SEC REVIEW, No, not football. DCI Southeastern Championships

[mirrormen]

Think that corps have to weigh excellence with risk, bringing the logical and tried and true versus something new. Little new, lots of new. Placement and peer group has influence on those decisions. The best year for corps in long time. This show was well worth my money, time, and travel.

Pioneer:
Moments of joy. Percussion too loud and one dimensional. Theme a bit forced. Improved guard.

Jersey Surf:
Miss the direction they were taking. Too serious without the maturity to pull it off. Musical guard writing.

Cascades:
Big jump in quality here. Hope they are growing correctly: keeping financials in check, retaining good staff and members. This quality with growth over the next few years could be really be positive for them. Tasteful. Enjoyed it.

Mandarins:
Interesting concept and some good detail in the show construction visually and musically. Loud. Hard percussion book. Effective guard. A better show than several ahead of them.
Some new ideas brought to the activity.

Pacific Crest:
Clever and easy to follow puppet theme. Solid all around. Great color guard. Certainly a much better products that Spirit, who should not be beating PC.

Some new ideas brought to the activity.

Oregon Crusaders:
Dark and mysterious. Well put together. I thought the right balance of voice over throughout. Not sure they have the talent to clean it all up, but could see them moving up a spot or two. Based simply on entertainment value and show construction, I would have this 15th, easily. Would like to see this several times.
Some new ideas brought to the activity.

The Academy:
Well done. Even talent section to section. Theme is delivered well. Great guard costumes. Could see them in 15th as well. Things to clean up yet. Also a show I would enjoy seeing several times.
Some new ideas brought to the activity.

Troopers:
Excellent. Really solid drum line. Big jump in sound quality. Solid brass. Guard not quite as good as the rest of the corps, but good. This is much better corps than the one that recently made finals with that bad cowboys and indians show. Think they will be 13th because Crossmen are more talented and have a more thoroughly constructed show. They sell the Americana feel better than Cadets in my opinion, though it is beginning to get old. There are more inventive and "modern" ways to use one's identity.

Spirit of Atlanta:

Great crowd support. From the second they come out high fiving and fist pumping, I'm done. Sorry, the whole thing is so 1990s high school band. Reminds me of the seemingly hundreds of times that the corps starts doing well and an alumni comes a long as says, "well, let's go back to our roots and do a retro show, and we'll move up for sure and be a crowd favorite!" Neither is happening. Some have said the first half works for them. Not for me. There are three effect moments in the show. Each is carried solely by the brass playing loud. Not sure the guard is doing the same show. Tons of ensemble music and visual issues. Anyone on staff know how to tech jazz/swing style? If not, why is it in the show? Frustrating to see this happen. Nothing against the members, of which I have been told represent a large return rate from last year. Could see this is 16th or 17th.
Nothing new brought to the activity.

Colts:
Hate that the voice over had technical issues. The theme is certainly new and unique, interesting and intriguing. The visual program is extremely strong and should be getting them a lot of credit in several captions. Marching has really cleaned up with a lot of the show coming across finals week clean. They have some music issues to fix. Guard is fantastic and has some of my favorite flag writing of anyone! Not even comparable to Spirit.

Some new ideas brought to the activity.

Madison Scouts:
Good changes. Theme is hard to follow. Music captions are very strong. Guard holds its own, but meh. Love the trombone soli, extremely well played. Like the jazz and know it is tough to play.

I am buying the down ending. Great soloists.

Nothing new.

Blue Stars:
Great design. Music captions not as strong as Madison, but better guard and better show will keep them ahead. Cleve use of all of the props. Eager to see it again and hopefully catch more happenings.

Some new ideas brought to the activity.

Crossmen:
Yeah, can't see this not in finals, though they can't let up for one second. Best they have been since moving to Texas. Think the Carmen portion seems out of place, doesn't sell as well to me as the rest of the show. Strong visual program.

Nothing really new.

Phantom Regiment:
I was bored. Glad they tried to get out of their box to try something daring (for them) with the uniform change. It is masterfully orchestrated, but you just don't really feel much about it. Improved drums, but in a year like this, some may not notice. Wanted to hear more Swan Lake.

Nothing really new.

Boston Crusaders:
Don't know if there was a corps working harder to communicate their show to the audience. Bringing lots of new, but in snippets. Think if the had three moments that they let us in on the build up to them and then delivered, the production would sell much better. Difficult show for sure. Like the human clothes on the guard at the end. Political undertones including the huge G7 form on the field.

Some new ideas brought to the activity.

Blue Knights:

Really like this a lot. Of all the shows, it is one I didn't find needed any more additions or editing, just cleaning. Some goosebumps. Thanks.

Nothing really new, but the show overall has a freshness to it.

The Cavaliers:
Like everyone else has said, I enjoyed how Cavalier this was. Though it was much like past productions, it is so well done to easy to follow that I don't care. Very enjoyable. Why are they not placing higher in drums?

Some new ideas.

Carolina Crown:
To be short, I was just never pulled in to the show. Came across as too much been there done that.

Some new ideas, but without any pay off.

Santa Clara Vanguard:
They communicate much better than Crown, but I am in the minority in that nothing really wows me about the show. Maybe cause I like the 2004 show so much (musically). Well detailed.

Nothing really new other than the really loud trombones. Think they could make much more out of them at the end.

Blue Devils:
It is just so great. So much to look at but it all melds so well together. Had them first in brass in my mind, and with playing a more legit book in my opinion than Crown. Guard is spectacular. The 2014 champs.

Lots new, but with big payoff.

Bluecoats:
I wish BD was not so good. Bluecoats would have their first championship. The most exciting show on the field. The last minute is incredible. All sections awesome. Best use of electronics. Love the simple but well developed theme.

Some new ideas brought to the activity, and some recently new ones developed to maturity.

Cadets:
The excellence all around is truly championship worthy, astounding. I just loose interest. My favorite corps for such a long time. Revisit your experimental roots. I know it hasn't always payed off. You have the talent and teaching staff to pull off almost anything.

Nothing new.

Edited July 28, 2014 by mirrormen

[Jeff Ream]

good stuff!

[westcoastblue]

Pretty dead on with my impressions. Thanks for the time and insight. Love the addition of

each unit brining something "new" or not.

[chasgroh]

...nice work! Well thought out and communicates well. Bravo.