REVIEW--June 20, 2003--Cerritos/Impulse Show

[Ryan H. Turner]

The drum corps season opened with a bang as the Impulse Drum and Bugle Corps, a member of the Southern California Event Partner's Consortium, sponsored the Southern California Classic 2003 at the Cerritos College Stadium. This stadium, as an interesting side note, played host to several drum corps competitions in the 70's and 80's under the name "Odyssey Classic", and was one of the most well-known shows in its era.

But we're in a new era now, and excitement seems to have returned full throttle to southern California drum corps shows. It wasn't too many years ago that it was difficult to get even a 1000 people to a show. However, this evening's show was packed from the 25's with about 3500 in attendance, made up of lots of former drum corps members (evidenced by WIDE array of corps jackets and shirts), band kids (and even a director or two that brought large groups of kids in with group ticket purchases...VERY nice!), and as a special note...SEVERAL former VK'ers, including most notable Ma and Pa Smith. For those that remember the VK shows from the 70's, 80's and early 90's, Ma Smith was the voice you would inevitably hear scream from the stadium from EVERY show on tour just before the DM counted off...."GO GET 'EM KIDS!!!" Great time to see her at her FIRST drum corps show in over 10 years.

The following review is based, as usual, on my taste (or lack thereof) in drill, music, concepts, etc. I may not be the brightest bulb in the bunch, I may be a taco short of a combo plate, and I may not say things people agree with...but undoubtedly these are MY comments. I'm open to discussion, debate, and even disagreement. And of course, I'm always learning. So feel free to correct me if I saw or heard something wrong. And lastly, the comments do not represent any opinion for any organization that I may be involved with in any capacity.

My vantage point was in the pressbox, about 2 inches to the side 2 side of the 50 yd line, with a microphone in front of me and a notepad for notes. I ended up not writing as many as I started off writing because, well, I was REALLY enjoying the show. And to keep looking down to jot notes down was bugging BIG time. On with the show...we'll go in order of performance.

BLUE DEVILS "B" CORPS--25H/20G/26PHonestly, when the horn line was warming up back field, I could already sense I was going to be in trouble with this show. The intonation during the warm up was not real good. And as the show went on, it certainly didn't get any better. Which is a shame, because with the music this group had, it would have helped TREMENDOUSLY. They presented some challenging music from Pat Metheny's "First Circle" and "Letter From Home". Guard was intergrated nicely, although there were times when the guard would stop with their work, and then pick back up later. Work in progress I'm sure. Horn sound by and large was out of tune and quite thin, especially sopranos. Drums, ESPECIALLY DURING THE OPENER, were irritatingly too dang loud. WAY over balanced, and not very clean. But then, during their drum solo/feature later in the show, they cleaned things up and really played well. So, one could see what THEY were working on.

The show is pretty well written, except for one more irritation. During the ballad, the drum line double timed it around from the side 1 side to the front side line with their backs to the audience, and then proceded to kneel as they were tacet both musically AND visually. I HATE THAT! It was distracting, and I wish they could have been part of the drill. This show could be a contender I think in Orlando. If they went, that is...I wish they would.

SANTA CLARA VANGUARD CADETS--39H/20G/23P

Sporting a larger hornline with a more mature sound than their northern Californian competitors, SCV Cadets brought an excitement to their playing that wasn't there in BDB's show. In the 2nd tune, "Urban Dances" by Richard Danielpour, the drums did something with their sticks (???) that made this rather interesting bordering on irritating metallic sound. Thankfully, they used it as effect for a short time, and then it went away. Drum line played REALLY well throughout the show, and the horns did well but got rougher as endurance played a role as the show went along. I really enjoyed the "Selections from American Beauty" by film composer Thomas Newman. Pretty sounds from the pit as the snares came down and unhooked and took up various positions. Guard had an interesting prop, sort of a jigsaw type hand held prop that they used to pair up and "interlock" at the end of the tune. Cool. Personal note as I'm more inclined to really look at the visual side of life in corps. This was a toned-down year in the drill design as opposed to the previous two years that I've reviewed SCV Cadets. I've always felt it's been one of their huge assets. Don't know why it's toned down, but it definitely was in my estimation.

ESPERANZA--37H/26G/25PThe opening fanfare woke up the crowd as Esperanza really grabbed everyone. They started their show with a cool double line LONG rays on the diagonal that stretched from the 50 yd line IN THE PIT, and out to the side 2 almost back side line near the 10 (???). It was cool. The guard was staged in these two lines, so when the show started, they backed out away from each other on either side of these two (did I mention?) LONG lines, and if set the tone for their "Reflections" titled show. The guard is the strong highlight of this show, as well as the creative thought that went into the show design and concept. Very nice. Sabre work I have noted was great during the show. And there was a mellophone soloist that was SUPERB!! The best of the night as far as I was concerned, and there were about 8 mellophone solos from the corps throughout the evening. Esperanza marches fairly well, the drill design is really really really nice, and the drum line is solid, although not as strong as I remember from last year perhaps? Esperanza will WITHOUT A DOUBT be in the Top 5 at Orlando Division II. I'll leave it at that...although I have a sneaky suspicion they may do LOTS better.

SAN DIEGO ALLIANCE--6H/7G/18PAlliance noted in their program notes that they won the Caballeros Award for the promotion of small corps. I'm not sure what this award is (Caballeros meaning the senior corps???), however, Alliance definitely should win it again. I'm amazed at what they can do with so little. The played music from Philip Glass, a composition written for a Brazilian musical ensemble. Very ethnic sound music, supported VERY nicely by the pit and well-trained drum line. As a matter of fact, they brought out these odd looking cubes in the pit that had a couple of holes in them. I had visions that these were going to be some kind of mini stages for guard or something. Turns out, these were percussion instruments, played by hand. Gave a very "woodsey" sound to the drums, especially when the whole drum line PUT THEM ON their carriers, and marched with them for a short time. Pretty cool concept and cool sound. Unfortunately, with 6 horns, you don't get impact. But they played fairly well. Their show was NON STOP MUSIC, another cool concept especially for such a small group. This group has a very sharp looking purple, white and black Vanguard-inspired type uniform. I LIKE IT A LOT!! I'd like it even more if they could have 135 people on the field!!

IMPULSE--35H/12G/24P

First off, being partial and biased because of my involvement with Impulse, I was a little put off by someone's assessment of Impulse being "disappointing" this season, and referring to last year's "Lucy Show" as a "fiasco". Far from it this year for sure, ladies and gentlemen. Impulse is in this to entertain, pure and simple. Competitively, what is is what is. This year, they've sophisticated things up a bit, and have DEFINITELY improved in all captions. Their "Pure Imagination" show begins with a mellophone soloist in front of a story book, that tells the tale with words from the songs of "Willy Wonka". Impulse decided this season to lose the "characters" that they usually had in their shows (ala VK's bull, Energizer rabbit, Godzilla, etc, etc), and instead, do the music and let the guard carry the "story". To my eye and ear, Impulse is WAY ahead of last year for (and this is critical) WHAT THEY HAVE. They're not close to being done with their show. Holes in the music, guard work, visual developments were noticeable, and will of course be filled in over the coming weeks as they prepare for Orlando. They play a VERY cool arrangement of "Ooompa Loooompa"...VERY Brubeckish 5/4 arrangement. I love it personally. The horns sound TOTALLY improved over last year, and a little birdy told me (and I saw it myself) that in MANY subcaptions, Impulse was clearly SECOND place. Unfortunately, due to their lack of progresss in the show, they got hurt badly in the general effect department. Horns play BETTER than Blue Devil B and SCV Cadets. PERIOD. The rest of the show will prove that Impulse is on the rise and will make a definite bid for an appearance at Division II finals. And I never fail to let this go by...Impulse is run by a totally volunteer team of former drum corps performers and instructors, including the world famous Charlie Groh. It's the love of the activity that keeps Impulse going strong with a talented staff and FANTASTIC kids!

SO CAL DREAM--35H/12G/12P

So Cal Dream started just last year, and with 16 some odd horns and 5 guard and 3 percussionists, came out to a few shows and did standstill exhibitions to very enthusiastic response from the crowds. This evening, SCD came out with essentially a corps that has TRIPLED in size (practically), and marched a FULL field show. Too say that that is impressive is an understatement. And since Renegades are so often used as the superior example of how to build a senior corps from nothing to 7 to where they are now, I think if you parallel the histories of SCD and Renegades, it would seem that SCD has a TREMENDOUSLY SCARY AND BRIGHT FUTURE. b**bs I was impressed to see such a tremendous effort put out by a truly grass roots effort by some dedicated folks (Garry Parker and Mike Nash come to mind), and the payoff was an enthusiastic response to a great if not ultimately nervous first performance! Drum Major and former corps director himself Sam Signorelli did a GREAT job conducting, and the guard! WOW!!!! Choreographed by long time southern California resident Andy Cross, the guard was so incredible. GREAT JOB!! I can only imagine it will be getting better and better. The corps was in what was described as "Renegades meets VK". True...black overcoat like Renegardes with black baseball caps, and a very brilliant royal blue velvet shirt underneath, and the black pants of course. There were gold chains that held the jacket across the front, which added a certain classiness. The hornline, with some HEAVY duty talent, unfortunately sounded nervous. I have NO IDEA WHY!! They are run by the very talented Jesus Soliz, and the horns sound much better than last year. But you could just tell they were nervous...lots of unnecessary overblowing and intonation problems abound. I think SCD will do exactly what they did last year. They'll calm down, and their horns will get scary good. There are some real monster players in that hornline. WATCH OUT DCA!! That's all I can say...and I'm not a marketing guru like Mr. Rudnicki from up north, so no...this isn't marketing. It's really just the truth...VERY VERY VERY nice first performance overall SCD!! You all are going places, bruddas and sisters!!

Division 1 review coming soon.....

Edited June 22, 2003 by Ryan H. Turner

[ChiBoyinLA]

Great review, Ryan. I look forward to reading your Div. I review, and wish you luck with Impulse this season.

Being an Impulse insider, could you offer any insights as to why the corps seems to have have plateaued the past few years in terms of number of members, particularly in the guard? Is the plan to stay mid-sized or eventually grow to the 120-member range?

Thanks.

[Ryan H. Turner]

Great review, Ryan. I look forward to reading your Div. I review, and wish you luck with Impulse this season.

Being an Impulse insider, could you offer any insights as to why the corps seems to have have plateaued the past few years in terms of number of members, particularly in the guard? Is the plan to stay mid-sized or eventually grow to the 120-member range?

Thanks.

Thank you for the compliment...I'm at work, and my time is limited. I'll do the Division 1 review tonight. Hopefully...

As for the "inside" scoop, I'll be as blandly non-specific as I can be without revealing too much. However, the same birdy that brought me the recap told me that plans are right NOW in the works for Impulse to tap a talent pool in southern California and start recruiting NOW for next season. Impulse will NOT stay midsize though...Pacific Crest can't be the ONLY Division 1 corps from Southern Cal. :)

I even have a good lead on what the show will be next year....nyah nyah nyah...I ain't telling... :P

[MikeBob]

"I LIKE IT A LOT!! I'd like it even more if they could have 135 people on the field!! "

135? All we want is two more horns. Of course, the show organizers didn't let us announce the fact that we're still accepting members, so... it's an uphill battle.

But thanks for the positive review. And if you'd really like to help us out, send us a couple horns when you tap that huge untouched Southern California resource of yours....

--Mike

San Diego Alliance, Brass Arranger

[MikeD]

So Cal Dream started just last year, and with 16 some odd horns and 5 guard and 3 percussionists,

How many normal horns did they have last year????

:P B)

Mike

[84BDsop]

So Cal Dream started just last year, and with 16 some odd horns and 5 guard and 3 percussionists,

How many normal horns did they have last year????

:P B)

Mike

Just one....me!

Now I just wave my arms around a lot! :P

Thanks for the props, Ryan!

[84BDsop]

"Drum Major and former corps director himself Sam Signorelli did a GREAT job conducting"

Just to clarify that...I am NOT the director of SoCal Dream....that's Garry Parker. I was the Director for Nightfire back in the 90s.

BTW, Ryan...I am honored by your comments on my conducting. I;d never been on that podium UNTIL the show and was VERY nervous....as witnessed by me needing help to place my feet to come down!

Conducting praise form someone who did the job in a top 12 corps is quite special. I appreciate it!

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Well...that AND getting my name right...folks who saw Dream at Riverside should remember THAT guy pausing, trying to figure it out. I almost turned and yelled my name...maybe next time I will!

[BennyASU]

haha, the same guy that announced "From Sacramento, California....THE MANDARINS!". Only problem was that it was the Blue Knights on the field

[84BDsop]

haha, the same guy that announced "From Sacramento, California....THE MANDARINS!". Only problem was that it was the Blue Knights on the field

I was SOOOOOOO waiting for him to say "The Freelancers!" b**bs

[FYWW]

Here's some photos from the Cerritos and Riverside shows. Dream doesn't look too shabby, eh? lol