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Work's been good for the checkbook but not for anything else right now. 70 people understaffed on Night, which means I haven't had time to do much else but pass out, eat, and work.

But- I wanted adventure last Saturday to liven up things, and it began as I traveled to Wayne, New Jersey for the Grand Prix and I hit I-287 North.

A '68 Chevy van was trying to lay down a smokescreen as it flew along, and I realized that I got to run, I got to hide, so I broke out through to the other side of traffic which was a good thing because of the smoke. there I dealt with people driving 30 miles an hour in the left lane of a 65 mph freeway, and then had to deal with the Road Warriors on board that van trying to jump onto nearby vehicles and rob them. To make matters worse, I had WGBO 88.3 Jazz blaring away with (seriously!) Ornette Coleman obtusely noodling away as he does while this is all going on and a new Porsche 911 that some goofball tuned to sound like an asthmatic chainsaw blatting away nearby.

I get to I-80, and dodge a serious accident with wreckage strewn over most of the lanes. Must have happened just before I got there, I followed the barfing Porsche through the wreckage field because I didn't want to end up entrapped and saw the dazed passengers from both torn-up vehicles which looked like an A-10 had strafed them and dropped cluster bombs. Luckily, no one looked hurt, though my guess is the dudes in the van prolly robbed them blind when they got to the scene. I drove as quick as I dared, I didn't want to miss the show, which is one of my favorite things, you know.

I got off of I-80 and figured the grass was greener, but I got behind some lady in a white Altima who evidently had a doorbell for a gas pedal. My ABS was tested frequently as well as my vocabulary of Drum Corps cuss-outs. Driving was some kind of crazy dream, I tell you.

The first sign things were going to get better was when I spotted the Carvel store. We used to have one in the town I grew up in but it's been gone for at least 25 years so I got a really nice waffle cone of Almond Joy ice cream from Cookie Puss and her husband Fudgie the Whale and drove up the hill to the show, where there was a procession of Drum Corps nobles trying to get into the parking lot after they paid off the local constabulary to park.

The real adventure began when I got into the stadium for Drum Corps.

The stadium's a very clean place with a good field and bleachers.

Everyone knew this was going to be a test for everyone in one way or another. Whether the Bucs could hold off the Cabs, whether CV could throw down a show after driving through Jersey and all of the crazy. It goes on.

My seat was 4 rows up on Side 2, the 43 1/2 yard line, so it was a tad low for the visual stuff, and a bit offset in regards to the musical tears that have been honestly discussed here on DCP, but it was still a seat in which I could get a good feel for the corps.

If I've reviewed a corps before, the write-up will be shorter, if you're curious about show content and such read a previous show review I've done. Again some of my numbers may be off, and I do appreciate assistance from the corps, who usually have helped me out when I ask.

I do take the time to do the Alumni corps. Being a member of one myself, I know they appreciate the respect, and some good press. The first corps were the Skyliners Alumni (@ 34 horns/18 Percussion/ 5CG/4MG) with a traditional standstill performance including such hits as "God Bless the Child" and "Elks' Parade". They were there to have fun, and the performance was enjoyable. It was pretty hot at that time of the afternoon, and I really respected these folks soldiering on in what had to be a 90-95 degree field at that time. The stadium did start to cool off quickly as the sun lowered and the shade tress on the back sideline began to get some shade onto the surface. My hat off to the tenor section and their feature. My fave piece they did was "Elks' Parade", which is one of those old chestnuts that proves to be a real crowd pleaser.

Next up was a bigger Bridgemen corps, doing some of their classics like "Pagliacci", "In the Stone", "Spanish Dreams" and "William Tell". The "Banana Man" was in fine fettle for his solo work, and the crowd really enjoyed the laid back and groovy vibe that they had for their performance.

I'll get to the competitive corps performances after work, I had some issues with my internet connection here a few minutes ago which delayed things. Don't despair. I'll try and add some levity to things. The forums this week really did a fantastic job of discussing a lot of the main technical issues with several of the programs, and I'll try and dig into some more of the material that got missed. :satisfied:

Edited by BigW
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Great stuff so far, W!!!!

I think we stopped at that same Carvel store on our way to the show.

But we didn't have any of the traffic drama you endured. Wow!!!!

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Fran, I have one of those fancy steering wheels with a lot of hands off options for the radio and the cruise. Things got so bad I just left Ornette Coleman noodle away and shut down the cruise because the traffic was that out of rhythm. I haven't felt I had to be that "Heads-up" behind the wheel in a long time.

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I'm wondering if Big W will have this review Wrapped up before I retire in October...

Take your time, W!

If I have to I'll read the rest when I get home to Boston in three months. :music:

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Well Ray ,its been only one week since the show today ,you know it will be another week before the frist completing corps takes the field here .Enjoy the inter they entertain well but like Fran says there never scored and never timed .

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Heh, Ray. At least I don't do a (and I am 98 percent jesting about this but just a teeny bit serious) "The brats were GREAT and everyone sounded FANTASTIC in the stadium while I hung out the lot and drank some Vanilla Leinenkugels with the boyz, I tell yah, sorry that I never actually went in to SEE anything in the stadium!" review. :satisfied:

First up were the Sunrisers (8FE/2DM/22 brass/13 battery/14CG) with their new look. They've gone to a black and white yin-yang pattern in their uniforms, a very clean and modern artsy- kind of appearance, and it's tasteful. I've noticed over the past few seasons that the DCA corps pretty much as a whole have been very good at creating good, tasteful looks when they go to new uniforms, and I think that's been something I've really appreciated. Good looks, no cookie-cutter/look just like everyone else at the show stuff either.

Their show's entitled, "1917, the Rise and Fall" which uses the story of the end of the Tsarist regime framed by traditional Russian music. They opened with "Procession of the Nobles", and when the brass isn't tentative, they have a pretty rich sound for their ensemble size. The issue for their brass is that when they play at softer dynamics, they need to keep supporting and not get feathery and thin. Sometimes you need to establish a minimum sound level higher than you'd like to to make sure you still sound full and mature.

The show moved on to include familiar pieces such as "Novorossiysk Chimes/Flame of Eternal Glory" and the "Infernal Dance of Kashchei" and Firebird Finale.

The brass has a lot to clean and perfect. At times I felt some of the musicians were guessing at pitches and some of the nuance was rough, especially in 'Flame'.

Right now, the real attraction at Sun is a pretty tight Front Ensemble that's locking down what it needs to do.

The big question I had in my notes is whether Sun could clean everything in their program, and I'd think they certainly can if the young personnel work with the staff and bear down on the program. The pieces are certainly there for a very solid and enjoyable program if they can just commit to quality musicianship from the entire brass ensemble.

Next up, Windsor Regiment. My biggest concern for them was whether they'd perform with more confidence and authority as compared to the Chester contest. I'd say yes, but much still remains to be done. It's been discussed in detail on other threads about timing issues on-field, and I'm sure that is contributing to some of the confidence issues. Sometimes, the performers need to be less afraid of Stravinsky's polychords and just play them. Embrace the dissonance. In the show's second segment, I'm unsure of everyone knows their parts, which cause those who do know them to stick out. Just because the tempo's slow and the music soft doesn't mean it's time to lay out.

This show's got very good ideas and content within it. Right now, it's all about achieving all of those ideas and potential within the program for Windsor. Hopefully when and not if they can lock down the pulse and get everyone contributing as they need to, I'd think we'll see some jumps in numbers from this corps, and fans should not be surprised if that happens.

Next up, the Hurcs. I have a youth volunteer commitment I must keep. :satisfied: Also, I wanted to tease Ray just a bit and stop here. :laugh:

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Thanks Big W great review so far ,keep up the good work ,question for you ,did you ever get to 82 83 Westshore love to hear your take on thoses years.

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Thanks Big W great review so far ,keep up the good work ,question for you ,did you ever get to 82 83 Westshore love to hear your take on thoses years.

I'd love to hear your take on these 2 years also. Played toms in 82 and snare in 83.

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JIM! Man, Jim! Glad to see you alive and kickin'. I've wondered what you were up to for a long time and have always thought well of you!

Kind of talked about 82, not really about '83. Readers Digest: We were too inexperienced to know how to take it to the bank at the end. Sun was. Those guys knew how to take it to the bank when it was time to, period.

83.... I've come to a feeling that we had too much of our zen disrupted from several directions. What upsets me still is this, and I think some of you regardless of where you marched can relate. '83 Westshore had some real talent, a fantastic brass book written by Frank Dorriite that was sheer joy to play. Look-- I was in the ER over Thanksgiving lying shot full of morphine worried I'd be unable to play the '83 concert number with the Alumni this spring. THAT was how good that arrangement of "Love for Sale" is. Nothing else mattered to me. It's an extremely challenging piece that leaves you with a real feeling of satisfaction when played well. Lead Bari's playing French horn parts and lead trombone barks the whole time. Upper lead's crazy high.

The problem was that there was so much drama brought in by certain new personnel and other stuff that went down that it makes the season painful for me to think about except for playing that book in competition. Only then do I have good feelings about 1983. Off the field, not at all. Many regrets and drama. I'm much happier talking about 1984 when Fawber and a bunch of us crazies came back for one last fling to keep the corps alive with the "6-week wondercorps", and I had a wonderful, happy time of it. The placement and failure to make finals meant nothing. The sheer fun I had that season without the animosity and the pressures was a very freeing experience. Back to the regularly scheduled program!

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The next group to enter the field were the Hurricanes (6FE/6MG/2DM/24CG/26 Brass/11 Battery) with their "The Grass is Greener" program.

I liked their entrance cadence. It sent some good vibes into the crowd and had to get the corps ready to perform. It even fired me up. Well done. :satisfied:

I was curious where things would go this year for the Hurcs. in 2012, I was very turned on with the Brit-themed program and with how strong the corps was. In 2013, numbers were down, the show took a real change in feel with the use of very angular and technical modern wind band music as its focus, and numbers were down. It was obvious then that sheer guts and a will to succeed got them into finals, much to their credit.

This season's show uses a lot of Copland's "The Tender Land" along with "Make our Garden Grow" from Candide, with hints of Hurricane classics strategically injected into the program. It's a much 'friendlier' musical book. That, combined with a gritty percussion battery and the excellent guard, seems to be getting them some good results at this point in the season.

The brass section is very asymmetric unless you're a Tubist. 8 Tubas, and we counted 4 trumpets. A tough row to hoe for the trumpet section, who I have to respect for the amount of pressure placed on every individual in that section. They're trying to put forth a controlled and clean effort, backed by a very aggressive battery that also knows how to back out and not cover the brass, much to their credit.

The field spread for the size of the ensemble's rather audacious, and they do have problems related to it, though I think they can get things lined up ensemble-wise, and when they do, I hope that the 'Duts' will take a quick exit from the show, please. :satisfied:

The super-powered color guard also appears to be back this season, and it's been taking best guard against several other top-notch DCA guards, which is impressive. This could be a real good season for color guard in DCA. There are several obviously well-prepared guards, well costumed that really understand their role and perform at a high level. Right now, they appear to be the strength and backbone of the corps, and they're back to making many positive and subtle contributions to the success of their program.

Right now, the Hurcs look to be trying to do some damage and take the fight to some of the larger corps ahead of them. I say, why not try? They appear to be a feisty, tough bunch with a can-do attitude. Make it or not, there's a satisfaction in knowing you gave it your very best shot, and I think the Hurcs will do just that until the end of the season.

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