jwillis35 Posted August 10, 2003 Share Posted August 10, 2003 (edited) Having just arrived back at my hotel here in Orlando (near Universal Studios) I am dazed and completely drained from watching these young men and women perform their hearts out for the last 3 days. What a thrill it has been to watch such incredible high achievement, to see so many dreams come true for all these young people, and to fondly remember my own youth and why I continue to support this activity to this day. Bravo to all of you who were involved in this activity this year regardless of whether you marched, volunteered, were on staff, or simply supported these young people. This has been a wonderful ride and I must say I enjoyed finals as much as I have ever enjoyed them. Tonight's shows were really exciting. Everyone seemed charged to give that extra effort, and the crowd responded big time. In some cases I think that go-for-it attitude may have hurt some of the shows in terms of cleanliness, but on the other hand I feel as thought he crowd was given the ultimate reward of high energy and incredible entertainment. BD was on fire and you knew they would win. Also thouht Cadets had 2nd tonight. It was close with them and Cavies. The old timers seemed extras charged watching Cadets show. Big time standing O for Malaguena and for the z Pull. Watching them stretch that baby into the end zones was magnificent. BD's last tune put the crowd on their feet, and Phantom's last tune put the crowd on their feet BIG TIME!!!!!! Thought BD's horn line was a little too jacked up and I think their scores reflected that. Thought Cadets might actually have won high brass tonight. They were ON FIRE, and SO MUSICAL. Incredible blends all the way through, but the Blue Devils were also just amazing. The great Cavalier horn line also showed up and made you think real hard about putting BD or Cadets in the top spot. And Phantom....WOW. Now that's a horn line. Not sure what part of the great intonation and musicianship, or the incredible balance levels that the judges didn't like, but they were as good as any on the field this year. SCV was also on fire and played very well tonight. A few rough attacks and some major brightness in the mello line. Just a few uncontrolled spots. Nothing major. Bluecoats horns were smokin' tonight. Boston seemed flat to me. Crown also seemed a bit out of control at times, and Madison was AWESOME!!!!! On the percussion side, way to go Cadets. Now that's what you call amazing writing and playing. Also, many props to SCV, BD, Cavies, and Phantom; your lines were amazing. I thought the Cavies really integrated with the show so effectively and they were incredibly musical. By the way, Bluecoats did very well in percussion tonight--think they were 6th. Excellent job guys. Color Guard - WOW, BD, your guard is so consistent. Thought this was Cadets year to win high guard, and they had the show going, but there was one drop that cost them. Otherwise Cadets were also amazing. I love those uniforms and the yellow/gold flags were so effective. The BD guard is so good it is not funny. Love the body work especially. Cavies guard was just incredible tonight. Almost thought they had a chance at high guard. BTW, I love their guard uniforms. They work perfectly for this show. Carolina Crown has one amazing guard as well. Their who show is amazing and perhaps their best ever. And it is the guard that really tells the story. Check out Madison's guard scores, they were quite good tonight. I think they took 8th, and I really thought they had a super strong showing. Watch for them next year. As far as overall visual performance (M&M), BD and Cadets were kind of in a league of their own. Those shows were so tight, clean, and well executed. Cavies did much better in this catagory tonight. Last night they took 5th in visual ex, tonight they were 3rd. Both SCV and Phantom had some problems tonight in terms of marching, technique, and consistency of intervals (or spacial relationships). Madison had a very ON night in marching I thought. Bluecoats were also ON in visual ex, and their last few sets, which are very difficult, really sold tonight. Best I have seen them march. Overall GE was close for me. I would have given it to Cavies, but BD was so clean and so exciting. And to their credit, this was probably the best drill ever for BD. Cadets simply needed more GE and they would have been challenging BD for the title. Well, enjoy what little I have written here. I apologize that this is not longer and more in depth. But I am tired, it has been a long week, and I would like to get some sleep before I fly home in the morning. (Yay, band camp next week) b**bs Also, the weather ended up being just perfect for tonight's show. No rain, only earlier in the day. The field looked great, or at least as good as it could. It was actually nice and cool out tonight. Perfect weather for drum corps. Well Bravo to all the performers, and congratulations to DCI on another great year. Congrats to all the winners. Edited August 10, 2003 by jwillis35 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimwolf359 Posted August 10, 2003 Share Posted August 10, 2003 Good review for right after the show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starting line Posted August 10, 2003 Share Posted August 10, 2003 Nice review !. Glad to hear the weather turned out better than it did for the show you had back in Canton, Ohio that got rained out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starting line Posted August 10, 2003 Share Posted August 10, 2003 (edited) nm Edited August 10, 2003 by starting line Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDempsey Posted August 10, 2003 Share Posted August 10, 2003 No rain at all once the show started...yay! Its hard to do a detailed review at 1am after a long DCI weekend. Twas the best DCI finals ive ever attended. I cant do a total review...just some highlights that come to mind SPRIT I am a Magic fan and I had Spirit ahead of Magic this time. Nice show and a great jump to make finals MAGIC WAYYYYYYYYY to go...DCI 11th place. Not as good a show as prelims or quarters in my opinionZ(I was in the box with Mr Cupello and he said as much) but a great outcome nonetheless. CROWN Geeez.......I love you guys...clean...fresh.... Crossmen Stylish....solid show...YEA!.....;-) MADISON Wowed everyone again...standing O...the whole deal. Think of the last Madison show that filled you with drumcorps verve and you got the idea. Crowd fav. Pure heaven to watch. SCV Was...SCV...clean in all captions...just...didnt do "it" for me. PHANTOM For my money...the best brass show on the planet. Total intonation and control. Drill was great, but some probs here/there, minute though. Color guard had a bad habit of not actually enhancing the total show and didnt co-ordinate with the total picture at times. Picked you to move ahead of SCV and you did. CADETS GREAT show...in all captions. I could stand to see a few less scatter to picture moves....but nearly flawless on the whole. I thought Cadets had a shot if BD or Cavs sputtered. CAVS Hate the color guard unis...but the CG is in a class in itself in some ways. Entertaining show...mobile...controlled...intricate moves....unique drill...picture to picture to picture...plenty of panache and CAV confidence. I picked you to win. BD Snares are world class and the percussion opening is sooo unique. Im not a BD fan for the most part. Clean as can be but lacked continuity to me(shows what I know hehehe)...put me to sleep to be honest(sorry) BUT..congrats....you won it all...again;-) Speaking of sleep...its time Thanks to DCI for a great edition of Finals and thanks the Tom Peashey for the VIP treatment...was a classic weekend of drum corps/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDempsey Posted August 10, 2003 Share Posted August 10, 2003 Sheesh...almost forgot my sentimental fav...Boston Crusaders. Whats not to love? Traditional uniforms....great brass volume and great control. Entertaining to watch....had to remind myself this was the same BC I marched against 3 decades ago and STILL a contender. I gave my seat up to one of your moms in the box so she could get a primo view and she delighted the whole VIP crowd with her unbridled enthusiasm. Retreat was unique...everyone came out but BC...then BC squeezed in at the last minute while 6 corps pulled up stakes and headed 10 yds nearer the south endzone. hehehe Lastly...many corps had national flags of foreign members at retreat... England Canada Germany France Japan Korea Maybe more....a testament to the growth of drum corps. sleeeeeeeeeeeeeep!...ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddie Posted August 10, 2003 Share Posted August 10, 2003 No 2/3 finals review? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerriDitt57 Posted August 11, 2003 Share Posted August 11, 2003 Very good review Jonathan! Yes, us old folks did love Cadets this year. And they drumline kicked some! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleedblue93 Posted August 12, 2003 Share Posted August 12, 2003 You forgot the Bluecoats too! Bluecoats and Boston was a better battle than BD/Cavs....sheez! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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