DeKalb, IL

[wheelerand]

Well, the first part of "The Midwest Championships" is done. And I must say, that despite all the dire predictions of what might happen to this show once DCI took over DCM, the only thing in evidence tonight was an absolutely incredible evening of drum corps at probably the best venue in the Midwest.

This was my third year at DeKalb - lucky for me, this is one show I managed to find during my first year as a drum corps fan, 2001. I'll be back for tomorrow night, too.

Tonight featured 12 D3 corps, 2 D2 corps, and 5 D1 corps. No big surprise that Cadets won D1 and Blue Stars won D3, but some new faces in the crowd made waves tonight. How about Eklipse (D3) taking the Bronze medal in just their first season of competition? How about Memphis Sound (D2) narrowly beating out Capital Sound for first place in their first season of competition? Dimensions, in just their second season, put on a great show. All of which goes to show, drum corps is alive and well in the Midwest.

Not a full show review here: just a couple of notes.

D3: I am consistently surprised that the Bandettes are not scoring higher. Honestly, this corps has one of the best small brass lines in D3. They easily outplayed Lake Erie Regiment tonight, whose brass line continues to be challenged by the tough book of New World Symphony; yet, LER outscored Bandettes by 5 points. I'll be interested to see the recaps on that one.

Possibly the biggest upset in D3 was Dimensions (51.60) over Americanos (51.10) for fourth place. So that means that of the top four corps, Marion (2nd place) is in its third year of its current incarnation; Eklipse (3rd place) is in their inaugural season, and Dimensions (4th place) is in their second year. Can anyone say, Wow?

Blue Stars were definitely the class of the evening in D3, breaking 60 points and outscoring Marion by 4 points. Great show, and much improved since the beginning of the year. In fact, I've seen most of the corps from tonight before, and all of them have improved significantly; some of them have improved vastly in just the last couple of weeks.

D2: One of the surprises of the evening - based on the audience reaction to the placings - was Cap Sound getting beaten tonight. Everyone there loved Memphis, but I think it was pretty much the universal opinion that Cap Sound had a better overall show. I continue to feel that this corps is not being rewarded by the judges for a show that is always one of the most entertaining and best played of any contest they are in. The guard is superb, and many of the problems I had noticed earlier regarding formations, lines, etc., have been cleaned up. Honestly, I thought they deserved a better score tonight.

D1: Well, I don't know if this thread got lost in the server issues or not, but earlier this week I posted a thread asking about the "lone dancer" in the Kiwanis Kavaliers show - what she was up to and why she was even there. When I saw the corps last (just several days ago in Dixon), she was pretty much nothing but a distraction. KK has integrated her drill MUCH better into the overall show - I would not have believed that 5 days could make that much difference. I still don't like the fact that she starts while the corps is still lining up; but overall I feel that she now contributes to the show rather than detracting from it. Big, big improvement. Kudos to KK.

Saw Boston for the first time tonight. I have a feeling that if you took an audience poll of which was the best show, Boston just might well have won it. They certainly would get my vote. Their drill is mesmerizing - lots of kaleidoscopic effects. They have one move where two vertical lines meet at the 50 and then break up into several horizontal lines - that one built such anticipation in the audience. Best move of the night, judging by audience reaction. It was obvious from this show that, although most corps have largely abandoned symmetrical, kaleidoscopic-style drill, that's still what the audience likes best. And no one does it better than Boston. Since this was the first time I've seen the show, I was not familiar with the music; I did not recognize the arrangement of Bolero they are doing. But the drill really captivated me; I've seen Cavaliers this year and they have an incredible drill package, but honestly, I prefer Boston.

Biggest pleasant surprise of the evening: the announcer announcing several times that the DCI booth in the Souvie Marketplace had 2003 audio and video. I could not believe it, so I listened very carefully the second and third times he said it. Sweet!! Just what I have always wanted. Biggest disappointment of the evening: the blank looks I got at the DCI booth when I passed this information on to them after the show. Apparently the announcer had not told THEM that they had this stuff available, and they clearly do not. <heavy sigh>

No retreat tonight, which was fine given the length of the show. However, given that show length, they would have done well to give us an intermission. 5 hours is a long time to sit through shows with no intermission. I know they were trying to keep the show from going too late (as it was, the scores were announced after 11:30), but an extra 15-20 minutes would not have hurt that much.

Have I mentioned that DeKalb is probably the best venue in the Midwest? High stands, the most comfortable bleachers you will find (curved, not straight, some even with backs and also a lot of chair seating), great traffic flow with multiple exits in every section, bathrooms available high and low, best concessions of the year for a stand-alone (eg, not connected with a town festival) show, best souvie area of the year, I could go on and on (which I will, in my DCW review). Let's just say that if Madison was even a tenth the venue that DeKalb is, Finals would have been a much more enjoyable experience for me last year. In my brief experience, the only venue that even comes close to rivaling DeKalb is Menomonie, also a great place for a drum corps show.

Rain threatened early, but largely left us alone except for a few sprinkles. Just a great night for a drum corps show. The excitement has not faded; that's why I find myself online and posting at 2:00am.

So, tomorrow night I'll be back. And I'd be back on the 25th, too, for the D2/3 show there, if I had not already made plans to be in Murfreesboro that day. I'll miss the Saturday morning show - there's something about that D2/3-only show that I really enjoyed. I'll say this, though, if the object is to get better exposure for the D2/3 corps, then DCI has a major hit with this format. I'm terrible at estimating audiences, but there were at least a couple thousand in the stands for the D2/3 portion of the show tonight - probably more than that. That would be about 5-10 times the number that were at the D2/3 show on Saturday morning last year.

Summary: If there is such a thing as Drum Corps Heaven, then the DeKalb championships are it. Can't wait for tomorrow...oh, wait, it IS tomorrow already...

--Andrew

[TerriDitt57]

Division two was a travesty last night. I'll say it, I don't care.

Someone needs to call these men and women on their ineptitude sometime or other. So fine, I'll do it.

I told Andy's Dad last night that he and I have forgotten more about drum corps than most of the "adjudicators" ever knew. He is on the "that was A joke" bandwagon too BTW. Just so no one attributes this only to Crazy Terri.

Edited July 12, 2003 by TerriDitt57

[TerriDitt57]

Another thing before I leave for DeKalb, and I BARELY want to go, I might add after "that",

When Cap Sound deserves a can of ### whoop opened on them, like last year, I definitely say so. Cap Regiment was BETTER than Cap Sound last year. Noticeably.

DESERVED to win the Div.2 title.

[BigSev]

I was surprised to see the Blue Stars beat them as well. Considering the show was judged completely on Div I sheets, I expected to see this morning that Cap Sound would be several points ahead of the DivIII corps.

[wheelerand]

Well, like I said, that was the surprise of the evening to me. And the announcer made a big deal out of these judges being DCI-assigned judges; I guess that's supposed to mean that they are different from the judges we've been seeing in the Midwest shows so far this season. I don't really keep track of which judges are which. I will say this: they scored lower last night than they did at Dixon 5 days ago, and I really felt that last night's show was cleaner. Honestly, I don't think that Cap Sound's show has any obvious weaknesses. Their brass and percussion lines play very well, the guard is simply superb, with many "ooh" and "aah" moments, particularly the rifles, and they have cleaned up some of the problems they were having hitting lines in the drill. I don't get it. I don't pretend to be an expert on judging or on what they're looking at, but I just don't get it. And judging from the reaction of the people in my section of the stands last night, lots of people don't get it.

I do want to say this, though: I don't mean any of these comments to be a negative viewpoint on Memphis Sound. They put on a really good show last night and I was ASTONISHED to learn that they are a first-year corps. Amazing, just amazing.

Terri, I'll try to find you tonight.

--Andrew

[SonicBoomer]

Just a comment about BigSev's remarks and this growing post about this subject. First, there are no more Div. II/III corps being judged on Div. I sheets, at least in the midwest....that was a DCM thing which is why scores always fluctuated so much between DCM and DCI tour...and as we all know the ratio is higher on Div. II/III sheets meaning if Div. I sheets were being used, we would suddenly see a massive jump next week with scores being in the lower 80's. But because of the DCIMidwest thing that is not the case as I understand it.

On another note, hard work does pay off in drum corps, it seems a lot of parents today want to focus too much on scores, and not on the actual experiences corps gives you. I mean please, c'mon, so you get beat one night, it doesn't mean the world is going to end and that your hard work hasn't paid off. As long as you are happy with your show, and the crowd loves it, that's all that matters. I mean take a good look at a lot of corps that are out there, and ask yourself if all they cared about were scores how many of them would still be around. A tenth of a point is all that seperated both of the "Sounds"...those of us who have marched, and even those who are just avid fans know that can be something as simple as one kid coming down on his heels when he shouldn't have, or something as seemingly silly as setting up a suspended cymbal over the pit line and having a tenth deducted everytime you hit it for crossing that line.

So again, I say good job to both Capital and Memphis Sound, keep pushing yourselves and working hard and it will definitely result in a rewarding season.

[wheelerand]

hmmm... "Cap Sound parent, '99 - '03".....interesting, could that possibly have anything to do with the constant outcrys about adjudication ineptitude?? i'm sure if my mom was at the show, she would have thought we should have spread the gap at least a point or two on cap sound.

Normally, I'd agree with you, Go, but I've known Terri for a couple of years, and she can definitely separate "favorite corps" from "better corps" in her mind. And, as I pointed out in my post, she was not alone in her feelings. The entire section of the audience that I was in was shocked - I could hear their responses. Now, temper that with the fact that many people in the audience had probably seen Cap Sound before (I had seen them several times) and this was probably a first viewing on the part of most of the audience for Memphis. People tend to like shows that they've seen before more than new ones because most shows today are not very accessible on first viewing (IMO). I haven't looked at the recaps yet so I don't know how the judges scored the captions. From where I sat, Cap Sound had the edge in brass and guard, definitely, and I thought percussion was fairly even with maybe a slight edge to Cap Sound. Overall GE I couldn't really say. Of course, that's JMO, but I think you'd have found it a pretty common opinion last night.

As I said before, however, all scores and everything aside, I could not believe my ears when I heard the announcer say Memphis Sound was in its first season. Kudos for not only a great performance but a great first year! May many more come!!

[BradF]

Both DeKalb shows (all divisions) were judged on Div. 1 sheets.

Brad

[Jared_mello]

Thanks wheelerand, you made some good points, and having seen the recaps, it was mainly visual and GE that pushed us ahead, instead of our usual high music scores.......actually, having been in the audience during retreat, I heard the gasps too, half of which actually came from the corps members around me

[TerriDitt57]

hmmm... "Cap Sound parent, '99 - '03".....interesting, could that possibly have anything to do with the constant outcrys about adjudication ineptitude?? i'm sure if my mom was at the show, she would have thought we should have spread the gap at least a point or two on cap sound.

Normally, I'd agree with you, Go, but I've known Terri for a couple of years, and she can definitely separate "favorite corps" from "better corps" in her mind. And, as I pointed out in my post, she was not alone in her feelings. The entire section of the audience that I was in was shocked - I could hear their responses. Now, temper that with the fact that many people in the audience had probably seen Cap Sound before (I had seen them several times) and this was probably a first viewing on the part of most of the audience for Memphis. People tend to like shows that they've seen before more than new ones because most shows today are not very accessible on first viewing (IMO). I haven't looked at the recaps yet so I don't know how the judges scored the captions. From where I sat, Cap Sound had the edge in brass and guard, definitely, and I thought percussion was fairly even with maybe a slight edge to Cap Sound. Overall GE I couldn't really say. Of course, that's JMO, but I think you'd have found it a pretty common opinion last night.

As I said before, however, all scores and everything aside, I could not believe my ears when I heard the announcer say Memphis Sound was in its first season. Kudos for not only a great performance but a great first year! May many more come!!

Thank you Andrew You KNOW I know I call a spade a spade. I always gave Cap Reg their props. They were BETTER than CAP SOUND! Last year and '01.

This year was JUST WRONG.