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ahhh, live drum corps, and while humid as ####, no rain for a change in South Central PA. Tonight, 4 corps, a small stadium, a lousy field due to 3-5 inches of rain hitting the area in 4 hours last night, and a lot of drum corps starved fans.

First off the Hanover Lancers alumni field corps. about 40 horns, 6 snares, 8 basses and i think 4 quads. Nice selection of patriotic tunes. After the first tune, the announcer took the time to introduce the guys on the track...these gentlemen were the members of the Air Force Pipe and drum corps, the one that Truman crawford led when he was with the Air Force. Many legends on that track...John Flowers, Eric Landis, looked like Red Windsor, Whitey Roberts and more.

At this point Hanover kicked into an armed forces medley, and invited vets and current enlisted to stand when their service hymn was played. Hanover then trooped the stands to "You'll never Walk Alone"

Next up the Crossmen....numbers looked similar to last year. The corps starts on the back sideline, except for a solo dancer and a sop soloist for "Somewhere Over The Rainbow". Guard used pieces of fabric to show Colors, the unifying theme of the show, at one point strecthing the fabric in front of their whole bodies. Being that the guard was in grey jumpsuit like uniforms, it worked to a tee. Next up was St James Club, a fast piece jazz tune w/an underlying perc groove. Members seemed tentative on drill, and on that field i cant blame them. Tune doesnt seem up to tempo yet, and may take time for some visual transitions to fall into place before they can. Many trades between brass and percussion, and the huge guard is busy on weapons and flags. The power chrod ending and ending tag was very similar to last years opener(which is fine w/me)

Next song was Blue Rhondo ala Turk. Many mood/meter changes in this one, and has the potential to be very tasty by August. Perc featured more here, especially the pit, and a park and blow that heard traces of Blues In The NIght. A Visual highlight during the drum solo was the horn line running to the upper left corner, then turning around and doing last years opening drill move.....i totally forgot to watch the drums and guard because this move is still cool even coming from the other direction.

This led into Count Bubba, which was done park n bark jam style, as the drill wasnt performed. This song will be a jam session galore...brass moments, perc moments and guard moments. Now i know it's June, and expect dirt, but the drums surprised me...either dead on, or dirty. brass intonation was nice, tho some stamina issues, which is to be expected. guard, as has become a Crossmen standard was superb.

The Cadets. very unusual start to the show for them. As the break out of the block and go to the opening set, the low brass begins to march and play My Favorite Things, while the rest of the brass hangs out and the percussion plays a quick warmups. The low brass ties into the mid voices and they begin to move, adding onto the upper brass then the percussion. They turn around and you feel impact coming, yet they turn backfield again, eventually forming a straight line on about the 20. This actually looks like an old time off the line as the corps kicks into Fanfare and Allegro. A nice intorduction to the tune coming "OTL", then tempo kicks up into areas the Cadets seem at home with. Motoring around the field w/out a concern, the corps finishes off the tune nicely. the guard was in black spandex tops and bottoms, which dont seem like the final uni, but the guard work is nuts.

Up next is Malaguena. Ok, i will admit, i have personally declared this song overkilled. However, i cant rip the cadets version of it. The females in the guard add a blue skirt and the flags are a bright blue for this, which had me confused...i think red when i hear this song. nice brass/perc trade offs, leading to a full perc afro/cuban feature, followed by a full brass park and blow. Tempo picks up again, and the song ends with the full blown Malaguena in your face you expect when you hear the song. Then...my song i wanted to hear most...Rocky Point Holiday. Intro as expected, tho the tempo seems a bit down yet.mello book to die for, and the updated perc parts have a ton of black on the paper. About half the way thru the tune, the corps parks, as the drill is not finished yet. After the mello lick from ####, the one that sets up the ending, the corps does a nice melodic recap of all the tunes, then the power chords from Rocky Point.

The Rocky Point tag isn't on the end, but i see it coming. The corps moved confidently for June 14th, and sounded better than they have early season since maybe 98. When the drill is done (praying for a Z pull here), this show will turn heads.

Finally the Marines. Wondered what they would be like without the Good Colonel at the helm, well I can honestly say they kicked my ###. the best drumline they have had for years, and playing tunes like Hoedown, Bugle Rag Blues, Stars and Stripes and others, i can honestly say the corps is in great hands. and did i mention that drumline kicked ###? The bassline never stopped.

my vantage point for the first three corps was 35 yards line, 8 rows up in the 12 row high stadium. event could have been run better, but a venue change seemed to leave people at sorts. The corps themselves tho, made me ready for my next show in 2 weeks.

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Guest GeorgeD

Thanks for the review -

I add brief comments:

Hanover Lancers Alumni

Really enjoyed them - especially their large percussion section - playing traditional book with bravado.

Got to admit I got choked upped during their trooping the stands to "You'll Never Walk Alone"

Crossmen

Much improved corps over 02 - IMO. Last season - their show had some major staging and music issues early on - some of which were eventually fixed (the ballad) and some of which weren't (the drill). This year - the drill makes great use of the field - the guard is VERY well staged and the horn and drum lines both seem to be stronger and more mature at the start of this season than last. I agree with the above - the drum line was GREAT in some sections and really bad in others - very little middle ground. Obviously with practice that will be fixed. They stood for about the last two minutes of the show - as did the Cadets. Loved (like Jeff above) the guard staging in the opener Rainbow - as did the crowd. The last long-held power chord was great.

Cadets

Tomorrow I will post a write-up on the Cadets regarding their 2003 program - which to me is pretty much an attempt of going for broke. Interesting the above reviewer brought up '98 - watching the show - I too thought about that year -- this year seems more like the Cadets 98 program than the last few. Drill-wise the Cadets have really challenged themeselves. Music wise, well, a million notes -- most of them on the run. The guard book (what's on the field) reminds me more of Devils equipment wise -- but is very Cadet like in silk work. Dance is also intensive. It's obvious the Cadets are on a quest. More on all that tomorrow.

Marines

Best Marine D&B production I've seen - and I agree (again) with the above reviewer that the drumline was outstanding. Well done!

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  • 3 months later...
she'll still look great. Becky's just a good lookin girl B)

:huh: MAKE OUT then

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