Toledo Review (from DCWorld)

[Vince Lamb]

Glassmen shine in front of hometown crowd!

June 29, 2002 -- Toledo, OH...Scorching weather greeted a second drum corps contest in Toledo's Glass Bowl in two weeks. As if on cue, the corps themselves produced equally sizzling performances. The fans responded enthusiastically to every corps, disregarding the potentially withering heat.

With the help of their hometown fans, Glassmen (56 B, 21 FP, 11 PP, 32 G, 2 DM) won the battle of applause with the Bluecoats--earning ovations at 17 points during their show, including two standing ovations, to the Bluecoats 16 rounds and one standing ovation. Not only did this reflect the partisan crowd, but also the energized and clean performance the corps put on. One particular bright spot was the fluegel soloist. While he had been clean earlier in the year, he finally sold his solo tonight. Also, the music was becoming much more familiar and accessible, with people humming along during "Javelin". Glassmen swept all captions except Brass Performance and opened up a 3 point lead over their in-state rivals after being only 0.2 ahead of Bluecoats earlier in the week.

Enough has been written about the brass and percussion of Bluecoats (62 B, 23 FP, 9 PP, 35 G, 2 DM) who can go from the quiet and introspection of Bjork's "Dancer in the Dark" to a raucous traffic jam worthy of the Skyliners during "Pedal to the Metal". Music has been this corps' strength for many years and earned the corps a first place in Brass Performance tonight. Instead, the corps should be given credit for its revived visual program. The guard danced expressively during the Sunrise opening and again during the "Dancer in the Dark" interlude, along with the battery, who are put to good use during their tacet. The brass pose and flash their horns effectively throughout the show. Finally, the corps marched a more substantive drill than in years past. The Glassmen may have the better feet, but the Bluecoats are not far behind in the visual captions!

Despite a stronger start to this season than to last season, Southwind (53 B, 23 FP, 10 PP, 24 G, 2 DM) still struggled with performance problems, including a collision between guard and brass during the opener. They were also having some difficulty maintaining interval and alignment, which was surprising, given that the drill did not move as fast or cover as much ground as in previous years. Still, the corps was enjoyable to watch, especially during the drum feature within "March Slav", which elicited 3 of the 6 rounds of applause the corps earned during the show.

Capital Regiment (41 B, 19 FP, 9 PP, 23 G, 2 DM) replaced their opening drill and added guard members during the four days since it last performed in Lima. The new opening was much more visually compelling than the previous drill, even though it lost a little of the suspense of the original arrangement. The corps also replaced the old closing drill with a cross-through that was exciting to watch but lacked the refined execution needed for a stellar moment. Despite some of the flaws in execution, the judges rewarded Capital Regiment with third place finishes in General Effect Visual and Color Guard over Southwind. The corps also won the battle of ovations with Southwind, earning 10 rounds of applause, including the first standing ovation of the night.

The new guard uniforms for Pioneer (28 B, 21 FP, 12 PP, 12 G, 2 DM), along with the plaid sashes on the musicians, made the corps look much sharper than it had two weeks earlier. The corps also played with more musicianship, marched transitions more cleanly, and generally performed with more confidence. The corps also seemed to use its many props more effectively, at one point using them as a frame around the field that caused the corps to look larger than it really was. The staging also helped the brass sound fuller than a mere 28 horns. The judges noticed this, giving Pioneer fourth place in both Music Ensemble and Percussion Perfomance over Capital Regiment. The audience also enjoyed the show more than it did two weeks earlier. Applause count: 9.

Troopers (37 B/13 FP/8 PP/17 G/2DM) added another minute of their drill to the end of their show, but have another minute to go. The result was that one could hear where the sunburst will be (Quotes from "Battle Hymn of the Republic") but it wasn't there to see yet. With luck and practice, the final minute of drill, including sunburst, should be ready for the July 1st performance in Port Huron. The bright spot of their performance was in music, with America's Corps beating Pioneer in Brass Performance and Capital Regiment in both Music Ensemble and Percussion Performance. As always, the audience was receptive to the Long Blue Line, giving them 8 rounds of applause, including a standing ovation.

Lake Erie Regiment (9 B, 10 FP, 6 PP, 11 G, 1 DM) performed a very ambitious program based on the Firebird Suite. The focus of their show is a riser on the left side of the field. The guard and brass began the show around this piece of stage dressing and every section of the corps is featured on it. The highlight of the corps was the color guard, which managed to edge past the Troopers in the guard subcaption. The brass lived up to the ambition of the show until they last minute, when they finally ran out of gas. They managed to recover for the last note, earning an enthusiastic round of applause, the eighth of their show.

Bandettes (9 B/0 FP/9 PP/5 G/1DM) surprised people last year with their smooth brass sound. They continued to demonstrate their ability to get a full, quality sound out of a small brass section this year. They were rewarded for it as well, as the smallest spread between the Bandettes and Lake Erie Regiment was in Brass Performance. The audience recognized a game performance and gave the last all-girl corps six rounds of applause. According to Corps Director Mary Wilson, the corps will grow to 11 brass, 11 percussion, and 7 guard over the next few weeks, as six members now on the sidelines will be added.