Dallas from the 15 Yard Line

[TexasBrig]

Took my wife and parents (drum corps fans all) to the DCI show at Lake Highlands Staduim last night, and I'm pleased to say it was a very entertaining evening. I've been to my share of drum corps shows where the majority of the books were written for the judges first and foremost, but last night was not one of them.

Anyway - here's my take on the corps performances last night. Keep in mind, this was my first show of the summer, and most of my comments are geared towards brass and overall design, since those are my areas of expertise (and because drill is very difficult to read from the 15 yard line). =p

Pioneer had an OK show, but I almost think it's time for them to test the waters in Div. 2 again. I don't mind the direction change with the non-Irish music, but the corps was not always confident, and made me think back to the good 'ol days when they were winning Div. 2 and playing really string. Something like 30 brass in this corps (with several holes still to be filled), but a 9-man snare line??? Serious balance issues no matter how you stage it. Music was Holsinger's "Songs of Moses", and it all sounded very similar. It did not help that the opener went on for 4 or 5 minutes before stopping - not a good idea for a small corps that could use some impact points, or just a break or three for the crowd to applaud and recognize the hard work going on. The drumline was very talented as always but the guard was very underwhelming, and looked like they were just going through the motions. Their outfits - bright neon orange meant to complement the orange trim in the corps uniforms - really distracted.

I was a little surprised at Southwind's placement. Their corps was noticeably stronger and larger than Pioneer's, but apparently not up to the level of everyone else. (I had them ahead of at least KK and maybe Capital Regiment.) The guard was very well staged and had some very effective impact points coordinated with the rest of the corps. As the show (Katchaturian's "Gayane Ballet") progressed, you kept waiting for "Legzhinka", but it only appeared in bits and pieces of the second half of the show. The guard made effective use of long, curvy lengths of PVC wrapped in gold lame'. Nice show.

Capital Regiment did a very nice job with their "New World" themed show. I don't remember a lot about their show - 10 corps is a lot to keep track of the morning after! - but I had them neck and neck with Southwind. Good, solid, occasionally punchy brass line. Very nice treatment of the Adagio from New World Symphony - and I liked how themes from the symphony kept popping up in the middle of the newer, much less recognizable music.

I was most pleasantly surprised at Kiwanis' placement tonight. After seeing them several times in New York last summer, my impression of this corps was "big, loud and unrefined, with tons of potential." The corps has downsized (only about 40-45 brass this year, after a full line last year) and tightened things up quite a bit. Their Beatles show is fairly light stuff, with frequent mood changes and lots of "cutesy" effects and body movements. The opener and closer left me underwhelmed, but everything in between was very well done. I particularly liked how "Norwegian Wood" was treated as a fast-tempo, light, breezy keyboard percussion soli, utilized a couple of times to transition between other tunes. Considering the weighty repertoires of corps they were competing against, it was surprising and pleasing to see Kiwanis Kavaliers edge out a couple of other corps tonight. This show could make the top 17 in San Antonio.

Carolina Crown was the first corps to really set the crowd on fire tonight, and boy did they ever. It really seemed like this was one of their best shows of the year. The show ("Bell-issimo", a great concept!) begins with a large church bell ringing on the back sideline, as the brass and battery quickly expand to a very long form. The first hit of "Mass" from "La Fiesta Mexicana" was very impressive, and the corps didn't let up from there. The guard in this corps is excellent - third place tonight, and only 0.5 behind the Cadets, if you can believe that! "Engulfed Cathedral" displayed a wonderfully deep and rich brass sound, and "Carol of hte Bells" was a different but effective treatment of the familiar Christmas carol. IMO, this show is a big improvement over last year's, with immediate audience appeal *and* the talent and demand to move up in the rankings. I predict them getting back into finals on Saturday, if not at the end of the season.

First big surprise of the night as the scores were announced: the Glassmen finishing on the bottom end of the major contenders. The overall "feel" of this show is about the same as last year's, but with fewer hummable melodies. Sorry, but those guard uniforms are just AWFUL. Never put metallic, skintight, bright colored stained glass looking patterns on young men and women with, shall we say, too many curves! I tried hard to get into this show, and it really didn't hold my attention until the percussion feature (the third segment, "Fire", of a show called "The Elements"). There is some cool "Matrix" - style slow motion body movement going on in the brass while the battery plays their solo. The closer, an original compositon, "Water", has the guard using large vinyl balls filled with brightly dyed liquid on the inside, for an unusual and eye catching effect. I also really liked the watery blue and purple flags at the end of the show. Not much else to say about this corps, except that I wasn't all that surprised at their placement.

The Madison Scouts design team has pulled off a nearly impossible task: remaking their corps' image while staying true to their audience-oriented tradition. What's different: the uniforms (yuck), the drill (which relies a lot more on block and wedge rotations), the guard (much improved over last summer), the music (not immediately familiar to drum corps fans, and unheard-of enough to appeal to judges), no fluer-de-lis marching warmup (booo!). What's the same: the GE and "wow" impact factor, immensely entertaining presentation and musical styles, high-range soprano soloists (one of whom could not hit the highest note in the chord to save his life, unfortunately), guard uniforms and props alluding to presentations in years past (tilted fedora hats and hat racks used as props), and the "presence" that some claimed was missing in recent years. There is no question that the Scouts will be back in the top 12 this year. Sorry if I don't remember a whole lot about the music specifically, just that it was both unfamiliar, yet made accessible by the design team and performers. Their surprise finish over the Crossmen was made possible more by GE and visual scores than performance scores, so this show has the potential to go as high as 7th or 8th this summer - maybe higher if their guard can score in the same range as the corps they're currently beating.

The Crossmen were slightly disappointing to me, since I really, REALLY enjoyed last year's show. They didn't seem to crank it up until the very end with Count Bubba, and from there it was a real barnburner, right down to the last chord, held out for a good 15 seconds until the conductor scanned the crowd, as if to see if they'd had enough yet, and giving a final cutoff. The guard presentation was wonderful as always, and the brass and drumline were similarly strong. The closer makes lengthy use of wheeled cymbal/tom racks for the snare line to play on while marching their drill - quite a sight to see.

The Cadets were, well, the Cadets. Sorry, but their entertainment-for-the-bando-masses approach since their 2000 show is wearing thin on me. Whoever posted on RAMD and said this is a nothing-special Cadets show hit the nail on the head. I wish we could have seen a better treatment of drum corps classics like Malaguena and Rocky Point; instead, we get the "modern", let's play an impossible chromatic run here, play 16 recognizable measures here, do the anything-you-can-do-I-can-do-better percussion thing there, tease the audience with another 16 recognizeable measures, deconstruct the original with scattered melodies, and never really blow away the audience treatment. Oh, and add to that, the "let's try really hard not to sound like the Scouts" treatment of Malaguena. Now that I'm off my design rant, the talent in this corps is phenomenal. A friend of mine on the brass staff told me that out of 130 corps members, fully 75 are music majors. (That's certainly fodder for a thesis on the state of drum corps today, eh?) The show ended with a dramatic Z-pull (that same guy from RAMD was right again - you saw it coming a mile away) that ended up stretching 110 yards from end to end - very impressive, and it was nice to hear some strong playing and an actual wall of sound from the 15-yard-line hinterlands. :)

I absolutely loved the Blue Devils. One of their best shows in years, IMO, with championship potential - I will be cheering for them to dethrone the Cavies this year. Some have accused Wayne Downey (who was in attendance tonight, BTW) of getting a little too esoteric mixing and matching styles in his charts in years past, but man, everything works in this show. Blue Rondo Ala Turk and Take Five were both treated in a theme-and-variations style, with other tunes mixed in (notably "Cool" from West Side Story, and even a hint of "Smoke On The Water"). The unlisted ballad is "Concierto de Aranjuez", and it is gorgeous to listen to. Remember the battery marching breakneck around the cymbal rack last year? The gimmick is back this year, and even more impressive, as even the bass line joins in the running around and banging on things. :) The "cool" vocalizations work very well in the context of the show. Excellent encore. The arrangements just did a lot more for me this year than last - they sounded fresh and new, rather than repetitive and too-short like "Channel One Suite" last year. Could say more about this show, but my wife is hurrying me out the door for a lunch engagement with friends of the family. ;)

Looking forward to hearing other opinions on this show.

[victrussell]

I enjoyed your review. Thanks!

Vic Russell

[mommyc]

Thanks for the review. I'm vicariously following my son's corps tour this way.

Betsy Carlson

[Sean1]

nice review thanks

[crownmom]

Very nice review. I too am following my sons tour through other peoples eyes. Isn't internet great

[GMichael1230]

Yes Crownmom, it is great !! LOL

Great review.......hit the nail on the head in many areas.

~G~

[Coro]

Ok, so I only saw Devs and Cadets in Dallas...but that was because I was hanging out in the lot all night.

Devs hornline is smokin this year. Wow. I caught their warmup at finals last year and this years hornline is approaching that level already. I gotta send a shot out to the Contra line -- #### boys, it sounds good (from both me and Mr. LeGault).

Cadets really kinda dumped on themselves in Dallas, I thought. (not so tonight in Houston though their score didn't really show it. much cleaner -- this show just isn't going to do it.)

Devs - ####. Awesome --- now all they need to do is revamp the end of their show and they will get the ring they so deserve. Saw Cavies tonight in Houston -- uh, I saw this show already though, last year, the year before that, the year before that, oh, and the year before that. To quote a friend, its Niagara Falls Part 4...or Re-cycle.

More power to the Blue Devils (I'll admit I haven't seen Phantom yet, a corps I would really like to see win, so I'll reserve final judgment) and anyone else who we can get to unseat the 3peating Hornline/Drumline/Roller Derby team.

[Coro]

...by the way, all those ####'s are nothing bad, just the slightly more forceful way to say "darn."