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My slightly late Drums on Parade Review


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After a festive pre-show tailgate party put on by the Scouts (including getting to sing "Never Walk" with fellow alums and current Scouts), I made my way

into Breidenbach stadium for the 59th Annual Drums on Parade competition.

Aside from a little wind early on and a few sprinkles here and there, it

was a beautiful night for Drum Corps.

First up, from Racine Wisconsin, was the Kilties. I had seen them rehearse

earlier in the day, so I had some familiarity with the show.

They came off the line with a company front set to a lone snare drummer.

Once hitting the 50 yardline, they begin playing quotes of "Syne". I felt

they had a bit more energy during the opener than in rehearsal, which is

a good thing. But, the Mellophones - who have a very exposed melodic segment toward

the end of the opener - came off a bit edgy in their sound, and like one

of their instructors mentioned in practice, you could hear their feet through

the horns. They will have to work on core strength/lower body control as the season

progresses. The next piece is the well known MacArthur's Park. This was a very

nice arrangement of the piece, somewhat less Jazzy than the 75/76 Madison rendition,

but powerful none the less. The venerable Morgan Larson was the featured Soprano

soloist, and he sent out a reminder that he still has the ability to peel paint

off the pressbox with his stratospheric sound!

The closer - Interstellar Suite - is quite a meaty piece of music and I am pleased

to see that they have chosen a chart that the members can grow into as the season

unfolds. Aside from a few breathing issues as endurance faded, this was a nice,

bombastic/optomistic end to a very fun show. Overall, I was pleased with their effort

and felt that this was a stronger hornline than last year, despite being smaller.

Next on the field, from Dubuque Iowa, were the Colt Cadets.

Right off the bat, I was impressed with the maturity of their sound and presentation.

They are obviously a young Corps and are small, but they really had a presence

on the field. They had a well blended sound in the hornline, but the percussion

overwhelmed them at times throughout the show. Even so, I always appreciate a show

that grabs you with catchy melodies, and theirs delivered in that sense.

I especially enjoyed the familiar strains of the Godfather. The closer was the

memorable and well known Symphony number 5 by Dimitri Shostakovich. It's

incredibly hard to live up to such a piece when it was done so authoritatively by

the likes of the 1996 Phantom Regiment, but the Colt Cadets put their own stamp on it nicely. Overall, this was a great effort by the kids from Dubuque.

The next Corps in competition was Legends from Kalamazoo Michigan.

This was another young Corps, but like the Colt Cadets, they were quite

mature and confident for their size and age.

Their opener of Cloudburst was nice. I really liked the arrangement and

noticed how nice the front ensemble was orchestrated. They had some very

tasty counter melodies that weaved in and out with the hornline very smoothly.

The overall feel of this show was ethereal and quite unique in that regard.

I feel like this staff really knows how to compose a show that capitolizes on

the strengths of the members while hiding their weaknesses - which were few.

My favorite part of the show was Pagaodas from Estampus. I really enjoyed the

backfield portion of this piece, especially the lush cluster chords

played by the Low Bass and Tubas. Despite having only three Guard members, they

really sold their performance and added some nice color and visual dynamics

to the show. Congratulations to Legends on a nice solid show!

Next up, from Casper Wyoming, the Troopers.

It was interesting in the preshow how they unfolded the "road" prop.

It looked awkward and bulky while they were setting it up, but once in place,

it really worked. Right away, I noticed the big jump in the talent of their

Drumline. Holy clean snares Batman! These guys are playing some serious notes,

and they are doing it at a very high level. The hornline put out some major

power too, and had the first really good blend of the night. The Color Guard

outfits looked strange to me when I first saw the photos in the early season,

but on the field they look striking and add a very nice "Southwestern" palette

of color. I'm not a huge fan of the uniform worn by the Corps proper. I feel

like the lines created by the diagonal sash and the drop

down the left leg are a bit odd and distracting. Still, that yellow against

dark blue has some visual punch and works with their overall show. There was some

great marching and manuevering demonstrated by these members and they have some

very smooth drill that compliments another very melodic and lush music book. My favorite part of the show (and seemingly the entire crowd's as well) was the big held out power chord from the upper right corner of the field, near the end of the closer. This was the

first major "spine tingling" moment of the evening. The show ended nicely on a

Garfield-esque soft ending that brought a rowsing standing ovation from the crowd.

I'm quite happy that the Red Team has returned to having the red plumes on top

of their Shakos. It's just such a classic look for them. I am of course referring

to the Colts from Dubuque Iowa, who were the next Corps on the field.

They seemed a bit smaller than last year for some reason, but opened with an

attention grabbing chord from the hornline. They have a nice bright sound that

was a noticable improvement over last year's Brassline, which sounded slightly

"edgey" to me. Not the case this year. They are very controlled in what they put out.

The opener of Swan Lake was percussive, yet melodic, and conveyed the tension

and suspense of the Black Swan motif. This was another Corps that had a great drumline

that played very fluid parts. I don't know if they were quite at the level of the troopers drumline, but they were close. I loved what the Guard was doing throughout the entire production. Their depiction of the themes of deception, betrayal and conflict came across very well. This was another "down" ending with the horns in the back right of the field, but it lead the eye effectively back to the center of the field where the Color Guard drew attention back to the Black Swan theme motif to close the show.

After a very quick intermission, the Boston Crusaders took the field.

I have been a big fan of their uniform since 2008 or 2009. All the white portions

of the uniform are framed in black against the main areas of red and it looks

very crisp and clean. I wasn't sure how I would like their show, given some reviews

I had read and how "Les Mis" was chopped together with "1812", but I really ended

up liking it. Their hornline put out quite a bit of power, but I felt like they were

holding back a bit. Still, they had a nice ensemble sound with only a few times

where I could hear individual Trumpets/Mellos sticking out of the texture. Their Colorguard - as expected - performed wonderfully and with great confidence. However, I felt their royal blue pants clashed with everything on the field - especially the red/orange/yellow "flame" flags. To me, bright blue just doesn't go well with bright red. I would prefer to see dark gray or black. That aside, they had a great performance.

There was what I thought was a glitch with the Synthesizers about midshow that grabbed peoples attention very suddenly. I'm hoping it was a glitch/error and not something that was there by design, because it was very harsh and out of place. Either way, I'm sure it will be corrected. The show continued with an exciting percussion feature that felt like a battle scene - makes sense with the "Revolution" theme. They handled it well and played vleanly for the most part. They didn't come off quite as crisp as Bluecoats or Cavaliers in percussion, but right with Madison. An interesting moment is the soloist under the white, semi see-through tarp. I'm not sure how I felt about that, other than it is interesting. They may have to tweak that to get a more clear effect. My favorite moment for them was when the hornline took a knee in the right endzone and pointed back toward the Guard. It just looked really stunning.

You knew the Bluecoats were entering the field when audience members started

"Bloooing" them. After the obligatory explaining that they aren't "booing", the crowd

around me settled down. They opened their "Brave New World" show with punch and authority!

Every year since around 2007 or so, I forget how incredible their hornline has become.

They catch me off guard and then I remember they've been working hard on building

this program for many years. Well it has been paying off, because this was certainly

the cleanest and most mature sounding hornline of the night - but not by much.

The Cavaliers and Madison were very close to that level. There were so many great

moments of lushness (if that's a word) and shear power. I loved it. The Guard was

attired in very bright, shiny Magenta/Silver outfits that went well with the Corps

proper uniform and all of the silks they presented. And that's another thing. Whoever

designs the flags for the Bluecoats is a creative genius! They always catch my eye

year in and year out, and make the whole show look ten times bigger!

Next up, and entering the field to thunderous applaus and loud cheering were the

hometown Madison Scouts. As an alumnus (89-90, 2006) I am so proud to see my

younger Brothers growing and becoming such a great Corps! I had seen rehearsal earlier

that day, so I was ready (or so I thought) for what was to come. But after that brief

and masterful Contra (sorry Tuba) solo, the horns proceeded to blast our faces off

with the "fake Slaughter" into and huge long held out note. Their opener - "New York, New York" starts the show with a bang and delivers a feel-good vibe and energy of the city itself. I absolutely love Robert W. Smith's style of arranging. He finds a way of layering melodies with countermelodies in a seamless fashion that causes you to leave the stadium humming. The middle portion of the show draws you into the feeling of anxiety, anger, tension and grief by stunning use of percussive brass hits, fused together with a very aggressive drum line. Another great moment of shear power was the chordal build up to the company front and huge rifle toss that immediately preceeds the drum feature. Wow, what power. That moment garnered a huge "standing O" from the crowd. Then, all H### broke lose as the drums start playing even faster and more aggressive parts that culminated in the "Ground Zero" moment where the entire Corps stood in shocked silence as they looked and pointed skyward at the falling WTC Towers. They convey their parts very effectively and this transitions beautifully into "Requiem", which seems like the beginning of the healing/grieving proccess for those that witnessed the tragedy. By the time that piece morphed into "Empire State of Mind" many people were tearing up, and when they fully unleashed the main melody, people came unglued! The boys succeeded in tearing down the house and in truly moving the audience. Bravo! They need a little work here and there on their ensemble sound, but I think that will happen as endurance increases. I can't wait to see this show again in Indy!

The final Corps of the evening was The Cavaliers from Rosemont Illinois.

Their show - XtaordinarY is spectacular, and it is a spectacle to behold. Their

marching is simply superb and they have as much or more visual demand than

anyone on the field. They had a superb hornline and probably the best drumline of the

night - even without having to resort to playing upside down. I love the color scheme

of the drums. It is a bright green to green/yellow fade which really pops against the cooler colors of the silks. The Guard costumes - which I will refer to as "Aqua Man meets the Aztec Tribe" - were outrageous. In a good way. It fascinates me how you can have two different costume designers. Both will chose something very risky and bold. One design will totally work and the other will be a dismal failure, and yet the two designs will be very similar on paper. The Cavaliers' designers have rarely ever failed. Back to their performance. There is literally so much going on in this show, that you would need 3 or 4 extra sets of eyes to catch it all - from the stilts to the upside down drummers and horn players. Even though many elements may seem somewhat disjointed, I feel like all the visual elements served the theme well, especially during "Nature Boy". When they start speeding up and spreading out in the closer, the horns got louder and louder, eliciting another rousing standing ovation from the crowd. Even though I was sitting low, I did catch the X and Y at the ends of the company front. Wonderful ending to a wonderful show! I'm certainly not a great predictor of scores/placements, but I have a feeling The Cavaliers have enough of show here to peak at just the right time and be in serious contention for title number eight!

Congratulations to all the Corps participating and a big thank you for all of

you putting on a tremendous show and being very entertaining. Thank you also to

the Madison Scouts for coming back for an encore and making my ears bleed!

You will be recieving my medical bill sometime later this summer. :)

Edited by madalumni
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Mighty nice write-up for a mighty fantastic show!

(although I do like the Crusaders blue guards :tongue: )

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