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AKRON Theater Broadcast


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Some general thoughts and reviews.

DISCLAIMER: I am a marching band judge, wind book arranger and designer. You don't care (and rightly so), but as such, a lot of my comments are going to be about design, effect and the arranging. While the theater provides a neat venue, these are things that you really can't evaluate fully in that setting. I'll need to wait until San Antonio next month to catch all of this live. Please don't take any of this personally.

VENUE

My theater was absolutely packed. It was wonderful to see. They used one of the larger houses for the cast and they filled it! A lot of high schoolers with band directors, alumni from a myriad of corps, and various other fans. Picture quality was excellent. Sound was just the right volume. No complaints here!

CAVALIERS

I saw this show on the fan network live feed a few nights ago and wasn't impressed. I'm happy to report that in the superior theater venue, this show absolutely sells. This was the audience's second favorite of the night, easily. It's great to see the Cavies start getting back to what they do best. This design isn't going to contend for a medal as it stands, but it will make a play for the Top 6. Percussion is the absolute highlight here. Getting the pit involved to the extent that they do is a masterstroke. The marimba feature drew big applause. The visual package is more ambitious than the past few years and that level of demand is obviously causing some issues here in the early season. Get it clean and I could see it as high as 6th.

MADISON SCOUTS

OK, Madison. I love you. I really do. But man, I just don't know about this show. For starters, the uniforms. I hadn't seen them before tonight....but ugh. They look like someone raided the costume department over on broadway's Book of Mormon. Those *short sleeve* white shirts with the ties make me think you're about to ask me if you can talk to me about your Lord and Savior. Not an improvement in my opinion.

As for the show itself...this is the safest show I've seen this season so far. It feels like the framework of all the obvious Madison "hits", so to speak...but none of the spark or energy that we expect. Visual program is unfocused (and obviously super dirty), the brass book is, I hate to say, kind of uninspired. You play the hell out of it but there's only so much you can do there. The show just doesn't build to "moments", it just sort of flows casually from one idea to the next with no real aim. I'm worried about this one, to be honest. I hope you can build it into something special, but out of the gate it needs a lot of work. The theater crowd didn't really care for it. Not much action out of them.

BOSTON CRUSADERS

I thought 'ol Rondo was going to have a stammering meltdown. I nearly died laughing.

OK Boston, I have concerns. First: That visual program worries the hell out of me. It is super difficult and your members are having a REALLY hard time with it right now. Not a minute went by in the show that I couldn't pick out someone having a near-wipeout collision out there. Foot timing, linear alignment...of course it's early season, but there are *so many* visual hiccups that I'm worried there isn't enough time in the season to address them all. The laboring of the visual responsibilities is even hurting the musical integrity (particularly in the hornline). The arrangements are solid and it's obvious those kids can play, but they are so overwhelmed and worried about drowning in that visual program that they often completely sacrifice musical clarity, failing to portray musical intent.

I like that you're doing something different. But I think that visual design might need some re-evaluation come mid-season. We'll see where it is by then. On the other hand, if you actually manage to CLEAN that sucker you'll fight for the top half of finals group. This show has me the most worried so far. Best of luck, BAC.

Crowd had NO IDEA how to react to this show...which I found just as funny as Rondo's reaction.

PHANTOM REGIMENT

Well isn't this just the definition of a Phantom Regiment show? The difference here is that the visual package has picked up considerably. Some nice, beefy arrangements of the Tchaikovsky material really put the whole thing together. This was the first show of the night that felt like a coherent whole from start to finish...which unfortunately might also be a problem. The show feels "complete" as-is, and that is something you definitely DON'T want early-season. If you max this show out, as it stands, you'll find yourselves out of the Top 6.

Now, obviously I don't expect there to be no re-tooling. My point here is that you have what I think is the *opposite* problem from BAC: BAC's program feels like it might be too much to pull off, yours feels like it's fitting you like a glove and doesn't have anywhere else to go. Work that Phantom magic and bump the "ooo and aaah" factor and things will be just fine.

Crowd reacted with a respectful round of applause.

CADETS

This is the most traditional show on the field. It's the Cadets doing "AMERICA IS AWESOME" as they are wont to do every decade or so. This was the most "complete" package of the night in terms of all the elements being there. The design is a little safe and I can't help but wonder if they might peak early, but we all know it'll undergo a million versions before they settle. Narration didn't really bother me, although the theater venue wasn't good for it. You often lost the voice in the mix so you couldn't understand what he was saying.

Crowd gave this, too, a respectful round of applause.

CAROLINA CROWN

This show is really bi-polar for me. Neat things happen...then what?....then MORE COOL STUFF....then what?.....it's very disjointed as it stands. Hornline is great. Arrangements: great. Visual program has lot's of bells and whistles but it feels like we're not really tying it all together yet. Happy to report that the percussion is definitely improved for sure. This will contend for a medal come August. I need another read on this show...it is the one probably hurt the most by the theater venue.

Crowd response was pretty good. Probably 3rd favorite.

BLUECOATS

This is it. This is my favorite show of the year. I won't see a better one from a design standpoint. Everything about it works, and it leaves enough space to add on as the season progresses. This show will take you as far as your execution will allow, Coats. That's going to be the key. You absolutely MUST nail the execution of this package for the effect to work. There is no leeway here. If you pull it off, no one will stop you.

This was EASILY the crowds favorite of the night. They lost their collective MINDS over this show. The only Standing O of the night. Audible boos when the scores were shown. I had Bloo in 3rd as well...but not by that spread. Feet are a problem right now, which is cutting into the GE score. That drumline is unbelievable. Clean. Clean. Clean. Add and clean. Add more and clean. Come on, Bloo. You can do this.

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Oh no! My inner judge is showing! :P

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