Cavies92FTW Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Just got back from the show- GREAT night! Surprise of the night was Boston- they were incredible. I thought it was going to be tough for them to follow BD- but they did it and more! SCV had the crowd tonight- easy. They are easily going to be a crowd favorite everywhere. I like BD's show a lot this year- it's so dang unique are there are fantastic melodies throughout. BK was a little weak brass wise tonight- are they young? I like the show- but a little too much synth for me. Some VERY cool visual/artistic stuff in this show- GREAT snare line!!! The Mandarins- I don't know what the staff are thinking. WHY. I feel bad for the kids- honestly. The corwd had no idea how to react to this show- it started excellent, and then got just so "Out there" Pacific Crest- great show tonight! I'm glad this corps is out of the dark and depressing stage that they liked to be in. I'll add some pictures tomorrow before I head up to Stanford! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flammaster Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 I am surprised by how much BDB won over SCVC. when I saw them last week I could not pick a winner between the two. I thought SCVC had the cleaner hornline but BDB had the drums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cavies92FTW Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 BD was very interesting. I really liked their music book, their visual program was improved from the last couple of years, but I felt very confused by the end of it. The ending just sort of happens, and no one really knew they had ended. I see it doing well, maybe wining, maybe not. I'll reserve prediction till I can see it again. It ties to the beginning- comes full circle. It's perfection! Love the ending. No, it' s not your classic LOUD ending, and the crowd didn't know when to clap- but they will after a few shows, and the responses will be strong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saxfreq1128 Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 i liked but didnt love 08 as much as phantom. really loved 09 and 10. last year's show grew on me like crazy though. but i agree this is the randomness of 10 matched with the beautiful sounds of 09 imo. the crown crew may have something to say about this being a repeat of 09 though... I feel like this year is everything BD '08 wanted to be, but couldn't, because BD '10 hadn't happened yet. It's got all the randomness etc. but a better justification for holding it together (I never liked Beat poetry, so '08's theme never really counted for much in my book). Something about '08 felt fun but arbitrary. This year I think they're getting it right. Can't wait to see more of SCV this season! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fsubone Posted June 23, 2012 Author Share Posted June 23, 2012 (edited) Quick thoughts, I"ll post up a full review in the morning, along with pictures BDC- these guys are always fun to watch, because they always have good, fun shows, and you have to enjoy watching a bunch of little kids march SCVC- I like the new uniforms, except for the stripes on the arms, a little too "BD" there. The show was cool, it played a lot like a "Greatest Hits" show for SCV fans. It had Russian Christmas Music, Great Gate of Kiev, and Wishing you Were Somehow Here again, along with Coldplay, and the theme from the TV show "Rome". A good show, I think their brass was their strongest caption tonight, but this show should grow very well over the next two months. It was their first judged show BDB- another good show from them. I felt the pacing was a little slow, and I got a little bit bored during it. The massive drums they used were awesome, I kind of want one for my house now. Their percussion and visual were better than SCVC, but I felt SCVC went for a harder visual program. There were some brass execution errors, but it was their first show, so it's easily forgiven. I think they'll challenge again for a title, but maybe not win? It's too early to tell World Class: Mandarins- the show was decent, better than I've seen from them in awhile. They seemed smaller than last year to me, but maybe that helped them out? The central guard character (the Mayan king) seemed a bit lost during the show, because they just have him walking around for the whole show. The chant section in the middle of the show was bizzare, but it got a good crowd response. The show ended right after the drum solo, so I'd like to see it once it's all done. PC- this corps is WAY better than I've ever seen from them. The hornline hit you in the face from the start, and was really strong through the entire show. Their theme was very easy to understand, and they performed it well. I could see them topping out around 15-17, but they should do well in August. I really liked this show. First complete show of the night as well SCV- the order was a little strange, but this was a huge step up from the corps before it. It was good to see them add some pre-show drill in, it looks like they still have more to put in. The show was easily the crowd favorite of the night, at least from where I was sitting. The show is still messy, but it's starting to communicate much more, I can see this one challenging for a medal once it's all said and done, but they have a lot of cleaning to do. Brass is so much improved from last year in terms of musicality and volume, and the percussion was once again spotless. You can't really argue with a Paul Rennick line. BK- I don't really know what to say about this show. I love the Firebird, it's one of my favorite pieces, but I feel that the design staff wanted to go in a different direction than any one else who had done the piece, and I think it back-fired. It just seemed like the whole show lacked direction. The pre-show seemed like a huge waste of time, especially with the awful synth sampling parts. Are robotic sounds really something you want to pair with Stravinsky? IF the show just started with the Infernal Dance, I think it would have been much better. The guard uniforms were a bright, lurid shade of green, and were just terribly distracting. I usually like BK shows, but this one was just a big miss for me. BD- I'm confused about this show. The guard uniforms to me are worse than BK's, just because I hate the bright, highlighter colors that have no comparison to the corps. The opening impact with the corps members jumping around and doing weird stuff I guess was the "Dada" portion, but after that, it really settled down. I do like their music book more than I have in the last couple of years, which is good. The visual program is much more "mainstream" drum corps than we've seen from the Blue Devils in the past. I diid enjoy it, but I came away from the ending confused, I guess would be the proper term for it. The ending just kind of happened, and no one in the crowd seemed to know what was happening. I think with some tweaking, the show will do well. Maybe not win, but it will do well. Boston- this was a big surprise for me. I knew they would be cool, because they were playing great music, but Boston really came to play. They had some great impacts, and started right out with Pines of the Appian Way, and blew people away. They had lots of good moments, I feel this show should easily stay in the Top 8. I think maybe if they switched to white plumes, it would make some of the visual look better from up above, they seemed to get a little lost with the red plumes. I really liked this show though, it was powerful and well done. Edited June 23, 2012 by fsubone 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fsubone Posted June 23, 2012 Author Share Posted June 23, 2012 I am surprised by how much BDB won over SCVC. when I saw them last week I could not pick a winner between the two. I thought SCVC had the cleaner hornline but BDB had the drums. BDB had the better drums and better visual performance. I feel SCVC has the better visual package, but it's dirty, and neither corps played a closer. SCVC stood in an arc and played their closer, while BDB stayed in their final form and kept playing. Maybe once they both get the closers on the field, we'll see a better indication of where these shows are going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fsubone Posted June 23, 2012 Author Share Posted June 23, 2012 hmmm, i'm assuming it doesn't end the way it does on the family night video? It just ended by people slowly dropping out of the music, until just one person and the pit was playing. it was strange, maybe there is more to come? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fsubone Posted June 23, 2012 Author Share Posted June 23, 2012 BD's probably doing the encore tonight. That could be why BAC's going on last. No encore tonight. Just scores and show was over. I think it was just because of BAC making the big trip out to the West Coast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fsubone Posted June 23, 2012 Author Share Posted June 23, 2012 What is the brass chorale/hymn that they play right after the opening? With the trumpet soloist? It was really powerful and beautiful. Anyone know what it was? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CloudHype Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 What is the brass chorale/hymn that they play right after the opening? With the trumpet soloist? It was really powerful and beautiful. Anyone know what it was? It's the opening credits from Apollo 13. I think they are calling it Morrison Mania. The soloist in the source music is Tim Morrison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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