MikeD Posted July 1, 2002 Share Posted July 1, 2002 Well, this isn't' a real review, just some comments on Clifton. To start with, it was just gong to be my daughter and I going to the show, as my wife hasn't gone to a live corps show in over 20 years. My daughter, bass drum section leader last season and now drum major of our HS band, has gone with me to Clifton in 2000 and 2001. Her goal was to watch drum majors to start to lern the ropes. We couldn't go watch any rehearsals this year, as my daughter is now a lifeguard and had to work until 4:00 PM. So, as she and I were about to leave, my wife shocked the both of us and decided to come along. So, it was the three of us, and we had a great time. We ended up with sets on the 50, and about 16 rows up. Great seats! Prior to the show my daughter searched for shirts :) ...but sadly on all the shorts she liked, NONE of the booths had medium or large, just small or XL/XXL. :( She decided to wait until the West Chester show, as she will be attending with the rest of the Vivace Marching band camp. On to the show.... First corps up...Surf.... Did their own take on WSS. Very interesting show, adn I think they wil eventually nail it. A lot of performance "stuff" to clean, esp in visual perf and brass. Perc really cook for early-on. Guard: all black, but for some odd reason they put everyone, including the guys, in pink tutus part way through. Very disconcerting. Their guard work is obviously not yet done. For one number, they carried around sports equipment, like baseball bats, tennis rackets, and lacrosse sticks, painted taxi-cab yellow....though I hate to use the word "taxi-cab" anywhere near a post that will mention The Cadets... They didn't do any work with the stuff, so I assume it's not done yet. Their closer ("Somewhere") needs more to it as well, as it ends pretty abruptly. All in all, some REAL nice playing showing lots of potential and a dynamite show, so I think they'll do just fine. Kavaliers My daughter's fave in 2000, as she had just seen "Miss Saigon" in NYC with mom and loved what they did with it. This year the corps is HUGE, with the merger. Battery perc esp. 10 snares??? Very neat show, with superhero music. All black unis with visors in the brass/pec and all black on the guard. One spot I had some trouble is when the corps proper is in some sort of 'S' shape with the guard layered inside the curves. The black-on-black almost turns the guard invisible, as they are not dong any equipment in that spot. I'd highlight the uni somehow to bring them out, or give them some equipment. Actually, I liked what they were dong, but I had to look real hard to find them. All in all a very nice show. Lots of performance opportunities to work on, as all the corps showed; it WAS still June, after all. Spirit One of my three faves last year. I've watched them the past three years and have marvelled at the intelligence of their admin, as they give the corps enough show to help them grow, yet not over their heads so it becomes a fruistration. This year, they hit the big time, IMO. The Holsinger music is wonderful. The play the heck out fo the opener. I love the horn effect as they twist left and right in the wedge. VERY neat. The "ballad": Once they add some more expressiveness and emotion, watch out! It came across a bit "by the numbers", but if they can get it up to the performance level of the opener, they'll REALLY have something. Finale: Seemed to run out of gas. The trumpets esp started to fade in and out. Overall a very well put together show, for sure. The visual design is wonderful, and the guard does an outstanding job. Crown Greek Gods show. Last year's show was one of my VERY facvorites, adn I thought they played the heck out of it. One of my top three favorites of the year. This year...not really. The brass actually seem to play with better intonation than the past, but they still have to project more feeling and expression It comes across a bit dry. One long spot the pit isn't paying at all, but standing near sus cymbals watching the DM for the end of the tune, where they contribte a short sus cymbal roll. The players seemed unsure of themselves, as they were looking at each other, and then up at the DM. I wonder if it was a new part. Some visual problems, and a few folsk had to REALLY run at times to hit their spots, horns swinging to and fro. They did the "park the battery in back for a while" bit, but the way they integrated them back in to the show was so neat I forgave them for that. All in all, I liked them better last year. They really need to cut loose more, IMO, esp the brass. Crossmen My other fave from last year. This year, I loved the opener. there are some problem spots performance wise, esp the first 30 seconds or so. The Linda Eder ballad will be VERY nice once they get more emotion in the performance. I thought the flugels came across thin and breathy a bit, not dark and warm. Once they learn what they are SUPPOSED to soudn like, I'm sure they'll be fine. Some to the background to the flugels sounded unmusical in the lower bras, sort of just notes plopped down, not really performed in a musical manner. Again, something I'm sure they'll work on. Strawberry Soup was a gas. They REALLY laid it out on that tune. The members must really like that tune a lot. Battery perc, esp the snare rides on cymbals, get lost at times. Was a cymbal missing? There didn't seem to be enough cymbals for all of the snares. The guad was great, but there was one move near the start of the show (I think it was Crossmen, but I might be wrong; it might have been Crown). where they do a two-person flip over move. It really looks clunky, almost as if I was on the field dong it ( a sight NO ONE would want to see, believe me). Blue Devils There seems to be complaints about their show in these newsgroups, but IMO this was the most fun I've EVER had watching a BD show, gong back to the 70's. I love the opener, but then "Ragtime" is my favorite show of the last 5 or 6 years. The spin around collapsing hornline is a VERY neat visual. I wish I could figure out what the furor is about "Channel One". I loved the chart I'd rather not hear the version for 19XX; I love to hear the new take on it. Guard: as last year, one of my all time faves. I love the theatricality of their show...mixed in with great equipment work. Just wonderful. Percssion do a nice job, though I'm not sure it's one of their best percussion sections. I love the switch to the percussion in the opener form the brass. My quibble with Ragtime....maybe TOO fast, as it looses a littel of teh rag feel whe t gets going. Then again, as I sadi I love the show, so it's probably just me. I wish they had done their entire show on Ragtime, actually! Cadets My goodness, what a great entertaining program, performed very well. The Bernstein opener took MAYBE a fraction too long to unwind, but once it hit it's stride it was incredible. The Field of Dreams ballad is beautiful, and they already have a good bit of emotion and expression in it. It still needs more, but the structure is there, so I'm sure it will be great by August. Boogie Woogie.. is so good it leads to a problem..the closer. After such a hig energy number, just about anything will be a let down, and for me the closer was, to an extent. It needs more visual enhancement, and maybe even some rescoring to get it back up to the heights of the rest of the show. It never quite gets back to the heights of BWBB and the rest so I was left just a little "off at the end. I'm sure that will be fixed. I love the high leg lift spot, and the REAL neat 'old style' drum feature. It shows that today's kids can play ANYTHING thrown at them, IMO. As I said back in 2000, I stil think they may have too many mellos to the number of trumpets, as the trumpets get thinned out a bit and lose their presence in a few spots. A general comment Seems to be the year of placing the tubas on the sideline and leting them do a walking bass festure. I think at least three did it, and maybe four. Scores: I don't know, but the placements were acurate, IMO, as were the spreads. I thought the BD did a great job and shoudl be close to the Cwdets, as did Spirit in their 3-point relation to the Crossmen.. My faves: Spirit Cadets Blue Devils (which has NEVER happened for me) My wife: Blue Devils Crossmen Spirit Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMichael1230 Posted July 1, 2002 Share Posted July 1, 2002 " I love you Mike" !!!!!! Excellent review. ~G~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ipecac Posted July 1, 2002 Share Posted July 1, 2002 Geeeoooffrey, should I kneel before BD, will thoust proclaim thy love to me, also? :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMichael1230 Posted July 1, 2002 Share Posted July 1, 2002 Geeeoooffrey, should I kneel before BD, will thoust proclaim thy love to me, also? :P Naaaahhh.....for some bizzare reason, I'm hooked on you already !! But I am a little mad at you right this minute..... Surely when you see BD, and their excellent use of color, and wonderful guard technique, you'll want to bow to them for sure !! ~G~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sajohnson160 Posted July 2, 2002 Share Posted July 2, 2002 Let me just say that BD just gave me one of the best experiences as a fan...ever. As I always do as junionr shows, I seem to get lost in time and spend half of the show in the lot watching the drumlines do their warmups. Well, after spending the entire afternoon at BD rehersal, I decided to pay them yet another visit where my friend and I were greeted by a little "Ditty" that they're known for. WOOOOOOWWWWWWW!!!! BD's drumline never ceases to amaze me. Their aggressive, but laid back approach to their playing is truly inspirational as they continue to "make it look easy" What caps off a truly great night was as we were walking through the lot on our way out, the guys from BD's tenor line (who recognized us from our warm-up cheering and bowing) started calling for us. We walked on over where we were greeted with a hand-shake and a huge, "thank you....you guys got us hyped up....it's guys like you that make this thing so much fun". It was amazing to see guys in such a competative activity, and at such a young age, recognize the contributions of a fan and not just blow them off because their "only a fan". These guys had no idea who I was or what I did and it didn't matter. They were just happy to be having a great time, meeting new people, and, in words of one of them, "giving guys like us a great show" In the end, we must have hung out with them for about a 1/2 hour, exchanging names, hometowns, corps history/resumes and other various small talk. Good luck you guys. See ya in Philly!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sluggo Posted July 6, 2002 Share Posted July 6, 2002 thank you for that awesome review.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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