Canton/Massillon, OH - July 25, 2004, Great show!

[jwillis35]

Tonight's drum and bugle corps show in Canton was just awesome. The weather held up for the most part with some rain coming after the show had ended, but nothing big.

Many congratulations to the corps in performance this evening, and mainly to the Bluecoats organization for their excellent work with the community, the Pro Football Hall of Fame (this show kicks off the PFHoF week here in Canton), and with DCI for providing one of the best venues for any drum corps show and an awesome lineup.

As for the corps, the show was excellent. So many good shows this year, and there were many standing ovations tonight.

Cadets 91.9 - The Cadets have just an awesome opening fanfare, and when they hit it, as they did tonight, you just get the feeling that they are going to give you something special. Their horns are just incredible, the percussion is first rate, and their guard could very well wiin high guard in Denver. Having said all that, the show leaves me wishing they could do something with the first tune after the fanfare. Overall, the show just lacks the musical GE necessary to push them higher that say 2nd come finals. The middle tune was fantastic and got the crowd on its feet. The closer is a bit flat after the soli section in which the mellos, low brass, trumpets, and drumline are featured. Those features are fun, but the final minute or so just doesn't take the show where it needs to go. This is the big thing that needs fixed in order for them to have a chance at a title, otherwise I see maybe 2nd if they clean. But that is another issue. They are not clean at all (nobody is I realize), but they had a kid almost fall over tonight, and there were several phasing problems that need fixed. The music is first rate and very demanding, and they are almost there, but more work is needed. Come Denver I suspect that they will do very well in performance captions across the board, but music and visual GE may hurt them. The baton twirler is awsome.

Phantom 88.6 (TIE)

This is an excellent show. Very, very, very difficult horn book. Maybe the most challenging brass book on the field this year, but it is not clean. The opener is very sloppy and it's just not the playing but the marching. Lots of phasing in the feet, and all the tempo changes in the opener are not hitting. However, this is a great show. Very entertaining, fun visuals, and awesome brass playing--just clean it up. Percussion is a strong point for the Regiment. Clean and good, an demand is high. I don't care for the opener, but I love the ballad and the closer. The company front in the closer is a goose-bump moment. Guard needs to be better integrated into the whole of the show to help with visual GE. This is a very demanding show and if they could clean it I would say they could hit top 2 or 3 no problem. They have the goods. But cleaning all this will be tough from now until Denver. Still, the staff should be proud as should the kids. Great job, Phantom. I enjoyed this so much.

Boston 88.6

Well, I am not sure Boston should have tied Phantom. I had Bluecoats over Phantom and Boston under Phantom. Boston is good, no doubt. Their show is fun, very well performed, and was one of the bigger crowd pleasers of the night. The overall design is outstanding, and the voice overs were fine in my book, but what the guy was saying in the middle of the show was really not needed. This is a wonderfully colorful, artistic, and energetic show. But, the horn line is thin at times, and the drill is so much of what they have been doing for the last 4 or 5 years. Still, I enjoyed it and want to see them again. Very good solos, and a great ending.

Bluecoats 87.65 - This show should have come in 2nd. The Bluecoats have a fantastic show that in many ways has the best coordination of music, movement, staging, and guard in all of DCI. It is one of my favorite shows on the field this summer. There are no weaknesses in the performance captions IMO. The guard is unreal and very entertaining, and the drumline was smokin'. The horn line is the best they have had, and regardless of what others have said about dynamics or a lack of power from their line, I disagree. The Bluecoats have one of the best horn lines in DCI, and I would rather hear great balance and blend, awesome technique and great articulations that to hear something loud just for the sake of loud. They should have beat Boston and Phantom tonight...at least Boston. The Bluecoats are one of the cleanest corps on the field at this point. They have demand, artistry, excitement, and their music is just so much fun. Their ballad is my favorite of the summer. If the judges see it the way I do, this may very well end up in 5th or 6th in Denver. I think it's that good! Go Blooooo!!!! Great show. Thank you.

I will finish this review tomorrow.

Glassmen 84.95

Colts 79.35

Soutwind 74.9

Pioneer 72.5

[jwillis35]

Ok, I am going to finish thhis review now. Sleep is good.

A couple of final comments on the Bluecoats. When they get to the end of their show, or at least to the point that you think it is going to end, they pause for just a second or so, then hit you with a little "In The Mood." I loved it. Not only because I happened to tour with the Glenn Miller Orchestra for a couple of years, but also because it really fit their show (Mood Swings). If anything, I would like just a bit more of that music to tag the show, but that is being nit-picky. Overall their total show is top-notch and should fare well in Denver.

Glassmen 84.95 - I saw them in Toledo and really didn't care for this show. Last night I was much more engaged. My friend and a number of my students all loved their show as well and they don't really see a lot of drum corps, so whatever the Glassmen are doing, it is working. Their show is a bit artsy. They perform music of Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland, and Norman Dello Joio. This music is not easy to put on the field, especially the Barber music, but the Glassmen are handling the nuances much better. Their horns are loud and pretty good. Some very difficult music in this show. Their drumline does not seem to have that level of playing they did a few years ago, and their guard was most memorable at the beginning of the show but not at the end. Very good mello section, trumpets were forcing too much, and were tired at the end of the show. From a design point I simply want more resolution to ideas, but I realize that what I want goes against the concept of this show. It does leave me wanting a bit more (especially more shaker hymn at the end), and maybe that'swhat so special about this show. They will definitely make top 12...I think. But if they really want to make a significant move upward, I think they need to back off on the horns (some times volume, other times articulations and tone quality) and go for a more refined, dark, and broader sound concept with much wider expressions in order to help sell the very contemporary musical ideas the show has.

Colts 79.35 - Nice opening musical statement. You can't go wrong playing Jenkins' American Overture. An excellent arrangement by Mr. Klesch. The Colts have a very nice, open sound, good tuning for the most part, and the staging of the show is very nice from a horn perspectice. Their guard doesn't integrate as well, but they were very good. If anything is hurting this corps it is visuall and music GE. Nothing really grabs you and tells you where to look or where to listen. Only in a few places does this happen, and the highs and lows in the show seem to run together. Too much of the same thing, maybe not enough dynamic contrast, perhaps the music is just not cleaned up enough for me to get a good read. It is an enjoyable show, and I thought the OOld Man River ballad was wonderful and well played.

Soutwind 74.9 - Southwind did a nice job tonight. Although I did not recognize all the music, some of it will hit you. They do a show called "A Journey Through the Sands." It features music by Jerry Goldsmith who just passed away a few days ago. Good opening statement by the trumpets are not connecting the notes very well and controlling tone. So the phrases often were a bit choppy and not as smooth as they should have been. Ballad is beautiful, and I think the percussion line was very good. Horns ran into the same problem at the end of their show in which the opening theme returns. They seemed so tired at the end of the show. They do have a very difficult visual program and I am sure that is physically wearing them out to the point that their enurance is also suffering.

Pioneer 72.5 - This is the best I have seen Pioneer is some years. I love this show. Did not really care for their guard outfits, but the show is very fun. Great music. Show is titled "Return to Ireland. They do a couple of Robert Smith band works that fit the show very well. They do one traditional Irish song (Dawning of the Day), and they close with music from Riverdance. I thought the end of their show was the best. Riverdance is fun music, and this arrangement is by far the best I have heard for field. Pioneer is playing it well too. Horns have some endurance issues similar to Southwind, but they can pump out some sound for a smaller corps (43 horns compared to at least 50 for every other corps). Very entertaining show. I just wanted a more elegant look from the guard. I also don't care for the corps' hats. They really need to re-visit their look on the field and see if they can do something with those uniforms. Just my opinion.

All in all, I had a great time last night watching some amazing drum corps. For entertainment purposes I ranked them like this:

1. Bluecoats

2. Phantom

3. Boston

4. Cadets

5. Pioneer

6. Glassmen

7. Southwind

8. Colts

As for overall show, I don't totally disagree with the judges, but the Bluecoats are so clean and good that I feel they deserve the nod over PR and Boston. Now, Phantom is kind of a wild card here because I was so impressed with their show, but they are performing one of the most difficult programs on the field this summer. How much credit should we give for demand vs being clean. This is probably the issue the judges are dealing with. It is not like the Bluecoats have a show that is a whole lot less demanding. They have tons of demand as well. There is no doubt Boston is hitting the top box visually and in terms of GE. Very readable show and lots of impact in this show. Their ballad was awesome. But performance wise their horns are not very good. Some very thin tones out there. Trumpets were just very thin sounding and seemed tired way too early in the show. Both Phantom and Bluecoats have much better horn lines. Oh well, it will be close for the rest of the season and Denver should be fun. As for the Cadets, they do have a show that can challenge for as high as 2nd (maybe), but more likely 3rd if they really clean. They are simply not near clean enough now, and there are too many tempo/phasing issues in the show. Love their horns, drums, and guard. Baton twirler was really fun and the crowd just ate him up every time, even though he was a little off on each toss tonight. The Cadets definitely have great performance captions across the board, but their GE scores may do them in. Time will tell.

[manlybandman]

Nice to see a review written by someone who knows something about the MUSIC.......thanks.

I agree on the Pioneer color guard uniforms........when I first saw them at DeKalb, they just sort of made the color guard disappear....they need something to help them stand out.

I've gotten used to the 'hats'......

Again, thanks for the review......here's hoping Pioneer can catch Southwind, Troopers, etc during this next week.

[onfiremedic]

Thanks for the review John. Coming from a respectable musician like yourself, I will pass it on to the Pioneer hornline.

Brian Bentley

brass caption head

Pioneer drum & bugle corps

[emtbill]

Finally,

Someone who can give Pioneer the credit they are due.

I'm glad that they went back to the Irish roots, which is what Pioneer is all about. Its what they're good at. How else could they be DCI Div. II and III world champions? Not to mention DCM Div. I 2004 Champions.

In the past couple years it seems that Pioneer has been the underdog, which why I keep rooting for them. Of course I'm biased since I marched (sat and played timpani) with them from 98-99. But I expect great things from them in the next couple years. And I do hope they overtake Troopers and Southwind. Its time. Pioneer has class.

And Pioneer's tradition of trooping the stands with "Gary Owen" is something that I hope never goes away. As far as I know, they are the only Div. I corps that does so. It would be awesome if other corps did that also. The crowd loves it.

EMTBill