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The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly


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Ryan...Fran...yeesh! You guys are making me blush here!

I appreciate the commentary...I get little feedback from people that's aimed at MY performance (usually it's from the staff if I've started a tune at the wrong tempo...which is why I take great pains NOT to look at the various poses of the brass line after the percussion feature...if I start laughing, I start the ballad too slow). Granted the focus is not supposed to me on me, but I always wonder how I do my job...aside from making it up & down the podium.

The saluting other DMs? That comes from 20+ years back in high school. The unwritten rule was that if you had been in a parade and another DM came by in show (meaning on the march in the parade), you came to attention & saluted him/her. Since the uniforms tended to stick out in a crowd, the other DM would see you and return the salute.

I doubt any of the DMs at our shows saw me...I tended to be up in the stands, and the brim of a shako or hat might've hidden me (I know I don't see the top of the stands when I'm trooping unless I raise my head). The only exception would be Mistress Kelli because she has no headgear...Renegades DMs are hauling their own podiums off, so they can't really salute (Ha! I have my DIRECTOR to so that for me!).

'Course, I also salute the entire length of the stands, not just to the GE box.

I was lucky to even hear the National Anthem from so far back...

Ryan...don't ever stroke the contra line like that again....they're bad enuf on their own! :P (Wayne Ball's favorite wuote "MORE CONTRA!").

j/k I'll post the review on our private board...the line'll appreciate it.

Fran...helping Jared out just felt right. Cascades impressed me a great deal last year...when one corps can make me NOT think "Hey...they're playing Garfield music" that says something! Bummed that we couldn't get to see them this year :(

And as far as my hyperness??? That's just me, gang!! (And Ryan, if you thought I was hyping Sunday, you should'a seen me at Impulse Family Day!)

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That comes from 20+ years back in high school.

Wow, you were in high school for 20+ years? :blink:

^_^

I think I was in high school for 20 years ... or at least that's what it felt like (Crestwood H.S. in Mountaintop PA ... Ug.)

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That comes from 20+ years back in high school.

Wow, you were in high school for 20+ years? :lol:

^_^

I think I was in high school for 20 years ... or at least that's what it felt like (Crestwood H.S. in Mountaintop PA ... Ug.)

So does that make Scranton your home show? B)

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Thank you for your honest and frank review, Ryan...........and thank you for the nice things that you DID say about our show. Glad to have you as a fan:)

SEVEN

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Ryan...don't ever stroke the contra line like that again....they're bad enuf on their own!  :P  (Wayne Ball's favorite wuote "MORE CONTRA!").

On the other hand, fell free to compliment the mello line any time you wish. B)

Niiiiiice ($1 to you, John!)

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Why, with such INCREDIBLE MUSIC and EVEN MORE INCREDIBLE POTENTIAL in this show of some unbelievably SUPERIOR musical content must we apply the “high loud and fast” factor and have such UNMUSICAL soprano involvement?  WHY???  It bothered me because I’m listening to Russian Christmas and just loving it, when all of a sudden, WHAM!!  I was reminded that this was a senior corps!  You see my point?  Yeah… I KNOW they’re a senior corps…but Renegades to me is TRULY on the cusp of raising the standard bar another notch higher for the entire activity.  Because in my humble and semiprofessional opinion, Renegades can lay off of the quite frankly irritating screaming sops at what I consider to be the wrong places in the show, AND STILL RETAIN the image they have have so masterfully cultivated over these years.  AND on top of that, raise the bar above all the other senior corps and say “HEY!  Look at what WE can do!” and challenge the notion (without turning into a “junior corps” and forgetting audience) that senior corps HAVE to do the “high loud and fast” thing to be successful.  I haven’t a clue what the DCA judging sheets credit in terms of musical performance, but I can’t for the life of me imagine Renegades, with such INCREDIBLE MUSIC (how many times do I have to say it!!!?) and INCREDIBLE PERFORMERS, getting credit for what I can only call simply inappropriate playing from their sops.  WHY???  Yeah…they’re great players!  I love a screaming sop just as much as anyone.  But during Russian Christmas?  During Ave Maria?  I'll even take the plunge and say that type of playing is bordering on immature.   

I have been harping on this very subject for 3 years now. I think the upper lead sops try to hit the highest note possible at the end of every number. Most of the time they never hit the note they are shooting for and releases are irrelevant. last year in their closer there were 6 or 7 leads trying to out scream each other and they must have hung over at least 4 beats after their feature. This is not only amateurish, It degrades everything the brass section is trying to accomplish execution wise. With all the talent the Renegades have, you would think they wouldn't have to resort to such tactics to get a rise out of the audience. I know the judges in DCA don't appreciate it. One sop screaming a correct note and hanging for a split second is acceptable, but the Renegades have taken this to a new level. I would hope that Chris and Frank address this problem before DCA this year. I hate to see a great show downgraded because a few individuals want to be ham bones.

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