Hillsboro Coffee and Kolache Cafe

[Zeke]

THANK YOU 08ThunderBass5 for the Detailed and Excellent review..much appreciated.

Edited July 2, 2011 by Zeke

[emtbill]

Quick Review From the show,

I had a phenomenal time in Hillsboro today! After a 4.5 hour drive to the Portland day my brother and I showed up to the cadet's housing site just in time for them to go to lunch Dangit we suck.

We went and watched the blue knights rehearse and then went back and watched the Cadets for the rest of the afternoon during which we promptly threw our babies onto the field until we were out of them

The lots were pretty fun to watch but some corps were a little close to the stadium and were "leaking" their sound in during the performances which was a little irritating. Found some great seats midway up on the 50 even though we only bought General!

Okay so here are my thoughts on the corps if you want to read them

Spokane Thunder: I'll try to be unbiased as Thunder Vet :). Obviously a very young and green group. The horns were louder than I expected which is always nice. Visually, everyone was staying in step and such but there were some pretty dirty feet etc. The weak section of the corps is definitely the battery. There are no battery vets on the line and are marching a small line of 4 snares, 2 tenors and 4 bass drums. Some lower tuning happening than I'm used to as well on the snares and tenors. The show is decent; fairly conservative and obviously written for a small corps. I think they'll find some success this summer one way or another. The important thing is that all of the students I talked to are having a blast :)

Revolution: Drums drums DRUMS! WOW! This is definitely the strongest drumline I've seen out of Revolution in quite a few years. Features were fairly well polished and VERY aggressive! I loved watching their drumline. The show is pretty cool! They made use of Samuel Hazo's "Ride" which is a favorite piece of mine so I was fairly into it. I think this show will do well. It's a really "attainable" theme and there's lots of room for additions/improvements. Brass wasn't bad either but drums/percussion was definitely Revo's strong point

Oregon Crusaders: SHOCK OF THE NIGHT FOR ME! After a jump from 79 members last year to a 110 member corps this year, these guys WILL turn heads this year! Despite the fact that technically these guys are a rival from a few years back, I was on my feet INSTANTLY at the end of the show! There is a lot of great visual work going on and these guys are performing like world class musicians. The brass: WOW!!!!!!!!!!! WOW WOW WOW! If I shut my eyes, I would have thought there were 150 people on the field. I couldn't believe it when they slapped the audience in the face with their opening impact. I was the first one cheering! Surprisingly, I thought the drums were actually the weakpoint of the group for the first time in years. However, I think it's just early and that they are actually a very strong percussion section and will quickly clean up and be a huge asset to this show. Watch out for these guys this year; I think they have a good chance at taking it this year.

Cascades: First of all, new Uniforms look AWESOME! I really like the green and the neon green plumes are fun. The corps has boxes of pipe that they are using as props for the show to fit with the Pandora's box theme. They were used fairly well especially the center orange one. I think this show has more potential and room to grow than their shows from the past two years. I'm excited to see where it goes. The brass also sounded WAY better than past years (like miles!)!! No more blatty/thin sound, but a much more mature and blended sound that had me listening. They weren't necessarily the loudest corps but they sounded far more mature than the past two years. Overall, the field was very visually pleasing with lots of color and visual movement going on. The drums were fairly dirty with some pretty bad tears and rips but it's early and probably had some pre-show jitters. The staff is doing good things with this crew

Blue Knights: I LIKE THIS SHOW! I'm so glad someone finally took the classic pieces that these guys are using and are turning it into a show. I was skeptical that it would come across as too old school but I was digging this show from beginning to end. Marc Sylvester is definitely working his magic with some classic "Cadets-like" drill and doing some good visual work as well. My biggest complaint is the switch from Feet apart at a 45 degree angle to Feet parallel (when at set position). I've been able to live with the cadets doing it all these years just out of tradition and because it's what I remember the cadets as but I didn't like the look on BK and I thought it made them look smaller and a little...unstable (all IMHO- Marc Sylvester is still a BAMF!) Horns sound great, drum writing is REALLY tasty and as it cleans up it will be awesome. Really enjoyed the percussion feature and when the front ensemble played their slung drums I'm really excited about this show.

Cadets: After watching the drums get their butts ruthlessly kicked all afternoon and the horns doing lots of reps on fast passages all day, I was a little worried that they might be dragging tonight- nope. Should never have doubted these guys. Easily one of the most brilliantly designed shows in DCI that I've ever seen. The two different uniforms/identities works REALLY well and is an awesome theme. Must have been a tough show to write/design but man did it turn out cool! Drums were UNREAL! After already thinking SCV would take drums this year, I am changing my opinion that Cadets will likely give them a run for their money. VERY clean and very disciplined. I loved the drum feature and the ballad was simply beautiful. Brass was LOUD LOUD LOUD and I loved it! This group had two standing ovations one in the middle of the show and one at the end. There is definitely a lot of talent on the field with this corps and they could do some real damage this year.

Hope you enjoyed my comments/thoughts and I didn't #### anyone off :) Headed out of town without internet access for a week so if you reply and don't hear back from me, that's why.

Jeff

Thanks for the review Jeff: I had to work the ER last night so could get to the stadium. So tonight I'll travel up to Seattle to get my drum corps fix. I'll post a review also.

[argonaut]

This is the most impressive first showing of the Oregon Crusaders. They have a good shot at winning the whole thing this year. Very impressive. Their opening statement almost made me pee my pants.

Edited July 2, 2011 by argonaut

[westorm]

I was also impressed with OC last night. They just keep growing and getting better.

The Cascades are also slightly better than last year, but I can't say that I care for their show concept. The props are too big and clutter the field. I don't remember which school it was, but I saw a show that had the same concept at a band contest in Michigan last year. Glad to see them building back up.

Edited July 2, 2011 by westorm

[Tricia-A BD/BK Mom]

Thanks for the review!! Boo on judges :(

I agree about the judges.

Thank you, Jeff, for an excellent review!

Edited July 2, 2011 by Tricia-A BD/BK Mom

[skywhopper]

Did anyone notice on the score sheet for this show that there either wasn't a Percussion judge or he/she didn't show? No judge name listed, and the two percussion scores for each corps match each other and match the final score (eg, Cadets got 79.5 and their perc scores were each 7.9; Blue Knights got 73.2 and their perc scores were each 7.3, etc).

I assume something like this would be the standard procedure if a judge didn't show. The alternative would be that they planned all along to do the show with no caption judges, but they don't have a sheet for that. Any clues?

[PhilSCV]

Oregon Crusaders: SHOCK OF THE NIGHT FOR ME! After a jump from 79 members last year to a 110 member corps this year, these guys WILL turn heads this year! Despite the fact that technically these guys are a rival from a few years back, I was on my feet INSTANTLY at the end of the show! There is a lot of great visual work going on and these guys are performing like world class musicians. The brass: WOW!!!!!!!!!!! WOW WOW WOW! If I shut my eyes, I would have thought there were 150 people on the field. I couldn't believe it when they slapped the audience in the face with their opening impact. I was the first one cheering! Surprisingly, I thought the drums were actually the weakpoint of the group for the first time in years. However, I think it's just early and that they are actually a very strong percussion section and will quickly clean up and be a huge asset to this show. Watch out for these guys this year; I think they have a good chance at taking it this year.

Jeff

Jeff, wow, what a great review of Oregon Crusaders - and in the world class forum (blush). We have worked very hard to create a top-of-the-line program, in all areas, and I guess you put your finger on the one thing that gets the most attention: the brass line. The first impact is enough to soil one's self. But all sections will be clean by last part of July and with the show enhancements we're looking at - watch out world class corps ;).

Dr. Phil