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scores are high down south tonight .lol

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The scores for these 3 corps at DCI Atlanta were (in my opinion) unfairly low. This show places them in a much better and more accurate position within the DCA standings.

Now that I'm home, I can sit down and compose my thoughts. Here's some more detailed reviews. If I had a solid idea of numbers, I gave them to you but I didn't go out of my way to get exact counts:

Exhibition: Southern Knights - Birmingham, Alabama (1 conductor, 13 horns, 3 perc)

Brand new this year, Southern Knights is the brainchild of John Hoekstra, who many of you will remember as a featured soloist with Atlanta CV for several years. The group is performing standstill exhibitions this year and will have one more appearance at the DCA South Championships on August 22nd in Atlanta CV's hometown of Rockmart, Georgia. Their ensemble consists of 4 sopranos (yes, they're using G bugles!), 4 mellophones, 3 baritones, 1 euphonium, and 1 contrabass along with a set player, snare drummer, and another percussionist alternating between tenors and bass drum. Their program was entitled "Quest". They opened with a few warmup chorales, displaying some very good ensemble blending. They then moved on into their show charts, and they can play! We got a taste of what promises to be a quality hornline in the years to come with some true power behind it. Percussion is solid and blended well with the small but powerful hornline. They will continue to develop in the coming years, and hopefully become a consistent quality player in DCA South. I've been told the goal is to field a DCA Class A corps next summer.

Open Class: Carolina Gold - Greensboro, North Carolina (1 DM, 29 horns, ~20 drumline, ~10 pit? Large guard)

Gold comes off of a 1st place finish in All-Age class at DCI Atlanta. Their 2015 program, "Let It Snow", is a cleverly-designed theme that carries well through the visual design and uniforms. The corps proper has added a blue sash to their uniforms for this year to match their guard uniforms. Guard has been Gold's strong suit for years and they don't disappoint in this show, with many effective emphasis moments and good unison work. Percussion is good. The pit writing evokes the right mood for this show, although during most of the production they cover up the brass. Compared to the percussion and guard, the hornline seems a bit underdeveloped and anemic in some of the full-bore impact moments. However, during their feature in the middle of the show, they exhibit some very excellent power and projection that I would love to see more of. The hornline is overall much stronger and more clean than years past - I still think they're capable of projecting more on the move and I believe as they get more comfortable with the show as the season accelerates into DCA South and Championships that we'll see them improve more in that regard. The corps has taken some very good steps in design and quality of performance in the past several years and this season is looking like one of their best.

Open Class: Atlanta CV - Atlanta/Rockmart, Georgia (2 DM, ~50 horns, 18 drumline, 15 pit, Large guard)

CV seems to have hit a stride in their season after a somewhat puzzling outcome at DCI Atlanta. The performance of their 2015 program, "Eyeconic", was much much more together and complete with the addition of several members filling holes who joined the drill at different points in the show tonight. Most of the newcomers are almost 100% integrated into the show and (from what I could see) all were on the field by the time the closer started. This is a fun show with a lot of effect moments. The brass is very present throughout with several excellent powerful moments and some excellent solo, duet, and small ensemble work. Visual demand is very high with a lot of high-velocity drill. The props on the field are effectively used to hide the horns during several points in the show, and it works well to focus the viewer's attention to the percussion and guard work that occurs during these moments. Speaking of the guard, they had a fantastic run tonight and posted a very impressive early August number - 89 in content and 86 in achievement. There are many good guard moments, including a hearkening back to some old-school Cavaliers with the hornline stepping over the guard near the end of the show. CV's percussion has experienced a meteoric rise the past several seasons. The pit provides full and rich musicality and a wide variety of timbres. Like every corps tonight, CV did experience some small timing issues but no major tears occurred and any inconsistencies were resolved by the percussion and drum majors within a few seconds. I think this show has the potential to evolve a little more as the season continues. It could become a crowd favorite at championships.

Class A: Alliance - Atlanta/Woodstock, Georgia (1 DM, 24? horns, ~19 drumline, 8 pit, ~10-12 guard)

It's good to see Alliance back on the field for 2015. The corps is competing in Class A this year after an encouraging 10th place Open Class finish in their first year back from inactivity. The purple sash the corps displayed on their jackets in the 2011 and 2014 seasons has been replaced with a blue one to fit their winter theme for the 2015 program, Subzero. The corps is smaller than before, but every section is solid and performs boldly and confidently. If you remember the sounds the Sun Devils were producing with their Class A hornline, then you'd enjoy listening to Alliance this year. The brass is small but powerful and blends very, very well. From what I understand they are still down a few high brass players. It's hard to balance and blend in a small line but these folks are doing a fine job listening and creating some really enjoyable brass moments. Percussion, as always, is strong. Guard plays a prominent role in this production and serves as the indication of the corps "surviving" the harsh winter and emerging into the spring with a burst of bright orange and red flags near the end of the show. Alliance seems to do very well from a programming standpoint, and I hope they continue to field corps for a long time - they will be a Class A title contender this year and with a few season to rebuild will have a good shot at achieving competitive success in Open Class, should they choose to move up again.

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Results:

Exhibition: Southern Knights

Class A:

1) Alliance - 72.55

Open Class:

1) Atlanta CV - 80.70 - All captions

2) Carolina Gold - 76.50

Edited by Jothcra
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