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Birmingham, AL - July 26, 2018


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10 minutes ago, CrownBariDad said:

Thanks! I was wondering about this. I knew SW recruited a great guitarist and I was afraid something happened where he couldn't play.  Glad all is well. 

The confusion was my fault--I didn't think guitars were permitted, so I assumed they were recorded.  :blush:

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2 minutes ago, jthomas666 said:

The confusion was my fault--I didn't think guitars were permitted, so I assumed they were recorded.  :blush:

No problem.

They've been allowed for years.  Teal Sound had some great guitarists as well as electric violinist and woodwinds. 

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On 7/27/2018 at 12:16 AM, jthomas666 said:

A couple of disclaimers up front:

1.       This was my first show since 2008.  Obviously, a lot has changed since then, most notably electronics.  I may dwell on them from time to time.

2.       Our seats were almost at field level. Consequently, I won’t be able to say much about the visuals.  Our seats also impacted my reaction to the electronics, as most of the time we were right in front of the speakers.  It’s very disconcerting when the mic-ed soloist is on the other side of the field but the sound is coming from right in front of you.

3.       I took some pics, but I probably won’t be able to go through them until next week.

4.       Had to leave before the Blue Knights, as my son was running out of energy.

 

Southwind – The Guitarist

OK, this show was flat out fun.  They don’t have the money or talent of the upper corps, but they sold this show from start to finish.  Even the prerecorded guitars worked--which frankly surprised me—it helps that they were used very judiciously.  Favorite musical moment: A magnificent trombone soloist.

ETA: I've been informed that the guitars were live, not recorded.  Nice!
 

Seattle Cascades – What Goes Around

Just didn’t do much for me. I got the feeling that they were trying to imitate Bluecoats’ heavy use of electronics without really understanding what made the Bluecoats stuff effective. The electronics tended to overwhelm rather than enhance.


Music City – Hell on Wheels: The Final Journey of Casey Jones.

Another show that the corps just flat out sold.  It is a testament to the energy of the show that when the familiar strains of Cohan’s “Hallelujah” drifted into the stands, I didn’t take an icepick to someone (lovely song, but it’s been played into the ground). Kind of had an early 2000s Carolina Crown feel to it—take a slightly goofy idea and dial it to eleven. Favorite musical moment: God help me, but I gotta go with Ozzy Osbourne and Crazy Train.


Troopers – The New Road West

This is not your father’s Troopers.  I gotta admit, my initial reaction when I first saw the signposts was “WTH? Troopers are doing a Prince tribute?”  The show design is somewhat reminiscent of PR’s 2010 Into the Light in the way the show migrates from one end of the field to the other.  Very sophisticated use of electronics, combining sounds effects with fairly subtle musical enhancements.

 

Aside—One of my problems with electronics Is that it adds another layer of costs to an already expensive activity. This equipment is not cheap.  Southwind had a bare bones setup, but beginning with Troopers, the corps had very sophisticated setups. Shouldn’t we be trying to make it easier for an organization to field a corps?


Pacific Crest – Here’s to the One’s Who Dream

Played and performed well; it just didn’t leave much of an impression. A little overboard with the electronics. Favorite musical moment: Mambo!
 

Spirit of Atlanta – Knock

Stronger musically than visually.  The tall feathers on the hats added an extra jaunty feel to the proceedings. Great show, the kids play with attitude and fire, but for the love of God, that is the most annoying and pretentious narration I’ve ever heard.  DOORS, WE GET IT.  While I like the door props, they may have a few too many—at time the field seems cluttered, particularly since the MMs and color guard unis have the same dark palette.  Favorite Musical moment: Hurt

PS: Spirit, for the love of God, buy a quieter generator!
 

Mandarins – Life Rite After

From the opening hit, there is no doubt these guys mean business.  This is a bada** show that grabs you, stares you in the face, and dares you to look away.  Dark, brooding, and above all, powerful.  There are massive visual GE hits (the lightsabre rifles are spectacular) and equally massive music GE hits.  They’re breathing down PR’s necks and may well pass them by Indianapolis, unless they’ve peaked too soon. Favorite musical moment: the aforementioned opening hit. I hope to be able to see this again from a better angle.  Easily my favorite show of the night.
 

Phantom Regiment – The New World

Knowing we’d be leaving right afterward, we went to the top of the stands for PR.

The closer has the power and passion we expect from PR.  The rest of the show, not so much.  There’s a lot of good technical work, I love the way that phrases from the New World Symphony are sprinkled throughout…but I’ve got no idea what the theme is.  The wonky hotel luggage carts look much better in person than they have in pictures and video, but they’re still more visual clutter than visual element, which becomes painfully evident when they are trundled off to the end zone right before the final push.  Visually, the “stage” in front of the pit looks great, but I can’t help but think that it could be used more effectively—it seems like a logical place for soloists, for example.
 

The placements seem about right—though I really would not have been surprised if Mandarins had edged PR.

Nothing on Southern Knights?

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On 7/30/2018 at 12:02 AM, Southern Knights said:

Nothing on Southern Knights?

Apologies--I definitely should have given a shout out to the hometown corps!  Really couldn't get a feel for the visuals from my vantage point, I really enjoyed the sounds of "Knightmares". The mom tucking her daughter in at the beginning was a great image to set the mood for the entire show.

 

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