Finals Thoughts & Observations...

[mobrien]

Sunday morning at 4 am, and I have to catch a flight to Denver in about 5 hours, so not too much detail, but...

small complaint - show was entirely too long - DCI, see what can be done to make the evening a tidy 4/5 hour affair - Cavies weren't able to finish the victory concert until nearly 1 am, even though most of the audience had been there since 5...

Cascades had a great little show. Nothing too ambitious in any way, but clear and enjoyable. Could have been titled "Discovered Bernstein" (old Cadets folks will get the reference..). Good arrangements, solid guard work. Welcome to The Show, Seattle.....

Magic, likewise, had a solid program. None of the music was especially noteworthy, but they had some cool effects, and a very good horn sound. Thought they should have topped Spirit.

Spirit and Glassmen could be the same review for me - in fact, because of the hour, they will be. The shows were very well done by the members, and I see things to appreciate in both shows, but they're both generic. No sense of personality coming through, which makes it hard to get too worked up in either case. Spirit used warm up of "Georgia", after which any reference to their own history or identity was officially locked up and hidden away. Glassmen, for my money, have yet to find an identity. Some very nice musical things, but in the end, the show just left me cold, both Fri night and tonight.

Crossmen got boned. They were more on tonight than last night, and should have beaten Glassmen on the power of the show's GE. Others have mentioned that Strawbery Soup fails to boil (nice pun) - they're right, and it's because the battery isn't written into big chunks of it, so there's no real percussive drive reinforcing the base rhythm of the piece (key percussive scoring error, imho). One very cool thing though - a corps plays a little known piece by a fairly obscure and long dead jazz trumpeter and composer - and for this audience, the tune's a "standard". Gotta love drum corps crowds...

Bluecoats had, for my money, one of the best guards of the night. The work was well written and fit perfectly. Liked the show, and it's one I could have seen several more times without getting tired of it. Can't say as they should have placed higher, but glad they weren't any lower than they were. Great job. Lots of 'blooooos' in the stands tonight.

I predicted on one of those ubiquitous and goofy prediction threads, a tie between PR and Boston for 5th. So had a chuckle when that was announced. But in this case, I couldn't really say that it wasn't the best result. Both shows are very different, obviously, and satisfy different 'needs' . Boston's show, even though the banners are a little TOO constant, was very effective for me - I thought the images of Jackie Robinson, et al were well chosen and well staged (except for Marilyn Monroe - can't quite see her as 'an American hero' - now if they'd used a well-known portrait of Boston's own Sam Adams, that would have qualified). Unlike Cadets, their single explicit visual reference to the NYFD was subtle, genuine (a simple photo of a firefighter's shaded face), and very tastefully done. The flag effect at the end was, also, very nicely done, in part because it didn't hit anyone over the head. The company front ala Garfield in 87 didn't work for me either night, because it's a pale imitation, and perhaps the biggest failing in the show. Nonetheless, they also had one of the best guards of the night, with excellent equipment handling and some terrific featured solo dancers. Brava and Bravo, boys and girls...

I liked PR's show, and respected it, but found it hard to find a hook. Maybe just wasn't in the mood for Shastakovich this weekend. Great guard work - and ######, I'm happy to see an all-girl guard for a change. Great colour choices in the flags and guard unis. Lovely G bugle sound in hornline - got a huge crowd response, which they deserved.

I've seen SCV 5 times this summer, and liked the show more each time I saw it. I suspect that if they'd had another week, they could have taken Cadets, and possibly Devs. Visual execution, from what I could see, was the biggest weakness - things just not QUITE there once in awhile, sets seeming a little gelatanous until held for a beat or two. Performance at Finals was excellent; crowd was stoked (having the alumni corps do a standstill earlier in the night certainly helped!). Little thing, and too late now, but I do think the old unis would have helped sell the show - the new ones are simply a little too 'light' looking - when they face backfield, the corps disappeared against the turf.

But one of the most enduring things I'll take away from SCV tonight is their formal presentation of themselves to the Cavalier drum majors following the cluster-f**k that is now DCI's finale. While almost everyone else had simply walked off in their groups after 20 minutes of picture taking and socializing, they lined up behind their DMs at attention, waited until after the guys had formally saluted the Cavalier DMs, and passed in review in front of the corps as they were setting up for the encore. A corps that understands it's own heritage, and how a major part of that heritage is the class they've exhibited in dealing with their competitors. They were the only corps to do so. The gesture was noted and appreciated by several thousand people who stayed for the encore - just as it was last year.

Cadets made lots of changes from the early season opening, none of which were for the better. It was snippets instead of an actual composition. Opening move has lots of energy, and worked really well, but once they went into 'cut/snip/paste/snare drum fill" with the music, the air lets out, and it sort of goes until it stops. The "Field of Dreams" piece is lovely, as it has been since the beginning, though the Pledge, to me anyway, is grandstanding, given the timing of it's inclusion and the non-period version used. BWBB was a hoot, and got the biggest musical applause of the night. This show never really found a closing piece, imho, and since the opening was turned into cut and paste, having more of the same at the end was kinda repetitive. OK, and now we know what they wanted the firemen's outfits for. Yes it was a tableau of the famous photo of 9/11, it was staged on a little white pageant wagon at the back sideline in the last couple of seconds of the show, and the way it was presented made it look they were really not sure it was a good idea ('here do it, but do it quick in case they don't like it"). It's brevity, distance, and sense of panic, almost, robbed it of much of its power to effect, positively and negatively, imho. Some boos around me, some cheers, most just seemed to say 'whatever'... Great drum line. Don't necessarily agree with the number spreads, but have no argument with their caption award.

Only saw Devils twice this year, and could have watched this show a dozen times more. This was the best show they've had in 8 or 9 seasons, imho. Excellent visual package, and the guard work was excellent, as it always is, but this year, they actually have something to be supporting from a musical standpoint!!! Great solo work thoughout the show. I suspect that in the end, it was the decision to try and jam in a little bit of Channel One that may have kept the show from winning it all. It had great momentum until the final two minutes when it just seemed to ramble to a finale with snips of a past glory. Still, it was an excellent show, one that everyone at BD can be and should be proud of. Already looking forward to next year from them.

To be clear, the score at Semis for Cavaliers was way out of line. The performance was flat, and didn't deserve that number. Tonight, they absolutely did. It was the best performance of the year. If you didn't care for the music this year, than nothing's ever going to help that, but a connection I made tonight is that for many people, Sondheim's musicals also aren't musically 'enjoyable' - they want the music to be able to stand on its own, outside of the context of the piece. But that's not usually how Sondheim approaches the songs for his show - they're pieces of a total puzzle. The same analogy would hold for the music in this show - it's not designed to be taken out of this context. IN the context of this total package, it's nearly perfect. Crowd loved the show, nobody was surprised when they won and won big. Congrats guys - in years to come, THIS year will be a date the rookies are going to have to memorize on the way to initiations.

Errata...Marine D&BC did a field exhibition to solid applause. SCV Alumni caused lots of excitement pre-show. Crowd paid little attention to Hall of Fame induction - maybe it should be moved to Quarters or Semis, where the audience is a bit more specific and knowledgable of dc history.... Cavalier tatoos were a big hit - wish I'd gotten some to take home for my little guys... Madison's prelims performance, for those who care, was fine - but lots of guard dirt stuck out, and the feet weren't workin' so well corps wide; they'll fix that next year.

OK, discuss among yourselves....

Was a great season - and thank Jehovah for DCP - a civilized place to talk about drum corps.

Peace,

Matt

[MikeN]

Thanks for the review! :)

Mike

[byline]

Excellent review. Thank you!

[starting line]

Thanks for the review. It was well done. As for the Cavaliers, we congratulate them. They had no real competitive rival this year. You mentioned that the Sondheim's musical as performed by the Cavies this year, should not " be taken out of it's context { visual component }. I assume then that we all should not purchase the Cavaliers CD this year, and simply pony up for the DVD ?

[GEVisual]

Great review Matt! Made me feel like I was sitting in the seat next you. And kudos to the Vanguard marching members for their great display of class which is so typical of their organization.

GEV

[VHornBoy]

But one of the most enduring things I'll take away from SCV tonight is their formal presentation of themselves to the Cavalier drum majors following the cluster-f**k that is now DCI's finale. While almost everyone else had simply walked off in their groups after 20 minutes of picture taking and socializing, they lined up behind their DMs at attention, waited until after the guys had formally saluted the Cavalier DMs, and passed in review in front of the corps as they were setting up for the encore. A corps that understands it's own heritage, and how a major part of that heritage is the class they've exhibited in dealing with their competitors. They were the only corps to do so. The gesture was noted and appreciated by several thousand people who stayed for the encore - just as it was last year.

Traditions Baby..................Traditions

until we meet again..... B)

[used99]

Great review, thanks you seem to have seen the same show I did.

(Some reviewers make me wonder...)

[Machine]

Thanks for the review. It was well done.  As for the Cavaliers, we congratulate them. They had no  real competitive rival this year.  You mentioned that the Sondheim's musical as performed by the Cavies this year, should not " be taken out of it's context { visual component }.  I assume then that we all should not purchase the  Cavaliers CD this year, and simply pony up for the DVD  ?

You're d### straight you should pony up for the DVD! Afterall, the show wasn't designed for CD. :P

[starting line]

Machine : Does this mean that they won't be selling the 2002 CD at the Cavaliers Souvie stand because ,as you said ",the Cavies show was not designed for CD ". Maybe they should put warning labels on them then.

[BennyASU]

great review! thanks!