Popular Post jjeffeory Posted July 2, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted July 2, 2017 (edited) Here's my late review. First off, I gotta say that it was a perfect night for drumcorps in Oceanside. The weather was great, it really didn't get cold at all in the evening, and it was in the low 70s! This is going to be a pretty big contrast to the Riverside show on Sunday where it will be in the 90s at show start. Traffic getting there was pretty terrible; I left 2 and a half hours early for what should have been an hour drive, and until the last 10 minutes of the drive Waze had predicted a 3 and a half hour drive. Such is life in SoCal traffic, especially on a Friday night. From where I was sitting the people around me were from Vietnam, Arkansas, Illinois, Massachusetts, California, and Ohio. How's that for diversity of people at a small show in California at the beginning of the season? I want to thank all of the performers attending tonight, and all of those that will be attending tomorrow. How cool is it that California has 12 corps from the state! At any rate, we got to El Camino High School about 10 minutes before show start. The stadium was a typical California H.S. stadium with a track around the football field. The bleachers were concrete; I was so glad that we brought seat cushions. Oh I long for the days of stadiums without tracks so that we can get closer to the corps while they perform! On with the show: 5:37 p.m. Incognito - Brea, CA 5:52 p.m. Watchmen - Riverside, CA 6:07 p.m. Golden Empire - Bakersfield, CA 6:22 p.m. Impulse - Buena Park, CA 6:37 p.m. Gold - Oceanside, CA 6:52 p.m. Intermission 7:22 p.m. Mandarins - Sacramento, CA 7:40 p.m. Pacific Crest - Diamond Bar, CA 7:58 p.m. The Academy - Tempe, AZ 8:16 p.m. Blue Knights - Denver, CO 8:34 p.m. Phantom Regiment - Rockford, IL 8:52 p.m. Santa Clara Vanguard - Santa Clara, CA First off was Incognito: La Belle Du Bal Music by Saint-Saëns by Saint-Saëns, Camille Music by Bach by Bach, Johann Sebastian Music by Debussy by Debussy, Claude Music by Sia by Furler, Sia Original compositions by Tony T. Nguyen by Nguyen, Tony Obviously this is a trainer corps who is doing a good job of providing performance opportunities for these students! I don't know the age range of the students in this corps, but they seem to be around the same capabilities as Blue Devils C. I really enjoyed their colorguard, and Chandelier by Sia was a fun tune for them to play. I look forward to their continued improvement. Next up was Watchment, from Riverside, CA: To Valhalla To Valhalla by Hutchins, Harry & Rendon, Paul My first thought was that these are some of Blue Devils old uniforms. It is nice to know that they still being put to good use by a drumcorps! These guys and gals had a pretty decent percussion section! The battery was nice, and they're teaching some good technique and playing in the pit. The brass sounds a bit young. Guard performed pretty well, and it was nice to see them spinning together. There was lots of Norse imagery presented throughout the show. Good for them! Golden Empire: Discovering Gems Within Emerald - Church Windows, Movement II by Respighi, Ottorino on Respighi: Church Windows - Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra - Telarc CD 80356 Ruby - Red (from Bright Colored Dances IV by Tarantella) by Buckley, Lewis J. Sapphire - One Day I'll Fly Away by Sample, Joe; Jennings, Will Diamond - Palladio by Jenkins, Karl Okay, these guys are getting pretty good for sure! First thing I noticed was that their brassline sound was a step up from the previous corps. I certainly recognized the Church Windows (ala Crown). They are approaching this book aggressively; the difficulty of the book is a step up from the earlier corps. The trumpets are good, but they need to blend with one another more. That's mostly the trend for the whole hornline too. If everyone put out the same intensity in their respective sections of the brass, these guys could get to the next level in sound! They had the first big sound of the night, but the blend is keeping them from sounding even better. Another thing helping their brass is that the arrangements were more complex and definitely something that I could see the judges rewarding more than some other groups. Lots of interesting movement in the guard in the beginning, which was nice and entertaining. There were several unison guard moments that were in sync with one another. I really enjoy the show overall. The percussion sounded pretty clean for their level as well. People around me said that they really enjoyed the show! Impulse: In the Beginning Also Sprach Zarathustra by Strauss, Richard Rite of Spring by Stravinsky, Igor Adagio from Spartacus by Khachaturian, Aram Ritual Fire Dance by Falla, Manuel de Okay, I'm glad to see these guys around still this year. They seem to have an unbalanced hornline. There are lots of Tubas (6) in a small hornline. You know what? The music they've chosen to play certainly works with that! They get featured quite a bit, and they really do give this smallish hornline a nice bottom sound! The guard is entertaining for their size, and the drumline can compete with the tubas over who is king of Impulse. The highlights of the show for me were the Also Sprach Zarathustra and Ritual Firedance sections. Overall, it's a fun show. I wish they could gain a few more members. The percussion section is fine, but the brass and guard numbers need to increase. They're being given some good training in Impulseland, and they just need some more numbers to make the ideas they have work even better. Incidentally, nothing too funny in the show at the moment, but when they troop the stands, they get a little cheeky. Just a little... Gold: Grow This is actually Gold's current hometown. It's not their show ( They run a show later in the season somewhere else), but it is their "home" show. I couldn't find their repertoire listed anywhere. Yes, their uniforms are overalls, but I think they look decent, and they certainly fit the theme if the show is about gardening. These guys's percussion section was a big step up from everyone else before them. I thought the pit writing was quite tasteful. I must mention that the right speaker was a bit too loud and unbalanced. The guard was quite an improvement over previous corps too. This show seems to be designed to go on tour. The movement by the hornline in the opening statement was pretty effective from where I was sitting. Speaking of hornline, I thought they did a very nice job. The low brass were great! It was the first big sound of the night that was blended well between all sections. The book is a little less complex than Golden Empire though. The writing of the entire horn book was nice and clean. Almost every section gets some feature time of some sort. Sometimes the trumpets got a little crass, but I thought they had the better brass between them and Golden Empire. The Gold v Golden Empire match up should be interesting this year. I really thought the blend during loud points was very good. Intermission... Mandarins - Sacramento, CA Inside the Ink Flow by Poulan, Key; Van Derpoel, Darren; Nungaray, Byron Drip by Poulan, Key; Van Derpoel, Darren; Nungaray, Byron The Sound of Silence by Simon, Paul on Simon and Garfunkel - Sounds of Silence Crazy by Nelson, Willie Inside the Ink by Poulan, Key; Van Derpoel, Darren; Nungaray, Byron Well folks, these guys and gals are for real this year. I have to say that this show still is quintessential Mandarins, only bigger, better, and badder than ever before! The guard is the darling of this show. They add quite a bit of GE, and the writing is very creative and effective. I wouldn't say it is the most awesome ideas that I've ever come across, but it could be finals worthy. One thing is for sure: this is the best Mandarins there has ever been. It's a very entertaining show, and I am glad that they're scoring well out of the gate. The brass did a good job today as well. I especially enjoyed the trombone - muted trumpet feature. It is a little disconcerting to hear it coming out the the right speaker, where they aren't, though. More on that in general later... I especially enjoy how the Sound of Silence was woven into the show here and there. Certainly interesting thing to do, and it is effective. Crazy was great too. It's nice when corps can put a little familiarity into the show for the older folks. I think it helps them buy into the show a little more. Pacific Crest - Diamond Bar, CA Golden State of Mind California Dreamin’ by Phillips, John; Phillips, Michelle Kaleidoscope of Mathematics (from A Beautiful Mind Soundtrack) by Horner, James Arrival of the Birds by Swincoe, Jason Alfonso Muskedunder by Terje, Todd Moving On (from the Lost Soundtrack) by Giacchino, Michael Ok, folks. What a difference a week makes! I saw this show online last week like many of you, and they've gotten leaps and bounds better in just one week. This show is so much better in person! The music and theme is a bit of a stylistic departure from their previous efforts, but it does give them a more "grown up" sound and seem like a more mature corps. California Dreamin' woven throughout the show is nice and effective. This was another instance of getting the old folks to buy into your show... Kaleidoscope of Mathematics is nice. It seems like a lot of these corps are certainly getting repertoire ideas from Blue Knights' recent shows lately. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but I do enjoy the music, and the arrangements are different enough from BK take that that don't seem cookie cutter.... I think Thrower did a great job arranging the show this year. The guard is pretty good, and the corps generally marches well. I actually felt that they should be scoring closer to The Academy and Mandarins. This was the first show to completely suck me into their universe. I felt that there was probably more GE in the show than the judges are giving them credit, and the guard contributes to the show nicely. Heh, and I thought the percussion writing, especially the pit was top notch and went well with what the horns were doing. Okay, I'm going to be a little critical. The horns need more work compared to their peers. I thoroughly enjoyed this show, and it really surprised me that I did. Good job designing the show, and good job to the performers. You guys are AWESOME! The Academy - Tempe, AZ By a Hare Morning Mood from Peer Gynt Suite by Grieg, Edvard Hunting Wabbits by Goodwin, Gordon Overture to the Barber of Seville by Rossini, Gioachino Danse Boheme from Carmen by Bizet, George Ride of the Valkyries by Wagner, Richard Habanera from Carmen by Bizet, George Hungarian Rhapsody by Lizst, Franz Anvil Chorus from Il Trovatore by Verdi, Giuseppe These guys were pretty darned good. Tonight I felt like they were better than Mandarins. The Klesch arrangements were magical. The quality of the hornline sound was very good. The percussion was nice and enjoyable to listen to, and the guard was entertaining as all get out. First the negatives. I feel that visually, they're weaker than they should be at this point of the season. The guard is a little sloppy here and there too. The drill is dirtier than their peers, and I think it's dragging down their scores a little. This is not to say that the performance level is poor, it is just when you get to this level, individual mistakes add up. That being said, the design of their show seemed more mature to me than some other corps in their grouping, but maybe it's not layered as much as others at this point. The pit writing is sublime. The horn writing is money. It seems like the ideas they're trying to portray are presented in a more sophisticated manner that is currently being hampered by the performance. I believe that they'll tweak this show all season, and it will be finals worthy ( along with 15 other corps this year). Blue Knights - Denver, CO i Wave by Beck Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra by Schwantner, Joseph 107 Steps from Dancer in the Dark by Bjork Hide and Seek by Heap, Imogen WOW! What a huge leap in performance and design. The show, from beginning to end was light years better than what it was in Standford. This is certainly a show with the legs to break into the top 6, if they can add more to the guard and visual. I love the snare solo that is routed through the electronics; I love the side one to side two call and answer section with the technical tonguing. It reminds me a little of a part of last year's music, but it is cool, so whatever! The guard is fantastic on the silks! Maybe they could do more other places, but I really enjoyed them! It was certainly a magical performance, even at this early date. Maybe it was the weather too, but the show just clicked very well! I cannot wait to see what else they do to improve this show. Phantom Regiment - Rockford, IL Phantasm Finlandia by Sibelieus, Jean Symphony No. 12 by Shostakovich, Dmitri “Entering the Nightmare” from Dreamscapes by Jarre, Maurice Piano Concerto No. 2 by Rachmaninoff, Sergei Symphony No. 3 by Khachaturian, Aram Ok, the ending of the show was much better than the beginning of the show. The star performance was given by the right side speaker. The blend of the hornline into the sound system was out of sorts tonight. It just sounded unbalanced and grating; relative to what SCV is doing, it was not good at all. That darned speaker really was tooo toooo LOUD. Also, it's disconcerting to hear something coming out of a speaker when you see that the source of the sound is on the opposite side of the field. Maybe at least play that out of the left channel? I hope this improves soon. Visually, the horns are hauling butt for little effect during the first part of the show. I mean, the design is probably there, but the performance isn't yet. Maybe it is more readable in a higher stadium. I can't make sense of the show, and the people around me felt the same. No they were not anti-electronics, amps, synths or anything.... It just didn't mesh. Otherwise the hornline was loud when they aren't out of gas during some parts of the show. They really need to figure out how to better deliver their message. We get scary sounds coming out of the pit here and there. The guard is being spooky here and there as well, but the ideas just go nowhere. It seems like the guard is trying to make the show more understandable, but it is not quite there so far. The hornline still needs a ton of work, and I'm sure the fact that they're hauling butt through the first part of the show doesn't help. We appreciate that you came out to California though, Phantom. I am sure you guys will work your butts off and make this a ton better by the end of the season. Santa Clara Vanguard - Santa Clara, CA Ouroboros Interplay for Piano Four Hands and Orchestra by Gillingham, David The Triumph of Time by Graham, Peter Song of Eight Unruly Tipsy Poets by Long, Zhou Into a Virtual World by Bhatia, Amin Remembering the Future from “Wait of the World” by Melillo, Stephen What can I say? This was a truly magical performance. I hope it wins this year. The level of coordination in this show was phenomenal and only Bluecoats seem to be as cohesive of a design at this point in the season. SCV also miced their corps, especially those large ensemble members who are playing some really difficult music. Looks like they're using a Wifi system with individual mics for each performer so that they can do things away from the sideline. The balance was impeccable tonight. Other corps should take notice at how well they've done it this year. Just fantastic. Sorry I don't have more photos of SCV. My camera, was occupied for a bit doing something other than taking pictures... 8-) Several people behind me said that they felt it looked like "Cavies" drill. I tend to agree, but let's give Weber some credit too. Weber is the drill writer, but it is very obvious that Gaines had some input, and maybe wrote a few sets here and there too. At any rate, this drill is simply some of the most effective drill I've seen in years. The guard is stellar. I have a particular favorite moment in the show, where there is one guard member who is in one of the cages pictured above; it looks like she is floating across the field. Magical! The guard snake flag is a beautiful moment in the show; I thought it was somewhat mirrored on the right side of the field with non-guard members doing something similar. The large brass ensemble on the field near the beginning of the field is sublimely performed, mixed through the speaker system, and executed. You guys have seen the show, so you know what I'm saying, but see this show live. This is really a special group that I can easily see taking the gold. The brass is stellar, the percussion is scary good. The guard is beautiful and has interesting work. The GE is off the charts. When they perform this clean, it could be the show of the year. Anyway, Hope you enjoyed this very long winded overview of my thoughts about the show. Edited July 7, 2017 by jjeffeory Proof Reading 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cadevilina Crown Posted July 2, 2017 Share Posted July 2, 2017 Great review, and thanks for the photos! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shofmon88 Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 Stellar review! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 (edited) Outstanding review... thanks for all the photos and the repertoire lists!!! Edited July 3, 2017 by Fran Haring 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 outstanding review! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank B Mulvaney Posted July 4, 2017 Share Posted July 4, 2017 (edited) Thank you for the best review I have ever read on this site,I agree with almost every word.It was indeed a fantastic night for drum corps. I suffered the traffic, too and missed the first corps, parking in the next county. Don't understand why Pacific Crest doesn't score higher. It was the same story last year.SCV has a truly exceptional show deign. They might go all the way.Blue Knights are classy.Academy is a lot of fun. I have a problem with amping the entire ensemble the way Phantom and SCV does .Believe it pushes the envelope and raises the bar in a way that is not beneficial to the activity. PR was actually too load. 80 horns provides sufficient volume to get desired GE. BTW,I have not posted in years and am a long-time Cadet supporter/volunteer who moved to OC only 4 months ago from NJ.. Have attended 14 DCI Finals including the two in Philly in the 70's. It is going to be a heck of a season. Edited July 4, 2017 by Frank B Mulvaney 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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