losnickes Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 Be forewarned: this review will probably be anywhere from somewhat to extremely opinionated. "Opinionated" is the operative word here. No offense is intended. Open Class 1st Place- Music City- 72.350 "Let's Dance" I've never been an avid follower of Open Class. I've never marched an Open Class corps, I don't know anyone who has, and I don't know anyone who will. Music City, however, has changed all of that. I've been watching them very closely all season, and as a result, I've been checking up on a lot of other Open Class corps as well. Music City blew me away when I first saw them in Lebanon, IL. I had a prejudice in my mind that Open Class corps were just sort of "okay." Thanks to Music City, my heart grew three sizes that day. They have an exceptional brass section, with equally superb brass arrangements. Their musical repertoire is very accessible by any audience, and the show is just plain fun. They've had a very quick and powerful ascent up the Open Class competitive ladder, and may find themselves with an Open Class title in the years to come. World Class 8th Place- Blue Stars- 84.100 "ReBourne" I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I really like this show. It's not overly complicated, and the musical selection is top-notch. It's truly a spectacle, and I urge anyone who hasn't seen it yet to get to a show. The raw power of their brass alone is worth the price of admission. I'm really liking the visual style that the Blue Stars have developed over the last couple of years. It has a certain intricacy to it that is almost up to par with the great Michael Gaines. It's really quite impressive, the corps performs it very well. Whenever I'm at a DCI show, I like to ask the people around me what they thought of each show, and the biggest criticism the Blue Stars' show got was the catwalk/bridge thing. I can see the reasons for not liking it. You could argue that it crams the corps into one area of the field, but it's not like it's cramming them into a small corner. They cover a lot of the field, and I personally thing the catwalk is cool. I wouldn't want to see it every year, but I think it works for this show. You can go under it, over it, and around it, and it all creates some cool visual effects. Overall, I think it was a good move on the designers' part. I'm not a judge, so maybe I'm missing something, but I fail to understand why the Blue Stars are a full 3 points behind the Bluecoats. In my personal opinion, the Blue Stars were at the very LEAST as good as the Bluecoats, if not better. 7th Place- Bluecoats- 87.200 "Brave New World" I'm not a die-hard Bluecoats fan, nor a Bluecoats alumnus, but you'll often find me Blooing them along with everyone else. The Bluecoats are a very talented corps, and very fun to watch. However, "Brave New World" is not doing it for me. It's a neat idea, but it just isn't translating to the field very well, at least not in my opinion. "Creep" is an interesting choice for an opener, but it works very well. The Bluecoats took a terrible song from that revolting Radiohead, and made a gorgeous opener out of it. I applaud that. "Deus Ex Machina" didn't really wow me. I practically didn't notice it was going on. It just didn't have anything special going on. I was already excited to find out what the Bluecoats' show would be a couple months ago, and when I discovered they would be playing "Harvest," I was ecstatic. They pulled off "Asphalt Cocktail" rather nicely, which is not easy to do, and I thought they would make an exceptional closer out of "Harvest." Sadly, I was a bit let down. It's alright, but it's extremely difficult to make John Mackey's stuff work on a football field. Granted, the Bluecoats probably do the best job of it, but it just isn't the same exciting piece that you would normally hear in a concert hall. Of this infamous G8 thing, "Brave New World" is probably my least favorite show. I don't hate it, I just don't love it. 6th Place- Santa Clara Vanguard- 87.450 "The Devil's Staircase" This show is bizarre, but in a good, nay, insanely good way. I was skeptical at first, but this show pleasantly surprised me when I first saw it. This show is frantic, fast-paced, and kind of nightmarish at times, and it couldn't work more splendidly. It really follows it's stated premise, "You're in hell, and you're trying to get out." This basic storyline is extremely easy to follow, especially with various corps members running frantically around the field, with the demon-like color guard constantly complicating things for them. I really can't say anything else about this show, other than I think it's brilliantly performed. However, because of it's bizarre design, it's probably going to place at Finals about where it is right now. 5th Place- Phantom Regiment- 88.400 "Juliet" This may come as a surprise to all of you, but here goes: Phantom Regiment's brass is the most beautiful thing I've ever heard. You need a second to let that one sink in? My original complaint about "Juliet" was the fact that I wasn't really getting the whole "Juliet" thing out of it. Thankfully, they've made slight changes here and there, and it's a bit more understandable. Unfortunately, I can't follow it like I could follow "Spartacus." The visual is a huge step up from last year, and the brass is just as good as it's always been. The percussion isn't as good as last year, but still a very formidable percussion section. I'd like to see this show get higher scores, but Phantom is probably going to stay where they are for the rest of the season. 4th Place- Carolina Crown- 91.350 "Rach Star" I didn't like this show at first, but it's really starting to grow on me. The "Rock" and "Rachmaninoff" mix works extremely well. It seems laughable, but it works so well, it really defies description. The "We Will Rock You" pre-show is a lot of fun, and the first hit of "Bohemian Rhapsody" is simply awesome. The visual effects are dazzling, and this show is overall very well-performed, which is something we have come to expect from Carolina Crown. 3rd Place- The Cavaliers- 92.400 "XtraordinarY" This show is unbelievable. It's great to see my favorite corps perform such an exceptional program. The term "extraordinary" would be an understatement. This show is phenomenal, and the fact that it got 3rd Place is a travesty. The brass section is probably the best of the year, and they probably have best percussion book in years. And, of course, the visuals are as spectacular as ever. No surprise there. By the way, the new ending is pure insanity. They are renewing a favorite visual effect from "Samurai," and it makes an extraordinary ending for an extraordinary show. 1st Place- The Cadets- 93.150 (tie) "Between Angels and Demons" The Cadets are finally putting on a show that the entire audience can really enjoy. The two different-colored uniforms make a great visual effect, and adds a spectacular twist on classic Cadets drill. The battle scene/drum feature is the coolest part of this show, hands down. That's saying a lot, as the entire show is very cool. I really want the Cavies to win at Finals, but it wouldn't kill me if The Cadets won. 1st Place- Blue Devils- 93.150 (tie) "The Beat My Heart Skipped" Burt Bacharach's music makes for one fine drum corps show. This show is absolutely impeccable, and I can see why the judges might have put them in first, however much it kills me inside. The props are weird, and I could live without them, but they don't ruin the show. The whole love theme that they're trying to convey doesn't really come across that well, but I can get enough enjoyment out of this show from their exceptional music selection, and wonderful brass performance. It's truly an excellent show. I'll conclude my review with my ideal placements for the night: 8. Bluecoats 7. Santa Clara Vanguard 6. Blue Stars 5. Phantom Regiment 4. Carolina Crown 3. The Cadets 2. Blue Devils 1. The Cavaliers 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c.l. Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 "Creep" is an interesting choice for an opener, but it works very well. The Bluecoats took a terrible song from that revolting Radiohead, I know I was warned, but I seriously stopped reading after this sentence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
losnickes Posted July 31, 2011 Author Share Posted July 31, 2011 I know I was warned, but I seriously stopped reading after this sentence. Sorry, I'm a man of very exclusive musical tastes, and Radiohead is not among them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skywhopper Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 (edited) Wow, great review! Thanks for all the analysis. I disagree with you about the original "Creep", but it doesn't hurt my feelings or anything. In your assessment of any of the shows, though, I agree with most everything you've said. At this point, I'm thinking either Cadets or BD are going to win this year. It feels like Cavies may have maxed their show out too soon, just when the Cadets were adding the finishing touches. That said, the new Cavies closer sounds like a lot of fun (can't wait to see the leaps up close), and they may pull it out yet. Edited August 1, 2011 by skywhopper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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