Menasha 6/18

[fischer]

Hello and welcome back for the 2004 drumcorps season everyone! I just got back to my current residing place in lovely Milwaukee to write this review. It is midnight central time and I, like so many show reviewers, am pretty sleepy, but I will try to make this as thorough as possible:

First off, the show. WHY IN THE WORLD DO YOU NEED AN INTERMISSION WITH JUST FIVE CORPS?!?!?! After the first two corps, there was a 'brief' (more like 30 minute) intermission. The intermission was longer than the show had been up to that point. Along the same lines, tickets for the show were $12!! I know that may not seem like much, but considering that it was FIVE corps FIRST show, it was a little steep. Attendance was good, almost sold out the concert side of old Calder Stadium (ahhh, such memories). Weather was nice at first, but dropped about 20 degrees during the 'much needed' intermission, so the end of the show was pretty chilly, probably in the 50's. On to the corps:

Americanos 42.75 5th Place

My first reaction to Canos tonight, unfortunately, was man are they small! I counted 18 horns and a good sized drumline. My second reaction was 'where is the guard?' There was 2 of them. When I marched and competed against them, they always had one of the strongest guards in the midwest, let alone 2/3. Wondering what happened.

The show was a Latin Rhythms show and had some good moments in there. The drumline seemed strong and played some notes throughout the whole show. The hornline, though timid and edgy at most points in the show, really had a few moments where there was a strong, unison brass sound that was really pleasing to hear. Overall, musically they sounded better than I was expecting. They will be fine in this category. Visually, it was a lot of fatigue problems right from the beginning. Bad horn angles and marching technique, couple that along with a few 'wanderers' in the drill, and you get a pretty normal first show. They have some work to do/

Blue Stars 55.10 4th Place

Wow are they big this year! 46 horns, 22 guard and 26 percussion, and I believe more to be added later.

This show is fun, classy, and will be a fan favorite. Unfortunately, it ain't even close yet. HOWEVER, it is the FIRST SHOW, and i can guarantee it will be significantly better by next weekend. The brass line is young, but pretty strong, mainly the high brass. Sometimes there was a struggle to here the low brass, but it sounded overall pretty good. The brass 'punch' isn't quite there that you would expect from a hornline this size, but like Cano's, they had a few WOW moments. The drumline was pretty darn tight, and the guard had a lot of work to learn.

This corps, I feel was the sloppiest of the night (I know that is harsh, but I can be =)). However, that being said, they have the most room to grow out of all the corps tonight. And tonights show wasn't anything to sneeze at either.

Colts 59.20 3rd Place

The Dubuque team has tackled a big risk this year, and it might actually hurt them in the standings.....they are doing a show that is entertaining and simple. I thought these guys had a wonderful brass sound and had a really good control of the drill. Drums were pretty good, and the whole corps handled a lot of fast off-beat stuff and tempo variations quite well. The guard was a little droppy tonight, but...first show. Guard work was nice and fitting to the show.

The design of this show was the best of the night. It flowed from beginning to end, with no abrupt endings or short releases. It seems they were the only open class corps of the night with the guts to hold notes for more than 4 counts at a time (minus Scouts last note....more on that later). Kudos on a really nice Heartland show.

Phantom Regiment 68.20 2nd Place

OK. The last minute of the show was pretty cool. But, show designers.....STOP WITH THE DANCING!!!! I WANNA SEE CORPS!!! It's no doubt that Phantom has one of their more talented corps in recent years, but the design of the show fails to do it for me. The music is really nice in some points, but too choppy in others.

Hey, remember the 96 show? Remember how simple, yet effective that show was? PLEASE reference that. There is just too much going on at most points of the show to be able to really enjoy. Lots of things are being done well, but I would rather have one or two things done REALLY well, so I could remember it.

As for the sections: Brass was delicious at times. Different section shone at different times, sometimes highs and sometimes lows. Cut-offs were excellent and had some nice rings. Guard was pretty good, but I'm not too sure about the uni's. There were some nice unison weapon tosses that were nailed pretty well tonight. Drumline was pretty good. And the crabstep.........didn't really work. Please play or something while doing it.

Madison Scouts 68.95 1st Place

Finally, we are starting to get a few more glimpses of the power packed Madison. It ain't quite there yet. I would say there were more Wow moments in this show than any others tonight. The hornline is flat out smokin, and by far the loudest of the night. drumline was also very good, and guard was good (sorry, sleepiness is catching up).

Malaga was definately the highlight of the show. Now, it ain't 95, but its close. The arrangement, especially the beginning, is rather choppy, and takes away from good flow to the piece, but once they get back to their 'pinwheel front' ala 95, they start to turn it loose. The SOPRANO trumpet solos were great, they've good one guy who can flat out wail. And the last note was wonderful!! Just when you thought they would cut off, they would add another measure, and another one, and another one. CLASSIC drumcorps ending and I loved every second of it.

Well, thats it folks. One more thing, what is up with DCI announcing the scores. Example:

"In Division 3, winning the gold medal is..." GEE, I FREAKING WONDER.

"In Division 2, winning the gold medal is..." GEE, did they win high brass too?

ITS NOT THAT DRAMATIC. PLEASE adopt the DCM way if its a small show and just go "in fifth place." Sorry, that was just so dumb.

All-in-all, a lot of good shows.

Bed,

g'nite!

John Fischer

[fleurdelitt]

great review!

Thanks!

[Toby]

Nice Job to all. And excellent review.

[PR Mom]

Thanks for the review!

Among PR comments you said, "There is just too much going on at most points of the show to be able to really enjoy."

That's the way I feel about almost ALL corps shows!!

[AmmerMP]

Thanks for the great review....

Go Blue Stars !!!

[gellio]

Great review! Do you have anything to say about this awful tear in PR's show? The one that apparently affected it so much that it's the only reason Madison won? Just curious, because if it was so disasterous why wasn't it initially mentioned in your review? It certainly doesn't appear to have shown up on the recaps.

I must say that your review makes me wish I were there. I love Phantom's hornline (always one of the most thrilling in DCI) and now it sounds like Madison's got a great line too. Must have been a horn lovers night in paradise! I wonder who won brass? My guess would be Phantom, but who knows?

Also, can you comment on the visual design of Madison and Phantom? I heard both are much improved over last year. Can you confirm or deny? Will be interesting to see how these two measure up against Cavies.

I get to see SCV and BD next weekend, but I would almost rather seen Madison and Phantom!

Edited June 19, 2004 by gellio

[atye]

I get to see SCV and BD next weekend, but I would almost rather seen Madison and Phantom!

How 'bout a plane ticket to the Menomonie show on Sunday?!?!?! B)

http://www.darc.us/

[gellio]

I get to see SCV and BD next weekend, but I would almost rather seen Madison and Phantom!

How 'bout a plane ticket to the Menomonie show on Sunday?!?!?! B)

http://www.darc.us/

I am excited to see SCV the most, but man I would love to see Madison and Phantom. My three favs are Madison, Phantom, and SCV....

[GSNewell]

A couple comments...

No, the concert side of Calder was not "almost sold out" -- not even close. It was about a third to half full.

PR had a significant ensemble problem early in the closer. It got back together midway through.

PR won all the music captions and visual performance. Scouts won the GE captions, ens vis and color guard.

It was 61 degrees when I left the stadium after retreat.

BTW, Appleton is amazingly cool downtown. If you didn't know better, you'd think you were in downtown Chicago, seriously (except for the tall buildings). LOTS of bars and restaurants, tons of people, too many cars for the parking places. I was amazed. I went to five bars in three hours. No, I didn't get drunk. There were a TON of bars I didn't go to. It was quite a scene. Did I say it was amazing downtown?

Greg

[gellio]

A couple comments...

No, the concert side of Calder was not "almost sold out" -- not even close. It was about a third to half full.

PR had a significant ensemble problem early in the closer. It got back together midway through.

PR won all the music captions and visual performance. Scouts won the GE captions, ens vis and color guard.

It was 61 degrees when I left the stadium after retreat.

BTW, Appleton is amazingly cool downtown. If you didn't know better, you'd think you were in downtown Chicago, seriously (except for the tall buildings). LOTS of bars and restaurants, tons of people, too many cars for the parking places. I was amazed. I went to five bars in three hours. No, I didn't get drunk. There were a TON of bars I didn't go to. It was quite a scene. Did I say it was amazing downtown?

Greg

Thanx, it's always nice to read a post from someone who is on the in. It will be interesting to see how you guys and Scouts measure up to Cavies! Did you see the shows, or were you in one of the bars? Kidding - but seriously, it would be great to hear your thoughts on Madison, Colts, and PR. Not sure who you saw, as I don't know what the performance order was.