Mini Review of Seattle!!

[Ryan H. Turner]

Hey everyone--just had to jump on the review band wagon a little early and get myself in gear because, well, I AM the official reviewer of all things drum corps in southern California. And our shows are coming up...time to limber up the old digits down here!!

So, I'm here at the Fire Dept, and about 2 hours ago, I get a very excited lady calling me on the phone. I'm thinking, oh - oh, a misdirected 911 call coming on a business line. But nooooooooooooooo...surprise surprise!! It's my mother in law calling from Seahawk Field in Seattle. She and my dad in law and 4 brothers in law all decided today to go to the corps show because--ANYONE LISTENING IN SOUTHERN CAL???--they saw the TV commercials that were playing. My in-law family is a transplanted southern California family due to job transfer, and they never marched corps, but were big into the marching band scene, and hence, knew about corps, and went to corps shows down here. They thought they would never see a drum corps show again, and sort of forgot about things, until these commercials kept popping up. So....marketing that reactivates 6 people who thought that corps had died in the northwest. Lesson here...

This is a minireview--and here I am babbling. These are remarks JUST made to me on the phone, and come from a very enthusiastic former band mom who knows a thing or two about music...

Star Spangled Banner--stated whoever sang it stunk. She's very touchy about the anthem, and thinks it should be played or sung straight. She said the guy tried to jazz it up. Big negative for her.

Spokane Thunder--said they were a little tentative, and then said that "you need to go up there and whip 'em into shape". Thanks Mom...but they haven't called yet. Anyway, she says they're going to be good, but they NEED A GUARD! Didn't realize there was no guard. I'm surprised, considering the talents of the guards at Skyview, Mt. Spokane, Clarkston, Central Valley (COUGH COUGH!!! I KNOW MY SCHOOLS UP THERE!!) are all in that area...well, hopefully things will start to happen. Announcer said Spokane has no sponsorship, no gaming...Mom thought it was a pull for people to donate. Thinks they have a good future...

Oregon Crusaders--she says big step up from Spokane, but not familiar with the music and didn't really grab her. Not much else said, but she did say that when the intermission started, she was thinking, "Well, I sure hope it gets better from here." And then she remembered what Division I corps were like, and got excited.

Seattle Cascades--WOW!!! They have a full sized corps here in Seattle??? She was very pleasantly surprised. Big sound. Nice job. Nothing much else grabbed her.

Mandarins--When I told her the scores as posted here on DCP, first thing she said was, "Ohhhhh that's just not right. Mandarins were UNBELIEVABLE!!!" I asked her what happened. My mom in law talks in incomplete sentences, so I was getting things like "ohhhhh the guard was just gorg--and then the big Japanese drums up on the---and then the horns....ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh just gorgeo...oh wait, the guard, you should have seen them...ohhhhhhhhhhh it was just gorgeous!!" She said she "understood" the show, better than ANY OTHER CORPS' SHOW. And then she shocked me...she said Mandarins were the ONLY folks to get a SPONTANEOUS standing ovation, where people were "leaping out of their seats". I said, "Well, I'm sure they stood for Vanguard." And she said they did, but it was like a polite ovation, as opposed to a spontaneous throwing things and hollering type ovation. VERY IMPRESSED MY MOM WAS!

Blue Devils--Oh, they were good. But, as only my mom could say, "the ending was real weak and anti-climatic." DOH!!! She understood the "train idea" (which I don't know about because I haven't seen it), but she said they sort of walk off the field at the end, and it's not that great of an ending. I'll have to see it to understand it. She didn't say anything else.

Santa Clara Vanguard--when I told her they won, she was surprised. But when I told her the scores and the dinky spread, she said "Oh that's nothing to spit at!" She's very strange sometimes. But she said they were great. She knows the music, so she was able to follow it very well. She said the guard was great, but some guy "dropped his knife" (saber I assume) and apparently was angry about it???? I didn't ask her to explain.

So, apparently, her corps was the Mandarins. And she thinks Thunder should hire me, and Blue Devils should rewrite the ending of their show.

That's it!!!

[martini90]

Gets my vote for best review! :P

[Ryan H. Turner]

Not in a long shot...but don't you just love technology. There's my mom in law, yelling at me from Seahawk Field whilst I'm here at work...coolness!!

[SopMom]

Thanks so much for the early review! It's sometimes agony to have to wait so long for one.

[oldman395]

I would add a review as I just got home from the show but i f-dup my left hand in a quad accident.

Let me just say that Vanguard will win DCI this year.

BD---Great show, Crappy ending.

SCV------DCI Winner UNFINGBELIEVABLE!!!!!!

Mandarins---Very pleased...could make finals

Cascades---PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE

Oregon Crusaders----WOW D2 Champion and D1 contender next year...you guys rock!

Spokane Thunder---GOOD JOB! I have no idea how you pulled this performance off.

Edited June 27, 2004 by oldman395

[glory]

Star Spangled Banner--stated whoever sang it stunk. She's very touchy about the anthem, and thinks it should be played or sung straight. She said the guy tried to jazz it up. Big negative for her.

Jazzing up the anthem is glorious when it works; the problem is, it seldom works.

Stan Kenton and his big band did a great rendition back in the day. And once every decade or so, some recording artist gets lucky at the Super Bowl or the NBA all-star game or some other such national stage. But mostly, a bunch of hacks display more ego than talent.

Back on topic, send my thanks to your Mom. Love hearing a fresh perspective.

HH

[mellopet]

very entertaining review ^^

[hsreed]

Hey everyone--just had to jump on the review band wagon a little early and get myself in gear because, well, I AM the official reviewer of all things drum corps in southern California. And our shows are coming up...time to limber up the old digits down here!!

Obviously that is a self-appointed title.

I also know a few things about drum corps and shows, and I will be writing my own review of the July 3rd show as well and the August 11th show. No Riverside show for me this year, I moved and it's just a very long drive now. Here is my warm-up review of drum corps:

AaAaAaAAA

BbBbBBB

CcCcCCC

DdDdDDD

EeEeEEE

FfFfFFF

GgGgGGG - - - GGG!

OK - Usually BD is clean and crushing SCV by a few points in the early season. If SCV is going to have a good year, they pass up BD mid-July and don't look back. BD usually has the highest level of talent, concentrating on playing and marching is secondary. BD also uses a body movement style that is very close to the natural movement of the body, very smart and easier to master. SCV usually has a slightly lower level of player talent than BD and their body movement is usually not the most natural, so they have more to work on from the beginning. BD tends to have their basic clean show on the field early, then they add stuff and clean as the season progresses. SCV usually starts a little in the hole and attempts to introduce more of the final show in the learning phase-more to learn in the same amount of time compared to BD (good point Kurt).

This year it seems SCV has more talent than they usually have and I thought they had more winter and spring rehearsal hours than usual. I also believe SCV used inferior upper brass horns in the past. They now have new Yamahas, which should improve their sound-I'll judge for myself. It also seems their show is currently a more complete design at this point in the season and their music is fantastic (something the last few years have lacked). Hopefully they will clean it up, add excitement as the season progresses and bring home a championship.

BD is BD-talented players and talented staff-very consistent, they always perform great and have a great show. There was a slight decline after 88, but that clearly ended in 94 and they've been flying ever since. SCV takes more design chances and the talent fluctuations are more significant from year to year. Also, SCV must live up to the SCV mystique - the unreachable - every year.

If history repeats itself, both will be in the thick of things come August because BD always is and SCV has a great program and high level of talent. There has been one year that I can recall when SCV beat BD early in the season, but lost to them in the end-92 (and we know how that year turned out). So far, I give SCV the nod, but we'll see how things play out. I'm feeling good about their prospects.

How they compare to other corps is post-California tour, so I don't track it all that much. There really isn't enough reliable history on that phase of tour and a significantly wide range of variables.

[One of the Sops]

Blue Devils--Oh, they were good. But, as only my mom could say, "the ending was real weak and anti-climatic." DOH!!! She understood the "train idea" (which I don't know about because I haven't seen it), but she said they sort of walk off the field at the end, and it's not that great of an ending. I'll have to see it to understand it. She didn't say anything else.

Having seen it twice now, my guess is that leaving the field is supposed to do a couple of things:

1) create the impression of the train leaving the station as the drumline crab-walks off the field last in single file, and

2) give the stage over to the Color Guard who were the only ones remaining on the field. They were kind of crawling on their hands and knees and then each pushed a flag over in the direction of their feet. Maybe that was supposed to dramatize something about trains or train stations too. I'm not sure.

My friend liked it, calling it "creative." Creative, it was; dramatic, it wasn't.