Sounds of the South?

[Jeff Ream]

yes, but how loud was your shirt?

[LB Mellophone]

Ok, so this is not my oreview of the show, this came from one of my friends from down South that went to the show... opinions expressed in this revview are not mine but please enjoy!!!!

Nokesville VA Sounds of The South DCA Show Review

The day was Hot Hot and more Hot 105 F

DCA Coordinator Vic Kulinski made the call earlier in the Week to Delay the start time of the Show because of the extensive heat.

Smart move by Vic Kulinski and Sean Peck Director of Shenandoah Sound.

Master of Ceremonies were handled by legendary DCA Announcer Fran Haring

Carolina Gold: Kicked off the evening at 8:30pm. Temperature was 100 Degrees.

The Gold Team went into more of a contemporary direction with a Program entitled Out of the Shadows. Last year Gold lit the place on fire with their Jazz Production of the City That Never Sleeps. Missed in this year’s show is legendary DCA Soloist Jonathan “Big Country” Gifford. The Justin Mabry led Drum Line is back with a very tasty drum book. The colorguard was well prepared with an almost complete book. The Gold Visual Team is very crafty on how they tastefully present the guard and the horn line. They keep the drill within the 30’s and never go beyond the back Hash. Strong moments for Gold: drum Line (Took Top Honors), Colorguard (Top Guard Tonight). Weak Moments: The Horn line, they play real conservative to the point of not supporting the sound. They rarely go above a MF in dynamic range. They truly miss “Big Country” (Whatever happened to him?)

Fusion Core: Came on at 8:47pm. Temperature was 98 Degrees.

Fusion Core is presenting a Program called “The Hit” The Music is centered on Themes from the Godfather throughout the production. The show starts with a Funeral March for the Late Don of the family. The question is “Who will be the new Don?” The story line develops between two rival trumpet soloist on who will become the new Don. These roles are played by former Syracuse Brigadier, and Connecticut Hurricane Soloist Paul Beaumont and former Hawthorne Caballero Soloist Rob Lais. You know they mean business with their first opening hit. Holly and Ralph Marino Directors of Fusion Core made the huge step of graduating to Open Class. In my opinion they made the right move. The Horn Line is very powerful and musical. The Corps is led on the field by Legendary DCA Drum Major Carol O’Brien. Carol in my opinion is the most musical conductor in DCA. Tonight the corps presented a complete package from beginning to end. Musically they performed Ave Maria, Theme from a Godfather, Nessum Dorma, Gangsta Jazz by Gary Gilroy and Scootin on the Hard Rock by David Holsinger. Fusion Core takes huge risks with the use of field coverage. They use everything from the 10 yard line to the 10 yard line. Tonight I thought they had the most complete package and risk taking of any corps. Strong moments for Fusion: Horn Line(Took Top Honors), Music Effect (Took Top Honors), Weak Moments: Colorguard got killed with a total score of 8.4 that is 4.4 and 4.0 out of 20. The CG judge (Mr. John Howell) must have had heat exhaustion, he also gave a score of 8.8 to Shenandoah Sound. I don’t agree with this assessment. I counted 18 Guard Members in Fusion and by all accounts they did not deserve this especially being in the heat. This one score cost Fusion on winning their first Open Class Show over Corps Vets. Keep Entertaining Fusion thanks for coming all the way down from New Jersey.

Corps Vets: Came on at 9:10pm Temperature 97 Degrees.

Corps Vets are presenting a show entitled God Save the Queen. The Corps is quite large with a horn line of 40 a full drum line and a very talented Guard. Talking to some of their staff members they made huge strides in the off season with recruiting and being prepared. They presented a wide range of repertoire that included Festive Overture by Shostakovich, Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, Crown Imperial by William Walton, Nimrod Variations by Sir Edward Elgar, Who Wants to Live Forever by Queen, Fat Bottomed Girls, by Queen, Don’t Stop Me Know, and God Save the Queen. At first I said wow this should be a very entertaining show based on repertoire. On this night the first half of the show was strong and well presented while the second half came across jittery. The last minute and a half the corps stood still. The members and staff are very talented and should do well later in the season. Tonight they still won the show with an incomplete package. Strong Moments for the Corps(Nice Horn Line good blend) Colorguard did some real nice moves, again when complete they should do better. Weak Moment Drum Line, Battery have a lot of notes to clean, lining up the Battery to Front Ensemble. Thanks for coming to VA. I will look forward to seeing you in the Georgia Dome.

Shenandoah Sound Came on at 9:27pm Temperature still 97 Degrees.

Thank You Shenandoah Sound on producing such a great event in Virginia. I heard that you lined the fields for the visiting corps and provided ICE to each group plus great showers. CLASS ACT….

Shenandoah is making huge strides in developing a strong foundation as a drum corps. This year they hired legendary Composer and Arranger Robert W. Smith to write the book plus legendary DCA Percussion Arranger Vic Kulinski to write the percussion book. Their 2012 production is Promising Skies by Robert W. Smith. Sound followed Corps Vets in order of appearance …. In my opinion they did not disappoint. The music charts are written real well for a smaller group. The members enjoyed performing in front the home town crowd. The members need to just perform what is written. Strong Moments Horn Line, Weak Moments: Colorguard Judge killed the hard working 6 member guard with a 8.8 out of 20. I looked at the history of guard scores that are on the DCA Website there are no scores below a 10 out of 20. Again I blame heat exhaustion for the judge. Hang in their guard members I thought you were great

Thanks again Shenandoah Sound on being a gracious host. I hope next year more of the Northern Groups will come south for this event. (Hawthorne, Reading, Hurcs, Bush, Windsor).

See You Down The Road!!

[Fran Haring]

yes, but how loud was your shirt?

Not loud at all.

I was wearing a T-shirt. Once I got settled into the pressbox, I figured it was too darn hot to take another walk out to the car to change!

[Fran Haring]

Ok, so this is not my oreview of the show, this came from one of my friends from down South that went to the show... opinions expressed in this revview are not mine but please enjoy!!!!

Terrific review... please thank your friend!

Gotta agree with a lot of it, based on where I saw the show.

Gold's show, once again, is very well-designed for that size corps... and they once again will be a Class A title contender, no question. A solid performance... terrific percussion and color guard... perhaps some more juice is needed from the brass line. Honestly... and just a personal preference... I liked their show more last year because it was more of a "fun" show. Not sure this one is gonna grab the audience quite as much.

Fusion definitely got the "fun show" memo this year. Great stuff, across the board. Much more audience appeal than their show last year. Including a Mob rubout near the end. It appears visual execution (no pun intended... LOL) is the area that needs the most work... work that I'm sure is on on the way. As it stands now, the "Core" has a great shot at an Open Class finalist spot.

Atlanta CV is a visual feast... sharp uniforms, nice staging, good use of props to frame the field and sell the concept, great colorguard (especially the guard's use of color elements to enhance the show), and a visual show that is not so difficult in terms of physical demand that it can't be performed. Brass has some good moments, but I noticed the occasional balance-and-blend problem... some of the lower brass in particular got a bit "heavy-handed" at times, compared to the rest of the line. Having been part of a French horn line that, on occasion back in the day, could move folks back a few rows, I understand. LOL. Again, it's a problem that can be addressed as the season goes on.

When I heard of Shenandoah Sound's show selection, I'll admit I was a bit concerned. "Concept shows" and small corps don't always go together well, in terms of audience appeal and selling the concept. But I was pleasantly surprised by this "Promising Skies" program about the days before, during and after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

There was some terrific brass solo work by the seemingly ageless Dick Pomerleau on trumpet, and a young man on tuba whose name I don't know. (I do know the guy can really put some sound into that horn. Wow.)

The color guard, small as it was, did a nice job of character portrayal, and like the earlier review said, the brass book is written for a small horn line, so it's not over the corps' head... same with the visual design. The percussion battery could use a few more bodies to flesh out the book... with that small a line, it's tough to get a read on how, and what, they are doing.

The show just needs more work to focus the audience's attention and bring out the storyline a bit more... including perhaps more use of the prop that is a replica of a New Orleans house that was destroyed during the hurricane, and then rebuilt after the storm.

It would be nice if more people in the state of Virginia were to discover this corps. A great group of people.

Edited July 12, 2012 by Fran Haring

[crugold]

Ok, so this is not my oreview of the show, this came from one of my friends from down South that went to the show... opinions expressed in this revview are not mine but please enjoy!!!!

Nokesville VA Sounds of The South DCA Show Review

The day was Hot Hot and more Hot 105 F

DCA Coordinator Vic Kulinski made the call earlier in the Week to Delay the start time of the Show because of the extensive heat.

Smart move by Vic Kulinski and Sean Peck Director of Shenandoah Sound.

Master of Ceremonies were handled by legendary DCA Announcer Fran Haring

Carolina Gold: Kicked off the evening at 8:30pm. Temperature was 100 Degrees.

The Gold Team went into more of a contemporary direction with a Program entitled Out of the Shadows. Last year Gold lit the place on fire with their Jazz Production of the City That Never Sleeps. Missed in this year’s show is legendary DCA Soloist Jonathan “Big Country” Gifford. The Justin Mabry led Drum Line is back with a very tasty drum book. The colorguard was well prepared with an almost complete book. The Gold Visual Team is very crafty on how they tastefully present the guard and the horn line. They keep the drill within the 30’s and never go beyond the back Hash. Strong moments for Gold: drum Line (Took Top Honors), Colorguard (Top Guard Tonight). Weak Moments: The Horn line, they play real conservative to the point of not supporting the sound. They rarely go above a MF in dynamic range. They truly miss “Big Country” (Whatever happened to him?)

Fusion Core: Came on at 8:47pm. Temperature was 98 Degrees.

Fusion Core is presenting a Program called “The Hit” The Music is centered on Themes from the Godfather throughout the production. The show starts with a Funeral March for the Late Don of the family. The question is “Who will be the new Don?” The story line develops between two rival trumpet soloist on who will become the new Don. These roles are played by former Syracuse Brigadier, and Connecticut Hurricane Soloist Paul Beaumont and former Hawthorne Caballero Soloist Rob Lais. You know they mean business with their first opening hit. Holly and Ralph Marino Directors of Fusion Core made the huge step of graduating to Open Class. In my opinion they made the right move. The Horn Line is very powerful and musical. The Corps is led on the field by Legendary DCA Drum Major Carol O’Brien. Carol in my opinion is the most musical conductor in DCA. Tonight the corps presented a complete package from beginning to end. Musically they performed Ave Maria, Theme from a Godfather, Nessum Dorma, Gangsta Jazz by Gary Gilroy and Scootin on the Hard Rock by David Holsinger. Fusion Core takes huge risks with the use of field coverage. They use everything from the 10 yard line to the 10 yard line. Tonight I thought they had the most complete package and risk taking of any corps. Strong moments for Fusion: Horn Line(Took Top Honors), Music Effect (Took Top Honors), Weak Moments: Colorguard got killed with a total score of 8.4 that is 4.4 and 4.0 out of 20. The CG judge (Mr. John Howell) must have had heat exhaustion, he also gave a score of 8.8 to Shenandoah Sound. I don’t agree with this assessment. I counted 18 Guard Members in Fusion and by all accounts they did not deserve this especially being in the heat. This one score cost Fusion on winning their first Open Class Show over Corps Vets. Keep Entertaining Fusion thanks for coming all the way down from New Jersey.

Corps Vets: Came on at 9:10pm Temperature 97 Degrees.

Corps Vets are presenting a show entitled God Save the Queen. The Corps is quite large with a horn line of 40 a full drum line and a very talented Guard. Talking to some of their staff members they made huge strides in the off season with recruiting and being prepared. They presented a wide range of repertoire that included Festive Overture by Shostakovich, Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, Crown Imperial by William Walton, Nimrod Variations by Sir Edward Elgar, Who Wants to Live Forever by Queen, Fat Bottomed Girls, by Queen, Don’t Stop Me Know, and God Save the Queen. At first I said wow this should be a very entertaining show based on repertoire. On this night the first half of the show was strong and well presented while the second half came across jittery. The last minute and a half the corps stood still. The members and staff are very talented and should do well later in the season. Tonight they still won the show with an incomplete package. Strong Moments for the Corps(Nice Horn Line good blend) Colorguard did some real nice moves, again when complete they should do better. Weak Moment Drum Line, Battery have a lot of notes to clean, lining up the Battery to Front Ensemble. Thanks for coming to VA. I will look forward to seeing you in the Georgia Dome.

Shenandoah Sound Came on at 9:27pm Temperature still 97 Degrees.

Thank You Shenandoah Sound on producing such a great event in Virginia. I heard that you lined the fields for the visiting corps and provided ICE to each group plus great showers. CLASS ACT….

Shenandoah is making huge strides in developing a strong foundation as a drum corps. This year they hired legendary Composer and Arranger Robert W. Smith to write the book plus legendary DCA Percussion Arranger Vic Kulinski to write the percussion book. Their 2012 production is Promising Skies by Robert W. Smith. Sound followed Corps Vets in order of appearance …. In my opinion they did not disappoint. The music charts are written real well for a smaller group. The members enjoyed performing in front the home town crowd. The members need to just perform what is written. Strong Moments Horn Line, Weak Moments: Colorguard Judge killed the hard working 6 member guard with a 8.8 out of 20. I looked at the history of guard scores that are on the DCA Website there are no scores below a 10 out of 20. Again I blame heat exhaustion for the judge. Hang in their guard members I thought you were great

Thanks again Shenandoah Sound on being a gracious host. I hope next year more of the Northern Groups will come south for this event. (Hawthorne, Reading, Hurcs, Bush, Windsor).

See You Down The Road!!

[crugold]

Big Country is doing just fine! I am doing some new things this year. I've been on the road with Pioneer doing some teaching and plan to return to Gold for one more Hoorah before leaving the field for a while.

It's been a year of ups and downs. I'm doing Good and am very happy with where things are headed for me.

Thank you for the love and kind words. I miss the field but sometimes you have to move on and some new things. I'll return one day to the field. But for now I tip my hat.

[pnmtech]

1342125673[/url]' post='3170064']

Ok, so this is not my oreview of the show, this came from one of my friends from down South that went to the show... opinions expressed in this revview are not mine but please enjoy!!!!

Nokesville VA Sounds of The South DCA Show Review

The day was Hot Hot and more Hot 105 F

DCA Coordinator Vic Kulinski made the call earlier in the Week to Delay the start time of the Show because of the extensive heat.

Smart move by Vic Kulinski and Sean Peck Director of Shenandoah Sound.

Master of Ceremonies were handled by legendary DCA Announcer Fran Haring

Carolina Gold: Kicked off the evening at 8:30pm. Temperature was 100 Degrees.

The Gold Team went into more of a contemporary direction with a Program entitled Out of the Shadows. Last year Gold lit the place on fire with their Jazz Production of the City That Never Sleeps. Missed in this year's show is legendary DCA Soloist Jonathan "Big Country" Gifford. The Justin Mabry led Drum Line is back with a very tasty drum book. The colorguard was well prepared with an almost complete book. The Gold Visual Team is very crafty on how they tastefully present the guard and the horn line. They keep the drill within the 30's and never go beyond the back Hash. Strong moments for Gold: drum Line (Took Top Honors), Colorguard (Top Guard Tonight). Weak Moments: The Horn line, they play real conservative to the point of not supporting the sound. They rarely go above a MF in dynamic range. They truly miss "Big Country" (Whatever happened to him?)

Fusion Core: Came on at 8:47pm. Temperature was 98 Degrees.

Fusion Core is presenting a Program called "The Hit" The Music is centered on Themes from the Godfather throughout the production. The show starts with a Funeral March for the Late Don of the family. The question is "Who will be the new Don?" The story line develops between two rival trumpet soloist on who will become the new Don. These roles are played by former Syracuse Brigadier, and Connecticut Hurricane Soloist Paul Beaumont and former Hawthorne Caballero Soloist Rob Lais. You know they mean business with their first opening hit. Holly and Ralph Marino Directors of Fusion Core made the huge step of graduating to Open Class. In my opinion they made the right move. The Horn Line is very powerful and musical. The Corps is led on the field by Legendary DCA Drum Major Carol O'Brien. Carol in my opinion is the most musical conductor in DCA. Tonight the corps presented a complete package from beginning to end. Musically they performed Ave Maria, Theme from a Godfather, Nessum Dorma, Gangsta Jazz by Gary Gilroy and Scootin on the Hard Rock by David Holsinger. Fusion Core takes huge risks with the use of field coverage. They use everything from the 10 yard line to the 10 yard line. Tonight I thought they had the most complete package and risk taking of any corps. Strong moments for Fusion: Horn Line(Took Top Honors), Music Effect (Took Top Honors), Weak Moments: Colorguard got killed with a total score of 8.4 that is 4.4 and 4.0 out of 20. The CG judge (Mr. John Howell) must have had heat exhaustion, he also gave a score of 8.8 to Shenandoah Sound. I don't agree with this assessment. I counted 18 Guard Members in Fusion and by all accounts they did not deserve this especially being in the heat. This one score cost Fusion on winning their first Open Class Show over Corps Vets. Keep Entertaining Fusion thanks for coming all the way down from New Jersey.

Corps Vets: Came on at 9:10pm Temperature 97 Degrees.

Corps Vets are presenting a show entitled God Save the Queen. The Corps is quite large with a horn line of 40 a full drum line and a very talented Guard. Talking to some of their staff members they made huge strides in the off season with recruiting and being prepared. They presented a wide range of repertoire that included Festive Overture by Shostakovich, Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, Crown Imperial by William Walton, Nimrod Variations by Sir Edward Elgar, Who Wants to Live Forever by Queen, Fat Bottomed Girls, by Queen, Don't Stop Me Know, and God Save the Queen. At first I said wow this should be a very entertaining show based on repertoire. On this night the first half of the show was strong and well presented while the second half came across jittery. The last minute and a half the corps stood still. The members and staff are very talented and should do well later in the season. Tonight they still won the show with an incomplete package. Strong Moments for the Corps(Nice Horn Line good blend) Colorguard did some real nice moves, again when complete they should do better. Weak Moment Drum Line, Battery have a lot of notes to clean, lining up the Battery to Front Ensemble. Thanks for coming to VA. I will look forward to seeing you in the Georgia Dome.

Shenandoah Sound Came on at 9:27pm Temperature still 97 Degrees.

Thank You Shenandoah Sound on producing such a great event in Virginia. I heard that you lined the fields for the visiting corps and provided ICE to each group plus great showers. CLASS ACT….

Shenandoah is making huge strides in developing a strong foundation as a drum corps. This year they hired legendary Composer and Arranger Robert W. Smith to write the book plus legendary DCA Percussion Arranger Vic Kulinski to write the percussion book. Their 2012 production is Promising Skies by Robert W. Smith. Sound followed Corps Vets in order of appearance …. In my opinion they did not disappoint. The music charts are written real well for a smaller group. The members enjoyed performing in front the home town crowd. The members need to just perform what is written. Strong Moments Horn Line, Weak Moments: Colorguard Judge killed the hard working 6 member guard with a 8.8 out of 20. I looked at the history of guard scores that are on the DCA Website there are no scores below a 10 out of 20. Again I blame heat exhaustion for the judge. Hang in their guard members I thought you were great

Thanks again Shenandoah Sound on being a gracious host. I hope next year more of the Northern Groups will come south for this event. (Hawthorne, Reading, Hurcs, Bush, Windsor).

See You Down The Road!!

Thanks so much for the review!

[pnmtech]

1342130206[/url]' post='3170123']

Terrific review... please thank your friend!

Gotta agree with a lot of it, based on where I saw the show.

Gold's show, once again, is very well-designed for that size corps... and they once again will be a Class A title contender, no question. A solid performance... terrific percussion and color guard... perhaps some more juice is needed from the brass line. Honestly... and just a personal preference... I liked their show more last year because it was more of a "fun" show. Not sure this one is gonna grab the audience quite as much.

Fusion definitely got the "fun show" memo this year. Great stuff, across the board. Much more audience appeal than their show last year. Including a Mob rubout near the end. It appears visual execution (no pun intended... LOL) is the area that needs the most work... work that I'm sure is on on the way. As it stands now, the "Core" has a great shot at an Open Class finalist spot.

Atlanta CV is a visual feast... sharp uniforms, nice staging, good use of props to frame the field and sell the concept, great colorguard (especially the guard's use of color elements to enhance the show), and a visual show that is not so difficult in terms of physical demand that it can't be performed. Brass has some good moments, but I noticed the occasional balance-and-blend problem... some of the lower brass in particular got a bit "heavy-handed" at times, compared to the rest of the line. Having been part of a French horn line that, on occasion back in the day, could move folks back a few rows, I understand. LOL. Again, it's a problem that can be addressed as the season goes on.

When I heard of Shenandoah Sound's show selection, I'll admit I was a bit concerned. "Concept shows" and small corps don't always go together well, in terms of audience appeal and selling the concept. But I was pleasantly surprised by this "Promising Skies" program about the days before, during and after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

There was some terrific brass solo work by the seemingly ageless Dick Pomerleau on trumpet, and a young man on tuba whose name I don't know. (I do know the guy can really put some sound into that horn. Wow.)

The color guard, small as it was, did a nice job of character portrayal, and like the earlier review said, the brass book is written for a small horn line, so it's not over the corps' head... same with the visual design. The percussion battery could use a few more bodies to flesh out the book... with that small a line, it's tough to get a read on how, and what, they are doing.

The show just needs more work to focus the audience's attention and bring out the storyline a bit more... including perhaps more use of the prop that is a replica of a New Orleans house that was destroyed during the hurricane, and then rebuilt after the storm.

It would be nice if more people in the state of Virginia were to discover this corps. A great group of people.

Thank you as well for the review! Its so nice to get feedback! Yeah sorry about that low brass over balance in places, the CV Bari line usually walks around chewing on raw meat as it is! #### high brass just needs to play louder! Lol j/king. Thanks again!!

[SpiritVet]

Thank you as well for the review! Its so nice to get feedback! Yeah sorry about that low brass over balance in places, the CV Bari line usually walks around chewing on raw meat as it is! #### high brass just needs to play louder! Lol j/king. Thanks again!!

Thanks everyone for their reviews!

Mike Miller, you take that back. It's a good thing for you I'm lending my Hammond to a guy in junior right now. :P

Edited July 13, 2012 by SpiritVet

[camel lips]

Thank you as well for the review! Its so nice to get feedback! Yeah sorry about that low brass over balance in places, the CV Bari line usually walks around chewing on raw meat as it is! #### high brass just needs to play louder! Lol j/king. Thanks again!!

Fortran must be back in the line :):):):) He can drown out the entire Trumpet line. :):):):)