A Two Weeks Review

[octavia9299]

Hey y'all I just got back from being on the road for two weeks with Spirit (hence the y'all and other changes to my vocabulary!). Friendly corps, friendly people! I got the chance to see many corps many times, so I'll talk about what I saw and what I saw change in my two weeks on the road. I got on June 29th and off July 12th, so if you look at Spirit's schedule for that time frame, you'll see what shows I was viewing...Mostly I saw Spirit, Crossmen, Carolina, Boston, and Glassmen, and a few times Cadets, BD, Magic, Kiwanis, Colts, Pioneer, and Memphis.

Glassmen: The first time I saw this corps I thought, NOT AGAIN! Another boring show that doesn't make sense. Things started to change in Allentown. The corps started sounding better and the show started coming together. By the time Kalamazoo came around, I had to hold grudging respect for a corps that I'm not a fan of. There are some cool moments..my favories are the piccolo trumpet solo (when the guy's having a good night...sometimes he doesn't!) and the "Simple Gifts" groove with the contras laying a bassline underneath. On the negative side, I am NOT buying the "librarian hourglass" guard unfiorms at the beginning of the show. The guard has several layers of uniform on at that point and it just makes them look PUDGY. Also they lift the skirts to cover their heads and everything underneath is red, which is, frankly, disturbing. Actually, I think the show progresses from "disturbing" at the beginning to "engaging" at the end.

Crossmen: There are some NEAT sound colors in this show coming from percussion effects, grooves, and the upper brass using plungers. The front half of the show is better than the back half, at this point, but I hear they have changes coming. They aleady changed and restructured the ballad. I'm not sure the drill is on par with the music...but I can't wait to see what they change. They have my favorite guard uniforms so far. And I really like "Both Sides Now."

Carolina Crown: I have NEVER been a Crown fan, but they're winning me over this season. First off, they have a hornline that sounds great. This is new. ;) Next, they have an engaging selection of music, and the show flows really well. There are things I like about it, and things I don't. Things I like: The opening power chords grab attention. The corps sounds really smooth on the classical Bohemia selections. They rock out in Seasons of Love, and it's pretty emotional. Bohemian Rhapsody is just familiar and fun, and it's COOL to watch non-drum crps educated people in the stands wake up and get involved at that point. Things I DON'T like: I'm a fan of amplification, but Crown's amplification just doesn't sound as crystal clear, as say, Boston's. Also, I don't think the singers at the beginning of Seasons are that talented. And the hornline comes in too loud and too abrupt on top of the singing. I'm not buying the way "Freedom, Beauty, Truth, Love" is done...I think they can find a better way to do that, ala Boston 2002 maybe with banners. I'm CERTAINLY not buying the poetry in The Beat Generation--you can't hear it over the corps, and when you can't understand what's being said, it's distracting. Finally, I think the intro to Bohemian Rhapsody just takes too long. They should cut that down a bit. OK, that SEEMS like a lot of negative things, but they're not big things. Overall I like the look and sound of the corps, and I like what they're doing, and DUH, good guard.

Boston: Again, I'm usually forgiving of what other people label as "cheese" or "bando," so I like this show. Lots of people complain that color shows or color-wheel shows have been way overone, and they have. That's my main complaint. They're trying to take a color show somewhere it hasn't been, and they're not quite making it. I UNDERSTAND everything that's happening, it's just not breaking new ground. Kudos to the kid who reads the text...he's got a good voice for it. It's fun to hear him trying out new inflections every night, emphasizing new things, seeing what works better...The guard is quite good. The corps is quite good. I don't quite understand why they quote their "red" show when blue is the color that's featured on the field at the moment of the quote, but oh well. I think they need to do something with the black and white boxes that the corps hides in at the beginning and end of the show...some kind of effect that adds color to the black boxes at the end or something. (Side note: it's hilarious to watch the corps try to figure out how to get the boxes in and out of each stadium...Kalamazoo was a dang science fair project!)

Spirit: This is a show that actually COULD benefit from some voice overs to make things clearer. The show is called "The Architecture of Life," but the way it was explained to me, it's kind of a "brain show" where everything on the left of the field is ordered and everything on the right side becomes creative, at least in the opener. It wasn't clear to me until comeone explained it. I think the show could get a lot more mileage by drawing the audience in and focusing what they're seeing with some voice overs. Other than that, there are some REALLY cool things going on. My favorite is the groove-out in Bizarro in the closer (Listen for the tenors to say "Straight outta Compton" in the bass break leading up to it) Over my two weeks hanging with the corps, they improved a lot. The intent in what to listen for in the ballad really cleared up, and much character was added to the third and fourth movements in visuals and characterization. They changed the drill for more effect at the end of the closer, but the jury's still out for me on that one. I like the ballad a lot...listen for a flugel solo and a flugel/trumpet duet, and on a really good night, the hornline is loud and powerful and emotional. Oh, and those contrabasses....they're incredible!

Cadets: I only saw this twice, and a lot of it mystefied me. HATE the guard uniforms, both before and after the costume change. The hornline sounds great, but the opening just doesn't do it for me. The baton twirler is neat...I guess the whole thing didn't make much of an impression on me. Other corps have much neater sounds going on.

BD: I saw them twice, in Kalamazoo and Evansville, IN. I liked them better in Evansville. The best thing about their show is it feels like it ends too soon--you could watch them do what they do for another five minutes at least, and as they take it off the field I think, "aww, that's it?" I think their show could handle a few more big effects, and from what I hear they've got changes in the works, so bring it on. The trumpet soloists are incredible, and a couple big effects are built around them. Their feet are still pretty messy. There's an entire movement where they actually don't do much marhcing at all, just kinda wander from palce to place. The show is virtuosic in all sections, but the sum of the parts doesn't seem to generate as much excitement as it should I LIKE it, I just hope it becomes more exciting by finals.

Magic: I only saw them on my first two days on tour a few weeks ago, but I thought the design was very weak. At that time the corps was having SERIOUS ensemble problems...lots of tearing and muddying of intent. I hope they're doing better now. Incidentally, many corps wo followed them on the field were crabby about the field being wet after the "water GE." Ha. The corps seems to have a lot of character and heart...I hope it works out.

Kiwanis: Saw them at Erie and Kalamazoo. West Side Story comes with its own challenge, don't you think? The music seems to say "Many drum corps have played me....what will YOU do differently to make yourselves stand out??" Kiwanis seems to handle the challenge in the first half but completely come unglued in the second half of their show...However, the guard is surprisingly good. The corps has potential. Question--why does the DM wear the old red uniform while the corps wears a completely different style in black? It's almost like "Ok, we ran out of the black ones, so you have to wear the red suit...."

Colts: This is a tough one for me. Old Man River was cool, but the overall GE of the show is mediocre. It's a good drum corps, seems like they're missing a lot of opportunities though....

Memphis Sound: There are some neat and unexpected effects written into this show. They seem to have a hard time consistently holding the audience's attention, but I think that's par for young corps. The soloists ned to work to sound more musical, and the baritones need to learn they're not the most important section of the corps... ;) The drumline is quite good. They've got a month left to iron out some of those "huh?" spots. I'd like to see their performance in Denver.

Pioneer: I saw them once, in Evansville. My biggest comment is that they're trying too hard to generate effect through excessive volume. They play well when demand is light, but then all of a sudden they're trying to blow everyone's ears off and it sounds...not good. Yes, loud is good, but GOOD LOUD is best. I think if they backed off and went more for achievement than blowing the house down (and losing it and not playing together) they'd be better off right now. The drill looks cramped most of the time. Open those intervals up and let the corps look bigger! Again, there's potential that's being wasted...

And that's it. Sorry if I didn't say enough positive things about your favorite corps. I know I missed good and bad things about all...Good luck toeveryone, and I can't wait to see what's changed in Denver!!!!

[Sean1]

very nice

[PeeJay]

Question--why does the DM wear the old red uniform while the corps wears a completely different style in black? It's almost like "Ok, we ran out of the black ones, so you have to wear the red suit...."

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

In 1996 Kiwanis went Division I for the first time and played West Side. They placed 14th that year and wore those jackets. I think it's a symbolic thing. I can appreciate the thought......imagine having marched that year and seeing that. Just a little touch.