like I was at Fenway Park, a steady stream of people coming and going with no regard to the fact that there is a performing unit on the field! It used to be that it was announced at shows that you should refrain from this, but that seems to have gone by the boards as well.

First up was the Muchachos Sr. Drum & Bugle Corps from Manchester, NH in exhibition (they also played the National Anthem to open the evening). Although they are an alumni corps, a very large part of the corps is made up of younger members, guessing probably high school age (not meant in a derogatory way, just statement of fact). There are also older folks, some of whom have been with them for years. The horn line seems to do well in the middle and low voices, but they need some help in the upper registers. The drumline of 5 snares, 3 bass, 1 multi and 1 pit percussion played well. The corps came "off the line", old school style, and played accessible music like "Legend of the One Eyed Sailor" and "Lonely Bull". The corps is celebrating their 50th season this year.

The first competing corps of the evening was Teal Sound. I have been a fan of Teal since last summer; I enjoyed their program last year, and got to see them "up close and in your face" in Indianapolis last year. I am also glad to see a corps work hard and be able to make the progression from OC to WC. Note to the design staff-the music is enjoyable, the corps played well but PLEASE let the corps play! A perfect example of why we don't need electronics in drum corps. The soloists had to have been mic'd, because no matter where they were on the field their music eminated from the front sidelines, 50 yard line, and was much louder than it should have been. The volume in general was way too high from the pit and there was far too much low end. I'm not a fan of the electic guitars in the show either, but I could have tolerated those if they could have done a better job with the rest of the electronics. I love loud, but would rather it be "natural" loud. As I said, enjoyable music and I am looking forward to seeing them again. One thing that really stood out is that the members in the pit were quite obviously having the time of their lives-it showed on their faces and the way they were playing. Crowd loved them.

Next up was Pacific Crest. They marched what looked like a difficult drill-lots more movement than Teal-and they appeared to perform it well. Whatever they were playing, they played it well-but what WERE they playing? The music wasn't accessible and although I could appreciate the performers efforts, I just couldn't get into this show. Like Teal, they had serious issues with their electronics, though not to the same degree. The crowd seemed to have the same sentiments.

Next corps was the Mandarins. I remember when the Mandarins used to "own" what was then called Div. III-they won it so often that finally DCI forced them to move up into what we now call World Class. Somewhere in that transition, the Mandarins went from a Div. III perennial champion to a quarterfinal corps that finishes up their season each year on Thursday of championship week. The show seemed to be themed well, but I'll be brutally honest-I was extremely bored. The music is not at all accessible, and like the first two corps, they need to get their electronics under control. The crowd rewarded them with a polite golf clap.

Following intermission, the next corps up was the Bluecoats. I was a bit puzzled as to why Blooo was on before the Cadets, when they have consistently been scoring higher than them all season. I understand why BAC was on last, as it is their home show. I saw Blooo earlier this summer, about a month ago, and was impressed then. At the time, they were neck and neck with Crown. Blooo was really ON this time around. Their drumline is amazing and it is no surprise after seeing them live why they have been scoring where they have been. The show is fast paced and the corps sounds awesome. I have not yet seen BD live, but if they are beating this show (and they have been) they must REALLY be something. Blooo achieved their highest score in their corps' history tonight, and it was well earned. I don't mean to sound like a broken record, but they need to turn down the amps a bit. The crowd LOVED them.

Next was the Cadets and their Toy Souldier production. I will be the first to admit that more often than not, I am not a fan of the Cadets productions but this year is an exception. Little Jeffrey tends to be annoying, yes it is pertinent to the story but after the beginning, they should have limited his involvement to interjecting him here and there and left it at that. I enjoy the music, we have heard it before but there's nothing wrong with that. It's performed well and the show does hold the theme well througout the program-something that many of this season's drum corps are missing. The one thing missing from this production is the Cadets "trademark"-the dizzying drills that they are famous for. There are a few moments, but they are just that-fleeting moments. I am looking forward to seeing this program again in Indy, and if there's one thing that is a sure sign it's finals week, it's that George will make changes and what we see on Thursday will not be what we saw last night. I'm still kind of meh with the eding, if I'm not mistaken that's not the ending that was there before but I only saw them on FN before last night and you tend to miss things with a high camera angle and a 15 in. laptop screen. Unlike previous corps, no electonic issues! Yay! The crowd gave them a big ovation, there are a lot of Cadets fans in this neck of the woods as they hit this area nearly every year at least once.

The final competing corps of the evening was the hometown Boston Crusaders, celebrating their 70th season. Boston was one of my favorite corps last year, but this year the music just doesn't seem to grab me, and the huge throne they cart out for every show just seems to leave me scratching my head-their show is titled "Thy Kingdom Come", but the throne really doesn't seem to serve any useful purpose to the show other than that it relates to the title. Maybe I'm missing something. Love how they manage to weave a little bit of "Conquest" into the closer every year. Boston was a bit cleaner than they have been, and the judges finally seem to agree and rewarded them with the scores that we have been expecting. Not sure if where they're at in the big picture is more a result of how the corps above them are performing, or the judges are just not buying into this year's show. I do enjoy the Rachmaninoff piece. Hometown crowd went nuts for them!

Wrapping up the evening was the Crusaders Senior Drum & Corps. In true old school style, they came off the line to enter the field. They played pretty much the same music they have been playing for several years, but they really need to get rid of the "slow" version of "Conquest"-it sounds sick compared to the "jazz" version, which they close out the show with and what defines the Crusaders. The one complaint I have had with them for years, has been that the hornline has too many sopranos and sounds out of balance because there are not enough lower voices to balance it out. They have added to their ranks this season, the corps seems larger than it has been for a while. The competing corps cheered them on from just beyond the end zone.

As we waited for the scores to be tallied, the Crusaders competing corps treated the crowd to an encore before the DM only retreat.

All in all, an enjoyable evening and really has me pumped for Finals week.

[GMichael1230]

Excellent review.

G

[Matt_S]

Grumpy, if I had to come up with any complaint, it would be that your review doesn't live up to your name. Excellent job! I'll be reading your thoughts on Indy.

[Grand Poobah]

Thanks for the mini-review of the Muchachos. A couple of corrections are in order. We are not a Sr. Corps. We have been a DCI Associate All-Age member Corps for the last four years and that accounts for the age disparity in our membership, which we are proud of, by the way. Our marching members range from 14 to 68 years of age.

You are accurate in your assessment of our horn line and we are always recruiting members in all areas. I encourage anyone to check us out at www.muchachos.org.

[bluecoats88]

as for performance order. this is usually determined by last years placement with randomness within small groupings. I believe it is 3 corps groups, so since Cadets were in the 1-3 group last year and Bluecoats were in the 4-6 group cadets will usually go on after bluecoats. The only exception to this is for regionals and such where they use averages from current shows to determine order.

[purenjoyment]

Actually what happened was the Cadets had transportation problems. Thus, they were delayed. The show was actually delayed. Performance time for the Cadets was 8:59. They moved the Bluecoats into the Cadets start time. However the Bluecoats did not go on well after the 8:59 step off time. Not many people were aware of the delay for intermission was taking place.I got this information directly from a Bluecoat's staff member.

Edited August 9, 2010 by purenjoyment