MikeD Posted July 4, 2004 Share Posted July 4, 2004 Well, I managed at the last minute to go to the Old Bridge show, after a hectic few days at home, so....here are my thoughts.... Raiders As always, a great percussion section. Maybe too large for the number of horns, though they do some good staging to attempt to minimize the problem. 6 snares, 3 tenors (?), and 5 bass on the field, plus pit, against 22+/- horns. Excellent guard. Their show is very demanding for such a small group (e.g. "Short Ride..."). The brass have trouble keeping up musically at time and tend to lose their pitch focus. They get an 'A' for effort, though. If the brass can use the next month to work on stamina issues, they can take the show places, I would think. Surf Once again one of my favorites of the year. 5 plates this year!...they do a great job on the field. Their Elvis change is great. if they can get the changeover time down a bit, even better. They have some "running out of gas" problems themselves, esp in the Elvis tune. Having John "Screetch" Arietano on staff may help; he's great at getting kids to play out. Crown I can't believe all of the furor over such a little bit of singing and poetry. The total can't be more than a minute or so. I personally have not cared for it, but it is and should remain, legal. No negative comments around me, including the two guys I sat next to who marched in a NJ corps in the 70's (Sacred Heat/Manville Crusaders). Crown's show is amazing...their horn line has it's best sound ever, IMO. I think there is a lot more they can do to tweak it as well; the Smetana has plenty of room for more romantic-era phrasing, as an example. There are a few spots in the end of the show that I'm sure they'll perk up as well. I thought the singing and poetry were handled well. I'd probably do a costume change for the singers who are drawn from the uniformed members. They bring the singers off the field in plenty of time to do so. Spirit A very good show...Saucedo, Nelson, Bernstein, Daugherty music. Very nice charts Their horn line sounds young. Their intonation and sonority isn't as rich and full as, for example, Crown. A bright and sometimes brittle sound is the best way I can describe it. Probably due at least partially the arrangements, of course. Pit is amped, but IMO the bells have a bit too much “presence”, at least at the tiny Old Bridge HS field. Crossmen I loved their opener, by Wynton Marsalis. I thought it their best piece of the evening. Their battery percussion were not as clean as I expected, but the show Lee Beddis has given them, if cleaned up, is great, esp the closer. “Both Sides Now” needs waaaay more feeling to sell the way they want it to, IMO. Right now it sounds very pleasant, but there is not a lot of ‘schmaltz’ in it, so to speak. Crusaders An incredible guard (to this non-guard person), and a wonderful sounding brass section. Mostly original music, but it comes across very emotional and moving. The narration is just a bit in the beginning and a bit at the end. The guys next to me thought the ending narration (the colors) reminded them of Blast! (Ba-lue). They seemed to dig it (and they are old time corps guys form the 70’s. Their ending as they filed into the boxes with just two folks left on the field was great. I think that right now they are a bit ahead of Crown as the scores showed, but Crown may have more potential to improve. BAC is pretty darn clean right now. Cadets An amazing improvement over the bits of the show performed at the Memorial; Brass show. Percussion display their usual excellence, though the small tenor feature has a ways to go to meet the 2000 tenor soli (probably my favorite all-time tenor section). Guard is, as usual, excellent. The twirler does an amazing job; everyone around me was “oohing” and “ahhhing” during his solo spots. Overall…. A GREAT night of drum corps, with a full house. I know the stadium is small, but it gave the show a real ‘old time’ feeling. Those are the type of fields we used to spend MOST of our time competing on in my day. Cadets and Crossmen used amps to perfection, IMO. They gave presence to the lower range of the marimbas and vibes without sticking out. Added a lot to the front percussion, IMO. Didn’t mind the singing and narrating. Nothing to get all flustered over, IMO. They were small spots in two wonderful programs. Spoke with the souvie folks at BAC and Crown. Both told me there has been very little negativity about their corps, and sales are at least on par with last year, even a bit ahead (guesstimate from the Crown guy). I purchased tour shirts from both Crown and BAC to support them. (Your welcome!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WOOHOO Posted July 4, 2004 Share Posted July 4, 2004 Thanks for the review. Objective and informative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSGreen Posted July 4, 2004 Share Posted July 4, 2004 Great review.. so glad to see my former corps doing so well. Can't wait to finally see them live.. enjoying the APD until then :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crownmom Posted July 4, 2004 Share Posted July 4, 2004 Thanks for your thoughts AND your support. I was on the phone with my son last night as the scores were being read and they were all very happy. Crown has heard so many good things about their show and has had so much support from fans like you! Thanks!!! I am printing this review right now to put in his care package. I am sure he will share it with others. Have a great season B~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crownmember Posted July 4, 2004 Share Posted July 4, 2004 Yes thanks for a wonderful review and your support!! Greatly appreciated! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IRMO Posted July 5, 2004 Share Posted July 5, 2004 My 2 cents.....Just a drum corps mom's POV of what I like and dislike. Terrible stadium, period! Jersey Surf seemed to be the crowd favorite. Very entertaining show. Lots of fun and the kids seemed to enjoy this show as much as the fans. I really like the spirit of this corps. Crown was very good. I LOVED the music and their guard was good as usual. The singing IMHO did not add anything to the show and would not be missed if it were to suddenly disappear. Spirit didn't score as high as I would have liked to see. I thought their guard did a wonderful job and their show was very enjoyable. I'm not technical so if there were flaws I couldn't see them. Crossmen were great. Again I'm taken back be the scores. I thoroughly enjoyed the show. Boston has a great show but the voice over provoked the idiot sitting behind me to stand up and scream "I can't hear you" in his best Sgt. Carter voice. Even though I didn't care for the voice over I thought the outburst was totally uncalled for. How rude!! If this too disappeared I wouldn't complain. Cadets were great as usual. Good use of amps because I couldn't tell they were using them :P . The guard is awesome and baton boy was well received. I loved the music and the drill will just have to grow on me. Overall a good night for drum corps. Ditch the singing and the talking and amps won't be too hard to swallow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted July 5, 2004 Share Posted July 5, 2004 No negative comments around me, including the two guys I sat next to who marched in a NJ corps in the 70's (Sacred Heart/Manville Crusaders). Mike, did you get the names of those Sacred Heart guys, by any chance? I used to march in the Crusaders during that same time period. Fran Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tnmaiello Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 Great review Mike...Thanks! Come and watch the Raiders grow as the membership rises with passion to meet the challenges placed before them. Our members have coined a new phrase...."Challenge & Excellence are our fun!" :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted July 6, 2004 Author Share Posted July 6, 2004 Great review Mike...Thanks!Come and watch the Raiders grow as the membership rises with passion to meet the challenges placed before them. Our members have coined a new phrase...."Challenge & Excellence are our fun!" :) Best of luck with the corps...you folks never take the easy way out, at least as I've seen you going back 4 or 5o years. There is indeed a lot of fun in getting a show like yours to "work". I'm sure your kids will give it 150%. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted July 6, 2004 Author Share Posted July 6, 2004 No negative comments around me, including the two guys I sat next to who marched in a NJ corps in the 70's (Sacred Heart/Manville Crusaders). Mike, did you get the names of those Sacred Heart guys, by any chance? I used to march in the Crusaders during that same time period. Fran Ah...I did at the time, but it's gone. One fellow played tri-toms in 73(?) and then snare the next (I think) 7 years or something. They both seemed to REALLY enjoy the show. I get the feeling they attend very few shows. They were excited when I told them about quarter finals being shown at Regal... Their comment about BAC and the colors narration was that it reminded them of "Blast!", which both had seen. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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