emc2 Posted August 13, 2010 Share Posted August 13, 2010 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. Interesting you left out Boston Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavies98 Posted August 13, 2010 Author Share Posted August 13, 2010 Sorry about that, as I said, I was completely exhasted when I got home last night. Interesting you left out Boston Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Semler Posted August 13, 2010 Share Posted August 13, 2010 Blue Devils- That said, their show was hands-down the most unpleasant show I have ever experienced. Musically grating and annoying. *Like Button* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted August 13, 2010 Share Posted August 13, 2010 "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". That is awesome!!! The wisdom of our elders is not to be trifled with. It is, perhaps, a bit less PC than many of us, but nonetheless. LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobd27 Posted August 13, 2010 Share Posted August 13, 2010 "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. ;) IMHO Typical artist comment "....I am too smart for you, peasant." Just proves the talent of the musician, it's hard to play music with no melody, or rhythm, or anything enjoyable to the ear. Madison rocked!! I was watching in Lakeland FL, along with about 100 other people and they were the first group to get applause from the theater crowd. I told my 14 year old son that was how it use to sound. Not a lot of vibes and xylophones and gongs and keyboards. DRUMS and BUGLES. Keep up the great work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaos001 Posted August 14, 2010 Share Posted August 14, 2010 "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. ;) yeah...whatever. someone overestimates himself. that's artist speak for, "no one understand the #### i wrote." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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