Norwalk, CA thoughts.....

[monkynut]

ok, bear with me i'm not very good at reviews, and i'm also not very good at describing things so if your looking to find a description of the performances you can keep looking.

what i can give you though are my thoughts on the shows, and here they are in performance order:

Rhythym Regiment: in case you haven't heard of this little group, they are the "little brothers and sisters" of the Impulse organization, being made up of children ages 2-13. they are also pretty much the main reason i came to this show, as my little brother was performing with them. all i can really tell you about them is that they're all a bunch of hard working kids that did a helluva performance.

Long Beach Royal Syncopated Regiment: well, this group was playing drums that reminded me of traditional scottish drums, but were playing playing music that sounded like the bangthehellouttathedrumstomakeitrealloud type to me. but seriously, i thought that they put on a good show that pretty much won most of the crowd, but i was a little lost on the point besides to be really loud. i know this is a legitimate style of drumming, but i'm just not totally familiar with it.

Mystikal Percussion Ensemble: to be honest i wasn't paying as much attention as i should have been to this group. trying to pay attention to an indoor drumline show at my first corps show of the year was too much for me to handle at this point. what i did listen to sounded pretty good, a little dirty, but they should be off to a good start.

So Cal Dream: i wasn't really expecting much from this group from what i had been hearing about them, but they came out and blew me away tonight. definitely my 2nd favorite of the evening. they are still pretty small. i counted 20 horns, 5 drums, and 4 guard. lucky for me being in the front row, they had no drill so they set themselves up right on the track and blew my face off. they still sound like a new corps though. the drumline was hurting with 2 snares, 2 tenors and one brave person playing all 4 basses. the hornline was a little shakey at soft points, but as soon as they brought out the volume the goodness came with it. i can't comment on the guard as i'm a horns and drums guy, but my girlfriend commented that they were doing "rudimentary" stuff. her words, not mine, don't hurt me.

San Diego Alliance: as far as i remember this was the first time i have ever seen this corps perform. i couldn't really decide what their strongest point was. they had a fairly good drumline, but they also had (IMO) a very good hornline for its size. they blended very well with the rest of the corps despite their small size, especially with the drumline which at first glance made me think that that was all that i was going to hear from this corps. overall i was very impressed and i think they will do well in madison.

Esperanza: OK, now believe it or not this was my favorite corps of the evening. they gave me my only real goosebumps all night. if i remember right they had brand spankin new uniforms. i haven't seen them in two years though so i could be wrong, but they were new to me anyway. i couldn't really spend much time concentrating on anything but their fantastic hornline. i was extremely impressed with what they put out. were they perfect? no. but for a div 2 corps this early in the season they were amazing. kind of mandarinesque, but with a more entertaining show. i don't know, i could be exaggerating. could just be whats left over from the first show high. but in my opinion if they are going to dci this year(are they?) then they are going to shake things up a bit in div 2.

Impulse: What can i say about impulse? they know what they're going out to do and they do it very well. and that of course is to entertain. they have a very big hornline this year which makes for a very big sound. also i noticed their drumline was about half as big as last year(i think) but they were just as good. but with the entertainment there was a good amount of dirt coming from them tonight, which probably accounted for their second place finish. oh yeah, i loved the fake out ending.

Pacific Crest: Well, the last couple of years from PC has been kind of disappointing to me. i was a big fan of their show in 99, but they haven't grabbed me lately. tonight was kind of an in-betweener for me. in the past i always thought that the demand in their shows weren't very high , but it seems(to me anyway) that they may have stepped it up a bit this year. since i was pretty much at field level i can't comment on drill, but i can tell you i saw a bit of running, and that i was pretty impressed with the drumline. the hornline seemed like PC hornlines of the past few years, but with extra effort in their drill i would say it's an improvement over previous years. overall i like this show better than the last 2, but it may still have to grow on me.

Retreat was nice with the 5 "official" looking corps lining up on the field. everyone with their horns and everything i thought someone was granting my wish for me to hear "America" as they do in shows out the eastern way, but alas, it was not to be.

there was no encore to be mentioned of, but the closest things to it were before pacific crest left the field they played what i think was just a snippet of their show. and as the last ones to leave, so cal dream, they barked a little tune at us just before they walked off the field in impulse fashion.........

ok, thanks for my reading my review, and i hope it wasn't bad enough to send you screaming for the hills if i do another one.

-M.H.

[84BDsop]

Hey, thanks for the review. I play sop for SoCal Dream, and it was a blast just being on the field again. it WAS a bit rough (the following day in La Mesa was a lot better), but we did it for the crowd.

As far as us leaving the field...we were as surprised as anyone that corps left in order on the field (right to left from the audience standpoint...Dream being on the far left), instead of in reverse order of finish...PC didn;t even do a victory concert -- did one the next day, though. Wwere going to play El Gato Triste (our closer) to troop the stands, but I suggested Walk Him up the Stairs (the opener) instead because I figured the crowd would appreciate a bunch of old farts playing loud. I was right...one of IMpulse's DMs thought we were PC!

The walking straight off the field bit was thought up right there in the retreat block! Our Dm called us to attention, we said "NNaaahhh" and just walked off. The following day we marched off, as it woudl've been rude to walk off in front of the other corps.

Lots'a fun! :D