Lynn, MA Review

[fifer]

LYNN, MA – My friends and I say it every year – there is no better stadium for sound than the Manning Bowl. Unintentionally, the designers of this stadium (back in the 30’s) created an acoustical wonder! Too bad it has so many of the other problems of an aging facility.

I was lucky enough to be in the last row on the 45. So I could stand up the entire show and get a great view of the drills. The judges were standing directly behind me but they were quiet enough to not be much of a distraction.

Pioneer – 7th – 71.60 – Sorry guys, but a late business meeting and the usual “move 15 miles in one hour traffic” on Rte. 128 caused me to miss you. I did see the closer as I walked down the hill to the side of the stadium. Couldn’t hear the music enough to give any comment, but I will say that I do not like the new hats - too marching/military band looking. Also, not sure if they were used the entire show, but the bright orange outfits the guard had on looked out of place with the corps proper. It looked like an orange version of the Bridgemen’s banana jacket from my vantage point.

Troopers – 6th – 75.55 – Much more lyrical and entertaining show for them this year. And what a mello line. Much of the show is written to this strength, sort of like some of the great Star shows. Musically, I was impressed with the rest of the corps as well – really held their own. Guard was the weakest link and seemed to be only at late June level compared to the rest.

Southwind – 5th – 79.85 – Man is this a difficult show to put across. I think it would take one of the best SCV or Phantom corps to really sell this thing. Feel like these kids could be scoring much better if they were given a more entertaining and less challenging musical program. They returned to the activity a few years back with a very crowd pleasing show and seem to have consistently become more esoteric with each passing year. But have to give the kids credit for doing what they do with this tough show. Guard is incorporated into the drill much better this year. Drill in general is good for a corps at this level, but nothing new. This uniform really shows off even the slightest imperfection. I noticed that it tricks the eye at times into seeing issues that are not there. For example, they did a pretty straight company front, but the variation in the height of the corps members tricked the eye into thinking that the line was not straight.

Manadrins – 4th – 79.90 – Good job, but just not seeing what all the hype has been about. Maybe horns had an off night – I thought they should have been about a half point below Southwind. Show itself was OK but just didn’t seem to connect. They always have very interesting drum writing but had some real execution problems, especially in the pit. Guard did a very good job. However, the visual ends up really dark and muddy with the guard in the same dark colors as the corps proper. I didn’t care for their guard placement and book as much this year as in the past.

Madison Scouts – 3rd – 87.50 – Good return back to top 12. Pleasant show with a lot of nice pieces, but the pieces do not make for a unified idea and many of the transitions are just “end this song and then start the next.” But the visual is much improved and the guard light years ahead of last year. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed most of the pieces of this show, but they will have to put together a better flowing product to take the next step up. These guys have the nicest silks of anyone this year. The silks seemed to be the main thing that unifies this show and presents the theme. The coat racks are almost invisible on the field and seem to just cause clutter. Their percussion line is still struggling, especially the pit and basses. Uniforms look sharp out there, but it seems incomplete. Maybe a two-inch border of red on the bottom of the jacket would add a little more flair and definition.

Bluecoats – 2nd – 87.80 – These guys seem to be struggling recently. Tonight they started pretty well, but seemed to lose it after the first third. There were several tears in the music – almost the entire tango had one group of horns with the field percussion, one group on their own tempo, and the pit on a third tempo – it took half the percussion break for the field and pit to get in synch – there was another song with a significant horn tear – and the pit consistently fell out of tempo with the field percussion. I see why they were third in music ensemble but think they got a gift in percussion. The show just did not sell to the audience with the exception of the closer and a few impact points. Seems like there have been few significant changes since I saw them almost a month ago, so I do not understand why they are actually dirtier than when I saw them last. Musically, the show still seems to be the best portrayal of their concept for me – it captures me for a while and then releases me into blahdone.

Boston Crusaders – 1st – 89.70 – These kids really know how to perform. Yes, it was their home show and the crowd was with them before the first note. But I have seen this corps collapse to that pressure in some years. This year, the kids sold this show like no other I have seen this year (and that includes the Cavies and The Cadets). I was concerned that this show was too choppy and did not flow when I saw it in Beverly and Nashua. Well, the right changes in the right places and the increased confidence of the performers has resulted in a complete package that works. Some of the changes have resulted in elimination of some old drill moves that makes this more a tribute to the past than a rehash. For example, they had been doing the move where two lines along the yard-lines merge onto the 50 and fold out to a box twice whereas it is only done once now – giving a much greater impact. And there are interesting new/revised drill forms like in the ballad where a diamond shape moves from the back left corner to front/center. As the box moves, the horns spin into clusters of four and those clusters spin when the entire form is set. Not only that, but the spinning involves an accelerondo where the speed of marching changes as the clusters spin. This show has so much more field coverage and challenge than either of their two rivals tonight. They should have been two points ahead simply in music ensemble. The pit almost never strayed into its own tempo and the horns where very together (even when separated into low and high voices, 40 yards apart in Malaguena.) Guard too should have been much higher than its competitors. They have so many exposed and intricate moves and do them extremely well – such a major improvement in three weeks. I predict that they continue to move away from the Bluecoats/Madison pack and start to nibble at the heals of Phantom.

[starting line]

Nice review.

[fifer]

Glad you enjoyed it!

One thing I forgot to mention - I wanted to give big kudos to the soloist for Madarins who did the Polovetsian Dances (commonly known as "Strangers in Paradise"). GREAT job!!! Also to the arranger for doing this piece with the original lush intentions of the composer. Glassmen's version from 98 was nice but this is so much more true to the original - it gave me goosebumps!

[Bluefan]

Nice review. Too bad to hear about the problems in the Bluecoats show, that happened to a much smaller extent in Erie a few nights ago. They have had fairly recent changes in drill, so maybe they'll clean it up before Allentown tomorrow.

[Panther Pilot]

I was also at the Lynn show did you see the Boston guys beating their fist in the ground when they finished that show. You could tell those kids left it all on the field that night. Very emotional peformance for The Crusaders. Crowd was really into that show as well. I never heard such a roar from a home crowd. It was a fun show - now if they just fix up/clen up the stadium.

[Bari-Player]

Fifer thank you very much for the nice review. I appreciated it very much. Finally someone that saw how deep the show really was. Lynn was a great show for us seeing as it was the first time Boston has won it's home show in 20 years! Pretty crazy. Thanks again for the complement on the show it really was great.

Also i don't see why so many other posters on this website are so negative towards my corps... I really feel that we had one of the hardest shows this summer, and i saw most of the top 8 this year.

-Brian

BAC - '02-'05

[GMichael1230]

Fifer thank you very much for the nice review. I appreciated it very much. Finally someone that saw how deep the show really was. Lynn was a great show for us seeing as it was the first time Boston has won it's home show in 20 years! Pretty crazy. Thanks again for the complement on the show it really was great.

Also i don't see why so many other posters on this website are so negative towards my corps... I really feel that we had one of the hardest shows this summer, and i saw most of the top 8 this year.

-Brian

BAC - '02-'05

Ok, dude, could you be any more biased ?? LOL Please, defalte that big head of yours and come down to earth.

There is no doubt your show was entertaining and competitive...in the scoring range you were in.....However, what basis are you making the statement that your show is one of the "hardets" out there ???

All of your posts since championships have been about how hard Boston was, how better you were, how "deep" you were...etc...etc....OK, so you saw the top 8, who's show ABOVE you were you more difficult than, and who should you have beaten.

I personally have given Boston alot of slack for things but I can see how entertaining this show was, and how pleasing it was to others and myself. But theres no doubt that all the "negativity" as YOU call it , because you don't agree with it, is pretty much felt throughout the people that have seen it.

Boston Crusaders, desgn wise, have gotten away with alot this year, and last, and they year before, and before, and the year before that. Similar show designs, many repeat, re-hashed moves, themes, concepts.......enuff !! NExt year, will be a most telling year in the staying power of the Boston Crusaders organization...it's time to put up or shut up...on the field.

~G~