Rockford Review

[Galen]

Last night I attended the Show of Shows in Rockford. This is ALWAYS a great event to attend and last night's was especially enjoyable with the new "Tour of Champions" format that featured numerous performers from the various corps before and after the show as well as the "instant encores" by each of the corps. The night was very hot and muggy and the place was absolutely PACKED. Here are my thoughts on each of the corps, along with some pictures (no good ones of Blue Stars or Bluecoats, sadly):

Blue Stars: I was intrigued by the ramp when they brought it on the field, but unlike prior years where they haven't let their props affect their visual, this year the prop definitely affected them, resulting in a lot of forms that looked squashed or compressed. This year's show unfortunately doesn't feel all that special like the last couple of seasons. Nothing really memorable for me in this one visually or musically. For their encore they played "Forget You" and did a nice job with that.

Bluecoats: Based on what I saw of them in Madison, I was not looking forward to seeing this show again. But a week later and a different viewing angle resulted in a MUCH better impression of this group. Sound quality was markedly better than Blue Stars, as was the quality of the visual formations. Still love this group's contra line, but I missed the baritone "growling" stuff from the very end, guess they cut that. Encore was "Hey Soul Sister".

Cavaliers: Tonight didn't feel like a good show from them, especially visually. The members are moving way too fast for any sort of forms to be anywhere near readable, it's almost impossible to tell when one form locks in and starts transitioning to the next one. It just feels like one massive visual transition. The visual tricks with the drumline are fun, but all in all it felt like too much Cirque and not enough drum corps for me. For the encore, the pit performed the Beetlejuice title theme, then the corps played "Mars"

Blue Devils: Holy ####, MELODY!!!!!!!!! Their brass arranging was notably better tonight than it's been the last couple years. Still a lot of random silence/extended drum breaks to show off all the visual stuff they do, but I'll definitely take what they played tonight. The visual effects, unfortunately, felt lost a lot of the time, as they often just left all the poles and blocks sitting there on the field for various times when clearing them off the field would have been a more effective use of them. The big "house" set at the end was a nice way to wrap up the show. Encore was "Always something there to remind me". While I've enjoyed some corps pull away from their classic tunes, BD is a group that I would have liked to have seen play one of their traditional encore pieces like Legend or When a Man Loves a Woman.

After the break, SCV took the field and instantly set a very dark mood for their Devil's Staircase show. The guard was featured very well here and was the first guard that I thought really enhanced the program. The random horn players breaking out of forms and trying to run through them was effective at first but got distracting by the end of the show. Forms were sharp but I caught several blown halts, step-offs and horn moves from individuals. Encore was a rearrangement of "Dance of the Tumblers" from 1987- very well performed!

The hometown corps, Phantom Regiment, was up next. As always, they brought a lush quality of sound that was unmatched by anybody else on the field to make for a very tasteful and evocative program. I thought the story being told could have been much more expressive- they needed to highlight Juliet more with her interactions with the "Romeo" member. Nothing really stood out as especially innovative, but I still enjoyed the #### out of this show. For the encore, they performed a rousing rendition of "Bacchanalle"

Crown proved they were up to the task of following Phantom with their "Rach" star show. They had the best guard on the field from my perspective and the hornline was just as solid as Regiment, and a bit crisper and more articulated as well. This was a fun show from beginning to end. Unlike other corps, they made effective use of their prop towers and didn't let them interfere with their visual program. The only thing that lagged was the music at the end- it didn't really seem to be a good fit with the rest of their pieces. They were the only corps to perform a "moving" encore with their "Bohemian Rhapsody" finale, which has me thinking that that will be in the show at other points in the year as well.

Cadets were the last corps on. They had a great setup, with the white-uniformed group praying solemnly in the end zone while the red-uniformed group came in acting all rowdy and kicking the sideline cones all over the place (). The first two-thirds of the show was very captivating, with some really mesmerizing stuff, especially the second battle sequence where all of the members were spinning silver and gold reflective poles. But the horns lost steam after this point and the program seemed to peter out from a design standpoint. Hopefully their creative team comes up with a stronger ending for this show because it's a great concept.

[Fran Haring]

Great review, Matt... and thanks for adding the pictures!

[Swine]

DCI.org does not have the scores. What were they?

[gcurrier]

Thanks Matt for the review as it is the only thing I have seen ANYWHERE about the show! I actually had to go check and make sure it really happened yesterday! LOL Nice review--I do think Crowns "encore" is really the new ending to the show as they did it Saturday too...needs some tweaking but I dug it!

[Sportster]

I really like this new format idea. Wish most shows were like it! It was definately on the high side of entertainment for sure. Personally,I found SCV's hornline very flat and I can't remember the last time I've heard so many horns produce so little sound. Found myself thinking 'is that all ya got,seriously??'. The rest of the Corps present I feel did a great job. I agree with you,Matt, on your comments about the Devils. I didn't enjoy last seasons edition. The show was just too chopped up and there was never anything musically to grab hold of. This year is refreshing. They almost played a entire song! Sadly I personally don't enjoy their song selections but at least it's musical again.

Cavies are just frenetic. They do what they do very well, hence taking the win. There is so much going on at once I've seen the show a few times now and still haven't caught all of what's going on out there.

Cadets...I like the concept alot and think they could still do a whole lot with it. I agree also about the hornline losing steam at the end. They started like gangbusters, just flat out laying it on the line. Then later I was like 'where'd the hornline go?'. I like the show overall and will enjoy seeing it again.

My fav of the night was Crown. HOLY cow what a hornline! Again, personally, song selection wasn't my cup of tea. Paint it black by the Stones. Seriously? Overall a great energy filled show though.

Phantom was all class and stole the heart of the hometown crowd,definately. Rich sounding hornline but I felt at times like the drumline disappeared or were relegated the rear of the field too much. They just didn't seem to project unless they were featured. Devils were the exact opposite. Their line I heard every accent,every attack/release.

Both Coats and Star were very enjoyable and I really liked their encore numbers. Great job! I did enjoy SCV's encore alot and it brought many memories from back then flooding back as did Cavies 'Planets' flashback.

I've been to a lot of shows since 76' and marched in a few myself but I've not seen anything like the huge encore at the end with hundreds of horns kicking it like they were. Wow is about all I can say. Even when they used to do the America/Oh Canada encores it didn't seem as loud as last night. The kids were definately having fun and I think this new format is a huge hit. Great job by all!

[bandbuck]

Thanks for the review!

[motrouble]

I mainly agree. Here are my gut reactions (reference: marched Pit crown 90 *charter member, woohoo* and crossmen 91)

Before the show: Took forever to get in and to get to your seats. It was packed! For a show like this, they need to rethink the stadium, or find more ways to get people into the stands. Show started late as a result.

-Blue Stars - not that memorable. They do not convey the show story well, and it just doesn't click. Their encore was ok, a pop tune, but they were first, and took a while to get set up

-Bluecoats - pretty much the same as above - Concept is easier to follow, but not the best show. A few nice moments. Came straight up to do the encore and didn't waste any time. Another pop tune, nothing special, and one of the DMs rolled his eyes during it as he was clapping for the crowd. He was cute while doing it though, so it was ok.

-Cavaliers - of course, very very entertaining. The music is ok, but not as good as some others. The tricks are fun and outstanding. Excellent show. I noticed a hornline collision, but no one fell. Great encore. Beautifully played pit feature, then Mars. The crowd loved it. Dan Potter interviewed a stilt walker, who said he basically fell on his face the first time he put them on. Dan said the Cavaliers guard will be available to paint ceilings in your home after the season. HI-LAR-I-OUS!

-Blue Devils - I expected to dislike this show, especially after seeing it online. But, I LOVED IT! Really! It is great!!! Reminds me of a fantastic 90s drum corps show. Beautifully scored, beautifully staged, well executed, and LOUD! Much louder than the previous corps. All sections are strong. Great story, easy to follow, and a great great show. Probably tied with Crown for my favorite of the night. Only real goosebumps of the night. Then they came forward to do an equally entertaining encore. Excellent job!

-Intermission. Didn't dare leave our seats! We would never get back in! Neither did the larger couple in front of us, who were using our knees as backrests ;-). Its a small stadium for this event. The gong race was cute, but the winning kid did not make 8 full rotations around the rifle before running to hit the gong! Just sayin' ;-)

-Vanguard - well, it's just a weak hornline. Devils Staircase just does not work on the field. Too bad. A quick Khachaturian encore from 87, but mainly percussion. Shortest encore of the night, after a not great show.

-Phantom - what a lovely show. Loud, and like BD, reminds me of a classic drum corps show. Everyone loved it. They could rework/recompose the ballad to make it more beautiful, IMO. Bacchanale encore, which everyone appreciated.

-Crown - Outstanding! The guard is just amazing! Loudest and very entertaining. What a horn line. I liked it better than I thought I would, and I am glad. A good run. Not sure about the 2 second FreeBird at the end. Their encore was the only one with drill and guard. Toss toss after incredible toss, even in the encore. I hope they make the encore part of the judged show, and maybe just skip the last Rach quote maybe. If they have this marching encore in the show every night, they may have to come up with an additional encore, so that the crowd doesn't feel cheated. This actually could be a winning show. Deserves all the points it gets. Dan Potter interviewed the main rifle guy at the end, which was great.

-Cadets - I had thought I would like the show better than I did. But it was just meh. The drill is not as fast, IMO, because instead of movement, they rely on drill placement (devil, angel, devil, angel) to create motion in the drill, especially at the end. It was good, but not as good as I had hoped. Too much bass support with synth. Cool poles feature though. Their encore was at least 3 times longer, and GH was running it. Boring pit feature, boring William Tell small ensemble feature, and finally a very loud Moondance. I wondered if they were eating up time before scores since they were last, but I don't think so.

-Finale - neat. Great LOUD latin piece. All corps guards had changed to black and did a little work. All the corps were combined and mixed (mainly by instrument), like the old meet and greet retreat. Then a shorter 30 second latin tag with huge double flags....wish that had been longer so I could have gotten a pic! Amazing and Fun! A few BD guard members (id'ed by their makeup) had fun experimenting with their double flags when packing up, which was funny.

I fan scored it

8. BS

7. BC

6. SCV

then obvious jump in level to the top 5

5. Cadets

4. Cavies

3. Phantom (close with Cavies... could switch those...home advantage helped)

2. BD (very close to Crown)

1. Crown