disko_stew Posted July 31, 2004 Share Posted July 31, 2004 i was just going to write a small review and piggy-back on someone else's review, but it got too long. i tried to whittle it down to keep it decent. i think this is my first quasi-review on dcp. like they say on larry king's show - "long time listener, first time caller"!! really tired after the last 3 days. music city legend rehearsed weds night in nashville after i worked all day in chattanooga. rehearsed thurs am and then drove up to murray for our show. we had a great show and had a blast! i left right after we were done for my 4.5 hour drive home to chattanooga to work at 6am friday morning. got home from work at 330pm, left for murfreesboro by 4pm (with girlfriend and another friend - drum corps newbie #1). ate on the way. passed out flyers for MCL, chatted with some good folks (check out our website), and headed inside with girlfriend's parents now on board (newbies #2 and 3). seats were the first row of club level seats on the 45. the club level was suprisingly full this year, while last year it was about 1/2 full only. great seats, great weather, and i was ready for some GREAT shows. i wasn't let down.... bluecoats (8) - really another step up from the previous year (as seems to be the trend among dci as a whole). i enjoyed the show, but still was left kinda flat. i love "ride" (opener after the jazzy intro) - an awesome piece with both fast, jazzy sections and a wonderful emotional slower section. good show, but it may not break 7th in denver. hornline seemed flat in sections and didn't seem to play "full-out". (i had them in 7th, but was wrong) madison (6) - the beginning was good, nice guard and nice development of the theme. the ballad bored me. too much backfield in the horns and the guard did not pay it off visually. malaga is a whole other story. good, solid closer. not amazing like 95 (i was there jumping up and down like the other 20-some-thousand), but still a fun and wholey entertaining closer. lots of dirty feet throughout the show - easy to see with white shoes. and a lot of upper-body control issues which affected the sound at times. keep cleaning. the crowd will love the end at denver. (i had them in 8th, but again was wrong) cadets - odd to see them on so early in a show. was expecting a fun show and they delivered. the "rocky" warm-up was cheesey, but FUN! the 2nd tune (i think 'bouree') was AWESOME!!! had the crowd going nuts. it WILL tear the house down in denver. guard was good, but like sean said, needs more weapons work. a fun show, even with the baton - entertaining, but distracting at the same time. ending was good, but not sure if the endurance was there to pull it off as powerfully as it could be. (i had them in 4th - finally a correct guesstimation!!!) boston - i appreciate what the kids do and how much they put into the show, BUT i really didn't like much about this show. right off the bat, the narration is bad and quite cheesey - people around me laughed and snickered. <**> i could only shake my head. the drill is rehashed from previous years. most of the visual impact drill is easy - on,2,splitting and contrary motion drill. we teach that to our small high school band. orange is the color of success??? (per their narration) - your corps colors are red/black!!! (i had them in 7th) cavies - now this is where the fun really begins. imho, no other corps has been close to cavies in visual design the past 4 years. and this season doesn't have quite the same flair, but it is still awesome. the beginning was soft and scv's adagio/power chord warm-up was easily heard from the parking lot. :P the music was awesome and i really loved it. whistling is neat, 'cuba' is a crowd-fav, and the trickle-down triangle was the move of the night. got a huge ovation! dirty feet in the ending after that move. clean it up and have a shot at devils. but it may be a long shot with how good bd is! (i had them in 2nd) phantom - good show. different music, but really enjoyed it. some of the tunes were familiar to me. last year was much more emotional and that stroing of emotion just didn't come out tonight. all sections were strong. (i didn't think their guard was 8th out of 8 like the judges placed) drill is hard in some sections and you can hear it in the sound at times. company front was awesome. i don't know if i like the guard staging at the end - so far back on stage right - maybe by invading the triangle, they could add more effect/color to the end with their bright flags. keep cleaning and add more passion to the show. (i had them 5th) scv - been looking forward to this show all season. didn't disappoint. opening was awesome. loved the scv attitude. guard was good, but for them to push for a 1st/2nd place finish, they need to clean up the drops and some of the flag work. drumline is amazing. pit did a good job, but seemed overpowering at times. i think the pit mics picked up hornline sounds at times too and that lead to an unbalanced hornline sound. the ending is strong with the attraction theme completed, but a soft ending after this would add more depth/emotion to the show. keep building scv. push for denver!!! ^OO^ (i had them in 3rd) blue devils - amazing show. this is my favorite devils show since 95. just awesome. the total package. GE out the wazoo! get on the train!!! all aboard! (and i am usually not a huge bd fan!) a few drops in the guard, but those will be fixed, no doubt. some dirty feet which will also be cleaned no doubt. with more cleaning (and there actaully is room to clean more) this show should win at denver. i can't see cavies or scv catching them. (or cadets either, for you cadet junkies) the drill may seem easy, but there is some serious exposure and demand. and they march so uniformly it looks easy. hornline is amazing, as usual. screamers seemed a bit off at the beginning of the show, but recovered well for the "hit" section. awesome show. (i had them in 1st - NO DOUBT) encore - america/canada seems to be lacking some of the "oomph" of the old version - was still good and i didn't notice any terrible screamers hanging over either. thank you!!! devils took their concert arc and blew down the house. check out the warm-up clip on dci.org's live events page. standing ovation for the warmup. it was awesome!!!!!! then they played through their show and had a BLAST!!! the drumline and hornline was both hyping up the crowd and the crowd returned it to them tenfold!! what a great, fun encore. multiple standing o's and tons and tons of cheering. even my 3 newbies we cheering loudly! i look forward to more of it in denver blue devils!! overall - great venue, weather held out, great attendance. the amps were fine except for the 2 points above (boston and scv). the baton was distracting, but impressive. devils should win in denver. as i mentioned before, i took my girlfriend (her 3rd year in a row for the murf show) and 3 first-timers. they all had a blast. NO ONE of the 5 of us liked the narration. one of the newbies even said it was "horrible and made me feel like a child - i know what colors/emotions are. why couldn't they just bring out the colors alone, it looked cool, but sounded terrible." the newbs all had a good time and said they'd come back with us next year. although my girlfriend's dad kept asking if anyone had "scored a touchdown yet" :P see you in denver!!!! ^OO^ :mmm: -matt dudek rochester patriots - drum major 1998 allegheny nightstorm - baritone/founding member 2000 music city legend - drum major/foundning member 2004 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMichael1230 Posted July 31, 2004 Share Posted July 31, 2004 Yup, a review well worth reading, you hit the nail pretty much on the head ! Thanks for taking the time to post it !! ~G~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRfan353 Posted July 31, 2004 Share Posted July 31, 2004 phantom - I don't know if i like the guard staging at the end - so far back on stage right - maybe by invading the triangle, they could add more effect/color to the end with their bright flags. keep cleaning and add more passion to the show. (i had them 5th) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Agreed. I saw the clip and it kind of looked a little empty, too much space,,, maybe a finals night 'suprise'? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disko_stew Posted July 31, 2004 Author Share Posted July 31, 2004 Agreed. I saw the clip and it kind of looked a little empty, too much space,,, maybe a finals night 'suprise'? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> i like the evolution and velocity into the triangle by the brass (not as powerful or as spread as in 93), but it isn't as exciting as last year's final set. and i doubt there will be any more big changes (changing the entire guard's staging/choreography/flag work IS a big change) in this last week. maybe some corps (can you hear me, scv??) will pull out some magic for finals, but i won't be holding my breath. -matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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