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Clifton review


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A beautiful night in northern NJ for drum corps, in historic Clifton School Stadium, for the 39th annual Drum Corps Grand Prix. How many grand prix is that? To put it in perspective, there were 8 of these bad boys before I was even born. There is maybe what you could call the oppressive weight of history in the air.

For the record, I was sitting in Section C, row 32 (that's second from the top, pretty cool eh?) on side B of the field, around the 35 yardline. Therefore my perspective of musical sound, marching performance, etc. will necessarily be skewed. You have been fairly warned.

7:15ish

Raiders

The first exhibition corps of the night took the field sometime around 7:10, and so I was treated to the spectacle of a whole buncha teens taking off their shakos for the singing of the national anthem. Shortly thereafter legendary DCA announcer fran Haring announced them as the first performing corps. A quick perusal of the stands before they actually started performing showed Clifton Stadium as being roughly 75% full. That's a decent thing for 2 reasons: one, it lessens the possibility of someone walking in front of you during a performance, as they're hopefully already seated, and two, it reflects (hopefully) that the fans are there to see ALL corps, not just their favorites. Band parents are notorious for showing up to see their kid and leaving shortly after. Not this crowd. So. Back to the Raiders. The brass started off with a standstill hit of "O Fortuna" with the guard on big silver pipe things. Considering the brass counted about 18, it generated decent size and energy, and immediately grabbed the crowd's attention. In the second tune I wasn't able to get emotionally involved too much as a whole passel of rude fans decided to traipse all the way up the stairs of Clifton Stadium and file into their seats directly in front of me. I suppose the caveat from Legendary Fran about not moving around during a performance only applies to the competing corps. Ugh. ampssuck Next up in the show was darling ballad consisting mostly of 2 consecutive soloists (mello then sop I believe) withthe rest of the brass playing backfield. Due to the sound balance, it really brought out the front percussion parts; as I am a brass player, I normally won't notice such subtleties so kudos to the raiders in being creative.

exhibition, no score

7:30ish

Sunrisers

The first COMPETING corps of the night was the resurgent Sunrisers making their return to field competition after a 3 season layoff. Sun has always been one of my favorite corps to enjoy as a speactator. Even in all the seasons I competed against them, they were one corps I always tried to watch after I had marched my own show. And of course they are historically one of the most competitively successful senior corps, you know, six titles, tiebreaker controversy, and all that B) . So just to see the Orange, Blue, and White on the field again is cause for celebration. No matter what the future holds, every one of the Sunrisers corps members tonight can say that THEY were the ones who returned Sun to the field. That's a huge accomplishment just by itself. Of course, now that we've celebrated the return, they had to COMPETE tonight too. And as a competitive corps, they were outgunned by every other corps tonight, including Raiders. I think their entire corps is smaller than the Cabs soprano line, but I didn't get a chance to compare numbers. That being said, Sun's score and placement is accurate based upon the show they performed. They have a long hill to climb, and I wish them all the best. Here's hoping that this becomes a yearly thing again.

7th place, 62.438

7:50ish

Skyliners

The first thing I noticed as Sky took the field was size. I have gotten used to the corps being class A size over the past few years, and their opening set was definitely all about the field coverage. The second thing I noticed was Drum Major Konga working the crowd, which played all the way up to those in the nosebleed seats like myself. Excellent. Nothing like a down to earth drum major for a down to earth corps. And it bled over quite well into the corps performance. Sky's show doesn't seem to have any artistic statement to make whatsoever, and this works well for them I think. Seems like nowadays everything has to be "art", and have "aesthetic value". F*** that. With Sky, you get good old-fashioned goodtime drum corps, just the way god intended :D . The show style reflects this mindset well. The opener is traditional firey jazz, lots of emphasis on the colorguard, second tune more of a latin feel, with the guard on what appears to be the Garfield "commas" from their 2001 show. Third number is a power ballad complete with obligatory company front (also complete with Konga mugging to the crowd for extra cheers :) ) And top it all off like icing on the cake with New York New York(the Sinatra, not the Bernstein, natch), which even has the shuffle step and NY skyline flags from back in the early 90's. I think that's doubly appropriate as this is the best the corps has been since about 1995 and I hope they can build on the cache they are generating with this show.

6th place, 72.363

8:10ish

CorpsVets

I'll leave my griping about tonight's results elsewhere, or maybe keep it out completely as the last thing I want to do is rain on their parade. But. I hope these guys are ready for the intrusive microscope that is 21st century drum corps. Defeating a perennial contender (and multiple DCA champion, for that matter) in their home state is a big deal any way you look at it and, well, now that they've done it once, they're gonna be expected to do that a lot. And hey, it's only July. And now they've got everyone looking their way. Ahem. Back to the actual SHOW review :rolleyes: CV immediately showed they know how to get attention just by the way they came on the field. A full corps length vertical pass in review right along to the 50, and open it up into a box. You could hear the crowd "ooooh"ing over in Paterson, I bet. In fact, that set the tone for their show in a way. A lot of big, blatant visual moves at midtempo that average joes in the crowd can gush over. Also, very catchy hummable tunes in the music book. Not a whole lot of challenge for performer or crowd. But hey, you can't argue with the result. These cats beat Bush and slaughtered Hurcs and Sky. They are now a player. You have all been warned. there are no blatant weaknesses in any section and they were certainly just as clean as anyone else out there. Show hilights: opening hit (blast really) as the corps rotates the parallelogram; the section later in the opener with the whole guard on rifle; the bluesy "groove" section complete with pool cues being spun; the furious ending drill. All HILIGHTS. Not just "oh, this stuff was better than other stuff". HILIGHTS. Again, you have been warned.

3rd place, 79.463

8:30ish

Buccaneers

This is one corps that I have been hearing a lot of buzz about, and also has been taking more of a "modernist" track the last few years. They went so far this year as to play band music, even :). The whole corps in this year's production starts in a huge curviliner figure that i believe stretched from the 20 on side A to the 10 on side B. That's a pretty daring start for a corps that Jeff ream griped about having a lack of brass players (I think :blink: ). And it develops in an "unzipping" pattern to a huge brass hit complete with guards on huge white flags that billow like sails. Genius. Getting the pirate/buccaneer motif started right from the get go. Later, there's the medley of: a swingin' Russian Sailor's Dance, Blow the Man Down, and another swing tune, this time Drunken Sailor. It looked like a heck of a good time for the corps, especially the guard, all frolicking around huge wooden barrels, that I reckon were to contain grog. Last tune was a MacBeth band piece ("Sea Traders") that cranked up the tempos and marching demand 2 or 3 notches. There was even a fake ending/real ending trick. *huge horn chord here at a standstill* *horns cut off, crowd cheers* *wait a few beats* *do another ending, with complicated drill* It worked like a charm. Apparently I'm not the only one who thought so, considering they are continually dogging the Cabs, to the point of even winning percussion tonight. And seeing as how this is one of the Cabs' strongest corps in years, finals looks to be a very interesting weekend.

2nd place, 81.600

8:50ish

Hurricanes

I'm not gonna write a whole lot about this show, and to be honest, a lot of what I AM gonna write is negative. Maybe it's just the fact of having to perform after Bucs, who impressed the bejeezus out of me. Or maybe it's the fact that whoever designed the show chose not to do a whole lot of roleplaying, ala Bucs' pirates or Bush's astronauts, so it's more difficult to get "involved" at a fan. I mean, the setup to kick off the performance couldn't have been better. "Is the corps ready?" "Oh yeah, we're ready,' says the cute feisty blonde drum major. *crowd laughs/cheers appropriately* *colorguard takes its position, holding huge playing cards* And then the whole thing goes to ####, and becomes essentially lightweight jazz/swing with a bunch of famous melodies spliced in with no real rhyme or reason. Okay, so it followed the original piece pretty closely, and yeah, I get that they're all Vegas associations(the Rat Pack, Elvis, um, I guess you can make the Bacchanale a vegas thing even though it's a stretch, and I have NO IDEA what Mag 7 was doing in there; neither did the crowd, apparently, a substantial amount didn't really respond)but there was no real "hook" to make it a show as opposed to a few tunes slapped together. Quite honestly, I expect Sky to pass this corps up and once that happens, it's anybody's game. Sorry Hurcs, but I call them as I see them.

5th place, 74.600

9:05ish

Bushwackers

Okay, so I'll do as best I can to keep my prejudices out of this review. I doubt that will work, but I'll start by describing my impressions of watching a corps I marched with for 11 straight years perform in competition without me. First impression, warming up towards the crowd while in opening set. Due to the way the opening set is written, the hornine ends up withthe center of the arc pointed right at me. So it's like they're playing "Surrender" just for me *heart melts into goopy sentimental mush*. As soon as the corps steps off, one thing is immediately clear: Bush marches their opener faster than anyone else marches anything in their entire show. As there has been a preponderance in the night's corps to save the speed until the closer, one can only wonder what Bush has in store for later in the show. As the opener winds to a close, I get to see the guard/brass passthough in the end-of-the-opener drill that Jeff ream had mentioned in a previous review. Genius. The crowd responds joyously. Unfortunately, it's the first time they respond in the show to that point. I shouldn't complain; after all, Clifton is Caballero Country (heh, I made an advertizing slogan; that'll be $10,000 plus royalty points B) ), but this is MY corps marching here and I want everyone to love them as much as I do. Second number is "First Contact" which solo in it is now a duet on flugelhorn. During said beautiful flugel duet, the hornline engages in standstill body movement. As the show design is somewhat avant garde, the standstill body movement works very well. As I am watching the standstill body movement, I *don't* watch the guard dancing, which is saying a lot for me as, as a spectator, I generally consider the corps to be a backdrop to the guard. Once the brass kicks in to finish off the ballad, I finally get to count heads. 31. Thirty-one. Thirty one brass. My corps is about to attempt "Perilous Skies" with 31 brass. Jeepers. Well, they're already in the middle of the show so it's not like they can stop and ask for a 5 minute water break. So part 3 scoots right to the moon landing including the planting of the flag, and the final end reiterates the guard/horn passthrough, but from a different angle. Hands down, this is both the most physically demanding and also (I think) the best designed show of the night. Okay, so Sky doesn't need to be "art". But Bush does. This is obviously a show with a "higher purpose", with aesthetic goals in mind. and that's okay. ####, it's wonderful. Challenging the both the performers and the crowd with the unfamiliar and with deeper ideas can kick butt. Bush has made its corps identity in doing just that. The difficulty in doing so, however, is that at this point in the season the competition is done working out the kinks while you're still trying to made your vision a reality. It also can't help that Bush might have been the smallest senior corps tonight next to Sun. On the positive side for Bush: one, getting one point closer to Cabs, at Cabs' home show; two, apparently the ending I saw tonight was a new ending. if so, it didn't look freshly learned; three, and this might be my prejudice as a currently non-active member, Bush by far had the cleanest individual marching tonight. they were the only corps where(and this was from the top of the stands, mind you) i could see feet rolling, the "flash" where all the legs come together at the midpoint of a step, straight legs and high posture in backing up. On the negative side, the corps is outgunned in brass. This doesn't mean doom, of course. 31 brass made for a very successful corps in 2001. But I would easily believe that the difference in size had a lot to do with the scoring tonight. Okay, that's as close as I will come to griping. As a spectator, I thought the show was genius. "Nuff said.

4th place, 78.675

9:20ish

Caballeros

Oh come on, really. It's the Cabs in Clifton. What do you think? I mean REALLY. If all the Cherubim and Seraphim in heaven formed a corps, they would lose to the Cabs in Clifton. Okay, maybe a corps of solely Seraphim would lose:). Seriously, now, the Cabs are by far the best they've looked since 1995. The overhaul in staff has certainly worked to their advantage, the modernizing of their visual design also. This shouldn't be news to anyone, but one of the most appealing things about Cabs is also what I believe is so appealing about their drum major. I detect no irony in either one of them AT ALL. Whether it's Russo whipping off a spangled cape on the podium or just the whole blatantly masculine unreconstructed pre-feminist swagger the whole corps exudes; they mean it. They honest-to-god BELIEVE this stuff. Taking the field tonight in Clifton they strode on like they owned the field, which I guess they did, seeing as how it's the grand prix and all. But it's like that at every show I've ever seen them at. And the crowd at every show I've ever seen them at eats all of it up like my dad chowing on spare ribs. And tonight more than ever. You'll notice I haven't mentioned their actual SHOW at all. There frankly isn't very much to say. Okay, maybe the smoke coming off the drums in the closer or something, but it's not like they haven't done stuff like that before. It's always the same old stuff. Oh, and the rumps are at the end of the opener, not the end of the closer. Eek. Stop the world, eh? But it's always the same stuff, yes? It's the CABS, for heaven's sake. As Bush's identity is to always push the envelope, it's the Cabs' identity to change as little as possible, to be the anchor for the fans and the activity to use as a baseline. 39 grand prix? Heh. That ain't nothing. As an old DCA program said, when the world of drum corps ceases to be, there'll be a Caballero there as the last one to turn out the lights. With that kind of cache, it's no wonder that tonight no one else was in their league, not by a long shot. I'd say the rest of DCA has their work cut out for them

First place, 83.65

As I was with my sister and her boyfriend, who wanted to go out for some diner chow, I skipped the alumni corps and actually I am indebted to www.dcacorps.org for having the scores up before I even got home. I shall be attending the Kingston show in a few weeks and may do a second review as an update to the themes dicussed tonight. Peace, all.

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If all the Cherubim and Seraphim in heaven formed a corps, they would lose to the Cabs in Clifton. Okay, maybe a corps of solely Seraphim would lose.

Hmm, that's odd - Cabs haven't won the Grand Prix in Clifton since 1998. Jon, please be nice. We don't write stuff like this on DCP - save it for RAMD.

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Oh come on, really. It's the Cabs in Clifton. What do you think? I mean REALLY. If all the Cherubim and Seraphim in heaven formed a corps, they would lose to the Cabs in Clifton. Okay, maybe a corps of solely Seraphim would lose:).

I wish this was the case but honestly the cabs haven't won the Clifton show since 98. We have lost Clifton to some very fine corps in the last five years and they weren't any group of angels. (on a side note we're not allowed to beat the lord's army, just in case it ever happened, some of us would be praying a long time for forgiveness :rolleyes: ). I've won the dream and now I've won clifton my life is complete. Right Jop? ..... Anyways thanks for the review

Just out of curiosity how fast is Bush's opener? bpm?

Adam ampssuck ampssuck ampssuck

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If all the Cherubim and Seraphim in heaven formed a corps, they would lose to the Cabs in Clifton. Okay, maybe a corps of solely Seraphim would lose.

Hmm, that's odd - Cabs haven't won the Grand Prix in Clifton since 1998. Jon, please be nice. We don't write stuff like this on DCP - save it for RAMD.

1) Has it really been that long? Remember, I had been marching in these things myself a long time and honestly I don't pay attention to who wins when it's not me. Which brings me to-

2) I'm sorry if I sounded nasty as that is entirely opposite to my intent, which was to emphasize just how much Cabs dominated last night. The very LAST thing I said in my review of Cabs was that no one else was in their league. I would like to imagine that that has a lot of cache coming from someone who competed against Cabs for over a decade and lost to them far more than I beat them. If my intent was that of insult or ridicule I would've left that part out. which leads me to-

3) For my money, this is the best Cabs corps since 95, and by corrollary (sp?) the best I have ever seen them hands down (my DCA involvement only goes back to 1992, so sorry). I apologize if my attempt at humorous exaggeration didn't work. I personally think Cabs' score was too low last night and I shall try to catch future shows to see if my first impression holds up.

peace, all

Edited by jonplaysbari
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Were you being funny when you wrote the CV review? Does that mean you don't really think CV brass arrangements are easy? :rolleyes:

Anyway, thanks for the great show review. I'm not sure how to take the CV review but I'll take it just the same.

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Yeah, I'm confused about the CV section, too. 

Best I can tell, the reviewer thinks it was rude for CV to come to NJ and out score Bush with a show the crowd enjoyed.

Yeah that's how I read it too but I don't think that's what he meant. :rolleyes:

Edited by RJ CVmellophone
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Just out of curiosity how fast is Bush's opener? bpm?

164.The closer is 188. :)

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If all the Cherubim and Seraphim in heaven formed a corps, they would lose to the Cabs in Clifton. Okay, maybe a corps of solely Seraphim would lose.

Hmm, that's odd - Cabs haven't won the Grand Prix in Clifton since 1998. Jon, please be nice. We don't write stuff like this on DCP - save it for RAMD.

I get jokes. :)

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