ACTION JACKSON

[2000Cadet]

Just got back from the show and I'm tired. I didn't get a chance to see all the corps from the stands because I ran into some people I marched with and I spent most of the night shooting the sh#t with them. So all I got to see was Crown and Cadets from the stands.

Crown: The hornline is absolutely incredible. I won't be surprised if they take home the brass trophy come finals. As for the rest of the show; I don't know if it was the rain or what but it didn't really seem like their best show (marchingwise). A lot of hornplayers looked sloppy and they had someone fall also. The drill has amazing speed but it definitely needs cleaning. They have a great show and if they nail it, I wouldn't be surprised if they win their first championship. I don't think I'd have a big problem with that either.

Cadets: I watched them rehearse today and I see they put in quite a few musical changes in the opener. Definitely adds to the show I think. As for the show, they had a great show. The hornline is fantastic, the drumline is great and the guard is that Cadets guard I am used to seeing. The whole corps is great. Some spots in the show seemed a little tentative as far as belting out chords that I like to hear from them but I am sure they'll get it down. Marching looked excellent although there were a few phasing issues I saw. They also have some drill things that need cleaning (obviously), but I have to say I was able to read more of their forms. Good job tonight from what I saw.

That's all I have for now. Sorry I didn't keep you guys updated like I said I would try, but you know how it is when you see people you've marched with. I had a great time (sans the rain, AGAIN!!)

[liebot]

@Dianekde@CarolinaCrown really booking. More I see this show, the harder it to imagine anyone else as champ. http://yfrog.com/ocv2gdqj

Fair, but I was saying similar things about them in late June/early July 2010. And while I still think they kind of got jobbed, there is something to be said for the fact that the corps around them just got cleaner than they did. Difficulty is great, but pristine execution often wins out in the end.

And yes, I am aware that this was you posting someone else's tweet, but I wanted to respond to the sentiment here.

[Kevin.]

Just got back from the show and I'm tired. I didn't get a chance to see all the corps from the stands because I ran into some people I marched with and I spent most of the night shooting the sh#t with them. So all I got to see was Crown and Cadets from the stands.

Crown: The hornline is absolutely incredible. I won't be surprised if they take home the brass trophy come finals. As for the rest of the show; I don't know if it was the rain or what but it didn't really seem like their best show (marchingwise). A lot of hornplayers looked sloppy and they had someone fall also. The drill has amazing speed but it definitely needs cleaning. They have a great show and if they nail it, I wouldn't be surprised if they win their first championship. I don't think I'd have a big problem with that either.

Cadets: I watched them rehearse today and I see they put in quite a few musical changes in the opener. Definitely adds to the show I think. As for the show, they had a great show. The hornline is fantastic, the drumline is great and the guard is that Cadets guard I am used to seeing. The whole corps is great. Some spots in the show seemed a little tentative as far as belting out chords that I like to hear from them but I am sure they'll get it down. Marching looked excellent although there were a few phasing issues I saw. They also have some drill things that need cleaning (obviously), but I have to say I was able to read more of their forms. Good job tonight from what I saw.

That's all I have for now. Sorry I didn't keep you guys updated like I said I would try, but you know how it is when you see people you've marched with. I had a great time (sans the rain, AGAIN!!)

Thanks for taking the time to write a review! Always much appreciated

[TeamQuavers]

Tonight's scores from Sacramento, CA (sorry, I didn't see a thread for this show, so I'm posing here).

Mandarins 65.250

Blue Devils B 74.650

Vanguard Cadets 73.800

Impulse 65.300

City Sound 54.750

Blue Devils C 50.650

Renegades 67.600

SoCal Dream 59.800

Edited July 8, 2012 by TeamQuavers

[OldBones]

Raiders

@loudbrassNext up: Raiders, Open Class. #dci

@loudbrassNice mix of sound effects with pit intro. Some synth blended with brass, but appropriate and at a good volume.

@loudbrassBrass quality very very good. Some rough perc spots but great recoveries. Corps moves well. #dci

@loudbrassSounds like a Key Poulan book. Design typical of Open corps. No risks. But performed well. Good guard staging too. #dci

‏@loudbrassGuard staging not thought out. Some odd guard #dci design choices. Ballad really nice musically.

‏@loudbrassNo idea what ge theme is, I there is one. Just play/drum/spin? In terms of musical and marching excellence, best they have ever been. #dci

@loudbrassThis corps is way ahead of where they usually are this time of year. Lots I potential if they can get some design issues figured out. #dci

Thank you for a great live review of the show.

The Raiders show is called WARPED. Yes, its original music by Key Poulan.

It is a journey down a red brick road where nothing is normal.

Raiders have a tarp that covers a good portion of the field that explains the show. They were told they couldn't use it at either the Jackson show or the Chambersburg show on Friday night.

[MikeD]

Thank you for a great live review of the show.

The Raiders show is called WARPED. Yes, its original music by Key Poulan.

It is a journey down a red brick road where nothing is normal.

Raiders have a tarp that covers a good portion of the field that explains the show. They were told they couldn't use it at either the Jackson show or the Chambersburg show on Friday night.

They did a great job last night...really loved their show. This might be the best Raiders corps ever, at least in my recollection.

[MikeD]

Crown: The hornline is absolutely incredible. I won't be surprised if they take home the brass trophy come finals. As for the rest of the show; I don't know if it was the rain or what but it didn't really seem like their best show (marchingwise). A lot of hornplayers looked sloppy and they had someone fall also. The drill has amazing speed but it definitely needs cleaning. They have a great show and if they nail it, I wouldn't be surprised if they win their first championship. I don't think I'd have a big problem with that either.

I ended up at the track...the stands were all sold out, so I stood around the 35-40 yard-line at the fence. Their overall sound was amazing that close up. Did hear some muddiness at times, and saw some feet issues, esp in the fast sections...some members still running to spots without control. I'm sure they'll clean that stuff up as they go along.

The rain did not help the timpani scattered around the field, as expected.

Cadets: I watched them rehearse today and I see they put in quite a few musical changes in the opener. Definitely adds to the show I think. As for the show, they had a great show. The hornline is fantastic, the drumline is great and the guard is that Cadets guard I am used to seeing. The whole corps is great. Some spots in the show seemed a little tentative as far as belting out chords that I like to hear from them but I am sure they'll get it down. Marching looked excellent although there were a few phasing issues I saw. They also have some drill things that need cleaning (obviously), but I have to say I was able to read more of their forms. Good job tonight from what I saw.

Sounded cleaner at field level than Crown, but not as exciting. Seemed to be a few dead spots with 'stuff' yet to come, I would guess. The show is magnificent though.

[jonnyboy]

This isn't a review, just some thoughts on my experience at the show. The storm that blew through really hindered getting to the site, with all the downed trees and closed roads combined with poor cell coverage (for iPhone mapping) it literally took us an extra hour to get to the stadium. There was only standing room and back stands left, I asked for whatever was cheaper and he said both were ten bucks. Deal. Lucky for me the wife was up for standing, and we grabbed a nice spot right behind the announcer along the fence on the 45 yard line.

I haven't seen any full show this season, including FN. I've seen a few clips of things on youtube, and read some reviews online. I'm not a pro by any means, and tend to focus on things I don't like, so bear with me:

Bridgemen: Caught them walking in. I love that they are doing the alumni thing and they are having fun. Great warm up for the show thanks for coming Bayonne.

Raiders: They've come a long way since starting up back 20+ years ago. Pretty big corps doing everything right. I had no idea what they were playing, but reading this thread I understand it is original music? I would say typical modern day drum corps. Large drum line at 8-4-6-6 or so. Heavy sound effects, I really can't comment because I was standing right on the track. I hope it sounded good up in the stands. One of the best versions of this corps I've seen. Keep cleaning and good luck

Surf: In the reviews on DCP more than one person has said "you have to see it live", I agree. I did see some video clips of the first performances and thought, wow that's dirty. Live these kids giving of a great vibe and really look like they are having fun, I think they are. Watch the drum set player with the mohawk, he also leads the crowd with the banana stick rehearsals. Pit grooves and smiles A LOT. Nice colors in the guard. Wife said the unis have too much blue, spash of color in the scarf around the hat please? She suggested the teal from the guard uni. Drum majors do a great job with solos on horn, and at camping it up a bit. The contras park it right behind the pit for a good part of the opener, my gripe is that they aren't spaced well....are they still looking for a contra? To me that was distracting. Overall great vibe, banana sticks used just the right amount and the end of the show. I wouldn't mind a higher velocity or tempo here and there, not sure if they will fit that into this kind of program. Keep cleaning. Crowd loves it.

Teal Sound: Nice looking corps. Overall a good sounding horn line and drum line. Amp hissing in the beginning of the show...no excuses boys. There is always one pit or guard member that puts on their own show, Teal has a bass guitar that wins the award for the night. That kid is into it big time, but it's not distracting. The music is familiar, which is always nice. I had them slightly over Surf for doing typical DCI package, but the Surf vibe gives them the edge. Polite applause from the crowd.

Crossmen: My old corps, I always pull for them. Corps looks good all round. We were wishing for more color in the uni...maybe next year? Definitely a step up in quality from the previous corps. We might hear the Crossmen are back in finals, but I think we are going to stop hearing the Crossmen are "back" from the old days. This is a new corps with their own style. They are really heavy with the synth stuff, not my taste but it is the wave of the future. The "shadow men" props looked like cardboard and my wife thought one of the hands was broken off. Remember we were up front, wondering how they look from up top? when they came of the field I got a close up and they are well built....maybe they can be painted a little better? The show was good and marched well, I just didn't feel any emotion coming off the corps. I hope the designers can tweak the right things to add excitement and edge. Keep cleaning guys, you have a nation rooting for you. The crown really gave a polite clap.

Colts: Wife loved the guard head dress. She wanted to find a member to trade hats with. This corps always pleases with some fan friendly music and lush moments, this show is no exception. Just from watching DCP they look to be on track for finals? Needs to really be cleaner and marched better, but depending on the rest of the field they could squeak in. The closer "All By Myself" was classic emotional drum corps, I loved it. Beautifully put together and and a heart string pulling ending...whats not to love? Crowd eats it up, bigger applause than Teal and Bones, and lots of smiles.

Crown: After following DCP I was expecting Moses to lead this corps on the field. Not quite. Horn line is firing on all cylinders and had a wall of sound above and beyond all corps at the show. I can't wait to see this show from up top. I'm not crazy about this uniform, looks almost home made? The fit is just off, but Im no fashionista, I still wear striped shirts with plaid shorts. The corps marched better than all previous corps, but I was really surprised that the foot phasing and body movement in the high velocity drill. To win you have to fix it, I'm sure someone there knows this. Keep working. Grand production, crown eats it up.

INT; I hate the INT jokes, and luckily the intermission was cancelled because the show was starting late. I just had to add the The Cadets had two tee shirt guns firing into the crown. Since I was at the fence I turned to watch people go nuts for a tee shirt. One shirt fired into a crowd of fans that missed the shirt all together (must be Yankee fans?) and hit a poor young woman it the face. She wasn't happy, I hope she recovered.

The Cadets: Home town crowd goes nuts. You know how there is always one pit or guard that you can watch the whole show? This corps has Hop. He walked back and forth playing drum parts on his leg, finger ing mello parts with his left hand, and remote controlling guard work with his fists. Slight exaggeration, slight. The announcer was great and I think he had a YEA shirt on. Hop cued him...and he announced "....12 dot 25....." instead of 12.25. I've learned from following GH is that there is always something to fix, he didn't flinch but I'm sure a mental note was made. Sorry for the sidetrack. I like this show, it is played well in typical Cadet fashion. Horn line sounds great and the drum line was over Crown. One gripe is that the package props look kinda cheesy and home made. The will probably make it to the field for finals but they they need a nicer facade. I'm a fan of The Cadets, always have been. The kids performed great and the home town crowd ate it up. Same gripe as Crown, if you are going to do high velocity drill, you have to fix the feet phasing and body carriage. They know this. Best ovation of the night.

Cadets2: Wearing traditional Cadet uni. They are doing the organizations flight show from a few years ago, complete with same guard unis? This corps is marching and sounding like their big brother. They kind of remind me of a fawn taking it first steps...you know what is coming but it just isn't there yet. Corps looks young and has a full drum line and what looks like several holes in the horn line. I don't follow DCA much, but this corps could be a game changer in DCA. I'm not sure how the sheets work over there in Senior land, but I could see this corps contending for a title by next season. The drum line isn't as great as some have said, but they aren't bad. The show ended with the corps blocking up to play the last minute of the show. Senior season ends on labor day weekend I think, they have time to put it together. Putting together a corps from scratch in one year was a big task, congrats. If they can get some of the junior corps horn players to fill the holes after junior season they can rock DCA finals with a full finished product. I suspect a kid coming off a DCI season could learn the drill and music in a few days. Nice round of applause from the home town crowd. I have a feeling Cadets2 will be a great feeder for The Cadets and might be the only feeder that is almost a seamless transition to the big corps for members.

Great show, left before the encore because we had an early morning at it was almost midnight.

[chris ncsu]

Whatever the reason, the captions were more competitive between Cadets and Crown compared to the previous night, but basically the same result -- Crown takes everything but drums. That drum gap plus Cadets being competitive in ensemble actually led to Crown and Cadets tying in Total Music. Cadets still half a point or more behind Crown in Total Visual and Total GE.

[Kevin.]

This isn't a review, just some thoughts on my experience at the show. The storm that blew through really hindered getting to the site, with all the downed trees and closed roads combined with poor cell coverage (for iPhone mapping) it literally took us an extra hour to get to the stadium. There was only standing room and back stands left, I asked for whatever was cheaper and he said both were ten bucks. Deal. Lucky for me the wife was up for standing, and we grabbed a nice spot right behind the announcer along the fence on the 45 yard line.

I haven't seen any full show this season, including FN. I've seen a few clips of things on youtube, and read some reviews online. I'm not a pro by any means, and tend to focus on things I don't like, so bear with me:

Bridgemen: Caught them walking in. I love that they are doing the alumni thing and they are having fun. Great warm up for the show thanks for coming Bayonne.

Raiders: They've come a long way since starting up back 20+ years ago. Pretty big corps doing everything right. I had no idea what they were playing, but reading this thread I understand it is original music? I would say typical modern day drum corps. Large drum line at 8-4-6-6 or so. Heavy sound effects, I really can't comment because I was standing right on the track. I hope it sounded good up in the stands. One of the best versions of this corps I've seen. Keep cleaning and good luck

Surf: In the reviews on DCP more than one person has said "you have to see it live", I agree. I did see some video clips of the first performances and thought, wow that's dirty. Live these kids giving of a great vibe and really look like they are having fun, I think they are. Watch the drum set player with the mohawk, he also leads the crowd with the banana stick rehearsals. Pit grooves and smiles A LOT. Nice colors in the guard. Wife said the unis have too much blue, spash of color in the scarf around the hat please? She suggested the teal from the guard uni. Drum majors do a great job with solos on horn, and at camping it up a bit. The contras park it right behind the pit for a good part of the opener, my gripe is that they aren't spaced well....are they still looking for a contra? To me that was distracting. Overall great vibe, banana sticks used just the right amount and the end of the show. I wouldn't mind a higher velocity or tempo here and there, not sure if they will fit that into this kind of program. Keep cleaning. Crowd loves it.

Teal Sound: Nice looking corps. Overall a good sounding horn line and drum line. Amp hissing in the beginning of the show...no excuses boys. There is always one pit or guard member that puts on their own show, Teal has a bass guitar that wins the award for the night. That kid is into it big time, but it's not distracting. The music is familiar, which is always nice. I had them slightly over Surf for doing typical DCI package, but the Surf vibe gives them the edge. Polite applause from the crowd.

Crossmen: My old corps, I always pull for them. Corps looks good all round. We were wishing for more color in the uni...maybe next year? Definitely a step up in quality from the previous corps. We might hear the Crossmen are back in finals, but I think we are going to stop hearing the Crossmen are "back" from the old days. This is a new corps with their own style. They are really heavy with the synth stuff, not my taste but it is the wave of the future. The "shadow men" props looked like cardboard and my wife thought one of the hands was broken off. Remember we were up front, wondering how they look from up top? when they came of the field I got a close up and they are well built....maybe they can be painted a little better? The show was good and marched well, I just didn't feel any emotion coming off the corps. I hope the designers can tweak the right things to add excitement and edge. Keep cleaning guys, you have a nation rooting for you. The crown really gave a polite clap.

Colts: Wife loved the guard head dress. She wanted to find a member to trade hats with. This corps always pleases with some fan friendly music and lush moments, this show is no exception. Just from watching DCP they look to be on track for finals? Needs to really be cleaner and marched better, but depending on the rest of the field they could squeak in. The closer "All By Myself" was classic emotional drum corps, I loved it. Beautifully put together and and a heart string pulling ending...whats not to love? Crowd eats it up, bigger applause than Teal and Bones, and lots of smiles.

Crown: After following DCP I was expecting Moses to lead this corps on the field. Not quite. Horn line is firing on all cylinders and had a wall of sound above and beyond all corps at the show. I can't wait to see this show from up top. I'm not crazy about this uniform, looks almost home made? The fit is just off, but Im no fashionista, I still wear striped shirts with plaid shorts. The corps marched better than all previous corps, but I was really surprised that the foot phasing and body movement in the high velocity drill. To win you have to fix it, I'm sure someone there knows this. Keep working. Grand production, crown eats it up.

INT; I hate the INT jokes, and luckily the intermission was cancelled because the show was starting late. I just had to add the The Cadets had two tee shirt guns firing into the crown. Since I was at the fence I turned to watch people go nuts for a tee shirt. One shirt fired into a crowd of fans that missed the shirt all together (must be Yankee fans?) and hit a poor young woman it the face. She wasn't happy, I hope she recovered.

The Cadets: Home town crowd goes nuts. You know how there is always one pit or guard that you can watch the whole show? This corps has Hop. He walked back and forth playing drum parts on his leg, finger ing mello parts with his left hand, and remote controlling guard work with his fists. Slight exaggeration, slight. The announcer was great and I think he had a YEA shirt on. Hop cued him...and he announced "....12 dot 25....." instead of 12.25. I've learned from following GH is that there is always something to fix, he didn't flinch but I'm sure a mental note was made. Sorry for the sidetrack. I like this show, it is played well in typical Cadet fashion. Horn line sounds great and the drum line was over Crown. One gripe is that the package props look kinda cheesy and home made. The will probably make it to the field for finals but they they need a nicer facade. I'm a fan of The Cadets, always have been. The kids performed great and the home town crowd ate it up. Same gripe as Crown, if you are going to do high velocity drill, you have to fix the feet phasing and body carriage. They know this. Best ovation of the night.

Cadets2: Wearing traditional Cadet uni. They are doing the organizations flight show from a few years ago, complete with same guard unis? This corps is marching and sounding like their big brother. They kind of remind me of a fawn taking it first steps...you know what is coming but it just isn't there yet. Corps looks young and has a full drum line and what looks like several holes in the horn line. I don't follow DCA much, but this corps could be a game changer in DCA. I'm not sure how the sheets work over there in Senior land, but I could see this corps contending for a title by next season. The drum line isn't as great as some have said, but they aren't bad. The show ended with the corps blocking up to play the last minute of the show. Senior season ends on labor day weekend I think, they have time to put it together. Putting together a corps from scratch in one year was a big task, congrats. If they can get some of the junior corps horn players to fill the holes after junior season they can rock DCA finals with a full finished product. I suspect a kid coming off a DCI season could learn the drill and music in a few days. Nice round of applause from the home town crowd. I have a feeling Cadets2 will be a great feeder for The Cadets and might be the only feeder that is almost a seamless transition to the big corps for members.

Great show, left before the encore because we had an early morning at it was almost midnight.

Thanks for posting!