Quarterfinals Thoughts

[cavies98]

Just got home from the Big, Loud, and Live show. Thought I'd give a few quick impressions before going to bed as I am exhausted. This isn't going to be a review, just a few thoughts. As a side note, this is the one and only show I was able to attend this summer.

First of all, the sound and picture were FANTASTIC. I'd go as far as saying it sounded better than actually being in the dome, at the show. I was very, very impressed. We had about 50-60 people at the theater tonight in Springdale, OH.

Overall impressions - maybe I've been following drum corps for too long now (since 1990, marched in 1998 in Cavies) - but I'm just not getting the goosebumps any more. Over the past five years or so I am usually only wowed by two or three corps. Same thing happened tonight. The overall musicianship and marching prowess, across the board, is great. The shows just aren't reaching me on an emotional level.

A few notes on the corps themselves, from what I remember:

The Academy - very impressed with the hornline!

Glassmen - after hearing some negativity about this corps, I enjoyed them. Nice musical selections.

Madison - YES! Finally, DRUM CORPS! It was nice to see Madison back in action. This was a very "Madison" show. The corwd loved them. They received the best response of the night, hands down, with Cavies in second. Enjoyable music selections. Visual was pretty uninspired but fit the show well. Hope to see them in top form in the next few years. Thank you Jim Mason!

Blue Knights - Marc Sylvester's comments were hilarious, awesome and very true. What a character. If you were at the theater tonight you know what I mean:) Great musical selections from Blue Knights. Enigma was gorgeous. Thank goodness BK and Madison are still playing accessible music that the crowds enjoy.

Blue Stars - Technically impressive, but did nothing for me on an emotional level. Crowd sat on their hands for the most part.

SCV - Loved the music. I am a huge Bartok fan and I enjoyed their purist adaptations of the tunes. SCV had some awesome WOW moments tonight, and the crowd at them up. Anticilmactic ending to the show. SOme great visual moments as well.

Phantom - Rich hornline sound, amazing drums, didn't reach me emotionally at all. Crowd was fairly apathetic.

Cadets - Fun music, classic Cadets whiplash drill. Jeffrey wasn't too grating. Mild audience reaction. I liked this show quite a bit.

Crown - Very clean, wonderful brass sound. Didn't do much for me this year emotionally.

Cavaliers - Second best crown reaction of the night. Cavies were ON tonight. Very tight across the board and the crowd dug them. Of course, the rifle section was amazing and got a great reaction. Not suprised to see them pass BC tonight.

BC - Techincally very, very impressive. AWESOME horn line, especially the tubas. BC had a few groovalicious moments, but overall did not connect with me very much nor the rest of the audience. Pretty flat response. Didn't enjoy the show all that much, but I was very proud to see the BC in second place coming into Finals week. Good for you guys! I hope they continue to do well in the coming years.

Blue Devils - Where to begin? They are very clean and powerful. They do what they do well. That said, their show was hands-down the most unpleasant show I have ever experienced. Musically grating and annoying. The crowd was utterly silent the entire show and some folks were vocally annoyed afterwards. They are very, very tight musically and visually. The kids are working hard and are a MACHINE out there. The show just has no heart. It's a hard thing to comment on. I understand what they are doing and I have a lot of respect for their abilities. I have listened to the source material before - City of Glass is a near unlistanable pieve in its original form so my reaction to their show was no suprise. I do not like this show and I probably never will. Don't mean to hate (because I don't - I have a TON of respect for BD) just sharing my thoughts.

Anyway, there you go! Just an honest opinion from one guy.

Look forward to hearing others' reviews of the show.

[cavies98]

Sorry for the momentary moment of insanity in this sentence - somehow missed this:

"City of Glass is a near unlistanable pieve"

:)

[usmc5577]

Anyway, there you go! Just an honest opinion from one guy.

Look forward to hearing others' reviews of the show.

I was in a theatre, as well, in Northern Virginia. Agree much with what you had in your review. Here are some additional thoughts.

Keep in mind that this was in a theatre and it was my first viewing of the corps.

Glassmen-Couldn't help but like their sound. Very nice.

Madison- Any show in which one can fart at any time during the show and no one would hear it must be a great show. Hope they can continue to improve without having to play stuff they have already played. i.e. create new classic shows without redoing old classic shows.

Blue Knights-They wanted to be more accessable and I think they went a long way in attaining that goal. A thoroughly entertaining show.

Blue Stars-WOW! I've not heard the music they're playing before, but I like it. A lot. Great show!

SCV-I think you would really have to be a Bartok fan to like this show. As one who has not heard this music before, I found the show to be a bit pretentious and definitely inaccessable. Some really nice visuals, though.

Phantom-Largely not-so-great show but with a handful of seriously WOW moments.

Cadets-Gotta like the way they execute that show. Accessable and entertaining. Like a machine out there. Awesome drum feature.

Crown-First half of the show was AMAZING. Couldn't figure out why they weren't scoring better. Then came the second half of the show and suddenly I understood. It lost all momentum and never got it back. Their color pallate was beautiful and elegant.

Blue Coats-Another show where you can fart at anytime and no one would hear you. Love the energy level but, visually, it seemed to be lacking something. Didn't seem to be on the same level as the other top corps. Nice to see them doing so well.

Cavs-Definitely outside the box. Tons of energy and very entertaining. They always have the best visual package. Would like to see them take it but they won't because...

BD-They gonna win. If you were to say, as quoted above, that "their show was hands-down the most unpleasant show I have ever experienced. Musically grating and annoying" then my guess is that BD would say "mission accomplished". I agree that this corps is uber talented and execute the snot out of the show. I would also say that said show is poo-poo. Seriously, is this the future of the activity? Where a corps can win with most of the crowd sitting on their hands? That's a sure-fire way to esoteric your way out of a fan base (yes, I used the word "esoteric" as a verb). Last year they were the best corps to sit on a chair, cross their legs while sitting on a chair, walk around a chair, stand on a chair, etc ad nauseum. It's a shame the staff can't give the kids a show that gives them the satisfaction of, not just winning, but hearing the crowd go ape because they're so entertaining. There! I said it. Cathartic experience complete. I feel better.

Hellcats-Hell yes! Well done, gentlemen.

'nuf said. Peace out.

[ThunderbirdDrumMajor]

I have to agree with you on just about everything. Madison and Blue Knights were my favorites of the night. I liked Phantom's show in Erie, and wish I could have heard it again tonight. Unfortunately, the sound at the Erie theater kept cutting in and out during their performance...

I also enjoyed the Cadets for the first time in several years! Jeffrey wasn't nearly as irritating as I thought he would be (especially after some of the reviews I read).

Though it didn't connect with me emotionally, Bloo's show is not terrible, and I'm glad to see them competing for the title!

Blue Devils really irritated me. They're clean, they're loud, the battery is phenomenal. I've always liked them and wouldn't expect anything less. However, the mirrors were a huge distraction, I didn't get the music, and the guard uniforms were horrible. Maybe this show will grow on me in the future, but I doubt it.

[jhallman]

The Judges got the top 3 right, none of those shows make you want to jump out of your seats but that does not mean I'm disappointed.

I think BD should have called their show Houdini, in the middle of the show, on the field, the corp disappears ...wow.

[ChiBoyinLA]

"You're not supposed to understand it. You experience it with your subconscious. It's very advanced music, and the average person can't take too much of it."

-- Stan Kenton, describing City of Glass (source: http://www.jazz.com/music/2008/3/31/stan-k...-city-of-glass)

So, congratulations people, most of us are average. ;)

[fsubone]

Madison- Any show in which one can fart at any time during the show and no one would hear it must be a great show. Hope they can continue to improve without having to play stuff they have already played. i.e. create new classic shows without redoing old classic shows.

Blue Coats-Another show where you can fart at anytime and no one would hear you. Love the energy level but, visually, it seemed to be lacking something. Didn't seem to be on the same level as the other top corps. Nice to see them doing so well.

I think that is possibly the best explanation for a show being loud I have ever heard. Both of these corps had great sounds, and amazing tuba sections.

[supersop]

I think that is possibly the best explanation for a show being loud I have ever heard. Both of these corps had great sounds, and amazing tuba sections.

He's never heard me fart!

Guess I'll add my post from the other thread. It's not chronological .... and mostly not my comments .. until the 2nd half of the post.

[supersop]

As I sat in the theatre, in front of 2 drum corps Legends and mentors of mine .......... I could only chuckle and giggle and "inform" them on some things that have changed since they have left the DCI activity. The commentary from these two fine gents throughout (and at times LOUDLY ... they're losing their hearing a bit in their latter years) was nothing but priceless.

"Oh?" ......"That must be a Hardimon line"......"It's a shame Academy can't get more credit"......"Madison needs more modulation" .......... "FINALLY!" ........... "I conducted this piece in '56 with _______ University" ............. "I'm really impressed with what Boston is doing" ............ "These guys play flams like girls" ............ "Double stop ... double stop .... SLAM! Gee that's creative" ................................ "G7? What's that all about?" ............ "This should have ended after Cadets and Crown" .......... "Gold horns are legal?" ........ "Now that's a hornline" ........... "Let me guess .... Van Doren?"

As for BD, "Is this #### over yet?" Me, "I have no effing Clue". Gent #2, "I gotta wizz, if it ain't over it should have been when they were announced".

All I needed were 3 cigars and a bottle of nice Scotch and this would have been the best night of my life. By all accounts, these guys were pretty spot on with most comments.

My account of the show:

Coats and Cavies were noticably dirty visually tonight. Feet were everywhere, stickouts in forms, you name it. If these 2 want a chance at BD ... they need to march better (I dont' care what the recaps say). Best sounding hornlines of the night were SCV, Cadets and Crown. SCV and BD were heavily over amped in the pit. The spread from 12 to 13 is real and should be what it is ... although I did have Academy in 13th safely. Madison and BAC should be closer than the spread. I think Scouts have a chance to move up tomorrow. Cadets and Crown should not be 2 pts behind 2nd ... no way! Crowns ending worked for me .. it wasn't great but the rewind really did tie it together decently (just not a Championship worthy ending).

BD: I don't really consider this a drum corps show. The rudimentary elements of traditional drum corps are hardly there. They are a great product and extremely talented. When they did march .. it was stellar. When the brass did play .. it was stellar. The arrangements of the music used in this production are, in and of itself, a completely different work of music than the source material. It is a NEW composition that does not reflect the original intent of the source material. The guard is absolutely stellar. The visual package is more about staging than it is about marching. It was a production created with the stage in mind .. and the movement of the corps proper reflected that (no pun intended). This corps of performers does have a smidgen of elements that would qualify as "rudimentary elements of drum corps", but it's just enough to show that they are capable and not enough to warrant the credit given. Will this show be talked about in 20 years as ahead of it's time? I think it will be remembered as the next to last step in BD leaving drum corps behind. Was it effective? YES. The major effect driven by the product? Discord and Contempt. It is an incredible show .. but it is not a drum corps show. You've already read the reaction from others above. There was zero applause.

The big winner tonight with the Fan$ at the theatre was pretty close between Madison and Crown with Cadets at a close 3rd.

[shawn craig]

Went to the theatre last night. However, I saw all the corps live in Allentown last weekend. Just some random thoughts.

I really enjoed Cavies, Crown, Phantom, SCV, Madison and Blue Knights. Phantom's show comes across much better live, or perhaps would have come across better on the screen with much better camera work.

Blue Devils? Enough's been said; great corps, great execution, not entertaining to me.

Desent crowd in the theatre with a nice mix of young to old. I'd say Cavies, Phantom, Blue Knights, Madison, and Bluecoats got the best responses. BD and SCV had mixed responses, some really liked, others were left confused.

Overall sound quality was good except something went wrong during Phantom's show. Just before SCV there were some blips on the screen but we got to see the show (possibly something to do with the thunderstorms going through the area).