DCI Akron OH - June 22

[jwillis35]

Great show last night in Akron. The Bluecoats always help run a super DCI show, and last night was no exception.

Some History

Akron's InfoCision Stadium is quite large (new stadium), yet probably not as well known to most in DCI circles. The stadium has a wonderful acoustic sound for drum corps and I can see DCI using this more and more in the future. The University of Akron is a large institution, maybe close to 30,000 students or more. They are called the "Zips" and their mascot is "Zippy" the kangaroo. I don't know the story on that. Their sports teams have not been as popular because they have not been all that good with the exception of SOCCER. Their men won a national championship in Division I Soccer just a few years ago. That aside, for those of you not aware of Akron, OH, the city was built by rubber companies. It was known as the "Rubber Capital of the World" for many decades, providing most of the tires for the Detroit auto makers. It remains one of the bigger exporter of tires for cars, trucks, and planes, and also for defense contractors. Goodyear and Bridgestone-Firestone call Akron home, while Michelin and many others have small plants there and offices. It is home to the famous Firestone PGA Golf Tournament, the offical Goodyear Blimp (with the huge blimp hanger). Lockheed Martin (a US Defense Contractor) also has a large facility in Akron. The downtown area is beautiful with lots of restaurants, a professional AAA baseball team (The Cleveland Indians farm team of the Akron Aeros), great arts and culture (including an excellent regional symphony orchestra), and the University connects to downtown. This whole area is just about completely renovated. The city is the home to LeBron James, who may not be so loved in Cleveland, but he is plenty loved in his hometown of Akron.

The DCI SHOW

As I review some of these shows I have to keep in mind that it's early, shows are still rough, and some are not complete. Some corps are just further ahead at this point, some are behind, and what ultimately matters is where they end up come August.

I wasn't sure if this show was being scored, but it turns out they will be announced on Monday. My friends and I stayed for Bluecoats amazing encore. Thank you, BLOOO! Outstanding encore!

The crowd was good but somewhat on the small side compared to last year and the year before. Honestly, I think it just boils down to it being an expensive show to attend (I spent $30 on a ticket, plus a $3.99 charge per ticket when you buy early), plus parking and food, and...well if you brought a family that's one expensive night out. The economy is not great, and who knows. :-) I'd still say you had roughly 4,000 in attendance.

As I said, there were no scores, but I would have placed the corps this way:

1. The Cadets - 74.5

2. Bluecoats - 72.75

3. Phantom Regiment - 71.1

4. Boston Crusaders - 67.5

5. Spirit of Atlanta - 66.2

6. The Cavaliers - 64.5

The Cadets are polished with a wonderful show that contains some powerful music, beautiful music, some very aggressive music, and one amazing mellophone soloist. This is the strongest I have seen them this early in the season. The brass was excellent and the percussion is awesome! The props work for me, with a set color for each portion of the show. It's stunning how well the music has been written, and the show is very cohesive. If they can master Medea...Look OUT! The show ends softly with the final statements coming from the mello soloist. The drill here reminds me of 1987 Cadets. At times I felt the trumpets were trying to play almost too softly and projection was not as good. I also heard their feet more in those few cases. Otherwise, their brass has this warm, dark sound, and when they need it some serious power. They will be heard from, no doubt. A potential top 3 show!

Bluecoats have their best show in years. They have a brass line that reminds me of 2007, percussion that reminds me of...oh pick a year (they're all good), great staging, fantastic drill, and they get the award for best props of the year. Their props are bleachers. Yes. They roll onto the field 3 of those small 5 or 6 row bleachers that you'd find at a little league baseball game. The effect is way better than you first expect when you see them, and at one point I thought the effect was stunning. I love the NEW uniform BIG TIME!!! Shade of that long coat the Blue Devils have been using, but the design really speaks to the older Police uniform, which is appropriate since the Bluecoats were founded by the Canton Police and the Police Boys Club. The show, in a way, reminds me of their 1995 patriotic show, but this one is more artistic, and the parade sequence at the beginning is pure Genius! This show will also be heard from and has major top 5 potential.

Phantom Regiment's show is not as clean just yet, but the music book is classic Phantom: awesome, chilling, heart-wrenching, powerful, and filled with great phrasing. The guard is stunning. I'm not sure they have the percussion to match BLOO and Cadets, and their brass was a notch down from BLOO and Cadets as well. I expect their brass to clean nicely and to be in the mix with the best of them come August. The drill is pretty good, but I felt it was a slight notch down from Bluecoats and Cadets. The ballad ("nimrod" from Enigma Variations) is well done with a closing wedge similar to what they did in 2006 with "Ave Maria," only on the other side of the field. This will be a goosebump moment. When clean this show has major potential. The props are not working for me yet, but the music sure did.

The above 3 corps all have top 5 or 6 potential, yet not everyone can make it into the top 5, so clearly we, once again, have a nice dogfight on our hands for DCI's top positions.

The 7 - 12 positions come finals will also be hotly contested, and I expect Spirit of Atlanta to be in that mix. Their show was fun from top to bottom. Simply a fantastic show that grabbed the audience and I can't think of anything I didn't like about this production. It definitely has a speak-easy feel with some excellent dancing episodes in the guard, some fun music (ragtime, broadway, blues, and old time jazz), a bar-drinking scene that is staged very well, and much more. I do not see them being knocked out of the top 12. This is a nice show that with cleaning and polishing will do very well.

The Boston Crusaders are good, talented, with some beautiful music at times. I understand the story of the grey (to somewhat reflect the West Point Cadets), but I just hate grey on the field in competition. Didn't like it with Blue Stars, not with BD back in 1988, and I don't like it now. I like Boston's music choices. The guard is good, drums are good, brass is OK at this point and will, no doubt, be a good line once polished. The "RISE" theme needs to be more evident (IMO) and I think they need to find a way to go to the Red Coats before the end of the show. There is little contrast between the guard and the corps proper uniform. I love the closer musically but want more of a visual treat that I know Boston can muster up.

Sadly I must admit that The Cavaliers are struggling (at least in my mind they are). This is not the corps I saw dominate the 2000s with 5 titles. The talent just isn't there. The drill isn't there, and they had major music errors and marching errors that really stuck out. I was shocked to hear they beat Spirit the night before. The "Secret Society" show has its moments, but until the last 2 minutes (piccolo trumpet solo to the end) I was simply not following this show. My friends all felt they would struggle to make top 12. I agree. When the voice-over says "s-e-c-r-e-t s-o-c-i-e-t-y" in a somewhat dark and demonic voice, I thought the stadium was going to laugh. Everyone around us just smiled as to say "that was ultra cheesy." The transformation from the brass and drums cloaked in dark robes to their traditional Cavalier uniform is done well, but does not provide the effect they are looking for (IMO). The brass struggled to play the book, which is really not all that demanding, and the sound was thin, with very little depth and bottom, and the volume was the weakest of the evening. They struggled with intonation on many occasions and there was major phasing everywhere. I wish the kids all the best and hope they push hard to the end. I hope that they and the staff are able to make something of this show. I have trouble seeing this above 10th place, and at this juncture I would not be surprised if this fell out of the top 12. Knowing the hard-working and very proud Cavaliers my bet is that they find a way to make it work, but it's definitely the weakest I have seen them in 4 decades.

Amping and Electronics

A few other comments. Bass amps were too loud at several points in the Cadets and Bluecoats shows. Others had issues as well. I think 3db to 4db can be taken off the electronic bass stuff when it's used with brass. When not used with brass or field battery I am fine with the effects and all, otherwise the balances need to be carefully addressed. The overly loud low resonance of the bass wipes out the 800hz through the 1k and 2k frequency ranges. In other words, it kills the mid voices of the brass line (high bari leads, mellos, and low trumpet voices). It wasn't a lot, but 2 or 3 times in each show where it was really rumbling.

Stanford Show via FN

When I got home I watched the remainder of the Stanford show on my computer via Fan Network. I loved all the shows from the west. I think Carolina Crown has something very special (like last year), with one of the best brass lines you will ever hear. And the demand is off the charts. I must also say that I loved the Blue Devils. WOW! Much better than last year and the effective use of drill and staging is well done. SCV clearly has a wonderful production of Les Miserables. I love it. Best field drill of the year I think. Percussion is sweet and brass is coming along. I will go back a watch the other corps that came on before Crown, SCV, and BD; but for now, here is how I would rank what I have seen via FN or live.

1. Blue Devils- just a little over Crown for now. Cleaner with slightly less demand (than Crown, which is not an insult since crown's show is ridiculous), but very effective show and much better guard and percussion.

2. Carolina Crown - A WOW show and one that can win it all. Brass line = BEST!

3. The Cadets - A visual masterpiece with stunning music, development, and wonderful sophistication. Outstanding quality in every section and caption. Could win!

4. Bluecoats - outstanding show top to bottom, amazing brass and percussion, and much cleaner than SCV at this point.

5. SCV - a beautiful show, though some of the arrangements seem slightly choppy, drill needs cleaned but very effective drill and staging.

6. Phantom Regiment - great music, nice staging, amazing guard, but they need to clean and refine this show

I can't comment on others yet until I see them. This is just my best guess as of right now with the top few corps.

Edited June 23, 2013 by jwillis35

[N.E. Brigand]

Excellent review, as usual. In my own less-organized comments on this show, I neglected to predict scores, so: 1. Cadets 75.0; 2. Phantom 71.5; 3. Bluecoats 70.5; 4. Boston 67.5; 5. Cavaliers 67.0; 6. Spirit 66.5.

As I was leaving after the encore, I noticed a bunch of kids in matching red shirts. It turns out that Phantom was running a drum major camp at UA.

[Barneveld]

For those of us who can't be at the shows, we appreciate reviews like this. THANK YOU!!!

[N.E. Brigand]

The Cavaliers ...

When the voice-over says "s-e-c-r-e-t s-o-c-i-e-t-y" in a somewhat dark and demonic voice, I thought the stadium was going to laugh. Everyone around us just smiled as to say "that was ultra cheesy."

Yes!

[Jeff Ream]

Awesome review as always