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"That Was Wonderful! Boo!" Shows That Didn't Live Up


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(audio up, no video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpYEJx7PkWE

I'm hoping you'll share a story of a show that didn't live up to your expectation, whether you were hyped by rumors and let down,  disappointed with a music arrangement, or excited at the prospect of a great theme only to have it chopped to pieces with bad design.

For me, recently, it was three notes that really deflated my anticipation.  The Cadets' 2016 driving march up the Appian Way treated the source perfectly and  ended in splendor and glory as the victors entered the coliseum!  Then, the arranger decided to resolve the last measure before the long-hold with a three-note descending triad that was nowhere to be found in the original source music.  I first heard the arrangement at the spring training camp at Ohio Northern and the silly resolution wasn't there.  I waited all season to see them again, eagerly anticipating their "maturing" of the garish sound and their improving the "long march" into the city that Respighi had in mind, which did happen!  It was joyous!

But then, that ending. Ughh.  Had it not been for the fabulous percussion writing in the last 4 bars of long-note hold, I'd have covered my ears to avoid hearing the end of the arrangement.

 

 

Edited by garfield
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2 hours ago, garfield said:

(audio up, no video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpYEJx7PkWE

I'm hoping you'll share a story of a show that didn't live up to your expectation, whether you were hyped by rumors and let down,  disappointed with a music arrangement, or excited at the prospect of a great theme only to have it chopped to pieces with bad design.

For me, recently, it was three notes that really deflated my anticipation.  The Cadets' 2016 driving march up the Appian Way treated the source perfectly and  ended in splendor and glory as the victors entered the coliseum!  Then, the arranger decided to resolve the last measure before the long-hold with a three-note descending triad that was nowhere to be found in the original source music. 

 

 

With you on that 2016 Cadets thing.

The source music is awesome. And IMO Cadets did a great job with it... until that ending, and then the rest of the show was a big "meh" for me.

 

 

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Perhaps the most classic examples of shows that don’t live up to expectations are the ones coming off a major championship year. Namely Phantom ‘09, Crown ‘14, Bluecoats ‘17, among others.

Other recent shows that I feel got way too much hype, either before or during the season, are Crown ‘15 (yeah, the show did well competitively, but the theme and presentation were a bit trite for my tastes), Blue Knights ‘16 (what a disappointing, messy end to the trilogy) and Phantom ‘17 (the year Wes Cartwright tried to put his BOA-style signature on a drum corps show and it failed miserably).

Edited by Cadevilina Crown
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For me, this tends to happen most with corps that redo their own show concepts. 

Like 2004/2014 SCV.  2014 just didn't have the same oomph for me personally, so it was a bit of a let down.  

Super personal, I know.  I don't want to generalize too much because the exact opposite happened to me with their 88/89 shows. 

 

Edited by Lance
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9 hours ago, garfield said:

(audio up, no video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpYEJx7PkWE

I'm hoping you'll share a story of a show that didn't live up to your expectation, whether you were hyped by rumors and let down,  disappointed with a music arrangement, or excited at the prospect of a great theme only to have it chopped to pieces with bad design.

For me, recently, it was three notes that really deflated my anticipation.  The Cadets' 2016 driving march up the Appian Way treated the source perfectly and  ended in splendor and glory as the victors entered the coliseum!  Then, the arranger decided to resolve the last measure before the long-hold with a three-note descending triad that was nowhere to be found in the original source music.  I first heard the arrangement at the spring training camp at Ohio Northern and the silly resolution wasn't there.  I waited all season to see them again, eagerly anticipating their "maturing" of the garish sound and their improving the "long march" into the city that Respighi had in mind, which did happen!  It was joyous!

But then, that ending. Ughh.  Had it not been for the fabulous percussion writing in the last 4 bars of long-note hold, I'd have covered my ears to avoid hearing the end of the arrangement.

 

 

Simple explanation - it got GH'd 

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7 hours ago, Cadevilina Crown said:

Perhaps the most classic examples of shows that don’t live up to expectations are the ones coming off a major championship year. Namely Phantom ‘09, Crown ‘14, Bluecoats ‘17, among others.

Other recent shows that I feel got way too much hype for my liking are Crown ‘15 (yeah, the show did well competitively, but the theme and presentation were a bit trite for my tastes), Blue Knights ‘16 (what a disappointing, messy end to the trilogy) and Phantom ‘17 (the year Wes Cartwright tried to put his BOA-style signature on a drum corps show and it failed miserably).

BK had SUCH a HUGE opportunity.  Ugh, complete flat bizarreness of un-understandable gibberish.  They should have ended with "Grandmother's skin was like paper..."  THAT was a beautiful show.  The rest got more bizarre each year.  Blech.  Some of my favorite percussion writing ever got lost in weird, crazy design.

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Watering down brass charts is what lets me down.  Marveling at some impossible phrase all season, only to get to championships and discover my favorite highlight is gone.

For whatever reason, 2018 stands out as the year hornlines kept the best parts of their shows.  Change is good!

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