A Few More Rose Bowl Comments

[ChiBoyinLA]

Weather: Absolutely Perfect!

Parking: Ingress and egress to the Rose Bowl is notoriously awful. Last night was no exception.

Crowd: Big. Really BIG. I would very conservatively peg it at 11,000, but could have been several thousand more. For a Wednesday night in Los Angeles during rush hour, that is VERY impressive. And from where I was sitting -- 67 rows up on the 50 -- the crowd seemed very knowledgable, appreciative and respectful.

DCI take note. Put finals on the West Coast and you will have the best attendance since Montreal.

Venue: As others have said, the Rose Bowl is far from ideal for viewing drum corps. The crowd is quite far away from the action. Due to the elliptical shape of the stadium, the sideline is a good 20-25 yards from the stands at the 50 yard line. Nobody sits in the first 15 rows of the stands because they are covered and/or too low. Then, because the seating is a wide, slowly-inclining bowl, most fans are even further away. Like, hundreds of feet away. I think this hindered the corps from really connecting with the audience. Next time, I'd try Home Depot Center or even the Colesium.

The Format: Wonderful pacing. Three hours of non-stop entertainment. No intermission. After each corps completed its field show, it would quickly move to the area in front of the pit and play a 5 minute or so "instant encore". While that was going on, the next corps would be setting up. As soon as the instant encore finished, there would be a 2 minute video introduction to the following corps, which were all very well done and fun to watch. By that time, the next corps was ready. The announcer was VERY good; I think DCI has got a replacement for when Brant Crocker retires.

Individual Corps Comments

As a general comment, I think most corps were slightly below their absolute performance peak. Understandable, considering that they've had little practice, lots of travel, and now no competitive pressue to focus the mind. All were very entertaining, of course, just a smidgen less clean than expected, and a bit more exhuberant with the volume (which is good in my book).

Regiment Well done show. Some of the soprano runs were crazy. I could hear the pit in the cavernous Rose Bowl even though it did not appear to be amped -- gee, how is that possible? Played "Elsa's" for their encore.

Scouts Sigh. Biggest disappointment of the evening. Anyone who says "the Scouts are back" can't be accurately remembering what the Scouts used to be like. In a word, they were boring. And their horns generated the least volume of the six, despite having the most "wailing horn" posturing. An earlier reviewer described this as a "neutered" version of the Scouts -- that's a PERFECT description, and exactly the same word my group of friends came up with. Played "Theme from Ice Castles" for their encore.

P.S. I still think the new uniforms are cheesy.

Cavaliers Best hornline they've ever had. Most entertaining musical book in years (IMHO). Visual program of the year. Had a fall and a couple drops. Encore was the Corps Song/Rainbow melody they've had for the past several years. Bravo, Gentlemen! (P.S. nice to hear some of the perfectionist members out in the lot afterwards grumbling that they need to keep their performance level high in NoCal because they "have a reputation to uphold").

Vanguard Huge fan favorite. I like the new ending, but it is a little disconnected from the rest of the show. ####, they can drum. Guard was very "on" tonight. This will go down as an all-time classic production. "Clowns" AND "Bottle Dance" (without guard) for the encore. Sweet!

Cadets No baton boy!! Without that distraction, I could appreciate the performance as a solid drum corps show. The battery plays some serious notes, and quite well. Same for the hornline. I agree with everyone who says this is a super talented corps with a less than state-of-the-art product. Their fantastic encore was the best of the evening, hands down.

Devils The show got a lot more effective (IMHO) since early July. Killer performers. It was difficult to hear some of the train effects, even when amped. The new unis look superb under the lights. The corps exited through one of the tunnels at the end -- Nice! Encore was "Chase the Clouds Away", then a reprise of the last two minutes of the show. I thought that repeating something that they JUST finished playing was a little weak. It would be great if they could add "When a Man Loves A Woman" to their repetoire in NoCal.

Massed Corps Yes, it was cool, but certainly not the greatest thing ever put on the field, as some are making it out to be. Obviously, with 400 people on the field and only one day to rehearse, there are significant limitations regarding what can be done. Plus, there is a sort of "law of diminishing returns" when it comes to large hornlines -- once you get over 200 or so, the additional bodies really don't make the sound any louder. Has something to do with overtones or intonation.

Of course, it was cool to SEE, and the crowd definitely appreciated the attempt. It would have been nice to throw a 50-man snare line out there or have 150 flags spinning in unison ... maybe next time! ;-)

Conclusion Great event, with great performances. Worth every cent of the admission price and then some. Probably the best drum corps show in Southern California ever, and the best attended.

And given the huge turnout, DCI darn well better not wait another 30 years to bring the corps out here!!!

[timpanE]

thanks for the great review....gives people like me, who couldnt make it, some insight to what a fabulous show they missed. <_< :)