LAMystreaux Posted July 9, 2004 Share Posted July 9, 2004 The weather was quite nice tonight, and we were very lucky to have great seats. Most of the audience are Texas band kids and their directors. Groups get tickets by sending the in the money and then having tickets mailed back. . .so you get no choice in the matter. Somehow, we ended up right in front of the press box, smack dab on the 50. Not sure how it happened, but I did not complain. On to the show. . . First off were the Troopers. It had been a long time since I had seen them live (2000 I think), and after hearing so much about a resurgence here on the net, I was excited to see their product. I enjoyed the design of the show; Chuck has done a great job on the arrangements. There were some real nice GE moments, good integration, and it was classic Troopers style throughout. Unfortunately, they do not have the horses to pull it off. I was glad to see the staff gave the kids a challenging product, and hopefully in the next couple of years they can look back and see how they have grown. Southwind came on the field next. They looked huge performing after Troopers. I do not like the new unis. . .way too much black. One thing I appreciated from this corps was their aggressiveness. Maybe that has something to do with their association with MDBCA??? Anyway, they had a show that seemed like it would be a lot of fun to perform. A lot of visual mud though. . .lots of forms not hitting, and some almost collisions. Guard was nice, but the color scheme was somewhat offensive. Too much lime green. . .and not basic enough for me (if that makes sense). I enjoyed them and thought they were better than at this time last year. Next came Capital Regiment. I remember their New World show from last season and thought it was nice, but beyond that really did not come into tonight with any preconceived ideas or expectations. I was very impressed with them. This is a corps we should be seeing contend for a finals spot in the coming years. They had a very rich sound to their horn line, and the visual design was nice. I hope they keep the staff in place and keep the kids coming in. This corps seems to be headed in the right direction. My wife and the other director I was with had asked me to predict placements prior to the contest and I told them more than likely it would be in the performance order (last to first) and the only possible switch would be with CR and Magic. I was right on. I am not sure what is happening with Magic, but after what I saw and heard tonight, it makes me think a lot of the off-season rumors might have been true. I hope not, but I was kind of in shock. The show design itself is not that bad. . .the crowd seemed to enjoy it and relate to it well for obvious reasons. The performance of the product however is an entirely different story. It honestly looked like they had started learning the show a few weeks ago. There were a lot of simple things that were very dirty. . .like foot position in holds, horn angles, tons of off step and muddled forms. This is not at all the same Magic that came back with such force the last 2 seasons. On to the field marched the Bluecoats. They were received well since Texas seems to be a second home for them, and it was announced they march 15 Texas kids. I have always thought of the Bluecoats as a jazz oriented corps with a lackluster visual program. I was never really able to enjoy them visually until about 4 or so years ago, and it seems they improve in that department each season. I had heard an early season recording of them and was not too impressed. With that said, let me just state that the Bluecoats were AWESOME! This is by far the best Bluecoats show ever, IMO. Not only were they very clean, but they sounded great, and the show is designed very well. I honestly thought they might have been a bit closer in score to the Cavies. There has been discussion about who will be the next first time top 4 corps. If Bluecoats continues with shows like this, then they will be the one. I was floored and so was, it seemed, the crowd. They received a rousing standing ovation at the end for a great performance. Last tonight were the Cavies. They have once again a very solid corps, strong in all sections. I was not sure how it was going to work out with them doing Bond, but I enjoyed it. There are some downfalls with them this season, IMO. The integration and cohesion that they have been able to achieve the last few years is not at the same level. Even with the new ending, it was not certain when the show ended. It took a few seconds for the crowd to realize they were done. I guess after reading so much about this late ending added weeks into the season, I expected more. The other director and my wife both said it best when they were done. . .the gist of it was that even though it was clear Cavies were cleaner, emotionally Bluecoats had a decisive edge and the show they performed brought the crowd to their feet. I will see Cadets and SCV on Saturday and hopefully get a better read on things at the top. If what I have been reading about those two corps is true, along with BD’s big scores, I don’t think Cavies will contend. They are of course a top 3 or 4 corps this season, but I don’t feel like I saw a world championship show tonight. I did feel that way when I saw BD last season here in Dallas. It was a great night of drum corps and I am very much looking forward to Saturday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txprphan Posted July 9, 2004 Share Posted July 9, 2004 Nice review! Thanx! This is the 2nd year in a row that I have missed the Dallas show :( --last year 'cause the Regiment was down south and I had to see them, this year 'cause money's not as plentiful but I'm going to Indianapolis. ^OO^ So did anyone get any pictures and post them somewhere? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancerlady Posted July 9, 2004 Share Posted July 9, 2004 (edited) Magic has obviously cleaned up a lot since the last show. I'm glad to see their scores moving up. Go Magic! That was kind of a vague review for Magic, but btw there are alot of kids from Texas in Magic as well. They are a younger corps then most in the past with a lot of heart and determination. The rest of the review was nice! Thank you. Edited July 9, 2004 by Lancerlady Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misterstarsfan Posted July 9, 2004 Share Posted July 9, 2004 Even with the new ending, it was not certain when the show ended. It took a few seconds for the crowd to realize they were done. I guess after reading so much about this late ending added weeks into the season, I expected more. The other director and my wife both said it best when they were done. . .the gist of it was that even though it was clear Cavies were cleaner, emotionally Bluecoats had a decisive edge and the show they performed brought the crowd to their feet.<{POST_SNAPBACK}> I spoke for a few minutes last night with Jeff Fiedler after the show, and he told me that there are still a few things that they're going to do with the ending to quicken up the pace and add some more "pizzaz". I thought the same thing as you, though, that the ending wasn't quite there yet. Oh, and I have had seats right under the pressbox for the past 20+ years, so I'm sure I saw you there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdaddy Posted July 9, 2004 Share Posted July 9, 2004 Hey Misterstarsfan, I'm the OU guy heading to Virginia. I didn't know you posted on here, and I definitely didn't know you were the guy with the cool avatar... :) It's good to hear that the Cavies are changing that ending a bit. It was a bit of a let down. Oh, and I have had seats right under the pressbox for the past 20+ years, so I'm sure I saw you there. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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