Popular Post losnickes Posted August 12, 2012 Popular Post Share Posted August 12, 2012 Crossmen San Antonio, TX "Fragile" This show was absolutely fantastic. I don't know the full story behind it, but I definitely got the "fragile Earth" concept from it. I assume it's a salute to their "Songs for the Planet Earth" series back in the 90's. At any rate, welcome back to finals, Crossmen. You were missed. 12th Place GE - 33.750 Visual - 25.250 Music - 25.000 TOTAL - 84.000 Spirit of Atlanta Atlanta, GA "Sin City" Another spectacular show from a very spectacular corps. Top to bottom, this show is fun. The visuals were this corps' Achilles heel, but they made up for all of that with some FANTASTIC music, and a marvelous sound to top it all off. An overall very enjoyable show packed with audience appeal. 11th Place GE - 33.800 Visual - 25.100 Music - 25.500 TOTAL - 84.400 Blue Knights Denver, CO "Avian" This show is, in a word, WEIRD. When I heard they would be doing the ever-popular Firebird Suite, I was excited. It's one of my favorite pieces, and lends itself very well to drum corps. And the Blue Knights have taken a very accessible and entertaining turn with their show design the last couple of years. Boy, was I in for a surprise when I first saw this show. "Avian" is a more sci-fi approach to "Firebird," with the color guard dressed as some sort of alien life form. While unusual, this show was very entertaining after they got all the kinks out. This show was tough, but the Blue Knights made it look easy. 10th Place GE - 34.850 Visual - 26.500 Music - 25.350 TOTAL - 86.700 Madison Scouts Madison, WI "Reframed" There are many that love Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition." I am not one of them. I don't hate the piece, but I've never been terribly fond of it, either. When I heard the Madison Scouts would be playing "Pictures at an Exhibtion" Madisonized, I was very underwhelmed. I didn't know what they meant by "Madisonized," but I sure found out. The show was actually more of a "Madison Scouts Greatest Hits" show, and all these pieces were tied together by "Pictures." And I will say this for "Reframed:" PHENOMENAL. This was easily one of my favorite shows of the year. Whenever the Scouts play "Malagueña," I'm going to be happy. This corps soared in the General Effect caption, and rightfully so. 9th Place GE - 35.600 Visual - 25.95 Music - 26.450 TOTAL - 88.000 The Cavaliers Rosemont, IL "15 Minutes of Fame" Well...I guess every corps has to have at least one bad year. "Bad," of course is a relative term. The corps is still in Finals, and still remained very competitive the entire season. They just aren't in the Top 3 where I like to see them. This wasn't my favorite Cavaliers show, but it had its moments. The Cavies have had some unusual shows in the past couple of years, but this one was a bit too bizarre for my taste. And the visual program just wasn't up to par with past programs. COME BACK, MICHAEL GAINES. PLEASE. Despite their relatively low placement this year, I think it's safe to say the crowd loved them. 8th Place GE - 35.250 Visual - 26.350 Music - 27.250 TOTAL - 88.850 Boston Crusaders Boston, MA "The Titans" Boston beat the Cavies. Has this ever happened before? I could be wrong, but I think this is a first. Not much can be said about this show. It has "Pines of Rome." What's not to like? The fact that the Cavies beat them in music seems a little odd, to me. Either way, congrats to Boston for toppling the "titan" Cavaliers! 7th Place GE - 35.400 Visual - 26.650 Music - 27.050 TOTAL - 89.100 Bluecoats Canton, OH "UnMasQued" I'm glad to see the Bluecoats have deviated a bit from their "metropolis-type" shows. Those were great shows, but they were on the verge of becoming a bit "played out." "UnMasQued" is a very poignant statement about how we all hide insecurities, almost like wearing a mask, and learning to accept it. This corps was solid in all captions, as they often are. The musical selections in this show were great, including that magnificent ballad (I think it was called "Flume," but I'm not 100% sure). Overall, a very memorable show. 6th Place GE - 36.800 Visual - 27.400 Music - 28.350 TOTAL - 92.550 Santa Clara Vanguard Santa Clara, CA "Music of the Starry Night" I was excited about this show from the second they announced it in the off-season. I enjoyed "Bartók" and "The Devil's Staircase," but it was refreshing to see them take a more accessible turn with this year's show. And this show is vintage Santa Clara. The pre-show/opener is just gorgeous. You can't go wrong with "Jupiter," but I've never seen anyone go so right with it. And John Mackey's "Hymn to a Blue Hour" was just magnificent. And let us not forget "Music of the Night," a Vanguard favorite from their legendary "Phantom of the Opera" shows. This was by far my favorite show of the season. 5th Place GE - 37.850 Visual - 28.500 Music - 28.100 TOTAL - 94.450 The Cadets Allentown, PA "12.25" There were two shows of the night that I didn't like, and this was one of them. But of the two that I didn't like, I liked this one infinitely more than the other. This show really didn't do it for me, and I would have preferred to see them a couple places lower, but what are you gonna do? The show was watchable, and The Cadets were clean, as they typically are. 4h Place GE - 38.050 Visual - 28.350 Music - 28.650 TOTAL - 95.050 Phantom Regiment Rockford, IL "Turandot" I haven't seen Phantom this good since 2008. Granted, they've been great these last couple of years, but I truly felt this performance was championship-caliber. I love seeing them back in the top 3. I think Don Hill is a good fit for the Phantom hornline, as they haven't sounded this fantastic in a LONG time. And that's saying something, since they're known for sounding fantastic. Their percussion held them back quite a bit, though, I have to say. From the gruesome beheading to the gorgeous "Nessun Dorma" closer, this show has it all. Yet another fantastic performance by the Regiment. 3rd Place GE - 38.850 Visual - 29.200 Music - 28.500 TOTAL - 96.550 Carolina Crown Ft. Mill, SC "For the Common Good" After an entire season, I still can't find the right words to describe this show. Words like "phenomenal," "spectacular," and "stunning" just don't seem to do it justice. They may have had the most talented hornline in the history of DCI. How this show only got second is beyond me. That's all I can really say about it. When I saw them practically rip the Jim Ott award out of the Blue Devil's hands to give it to Crown, I thought maybe Crown was going to take the championship, too. To my dismay, this was not the case. 2nd Place GE - 39.350 Visual - 29.250 Music - 29.050 TOTAL - 97.650 Blue Devils Concord, CA "Cabaret Voltaire" This show is very clever. Making a show about the dada movement, a movement that was essentially "anti-art," is no easy task, and the Blue Devils did it. That being said, this show is also garbage (in my personal opinion, of course). I have never been so bored and confused in my entire life. Was it clean? Yes. Was it appealing? No. I suppose it's frustrating mostly because Crown, I think we can all agree, has been long overdue for a championship, and their show was so poignant and inspiring, and clean as a whistle. And they lost to this show. But, despite that disappointment, this was a fantastic season, and it is truly sad to see it end. 1st Place GE - 39.650 Visual - 29.750 Music - 29.300 TOTAL - 98.700 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForTheCommonGood Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 I agree with every statement above. :P Great Review!!! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Knob Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 I also completely agree with this post. Crown was AMAZING and should have won this year. Best display of brass playing I have ever heard on the field. After 35+ years of marching, teaching, judging, and teaching corps again, I don't get BD's show at all this year. At Atlanta, the crowd was throwing babies at the end of Crown's (and Phantom's) show, and all BD got was a short round of extremely polite golf applause. Most of the people around me didn't clap at all, they just sat there trying to figure out what had just happened. Just don't get it and I hope it's not where the activity is headed, IMHO. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Cavalier TDY Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 Boston last beat Cavies in 1978 (my age out year). In the 'pre DCI era', 1970. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwillis35 Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 Nice review and wonderful formatting. Loved it! I agree on a lot, but not all of it, but that's ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forevergreen Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 Thanks for posting you review. Agree with alot of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmc5682 Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 Crown is not long overdue for a title. They need to earn it. I agree with your review in that Crown'a brass was terrific. It is too bad their percussion was not up to par and that they were unable to clean their drill. To win the title Crown is going to have to be strong in all captions like BD was this year. BTW, my favorite show this year was also Phantom. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamarag Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 Crown is not long overdue for a title. They need to earn it. I agree with your review in that Crown'a brass was terrific. It is too bad their percussion was not up to par and that they were unable to clean their drill. To win the title Crown is going to have to be strong in all captions like BD was this year. BTW, my favorite show this year was also Phantom. Well, let's be realistic here. Crown cleaned the crap out of that drill. They just didn't quite get to BD clean. The fact that they got as close as they did is to be commended. There were only two times where they did crazy drill, and not for all that long, but when they did is was monstrous. They also had some issues with body that did get cleaned up in the last week too. There's clean, and there's BD clean, and Crown, for the first time...almost got there. I suspect they will next year. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocketman Posted August 26, 2012 Share Posted August 26, 2012 (edited) I love the "they were due" comment, and I don't believe it at all. They were not as clean as BD an any caption other than brass, and yes, they were running around like wild banshees, but needed to clean it more and as someone said, percussion didn't help their cause at all. RM Edited August 26, 2012 by Rocketman 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plan9 Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 I completely disagree with the BD analysis (no surprise there). Your reference to their show being "garbage" was uncalled for and deflated what was a pretty good review in total. Opinions are what we do here, but that was a bit cowardly and hurtful for no reason. I suggest the next time you want to trash the work of the talented folks that design these shows and the kids that work all year to perform them for you....first pause and THINK.....then if what you're about to type is what you would have the courage to actually tell these kids to their face.....then go ahead. If you would not say it (and I suspect you wouldn't)....then press delete! 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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