Jeff Ream Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 line of the weekend by Fran Haring: "renegades is your corps ready?" she pulls out the shades, drops her coat and looks hot: Fran: "ooooooooooooooooooooooookayyyyyyyyyy" and the place lost it riot averted moment: Saturday during Class A break, the brown shirts/legion folks informed people that if you left the stadium for the Stadium Club, you had to buy a ticket to get back in. the crowd started to get unruly. comments got loud. look up in the sky! it's a bird! it's a plane. No, it's Super Peashey. thank you, on behalf of all our livers, from fixing that. THAT coulda been ugly. I met a million of ya, and i'll comment when i can remember it all. i was low seat wise. like row 1. thank god no pits had amps. so dont expect a lot of overhead drill comments, cause, well i was low. the shows: Class A: Shenandoah: size matters not. Improved over last year, which was cool to see! While nothing in the show really stands out and makes me yell wow, the overall product was improved, and this is a corps where performer responsibility is at a maximum, and you do well. GCS: A great surprise! a fun little crps. perc execution hurt....looked like a mix of styles from player to player, and tuning was not to your benefit. brass did well, and the drill, while not overly taxing was performed well. A great start to a new DCA corps! Dream......fun show! the pit unis...err streetwear was a riot. Definitely SoCal style...loved the wigs, and the head pimp...err Dm was a riot. Brass had a nice sound, pit did well, tho battery had an issue of 3. Overall a solid show, and sorry about the penalty. HeatWave.....first things first. Thank you for coming up. You didnt have to and we would have fully understood. The missing bodies had to hurt, but, IMO, you did a fantastic job. battery played like a line possessed. Vic, i vote you best DM. Just because. my prayers continue to be with all of you and your families, and i thank you for being brave. Sun.........Wow what a jump from Kingston in quality. Glen Hazelwood you are the new Sandy Macneil. Perc cleaned up nicely, and brass did a good job. I thought the guard did well too. Legend was my fave, and i think the crowd's too. Any other year...... Govies: to the blond female in the pit...you dear, are a show inside the show. your timing is impeccable, and your attitude kicks ###. You had a fan club in rows 1 and 2....and not just your playing either. Loved the Dm intro during georgia. 12 brass sounded like a lot more. perc did a nice job. I hope you found the trip out to be worth it...we did. your sunday show seemed more emotional but a little less clean. that's ok tho. welcome to the dance. Grennies...............it was all you. huge jump since Kingston. Your percussion section was on absolute fire both days. I mean like crispy clean. brass seemed more inspired Sunday night. had to be fun playing NYV for Thurston too. Hands down the class a winners. only one thing bothered me...your DM could be Poodles twin. that poor guy, he's realy good conductor too. I hope you went oot and aboot and celebrated eh? Open class: Kilties: show design improved over past years. Guard a huge improvement. two thinhs, IMO hurt. 1) being a lick off that kiltie pizzazz. After the opening statement, the show kinda flatlined until Syne. Drum solo had every gimmick i could think of from the 80's in there, but ex was hurting. i did appreciate the attempt tho. Your best effort design wise in years, but it felt flat. My advice...find that kilties charm from 97/98, lump it in w/design like this year or better and you ave the ticket. Sky: Any other year and you're in. Unfortunately this isnt any other year. pit is very good, but at times, it doesnt seem to be co-ordinated with the battery. brass seemed to have volume but quality took a hit or 3. I think, if anything, the show had Gershwin overkill. There can be too much Gershwin. get the battery back to being big. Find that Skyliner sound, add in some current design needs and you're there. You weren't that far out, but the DCA bar has been raised. Carolina......drumline good, but a lil overhypeish at times. Brass line huge growth since Lewisburg, and the visual package looked a lot better. The Dave Matthews fan in me wanted to be overly critical, but by season's end, you delivered. this corps has the talent....get a slightly more fan friendly concept and you have a finals show. You're due one. CV: hornline on fire. guard on fire. Drumsline weak, tho pit wasnt bad. I liked the show, but the ballad was kind of long, tho well done...your best number. The snares up front on the toms thing just never got there. Sunday show seemed better than Saturday, despite the score. Hurcs: i hated this show early on in the season. Last night you made me a fan. I still dont like Make His Praise, but you performed it well. drumline did well, ho pit contribution not up to your competitors. The ballad gave me goosebumps, and the backdrops finally worked, especially when you brought out the variations on your uniforms...and those guys could play too. MAG 7 got this cynic a touch misty. Congrats hurcs, i know many an alumni w/tears in their eyes. You done well. Bush: people wanted to write you off in July. I said no way. You proved me write. 5 years ago this show is top 5. the intro segment to new World worked well. Ballad was very pretty and your guard sold it well. drumline delivered the good( props gang). the Woody fan club was fun at prelims. Joe itkor for tympani president! by far, IMO, the most improved corps of the year. I look forward to this show on the cd's and dvd's. And then, there were 7. how evil. inspires................holy ####. your biggest critics in 02 said you werent loud enough. well you fixed that. they said your battery was weak. You fixed that. Flat out an incredible show. Bass line to die for. Pit oozed technique. brass line that could wail or be pretty. I wont debate scores, but this show was amazing. Everything flowed, it was so smooth. i thank you for coming over again, and dont let the judging thing get you down. 2 years ago this is a top 3 show. and you are now DCA's Madison Scouts...score booed, then a standing ovation. Renegades.....i had been warned all summer. This show was unlike anything i had ever seen. They didnt warn me hard enough. When the first guard moment you see is Stu in a leather S&M mask, you know this is unique. horn into for Carmen loud and clean. second time thru the pharse louder and clean. drums not as weak as i had been led to believe, tho it did seem safer than i expected battery wise...still good tho. Pit is a show in and of itself. ed if your child has any more toys at home, find a way to use em and yes, i did request the Renebike again next year. The Matrix redo, complete w/rave and mellos was great. Channel one was great. Rush and Floyd on the field was great. I loved the show. and hey Lee, like we said...it's just math. Sunday, i felt the end of the show was flat compared to Saturday...that and Minnesota delivering on all cylanders created, IMO the placement you had. but truly, this year, you did cross that line. and delivered. Minnesota.........this review may be very drum oriented. Here's why: THEIR DRUMLINE IS ####### INCREDIBLE!!! pit, snares, toms, bass, cymbals.....no weak section. expertly written. technique was impeccable.perforamnce of a lifetime in terms of quality. I havent analyzedthe recap, and i dont care what the numbers were. no drumline out there could have or should have beaten you. now....the rest of the show....best total package design in years. brass on fire, especially Sunday. Guard best i can ever remember. Roger is still the man. moondance kicked ###...so much better than CBC's version. Sunday night you guys and gals took it to another level. truly you did, and i thank you. (btw Poodle loved your dm's) Cabs:.............any other year...........IMO, and to those around me, Brass seemed off Sunday. perc played very well, scary well at finals. guard deserved the trophy..........i thought they were amazing to watch in action. My only two issues were the pause before the slow hit in the closer(god that snare roll killed me...that was clean) and the water drums just didnt do it. Last year they were a feature and it worked. This year it seemed like an afterthought in a section already crowded w/a lot to focus on. no reason to hang your sombrero's tho.....you were in tight competition. Bucs: I said at Kingston they could ruin someone's night. They did. This corps did so well on Saturday i thought they may have peaked. They didnt til Sunday. percussion played so very well, and that pit is very underrated.....sitting low i got a great look at em, and man were they good. corps marched their ##### off, and the guard came thru...finally a rifle at the end of the file, thank you!!! brass, tho smaller than anyone else in the top 6 had such a nice sound, esp on the bottom. You deserved it Bucs, and Mrs grubder is smiling from above. Brigs.....they showed up. guard is outstanding, and a huge reason they won visual. No they dont run, but they do max out feet technique. pit throws a zillion techniques at you, and handles them all well. solists delived, and you win ballad of the year again...just so pretty. corps turned it up a notch in the closer Sunday night, and the crowd liked it. any other year...... Empire.......it was yours. you took it and ran with it. best show since Saigon. Solid in all areas, tho some of the pit hype caused a few ex issues. Brass line played so well...Joey is well, Joey, and the other solists kicked ### too. The blood over the backdrop thing was so scary cool. I remember a phrase from my brief time their caled "Statesmen Style" and your corps had it. You oozed it. Your guard was incredible, your battery cut like aknife....really, in terms of total package you had it all. No you didnt sweep all caption, but you had what you needed to make it work. Dave, he's up there smiling. Gina...congrats hun. I know you're smiling! Patsy and Janis...feels good doesnt it? i love you both congrats!! i'm not gonna argue scores and placements, cause i really dont disagree. Alumni...got there as RA went on. Good i love RA. i really wish i could have had a better view, but wow. Blessed Sac...nice job, played all the old classics( i know this cause the announcer sat there and informed me of this) Steel...Siglow nice solo! a fun little corps...my only regret is they dont play more old Rockets and Steel tunes. Riggie Lauss, on a one valver...incredible. I hope i see you guys again soon! Rebels...loved the presentation for Mr. Bull. I doubt he remember the lil kid following the triple line into the ladies bathroom at the post, but i always loved Mr. Bull. As for your show, i thought you did a great job, especially Shenandoah. Sky Alumni. i'll do the full show first. All the classic. Dreamgirls, hava, elks, Ny Signature, Lil Ole New York, you name em you blew my face off w/em. I truly love you guys and gals, and you always make me feel like i'm 5 again...and i love it. now that snare line. all 13 of em. on slings. on mylar heads. playing old school. I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!! I said it last year i'll say it again....if you care about drumming in any way shape or form, go see this snare line. IMO, THE best snare line all weekend, competing or alumni. so clean. rolls to your eyes. singles. flams. you name it you had it. and me in the front row, giggling like a kid. and drumming along. i bow to all 13 of you Cabs Alumni.....the show stoppers. Who else could end the show? You played so well....hornline incredible. Soloists...not just Frank but all of you.....wow.(nice job Duke!) Frank playing the bull call to the corps was a gas....they loved it. This drumline is no slouch either, and they nailed some stuff as well. to sum it all up...DCA delivered all the way around. ya know i heard people complain about prices. I'll take this...i paid $80 for 3 kick ### shows. That's $5 more than DCI finals alone. yeah it's a baseball field. yeah the brownshirts had a moment or 3 of their own. yeah peashey saved the day at the Club. but it was worth every penny. Scranton Comfort Suites gets my Scranton business for life. Ruby Tuesdays up the hill delivered on lunch. Oh...Mike...happy retirement. I'm proud of you. finals weekend and back spasms suck. I am Jeff Ream and I approve of this review. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreaminDan Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 (edited) Thanks for a review finally. I've really wanted to know what the DCA crowd thought of us. The penalty was well deserved, too much nerves got to us and we rushed the heck out of the show. It hurt our timing and execution both. I didn't here the whole story but heard the penalty was for under time. It's been a month and a half since we saw a crowd and we had never seen a crowd that size. We had a blast for our first DCA show. See you all again next year. Edited September 7, 2004 by DreaminDan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted September 7, 2004 Author Share Posted September 7, 2004 thank you for coming in! I wish i had taken more notes. i did enjoy your show tho! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cttornadoes Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 Hey....gotta agree with your review... We went to prelims which just was awesome....great music, great time... Finals were overall not quite as good...think after two nights of min sleep and ETOH gets to some of the players Most of the corps played better Saturday...but still loved it... The crowd on Saturday was also more in to the show...I think the same thing that effects the corps, effects the crowd.. Thanks for the review...just couldn't bring myself to write notes...took pictures instead... Amy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fecontra Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 Jeff Thanks for the really great review! Skyliner Alumni snare line should be one of the eight wonders of the world! DCA annually decides that crowd entertainment is their number one priority ( not judge interpretation ) and it shows, which is why some folks like it best! frankiE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted September 7, 2004 Author Share Posted September 7, 2004 hey gang i call it like i see it. some years i make enemies, some years i make fans. but thats the way i see it. and like my sig says, MBI's drumline for president! in fact i realized something last night...i kept comparing them to Shore 96(the unis help dont they?)...but....MBI was better than we were. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
84BDsop Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 Jeff, thanks for the props...I Do try my best up there. But I gotta tell ya...I was using Gulf Coast's podium and it was SCARY!!! Never been on a mroe wobbly thing in my life! I actually held back a little bit because I was afraid of falling off! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbaritone Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 I'd like to point out that the Hurcs playing soprano in the old uniforms included the following members of the Park City Pride Alumni: Art Hlywa (one of our horn instructors) Jim Nestor Tommy Eaton Mike Kasper Well done guys. b**bs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toby Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 I have to agree with Jeff on MBI's drumline. It was smoking. I don't think I've ever seen keyboard mallets fly like yours did. Renegades, your show: eerie, scary, made me crap my pants. My face was completely ripped off after having you and MBI back to back. Next year.... ^0^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 I have to agree with Jeff on MBI's drumline. It was smoking. I don't think I've ever seen keyboard mallets fly like yours did. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I was also watching the pit in awe... ...of course, it was mostly of the blonde with the pink ponytail, but still. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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