Pittman Posted July 21, 2004 Share Posted July 21, 2004 (edited) Ok.. Here's my review, for what it's worth. I'll try to remain impartial ;) Colts - Nice show. It didn't really make me stand up, but it got some nice applause. The color guard work left something to be desired in the range of difficulty. The hornline moves well individually, but form control is an issue. Hornline sounds good, some control issues from individuals..but overall a nice job. Drumline book didn't strike me as too difficult, and it was decently played. Mandarins - First of all, yeah... the DM just looks tough Their show is quite entertaining. They seemed a little small to be going for Div I this year though, but they pulled it off well. There were several, unfortunate, drops in the guard during high impact moments. The drumline did superbly, and the drum feature is cool! The hornline plays very well, but at times sounds like they are sacrificing a little bit of quality for volume. There's also a lack of smoothness to the sound on the move, but I think that may be due to the marching fundamentals, they just don't seem to stand up very well. Overall though, a nice show and a good treatment of the music from Last Samurai Crown - The first thing I noticed about crown is that, yes, the hype is true about their hornline. They've got power and balance and they are NOT messing around. They sound wonderful, although there were a few issues with individuals popping in and out of the sound texture. Since this is the morning afterward, I don't remember there being any abnormally technical passages in their book. That being said, what they play the do very well. Drumline does an excellent job with Rennick's book. They're very tasty, and well executed, but, again, I don't remember anything knocking my socks off with the difficulty level. The colorguard, as usual is very clean with some really neat work. The drill is well executed. The arrangement of Bohemian Rhapsody is stellar. When I heard they were playing it, back in the fall, all I could think of was when Tarheel Sun played it, and it left alot to be desired. Crown has really done a wonderful job with this tune. The amplification is not that bad. It works within the context of their show. The singing could be done with a small ensemble, esp. given the fact they are signing "Ahhh.." but oh well.. the beatnik poem is cheesy, and a bit distracting. all that being said.. while I can't stand what it represents in regards to drum corps, the use of amplification works for their show. Phantom - My official vote for the guard is Sassy, not trashy ;) These ladies are possibly the best Regiment colorguard since the early 90's. They are doing some incredible work, and doing it very well. Kudos to them. The thing that struck me the most is that the drill this year is definitely a step up for PR, but you can also tell that it is a step up. They are running, but do not appear comfortable with it at all. This may be due to the fact that they keep changing it. Also, the hornline, although they play wonderfully, does not move well. Watching them stand in the arc, the body alignment is not what it should be, and watching brass sectionals, people had phasing in the feet during simple exercises. That being said... the Regiment sound is alive and well. The power chords are awesome, bone rattling moments, and the sops are playing some incredibly technical passages. Tonight, I felt like the sop runs were a little dirty, I could really hear the valves between notes in the sound. Drumline is doing very well. Rennick has written a great book here and it is highly complimentary with the horn book. They are ramming alot of notes in there, and getting it very clean. I felt a couple of pulls in the closer where the timing ripped, but they pulled it right back in. I think Regiment's show has the most potential, like most people here online, but they've only got two and half weeks left to get it clean. I think they need to stop making changes and start doing alot of reps to get the kids comfortable with what they're doing. If they can get that done, watch out, cuz the show is smokin as it is.... nowhere to go but up. Bluecoats - I think the boys in blue had a rough night. I got to the show sight in time to watch their run-through, and I felt that that was a better run than the show. The color guard is smokin this year. Very talented kids doing very well with some difficult work. The silent flag feature in the closer was spot on. They are a fun bunch to watch, and they really sell the show. The hornline, as has become the standard for coats, plays extremely well and with alot of control. They are playing a difficult book, and it is certainly a step up for the Coats. They had a few issues with people coming out of the texture, and a few missed releases as well. The awesome hornline run during In the Mood seemed to get away from them at the end. I think that they had more individual errors than Crown, and I think that was a major contributor to their placement. Drumline is ramming ALOT of notes. Maybe almost too much, but they are pulling it off well. For some reason, in the show, there was alot of pulling in the tempos that I didn't feel during the run through. Not sure what happened, but it led to some uncomfortable moments. The overall thing that struck me about the show is that it is a constant string of cool moments, but there is nothing that really says "You will now be getting out of your seat to throw babies at us." They have alot of cool stuff going on, and they are performing extremely well... but there's just nothing that really grabbed me. I certainly didn't have them behind Crown tonight, but, in retrospect, I can see why. They had a rough night, and Crown rocked the house. Crown's show is very entertaining, and they perform the heck out of it. Bluecoats seemed a bit uncomfortable tonight. We'll see how it goes in Masillon for them. Overall. tonight was an excellent night for drum corps. All the groups did very well. I think Phantom certainly has room to grow and fight for some top 4 love, but they've got to get their kids comfortable with their well-designed product. They are definitely a step above Coats and Crown, if for nothing else than the technical demand that is being placed on them. Coats and Crown are neck and neck, and I imagine they'll be swapping around all the way until Denver. Then again... this all just my opinion, so who cares? ;) edited for typos... Edited July 22, 2004 by Pittman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phansouth Posted July 21, 2004 Share Posted July 21, 2004 great view! Mucho impartial! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phansouth Posted July 21, 2004 Share Posted July 21, 2004 Make that REview Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malibu Posted July 21, 2004 Share Posted July 21, 2004 I was there too....boy, Crown made a huge step last night! Their guard is out of this world! Hornline sounded very nice.....it's obvious they have some talented brass people on board this year. I can tell this year's guard is going to be one of my favorites....especially the weapons....they rock! Mandarins really come out with an attitude....some really nice visual moves happening in the show, but it's not executed very well. I will say, this corps comes out with some interesting unique uniforms. When you see the DM marching by, you want to say, "Luke, I'm you father!" Colts really need to work on their marching program....with the white pants, the mistakes are soooooo noticeable. Some things in the guard looked like an after thought.....especially many sets. The second flag they used (silver) did nothing for me....it was washed out by the lights. Bluecoats seemed to have an off night.....some nice things happening in the drill but too many individual errors. Some well thought out moments in the guard....they just need to be more consistant. I really don't like all the different styles happening in Phantom Regiments guard.....however if you look past that, you'll see some really nice ensemble moments going on. They really need to work on that last move with the red lame flag block.......personally, I think China Silk would have been better with a hint of lame. I was impressed with the marching....very nice to see everyone's toes up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobH Posted July 21, 2004 Share Posted July 21, 2004 Malibu - sorry I missed you and the show - am at home under the weather and have been all week! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malibu Posted July 21, 2004 Share Posted July 21, 2004 Malibu - sorry I missed you and the show - am at home under the weather and have been all week! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Sorry to hear about that Rob....I was wondering if you were there. I know what ya mean about feeling "under the weather." After the show I had a kidney stone attack that landed me in the emergency room for 8 hours! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
93Bluecoat Posted July 21, 2004 Share Posted July 21, 2004 Pittman, Thanks for the HONEST review (so hard for alumni!). I was cursing some of the judges after seeing the scores (particularly Bluecoats 16.9 in percussion...a full point below where they've been scoring and a 17.1 in color guard about a half point below where they've been). Those two captions were the difference in the show. This is where it's a little confusing for me Pitt, you said the hornline had some rough moments, yet they won brass rather handily. They also took visual ensemble with the ragged ending. The ensemble problems could have been caused by the drumline having a bad night (and hence the 16.9) but what about the color guard? Was the 17.1 justified? If the drumline and CG get numbers that are just AVERAGE to what they've been scoring, they are probably 1.5 points higher....that would have been an 87.0 Anyone that was there concur, disagree, or have any thoughts on this? Discuss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shostahoosier Posted July 21, 2004 Share Posted July 21, 2004 yeah...what is up with Regiment's brass score? Guess they havent improved an ounce in 10 days. I guess as always, the score is in the eye of the beholder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pittman Posted July 21, 2004 Author Share Posted July 21, 2004 Coats certainly won brass because they had the tightest sound, despite the holdovers and people sticking out every once and awhile (and by that I mean like 3 or 4 times total in the whole show) I think Regiment sounds great from Mello's down.. the sops sound like they are depserately trying to keep up with their own runs. Listen to the vid clip from Orlando and you'll hear what i'm talking about. The drumline, I certainly didn't think they were that far off from Regiment... but then again, I'm not a drummer, so the finer nuances of percussion judging are a bit lost on me. As far as colorguard.. I think Bluecoats colorguard was fantastic, as was Crown's. Crown has a great deal of difficult body work going on, in general and definitely under the pole. Plus, alot of the Crown kids are used to performing as an ensemble from performing in The Study winterguard together... either way, they were only .5 down from Crown, which isn't a whole lot... definitely within the margin of a judge's opinion in my book. I personally had scores predicted of Regiment 88.2, Coats 87.1 and Crown 86.5 .... so not too far off for my uneducated eye ;) I think overall, Coats percussion may have had a rough night within the ensemble, and they caused the tearing, thus the drop in Drums and Ensemble music. My friend, who is the percussion instructor at the school i teach at (and a Cadets 95 snare) said it sounded like the drums just couldn't keep up with the hornline in execution tonight. So take that for what it's worth. Oh, and Darren, the rough ending I was talking about wasn't a drill run... but the hornline run. they're standing still during it. Coats move very well this year. Excellenct form control within the ensemble. And yes, it's hard to stay impartial... but if anything, I think I tend to be harder on coats cuz I expect more from my boys ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crownmember Posted July 21, 2004 Share Posted July 21, 2004 Thanks Pittman, GREAT review!!! :) ...but there is nothing that really says "You will now be getting out of your seat to throw babies at us." <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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