Shoreman Brass Classic - Avon Lake, OH - Aug 5

[N.E. Brigand]

5 hours ago, kevingamin said:

This time I won't be distracted by people I know, either, so better reporting is coming! :D

For the good of DCP, I deliberately avoided you.

(Actually I was explaining drum corps to my own group and never saw you.)

[N.E. Brigand]

4 hours ago, kevingamin said:

Next on the field is the Raiders from Burlington, New Jersey. Their 2017 program, courtesy of Corpsreps.com:

Iconic
"Who Wants to Live Forever" by Brian May 
"Beat It" by Michael Jackson 
"Let it Be" by John Lennon and Paul McCartney 
"Knights of Cydonia" by Muse  

It's not in their repertoire on Corpsreps on in tonight's program book, but as you later noted, they also played "Bohemian Rhapsody".

[N.E. Brigand]

4 hours ago, kevingamin said:

Narration about why the caged bird sings, and now a drum feature.

I was going to put Southwind ahead of Louisiana Stars, but that would have been a mistake. Stars are on fire tonight!

Freebird!

And a few people in the audience actually shouted "Freebird!" (Not Stars plants, either; one of them was a friend of mine.)

Funny how two different shows this year quote from Maya Angelou's poem.

[N.E. Brigand]

4 hours ago, kevingamin said:

The little girl I mentioned before is mimicking the guard's poses and hand movements, which are very Egyptian in nature. She's very cute.

Not all the audience was so engaged. Barberton High School, from the Akron area and about an hour from this show, sent two or three busloads of their band members. Most of them, I'm sure, were well behaved, but for the last two performances, some of them sat down next to me and proceeded to goof off, paying no attention to what was happening on field and generally making fools of themselves.

[N.E. Brigand]

3 hours ago, kevingamin said:

There's a little home field advantage for Legends, I believe, as at least one member is from Avon Lake.

If it's the same one as last year, I met him two years ago at TubaChristmas Lorain, when he had gone through their tryouts and was awaiting confirmation that he'd made it.

On a side note: Avon Lake's marching band earned their first Superior rating at OMEA state competition last fall. Deservedly. (Admittedly, the threshold for an OMEA Superior starts approximately at what would be 60 points on the BOA sheets--and I'd say that's about where Avon Lake fell.)

[N.E. Brigand]

3 hours ago, kevingamin said:

After we lose signal, if you will, a baritone soloist up front and a trumpet soloist on the field trade the opening strains of "Sound of Silence".

I only just got that tonight. When I pointed it out to one of my new-to-drum corps friends, he was tickled.

[N.E. Brigand]

3 hours ago, kevingamin said:

Legends

Great picture!

At Metamora last week, the whole tower did not light up . . . until they were wheeling it off the field after the show.

On the other hand, a friend who has seen a lot of shows before said, as the crowd cheered, "So? It's just some lights."

[N.E. Brigand]

3 hours ago, kevingamin said:

The corps is all sitting on the field, shakos off, to start the show.

Not just sitting. Nearly upside down on their shoulders with their legs high in the air.

[N.E. Brigand]

3 hours ago, kevingamin said:

Bugs are starting to get bad. Only down side of having this show so close to Lake Erie in August.

Interesting. Last year they were a huge problem, but I didn't notice them this year.

[N.E. Brigand]

2 hours ago, kevingamin said:

Scores

International
1. 71.425 - Company

8. 58.425 - Impulse
7. 64.800 - Raiders
6. 67.550 - Southwind

5. 71.350 - 7th Regiment
4. 71.675 - Louisiana Stars

3. 76.213 - Music City
2. 76.238 - Legends

1. 78.763 - Blue Devils B

Some really close finishes there!

My own scores (sticking with round numbers) were:

69 -- The Company (hoping for more, but doubting they could improve by more than 3 pts. in one day)

59 -- Impulse

63 -- Raiders

67 -- Southwind

70 -- Louisiana Stars

71 -- 7th Regiment

75 -- Legends

76 -- Music City

79 -- Blue Devils B