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Southbridge Review


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I have attended every local Div2/3 show in the area and I was really interested in seeing how well the corps have improved at the midseason point. After a two hour rain delay the show started and the weather held off.

Silver Nights (exb.): These kids do an admirable job for their size (6 horns, 7 drums, 3 guard). They have one of the hardest working baritone players out there. They play a nice arrangement of the Planets which is no easy task given their size. The local crowd really cheered them on and can I only hope they get recruitment going to be back in competition next year.

Targets (57.10): Being an old North Star guy, I really enjoyed their arrangements of old Mangione tunes. Their soprano soloist is very talented and has great range. He does a nice mellophone solo (ala Bonnie Ott) during “Chase the Clouds Away”. In speaking with a staff member, this kid is only 13 year old!! Look out for him in the coming years. While the soloist is very good, the corps as a whole hasn’t improved much from the start of the year. They are very entertaining but they need to work on playing/marching concept a lot harder. Keep up the effort kids.

Taipei Yuehfu (73.30): WOW!!! This group blew me away compared to last year. They are smaller but that doesn’t take away from there performance at all. Very powerful brass line playing unfamiliar, yet accessible music. Their drill, although still somewhat dirty, is one of the most interesting in the division. They do a great job of playing off the oriental feel during their drum solo with authentic drums and the horn line doing karate moves (similar to last years’ guard). The crowd ate them up and was very disappointed when the scores where read. I and the fans around me had them in 2nd tonight. I’m not sure what the GE judges where at but they definitely out performed the Patriots and ECJ. Look out for them in Madison for sure.

Spirit of Newark (53.5): I felt really bad for these kids following a performance like Taipei. This seems like an extremely young corps. They do some interesting things with African drums during the drum solo and the crowd really enjoyed their tribute to the black high school marching bands. They end the show yelling “The Spirit never dies” I hope this group continues on with their efforts and I’m sure will improve with age.

Cadets of NYC (65.7): I have posted on this site on how I really like this corps. I have to say I was rather disappointed with their performance tonight. Yeah the drum line can still crank it up but the corps as a whole doesn’t seem that improved from the start of the year. Marching is definitely a weakness that distracts from an otherwise pleasant show. They seem to get their act together during the closer of “Knights in White Satin”. If they could apply the same to the first half of the show they could do well in Madison.

Patriots (79.15): This corps is known for playing “new age” music, and I really enjoyed their book last year. After several viewings. I’m still having a hard time getting into it. It all sounds the same throughout with numerous section exposures without a lot of melody. That being said I concentrated on the drill and guard. Their guard was on top form tonight! The crowd really responded to every toss they did and the huge red flags at the end of the show work very well. They seem to have some holes in the drill that I didn’t notice before…maybe some sick members? They also need to work on some technique issues. If they could do something to spice up the music and clean drill, they should be able to pass ECJ. I had them in 3rd tonight.

East Coast Jazz (79.20): This corps does a nice job with some classic BD hits. The lower brass comes across nicely but the soprano line still seems to struggle with the book. The guard added some new equipment but didn’t have that finished look that the Patriots and Spartan guard portray.

The had obvious holes out there….I’ve see all year…..come on guys time to close them up. This corps has always come on strong by finals. I hope they do soon because they don’t seem to have improved as much as the others. I had them in 4th .

Spartans (83.10): Definitely the most polished unit out there. The guard was non stop from the dance moves during the opening baritone solo to the flurry of flags in the closer. They scored a 17.0 and are well on their way to taking top guard again this year. The horn line really came through tonight….although they never seem to catch a break from the field judge. The moron had them with a 13.9.… 4 tenths above Cadets? Funny how they took high GE with all the supposed field errors. They should have been around a 16 or so easy. Drum line is greatly improved from the start of the year and they have one of the hardest working pits out there (check out their drum solo if you can). There is still some phasing issues during the Samson & Delilah portion of the show that need to be addressed. I noticed several new drill changes and some nice horn visuals that where added. A very strong performance by this group. They seem to be hungry to take on Magic, CR, and the West coast favorites. Should be interesting indeed come Erie and Madison.

RAM

RI Picadors 74-78

North Star 79-82

RI Matadors 84-88

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Taipei Yuehfu (73.30): WOW!!! This group blew me away compared to last year. They are smaller but that doesn’t take away from there performance at all. Very powerful brass line playing unfamiliar, yet accessible music. Their drill, although still somewhat dirty, is one of the most interesting in the division. They do a great job of playing off the oriental feel during their drum solo with authentic drums and the horn line doing karate moves (similar to last years’ guard). The crowd ate them up and was very disappointed when the scores where read. I and the fans around me had them in 2nd tonight. I’m not sure what the GE judges where at but they definitely out performed the Patriots and ECJ. Look out for them in Madison for sure.

Is Taipei Yuehfu Div II or III?

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Thank you for that great review. I'm glad that someone is out there for the Div II/III corps!!!! Sometimes they do get forgotten!

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Guest top dawg

Tai Pei is Division 3. The drill was very cheesy. They are much worse than the last 2 years. Not in the same class as the 3 Division 2 corps

ECJ was missing 5 brass players & their drum major due to a car accident. Guard is still dirty at times They dance much mich stronger than they spin. tHeir body work is far superior to Spartans and Patriots but they lag behind in equipment. Percussion is in the game, brass need the bodies to create impact.

Patriots looked rusty and better on Saturday. Their guard staging is poor. With a relatively simple musical book they should show strong progress with their self titled "green" horn line. Percussion was strong. For some reason Jim Galvin does not like them ( and he has a wicked jones for Cadetof NYC, unlike every other drum judge in DCI for the rest of the Summer). Expect them & ECJ to continue to narrow the gap to Nashua in the next 2 weeks.

Rick Martin, your bias towards the Spartans is obvious. The brass judge Don Taylor is far from a moron. Maybe he recognized the empreors new clothes. Perhaps their show is not standing up to repeated viewings????? Spread after the Ludlow is is now 2.1 to patriots & 2.8 to ECJ. I see all three very tight by Madison. I do think their front & battery are scoring lower than they deserve.

Wish Surf showed up in Ludlow. Heard they had vehicle and driver problems. Am sure they didnt mind the extra rehearsal time. They need to take a bog leap in performance issues to keep pace with Spartans, ECJ & Patriots.

Looking forward to Wayne NJ when all four meet up. I expect these 4 corps to be in the middle of the 4-9 pack.

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Great to see a non Div.1 review !. Great job Ram !. Incidentally, the North Star that you once marched in was a Corps that got the audience up and out of their seats a lot when they competed. They were a hellava entertaining Corps and very competent. Who can forget that " Chrome Wall " Drumline, and the great music and soloists !

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To whoever topdawg is....you are entitled to your opinions as I am to mine. I wrote what I saw for my reveiw as did you for yours. I am a NH resident so of course I am happy for the home team....as I'm sure you are for yours. You also have me at a disadantage for knowing my name and posting it and not revealing yours.

Either way I was at the Springfield show last evening and ECJ and Patriots did close the gap and both had what I feel is their best perfomances to date....Especially Patriots. Making the race closer is never a bad thing and good for the competition.

In all fairness, the Spartans did have an flat peformance and where much better on Friday. I can only attribute this to possibly losing their game face with all the wait time on the track before they started (almost 20 minutes). I think this was due to Jersey Surf not being able to make the show and the Spartans were already for their orginal time slot. They had to wait on the track during intermission to be the start of the second block. I can only attribute this to bad logistics on someones part. They will need to overcome these obstacles as they move ahead in order to maintain the competitive edge.

FYI topdawg.....I looked at the recaps on DCI and the Field Brass score was 16.4 for last night up from 13.9 from night before. Maybe the emporer got a new tailor? The Spartans did have their troubles in other areas this evening, Guard not up to it's usual and some visual elements to attend too. Everybody has a bad night I guess.

Anyway....I really hope that all the Eastern Corps can overcome their individual obstacles and represent us well in Madison. Good luck to them all as they head off for tour and thanks for making the local season an enjoyable one. See you in Madison.

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top dawg, this is not RAMD. We do not need your sarchasim nor do we need people getting in other peoples faces. (so to speak)

You are entitled to your opinion as is everyone else. Lets just keep the nasty crap out of here. RAM, thanks for the review. I am sure it will be exciting down the stretch for ALL II/III corps. What a great season!

Mike

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