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Drum Corps at the Movies


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Considering that the theater is, literally, 5 minutes from my house, I guess I'm not surprised that no one's posted a review yet. If I'm not the first, I'm sure it'll be known.

Walking into the theater it was obvious that they'd gotten the sound fixed from last year's snoozer. You could hear Cavies out in the hall.

About 60 people in the seats. Very quiet. I guess that I, and about 25 other people, figured it's OK to applaud in the theater. Saw several groups of 5 or 6 kids come in as a group.

While I can't top the other reviews I do have a few observations. Almost across the board, the amps were WAY too loud, Blue Stars being the worst offender. Yes, I'm sure the theater sound system isn't flat and boosts the bass (I guess), but if this is what we're in for this summer, bring ear plugs.

I thought BS were really good, dirty to even my eye, but I was liking just hearing some drum corps, and I "got" their show. Transferring water onto a field is going to prove tough. Maybe they need a six-foot seahorse, or dress the guard as mermaids. I was surely entertained and I told my kids "Remember, judge this as how it's going to look in August." Not being too critical was freeing. There were two collisions, and the second was particularly ugly when the fallen member tried to get back in line.

Then Phantom came on and I thought "Wow, BS are way behind." Phantom's lush sound was like butter. Their guard was, by far, the most beautiful and the red is classic PR. Loved the music - DOT, not Doe. My son said "Chinese Spartacus" before Rondinaro did.

What struck me most about Cavies was the guard and the drum line. The "Justin Bieber" guard unis really work, at least color-wise. Very easy on the eyes when mixed with the corps' green and, matched with flags, really made the show. The drums came out of the gate with guns blazing and let me tell you (I'm a percussionist ($1 to Ream), this drum book is crazy hard.

Crown's show is a potential winner. Classic long chords and across the field spread. The stereo effect of 5 concert basses and three sets of tymps was mostly lost in the theater; it'll be very cool live. The first half of the show reminded me of controlled chaos, but the second half used Copeland to bring it together. The guard is VERY expressive. Many here have said the drill is too hard with Klesch's crazy book - I disagree. They march madness, with 220 tempos and blocks of drill all happening at the same time. If they can pull it off it'll be killer, and I'll wait until August to render judgement of whether it worked.

Cadets was just lovely. LOVE the guard uni's. Colors were awesome. There's no mistaking the theme and the music is fun, jazzy, and soothing. Can't wait to see the closer.

"Coats was tough. Loved the theme, they marched hard and pretty clean, but the show left me flat. I heard plenty of strains of past arranging style and hard-driving tempos but it seemed scattered with little cohesiveness. It's probably me and so I'll not say an opinion except it seemed very technical and less artisitic. Not sure what that means.

Overall, I heard phasing problems in, I think, every corps. Horns out of sync across the field, horns out of sync with drums, and corps out of sync with the pit. It was probably as much "first show-itis" as anything else; I'm sure tempos and sync will lock in.

It was a great time - more fun than I remember from last year. And, if Rondinaro was right at 4,000 fans, that stadium must hold 100,000. It looked like less than 3000 to me but someone who was actually there is a better judge, I guess.

It was fun entertainment and, at $15 a ticket, pretty cheap fun at that.

That's my two cents.

Edited by garfield
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My quick thoughts...I like to be blunt.

Blue Stars - So dirty. Like WAAAAY dirty.

Phantom - Pretty clean, great sound. Easy show with like 3 ballads again.

Crown - Brass not as strong due to harder drill (SHOCKING) but will be a contender. Didn't really grab me though.

Cavies - Ummmmm.....

Cadets - Making filet mignon out of meatloaf since 1934. Will be top 3 no doubt and could win.

Bloo - Clean and well prepared. See also: Phantom's review minus the ballad part.

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Loved the cinema broadcast! It was really well done! Nice work, DCI!

Oh, thanks, and Yes, I agree. The programming was better than last year. I really liked the schedule announcements month by month. They sure didn't make much distinction between regional shows and TOC shows. I had a good time, DCI.

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Oh, thanks, and Yes, I agree. The programming was better than last year. I really liked the schedule announcements month by month. They sure didn't make much distinction between regional shows and TOC shows. I had a good time, DCI.

Yes, everything in between the corps was pretty good and moved along. But the filming of the corps' performances was terrible. Spent WAY too much time on the pits and close-ups (some close-ups were good to focus on storylines, but there was lots of close-up for close-up's sake). Having seen a few of the drills already, I was constantly frustrated at how many major drill moves they missed!!! [edit] And I know that the corps each had a representative giving the film crew advice prior to the show. [/edit]

Edited by fifer
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BS--Liked more than I thought I would. Cool show concept. Seems to work for them. Guard was a bit off.

Phantom--Show has a lot of upside, but does need some more demand musically if they expect to keep pace with the lead pack. Drum book seemed very weak to me compared to what we are used to. Even compared to last year. The guard was lights out though....and I'm not a guard person, at all.

Carolina--big sound, rocking drum line. I get the concept, but not sure the constant reprisals of fanfare won't wear out as the season goes on. Guard unis were weird for me.

Cadets--Liked this show way more than I thought I would. It's not cheesy at all and totally works as a concept. They could repeat this year.

Cavies--drum line was strong. I'm just less and less a fan of their abstract shows and I think they need to have varying guard uniforms. Everyone having the same one takes away from the 15 minute of fame concept IMO. Everyone is unique, but they are all dressed the same? The show was clearly not finished so we'll have to see what it looks like at season's end, but not a fan of the show...yet.

Bluecoats--strong throughout. Nice drums and book. It does start well but tapers.

Overall I thought it was a good first show. Overall I think the scores were accurate when you factor in what shows were complete vs which ones weren't. Should be an interesting season.

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I thought Blue Stars should have scored higher in music than they did. Visually they were dirty but musically they were pretty good. The good news for them is I don't think they will have to rewrite much of the show like they did last year. It's a pretty safe show which I think will finish 8-10.

Phantom had a great show, not the most demanding show but very effective. I think they'll be battling with Cadets at the end of the season for third. This was most people's favorite show of the night.

Crown was dirty musically but have the potential to win this year, very challenging show, although I think they will need to tweak some things to be more effective (I thought the first half was better than the second half).

Cavaliers were definitely a let down, as has been stated - I thought they were good, but nothing design-wise jumped out at me. You would think with a show called "15 Minutes of Fame" there would be way more cool moments and there just weren't many. Crazy to say but I think they will finish between 5 and 7 (although of course they started out slow in 2010 as well).

I liked the Cadets show but I thought like Phantom their show was not that demanding. I'm sure the end will add the demand, I think as I said they will be battling with Phantom for 3rd.

I was expecting a little bit more out of Bluecoats based on the reviews I was reading. I liked the front half of their show more than the back half. I think they will finish 5-7 depending on how good Vanguard is and what Cavies do from here on out.

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Yes, everything in between the corps was pretty good and moved along. But the filming of the corps' performances was terrible. Spent WAY too much time on the pits and close-ups (some close-ups were good to focus on storylines, but there was lots of close-up for close-up's sake). Having seen a few of the drills already, I was constantly frustrated at how many major drill moves they missed!!! [edit] And I know that the corps each had a representative giving the film crew advice prior to the show. [/edit]

Yes, I agree and now remember saying the same thing. I'd be happy with no shots closer than 30 yards wide.

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I thought Blue Stars should have scored higher in music than they did. Visually they were dirty but musically they were pretty good. The good news for them is I don't think they will have to rewrite much of the show like they did last year. It's a pretty safe show which I think will finish 8-10.

Phantom had a great show, not the most demanding show but very effective. I think they'll be battling with Cadets at the end of the season for third. This was most people's favorite show of the night.

Crown was dirty musically but have the potential to win this year, very challenging show, although I think they will need to tweak some things to be more effective (I thought the first half was better than the second half).

Cavaliers were definitely a let down, as has been stated - I thought they were good, but nothing design-wise jumped out at me. You would think with a show called "15 Minutes of Fame" there would be way more cool moments and there just weren't many. Crazy to say but I think they will finish between 5 and 7 (although of course they started out slow in 2010 as well).

I liked the Cadets show but I thought like Phantom their show was not that demanding. I'm sure the end will add the demand, I think as I said they will be battling with Phantom for 3rd.

I was expecting a little bit more out of Bluecoats based on the reviews I was reading. I liked the front half of their show more than the back half. I think they will finish 5-7 depending on how good Vanguard is and what Cavies do from here on out.

agree with pretty much all of this

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