Thirty-Nine Clues about the Cinecast

[mfrontz]

1. Liked the pre-show with the trivia and the championship tunes.

2. Sort of disappointed that the show was not in XD. They said they needed to reserve it for the premieres of movies. Oh well – I have never seen XD, so I didn’t notice the difference.

3. The theatre was maybe 1/3 full. I wish there had been more. On the other hand, lots of room to spread out. I had seats on the 50 J

4. A ten-year-old girl comes bouncing in with her mother, giddy as if she has just arrived at the Magic Kingdom. Her elided name is J. Her perc. teacher is an instructor with Blue Stars and she is wearing a Blue Stars shirt. Fortuitously they sit next to me and we talk throughout the entire evening. Last week when the corps was local, she got a field pass . She has been receiving text messages all day from the staff member. One of the neatest things I’ve ever seen.

5. Steve Rondinaro = Dick Clark.

6. Rondo and Co. didn’t even pretend there’s a race for first.

7. I took copious notes for the first seven corps but didn’t write anything for the last eight.

8. Spirit – improved, but the second half weaker. Too much brass over the perc feature in the third song.

9. Colts. I really liked it and bought theme. So did the judges. Best story told on the field this year. That guy is a great actor. Love the idea that the scarecrow is ‘replaced’ as the Wizard of Oz at the end.

10. Troopers I thought brought their A-game and so did Rondo and Co. I think it was surprising to them that Colts beat them. Love the very creative arrangement of Lincoln Portrait. Love the guard costumes.

11. Crossmen love. They rose to the challenge of the preceding corps.The groove is back. Mellophones are phat. I like the drumline. I wish they had done more with integrating the theme. It seems like they wanted more wagons and ran out of money. Of course, that’s just like the Gypsies.

12. Madison good. Not the uniform. Drums seemed on the edge of tearing at times. I do like the way they play laid back while marching at a higher tempo in the opener. Good guard and I get the concept of the guard during the 50s numbers dressed all buttoned up and then really going psychedelic in the Don Ellis sections of the 70s.The down ending works but I hope the guy doesn’t get nervous.

13. Blue Stars – J. was really excited! She points out the injured feature dancer who has her left leg wrapped.I LOVE the show concept – things like the different parts of the corps in different rooms, etc. Who puts the nursery that far from the master bedroom, though? And where is the toilet prop? J Drumline and hornline great. Colorguard obviously. LOVED the sofa thing where they carry the sofa through the guard tossing the rifles.

14. DeLucia: ‘I have trouble sitting on the couch.’ Hee hee.

15. No one drops anything anymore. I can’t remember seeing one drop all night. Except in Blue Devils. You know, the high color guard.

16. Boston. How in the world do those color guard members do their work without peripheral vision? Was looking for the G7 set; didn’t see it. Note: stop with the Conquest sting already. Like the music other than that. They have cleaned up a lot over the season. Still not sure the show worked as well as they thought it might have. And what’s up with the BAC tarps at the end? It doesn’t seem to go with the theme at all.

17. I think I’m saying ‘love’ too often.

18. INT – my hot dog corps. And also my soda corps.

19. Talking to J. and her mother. She is a competitive figure skater and plays French horn but wants to be in the indoor drumline too. Turns out that they know people I know from church. She is getting really tired but wants to do the whole show and see Blue Devils.

20. Phantom Regiment. Visually clean and attractive, making much more visual sense than the preceding corps. Musically not as much IMO. It is a solid show. I can’t help but think they are just not taking any risks anymore. Not only have they driven the storytelling concept into the ground, there is now a huge crater. I am worried that competitively they will go the way of the Scouts. I realize that there is more to drum corps, but I miss the years when Phantom was one of the corps you couldn’t wait to see.

21. Blue Knights are beautiful and the narrator is almost flawless. I like the murals. What can you say about the color guard silks that hasn’t already been said? The use of color in this show is fantastic; in fact, the use of color overall this year is unbelievable. I love the new unis too.

22. Obviously the percussion of Cavies is great. Their brass line certainly has made strides too. The coffin idea is fantastic. Guard is scary. There is part of me, though, that still wants not to buy this show. I just like other corps more than the Cavies. I never ‘wanted’ them to win, even though I always appreciated them. So there’s my bias showing. I did think they might challenge Crown.

23. Every single corps got better. It’s amazing.

24. How the heck do the Crown tubas and baritones pick up mellophones and trumpets and sound like that? How old is that one guy in the drumline? He looks 14. I’ve either really insulted him or really complimented him. By the way, the drumline is solid. I think the uniforms did not help them. I think a more monochrome or darker on the lower part of the uniform would have helped. The trampolines are distracting when the people have to get off of them. Oh. And no self-respecting astronaut, even one about to get lost in space, would say, ‘Please copy.’ Astronauts have the right stuff. So does Crown’s hornline.

25. Vanguard tubas may be my absolute favorite section of the night. Yay drumline and mellophones, but the tubas are incredible and they are staged to full effect. I just love the fact that Vanguard still relies on their tubas rather than the synth bass sound. All you have to do is pick up some more high brass and you are competitive in brass. Color! The ending is magical, magical, magical.

26. ‘Brassgasm?’ Drumgasm?’ Oh Rondo. This is a family show.

27. J. is really flagging. From Bluecoats on she is sitting on her mom’s lap. She’s not giving in though.

28. Me: ‘They’re not booing, they’re ‘Bloo-ing.’ J.’s mom: ‘I know.’ Me: (mental facepalm).

29. I loved what the Bluecoats guy said about the show. ‘We liked these different pieces of music but had no idea what to do with them. So we gave it to our visual staff who we trust and who are incredible, and they put something together. The pitch bend was thrown in in camps and I didn’t buy it at first.’ How awesome to get a look at the creative process like that. And it turned into the most loved show of the season. Throw a show concept at the wall and see if it sticks.

30. Second best tuba section of the night and not by much. These kids take their tubas, stand at a ten-degree angle and play a feature section. So do all of the other sections of the line. Hymn of Acxiom was particularly well-interpreted tonight. ‘I think we’ll spread out about a hundred yards and play antiphonally in perfect time and with perfect balance.’ The guy who runs up the ramp and dives into the guard has, if you will, balls of steel. I assume it’s a guy. If it’s a girl, she should have honorary balls of steel. Too bad Tom Blair missed showing us the jump the first time. If you waited for the scores, you saw the jump. Much gasping.

31. Other than that, the camera work and directing was incredible. They did not miss much at all.

32. Loved the comment about the ‘prop arms race.’ I like that they are given a little latitude to honestly comment on the state of the activity and not just shill for DCI. This is I’m sure because they are talking to committed drum corps fans who plunked down some money to sit in a theatre for five hours when they probably have to work the next day.

33. Bluecoats and Crown received the most pre-show applause and anticipation from the group in theatre. Why Crown will become a little more obvious later.

34. Cadets. They seem to have cleaned up the new ending. The narrator is terrific. And he is NOT lip-synching. They march and play and spin and toss so competently. I buy the arrangements completely. it seems though that when they win, it’s when their color guard really plays up the characterizations. With how the visual captions are predominant, it seems that they should do more of this. And they are really good at it. They really pioneered a lot of it. I am reminded of their 90, 91, 95, and 2011 shows. So anyhow, this year is great.

35. Creepy old man moment of the night, Dave Glyde: ‘Enjoy the girls with the tambourines.’

36. Also, he says about maintaining excellence. ‘We get the best of the best.’ Fan in the theatre: ‘Well, that helps.’

37. I have always loved BD, probably because my band director was a fan and we did BD arrangements in high school: T.O., Harlem Nocturne, stuff like that. They deliver. The guard uniforms were really something else. I hadn’t seen them up close this year as I don’t have the FN. The tambourines, well, they were certainly interesting. Does that count in the field percussion score? Like I said before, the only drop I saw all night. The Devils MARCH, and anyone who says they don’t is simply not watching. The hornline deserves the Ott. I will listen to this show all fall, winter and spring. The ballad. The Gordon Goodwin chart. The tag.The ONLY complaint I have about Blue Devils is this. Why even march tubas? They are never featured, and the rockin’ bass line is all in the pit. If I were a tuba player in Northern California, Vanguard would be my first and only choice.

38. On the way out, there is another little girl heading out with her dad. Me to the girl: ‘What was your favorite corps?’ Dad: ‘Well we’re a little biased towards Crown, since my brother Mike arranges the hornline for them.’ Me: ‘You’re Michael Klesch’s brother?’ Him: ‘Yes.’ We have a nice talk for about ten minutes. Would have been my highlight of the night had I not enjoyed J. the Blue Stars fan so much.

39. Thanks DCI. Good job. Top to bottom the corps are great great GREAT this year and the cinecast was thoroughly enjoyable.

[DCI-86]

Great review!

My favourite line "15. No one drops anything anymore. I can’t remember seeing one drop all night. Except in Blue Devils. You know, the high color guard."

LOL

[jmc5682]

My only complaint about the broadcast was the horrible camera work done during BD's show. Very little high camera shots which was very frustrating. Also, I realized how crappy the sound is from my computer/TV hook-up that I use for Fan Network viewing and listening. Drum corps really is so much better live, but if not live, still way better at the movie theater than my Toshiba laptop and television!

[jmc5682]

One more thing, theater in Hayward, CA was full with the only seats without butts in them the seats in the front rows of the theater. The crowd favorites were BD, SCV and Cavies.