corpsband Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 (edited) One performance before tour starts and already out of the running-- Tough crowd! Actually we heard a lot of the same things last season from early video reviews. "show doesn't connect", etc... I do recall quite a few of those posters changing their POV after seeing the show live. Completely understandable. It's another Crown production that loses too much on video -- pretty much a "must see live" sort of show. Edited June 16, 2014 by corpsband Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lincoln Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 I'm not one to get all the detail of a show the first time I view it. Usually what happens is that I miss a ton of stuff over the attempt to try and get the detail - one sense banging into another. i took the opportunity to watch the show a couple of more times. I am totally impressed with what I saw and heard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim K Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 I'm not sure this will be one of my favorite Crown shows, though I'll be seeing them live four or five times this summer and that opinion could change. I recall not being all that impressed with "Rach Star" when I first saw it, but as the season progressed, it more than grew on me and I loved it. So if in August or even July I'm singing the praises of this show, don't be surprised. Overall impressions: 1. The show is cleaner than most Crown shows at this point. They are ready to defend a title. Yes they have work to do, but some years they are all but bumping into each other early on, but that's not the case this year. 2. The battery using the chimes and pipes is interesting and gives it an other worldly feel. 3. As everyone has noted the brass is excellent, no surprise. 4. The singing at the beginning does not work. For me, it is too similar to last year and while it is difficult to perform something as iconic as a David Bowie song, the voices are not strong enough or in my opinion good enough. 5. I prefer the turquoise, blue, or whatever people call it to the purple of last year. 6. The props did appear to be out of place and not all that appealing, but I wonder of a lusher field would change that impression. Pet peeve: Crown, you know I love you and I believe your percussion gets too many jabs, but when I see you on video or look at photos I take, your mouths are wide open with facial expressions that say "I'm working this thing." I don't see this in most other corps, certainly not SCV, Blue Devils, Cadets, BAC, PR, or Bluecoats. If anything I see the opposite. Just an observation and something I will not see in notice in the stands. However, if that's the worst thing I can say, and I will admit it's petty, you're off to a great start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Dixon Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 I think you and I are a rare species. I personally don't like these unis very much either. And people like Brasso know how much of an advocate I was for Crown's 2013 unis. The blue they used seems too bright and adds to the noise of the already cluttered field. The purple pants looked so much better (and they definitely looked impressive in person too). Maybe they'll grow on me. agree that they add to the visual clutter, they also "read" a lot easier in the drill so they will need to be very clean this year, mistakes will really pop out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Dixon Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 Actually we heard a lot of the same things last season from early video reviews. "show doesn't connect", etc... I do recall quite a few of those posters changing their POV after seeing the show live. Completely understandable. It's another Crown production that loses too much on video -- pretty much a "must see live" sort of show. all drum corps loses a ton on video and let's face it - it is all "must see it live" -- lol which drives us all crazy driving and flying all over the USA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCImonkey Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 It's hard to judge a pre-season June performance against a World Championship run from August of last year. 2013 will WIN the debate EVERY time. Comparing to last June though, I think this show is a little less controversial, a little more raw meaning the staff has MORE places they can go with it. What I loved: Loved the uniforms. I got a sneak peak a month or 2 back and my immediate reaction was, "wow those are nice" Compared to last year's "oh my god those are awful". I guess the design grew on me and the color change was refreshing. The guard uniform not so much. C'est la vie. I like how they kept the same color palette and just switched the guard and corps proper. Heck they even put the orange on the ballad flags. I loved the brass of course! enough said about that. I love Lost! I want some more numbers to be counted this year 4,8,15,16,23,42! :) My areas of concern: Flow - I love how Space Oddity flows into the Liftoff and Interstellar Suite. That whole opening statement of the show is excellent. I have issues in the Out of this World segment. I understand the timbre they are going for with the "metallic" percussion feature (and every real percussionist will appreciate Evelyn Glennie on a drum corps field) but the transitions out of that feature and into the stereophonic mass trumpet feature is awkward at best. I think this needs to move faster. As has been stated for that section to WORK you have to see and hear it live. I had no idea that Crown was doing that with their brass in last year's show until I saw it live. .....continuing on... Transitioning back into the battery feature again was awkward and then the real problem. I just don't like "Major Tom" that comes after that. I do enjoy the ending tags they've added over the past few weeks. This feature has changed quite a bit from the videos I've seen over the past month. The ending of the OOTW movement is fabulous though. I love love love love the ballad! Perfection. They could probably milk the emotion out of that one a bit more. The closer will be a hit once it's cleaned, but you can tell they just learned it. The placeholder ending is underwhelming and I understand why they do this, but I'd much rather see the FULL show in June and enjoy it for 2 months than having to wait until Atlanta or Allentown for it. I guess as long as judges are scoring the way they do, you have to keep something a surprise unti the end though. Don't you think the end of the show sets itself up nicely for a reprise of Also Sprach Zarathustra? ....my wife thinks the wormholes will appear again. lol If they do, I'd like to see them pull out a member wearing the Purplepants uniform. That would be an awesome Finals night surprise. I really enjoy Blue Devils show this year and I think it will be another BD/Crown year. I can't wait. If BD's guard strips down to their pink bras, I'll give them Championship #16, but otherwise, this might be a dogfight all season Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FTNK Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 trampolines looked interesting with the side fabric flopping in and out with the jumper like a jellyfish. Glad I'm not the only one to notice this. The trampolines in general...people are getting what, 3-4 feet of "air" on them? That doesn't really produce much of an effect, visually, seen from the stands. Good commentary on the props TESB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newseditor44 Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 Not like any of you care, but my thoughts after watching a few times: Anyone that says they're out of the running is crazy. But... they're going to have a more difficult hill to climb with this program than in years past. Musically, its a fun book. Still needs a few tweaks here and there. Brass and drums both are playing at a high level, but feel like the pit is under utilized. WAY too much stuff happening on the field visually. In my opinion, limiting the amount of space the horns and battery can move is going to come back to haunt them. There are way to many scatter drills to my liking, and the dance is almost too distracting in some places. And do we really need to place the percussion instruments all over the field like that? Good job drums, much improved over years past. Horn book is a monster, and it will take them a while to clean, but they'll get there. Feels like there will be more at the end of the show - maybe this is a temp ending. I'm not digging the guard at this point. Very distracting, and if this show has a major weakness, it's visually. Yeah its early June so we'll see what happens. This corps has a huge amount of work to clean this summer, possibly more than they ever have before. It kinda feels like they've bitten off more than they can chew in all honesty, but time will tell. This won't go down as one of my favorite Crown shows, but I don't dislike it either. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crownisking Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 Given the trends of a few posters, I think this show will grow considerably on a few of you. Especially once you see it live. The ballad in particular. I wasn't too sure about it the first time I heard it either , but now I think it has the potential to surpass Abyss. I saw it live last night and watched the broadcast this morning. I can see why some of you are saying what you're saying. As usual, the broadcast didn't quite do it justice. That's not to say that there aren't a few issues that need to be worked out... but what show doesn't at this stage? I can also say that the uniforms, IMO, look waaay better in person than on the video. Just one Crown honk's perspective. Sorry if that didn't flow. Typing this from my phone before I go to work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCImonkey Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 Purple and Teal just work together. I even had my guard wear turquoise last year with purple accents to go along with my band's proper uniform which features purple. Is it a coincidence that Carolina Crown was conceived the very first year the Charlotte Hornets came into existence? Hmm 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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