skywhopper Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 I reviewed the TOC format elsewhere, so this will just be a review of the judged corps performances. I sat just to the right of the 50 on row 16, about halfway up the stands, which sit right on top of the track, which itself is close in to the field, so we were a lot closer to the corps than at the last show I went to this season at Metamora, despite being nearly as high up. It was miserably hot and humid, sunny, windy, and over 90 when the show began. I think Bluecoats and especially Blue Stars got the worst of the weather--the wind especially interfered with the Blue Stars' guard--and the poorest viewing conditions for the judges. So, the shows: Blue Stars + Great (changing) guard costumes throughout the show. My wife had to explain to me why they're all in yellow hoodies at one point. + Sitting so close I couldn't catch them all, but the guard tricks--equipment throws off the scaffolding--were very impressive - Lots of noticeable guard problems (and I'm not a guard person in the least)--some members not even attempting throws, flags out of sync. Some of that might have been the fault of the wind. + Good opening with the trumpets draped over the scaffolding on harmon mutes. + I do like the musical selections and I feel everything is arranged well. - The brass was noticeably rougher than the other corps in terms of blending and tone . The demand of the drill is clearly rough on the brass players, who are visibly struggling to keep up in some spots + I love to watch the Blue Stars battery An enjoyable show with some touches of previous designs. I think the scaffolding was a risk that hasn't paid off. It provides some good moments, especially for the guard, but mounting and dismounting in the brass and percussion feels sloppy because it's often out of step and any mistakes that are made up there show up about five times more obviously than mistakes elsewhere on the field. It's possible they will find a way to make it a net positive, but so far I think that's their biggest liability. Second being their brass line's endurance. They do keep the sound going throughout the show, though. They've clearly fallen off compared to the corps around them--and I think from their own standard of last year--and I will be surprised if they manage to recapture 8th place this year. Bluecoats + CREEP! - Brass marchers were noticeably bouncy--maybe partially the fault of the field. + Quadraphonic section is AWESOME - I do not like the guard uniforms. Too noisy, maybe? Too pink? Not sure really. + Did I mention the quadraphonic section? - Lots of body movement feels forced and doesn't fit the music (reminds me of Crown 2010) . Lots of the impressive drill didn't translate well if at all to 16 rows up. + Speaker usage. I hate amps and synths and samples, BUT, Bluecoats had five speakers spread wide across the front sideline and they used literal quadraphonic effects to send sound swooshing back and forth across the field during the preshow. A lot of corps could do more localized sound effects if they really want to use the electronics. eg, the Angel's song in the Cadet's preshow sounds like it's coming from the 50 yard line, but the Angel is way backfield on the 10. If that song started way off to the left and then followed her towards the center, now, that would be sweet. The night was so long that Bluecoats kind of got blurry in my memory. I like a lot of this show. The joke that it's CREEP! and then the rest is forgettable is sort of true, but I'm now hyping on the Quadraphonic section, which is brilliant. Cleverly scored to minimize phasing, but brilliant nonetheless. I think the design suffers from (apparently) attempting to pull in elements of some of the top shows from last year (their own, Cavies, and Crown in particular). Some of those elements work, some fall short. The Cavaliers + I love the gimmicks, bring them on! - The guard uniforms are atrocious if you ask me, AND... - I don't really care for the stilt stuff, although I'm sure it's really hard, I don't think that difficulty level comes through visually. They have started spinning their walking sticks while on stilts, so that's a little more impressive. . Great drill doesn't translate to sitting down low + Awesome horn line, and thank you for putting the screamers out front and NOT behind a mike! + SUPER awesome percussion line. Wow, I love the bass drum feature. It's absolutely technically perfect. + Love the guard showing off with the insane flag throws - As my wife points out, the theme is a little creepy with the obsession with X and Y. Yes, we get it, Cavies, you are men; manly, studly men. Now stop being so insecure about it. I really like this show. I think in the end, I'm going to personally prefer Cadets and Crown with this show in third place for me. But, I will not be surprised when this show wins this year and I won't be upset about it. Blue Devils - Arrangement of "Say a Little Prayer" is very disappointing to me. There's no flow, no growth, just hit, hit, hit, next song please. + Arrangement of "Wives and Lovers" has won me over, it's incredible, lyrical, musical, and totally evokes the aesthetic of the music and the guard uniforms and the props. It's perfect for this show. Why not treat all the songs this respectfully? - I think the visual program is just overloaded at times. Partially I'm sure it's because we were sitting so low, but even on the webcast high-cams the field just looked really crowded. Empty space is a positive thing. + The cubes create a great effect when they are being spun + Incredible drill work (WHILE PLAYING even! ) towards the end of the show when the poles are lined up at the front and the brass is weaving through themselves and the poles and then the guard comes and tilts the poles. I think all the pole movement distracted me on the webcasts, but in person, that is some impressive marching. - In general the arrangement very rarely gives the music time to develop organically, instead it feels like it's rushing for the impacts to move on to the next song or percussion feature. . I liked the older final set better than this new symmetrical one. But this new one does look pretty good from lower down. I'm definitely pleased with BD's direction this year compared to last. I do feel like their big mistake compared to most of the other corps is not letting the music flow naturally. A few times in this show there are good long development sections that build naturally to a climax, but the majority of the time, it's just impact, impact, next idea, impact, next idea, impact, impact, shuffle some props, impact. The impacts in themselves are impressive, but the flow throughout the show isn't there, and even in individual songs, it's missing. This is something none of the other corps at this show are doing this year, so it really stands out. And maybe BD's 5th place GE finish is explained by this? INT The audience was totally in love with INT last night: most everyone was at their seats and on their feet for the whole performance! Santa Clara Vanguard + I love Vanguard's visual style. The aussie and plume are a big part of that. The trumpet player who runs in to start things off and then bows in the middle of the field when the pre-show ends? No other corps uniform could pull that pose off and look so dang cool doing so. + I love the music selections this year + Percussion is clearly awesome. I can't judge the battery, but the pit is amazing. - Unfortunately, they had the pit way too loud, which accentuated the fact that... - The brass is still too quiet, although... + The brass was much improved over the Metamora show + The guard is phenomenal and I love the interaction with the marchers during the ballad . Lots of great drill which unfortunately doesn't translate well to sitting very low + Vanguard Cymbal line RULES + What? The snares sound like they have... snares. I really want this show to do well, but I think the brass is holding it back. I love the design and the guard and the visuals and the theme and the music, but the brass is quiet and still dirty. Clean that up and it may be my favorite show of the year. Regarding amp balance, interestingly to me, at the Metamora show I felt that the synth was too loud but I didn't notice the pit being out of line. But at Rockford, the synth was barely noticeable (which I prefer) but the pit was definitely way too loud, which only made the soft brass seem softer. The pit sounds awesome, so I can understand the desire to turn them up, but it was just too much. Phantom Regiment + The drill and visuals were much more effective from a lower vantage point. Compared to the Minneapolis webcast, the only part of their show I would rather see from high up is the double-loop formation early on in the show. The rest is best experienced down low. + The music is AMAZING. Great tunes, great arrangements. What issues I had with the arrangements early in the year have been addressed, mostly. - Weak mellos during their soli interludes in the Mozart, which are partially covered by... - Too much synth during the mello soli interludes in the Mozart, which leads into... - Cheesy synth (sounds like Mannheim Steamroller) during the percussion feature after the Mozart + The best guard costumes of the year, by far. Super classy, flattering, and they look great on the field - I'm not a fan of excluding corps participants based on sex. For particular roles, fine, but the entire guard didn't have to be Juliet. Why not have guard Romeos instead of brass player Romeos? + Fantastic, emotional ending with Juliet and the helmet and sabre. - Wait, they had a battery? Where? Overall, I find this show pretty boring from a high-cam perspective, but get down low enough to feel the music and see the detail of the guard, and it's fantastic, amazing, can't get enough of it. Fix those synth issues and clean up the mellos and I'm 100% on board. Carolina Crown + This show is growing in all the right ways, adding visual tidbits and musical snippets here and there to grow organically over the season. That's exactly how the 2009 show happened. Keep it up! - I noticed fewer great guard moments than I usually do in a Crown show. And when the guard is up on top of the trusses, they aren't able to safely spin anything while standing, so it looks kind of awkward going up and down and passing equipment. That said... + A lot of the best moments do involve the trusses, which I was skeptical of at first. They are getting a lot of good use. - Seems like this show has less and less interesting drill than, say, 2008 or 2009. I feel like this is the flip side of the use of the trusses. Given the show theme it makes sense but it's a risk. + Best I can tell, the brass are, even more than the past two years, FLAWLESS. Gorgeous blending and balance throughout, in all field positions, at all volumes, in all combinations of instruments, in every section, when standing still or marching fast or running full speed between two oncoming rows of brass players. So, uh, yeah, they're good. - I hate synth, BUT, there are some moments in this show where the synth was too quiet (mosh pit rush) and the piano was too quiet (much of the time). Don't ask me how I figure out what is good synth and bad. Crown has got it right this year, though, except for the balance at this show, that is. + Nick Starr I was really and truly skeptical of this show, after feeling a little burned by Crown in 2010. But, it has really come together. In person, the energy is just incredible throughout the entire show. They're clearly clicking with the audience. I was surrounded by Phantom homers and parents who had just gotten off their high from Elsa's, and maybe that helped, but they were getting into this show more than any other. The brass in particular, is stunning. I heard comments from multiple directions expressing awe at their sound in the ballad. Just unbelievable. Thank you Crown! The Cadets + GLOW STICK BATTLE OMG - this comes across SO much better in person. + Ballad is gorgeous. I love the twisted Mighty Fortress arrangement, but... - After the corps merge and recap Mighty Fortress in a big arc, the demon brass was totally whipped (maybe the angels, too, but I heard the demons making some ungood sounds for the rest of the show) - Too much atmospheric synth swooshiness + Uniform visuals are still awesome, even from a low vantage point, but... - The drill totally doesn't translate below the 20-25th row, apparently - Brass is generally a little dirtier than Cavies and BD, which I rate closely behind Crown, but it's a step above Bluecoats and Phantom, definitely. + I like the guard uniforms etc, although... . You could only get four men to be in your guard? I've not been liking Cadets shows for years, but this one has won me over, mostly. The overdone synth still gives me fits, but so long as they don't add any sampled movie clips, I think I'll be okay with it. I think the brass is worn out after the ballad reprise, but they'll build endurance I'm confident. Overall A great night of drum corps. Two lists, shows in order by how much I like them: Crown Cadets SCV Cavaliers Phantom Bluecoats Blue Stars Blue Devils Shows in order of how I thought they should have been scored: Cavaliers Crown Cadets Phantom Blue Devils Bluecoats SCV Blue Stars 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Directorofbands Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 Thanks for a great review! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 great review Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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