San Antonio review

[CincinnatiGloryMello]

Well I just got back from a nice 12 hour drive from San Antonio to Memphis, so if this review just goes nowhere, that is why. First off I have to say that San Antonio is a GREAT city. We spent the afternoon break on the riverwalk enjoying some authentic mexican food and an adult beverage! It was great!!! The Alamodome looked great from the inside and outside, but the seats were HORRIBLE!!!! They were so close together you couldnt help but get to know your neighbors! And if you are like me (I like to call it Festivly plump) it will be painful to sit there for hours on end. I have bruises on my hips just from sitting there!! And we were sitting next to what had to be the most ANNOYING High School band in the world! You would figure being from Texas they would know better, ummmm NOPE!!! First let me say Im a brass guy, so most of my comments will be about horns or music, sorry. Now on to the morning show:

Revolution - This was the only Div 2 corps competing tonight, and they did pretty good. I think the dome echo threw them off a little in the opener, but it was hard to tell since I had not seen them before. They have a good horn sound, as well as percussion. The drumline was a little bit overpowering because of the dome, but only in certain spots. It was good to see the hometown fans get into the show! It will be interesting to see how things go in Orlando for them. I will get to see them in a few days in Memphis when they play at the Memphis Sound exh.

Madison Scouts - I think the order of performance really helped the scouts score this morning, which was rather high, then dropped as expected in the evening show. I did not notice too many changes since the Louisville show in June, but it was much cleaner. The hornline had a nice sound all the way through the show, but not nearly as loud as in the past. The ballad of "The Way We Were" is a great peice and a great moment for them, with the flags depicting the fleur de lis and other great years in the corps history, then a new bold white flag with the newer looking fleur that is on their unis, kinda saying that a new Era has arrived for the Scouts. I liked it a lot!

Southwind - This group was much improved over Louisville also. While the music was not familiar to me it was a very good choice. I liked most of the music that was played, but nothing really stood out to me. They have a powerful hornline, it was actualy louder than Madison. But their Visual GE is holding them back I think.They were next to last in Visual GE. If they can get their drill going or make some changes they may have a chance at the top 17, but it would be a great accomplishment if they made it!

Kiwanis Kavaliers - I really enjoyed this show. It is entitled "All you need is Love" and they really played out that title. From the lone solo dancer, you could basicaly see a little tale of what was going on, where she was just looking all over for the right thing, and at the end finaly finds it. The music was played really well for a smaller hornline, and it was very effective, beating Cap Reg and the Mandarins, and almost the Colts. I cant say much about the drill itself because I was watching the guard for most of the time. But I really enjoyed the show, and the kids looked like they did as well, bravo Kiwanis!

Blue Knights - This was one of the corps I was really looking forward too. And I was not dissappointed! They had one of the better hornlines, if not the best, of the morning show. Their program "Primary Colors" was indeed very colorful. Im not so sure about the guard uniforms. The people around me were a little unhappy with them. They almost look to be see through, but they are not. They have different colors on the uniforms, and the blue part almost looks like a pair of underware. It was definatly up there for the weirdest guard costume! The show was great, but I didnt think they would move on to the evening show. But I was wrong.

Pioneer - Well, the first thing I noticed were the hats. And I think they looked good on the field. The other thing I noticed when their show started was their drum major. He was GREAT! One of the better DM's at the show. The show was not Irish, except for Danny Boy for the warm up, and it was a pleasant change for me. They played some music by Holsinger, and they did it well. They could use about 10-15 more horns to really make it effective though. But I did notice that they had a rather large drumline in comparison to the horns, but they did a good job of not drowning them out. Overall I think they are improving over the past years, but still need something to get over that hump.

Colts - This was another corps that was much improved over Louisville. I enjoyed their show a lot more here than I did in the Ville. They have really cleaned up the drill and music. But to me, this show is just not as exciting as the past couple of years. The guard didnt appear to be as good as last year either, getting beat by Mandarins and Cap Reg. They still need to work on transitions in the drill, I saw a lot of missed step offs, just mental errors.

Troopers - First off, the entrance on the field was GREAT, with the classic circle drill and the passing the rifles like a military drill team was great! Good to see they still do that! The show was good as well. They have added to their numbers, which helps the sound. But I was expecting more Civil war themes in their show, which was entitled Reflections of the Blue and the Grey. I dont think I heard Dixie or anything. The only thing I recognized was Holsingers Battle Music. But for what they did, they did it pretty good. I would love to see them in the top 17, but I dont think its gonna happen this year. I hope they continue to add to their numbers and get back to full strength!

Carolina Crown - What can I say.... WOW!!!! I liked their show in Louisville, and I LOVED it in San Antonio!!! They just keep getting better and better. And their guard was GREAT! They were really on in the morning show! I love the bells in the rifles, what a great touch! And Carol of the bells to close it out, man, that was the first real WOW moment for me!! They were easily my 4th favorite show of the whole day! I was sitting behind some of Crowns guard when the scores were annoucned and you would think they just won the lottery! Congrats Crown, you deserved it!!

Cap Reg - Played the New World Symphony. And I was not all that impressed with it. I thought they had a better show last year when they were in Div 2. The hornline sounded better last year as well in my oppinion. They need to work on the drill though, there is not enough meat in it so to speak. They were lacking in GE. The music is great though, so if they could combine the 2, they would be doing great!

Mandarins - I was expecting more people in the corps, but they were rather small. But they were still very good. They have some GREAT Mello's there! They ended on a very strong note though with Bacchanale, which was performed very well! Other than the closer I was not familiar with their music. They had some good moments with the guard and the whole getting drunk kinda thing. I think they should have splashed the judge though! Their hornline was very good, could use some help in the lower voices IMHO. But a very good show for the first Div 1 season.

Spirit - OK, these guys got ripped off!! They should have easly been in the evening show. This was my 2nd favorite show of the day, their balad was just amazing! They added a lot of things to it. They have added flags with pictures of people and corps whose time has passed, the 2 I really noticed were Gail Royer and the Bridgemen (I think??) When they had the Royer flag you could hear a little bit of Send In the Clowns, it was an amazing ballad! They also added flags with the words Seems Like Only Yesterday. Since their whole theme was time, it worked really well. The ballad almost brought me to tears! And when they were not in the ballad they were ripping your face off with the most powerful hornline I heard in San Antonio! It was great! The only gripe I have about them is that they still have the JSU in the name. That kills me. But they should have been in the evening show!!!!

Magic - I was let down by Magics performance tonight, maybe it was because they followed Spirit, I dont know. There just didnt seem to be much energy there. The show was played and marched very well though! But it didnt seem they projected their energy into the crowd. The hornline is comming along nicely, trying to match their already good drumline. GE and Guard were what really pushed them above Spirit tonight. And I can easily see Magic or Spirit ahead of the Glassmen.

Seattle - Again they seemed to come out very flat tonight. I didnt get the same energy from them that I got from most corps. They played well, but their guard seems to be pulling them down, while their brass is trying to keep them afloat. They had a very powerful sound as well. I did not like the music that much though. I dont think the Danzon show works well for them. They did not try to encorporate the music and the movement. You hear the name Danzon and you think Latin, but I didnt really see that from the corps. I think they could do a lot more to boost the GE for the show. I was left wanting after last years show, but not the same this year.

Crossmen - Brought to you by YEA!! Anyway.... I did not like the Crossmen this year. When I think Crossmen, I think Jazz. And I only got a little of what I wanted from them. The opener, Over the Rainbow, was played very well and the guard brings out colored cloth matching the colors of the rainbow, so it went well. So I figured, ok good opening, now hit me with some Jazz.... NOPE! I didnt really get the Jazzy feeling till their closer really. And they almost redeemed themselves with the little strain of Birdland though, which I think was added in the evening show. But not what I expected from the Crossmen, maybe it will grow on me though.

My Score - Judges Score

Revolution 63.4 - 74.45

Madison 84.4 - 84.45

Southwind 72.8 - 71.35

Kiwanis Kavaliers 72.4 - 72.90

Blue Knights 82.6 - 82.2

Pioneer 68.3 - 67.75

Colts 75.2 - 76.75

Troopers - 73.1 - 70.70

Carolina Crown 81.7 - 83.00

Capital Regiment 72.1 - 73.5

Mandarins 74.6 - 74.7

Spirit 83.8 - 81.65

Magic 82.4 - 81.7

Seattle Cascades 81.4 - 78.1

Crossmen 83.2 - 83.15

Overall it was a Great show, my top 4 would have been Madison, Blue Knights, Spirit and Crossmen (with Crown probably edging out Blue Knights). I just think Spirit got the shaft!!

This post was not meant to offend anyone, and was not meant to be PC. The evening show will be up tomorrow after I get some sleep!!!

[The_Reasonable_Man]

Thanks for taking the time to write a review. You're a king among men! I'm curious -- how did Revolution compare to Pioneer?

[CincinnatiGloryMello]

Hmm compare Revo with Pioneer. It was hard to say, I think Pioneer would have scored higher than Revo. Revo just seemed to be off during their opener. And I think Pioneer had a pretty good show. The hornline sounded better than Revo as well as the drums. Marching would have been close and I think Revo might have taken GE, but its really hard to say.

[GMichael1230]

Thank you "CGM" excellent review...sounds like you had a lot of fun......

How do Colts compare to last year ??? Do you remember what the guard was wearing ??

Thanx

~G~

[CincinnatiGloryMello]

I liked the Colts better last year. The show seemed to fit them better, with this years show, they dont get to show as much emotion IMHO. The unis were I think like a maroonish color, very classy and elegant to fit with this years theme.

We had a GREAT Time and the evening show review will be up in a minute!