corpsband Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 (edited) nvm. i just can't seem to resist trolls lately Edited July 18, 2011 by corpsband Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamarag Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 I wouldn't blame anything that went wrong tonight on DCI, it's not really their show. Blame the TOC/G-8/whatever. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcialumni1989 Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 I wouldn't blame anything that went wrong tonight on DCI, it's not really their show. Blame the TOC/G-8/whatever. Well. Kind of. The show format was Michael Cesario and Karl Lowe's brain child, not the participating corps. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lead Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 And it was staffed by the normal DCI Event Managers, et al. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hypemeister Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 (edited) And it was staffed by the normal DCI Event Managers, et al. Yep, that sort of lays it right in the lap of DCI. It is obvious that they didn't plan for all the variables and things that could go wrong. To be totally fair, there are really too many details for their somewhat limited staff to tackle, and for them to see all of the problems inherent in an additional undertaking such as TOC and fan voting. It's quite probable that they will someday work out the bugs and adjust the process. Putting it in the hands of Cesario was their first mistake. He hasn't seen it from a fans standpoint for a long time, as evidenced by his cookie cutter uniform designs. Sorry, just an observation. Edited July 18, 2011 by Hypemeister 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tez Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 I wouldn't blame anything that went wrong tonight on DCI, it's not really their show. Blame the TOC/G-8/whatever. I'm sorry I seem to be kind of out of it.... what exactly "went wrong" tonight? I'm having trouble finding out about anything that actually transpired at this show. How were all the extra performances?.... how was the finale?..... was this more/less entertaining than a common drum corps show? Am I missing a thread somewhere? On most nights we would have had at least a couple people who attended the show give us something info..... tonight, with nearly 5000 people in attendance, plus it being one of the most important shows of the year (1st TOC show), we get nothing..... very strange. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobrien Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 (edited) Just back from the show. The kids in each of the eight corps were, as always, credits to themselves and their respective organizations. I didn't stay for scores because that really doesn't matter to me all that much these days; if they're having a good time, that's all that matters. The instant encores ranged from the fun (Bluecoats, Blue Devilsm and Blue Stars) to the somewhat perfunctory (the others). There were interviews with some of the performers which were well intentioned, but perhaps not as well produced as they should have been. There's a reason television talk shows have staff members to pre-interview the guests and let them know what to expect when the camera (or mic, in this case) is live. Of the shows, Cavaliers' still have the design to beat, though the performance seemed a touch tired tonight, which was understandable given that this was their third public performance in less than 24 hours. Field conditions weren't a help, nor were they for anyone else, as this field's grass was a little high, and the substrate noticeably bumpy. Still, the crowd is glued to the "Jungle Tango" segment of the show in particular, and man, you've got to love it when the hornline opens up. Best overall marriage of percussion writing to the brass book this year, and the guys in the line are kicking it. Crown is catching a wave right now - they probably had the biggest response of the night after Regiment, and I'm beginning to believe that with the right conditions, they still have a shot at it. Seeing Regiment for the first time live, I appreciate a lot about the show that doesn't necessarily read on video. Horn sound is really beautiful, but the visual program, while solid, is slow developing (and the battery seems to be staged upfield pretty much the entire show until the final push). Still don't get where Elsa's is coming from in the grand scheme of the show, but it's nice to hear again anyway. This might be the best guard uniform design they've had in a very long time, and the work of the women in the guard is lovely to a fault. Vanguard continues to clean, though the mid-section of the show still seems to just kinda sit there, musically and visually. Drums sounded a little fuzzy tonight, which surprised me. Cadets also continue to clean, and along with Crown and Cavaliers, are gonna be in the thick of it to the end. Performance tonight seemed a little cleaner and more energized than several others around it, and the show seemed to get everyone's attention throughout. Hate the guard unis, though. BD's show is a great musical ensemble with a totally unremarkable visual design. I'm sorry, but as well as those kids play, they've got to be asked to do more moving while playing. Guard design work is excellent throughout - there's a lot of dance work that simply won't read on a Fan Network video, so everyone owes it to themselves to see what they're doing live to get why they'll again be in the tops in the caption. Bluecoats and Blue Stars both suffered somewhat from having to go on with the sun shining directly into the faces of a somewhat harried crowd (more on that in a moment), and as a result, I have to confess to not really seeing anything that stuck with me good or bad. They both, however, 'got' the concepts of the instant encore better than most of those who followed, so there's that. My main reflection on the night, however, is that this venue and the process of getting the audience in and seated was nothing short of a major league cluster___. The looting in Baghdad after the American liberation in 2003 was a model of organization compared to getting tonight's audience seated. At 6:30, there were two lines of ticket holders waiting to get into the stadium, each line one and a half city blocks long (and no, that's not an exaggeration). The wait time in these lines to get to a ticket taker was upwards of 30 minutes (this is for people who HAD tickets already, mind you). Did I mention that it was still upwards of 92 degrees at that time? Once PAST the gate, there were NEW lines to wait in to get into the entrance in to the stands, and the wait time there was another 20 minutes - at one point, the entire group around me had to ask each other whether they were simply not letting people into the stands, since none of us could understand how it could POSSIBLY take that long to direct people to walk up or down 12 rows of a flippin high school football stadium. The restrooms? Portapotties. Water fountains? Non-existant. Seats? Bleachers, and yes, unfortunately, a number of larger people whose natural physiques don't fit well into 16" of bleacher space. In short, this venue is simply not ready for a prime time event. It's great that they sold out, it would have been better if the premiere drum corps event in the area had been staged at a more professional stadium, one fitting the type of work being presented by the performers. I know that Regiment has used this venue for a long time, but Cavaliers gave up on Maine West ten years ago when the limitations had been reached; I'd respectfully submit that PR has reached the same point with Boylan HS stadium. Northern Illinois' stadium isn't THAT far away. Ok, rant off. In spite of the heat and the miscues at the venue, it was still great to see this much talent gathered in one location, and I left the night feeling very good about where the artform is headed these days. Edited July 18, 2011 by mobrien 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GREENBLUE Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 You did? I belong to The Cavaliers FB group(s), but got nothing from them. I belong to Cavies facebook, twitter, friends with staff n members, cavies.org, machine mail, etc... NO where was i told how to vote for fan favorite. sorry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralTsoChicken Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 In short, this venue is simply not ready for a prime time event. It's great that they sold out, it would have been better if the premiere drum corps event in the area had been staged at a more professional stadium, one fitting the type of work being presented by the performers. I know that Regiment has used this venue for a long time, but Cavaliers gave up on Maine West ten years ago when the limitations had been reached; I'd respectfully submit that PR has reached the same point with Boylan HS stadium. Northern Illinois' stadium isn't THAT far away. It comes down to booze, plain and simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMichael1230 Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 I would much prefer to celebrate an extremely successful Sunday night of DC with people in lawn chairs and SRO loving the moment like the old days, then to imagine it won't help the rest of the activity. But that's me......The cockeyed optimist. They have been selling out Boylan HS stadium since the 80's......nothing new. G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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