DCI finals review

[Bob984]

Here is my review of DCI finals........

Spirit.........I can't fully review them, as I was talking with some friends and was only watching on the monitor.....however,

my general impression was that they were a bit tighter than their semifinals performance, and sold their

well-written program well.........

Blue Stars....a better job, especially ensemble, then semifinals........plenty of talent in the corps, and they generally performed

well.....that said, I felt that the musical book was quite choppy and just didn't flow. That's not to say that there

wasn't anything to appreciate, as they showcase the talent well......

Madison......great musical book with solid interpretation. Yes, the percussion wasn't razor clean, but I am not sure they were quite

as bad as scored all week. Hornline was very solid, and the effect of the arrangements brought the house down, so

the numbers for brass, ensemble, and music effect all seemed quite low compared to the performance given. I also

thought that visual performance was greatly improved......

Blue Knights.......this is a very well arranged and staged show. Percussion was noticeably improved since last week, as was

execution in other captions. I don't think they sold the show quite as well at finals as they did in semifinals...

Boston.......opener and first half of show was fine. When they got to the ballad, the show was over.......very long without generating

much interest, and the closer, although improved, still left alot to be desired arrangement-wise, but that didn't show

up anywhere in the score. IMO, Madison had a much stronger brass line, and Blue Knights had a stronger overall program.

Bluecoats.....musically, the show just didn't work for me arrangement-wise. That said, they performed very well in all captions.

They may have gone further with a better musical book........

Santa Clara......percussion was very strong.....visual program and guard were also fine. That said, I felt the brass line was the

weakest in finals from a performance standpoint, and that was compounded by the fact that the book used much

dissonance and isolated attacks, which further amplified the brass weaknesses....also, the brass book wasn't very

accessible/effective, but they did make up for that somewhat with their strengths in percussion and visual.

Brass and music effect scores were highly questionable, IMO...........

Phantom.........clearly a HUGE step-up, as Phantom had a very strong brass section and a fine musical book, which they sold quite well.

Percussion execution a bit down. Drill staged the brass well, and they marched well. I felt that their guard

was superb, with a good level of musical interpretation by them, which IMO is so lacking with many other guards.....

brass and music effect scores seemed questionable........

Crown..........incredible brass line, and they deserved to win that caption by a margin.......and they sold their incredible brass book

very well. How does that not equate to a great music effect score??? A mystery.....Percussion was also very solid,

and I don't believe received full credit for some of their work.....I know many don't like electronics, but their piano

player is something else........at the very least, I felt Crown should have been in much tighter, as musically, for me

they were the strongest corps out there..............

Cavaliers......drumline played a tight job and was strong......visual program was very strong. However, guard is doing so much all of

the time that attention to detail gets lost at times. Brass had some good impact, but arrangements are good, not great,

and they did have some quality issues at times..........crowd loves the gimmicks and overall show........

Blue Devils.....fine brass job tonight......some harshness issues last week were adjusted/fixed......an enjoyable book with substantial

demand in both brass and percussion. I felt percussion was strong, but not as "razor clean" as scored......

fine guard and solid visual execution.

Cadets........visual programming this year was brilliant....quite difficult to nail, and yes, if you looked closely, it wasn't flawless....

still done quite well, though. Good brass intensity tonight....interesting book with good variety.....I felt percussion

was strong, especially considering the split field demands.......they sold the show well tonight....congrats!

general....big crowd....some bad storms outside, so I guess I was glad to be indoors at that time......appreciative audience.......

GB