Quarterfinals Comments

[jwillis35]

Good evening all (morning to some):

Well, I just got back to me hotel from a long, but fun, night of drum corps. The day was beautiful here in Orlando until 2, then the rain hit for about 25 minutes. No biggy, the show went on and everything was running on schedule until the evening rains which delayed the show for about 2 hours or so. I must say though, that the field was in excellent shape and they put sand where they needed to in order to help the marchers. It was nice and cool after the rains, so the heat was not a problem.

As for the corps, there were just some great performances tonight. There are so many entertaining shows this year, and there is no corps that could say "boy do I hate their music."

As for the scoring, I kind of felt that the top 3 were closer than what the scores indicated. The placings are correct I feel, but I would have Cavies only .4 or .5 below BD, and Cadets only .5 below Cavies. BD is super clean, clean, clean, and their show is very exciting and enjoyable. Love the ending.

Cavies were on tonight. Great performance, awesome drill, and I really liked how their horn line performed tonight. Musical, yet aggressive and, yes, very powerful.

Cadets were a little flat. They are very clean, and they were incredibly musical tonight, but almost to a fault. They have toned down the horn line some and really milk every phrase. The phrase shaping is amazing and their battery and pit were just on fire. What will hurt this show is the overall GE. Just not quite the excitement level needed for a title, but boy are they good. I thought their guard was nothing short of amazing as well. Malaguena got a big standing O, and so did the closing of Rocky Point Holiday. Z Pull worked well tonight I thought.

SCV - I really like the music. It will take some getting used for many, but the show just builds in such a logical way. They probably put out more sound tonight than any other corps. They were incredibly powerful in the brass, and their percussion section is excellent. IMO their percussion was top 2, and I actually thought Cadets should have won percussion. I haven't see recaps yet.

Phantom - WOW--biggest ovation of the night. Horn line was amazing and powerful. "The Lord's Prayer" was to die for tonight. This is one sweet show. If anything, I had them above SCV tonight. I just think the body movement may be hurting them. They do a lot of it, and there are a number of places where it is not completely synced. This and the guard seem to be their weak spots.

Boston - great show, fast paced, really in your face. Ballad is wonderful, opener is lots of fun, but the closer is ok but not great. To many instances where they simply recreate the same ideas in this show. I had them in 7th after Bluecoats. But a great show to see nonetheless.

Bluecoats - excellent show, great horn line, solid drums, and the guard is very good. Their visual package is so good and clean, and they simply need to end this show with the same pizzaz that they start with. Tonight it just kind of ended, but I was so impressed with the musicianship in the horn line and thought the overall product was worthy of 6th. If they nail on Saturday, 6th place is here they will be.

Madison - Oh YEAH. NICE STUFF. Great music, solid horn line, great GE and the percussion and guard were very good tonight. Their closer is worth the price of admission. What a great groove!!! Some marching problems still exist in this show, but they are solid in the 7th or 8th spot.

Crossmen - What a fun show. Some of the best audience response of the night. Horn line was clean and musical, and their charts are awesome--some of the best arrangements on the field. The closer is also to die for. This is also worth the price of admission.

Crown - What a musical show. Love the bell theme. Love the uniforms, and I love their sound. Percussion and guard were real solid. The crowd was so ready for them since they were the first corps to appear after the long rain delay.

Well, I didn't get a chance to see any other corps since I was helping with some things before the rain delay. Tomorrow should be interesting. BD should win, but the spread between them and Cavies and Cadets should be closer. Phantom should take high brass, or at least tie for it. Cadets may very well win drums again, but SCV and BD are also awesome. BD or Cadets will win guard. BD will win visual performance and Cavies or BD may win overall GE.

Most entertaining shows:

1. Phantom

2. Cadets

3. Crossmen/BD

4. Madison/Boston

5. Bluecoats

Just my opinion.

[FrankBeMe]

Thanks Jonathan!

[Flugelist]

Thanks Jonathan. I saw Phantom show a few weeks ago...just incredible..still can't believe that are not around 3rd.

Flugelist

[DCIFanOfAllDivisions]

interesting he said cadets guard was way on.. but scores didn't show that :(

[Panther Pilot]

Thanks for your review. I know you hadn't seen the recap sheet when you did this, but you said Cadets drums were on fire and they won percussion in Qtrs. Madison drum line and color guard were both 12th, visually they were 6th. I would sure like to see Madison 6th this year, but just don't think it will happen. Thanks for the info though.

[jlhiatt]

Thanks for the brief review.