SpiritVet Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Thanks so much for this review, and the pictures are AMAZING! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimbreDeBrass Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Review part 2: BLUE STARS: The Blue World Well, you could definitely tell this was an ocean theme. I loved the musical selections for this show (the little JAWS theme later on was a fun touch) and the opening visual statement with the guard laying out creating a net was a very cool effect. The demand for this show is incredible and right now I think it's actually hurting Blue Stars. There was a lot of dirt both visually and musically that really detracted from the overall performance. However I would love to see this show come finals to see how they clean it up. It got a little cheesy at times with the guard holding up fish flags (my first thought was "I FOUND NEMO!") and the male guard members as sailors. But I suppose to get your point across sometimes you have to go above and beyond. Also why have a giant stage on side A of the field if you rarely use it? (at least that I saw) I would place them in the 10-12 range this year. From what I've read is that there are so many solid shows this year that it is going to be tight up top. SPIRIT OF ATLANTA: Sin City Okay....I freaking loved this show. Trust me on this one folks, if you enjoyed their L.A. Noire show last year you are going to love this show even more. This was a crowd pleasing show and Spirit does it well! Horns have power, drums were tasty and the theme was apparent and a lot of fun. I will admit I read through the repertoire before they came on and rolled my eyes a little bit. I mean, Lady Gaga...seriously? But their rendition of Poker Face for the ballad actually made me enjoy it! The little Eminem segment got a good chuckle out of me and they really wail during the Luck Be a Lady segments. Pay attention people, Spirit is making noise this year and Finalist Corps may need to keep an eye on them. My biggest concern was if they will peak early. The show was immensely satisfying (and considerably clean in my opinion) on June 24th, how are the going to keep progressing it so come August they are still fighting? SIDENOTE: Their Encore was fantastic. I could listen to their rendition of Georgia over and over and would love it every time. MADISON SCOUTS: Reframed I would give the crowd favorite to Scouts tonight....but just barely. This is a fun in your face Scouts show complete with all the lower body movements the hornline can throw in I don't fully understand the reframed concept or what they are trying to portray with it but they make it work. Guard brings out large empty picture frames at different points and changes poses within for fun little effects. The hornline is great and the contras are featured towards the end in a great way front and center. Drumline seems to get a little lost in the music at points but when you pay attention to them they are rocking. I personally loved one of their break downs towards the end of the show where there were splits happening in all sections and on first read was impossible to figure out all that was going on...but it was clean and I let out a little whoop of joy which I'm sure ended up on the judges tape.....whoops. There is a lot that they can do with this show and knowing the Scouts there will be a lot done. Oh and.....hello Vertical to Horizontal accompany front! I can see them anywhere in the 6-10 range. Now I am sure there are parts that I missed and stuff I am forgetting. Forgive me, it's quarter after midnight now and I'm starting to crash. I do have many more pictures of each corps that I can post if enough people are interested or if you have a specific corps you would like to see send me a message and I'll see what I can do. I just didn't want to overload the page with photos. I hope you enjoyed my review and I will be at the Minneapolis regional with a new smartphone that I promise will be charged up! It's late, I'm tired and I gotta work in the morning. Creature...out! Sir, with all due respect, there is a section that is quite similar to a jaws theme in Dvorak's New World Symphony and many may mistake it for a jaws theme 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpiritVet Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Thank you, I have more if people are interested. Just didn't want to flood the page. I, for one, am very interested. These are seriously some of the best pictures I've ever seen. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelloPrano Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Sir, with all due respect, there is a section that is quite similar to a jaws theme in Dvorak's New World Symphony and many may mistake it for a jaws theme 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellomomofz Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Thanks for those reviews - those of us sitting at home long for reviews like those! And, yes, I would definitely be interested in seeing more of your photos - they are awesome! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scsudrummer Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Maybe my eyes are deceiving me, but does Glassmen only have 4 bass drums? Awesome review! Racine looks very small, but I'm sure they'll pick up more members and finish their show soon enough. Awesome job to all corps tonight and congrats to Madison for the win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tulsaslide Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Long-time reader, first-time poster. I live in Sioux Falls and enjoyed the show very much tonight. A quick review: Troopers The opening sequence was very effective: drum break building out of the Barber Souvenirs material, a trademark sunburst in the drill, and then a good "wow" opening statement. Part of this was because they were the first World Class corps of the night and the conditions were perfect for drum corps. Seventies, almost no wind at field level, and clear blue skies that seemed to stretch to eternity and back.; so every big hit sounded CD-quality in the stadium. Anyway, they sounded to me like they have potential top-12 talent in the horn line. The Copland music that makes up much of the show is angular and acerbic, and I heard more than one audience member ask their neighbors (in a well-intentioned manner) if they thought the show was a bit "light on melody." The brass book and drum book are well done, and the performers were outstanding. To my inexpert eye, the guard could certainly contribute more to the show. I had chats in the concourse with a couple of local high-school-age volunteers that said they were definitely going to try to make the Troopers next year. Isn't that fun? I'm happy that "making the Troopers" is such a laudable goal again-- Glassmen I think this program was well-constructed. I enjoyed it a lot, and I didn't expect to. The brass book surprised me, in a good way. The Glassmen don't have quite as much power as the corps that followed them (and struggled at times to match the standard that the Troopers had set), but they played cleanly, and the programming and pace made a lot of sense to me. The corps seems to have all the individual elements there for a Finals return, but there are also gaps. The visual book seemed to miss a bit; they'll need to perform it better to make their way up the leaderboard (Blue Stars and Madison, for instance, had lots of demand that wasn't being executed yet, but you could see the room for improvement in effect and score). It's great fun to hear the Saint-Saens Organ Symphony again, and their treatment of it is very reverential. I'm so glad Glassmen made it through South Dakota this year; again, I'm usually a bit of a skeptic about their design and style. But seeing them in person was a treat. Make no mistake--this is a talented corps. Blue Stars My goodness, Myron Rosander has written a very difficult drill! Exciting to watch even the attempt, but it's going to take a lot of work to pull it off. This corps is somewhat local, and several Sioux Falls-area students march in the corps, so I'm delighted that they've made such a resurgence, and I generally think that the DCI activity benefits from having these unique voices like Frank Sullivan contributing to the product. The Blue World show is good, but I didn't love it. The corps is attracting a much higher caliber of brass player these last few years, so they sound big and important. There's probably enough demand in the show, but to keep up with Madison and Spirit of Atlanta they'll need more design tricks and more clarity. I have a feeling (based on the fact it's June and there was a stage set up that got conspicuously little use) that there are some clever improvements in store over the coming weeks. But that's almost always a given... The ballad sounded terrific tonight. The corps clearly has Finals-level talent. I think by cleaning up drill, by itself, we'll get a much better picture of how strong the show stands up to others in the 9-16 range. Spirit Of Atlanta What a pleasant surprise! The Sin City show design is smart and well-executed. They had the crowd in the palm of their hand--I might have to disagree with SDBassCreature and give them the slight nod for crowd favorites over Madison (just the fact that it was close is telling). I really liked the design choices, even though I wasn't wild about the musical repertoire, so kudos to the design staff. A Vegas-themed show seems like an automatic hit until you actually sit down and plan the details. This show connects with the crowd and, although it's easier to perform cleanly at this point, there's probably enough there to keep up the great early-season scores. It reminds me a bit of Phantom Regiment's 2012 show--it turns out audiences don't mind an easier show being performed to the hilt and creating an emotional connection with the audience. Audiences don't mind that at all-- Spirit Of Atlanta played the encore, and I enjoyed "Salvation Is Created" and "Georgia On My Mind." What fun. Congrats to the corps on a fantastic performance. I'm so glad they made it to South Dakota this year... Madison Scouts I had a nice chat with the women manning the merchandise trailer for Madison, and the first thing we talked about was how excited we were to see Spirit's show (based on the good things we had heard about it). The next thing we talked about was how this year's Madison Scouts show fuses some insider corps history and tradition with the repertoire (Pictures at an Exhibition). Malaga and Malaguena cleverly make their appearance (with a Great Gate of Kiev countermelody, blue notes and all), the corps sings the Promenade theme at one point, and it's generally a great time. Here's the thing: from my vantage point, the show didn't really land with the audience (due to the standard Spirit Of Atlanta had just set) until the ending, where they do the full on 50-yard-line pinwheel developing to a company front while playing some of the Great Gate of Kiev material. Huge applause from the crowd, and just genuine adrenaline. Bravo for having the courage to choose something so simple and satisfying to make that last push. The corps has tons of talent. The guard book seemed incomplete, or unsatisfying. The brass sounded really good. Not great, but really, really good. As for the placements and scores, they seem all right to me. I understand there was a bit of irregularity to the judges' duties based on a missing judge (?), and it wouldn't have surprised me to see Spirit eke out a narrow win tonight, but the scores seemed fair. In fact, my date (a Wisconsin native) pegged Spirit as the leader in the clubhouse. Again, all the performers were outstanding. I honestly didn't think I would enjoy this night as much as I did-- 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HLDmello28 Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Thank you, I have more if people are interested. Just didn't want to flood the page. Seriously, flood away!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotorCityMusician Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Maybe my eyes are deceiving me, but does Glassmen only have 4 bass drums? Awesome review! Racine looks very small, but I'm sure they'll pick up more members and finish their show soon enough. Awesome job to all corps tonight and congrats to Madison for the win. looks like bass 1 in the shield picture. Gap between basses and snares. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmullen Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 SDBassCreature - sent you a PM I too would love to see more of your pics. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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