Indy "opening" contest

[jjeffeory]

ALL the scores were low people.

I think they don't want to get out of control with the scores like they did last year. Some of these corps will be breaking 70 tomorrow or at the next show.

[Musicman1084]

Finally home from the theater. Didn't feel like typing up all my thoughts on my phone, so here they are, in order of performance:

Madison - I feel that they are already stronger than last year on the achievement side of the house, but I just can't connect with this show. It feels like the late 1980s meets early 2000s drum corps. There's nothing even remotely modern about it to me; everything from the arrangements to the drill to the cheesy acting from the guard seems old fashioned. Choppy arrangements with a lack of clarity in theme just makes it hard for me to love... I will say that there was a great amount of visual clarity for this early in the season, as well as some great brass moments. Drums in 3rd is laughable.

Blue Stars - I generally love Blue Stars shows... this is a major exception. This was ROUGH, even for this early in the season. The brass had no clarity, neither in music or visual performance. It seems like there were lofty expectations for the show design, but it falls flat in most regards. With a title like "Side Show," I'm expecting a spectacle of a show with lots of great visual moments. When they started explaining how it had to do with a depression-era carnival, I immediately felt a disconnect with the show title, even moreso when I heard the choppy musical arrangements to little effect. The drumset was distracting and sounded very out of place stylistically (tuning and concert-hall style amplification made it worse). It works for Grom's indoor writing, but much less outdoors, especially in this show. One bright spot for this show was the guard, which makes me scratch my head after seeing the recaps. They have a ton of work to do, and I unfortunately think they will be on the outside looking in this year unless they make some MAJOR changes, both compositionally and in execution. Madison was clearly better, at least in my opinion.

Crown - Holy crap... I wasn't expecting much initially after seeing some clips online, but they really came across well today. Brass is already performing at a high level, but there are some moments that are super exposed and will need a ton of work. The guard is phenomenal, as was the entire corps visually. Everything works thematically except for the closer, but others have already mentioned that this is likely going to be scrapped. Drums in 6th is puzzling to me and I can't help but feel a bit concerned over last place in composition. I will say, to the ire of many on this site, Crown NEEDS to embrace their use of electronics even more for this show! They didn't come across at all in prior clips, but the little I could hear of them tonight made a HUGE impact on the show. They weren't relied upon to carry the show, but they provided excellent effect and ambiance that I feel will be necessary to convey the sinister themes in this show. Overall assessment of potential: I'm expecting this will likely challenge for a medal, certainly moreso than last year, but will miss out on a top 2 spot.

Cavies - The opener was great ... after that, what a mess! That "Run Boy Run" section ... what exactly were they thinking? Nothing appealing about the music, and the awkwardness of the singing made me very uncomfortable. Everything after the opener felt like a total it was trying to recreate the magic from early 2000s Cavaliers shows, unsuccessfully. Major re-writes coming folks. They have talent, but the vehicle they were given is an incomplete thought.

Cadets - Already being performed at a high level. The instrumentation is a bit strange (not much bottom end), but works for the most part. The percussion section is amazing. Flam city in the drumline and some pretty interesting orchestration in the front ensemble. The french horn feature was phenomenal, but I really hope they watch where they're going on those podiums! All that said, they will do well based on how much they are integrating the "ten" concept, but there's nothing supremely innovative about this show. It's a typical fast-paced, exciting Cadets show with a basic, easily-conveyed concept rather than a theme, and it will work out very well for them competitively. I'd be surprised if they fell out of medal contention.

Bluecoats - I need to apologize for the fellow audience members whose babies I will inevitably throw. I don't have any of my own, and the Bluecoats deserve to have some tossed in their general direction. I can't even begin to say how impressed I am with the sheer amount of risk the design team has taken with this show. I already know that a majority of fans will not like or identify with this show due to lack of melody, heavy electronics, etc. I have no issue with any of it, and even embrace it. It's so different than anything that has ever been put on the field. It's almost like the entire show is one continuous effect, perfectly wrapped into one full length show. I can't wait to see where they take this show once they work on some balance issues. One other area to work on will inevitably be individual visual performance. LOTS of bouncing and some uniformity issues. Overall, I really feel this show, along with the Cadets, has the potential to challenge BD for the top spot this year. The only way to go is up!

[DrumManTx]

I'm writing a pretty detailed review tomorrow if anyone's interested, if not I won't worry about it. But that's the most exciting opening night of drum corps I've had since I went to my first cinecast 8 years ago. There's not a single show I didn't really enjoy. I need to go to bed right now, my head hurts.

[BRASSO]

Stars percussion has been strong IMO over the last couple years and was very underrated...

Yes.. and on another note, Blue Stars medaled in Guard last season( finished 3rd out of top 12 at Finals) . Tonite they were 5th out of the 6 in the show.

I thought Crown's drumline looked improved over last season, but obviously the percussion judge tonite didn't think so ( he had them in last place ). But its just the 1st show too, of course.

Edited June 18, 2015 by BRASSO

[Cappybara]

I'm not going to read into the Crown's percussion score until we're into July. For all we know, they had a bad run. Or they really could somehow be worse than last season. Who knows.

Slotting IS a thing early in the season though and that starts to disappear after the first week or two of competition.

[dcsnare93]

Yes.. and on another note, Blue Stars medaled in Guard last season( finished 3rd out of top 12 at Finals) . Tonite they were 5th out of the 6 in the show.

I thought Crown's drumline looked improved over last season, but obviously the percussion judge tonite didn't think so. But its just the 1st show too, of course.

Improved doesn't mean other lines were frozen in time either, though. Personally, I wouldn't have had them as low as 6th tonight, but no higher than 4th either. It'll be interesting to see how things turn out in the next few weeks.

I'm a lot more enthusiastic about Crown's show after seeing them tonight than I was after their preview. Really, there wasn't a single show I didn't like tonight. A lot of great things happening!

Edited June 18, 2015 by dcsnare93

[Pes49]

Finally home from the theater. Didn't feel like typing up all my thoughts on my phone, so here they are, in order of performance:

Madison - I feel that they are already stronger than last year on the achievement side of the house, but I just can't connect with this show. It feels like the late 1980s meets early 2000s drum corps. There's nothing even remotely modern about it to me; everything from the arrangements to the drill to the cheesy acting from the guard seems old fashioned. Choppy arrangements with a lack of clarity in theme just makes it hard for me to love... I will say that there was a great amount of visual clarity for this early in the season, as well as some great brass moments. Drums in 3rd is laughable.

Blue Stars - I generally love Blue Stars shows... this is a major exception. This was ROUGH, even for this early in the season. The brass had no clarity, neither in music or visual performance. It seems like there were lofty expectations for the show design, but it falls flat in most regards. With a title like "Side Show," I'm expecting a spectacle of a show with lots of great visual moments. When they started explaining how it had to do with a depression-era carnival, I immediately felt a disconnect with the show title, even moreso when I heard the choppy musical arrangements to little effect. The drumset was distracting and sounded very out of place stylistically (tuning and concert-hall style amplification made it worse). It works for Grom's indoor writing, but much less outdoors, especially in this show. One bright spot for this show was the guard, which makes me scratch my head after seeing the recaps. They have a ton of work to do, and I unfortunately think they will be on the outside looking in this year unless they make some MAJOR changes, both compositionally and in execution. Madison was clearly better, at least in my opinion.

Crown - Holy crap... I wasn't expecting much initially after seeing some clips online, but they really came across well today. Brass is already performing at a high level, but there are some moments that are super exposed and will need a ton of work. The guard is phenomenal, as was the entire corps visually. Everything works thematically except for the closer, but others have already mentioned that this is likely going to be scrapped. Drums in 6th is puzzling to me and I can't help but feel a bit concerned over last place in composition. I will say, to the ire of many on this site, Crown NEEDS to embrace their use of electronics even more for this show! They didn't come across at all in prior clips, but the little I could hear of them tonight made a HUGE impact on the show. They weren't relied upon to carry the show, but they provided excellent effect and ambiance that I feel will be necessary to convey the sinister themes in this show. Overall assessment of potential: I'm expecting this will likely challenge for a medal, certainly moreso than last year, but will miss out on a top 2 spot.

Cavies - The opener was great ... after that, what a mess! That "Run Boy Run" section ... what exactly were they thinking? Nothing appealing about the music, and the awkwardness of the singing made me very uncomfortable. Everything after the opener felt like a total it was trying to recreate the magic from early 2000s Cavaliers shows, unsuccessfully. Major re-writes coming folks. They have talent, but the vehicle they were given is an incomplete thought.

Cadets - Already being performed at a high level. The instrumentation is a bit strange (not much bottom end), but works for the most part. The percussion section is amazing. Flam city in the drumline and some pretty interesting orchestration in the front ensemble. The french horn feature was phenomenal, but I really hope they watch where they're going on those podiums! All that said, they will do well based on how much they are integrating the "ten" concept, but there's nothing supremely innovative about this show. It's a typical fast-paced, exciting Cadets show with a basic, easily-conveyed concept rather than a theme, and it will work out very well for them competitively. I'd be surprised if they fell out of medal contention.

Bluecoats - I need to apologize for the fellow audience members whose babies I will inevitably throw. I don't have any of my own, and the Bluecoats deserve to have some tossed in their general direction. I can't even begin to say how impressed I am with the sheer amount of risk the design team has taken with this show. I already know that a majority of fans will not like or identify with this show due to lack of melody, heavy electronics, etc. I have no issue with any of it, and even embrace it. It's so different than anything that has ever been put on the field. It's almost like the entire show is one continuous effect, perfectly wrapped into one full length show. I can't wait to see where they take this show once they work on some balance issues. One other area to work on will inevitably be individual visual performance. LOTS of bouncing and some uniformity issues. Overall, I really feel this show, along with the Cadets, has the potential to challenge BD for the top spot this year. The only way to go is up!

Bluecoats will be hard to beat, but not sure they will overtake the BDs at this point. I was blown away by they show. I'm sure a lot of people will hate I this show, but I think they have outpaced everyone in figuring out how to use electronics to it's best advantage. With some fine tuning it's going to be amazing

Edited June 18, 2015 by Pes49

[HornTeacher]

My two-cents worth from my first "drum corps at the theater" experience (and with full knowledge and acceptance that there is an entire season to go -- so my observations from tonight actually mean next to nothing in the grand scheme of things):

1) Really, really p***** at myself that I waited until now to attend one of these. The theater I attended is known for having a great sound system -- but Jesus!!! So nice to be in drum corps glory on the 18th of June.

2) Scouts: I'm a Scout lover from waaaaaaay back. But for me, something wasn't quite there. But as I said above...it's only the first night. Horn line is basically a Scouts hornline...though as a trumpet player, I kind of...no...REALLY...miss the old "hang it out there" Scout screamers. But I accept that it's a different age, so that's that.

3) Stars: Unfortunately, the early show problems I repeatedly saw in terms of alignment and spacing bothered me -- to the point that they lost me after a while. Funny thing that ran through my mind: they use that "use your mallet to make the iron ball go up the tower and ring the bell" thing. How funny would it be for the last instance to consist of positioning the snare line in such a way that one of the snares merely reaches over and "taps" the target, resulting in the most successful result. As I said, funny but insignificant thought...

4) Cavies: Nice tonguing dexterity (and keep your asides to yourselves on that one). Kinda' sorta' typical Cavie style and design. Kids (guys) were playing their butts off...but unfortunately, it was only a "meh" for me.

5) Crown: This is where things got interesting for me. One, I love the unis this year. No purple...no teal...the all-black with red accents screams "WE MEAN BUSINESS." Loved it. The sudden full hornline hits in the opener made me forget some of the unfortunate trumpet fracked attacks leading up to them. Oddly enough, once they set that bar with their total sound, I found the "Dies Irae" to be somewhat less than totally convincing. It's "Day of Wrath," for heaven's sakes. I don't think it's possible to play it with enough anger or forboding...yet I was almost underwhelmed. I also perceived a drop in the energy (synergy) level of the show (both design-wise and performance-wise) through the final third of the show. Loved the dark theme. Can't wait for it to get even darker. Oh...and as much of a Beethoven devotee as I am...I'm not sure I'm convinced of the closer. But yet again...it's early.

6) Cadets: Ok. I've never been a huge Cadets follower (except for certain years, especially those of the Zingali era). But MAN!!! I think Shosty would have been pleased...very pleased. It was difficult to reconcile the heavy use of electronics in a Shostakovich work, but again, I guess that's where we are. I'm just not certain that it is entirely necessary. Very nice ballad; in fact, I found this program to contain the greatest amount of subtlety of any of the programs. The short authentic French Horn feature? Our entire theater let out a very satisfied "sigh" upon its completion. Being an old-school idiot, I've not been a fan of the horn changes. BUT...this worked, and for me, it worked big time. And as everyone else has pointed out...that percussion section is to kill for.

7) Bluecoats: Only one thing to say -- I predict that this show will be the most controversial show of the entire summer. It's a New York Yankee or Dallas Cowboy type of show...either you love it, or you hate it. And I think there will be plenty on both sides.

Sorry for being so long-winded. I guess I'm just still on a high from the whole experience.

Edited June 18, 2015 by HornTeacher

[Liahona]

I thought Crown's drumline looked improved over last season, but obviously the percussion judge tonite didn't think so ( he had them in last place ). But its just the 1st show too, of course.

For those that are calling "foul" for Crown's drums...just because a section is improved...doesn't necessarily mean that the groups around you didn't improve as well...I really LOVE drum judges because they are the one's that are not afraid to throw down a number that is not always popular sometimes with the consensus...

[Pes49]

The spread between Cadets and BCs is stupid. I don't see the General Effect scores in the Cadets show. BCs are going to be a monster in another month.