Music and Traffic and Domes, OH MY!

[OhioStateTad]

I usually leave reviews to the more skilled, but I must comment on the Indianapolis show.

My first AND LAST trip to Indy was fraught with traffic nightmares. WHY WHY WHY must the police force block many of the streets at night??? They only reroute traffic into heavily pedestrian areas... and get visitors with no sense of NSEW lost. It took me TWO HOURS to find a post-show destination... wait. I didn't even find it. I went back to the hotel and watched HBO. Grrrrr <**>

My first indoor DCI show. How can they possibly judge music ensemble? I had a great seat (in a thrush of Big Ten people to boot!)... I like drums, but it's STILL beating in my noggin.

Negativity aside (mostly), that was the BEST show I've ever attended--- in terms of an 83.33% "dig each corps" ratio. Wow. I didn't make the noon event; there may have been more I really found pleasing.

Thoughts:

BK: Extremely lovable in terms of them knowing WHAT to do with it. All they need is more accessible music. It's nothing bad.. well thought out.. but hopefully as host next year, they'll rock and/or roll.

Magic/'Coats/Boston/XMen: All worthy of watching again. Really. Absolutely nothing fresh or original, which is the only downer w/ this quartet, but I'd pay to see them again.

Crown: And the winner of My Favorite Corps of the Year is.. Woo-friggin-HOO! Wowie. Maybe because M. Shapiro is gone, they can actually PERFORM to their capabilities. The guard is STUNNING good (4th place... I really thought they were closer to Cavies, but Debbie T. knows her stuff---and she has the niftiest accent of all active judges). Show design is great; music was VERY well thought out. BRAVO!!!!!!

Scouts were safe. Good job, Boys. Climb back up the tree. Do something tough and NAILS next year. My favorite Scouts show in years. Missed the outrageous brass licks, but hey.. the drill/guard are light years better than the last few disastrous outings.

Santa Clara. Ok... Put on your goggles and face masks. This is how I reported them to a long-time judge and dear friend:

I so hated everything they attempted to do out there. Suddenly,

their guard is that good? Well, i literally nearly fell asleep during

that crap of a show. No one will convince me of the artistic merit.

THAT'S why I am not a judge

Yuck. Foo! Go stand in the corner, and don't come out until you stop doing that. Oops. I almost apologized for the smear. Nope. Apologize to ME! The judge's response:

Pacing, pace---ing, PPacing, ppppaaaacccciinngggg....no matter how it is spelled, repeat by writing on the blackboard after

school: Programs need shape as well as imagination. Write 1000 times: Stuff is only stuff unless you can perform and make

sense of it all.

Now that is more professional. But I stand by this: it stunk up the place.

Phantom: High horns. Holy Mackelonnnnnnny. I love you all. Love the show, love the concept, tired of the predictable blocks. Loved the show. Love the unis. Did the guard drop anything? Those gals rarely do. Hubba Hubba. Oh.. did I mention? I love this show. b**bs

Cadets: One billion-trillion-jillion times more interesting than last time. Still chaotic in spots (asking myself: "What's going on in this phrase?"). I still disapprove of the repertoire, but it's turning into a top-3 show. Z-pull...Z-PULL! Mr. Sacktig made it better.. bigger...farther... GO! GO! GO! Ahhhhh. End zone. Here's a drill idea: have the mellophones (or whatever they're called these days) hold the line... and the concert D... as each end starts "pulling".. once each end reaches the mello line.. THEN have them begin to rotate. (Anyone need a drill writer? Hmmm?) Better horns than scores have indicated...and golly geez... DRUMS! Woof. Guard is more inconspicuous than I ever remember. Not a bad thing... I miss the "flag flash" of yore... but maybe less is more? Love the unis, the flag design, the communication of the weaponry. Thank you.

Cavies: See Santa Clara.

Devils:

oh.. wait.

CAVIES: I absolutely went crazy over the opening and closing moments. The other 10 hours---er---minutes... Art for Art's sake. zzzzzzzzz I concur w/ those who believe they write that music to fit the drill. I don't have a prob w/ that.. as long as the music contains at least a speck of interest.. and pacing. zzzzzzzzz Is the guard a wee bit overscored? Glad to see the hornline behind PR... only thru recaps have I seen them way ahead of the rest. Sounded much better in '02.

Ok.. i MUST go here: Guard was rehearsing during intermission... right in the midst of us smokers just outside the doors. uh... Where's Queer Eye for the Blind Uniform-Designing Guy? I'm emailing Bravo right now. Seems as though the guys were standing around.. and graffiti artists snuck up and defaced them. Badly.

And.. incidentally...if religion is your game, there are at least seven DEFINITE "Gentiles" in the guard. Translation: too-tight may work in Santa Monica on rollerblades. Not here.

Devils: Complete package. Best in Pace. Period. I'm not one to drool in anticipation for them, because I know exactly what's going to happen. It came.. it saw...it derailed the Spandex Train. Guard did some arabesquey stuff w/ the feet. ZOOOMBA! Talent, SHOWMANSHIP, same ol' BD.. but it was the best. I think they'll really need momentum on their side to beat Cavies in Mouseland. First half needs tweaking to match the brilliance of the last 6 or so minutes. Haven't enjoyed their drums this much since '94. Crowd went Apesheet. Oh... my one and only beef re B-flat horns: BD's warmup works much better in tinny G. I hadn't noticed this before.

Again: 10 out of twelve. Only 1985 had a better (perfect) record when the Best performed. (Vets: try.. just TRY not to think of '85 Freelancers' "Bells" now that I brought it up.)

[sburstall]

Santa Clara. Ok... Put on your goggles and face masks. This is how I reported them to a long-time judge and dear friend:

I so hated everything they attempted to do out there. Suddenly,

their guard is that good? Well, i literally nearly fell asleep during

that crap of a show. No one will convince me of the artistic merit.

THAT'S why I am not a judge

Yuck. Foo! Go stand in the corner, and don't come out until you stop doing that. Oops. I almost apologized for the smear. Nope. Apologize to ME! The judge's response:

Pacing, pace---ing, PPacing, ppppaaaacccciinngggg....no matter how it is spelled, repeat by writing on the blackboard after

school: Programs need shape as well as imagination. Write 1000 times: Stuff is only stuff unless you can perform and make

sense of it all.

Now that is more professional. But I stand by this: it stunk up the place.

I saw the video from DCI.org when they focused on SCV. In that small clip not one picture ever came into view. Doesn't SCV teach thier members how to dress and thier follow-the-leader move was anything but that (take a look and see how bad it was).

[jay72877]

What a great review. I enjoyed it a lot.

[sburstall]

I enjoy all reviews. ^OO^

[David Hill]

Terrific review: I couldn't agree more on so many of your points, including ...

My first time to see/hear drum corps in a dome. Hang onto your seats fellow fans in the stands: championships will be coming to an indoor arena in the foreseeable future. Too many plusses not to; and the minuses ... well, it is extremely easy to separate the "wheat from the chafe" indoors.

Looking forward to Orlando, and hoping for some more surprises!

[MDempsey]

Gentiles?...the unis were so tight you could tell they who was Jewish!(wow THATS tight!)

Methinks you meant genitals....hehehe

nice review

[OrlandoContraAlum]

Nope, I believe that the reviewer meant EXACTLY that you could tell who was and wasn't Jewish. Therein lies the beef. (pun most CERTAINLY intended)

[Phan Doris]

Interesting review -- thanks! :)

It's good reading when a writer shows emotion and isn't afraid of putting his feelings into his work :)

At least we know exactly where he is coming from in his/her remarks. :ramd:

Thanks again. :P

[DonPRBari]

My first time to see/hear drum corps in a dome. Hang onto your seats fellow fans in the stands: championships will be coming to an indoor arena in the foreseeable future. Too many plusses not to;

Bull####! DCI Finals in ANY ondoor venue would be an insult to the corps and the audience! The fact that they STILL hold DCI Midwest in that godforsaken echo chamber is one of DCI's greatest acts of idiocy. The fact that so many suckers - er, fans - keep voting for this gigundo mistake with their $$$ is unbelievable to me. But, we do live in a market economy, so if the masses buy CRAP they will continue to be sold CRAP. I went once, and never again will I encourage DCI to continue this mistake by buying a ticket to this show. ####, if you think domed stadiums are okay, then lets go back to Montreal for Finals! Great city, great weather, and the acoustics in Olympic Stadium (which are cited over and over as a reason not to go back there) are no worse than they are in the RCA Dumb! SHEESH!

And as for plusses - have we become such wimps that we can't handle drum corps being an outdoor summer activity?!? If so, bring on the woodwinds - this audience does not deserve drum corps anymore. (And this is coming from someone who was seriously disappointed by the Canton show being rained out last night. And you know what - if I had a choice of it being rained out, or watching it in a dome, I would rather have gone home wet and disappointed.)

BTW I am not generally a wholesale DCI basher. I just believe this mistake is a HUGE mistake.

Edited July 28, 2003 by DonPRBari

[GMichael1230]

What a unique, candid, daring review...at first I was like "huh" ?? Then I was like YES !!! awesome, so real.....Alot of your points you made for the both of us !!

Thank you

~G~