mountaineers97 Posted August 2, 2016 Share Posted August 2, 2016 Grest encore did bacchanelle, rhapsody in blue, and Elsa' procession. 65.00 pioneer 72.15. Seattle cascades 79.15. Colts 80.50. Troopers 85.25. Phantom 91.75 bluecoats 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prtzdle Posted August 2, 2016 Share Posted August 2, 2016 Grest encore did bacchanelle, rhapsody in blue, and Elsa' procession. 65.00 pioneer 72.15. Seattle cascades 79.15. Colts 80.50. Troopers 85.25. Phantom 91.75 bluecoats Awesome!! 👍🏼 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pit Dad Posted August 2, 2016 Share Posted August 2, 2016 Nice score jump for Colts tonight getting them back in the thick of things with Boston and Troop! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MUtrumpet Posted August 2, 2016 Share Posted August 2, 2016 Coats had a couple of small visual mishaps, but still phenomenal!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcikon2 Posted August 2, 2016 Share Posted August 2, 2016 Pioneer's score doesn't seem to be rising like others in their group. Did they have an off night? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountaineers97 Posted August 2, 2016 Share Posted August 2, 2016 Pioneer's score doesn't seem to be rising like others in their group. Did they have an off night? I thought they did. Will recap when I get home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted August 2, 2016 Author Share Posted August 2, 2016 (edited) OK, just back from the show, I live an hour away. The crowd was large, there were a lot of band busses in the parking lot. The kids were for the most part polite and cheered for all the corps. I stayed for the Phantom encore. More on that later. I won't be discussing scores, that is for others. I sat with a 100% newbie who had never seen drum corps before. He was impressed but spent too much time on his smart phone during the shows for my liking. He was easily able to pick the top three in order. He was blown away by Bluecoats visual package. We sat 22 rows up on the left 45 yard line. Perfect seats, and great moderate weather for the performers. 65.00 Pioneer - I was late to the stadium didn't see them. 72.15. Seattle Cascades - Nice show, they looked young, like a high school band. 79.15. Colts - Nice show, I don't remember much about it. 80.50. Troopers - I liked the uniforms. Live they looked like Pale Rider and made a nice visual picture on the field. Their horn line was the star of their show with a nice full luscious sound. 85.25. Phantom - Phantom suffered from having to go on after the Bluecoats. That's because Bcoats were so exciting everywhere with their VISUAL package, Phantom's show just seem slow paced and spartan by comparison. Phantom's show is so much better live than on the video feed. The camera just doesn't frame Phantom's show very well. For instance when there are three sets of duets on tables. All the soloists were great and when you can "frame" them beside each other it is a fantastic presentation. If you just focus on one pair you don't get the "big picture." Phantom's show is better live because they have that classic, classic lush Phantom horn sound. It's just fantastic. The show only suffers because it feels like it's all ballads until Young Person's Guide gets there. YPG was great, I loved the arrangement, and Phantom played it great. Special shout out to the Phantomettes. They were beautiful and so elegant. This is a world class group of performers. 91.75 Bluecoats - Worth the price of admission. They also were better live than on TV, in some ways but not in all ways. TV can bring the opening drummers clapping into direct focus. In real life they are 50 yards from the crowd and are not as easy to see. Where Phantom's show is a sonic bath, Bluecoats show is a visual bath. Constant motion from everywhere all over the field. You can't take it all in at one sitting. I thought their show was "off" tonight with several obvious problems. One trumpet player stage left slid completely off the prop while trying to hang on. Another stumbled on the edge of the prop after sliding down. Those mis-steps made NO difference whatsover to my overall enjoyment of the show. The soloists when heard live are TREMENDOUS. They were ALL really on fire tonight, and the audience responded audibly to it with appreciation by wild applause. The sop screamers should be counted among the best high-note screamers I've ever heard, of all time, ever. The "Great Gig in the Sky" brought the house down, what a HUGE moment in drum corps this year! Bluecoats is as good as it gets, and a worthy DCI world champion if it turns out that way. I'll get to the encore in another post. Spoiler alert; it's fantastic. Edited August 2, 2016 by wvu80 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountaineers97 Posted August 2, 2016 Share Posted August 2, 2016 (edited) Ok. Time to recap the show. First off I am a brass guy so comments will be on brass, CG, visual etc... I will not attempt to critique percussion as I have opinions about what I like but no idea about if it was proficient or not. The only other live show I have attended so far is Atlanta on Saturday so comparisons will be made with that show only. Pioneer- Improved from last year. I thought the run was not quite as good as Saturday. Noticed several more intonation issues than Saturday and the burning at the stake scene did not seem as well executed. (seats were similar for both shows left 40 yardline row 23 lower level in Atlanta and top row tonight about 35) Enjoyed the show and think this years is the best by them in several years and hope they make semis. Seattle Cascades- Another corps that has improved from last year. They did not have the yellow fabric around the O's so they were essentially see through. It really made a visual difference. There was rain in the area earlier and I guess they made the call not to chance damaging the material? Nonetheless it was an entertaining show with one major flaw. WAY TOO MUCH GOO!!! Their hornline is much improved and marched 10 contras ( I guess they are now tubas, showing my age) They didn't need that much support. Noticed the same problem in Atlanta but just thought it was because of the seating but seemed just as bad tonight, especially on the closer. Troopers- Seemed to be cleaner tonight. Good brass sound and blend that troopers seem to have lately. Mic issue on the short solo into the ballad. Otherwise similar run to Saturday. Colts- Impressed me a lot tonight. Much cleaner than Saturday and the lighted boxes do seem to pop at night. CG had a couple of drops tonight but I thought they did very well overall. Love the color of the flags as the show progresses from evening, to twiight, to night then morning. I think a dome does them a disservice on 2 respects. First, as mentioned by many others on DCP the boxes were just better against the darker backdrop of an outdoor stadium at night (was dark when they went on). Second, they have a more focused brass at the upper register this year that just seems crisp outdoors and gets lost in the echo of a dome. Couldn't tell the difference in Troops brass from Saturday to tonight, but I sure could Colts. Overall I would not have been suprised with the run they had, and going after troopers that they weren't closer to troop. They did close the gap from over 2 points to less than 1.5 though. Still not sold on the soft ending. They had the crowd ready to give a standing o but then soft ending and it seemed to kill momentum (I'm looking at you too Crossmen) Very few shows can pull off a soft ending and add to the show, and I'm not sure this is one of them. Bluecoats- What do I say that hasn't been said already. Very entertaining show. As a brass player the book makes me smile. Not as technical as crowns but great fun to listen too. Makes me miss the screamers from the 80's 90's. (yes I know the 70's too but I was too young to remember). What sets this show apart is its energy. It's a funny thing and very hard to bring on the 3rd night in a row (just ask crown). Please that is not a knock on crown but I was in Indy last year and in semis that show wowed me. In finals it just didn't have that energy. The bluecoats seem to really love performing this show and you can tell it. They are selling it to the audience and we are buying. Love the new ending drill and flags. I'm sure there will be tweaks but that was the one weakness that I thought they had early in the year watching on DCI live. Phantom- Good run tonight. Musically I really like this show. Two ballads (which has been a criticism of some)- no big deal to me, they do both well and that's what matters to me. Soloists were great and brass sounded good. I think where this show lacks is in visual. Phantomettes are fabulous as always and not the visual component that is missing. The drill just doesn't do it for me. I don't expect Phantom to run around like the Cavies all the time but there seemed to be a lack of visual cohesiveness with the show with the possible exception of the second ballad and the closer. Not a big fan of the percussion feature between the ballads, but as I said that is my taste only and in no way a knock on the kids or their performance level. I am probably not worthy to judge middle school percussion. Overall good job by Phantom and as a homer hope they continue to improve. Bonus points for a great encore!!! Elsa's procession still gives me goosebumps every time. Well it's 2:30 and I have to be at work at 7. Honestly who can sleep right after a show anyway. Edited August 2, 2016 by mountaineers97 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdaddy Posted August 2, 2016 Share Posted August 2, 2016 Phantom- Good run tonight. Musically I really like this show. Two ballads (which has been a criticism of some)- no big deal to me, they do both well and that's what matters to me. Soloists were great and brass sounded good. I think where this show lacks is in visual. Phantomettes are fabulous as always and not the visual component that is missing. The drill just doesn't do it for me. I don't expect Phantom to run around like the Cavies all the time but there seemed to be a lack of visual cohesiveness with the show with the possible exception of the second ballad and the closer. Not a big fan of the percussion feature between the ballads, but as I said that is my taste only and in no way a knock on the kids or their performance level. I am probably not worthy to judge middle school percussion. Overall good job by Phantom and as a homer hope they continue to improve. Thanks for the review. I have gone back to watch Regiment several times to try to focus on the drill, and they DO run around a lot - not sure if it's as much as the Cavies (or name a top six group other than SCV), but they do it a bunch. But apparently it was written in a way that lacks GE punch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeRapp Posted August 2, 2016 Share Posted August 2, 2016 Thanks for the review. I have gone back to watch Regiment several times to try to focus on the drill, and they DO run around a lot - not sure if it's as much as the Cavies (or name a top six group other than SCV), but they do it a bunch. But apparently it was written in a way that lacks GE punch. Phantom relies on traditional marching ideas, like rotating triangles and trapezoids. It's really really cool, if it is done perfectly. But, that's just not enough to get you a metal in today's drum cores. This year's show design it feels like, first were going to do this, then we're going to do this, and then we're going to do that,. The only other critique I might give them is, if you're going to march a dozen or more Contras, you should feature them a lot more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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