TOC Houston Show

[jwillis35]

A quick review and some thoughts.

1. Blue Devils - Clearly the leaders at this point. This show captivates me in ways that the typical show cannot. The usual great brass, percussion, and guard is always evident, and the marching technique is still the best in the business. I am not sold on the drill. Too much scatter drill, too little clarity in form and show movements. Otherwise, I find the other aspects of this show very good and there is no doubt it will contend.

2. Carolina Crown - CC has the best music book and the best brass line. They have great drill, but at times their drill is too much for the sake of being "too much." the backend of the show needs cleaned in a big way. If this happens and if the percussion clean a bit more, I see them challenging for the title. Their guard has been excellent even though I have wanted more contrast in colors for this show. I do love the flags. There are some musical moments that are just STUNNING! When they hit, I can hear most drum corps fans saying "YES, that is what I want!" The opener simply has so much velocity and almost too many moves in it, and I wonder if they can truly clean that before Finals. If clean, I still say they probably win the title, but I have my doubts about whether this program can be cleaned.

3. Phantom Regiment - this corps has a gorgeous show. It flows well, contains the right amount of demand mixed with beautiful scoring and phrasing, highs and lows, and a few excellent goosebump moments. The music and visual moment when the guard changes their outfit is WOW, and Nessum Dorma is also a big hit. I do think the closer loses some steam after the big hit in the double front. The last few sets of the show are somehwat of a pull-back from the big Nessum Dorma hit, but if they can tweak this (not re-write it) for a little more impact then who knows? My concern for Phantom is percussion, and I was also somewhat worried that their brass over-did the volume last night. The guard is beautiful and really good. This show is a potential dark horse but taking on Crown and BD will not be easy.

4. The Cadets - First off I have to give HUGE credit to The Cadets and their staff for taking such a risky theme and really doing a very nice show with it. 80% of this show is just fantastic!! Of course, we get the typical Cadets flare for great brass and percussion, a very good guard, and they are marching quite well. They still have a lot of cleaning to do, just like Crown and everyone else it seems. Regardless of what others might think, I believe their opener is perhaps the strongest part of their show. This is excellent arranging and visual design to the max, and that production is really selling. There are some segments in JIngle Bells where I think they need more visual (like when they make the Christmas tree), and the park 'n' bark at the end of Jingle Bells needs a form, not just stand around and blow. We've seen this all too much and it does nothing at this point. The transition from Jingle Bells into the ballad is weak and the holes in the drill are killing the visual, then the movement during the ballad just looks rigid and awkward to me. I like that the horns swung over a little at the end of the climax in the ballad, but the GE music impact is just not there. Originally they were bringing home the bacon when they played that segment in their early season stand stills, but they have all but abandoned that. Finally, the closer loses steam when the audio clips decide to HI-JACK the show. It's here that I thnk they "shot themselves in the foot." I actually do not mind the charlie brown clip and the one from "A Christmas Story," but the montage of clips that all run together just kills the mood and GE, and the chant tries to save it but just cant. Why they decided to take their brilliant brass out at that point is beyond me. I love the ending drill, but PLEASE bring back the X. That was so awesome and the company front is just plain jane. :-) Again, overall a really good show to watch and enjoy, but there are some serious GE issues.

5. Santa Clara Vanguard - DARK HORSE ALERT!!!! Yes, Phantom Regiment is certainly a dark horse, and I wouldn't exactly count the Cadets out of it either (too many construction issues though), but last night I became more convinced that SCV is boasting the show that may very well WIN DCI!!! They can certainly place top 3, and after last night's show I had them above Phantom and only a few tenths under Cadets. The drill by Pete Weber = the BEST this year! The music book is really good, although I think a few musical contruction apsects are hurting their GE Music score. I don't buy adding "Music of the Night," but that's just me and I do think that hurt their GE score last night. I know others disagree with me, but it just doesn't fit. Short of that, I think the book is incredible, the visuals are brilliant, the guard is wonderful, and the brass performance is getting better. They are starting to achieve that pipe-organ sound that SCV used to have in the 80s. Their staff is doing a great job of not allowing them to over play, maintaining excellent balance and tone quality, and they are controlling the phrases very well. They don't quite have the brass line that Crown, BD, Bluecoats, or Cadets have, so this would be my only question for them moving beyond the No. 3 spot. Their percussion took top honors last night and I believe they will do so on Finals night as well. The feet look good and the drill is cleaning nicely. Do I really think they can take Crown and BD? Not sure. But I will say this, if Crown is still somewhat dirty come Finals, this is the show that will beat them.

6. Bluecoats - Very solid performance for BLOOO! I have to say this about their brass: I think they play with perhaps the BEST tone quality of all the lines. You can hear every voice, every musical line when needed, in perfect balance and harmony. The blending is just so rich. The Cadets have a very good brass line, as they always do, yet after they finished and BLOOO began their show, it was clear just how much better the sound was, the blend, the control. Every voice just and melodic line was completely under control and blended to perfection. The solos were fantastic! I think it's as good as anyone and probably better than anyone this year (or at least in a tie with Crown). The drill is very good but maybe not stout enough to tangle with SCV, Cadets, and Crown. The show theme is simple enough that they are not trying to make you read a book, so their show is selling very well to the audience. The guard is quite good, despite the criticism that the guard holds them back. Let's face it, these 8 corps boast some of the best guards anyone will see, and I LOVE THE SILKS. The weak link to this show is the closer. Still needs something to make me stand and go crazy. Other than that, this is a great show from Bluecoats! Visual GE, and maybe a little Music GE at the very end, is all that keeps them from being right there with SCV, Phantom, Cadets. Oh, and how about that BLOOO percussion line last night!! WOW!!

7. The Cavaliers - I have to give the Cavaliers a HUGE amount of credit for their performance last night. The show is still not working. And let's face it, they are not going to be able to fix this show. The design was not what they wanted. It happens. But theme aside, I felt like I was watching the Cavaliers again last night. The brass had a much better blend with some excellent musical phrasing, and also some excellent technique displayed. The guard is getting much stronger and I have said before that I actually love those outfits. Very cool and colorful! Their percussion is very strong and probably underscored by the judges. Even though Michael Gaines did not write their drill, whoever did has done a nice job. The drill is still very cohesive, geometric in Cavalier fashion, and I think they use the field as well as anyone. They are beating Boston at this point because they march better and I think they played better. Boston has the better overall show, but you have to clean in all phases. I still think Madison will push ahead of Boston and Cavaliers, but I was mightily impressed with the Green Machine last night. Oh, their ballad is actually growing on me. Some very nice work in the middle of that show.

8. Boston Crusaders - Love the pre-show, love the opening impact, and I love the music throughout the show. The drill is excellent and makes logical sense. In so many ways this is a very-well designed show. If they want to repeat in top 8 (and I think they can), they will need to clean clean clean. Brass needs some musical shaping, and some balance issues are starting to show. The percussion needs to drive tempo better and must also know where to back off and allow for more pit or brass contributions. Their total music ensemble just needs more fluctuation of the balances between the section in order to create better color, better musical flow, better overall artistry. The music book is tough. Pines of Rome is no joke for any corps. I love the arrangements too. Unique enough to not be compared to Star of Indiana 1991, yet still demanding enough to be a lot like the original orchestral work. This is definitely one of my favorite shows this year, but they really do need to clean. One thing I will mention is during one of the longer percussion features they get into 2 long vertical lines and then push them towards each other at center field. At the end of that it seems like they chicken-out by not holding the form when they stop the two lines (face to face). Now they do a pose. Please don't do that. The pose does nothing. Be a MAN and hold that form! The pose is a copout and does nothing for the audience. Still, many BRAVOS to Boston on another excellent show!!!

COMPLAINTS

1. Audio clips, samples, effects, and synth: TONE IT THE F___K DOWN!!!! Please! :-) It's not helping, it's causing tension in the crowd and increasing revenue at the hot-dog stand.

2. Drill Pose Cop-Outs: I pointed one out with the Boston show, but they are not the only culprits. I HATE HATE HATE when a corps marches a tough move, hits a solid form, then quickly does a pose so you can't see the form any longer. What? Was it the dissapearing form? Were we not supposed to see it but for just a short micro-second? I'm confused. Are your marchers not good enough to hold the form? Was their some meaning in that pose that was so important that somehow 50 rows up in the stands the fan was able to use binoculars and check out the facial expression, the pose, while at the same time reading a book on what that pose meant? Are you afaid of cleaning your show? MAN UP!!!!! Judges should underscore you immmediately upon doing this stuff.

3. TOC shows add only marginally more to the show than a normal DCI show, and frankly I got NOTHING from whatever was added. WOW, a mass band played at the end. I say that because when that many musicians gather on the field that is all I can think of, some giant mass band. Yuck! Drum corps is specialized, elite, advanced, demanding, and has more to do with quality not quantity. So if you're not top 8 you can't perform in Houston or Rockford anymore (among other places)? Sad. Change is needed here. TOC needs to go away and just let it be drum corps DCI style.

OK, enough of my rants :-) everyone have a great day and I look forward to tonight.

[mobrien]

Thanks for the comments. Can't disagree with any of those points (except Madison overtaking Cavaliers; I don't see Scouts show design as being all that strong either, but we'll see tonight).

[KC4Bloo]

Great review of a great night. Thanks for your hard work!

Edited July 21, 2012 by KC4Bloo

[esch]

A great review! I think I like the mass-corps thing, though, not only because of the volume (yeah, baby!) but because of the added experiences and memories it gives the members: I remember when we got to play with other corps BITD, and it was cool.

[A Cavalier TDY]

I'm with you on Boston this year. This is probably the most entertaining show I've seen from them since 2000, Red in 2003 or the 'American tribute show', whichever year that was.

Edited July 22, 2012 by A Cavalier TDY

[shaners]

Great review, thanks.

[chris ncsu]

4. The Cadets - First off I have to give HUGE credit to The Cadets and their staff for taking such a risky theme and really doing a very nice show with it. 80% of this show is just fantastic!! Of course, we get the typical Cadets flare for great brass and percussion, a very good guard, and they are marching quite well. They still have a lot of cleaning to do, just like Crown and everyone else it seems. Regardless of what others might think, I believe their opener is perhaps the strongest part of their show. This is excellent arranging and visual design to the max, and that production is really selling. There are some segments in JIngle Bells where I think they need more visual (like when they make the Christmas tree), and the park 'n' bark at the end of Jingle Bells needs a form, not just stand around and blow. We've seen this all too much and it does nothing at this point. The transition from Jingle Bells into the ballad is weak and the holes in the drill are killing the visual, then the movement during the ballad just looks rigid and awkward to me. I like that the horns swung over a little at the end of the climax in the ballad, but the GE music impact is just not there. Originally they were bringing home the bacon when they played that segment in their early season stand stills, but they have all but abandoned that. Finally, the closer loses steam when the audio clips decide to HI-JACK the show. It's here that I thnk they "shot themselves in the foot." I actually do not mind the charlie brown clip and the one from "A Christmas Story," but the montage of clips that all run together just kills the mood and GE, and the chant tries to save it but just cant. Why they decided to take their brilliant brass out at that point is beyond me. I love the ending drill, but PLEASE bring back the X. That was so awesome and the company front is just plain jane. :-) Again, overall a really good show to watch and enjoy, but there are some serious GE issues.

I agree completely with everything you said here. I think Carol is awesome, and want them to keep cleaning it and really sell all its highs and lows. Jingle has issues, mostly visual (just not much going on). The ballad is beautiful but the drill is strange and PLEASE JUST TURN YOUR UPPER BODIES ALL THE WAY TO THE FRONT DURING THE CLIMAX!! Segue is weird into the closer, and I want the X back. :)

[PeeWee]

Thank you for a great comprehensive review! I agree with most of your rants as well. The voice clips are a real turn-off for me. Thank you to Phantom Regiment, Santa Clara Vanguard, and Madison Scouts for doing it OLD SCHOOL!

[MikeN]

Forgot to post in my own review - SCV really needed to turn the volume down on their pit. Even the soft sections, you couldn't hear the actual mallet instruments over their speakers. That was really the only corps that had that issue. (Pit-wise, anyways. Voice clips is another story.)

Mike