Dewayne Posted June 17, 2003 Share Posted June 17, 2003 (edited) Although I am a veteran drum corps watcher, I don't consider myself an expert. So think of this more as a recap than a review. Good weather for Night of Magic, held at Lake Howell High School in Winter Park, just northeast of Orlando. There was even a breeze and no complaints about the heat in the stands. See, it can be tolerable here. Should be an interesting year for Magic. They won't sneak up on anyone this year. There was lots of talk about last year being "Cinderella" and this year being "Prince Charming." Magic is marching a full corps. They said there are 32 guard members and I counted 32 percussionists. The corp uniforms are the same as last year. They performed without hats Saturday. The guard had just received their unis that day: lycra jumpers, I would say purple with aqua/turquoise swath through the midsection, off the shoulderish for the females, sleeveless/short sleeved for the guys. It makes for a well-coordinated look. I arrived early and saw a run-through. Because the stands are only 15 rows or so high and because a very focused staff member stood right in front of me, design was hard to see. I do recall being impressed during the run-through with how sure-footed the members appear: they know where they're going. The opener is very soft. The players have what i believe are called "vibrant chimes" (help me out here) to good effect. I hear that corps have used them before, but not to this extent -- Magic is using 85 of them. Still, I had to wonder how that would play in a large stadium. They are still working on the transition for getting the chimes put away. (During the run-through, someone with the megaphone said "work in progress, work in progress, work in progress.") I thought they sounded good. Plus they pulled off very loud and very quiet. The marching is brisk. Playing to the backfield worked well. Seemed like there was difficult playing at the same time as difficult marching. One contra took a tumble during a backwards march sequence. The end looks like a complicated, tight-quartered peel off into a far-forward front -- and loud/crowd pleasing. I'm assuming it to be effective from a higher perspective. Guard work is in. Shiny rectangles demonstrated the "silver voices" theme from the beginning. Eventually, there are rifles, sabres and shiny poles (think Phantom '96 only shorter). The poles were way cool under the lights. I could be delusional, but I don't recall much dancing/prancing sans equipment. Dare I dream? If I learned anything from last year, it's that predictions are worthless. Still, this seemed to be a top 12 caliber show. But how bunched will the 8 through 15 positions become? Also appearing was Teal Sound. They stood in a concert formation and played Firebird. Guard was arched behind and did equipment work for about half that time. I counted 22B, 17P, 12G, 1DM. Also there: senior corps Heat Wave (18B, 9P, 9G, 1DM). Their drill seemed very spread out for a small corps. I was distracted by the guard marching without equipment for most of the show. They're at the point where they knew where to be, just not what to do while standing there. (This is especially odd during times that there eventually will be a flag solo.) QUIBBLES AND BITS: The line to get in was too long, too slow. Only one ticket taker. There were a lot more people selling raffle tickets. ... No Magic souvies to speak of. .... There was a nearly 30 minute gap between the end of Teal and the beginning of Magic. ... It was probably a long day for the Magic kids. The corps was tossed from their Lakeland quarters (southwest of Orlando) and had to spend the evening in Tampa (even farther southwest of Orlando) only to perfrom in Winter Park and then head to Sanford (north of Orlando) at a middle school where they were to stay until departing on tour Tuesday. At least that was the plan. Still, I can't wait for finals. I hope you Yankees will brave the heat and come on down. (Next month I'll provide tips on what not to wear. Hint: no dark T-shirts and/or heavy denim.) Edited June 18, 2003 by Dewayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dewayne Posted June 18, 2003 Author Share Posted June 18, 2003 This just in: my technical difficulties are cured (I think). Here are links to pics taken at Night of Magic. For off-field shot of Magic guard unis Magic opening Magic close (?) Teal Sound Heat Wave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCIFanOfAllDivisions Posted June 18, 2003 Share Posted June 18, 2003 magic's ending sounds too much like Spirit's ending last year... B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CincinnatiGloryMello Posted June 18, 2003 Share Posted June 18, 2003 the teal sound pic does not work. I think you pit "pxi" instead of "pix" in the link :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeN Posted June 18, 2003 Share Posted June 18, 2003 I fixed the link for him. :) Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hnate Posted June 20, 2003 Share Posted June 20, 2003 magic's ending sounds too much like Spirit's ending last year... B) actually if i am correct i am pretty sure the mello part is close to if not the same exact run as spirits mello runs at their end.. its an awesome run Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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