Jeffsjetta Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 thanks to google who let me pull this back up some things are just so right in the world. Walking into Hershey stadium to see drum corps is one of them. Before i get into the corps, a few things: tshirt of the year at the Bluecoats table...Amplification and electronics, not now, not ever. $7. best 14 i ever spent! Hershey traffic....i love the new arena, but getting into the stadium now is eh...less than great as there is only one entrance for all Hershey related events. a huge thanks you to the Cabs for allowing Christine and i to sepnd so much time with them, even inviting us to a gathering after rehearsal. and Brett, next year buy more beer so dad doesnt have to show up at midnight w/more :) Show day. hot. hot hot hot. thunderstorms predicted. and they showed up.....at retreat thank God. the stadium crew ran the event well, tho please Hershey, and this happens every year...tell staff members where to go to watch, even make signs. I have had the same seats for, well, most of my life, and every year, i miss parts of shows because security is telling staff where to go watch. pre show fun time in the parking lot, even had a critic of my reviews point me out to his snare line. got to see a cool Crown ensemble music run(i love you guys). saw nanci who gave me scoop from the NY senior show, as well as Geoffrey, who sat with us., Doc Z, a bunch of Shore alumni, some Cabs and a bunch of Bucs. new turf looks great. Fran on the mic is always a good thing. seats are as always, backs against the press box, 45 yard line Cabs are up after show gets delayed due to traffic. Having spent a lot of time with them, i am very familiar with the show now. Corps starts out backfield w/a soprano solo, that when on is beautiful. corps picks up speed, turns around and hello G bugles! This isnt your mom's Cabs, but at the same time it is. This corps is moving a lot and fast, and unfortunately, not all can keep up at this time. It affects the music too. Loved the rumps in the opener, and especially loved the bass line under the rumps....now thats a bass run. horns sound very tired, and at times, the drumline seemed to over power them, even without scoops on the snares( if i can hear it in the top row, the judges should too eh Gary?). Ballad is very pretty, but again, horns seem tired, and it loses some effect. drum solo. this is the line Cabs needed. starts off w/snares on jam blocks, and basses up front behind basses on stands....on the first attack, water flies everywhere off the basses, and they are jamming, including a very clean, long run.(best use of stingray drums since, oh what 1987?) snares and tenors are running up from back fild, and when they come in, there are more notes in this feature than some Cabs drum solos past had total. tough to clean w/that many notes in there, but played pretty well. nice little drill move, and boom full ensemble drum solo going, tenors wailing, big run in the keys, but something didnt feel right. horns come back in, and i can hear that a) they are tired) and B) ensembly they are not quite locking in, and it stays this way til the end of the show. guard work almost done, and what they have is nice, tho the flags seemed a little bland to me. good weapons work, but there were some struggles with it. all in all, this show, when on, which i saw saturday is great. last night, there were issues, and, if this offends cabs sorry, but you got away with one.you have maybe too much demand, and at a senior corps schedule, it may make it rough to max it out. Bucs: still in those cool blue unis, and the guard outfitted very piratey, which fit the show very well. 33 horns, looked like 36 spots....risky for this show, which i'll go into. intro statement strong, and another great drill by Eric. drumline performs very well, and imo, should have won drums (no nasty emails now Fiest?) percussion book not as crazy as cabs, but performed better...he who has the most notes doesnt always win, and Bucs do a lot of cool drum stuff at the low end. Hornline seemed to tire at the end, and this is the danger of a small hornline w/this show...if the stamina doesnt arrive, you could end flat brass seemed very bottom heavy, but it worked with the show.. guard work seemed ok, but some of the play acting in the 3rd tune seemed to need more fleshing out. all in all, another strong effort by Bucs, light years ahead of where they were last year at this time. if i were them, i'd be mad about the numbers last night...IMO, should have been higher. Bush. loved the new unis. top could be a touch brighter but it looked cool to see the keyboard back. Show is 12 seconds to the moon and Perilous Skies....and needs some oomph. brass seemed tired(and after the heat this weekend it makes sense) and the show has some GE needed to pull it off. drumline performed ok....some errors felt like maybe design flaws, but also could have just been a case of everything not locking up yet. still better than this time last year. guard had some cool flags, but seemed uncomfortable with the work in some spots. this could be a fun show. it seemed really flat, lacking major oomph. in time, i am sure Bush will add it. top 5 material? possibly, but with much work ahead. junior division...using most of the same judges. Crown. I adore this show, and what a difference a week makes...visual so much cleaner, yet a bit to go. the problem with white is if you have no form definition and rough transitions, you look like a white blob at times. the percussion scoring in the intro and Stained glass is so cool....such a cd moment, and so creative, esp the pit use of bells and crotales to tie into the theme. guard unis looked great in the sunlight, and they have some great flags that add color to thee show. brass has picked up some stamina, and it's nice to hear Crown let it out. Carol of the bells came across much better last night, and i think this show could and should be in. if it's not, it's a crime. Bluecoats...first view in uni(saw them at PA camps) and wow.still needs a little bit of oomph but by far their best show. drum line performed very well, especially the bassses who seemed to be a worry early. guard fit in very well, and loved the tango dancing. hornline played with a maturity and confidence that was so nice to see. the storyline of pursuit and capture is still being fleshed out, and i loved the flashback momentsof Red cape tango and traffic. drill was very smooth, and no major performance issues.ending still needs a little beef, as it comes out of nowhere and leaves on wanting just a touch more. love the moment where the corps breaks into sections, and the melody carries down the field, until a lone soloist is playing the melody. very cool idea and well done. Crossmen. saw this from downstairs, as i ran for food and i got stuck behind people who were lost and couldnt remember where their seats were...thanks ushers. another huge imnprovement in a week. last week i couldnt stand them...seemed way too much rehash. this week,, wow. possibly the loudest hornline of the night, even over Cabs. Rainbow is still gorgeous, and the colored fabric the guard uses is so cool and creative. the next tune was much better than last week, as the corps seems to have found the groove. Blue Rondo was lightyears better, and had no major ensemble issues. percussion performance was also much better. weapons line wow...downstairs i got a great view of you guys and gals, and you dont stop..ever!! closer was very in your face. drums on the racks is better, but when they start moving there are still some uglies. the ending, where everyone rushes the sideline and wails was cool.(heard the Birdland tag) Becky you look great in the uni now that it's in. hope ya liked the home show crowd, we liked you. also noticed cymbals seemed to be cut and just stand at the drum racks the show show. that sucks. all in all, a fun show, and much cleaner. Boston. wasn't sure what to think...i was afraid it would be 2000 rehash. well, it is and it isn't. and i loved it! Bolero intro, much shorter than 00, and also had snippets of Malaguena in it. drill, simple yet effective, very GE "crowd goes ooooo" feel to it. 10 snares played very well, as did the 5 tenors and basses.nice Conquest hits too! Ballad has the potential to be very tear jerking moment, and no singing! Once again, Bocelli delivers a ballad for the ages. beginning of Malaguena...15 snares?? yes and very clean at that! guard is well done, and had some cool flags. heard snippets of Spanish Fantasy( i thought Geoffrey would have a coronary sitting next to me, and i think he liked it)...more Conquest hits!! and a nice tie in to Bolero to wrap it up, including the drill move from 00 that every band in the world has ripped off. wow. fun show. still dirty, as with weather and illness they got behind, but think about it...which corps, in the last 4 years, has the best track record of August surges? watch out BAC is BACK Cadets. cleaner than my last view. DM didnt salute tonight. guard was a show unto themselves, and the red unis stand out. emotionally flat. I want to like this show. moving wamrup was fine, and Fanfare and Allegro into was ok, but once the tempo picked up, it took me nowhere. even Malaguena seemed flat. hey everyone has off days, they're allowed. what stunned me most was the fact the when the Zpull hit in Rocky Point, maybe 10 people clapped. WHAT? the most famous drill move in modern DCI history and 10 people clapped?? it's true. the crowd wasnt into them.. i am not sure if it was the heat, fearing the coming storms, or what, but the crowd actually didnt go gaga over the Cadets, and Hershey has always been a friendly show site for them. the spreads on the junior side were too large. Blue, Boston and Xmen should all be closer to 80, if not over it, and Crown should be not far behind them. Marines up next, and again, i loved the. the Chicago stuff was great. that drumline rocks....if you get to see them drummers please do.....this is some of the best marching percussion going today. dm only retreat, and good thing, as the heavens opened. parking lot party confined to the Hummelston Gman, and man, what a cool guy Jimmy Russo is. definately a guy i want to party with again...what cool stories he had. always THE man. I saw so many people. if i didnt mention you i apologize. again thanks to cabs for the hospitality. Reading next week...i may even review Al's too :)~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabsbaritone Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 Still a great review Jeff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffsjetta Posted July 10, 2003 Author Share Posted July 10, 2003 oh stop:p (psst nominate for best review, there's beer in it for ya) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louielouie Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 Before i get into the corps, a few things:tshirt of the year at the Bluecoats table...Amplification and electronics, not now, not ever. $7. best 14 i ever spent! yea right .. all these corps talk . but you wait till next year and all these corps , like everybody else , will be using amplification electronics.. they all said the same about Bb's.. bunch of bull... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crownmember Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 Crown. I adore this show, and what a difference a week makes...visual so muchcleaner, yet a bit to go. the problem with white is if you have no form definition and rough transitions, you look like a white blob at times. the percussion scoring in the intro and Stained glass is so cool....such a cd moment, and so creative, esp the pit use of bells and crotales to tie into the theme. guard unis looked great in the sunlight, and they have some great flags that add color to thee show. brass has picked up some stamina, and it's nice to hear Crown let it out. Carol of the bells came across much better last night, and i think this show could and should be in. if it's not, it's a crime. White unis make it a lot harder to cover up on imperfections in forms as well as marching style, i definitely agree on that. But ive been hearin lots of good news about the show so far, and i cannot wait to see them at Nightbeat!! And if (when!) they make finals, that would be music to my ears!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffsjetta Posted July 10, 2003 Author Share Posted July 10, 2003 Before i get into the corps, a few things: tshirt of the year at the Bluecoats table...Amplification and electronics, not now, not ever. $7. best 14 i ever spent! yea right .. all these corps talk . but you wait till next year and all these corps , like everybody else , will be using amplification electronics.. they all said the same about Bb's.. bunch of bull... i doubt Blue will. their administration is very anti a&e. in fact, one of the overlooked things is Larry Hershmans rebuttal to Hoppy in Orlando, and his very public and negative statement he made at Serenade in Brass in APril. if Larry left Blue maybe i could see it. but he isnt leaving Blue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffsjetta Posted July 10, 2003 Author Share Posted July 10, 2003 Crown. I adore this show, and what a difference a week makes...visual so muchcleaner, yet a bit to go. the problem with white is if you have no form definition and rough transitions, you look like a white blob at times. the percussion scoring in the intro and Stained glass is so cool....such a cd moment, and so creative, esp the pit use of bells and crotales to tie into the theme. guard unis looked great in the sunlight, and they have some great flags that add color to thee show. brass has picked up some stamina, and it's nice to hear Crown let it out. Carol of the bells came across much better last night, and i think this show could and should be in. if it's not, it's a crime. White unis make it a lot harder to cover up on imperfections in forms as well as marching style, i definitely agree on that. But ive been hearin lots of good news about the show so far, and i cannot wait to see them at Nightbeat!! And if (when!) they make finals, that would be music to my ears!! they should be 3-4 points higher now IMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffsjetta Posted October 7, 2003 Author Share Posted October 7, 2003 bump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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