Emerald City Music Games - Dublin, OH

[Drum Corps Nation]

Here are my thoughts on the show in Dublin. Fair warning, I happen to feel that the judges made some questionable calls tonight, although I do feel that the corps ended up in the correct order. That being said, I'm going to disagree with the results of certain captions, and while you might feel that I have no business doing this, I know otherwise.

This being my first show this season, and me being primarily a brass person, I wanted to take the opportunity to listen to some warm-ups tonight, which meant that I missed both the Cincinnati Tradition and Blue Saints on the field.

Pioneer - I both love and hate watching corps like this. Actually I think that Pioneer are now a unique situation. I love watching them because they are so crafty in their show design that it allows them to cover up their weaknesses, the biggest weakness being their lack of size. I hate watching corps like this because I really want to think of them as a competitive open class corps, and then I feel like they're doing really well. But then I remember that they're a world class corps and have to go up against the other world class corps. They used some props to make the field smaller and set the stage, a stage that exists between the front sideline and front hash. Brass played well at the louder and more impactful moments. Subtleties still need to be polished. During the ballad members of the colorguard emerged from behind the props with horns. It was unclear whether or not they were really contributing to the sound. I enjoyed watching this show, mostly because I appreciate a corps that isn't trying to be something it's not. They were entertaining and the crowd responded.

Troopers - My first reaction to this show was that it is not a typical Troopers show. I don't want to be mean, but I feel like the show was inaccessible. There were definitely some great moments, but nothing in the show jumped out at me and said "you will walk to the parking lot humming this show." Positive - Brass when they stand still and play full. The hornline definitely has some power. Negative - Hornline on the move or when they try to play softly. I felt like the entire musical ensemble had some great moments, but a lot of the time there were timing issues that were just distracting, and a whole lot of the time I felt like the high brass were being covered up by the lows, not because they couldn't play out with a good sound, but because they were told to play softer. I feel like the corps was just out of balance for much of the show. I have a question mark about the tarp on the field. I'm not sure what its purpose is. This next part could be a positive or a negative... Probably the most memorable part of the show was a huge brass chord that lasted about 30 seconds (or however long it takes for the drum major to turn around, salute, turn around again, and conduct a cut-off). Without a doubt this was the crowd's favorite part of the show, but for me, this was probably the point at which I decided that I didn't care for the entire show at all. Why? Not because the brass played poorly. Quite the opposite. From what I could tell, the chord was played and sustained beautifully. My beef with this moment was that I can't be certain if the chord was played and sustained beautifully because of the blatantly obvious synth playing the bass note. The result was 50% hornline, 50%, synth player. Ruined it for me. I hate that kind of stuff. Overall my assessment is that this show is ok, but not memorable. The hornline is talented, but not featured correctly. The percussion writing was a little modest for my taste. Same with the colorguard.

Colts - I felt like this show was designed as safely as possible. And that's not a negative comment. On the contrary. The show is very accessable - Swan Lake - Duh. It's easy for the audience to see and understand what's going on. I feel like the brass plays very well and has a great concept of sound. Their brass score struck me as low. I feel like this is a better hornline than the Troopers, mostly because I thought they balanced much better, but there were definitely some dirty moments when the book got more demanding. The only time balance didn't seem right was in the ballad. The range in which the baritone solo is written is too low, poor guy couldn't really be heard. Visually I thought this show was more effective than the troopers, but at the same time, simplicity is not always rewarded. Visually cleaner for sure. Colorguard was much more effective. The color scheme works very well (battling black and white, the colorguard in a shimmering grey uniform) and doesn't clash with the uniform of the corps proper. BTW, the corps proper all have a lighting bolt type thing on their chest... not sure what that signifies. Percussion felt weak to me. Lots of tearing between the battery and pit, which resulted in full ensemble tears. I think this is the reason why the ensemble music score is where it was. I believe this is correctable, and they may be rewarded for it later. Like I said, this was a safe show that is written right at the level of the performers. If they can max out this show I believe this could be a finalist corps, however I have yet to see Spirit.

Glassmen - Started out with a pre-show, the first corps of the night to do that. The corps marches onto the field in block formation, and through the corps comes a procession of the queen (of the undead?) and some minions. Eerie pit sounds set the mood. Unfortunately the pre-show seemed a little rushed. I think the announcer asked the drum major if he was ready a little earlier than expected and he seemed a bit rushed to walk over to the podium and immediately start the show. Still, no penalty so no big deal. My first thought upon hearing the corps is I hate the way Dynasty horns sound. I hated them when the blue devils played them, and I hate them when the glassmen play them. It's obvious that the members are playing their instruments well and with a great deal of skill, but the timbre of these particular instruments cause so many problems with the show, especially when they're surrounded by Yamaha lines. Mostly balance problems - I felt like while the other shows were brass centered with percussion accompaniment, this show definitely felt percussion heavy with brass accompaniment. I also felt like the hornline spent half of their book playing backfield. The lack of hornline presence also creates an overall lack of music GE. Speaking of music GE, my biggest beef with this show was all of the synth glissandos going on. You know, those little sound effects like the ones they use in Bring it On when they toss the cheerleaders in the air (not that I would ever watch such a movie). That's what they sound like to me, and there were way too many of them. Best things about this show - visual performance, (these guys can march noticeably better than Colts and Troopers, for now anyway) and the battery. Very strong drumline this year for the Glassmen. I was pleased to see what appeared to be a full drumline tonight after hearing rumors multiple injuries. I like this show ok, but I feel like the second half of the ballad is a question mark. Glassmen are right there with Colts to remain in finals, but only if they can overcome the brass issues.

Blue Stars - First thought - Man those grey pants and shoes make it difficult to see their feet. It's interesting how strategic a uniform can be. It's safe to say that I was not once distracted by feet while watching this show, mostly because from the top of the stadium it's easier to see the shadows on the field than to see if someone is in step or not. Second thought - Cool music. Not particularly intellectual, but just some great music to listen to. The show is based on a blend of music from the bourne identity and the matrix. Third thought - that huge bridge they put on the field is ugly and distracting. I hope it's useful. The bridge is basically a bunch of little scaffoldings connected together with some planks and ramps. At parts in the show members of the corps go up their to perform featured content. This made for some impressive ensemble moments. The drawback? If people are on the bridge during softer sections of the show (like the beginning of the ballad), the bridge thing is distractingly squeaky. Aside from that, I think this is a great show. This is most certainly the best Blue Stars hornline since they moved up to World Class. The drumline is very effective in staging, writing, and performance. The colorguard performs some very difficult work, including countless solo tosses at key moments in the show, not one of which resulted in a drop (that I can recall). I think that if the corps can clean this show, which has considerable demand, they will find themselves in new territory placement wise. Synth glissandos... ugh.

Cavaliers - The show is called XtrordinarY!. I get why they called it that, but they could have called it anything else and it would have made just as much sense. "Constantly Risking Absurdity" would have been a great title, but I guess that one was taken. What are the odds? Now, you might be thinking that I hated this show. On the contrary. I loved it. This is one of the most creative things I have ever seen, and one of the most fun shows I have ever watched. I would be more specific, but I don't wanna ruin too much of it for those of you who haven't seen it. Rest assured you will see some things that surprise and amaze you. One of the things I like about it is that this show has those "look what I can do" moments that DCI seems to have been lacking lately. And those things just make for really fun shows. The hornline is excellent and plays with just a little bit of edge that lets you know that this is still drum corps and not something too highbrow. The drumline is terrific, though I'm not sure they'll be vying for top percussion this year. The biggest draw back is that if you've ever seen a dot marching corps in the middle of the season, it can be pretty ugly sometimes. Not necessarily worse than other corps, but when you're used to watching corps that dress forms, the visual mistakes that the Cavaliers make are sometimes a little confounding (I just want to shout "What are you doing? Get behind that guy right infront of you", but then he'll get in trouble for cleaning drill that way). I think that if they can just clean their drill, this will be the show to beat all season long.

Anyway. That's my thoughts on the evening.

Edited July 6, 2011 by Drum Corps Nation