DCI West 2011 @ Stanford Stadium

[NeutralNovice]

Another year, another great show at Stanford Stadium (though I was not able to attend last year). What started as a beautiful day slowly become quite the chilly night; however, if I were in those shoes and uniforms of the corps, I would DEFINITELY enjoy the mild-cool weather while I could. God knows what's in store for the remainder of the summer!

I'll try to make this review short, but no guarantee. Disclaimer: My friend and I go to these shows for entertainment and are in no way capable of evaluating each show from a technical standpoint so any critique that I may make on here about a particular show should be taken with many grains of salt. Our musical experience is very limited... her's to middle school and mine to two years in high school.

We were running late so the first show we saw was SCVC. I'll go into more detail with WC shows.

SCVC: The show was okay. Music wasn't terribly memorable but I enjoyed the show.

BDB: Great show from them! I liked the music and their drill was pretty good.

BDC: They are great kids who have a bright and fun future ahead of them, especially if they decide to continue in drum corps.

PAC CREST: We were a bit late coming from intermission so we watched the show from the entrances to the stands. I thought that their show was pretty good! You can definitely see the difference at this point between Open and World classes. While I don't remember much of the music, I do remember enjoying it and their performance.

MANDARINS: Their numbers unfortunately seemed a bit small and it seemed that some of their guard was unprepared. Overall, the show was okay but definitely not a personal fave from them in years past.

BLUE KNIGHTS: This show separated themselves from the first two corps. They were loud and had a very rich sound. While I can't exactly recall any of the tunes (I was unfamiliar with their selections), I really did enjoy their music. A very powerful hornline. Compared to their other shows of the past, this show definitely ranks up there.

THE CADETS: HOLY! (Pun Intended). Now this show was pretty #### off the chain. The theme of the show was very explicit and it made it easy to understand, which is a plus to viewers like my self and my companion. The dual uniforms (or trio, if you count the pit), the contrasting personalities, the war on the field, the different "personalities" of music both fighting AND harmonizing with each other, the visual stimuli... what an absolutely powerful show. While I admit that the music wasn't necessarily my preference, it was the big picture that had this show separate itself from all of the others. Take this from someone who usually is NOT a fan of Cadets shows from the past few years... Again, what a show! And from the West Coast Crowd... this show got the biggest ovation. My friend and I agreed; it was like watching a movie.

On a funny note: The part where all of the angels and demons were spinning around their gold and silver stick thingies... its glistening in the Saturday Night Lights reminded me of that Simpsons episode where that school used glow sticks to win the band competition, playing the apparently cliche'd Stars & Stripes Forever. Not that it's a bad thing but funny nonetheless.

PHANTOM REGIMENT: I thought that this show was a little understated and a bit slow. The music was very elegant but there wasn't much I remember about this show. I didn't really understand the Juliet theme but that's probably just ignorance on my part as I did not recognize the music. I wish I could go back to the days like 2007 where they had a phenomenal show (I didn't like 2008 much).

SANTA CLARA VANGUARD: As much as I love me some SCV, it pains me to say that they are putting on another show where the music just doesn't grab me. Tonight, there was plenty of music that I did not hear before from other corps and for the most part, I liked the music other corps were doing. Not to say that I didn't like the music played on this year's show from SCV, it's just not something that makes me want to try to find out what it is and put it on my iPod. The volume from the corps this year is also a bit disappointing but from what I did hear, they were very balanced and had a rich sound. And to me, this show seems very difficult... it seems they are constantly on the move playing at a very fast pace. And with a lot of holes in the corps, the drill seemed a bit dirty, at least compared to the other WC-ers. I don't know about you guys but for some reason, dark pants tend to look "dirtier" than white/light pants, even though the dark is supposed to hide the dirt more than white.

Furthermore, their drumline was on fire... it's good to see them back; reminds me of their great show from 2003 and that HOT drumline. While this show is good, the execution simply needs a lot of work. Now if we can somehow meld 1989, 2003, 2004, and 2009 SCV years together, then my my my, that show will be a monster.

BLUE DEVILS: Musically speaking, they were by far the most memorable of the night. While the music of their shows in recent years were great, their music this year is definitely a breath of fresh soundwaves. From the opener to I Say a Little Prayer, their show is very melodic. What's even better is that absolutely amazing hornline. The sounds coming out of these instruments are so rich and beautiful and so nice n loud! So with that said, while their music is a huge departure from what we saw last year, their drill was a huge departure as well. Their drill this year is a bit more reserved and takes a bit away from the show. The props were interesting but distracting; however, the house they did "build" at the end was pretty, almost Apple-inspired. With those other white pipes with asterisks, it seemed they were trying to emulate construction work, ultimately leading to the house at the end. So again, the music and talent are AWESOME but the drill needs some work to make it on par with the music.

QUICK EXTRAS:

Encore #1: Oddly enough, when SCV did a standstill portion of their show, it sounded WAY better and WAY more epic than what was presented in the show. Perhaps this means that they need this: Practice³.

Encore #2: This is the first time I have heard Send in the Clowns life and in person... nothing can compare. It was one of the most beautiful sounding moments of the night; a dream come true for me.

To The Guys Behind Me: Yes, we know you do not like Brandt Crocker's announcing-the-corps voice. We get it. Now shut up and stop mocking him after every sinlge time he announces each corps. It's not funny.

INT: Please stop being so long. Your show is overrated year in and year out! And that is with a rating of Absolute Zero.

To the corps that came a long way to entertain us (Revolution, Cadets, PR, and BK): Thank You.

My 2011 T-Shirt purchase: THE CADETS! I bought the basic Burgundy shirt with their white logo on the left chest. (Note: This shirt was purchased before I saw their show)

SUPERLATIVES:

Most Memorable/Enjoyable Music:

BD, BK, and to an extent, The Cadets

SCV's Encore Performance

The Cadets & BK are my friend's faves.

Best Drill:

The Cadets, BK

Best Overall:

The Cadets, BD, BK, in that order.

Best Hornline:

BD

... yeah okay, that wasn't exactly short like I promised.

Edited June 26, 2011 by NeutralNovice

[FHdork]

A fine review! I think you totally live up to your name -

If you go to another show, please review that one, too!

[Boybugle63]

Thank you for the VERY late night review! Great job and much appreciated back East ...

[Guizeppe]

Refreshing non-technical review. I know when I see a show (like tonight's in Stockton!) I sometimes lose myself in the critique and forget to just sit back and enjoy. Nice work.

[ukcjs]

Great review. I agree with your friend that BK and the Cadets were standouts. This is the 5th straight year I've attended this show, and I really do appreciate the Cadets and Phantom in particular making the long trek over to the west coast. This is the first year I've gone in knowing nothing about the corps' repertoires, recent scores and criticisms, etc... Here are a few thoughts mostly focused on brass:

PC/Mandarins: Both shows seem to be missing the closer (at least) as they both ended suddenly. This is unfortunate, as I would rather see a full show with dirt, than a partial show which is slightly cleaner. What PC did have on the field looked promising though, with some nice drill moves and a big sound. As in recent years, Mandarins seem to be lacking numbers in the hornline, which hurts their overall sound. Their show didn't do much to draw me in.

BK: Probably the highlight of the night for me was BK's hornline; they are so very loud. I was sitting way up near the pressbox on the 40 yard line, and they still melted my face with a full, rich wall of sound. The crowd was very appreciative of this. I also enjoyed their musical selections and the pit's cameo on field drums.

SCV: I'm usually a big fan of Vanguard, but this year's show just came off as chaotic and unfocused. I appreciate the difficulty level, but they just don't seem to be pulling it off just yet. The hornline was seriously lacking volume, which was a surprise and disappointment to me. It will be interesting to see where they take this show by the end of the season.

PR: I was excited to see Phantom, as they have put on so many great shows in the past. This one however, did not grab me. While they provided some of the most beautiful brass moments of the night, the overall theme seemed to be lacking, and the passion just wasn't there.

BD: More accessible music than usual from the blue crew. Although they did some interesting things with the props, I still found them to be a distraction. To my ears, their hornline is top heavy, lacking the full bottom end of Phantom and BK. They do however have the best screaming sopranos and insanely talented/confident soloists. My biggest issue with this show is the prevalence of park and blow. There seemed to be very few sections of the show where both high musical and drill demand were combined. Maybe it's just that they make it look easy, but the drill just didn't seem as impressive as many of the other corps.

Cadets: I was expecting to once again roll my eyes at cheesy costumes and narration, but wow, was I wrong. This was by far the most coherent and effective show of the night. I really dug the dual uniforms and how the two groups were staged and interacted throughout the performance. The hornline was powerful and the drill was fast and furious. There are still too many synthesized and recorded effects for my taste, but it is much more toned down than what they have done in recent years. Count me as a fan this year; no doubt they will be near the top at championships.

Unfortunately, this is my only live show of the year. I'd love to see the various corps mature over the course of the season and I'm sure some of my opinions would change with repeated viewings. We're lucky to have a great venue and line up each year, so I can't complain too much.

[chris ncsu]

Thanks for the reviews!