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TOC Buffalo Wing Championships 2014


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Darn you seem so angry.....

No, no... I'm not angry. Don't read any sort of "inflection" into it. I'm not like that.

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Okay, I'm done with the BD propaganda posting...

Now that I am well rested, time for a more critical and comprehensive review of the show.

If you think that I am blind as a bat... then disregard this post. If you think that I have observations to bring the conversation... then read on.

VENUE:

As some have pointed out, this was a 3rd choice for the show site. 2 other venues fell through. This site is in a shady part of town... but the Buffalo Police Department was out in HUGE force last night, and VERY polite to show patrons. There were no less than 5 or 6 lighted police cruisers on a 2 block stretch of Main Street at the close of the show... I'm impressed by the hospitality. The use of the parking area for performing groups required that patrons park at a shuttle park and ride. It was only a couple blocks away, so it was worth the walk. The Stadium is a lot like Massillon (where TOC is at tonight) with a steel canopy. Perfect for drumcorps. The organizers did well to keep warm-up areas far from the show site. I did not hear any warming up through the duration of the show. Tim Horton's (Canadian Duncan Donuts) gave away FREE coffee drinks. Food vendors were decent, couple of different choices and some fund raiser type pizza as well. Stadium was renovated within the last 10 years so facilities were fairly clean. Restrooms ran short on TP and soap... yuck. In conclusion... this wasn't a bad spot for a show. I could see them hosting here again, and would be fine with that.

PRE-SHOW:

DCI has done well at this TOC event to have various corps small ensembles perform pre-show acts... VERY entertaining. Saw Crown, BD and Cavies small group / solo performances. Prime Time Brass from Rochester, NY are a perennial pre-show favorite at this event. They really get the crowd energized... but their rendition of the national anthems was... oooo... I dunno guys... I was happy when they were done with those. Also, it is smart of DCI to give out FREE programs in a simpler format than to nickle and dime the patrons. They really seem to be making an attempt to improve the experience and value of these events. Good for them.

SCV:

My wife's 2nd favorite show of the night (Behind BD)

A couple critical comments:

- I have NO problem with trombone in drumcorps... whatever... have at it. BUT this particular use of trombones is entirely superficial. They don't add anything to the program that cylindrical baritone valve horns wouldn't handle. The unique characteristic of trombones is the slide... and the slides play no perceivable role in the use of the trombones. That being said... there is still a SUPERFICIAL aesthetic use for them, I suppose.

- There are 3 types of visual performance... Foot Technique (CHECK)... Full Body Posture (CHECK)... and Drill (BIG PROBLEMS). SCV needs to shorten their basics rehearsals and spend that time on field visual. They seem to not have a comfortable grasp on the written show and it is showing in intervals and on-the-move form guiding. It's strange because usually uniformity in technique is the harder thing to accomplish... but they do a really good job with basics technique.

BLUECOATS:

My wife's 4th favorite show of the night... much to my dismay.

A couple of critical comments:

- They are indeed out performing their GE... they are visually quite clean. The change at the end of the show is great (double Z Pull... HUGE fermata) but I think that they would be smart to add an additional pitch bend effect at the close... that's what the audience eats up, so give them one more. I was kinda looking forward to seeing the old ending live... but oh well. Unlike Crown (that has a bit too much going on... the Coats need a few more obvious impact moments).

- About that pitch bend. It was really loud... I wouldn't turn it down, but they may do well to consider a cleaner fade in to the effect. It was rather abrupt last night.

- Solos (trumpets) were a little off... there were a few "spleahs" in there that they can't afford to have.

TROOPERS:

I'm not going to give critical comments to them... because they did well to hold their own in a field of monsters. They just need to keep cleaning their show in all of the general areas. It is a good show with lots of obvious and clear visual drill... and a clear message that is easy to follow.

CAVALIERS:

A couple of critical comments:

- The foot technique isn't nearly as solid as SCV and the others above them... AND the drill has some fuzzy spacing problems.

- Trumpets are not being matched by the low brass at times... it's not the trumpets fault.

- The show design doesn't match all sections to the VERY high GE of the front ensemble. The show is being stolen by a few moments... and this is both fun to see, but also bad for the show as a whole.

CROWN:

Wife's 3rd favorite show of the night... ugh... okay dear...

A couple of critical comments:

- The brass book is deceiving... They are performing at a very high level, but... They should thank their lucky stars (pun not intended) that the Devils aren't taking the caption from them. My beef (which really isn't a beef) is with the very clever placement of ostinato patterns and key friendly runs that make this sound much more tricky than it really is. Cadets and BD are pulling some heavier licks in modulation. I give MUCH more credit to the writing than to the performance. But hey... if they can get the credit for it... more power to them!

- The show design in general seems to be trying too hard. A good analogy might be found in sound mixing or color correction (for the more visual artistic types). When mixing and balancing sound and color, one should start by pulling back on other sound and colors in order to bring out something specific. Instead, Crown design team seems to be adding... adding... adding... adding more and more effects to the show that are muddling the presentation. For example, the frisbee thing is cool... they should do it... but they should do HALF as much of it as they are doing now. It would play MUCH bigger. The echo effects are smart, well written and well performed... but they should do HALF as much of it. It would also play MUCH bigger.

- One positive thing... their ending is more "Cadet" than the Cadet's ending. They have been doing this a lot in recent years.

CADETS:

Wife didn't like the show at all (didn't like design)... I give it a lot more credit.

A couple critical comments.

- All of their issues are with design and not so much with performance... like Crown. The show is designed strangely with the corps disconnected from the audience. Even if you took the stage away, the stage makes it necessary for the corps to reside in a space that is vary distant from the audience (the back 2/3 of the field). I think this hurts their connection as a CORPS with the audience. The narration doesn't "get in the way"... but that the same time, it get's in the way by virtue of intentional design. There is nothing that can be done about it, because it is the design that they committed to. I would have made the stage 1/3 the size that it is... and 1/4 the length... or maybe just put a small stage of the same size off to one side of the front ensemble... I don't know. But the corps is WAY back field much of the time, and I think it matters.

- Not really a critical remark... but unless I am mistaken, the new tarps were not used at the show last night. See my comments about Crown above... perhaps the design team came to the "less is more" conclusion? Don't know.

BLUE DEVILS:

Wife's favorite show... mine too (even though I wan't my Coats so badly to push hard into finals week).

A couple of critical comments.

- I think that I have said enough about the Devils for you to know where I am at with this program... so let me spare you.

- I will add only this... I think that their biggest problem is something that they can't control. There is a population of people that just don't want them to do as well as they are doing, and this mentality affects the way that they enjoy (or don't enjoy) the show.

Case in point:

I was sitting next to a 15 year old kid who was clearly a Bluecoats super fan. He didn't so much as clap for the Devils... and remarked "Yup... typical BD drill...". He was so invested in his corps doing well this season that he refused to enjoy good design, entertainment and performance for what it actually is. I wanted to slap him... and I'm a Bluecoat Alum!

That's all I got. It was a really, really enjoyable night. No show that I didn't enjoy watching... and that's hard to come by.

Yup. Go to any FB page or instagram post that has anything to do with scores and you'll see this type of attitude. It's disheartening but people just really love the underdog.

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Okay, I'm done with the BD propaganda posting...

Now that I am well rested, time for a more critical and comprehensive review of the show.

If you think that I am blind as a bat... then disregard this post. If you think that I have observations to bring the conversation... then read on.

Well-written and thought-out, and I agree with you on almost every point. Particularly on your assessment of Crown's brass book, and the thought about why some folks don't like Devils. Sadly, that's nothing new...it was going on as far back as I can remember.

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Yup. Go to any FB page or instagram post that has anything to do with scores and you'll see this type of attitude. It's disheartening but people just really love the underdog.

The really sad thing is they think that in order to love the underdog, you have to hate the guy on top. It's stupid.

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Yup. Go to any FB page or instagram post that has anything to do with scores and you'll see this type of attitude. It's disheartening but people just really love the underdog.

yeah they love the underdog until the Monday morning after championships. Then they join the ranks of the disrespected. Gotta love this activity sometimes ! :satisfied:

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Okay, I'm done with the BD propaganda posting...

Now that I am well rested, time for a more critical and comprehensive review of the show.

If you think that I am blind as a bat... then disregard this post. If you think that I have observations to bring the conversation... then read on.

VENUE:

As some have pointed out, this was a 3rd choice for the show site. 2 other venues fell through. This site is in a shady part of town... but the Buffalo Police Department was out in HUGE force last night, and VERY polite to show patrons. There were no less than 5 or 6 lighted police cruisers on a 2 block stretch of Main Street at the close of the show... I'm impressed by the hospitality. The use of the parking area for performing groups required that patrons park at a shuttle park and ride. It was only a couple blocks away, so it was worth the walk. The Stadium is a lot like Massillon (where TOC is at tonight) with a steel canopy. Perfect for drumcorps. The organizers did well to keep warm-up areas far from the show site. I did not hear any warming up through the duration of the show. Tim Horton's (Canadian Duncan Donuts) gave away FREE coffee drinks. Food vendors were decent, couple of different choices and some fund raiser type pizza as well. Stadium was renovated within the last 10 years so facilities were fairly clean. Restrooms ran short on TP and soap... yuck. In conclusion... this wasn't a bad spot for a show. I could see them hosting here again, and would be fine with that.

PRE-SHOW:

DCI has done well at this TOC event to have various corps small ensembles perform pre-show acts... VERY entertaining. Saw Crown, BD and Cavies small group / solo performances. Prime Time Brass from Rochester, NY are a perennial pre-show favorite at this event. They really get the crowd energized... but their rendition of the national anthems was... oooo... I dunno guys... I was happy when they were done with those. Also, it is smart of DCI to give out FREE programs in a simpler format than to nickle and dime the patrons. They really seem to be making an attempt to improve the experience and value of these events. Good for them.

SCV:

My wife's 2nd favorite show of the night (Behind BD)

A couple critical comments:

- I have NO problem with trombone in drumcorps... whatever... have at it. BUT this particular use of trombones is entirely superficial. They don't add anything to the program that cylindrical baritone valve horns wouldn't handle. The unique characteristic of trombones is the slide... and the slides play no perceivable role in the use of the trombones. That being said... there is still a SUPERFICIAL aesthetic use for them, I suppose.

- There are 3 types of visual performance... Foot Technique (CHECK)... Full Body Posture (CHECK)... and Drill (BIG PROBLEMS). SCV needs to shorten their basics rehearsals and spend that time on field visual. They seem to not have a comfortable grasp on the written show and it is showing in intervals and on-the-move form guiding. It's strange because usually uniformity in technique is the harder thing to accomplish... but they do a really good job with basics technique.

BLUECOATS:

My wife's 4th favorite show of the night... much to my dismay.

A couple of critical comments:

- They are indeed out performing their GE... they are visually quite clean. The change at the end of the show is great (double Z Pull... HUGE fermata) but I think that they would be smart to add an additional pitch bend effect at the close... that's what the audience eats up, so give them one more. I was kinda looking forward to seeing the old ending live... but oh well. Unlike Crown (that has a bit too much going on... the Coats need a few more obvious impact moments).

- About that pitch bend. It was really loud... I wouldn't turn it down, but they may do well to consider a cleaner fade in to the effect. It was rather abrupt last night.

- Solos (trumpets) were a little off... there were a few "spleahs" in there that they can't afford to have.

TROOPERS:

I'm not going to give critical comments to them... because they did well to hold their own in a field of monsters. They just need to keep cleaning their show in all of the general areas. It is a good show with lots of obvious and clear visual drill... and a clear message that is easy to follow.

CAVALIERS:

A couple of critical comments:

- The foot technique isn't nearly as solid as SCV and the others above them... AND the drill has some fuzzy spacing problems.

- Trumpets are not being matched by the low brass at times... it's not the trumpets fault.

- The show design doesn't match all sections to the VERY high GE of the front ensemble. The show is being stolen by a few moments... and this is both fun to see, but also bad for the show as a whole.

CROWN:

Wife's 3rd favorite show of the night... ugh... okay dear...

A couple of critical comments:

- The brass book is deceiving... They are performing at a very high level, but... They should thank their lucky stars (pun not intended) that the Devils aren't taking the caption from them. My beef (which really isn't a beef) is with the very clever placement of ostinato patterns and key friendly runs that make this sound much more tricky than it really is. Cadets and BD are pulling some heavier licks in modulation. I give MUCH more credit to the writing than to the performance. But hey... if they can get the credit for it... more power to them!

- The show design in general seems to be trying too hard. A good analogy might be found in sound mixing or color correction (for the more visual artistic types). When mixing and balancing sound and color, one should start by pulling back on other sound and colors in order to bring out something specific. Instead, Crown design team seems to be adding... adding... adding... adding more and more effects to the show that are muddling the presentation. For example, the frisbee thing is cool... they should do it... but they should do HALF as much of it as they are doing now. It would play MUCH bigger. The echo effects are smart, well written and well performed... but they should do HALF as much of it. It would also play MUCH bigger.

- One positive thing... their ending is more "Cadet" than the Cadet's ending. They have been doing this a lot in recent years.

CADETS:

Wife didn't like the show at all (didn't like design)... I give it a lot more credit.

A couple critical comments.

- All of their issues are with design and not so much with performance... like Crown. The show is designed strangely with the corps disconnected from the audience. Even if you took the stage away, the stage makes it necessary for the corps to reside in a space that is vary distant from the audience (the back 2/3 of the field). I think this hurts their connection as a CORPS with the audience. The narration doesn't "get in the way"... but that the same time, it get's in the way by virtue of intentional design. There is nothing that can be done about it, because it is the design that they committed to. I would have made the stage 1/3 the size that it is... and 1/4 the length... or maybe just put a small stage of the same size off to one side of the front ensemble... I don't know. But the corps is WAY back field much of the time, and I think it matters.

- Not really a critical remark... but unless I am mistaken, the new tarps were not used at the show last night. See my comments about Crown above... perhaps the design team came to the "less is more" conclusion? Don't know.

BLUE DEVILS:

Wife's favorite show... mine too (even though I wan't my Coats so badly to push hard into finals week).

A couple of critical comments.

- I think that I have said enough about the Devils for you to know where I am at with this program... so let me spare you.

- I will add only this... I think that their biggest problem is something that they can't control. There is a population of people that just don't want them to do as well as they are doing, and this mentality affects the way that they enjoy (or don't enjoy) the show.

Case in point:

I was sitting next to a 15 year old kid who was clearly a Bluecoats super fan. He didn't so much as clap for the Devils... and remarked "Yup... typical BD drill...". He was so invested in his corps doing well this season that he refused to enjoy good design, entertainment and performance for what it actually is. I wanted to slap him... and I'm a Bluecoat Alum!

That's all I got. It was a really, really enjoyable night. No show that I didn't enjoy watching... and that's hard to come by.

Honesty looks great on you

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CROWN:

Wife's 3rd favorite show of the night... ugh... okay dear...

A couple of critical comments:

- The brass book is deceiving... They are performing at a very high level, but... They should thank their lucky stars (pun not intended) that the Devils aren't taking the caption from them. My beef (which really isn't a beef) is with the very clever placement of ostinato patterns and key friendly runs that make this sound much more tricky than it really is. Cadets and BD are pulling some heavier licks in modulation. I give MUCH more credit to the writing than to the performance. But hey... if they can get the credit for it... more power to them!

- The show design in general seems to be trying too hard. A good analogy might be found in sound mixing or color correction (for the more visual artistic types). When mixing and balancing sound and color, one should start by pulling back on other sound and colors in order to bring out something specific. Instead, Crown design team seems to be adding... adding... adding... adding more and more effects to the show that are muddling the presentation. For example, the frisbee thing is cool... they should do it... but they should do HALF as much of it as they are doing now. It would play MUCH bigger. The echo effects are smart, well written and well performed... but they should do HALF as much of it. It would also play MUCH bigger.

- One positive thing... their ending is more "Cadet" than the Cadet's ending. They have been doing this a lot in recent years.

BLUE DEVILS:

Wife's favorite show... mine too (even though I wan't my Coats so badly to push hard into finals week).

A couple of critical comments.

- I think that I have said enough about the Devils for you to know where I am at with this program... so let me spare you.

- I will add only this... I think that their biggest problem is something that they can't control. There is a population of people that just don't want them to do as well as they are doing, and this mentality affects the way that they enjoy (or don't enjoy) the show.

Case in point:

I was sitting next to a 15 year old kid who was clearly a Bluecoats super fan. He didn't so much as clap for the Devils... and remarked "Yup... typical BD drill...". He was so invested in his corps doing well this season that he refused to enjoy good design, entertainment and performance for what it actually is. I wanted to slap him... and I'm a Bluecoat Alum!

I agree with almost all your comments but especially these three:

Crown's book is another phenomenal arrangement by Klesch in his now long line of great DCI books. His arrangements coupled with what the brass staff teaches is what makes Crown's brass so good. Klesch, Downey and Bocook are in my opinion three of the most irreplaceable staff members in DCI right now and it's no coincidence that their brass books are constantly in the fight for the Ott year after year.

Crown's closer drill the last few years has been great. This year's changes I think were some of the smartest the staff did. Why the Cadets aren't doing this stuff anymore is beyond me.

I'll admit to being in that category of people regarding Blue Devils this year. I only watched them a couple times on FN before seeing them live in Rutgers last week and I wasn't impressed with what I saw but then again I wasn't really "wanting" to like them either. I went into Rutgers with an open mind and I was completely blown away. This may very well be the best overall show in years, if not ever, and I have no problem admitting that as someone that cheers against them each year. Only time will tell though...

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I agree with almost all your comments but especially these three:

Crown's book is another phenomenal arrangement by Klesch in his now long line of great DCI books. His arrangements coupled with what the brass staff teaches is what makes Crown's brass so good. Klesch, Downey and Bocook are in my opinion three of the most irreplaceable staff members in DCI right now and it's no coincidence that their brass books are constantly in the fight for the Ott year after year.

Crown's closer drill the last few years has been great. This year's changes I think were some of the smartest the staff did. Why the Cadets aren't doing this stuff anymore is beyond me.

I'll admit to being in that category of people regarding Blue Devils this year. I only watched them a couple times on FN before seeing them live in Rutgers last week and I wasn't impressed with what I saw but then again I wasn't really "wanting" to like them either. I went into Rutgers with an open mind and I was completely blown away. This may very well be the best overall show in years, if not ever, and I have no problem admitting that as someone that cheers against them each year. Only time will tell though...

Ahh... It feels good to be understood.

Thank you.

Also...

I think that the Cadets aren't... Cadeting... in the end is because the show design has a different priority. I wish that it had the older priority, personally. The show is still very good (obviously).

I really believe that the 3, 2-4 corps are actually in all three spots at once. At finals, performance order and judicial subjectivity (which is what they all agree to submit to) will tell the tale with respect to placement. And that's not to say that one of them couldn't take the Devils. I really do believe that with the right panel... something of an upset is indeed possible, but it would be a one-off fortunate occurrence. It would have to be one of those magical things... like Phantom in 96... where everybody just "gets on board the bandwagon" all at the same time.

Edited by cfirwin3
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I still think BD will add to the ending. Musically it's great, but doing the random body movements ala 89 Cadets, dissolving the form, then gradually reforming it is kinda lame in my opinion. I suppose you don't fix what isn't broke, but still...

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