Dci Finals Week Review

[TexasPRfan]

DCI Championship Week Review

Well, here we are again, at what for me is the saddest day of the year – the day after DCI finals. Yet another great summer has come to a terrific conclusion, with a stellar DCI finals week, from top to bottom in Division I. Denver was a terrific spot for finals, and I hope we come back here again. The weather was terrific, and a welcome respite from the Texas heat. Saturday was just a perfect night for DCI finals, with a light, cool breeze, a clear sky and an absolutely beautiful stadium that was as packed as I’ve seen a DCI finals stadium in a long time.

A friend of mine called this the year of the horn line in DCI, and I think I’d have to agree. Cavies brought tremendous quality of sound and complemented it with power this year. Blue Devils were flawless. SCV and PR had their best horn lines in years. Even more interesting, corps like Bluecoats, Carolina Crown, Blue Knights, Glassmen, Capital Regiment and Colts all kicked it up another notch with their brass lines. Here are my collective thoughts on each corps for the week. Let me start off by saying, I enjoyed every corps this year and really appreciated the turn towards entertainment that many corps took this summer.

For perspective, I had seats in row 7 in the upper deck, on about the 40.

Pioneer – Pioneer was light years ahead of the programs they had the past 2 summers. Unfortunately for them, everyone else is continuing to raise the bar, too. The Irish music was appealing and while the guard uniforms were the worst in Division I, at least they were an improvement over last years construction orange mess. Is it time for this corps to consider dropping back to Division 2? Pioneer, like several others who went on early Thursday, was hampered by some stiff winds, but still pulled off a nice show to end their season.

Troopers – It sure was exciting to see the huge welcome the corps got from the Denver crowd. This corps is truly loved. They struggled with the wind as well, and the show was uneven, but there were some definite high points to build on for next season. I hope the design and staff team stick around and get these kids to come back – and bring their friends. Troop seems headed in the right direction, but as I said above, the bar for Division I corps in the lower echelon keeps going up. A very nice, patriotic ending to a solid effort from Casper. Good luck next season, Troop!

Kiwanis Kavaliers – This corps had a definite split personality this summer – musically great (semi final worthy, particularly in brass), but visually sub-par. This corps used to have a wonderful color guard. This year’s crew was both small and less than impactful. Despite the use of what is probably drum corps most over-used program (WSS), KK had a very appealing show this year though, and the Tonight closer was definitely the highlight. A vastly improved effort from last year’s show.

Esperanza – E! What a cool ending drill set. This corps was all about the visual side of the house in fact, with a strong drill and some excellent marching for a first year Division I corps. Esperanza also delivered with a strong color guard, who handled the stiff winds early on Thursday better than anyone else. Esperanza certainly served notice that they will be a force to be reckoned with in Div I. I look forward to seeing what they bring to the table next year, and hopefully year 2 in Div I will find the San Diego crew back with a larger, more powerful horn line.

Pacific Crest – I have to say this was the most disappointing corps to me in the first 1/3 of Quarterfinals. Perhaps they were more bothered by the wind and threatening weather than most, but they just didn’t deliver on Thursday, and were appropriately moved down from their exciting 17th place finish in Indy last week. I didn’t get half the excitement out of this show this week as I did last week in Indy. While the corps had a strong music book and a powerful brass line, the arrangements, particularly of the Death Hunt, seemed choppy and over-arranged. Despite that, the corps real Achilles heel is their drill, which was probably the simplest drill on the field on Thursday. I appreciate the fact they are not a full time corps like the rest of the Div. I corps are, yet if they want to compete during finals week, they are going to have to step up their drill demand significantly. I don’t see how anyone on the West Coast saw this as a possible DCI finalist corps this year. Still, I enjoyed PC, and particularly their horn line.

Mandarins – Mandarins delivered the goods with a cool show. All this corps is missing is more horns to deliver punch. The drum line rocks & the guard accentuated the Samuri show very nicely. I always enjoy this corps. If they are committed to being in Division I, I just wish they would step up with a larger horn line. One of my favorite shows from the non – semifinalist corps. Nice job, Mandarins!

Southwind – Kudos to Southwind for bringing a highly entertaining show to the table this summer. The Mummy music was both demanding and entertaining. S/W took a step forward this summer on many levels, and particularly in color guard. This corps got to the brink of Semi Finals, making a nice impressive run at the end of the season. I hope the corps can survive without the Madison umbrella, which appears to be ending. If they can get these kids to come back, with another year of maturity under their belts, they could make some noise next summer.

Magic of Orlando – ARGGHHH!!!! Congratulations to the kids from Magic, who persevered through a difficult, disappointing (score wise) summer, and to the staff who kept them motivated. With the difficult year the corps had in 2003, and the whole sale staff turnover that the corps went through, it was a very wise move to pick such a fan friendly show. The Pirate theme was fun, and the crowd truly enjoyed Magic. No, it wasn’t the squeaky clean Magic of the past 2 years, but the corps made great strides during the summer after coming out as the dirtiest Div I corps in June I’ve seen in a long, long time. I hope this corps is indeed on solid financial footing now and is poised to start climbing back to the level of achievement they wowed us with in 2002 & 2003.

Seattle Cascades – I really liked this show from Cascades. It just lacked a certain “umph” to get it up to finalist contention status. There was a true top 16 this year, though, and Seattle was closer to making finals than they were to Magic, at least from my eye. The guard program at Seattle has slipped a little since they made finals in 2002, but the corps still has a great drill to highlight a solid visual program. Kudos to the staff for axing the tympani on wheels that were so distracting to the show earlier in the season. The elements show was very cool, Seattle – thank you!

Colts – Another show I really liked. Colts liked to be big & bold, and this show was no exception. The music was very much “from the heartland” and fit the corps to a tee. With a few more weeks to clean, this corps could have contended for finals, but their execution, both marching & musically was just a notch off what it takes these days to make finals. In thinking about Colts’ first shows to make finals in 93 & 94, this show would blow them away, but making finals is so much harder now.

Capital Regiment – I felt like this corps left their best show on the field in Semis. The horn line was definitely the strength of this corps, with a solid presence and commanding sound throughout the show. Musically, I think this corps was strong enough to challenge for a finalist position, but they just didn’t clean up visually as much as their competition, and the guard remained a weak point in comparison, as it had been all season. Look out for this corps next summer, though – if they upgrade their guard program, they will have a great shot to knock someone out of finals next year at Foxboro. The Doxology moments of the show were some great power chords to hear Thursday & Friday. Thanks, Cap Reg!

Spirit of JSU – Wow, I’m struggling with what to say about this corps. I think this was my least favorite show of all the Div. I Semi-finalists. The music book just failed to deliver the goods from my perspective. Too many snippets and thoughts, yet very few melodic phrases brought to completion, and over all, the show just didn’t have much momentum. The color guard was definitely an upgrade for Spirit this year, and had some very nice highlights. Unfortunately, I think it was the program that held Spirit back this summer. One other peeve I guess I have with these guys is this – I don’t like their marching style, and it feels like a cross between the Cavaliers & a college marching band. I hope Spirit digs a little deeper this off-season to find their own, unique identity. Got to hand it to the kids from Spirit, though, they definitely laid it on the line Friday night, with their best show of the year.

Glassmen – Without a doubt, my favorite show from G-men since 1999 (granted, that isn’t saying much with me). This was a great music book for Glassmen, with lots of highs and lows, and accented very well by a nice color guard program and drill. I thought the horn line had a terrific, deep, rich sound. I enjoyed the juxtaposed music and overall, this show just sold well to me. As the week progressed and BK elevated their performance, Glassmen didn’t keep pace, but they held on to that 12th spot and got back into the big show. Will be interesting to see what direction this corps takes next year.

Crossmen – I predicted to my friends Saturday morning that BK would pass Crossmen for that 10th spot, and turns out the corps performed that way & the judges agreed Saturday night. It’s ironic that Crossmen delivered my favorite show from them since the First Circle year in Orlando, yet slipped to their lowest placement since the 80s. The major re-writes the corps had to do the visual program throughout the summer to fix the horrendous early season drill obviously had an impact on how clean they could make this show. In comparison to the deep, powerful, rich sounds produced by both Glassmen, and particularly BK, Crossmen’s horn line also sounded more thin & tinny (for lack of a better word). Still, I truly enjoyed this show, and who would have thought that “From Both Sides Now” would be one of the ballads of the year in DCI? Actually, I think the re-written and over arranged “Puma” ended up being the weakest part of an other-wise stellar show from X-Men. This show would have been around 8th or 9th not that many years ago.

Blue Knights – A Knights Tale turned out to be my favorite show from BK since the 1998 classical show (seeing a theme here? – 3 corps in a row with my favorite recent show from each) . BK came out with a huge, aggressive horn line and let the home town crowd have it. The corps managed to take works they have played repeatedly and made them feel fresh along the way – quite an amazing accomplishment. The drum line had some hot features in the show as well, and the guard added tremendous flash & GE with great silks done very well. The closing blue flags were gorgeous & helped take this show over the top. BK got better every night this week, and they got justly rewarded on Saturday night. Congrats, BK!

Boston Crusaders – At the risk of sounding like “I told you so,” I also predicted Saturday morning to my friends that Madison would pass Boston on Saturday night. Boston’s show this year to me was one of extremes. The visual program was excellent, with terrific marching & a stellar color guard. The music book, however did not deliver the type of effect & emotion needed to keep this corps in top 6 territory. In the end, on the big stage on the last Saturday night of the year, that came back to haunt them. I also found it odd that Cru added back more narration each night during finals week. On Thursday, there was very little narration (THANK YOU), and I was pleased to see Boston being willing to undo something the large majority of fans did not care for. Yet, by Saturday, they had stubbornly put most of it back in. Not a bad show by Boston, but my least favorite of their finalist corps over the past 6 years.

Madison Scouts – Madisonic felt like an odd name for Madison’s show by Saturday night. While I really enjoyed Madison’s show, and actually felt that parts of the show were really “cool,” I didn’t find much hot or sonic about it. The first 2/3s of the show felt like a late night blues/jazz piece – very mellow. Malaga just didn’t sell, either, with fire or intensity. It felt over-arranged, and mellowed out. The only real excitement in this show came at the end, with the corps dragging out the last chords. Also, from the 3rd deck, Madison had considerably less punch or volume than did the majority of the corps around them, and even than BK or Crossmen. Still, it’s great to see Madison back in “the 90s” in score and this was definitely their best corps since 1999.

Carolina Crown – Bohemia turned out to be one of my 3 favorite shows of the year – along with SCV & PR – despite the use of the amped voice, which plagued both Boston & Crown’s shows. Interesting coincidence that both corps dropped on Saturday night? I hope that DCI bans the amping of the human voice, but I doubt they’ll do it. All that aside, this show just had an incredible music book. This is 2 years in a row that Crown has delivered an incredibly well designed program that was a big crowd pleaser. The horn line has grown tremendously over the past 2 years, although they felt a little reserved this week, in comparison to the power they were giving us earlier in the year. By Friday night, the corps had cleaned up their marching considerably, and that is what allowed them to let their superior program pass up Boston & Madison. I felt like they left their best show on the field Thursday musically, and Friday visually, and to me it was a true tossup between Crown & Bluecoats on Saturday night. I’m sure Crown would have loved to hold on to 6th, but hopefully they are very proud of what they accomplished this year. There were parts of the opening Opera pieces that I could swear it almost sounded like Phantom Regiment was on the field – they sounded that good.

Bluecoats – Blue gave us everything we expect from them this year. Consistent, entertaining accessible jazz music. Hunting Wabbits turned out to be a great piece, and their ballad was one of the season’s best, although I think I actually liked the blue flags used during the ballad early in the season better than the light peach/yellow/pink flags they used at the end of the season. It just felt like a “blue” song, and the color didn’t seem to accent that well. All in all, Bluecoats were Bluecoats this year, with a better color guard. They didn’t really give us anything new or innovative, but they gave us good, entertaining drum corps – which is more than enough! Thanks, Bluecoats, and congrats on your first top 6 finish.

Phantom Regiment – When I saw Regiment in Indianapolis, I was truly shocked as I did not really care for this show at all in June or even mid-July. They pulled off a miracle with this show, though. It was clear in Indy that no one was going to challenge them from behind the rest of the way, and they were a clear cut above the corps below them in Denver. Unfortunately, I felt like PR gave us their best show on Friday night in Denver. They were on fire Friday night. With palpable intensity and a driving excitement that got my whole crew of Cavies & BD fans excited. I thought they were seriously underscored on Friday night, and that they should have broken 95, and been about a point away from Cadets, not a point away from Crown. Perhaps the corps was disheartened by that 93.5 score after what was an awesome performance Friday night and maybe that impacted them at least subconsciously Saturday night. Who knows, but they weren’t quite as intense on Saturday. I felt like Friday night’s PR show would have beaten Cadets’ lackluster Thursday night show, but Cadets stepped it up and Regiment was a clear 5th by themselves on Saturday night. Regiment’s Achilles heel has shifted somewhat and was painfully clear from the 3rd deck in Denver. While the corps has fixed their drill deficiencies for the most part, the color guard program was extremely weak. Not only does this cost them hard to get final points in guard, but has to be dragging down their Ensemble Visual and GE Visual scores as well. This GUARD could have placed 11th in Denver, ahead of only G-men in finals, and I wouldn’t have argued at all. Please, please, please, Regiment: fix your guard program and you can do some damage in the top 3. All the other pieces are in place now. Still, I ended up loving this Regiment show, and the music is still with me now. This horn line was spectacular in Denver – especially on Friday night. It was also great to see them deservedly beat Cadets in GE Music.

The Cadets – My feelings on this Cadet show have been clear all summer, and I really didn’t see anything to change that in Denver. The Cadets were squeaky clean and performed the heck out of this limited vehicle. The show just lacked about everything I’ve come to love about the Cadets over the years though – heart, artistry, innovation, fast paced visual demand, etc. What this corps did have was a ton of talent, a great drum line and an outstanding color guard. On Thursday, the corps really had a lackluster night. It’s a good thing they stepped it up on Friday & Saturday, with a lot more power & intensity, or they would have been much closer to Regiment than they were. The complete difference in the 2 corps in Denver? Two words – Color Guard. Cadets have one & Regiment doesn’t.

Santa Clara Vanguard – My only Saturday morning prediction that was really off – I made an admittedly emotion-based prediction that they would upset everyone & go home with the trophy, which they didn’t do, of course. Both BD & Cavaliers elevated their shows on Saturday night to prevent that. Still, there was a clear top 3 in Denver, and it was great to see SCV back in that grouping. Their show this summer was so emotional and powerful. I loved it every time I saw it. The new ending in Denver was perfect and capped off a great year for SCV. What a drum line, and what a color guard – particularly that wonderful saber line.

Blue Devils – These guys (and gals) just ooze professionalism. An impeccable horn line sounded so rich, crisp and bluesy all week. They were phenomenal. The new ending on Saturday night, with the horn line heading out the tunnel (the train leaving the station) was just genius, and exactly what had been lacking in their ending all summer. If Cavaliers had not upped their performance a notch from Friday to Saturday, it would have been enough to propel BD into 1st in my opinion. In the end, what cost BD a title to me seemed to be the simplistic drill. The corps just spent too much time in 2 parallel lines & arcs (yes, I understand the train/tracks references) to win a DCI title. That 2 tenths in GE visual was the entire difference between the 2 corps. Still, by Saturday night – especially with the new ending, I really warmed to BD at the end of the season & enjoyed their show.

Cavaliers – As they have done before, Cavies took a show that did not strike me as championship caliber and turned it into an awesome show. To my memory this was the most athletic, high visual demand show I have ever seen. Cavies also cranked up the volume this year, which was MUCH appreciated. James Bond was a perfect fit for this corps. The design team with this corps is just a bunch of amazingly creative people. Can’t wait to see what they give us next year. Congrats, Cavaliers!!!

All in all, a terrific year for Drum Corps and Denver proved to be an awesome venue for Finals. Saturday’s crowd was HUGE, and the weather was perfect. Add to that mix a great weak of performances and the strongest top 3 we’ve seen since 2000, and the week turned into one to cherish. And – one to make me sad today, that it’s 10 months till next season.

Harvey Phelps

Edited August 9, 2004 by TexasPRfan

[Hornman]

Great review! Thanks

[TexasPRfan]

Thanks, Hornman!

[Orpheus]

First class review, PRfan! Thanks. B)

[TexasPRfan]

Ok, it's 3 days later, and I still can't get music from Regiment, Crossmen, Crown or SCV out of my head! :)

Only 10 more months....

Harvey

[00Sop]

Funny, but these are the only 4 shows (SCV, PR, Crown and Crossmen) I spent money on to download the audio. You obviously have good taste! B)

Edited August 10, 2004 by 00Sop

[Crownmember]

Great review, thank you! :) And FYI about Crown, they (and I) are VERY VERY proud of this years corps!!! Crown has never finished above 10th and has never scored above an 88.XX ever, and this year they blew both of those corps records away!! Of course it would have been great to hold onto 6th at finals, but 7th is just as awesome, judging from the fact that 2 years ago Crown was 16th, and that they were overtaken by a very good Blooo team i might add. Either way, going from 16th 2 years ago back to 10th last year and 7th this year, I dont think the staff and kids at Crown could be any more proud or excited!!! b**bs GO CROWN!!

I’m sure Crown would have loved to hold on to 6th, but hopefully they are very proud of what they accomplished this year.  There were parts of the opening Opera pieces that I could swear it almost sounded like Phantom Regiment was on the field – they sounded that good.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[Temaltbia]

Bud great review.... I'm surprise with the amount of detail I don't remember you taking notes. Finals were super and as always it was fun being with the gang. I looked at the recap and was surprised to see that Cavies only won the overall GE caption with BD winning overall visual (I still don't get it) and overall music. I can't wait until next year.

Terry

[TexasPRfan]

Hey, Terry! Hi praise coming from you. Thanks for the props. The recaps between BD & Cavies were a little interesting. I guess one could make the argument that BD was just squeaky, squeaky clean and any drill simplicity concerns only really registered in GE Visual. I would have thought that would hit the comp number in Ensembble visual too, but oh well - what do we know. I had a great summer too, and spending the weekend with the "gang" was great.

Harvey

[batmanrenegade]

i have to agree with this review.

i too was at DCI.

my award for creativity and most fun, JERSEY SURF! They start the show is these blue sport coat, white pants, gold shirt jobs, and then 2 screens appear, all of a sudden, the screens come down, and the hornline and the DM look like ELVIS!!

The gyrating hips, the music, the way they ended the show with the elvis closing theme.

Then, their golf cart transporter of the pit stuff had a sign saying "Thank you...ELVIS has left the building!"