Shameless Plug

[Matt_S]

Resubmitted, without the annoying accusations about my girlfriend. Yeah it's shameless, but I finally got that DVD player, and nothing would be sweeter than starting my collection with 2002. What an amazing year it was . . .

DCI Midwestern Championship Review - Evening Show

Well, the day finally came, and I got to see twelve of the best corps in the nation pack themselves into the RCA Dome. This was my first show of the year, and also my last. I'm beginning to really wish I had bought tickets to Madison . . . actually scratch that. I started wishing that a while ago, when I looked on a map and realized how close I really was. However, tonight made me want to see almost every show one more time. On to the Review:

Seats: I ordered ten seats from DCI's website way back in January or February. I asked for the best seats I could get, but in the upper deck. What I got were two rows of five seats, five and six rows back, just a little over from the 40 on side one. Man, they were wonderful. Side one received all the attention, and we could see every set perfectly. The only complaint was the acoustics of the Dome, but I knew that would be a problem when I bought the tickets, so no one to blame but myself

Venue: It's really two different experiences, being in the upper deck vs. the lower. In the lower deck, the corps is playing directly at you, so you only hear the echo from the drums. In the upper deck, you get that same drum echo, but a lot of the hornline tends to get lost in the rafters. Still, as someone who buys the CD's every year, this was my one chance to see the visual, so I opted for the upper deck. As stated above, the seats in the RCA Dome were great. The angle was perfect so that no matter how high you were, you could see the corps on the field. Admittedly, I wasn't very high up for this competition, but for BOA Grand Nationals last fall I was, and the view was still agreeable. Anyway, being in the upper deck, you did get the Dome affect, and the drums occasionally drowned out the corps. However, it wasn't nearly as bad as has been commented. Of course, I have marched on the RCA Dome floor a total of 25 times, and I've been a spectator a few times as well, so I've probably gotten used to the acoustical affect. Still, for a majority of the time, I was able to hear everything quite well. In fact, in some cases the indoor echo was a bonus. The Cavaliers come to mind here, when they held out a chord in the second movement, and because of the near-perfect intonation, it just rang and rang long after the corps had stopped playing. So I guess to sum up, indoor = good for horns and = bad for drums. Still, I felt that attending the show was very very much worth the money, and being climate controlled didn't hurt the experience one bit.

Boston Crusaders

In the very beginning, of their show, they have that same move where they step their left foot forward, then bring it around behind their right leg. I know it's a traditional BAC move, and it was effective the first time, but they did it about five more times in the first minute alone. Overkill. The scrolls didn't make a whole lot of sense. They are unfurled by the guard, revealing phrases such as 'Land of the Free' and 'Home of the Brave', I can only assume to help explain the show. This seems like as good away as any to get around the problem of no voice-overs allowed. I didn't have a problem with the scrolls per se, but how they were used. For example, one scroll was unfurled in the middle of a pinwheeling drill move by the rest of the corps. The guard members had to struggle to keep from getting run over, and the scroll only seemed to distract. Maybe is the scrolls were kept in the front of the field, this wouldn't be a problem. The singing was excellent, they've definitely worked and fine tuned that section. However, in a drum corps show, I think there could have been less of it. It was practically the entire ballad. Singing the words "You are my star" was especially effective, though. My only other complaint was that there wasn't a whole lot of marching. The corps seemed to dance and use body moves to transit sets, at least half the time. I would have preferred to have seen more marching, but still this was a solid corps to open up with. I know I focused on the negative here, but after all, that's easier to remember and describe. Strong performance, about average for what the night would hold, and I thought placed where they deserved.

Spirit

From the very beginning of the show, it reminded me of Avon High School's 2001 show. The same music was used, though certainly Spirit's performance was higher. Still, this show reminded me of a high school group in it's show design. That's not to knock the corps, just classifying it. I was in one of the best high school's in the nation, and was surrounded by excellent groups whenever I competed. Spirit certainly was an excellent group as well, but their show design didn't stand out much for me. I caught the idea of darkness to light, but it could have been emphasized far more. Instead, we saw guard flags, light and dark, but also small and fleeting. I enjoyed their performance, but at least one trademark moment would have helped.

Crossmen

Wow! Cool show. I didn't recognize them at first, because they have a sparkly sash running from shoulder to waist, as the border between the gray and black on their uniforms. The hornline comes into the field from the back right corner, in a revolving gate pattern, the guard comes in from the left corner, and already you're anticipating what comes next. The Metheny piece was very Crossmen. I thought it was an excellent selection to put on the field. Strawberry Soup was very cool to hear, as well. Some interesting drill, and some very cool ensemble work (typical Crossmen) as well in the show. I thought this was a pretty clean show, and deserved a higher score than they recieved, one of the few corps I would say that for. I'd love to see them again.

Colts

Here's where I find myself without much to say. My girlfriend had been at camp all last week, and we hadn't talked all that time. She got back home, just in time to catch me as I was leaving for the Dome. She had tickets as well, though a few sections away from me. Colts was the corps that I ducked out of and went to go find her. No offense to the Colts, but I would do it again in a second . It was good to see her again. I do remember hearing the Colts, and recognized it as a Gillingham show rather quickly. However, that's as much as I can say, since I wasn't giving them my full attention.

Seattle Cascades

I'm familiar with the Cadets playing Bernstein, but not familiar enough to the point where I even slightly thought of this as someone else's show. If I were more of a Cadet history buff, I might be bothered, but I viewed this as a uniquely Seattle Cascades show, and as a result, I thourougly enjoyed it. My girlfriend really liked it, too. It was her favorite up to this point. I hear they got a penalty, which would explain their placing not being as high as I would have had them. This was a clean show, with some demanding moments, and you could tell the members had fun performing it. I can't wait to hear from these guys in the upcoming years. The scores would suggest that Seattle has peaked, but trust me, they will be there come finals night. I don't see enough corps better than them for them to finish any worse than top ten.

Bluecoats

Say it with me now, "Bluuuuuuuuuuuuu" I'm not a die hard fan of these guys, but I found myself yelling that out. Try it sometime, it's too much fun to resist. When I read the notes to this show, it reminded me almost exactly of Santa Clara's 2001 show. However, this is very much a different show, done in the Bluecoats character. Enjoyable opener, though not much to say about it. The soloists throughout were d### fine, especially the baritone or mello player. I dubbed him nails. Second best soloist of the night. The guard girl that hangs on him, then ends up slapping his rear had me and my friend laughing. The closer is obviously Daugherty, even if you didn't read the notes. Still, I like the man's work, especially on the field. Bluecoats sold this show well, and completely deserved their placing. Should find themselves squarely on Disc One of the Championship CD's this year.

Intermission

Glassmen

I own the Michael Kamen piece they played, so I was really looking forward to hearing it. However, they played three movements, and the opener and closer were both Javelin. The middle piece was the second movement of Kamen's Symphony, but unfortunately it wasn't the adagio that I loved so much. Rather it was a relatively fast paced ballad. The soloist was back, but this time he certainly didn't receive the emphasis that he did before. It was also a different color of sound than last year, as though he were on trumpet this year. He was in the drill much of the time, so I couldn't really tell. Overall it wasn't necessarily a boring show. However, much of it rides on your opinion of Javelin. Personally I would have liked to see more of the Kamen Symphony, but I'm just one man.

Santa Clara Vanguard

Wow! Again, what a show! This was the most powerful Vanguard show I can remember in quite some time. Add to that the fact that there were numerous characteristic Vanguard moments, and this was a show I loved. In a way, it almost reminded me of the Cavaliers, in that they played obscure and even original music, and matched it with extremely well thought out drill. In fact, besides the Cavaliers, SCV had the best visual design of the night. Despite the obscurity of the music, the show was still very easy to get in to, and I think that was due to the power of the performance. Once they started, you could tell the difference between one of the top four corps, and any other. In my opinion, this show is still a fourth-place show, though it should have been much closer, and there is still much to be cleaned.

Phantom Regiment

Good thing they came on after SCV, because they're opener was loud, and intense, if a little crass. Unfortunately, it was the highlight of their show. The rest of the music is definitely Shostakovich, but doesn't have anywhere near the impact of some of his pieces that have been used in the past. I spent much of my time during this show with my friends, trying to find a good friend of mine in Phantom's guard. We think we did, but there was no way to be sure, since we were just too far away. Well performed, and deserves the lead over Glassmen, but not in the league of the top four, or even of last year's Phantom show, in my opinion.

The Cavaliers

I don't even know where to begin. I guess I should tell you that I watched this corps rehearse that afternoon, working on the opener for a while. I was blown away by their musicianship, and when I saw them in the Dome, that's what impressed me even more than their visual program. There's a chord in their second number that absolutely rang forever in the Dome. No other corps even came close to the sound they acheived. Say what you want about their horn book this year, but the Cavaliers have everyone waxed in music performance, especially in quality of sound, and it's not even close. As for that horn book, I heard a great number of changes since the July 8th show alone. The closer especially received some needed jazzing up. I would suggest to everyone that they wait for the night of Finals to judge this music show, because it keeps getting better and better. The drill . . . well do I even need to say anything? Someone mentioned earlier that the Cavaliers seem to move at a different rate of speed than the rest of the world around them, and that describes it perfectly. No one can match their velocity, or their intricacy either. I sat there the whole time, wondering how anyone could possibly write this. It's amazing. I'm not sure what else to say, other than that you have to see it for yourself. After the corps was done, Jeff Fiedler was interviewed, and someone had the gall to ask if the Cavaliers wouldn't peak too soon. That's something I've never seen the Cavaliers do, and they aren't about to start. Believe it or not, this actually had some of the dirtiest drill from the top four corps. A large portion of the closer, almost half of it, was extremely ragged. I'm guessing this is due to the changes they've made recently, adding in the second Fight Club sequence, but even when entering the first one, they've got some cleaning to do. The amazing thing is, they've already topped 95, and still have a lot of work to do. I don't see how these guys are going to be caught.

The Cadets

I went into this show trying to keep an open mind, and to be honest I wasn't too disappointed. The theme is not nearly as overly patriotic as I'd been hearing. I do think that the pledge is entirely unnecessary. It got a mixed crowd response, but then a large contingent of CadetBorg were on hand that night, too, especially just a few seats away. The "monolith" has three gray rectangle shapes, providing the background for a flag. I was under the impression that there were just two, but apparently one was added to remove the impression of two towers, and it was moved upfield. At this point, it only seems to accentuate the flag, and nothing more reprehensible than that. I do think adding the firefighter outfits would be far too much, just as I didn't appreciate the pledge being added, but all in all, this wasn't too patriotic for me. It was definitely a rehash of '95, but what really got to me this year was that the Cadets simply didn't march. Only about half the show consisted of any real sets. The rest of the time the members were taking random scatter drill walks to their next spot. There were no set forms to follow, no spot for them to make, no spacing for them to hold. It was impossible to judge their visual performance, because there wasn't enough precision written in to the show. Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy was d### effective, and even had me toe tapping, but the rest of the show seemed really flat to me, design wise. Maybe the Cavaliers spoiled me, but I thought this show was simply flat random drill, exciting music and theme of show, performed very very cleanly. That seems like it would be enough, but I don't see how they can catch the Cavaliers with this show. In fact, it seems about as clean as it's going to be for the rest of this season. I honestly believe that the Blue Devils will soon catch up to the Cadets, and overtake second place, though Cadets certainly deserved it this night.

Blue Devils

Last show of the night. This show had a lot of circle sets, and I mean a lot. That made it tough to judge their visual, because a circle is the hardest set to clean on the move. As a result, they were pretty ragged. However, I'm of the opinion that this gives them something to still work on. The opener was "feh". Rather forgettable. However, the rest of the show rocked out. BD easily had the best extended soloist of the night. He was showing off a bit too much, in the style of the Cadets, when he ripped the horn off his face three times. However, he was wailing, and proved himself worthy of the "Blue Devils soloist" title. Rising Sun had some of the best moments of the show musically, with power chords that gave me chill bumps. Channel One Suite did, as well, but mainly because I was so familiar with the other shows. After all, Channel One Suite is a part of DCI history. I hear the sideline cymbal set was added just recently, and d### does it work! I couldn't believe the way the battery was flying around, banging away on that thing. There's no way they avoided a collision, it's amazing. Still, there's other visual that needs to be cleaned, and I wouldn't mind hearing a bit more from Channel One Suite, but this is sleezy jazz as only BD can play it, and I really enjoyed hearing it again, after a few years off.

Victory Concert

Stuck around for the standstill of Frameworks. Also heard Stars and Stripes, and Rainbow. Rainbow was what I was there for, and I wasn't disappointed. However, you could tell the kids were getting tired. The tone was spreading the more they played. Still, they managed to make an echo in the dome like no other corps did all night. I would like to have heard Jupiter, but I won't complain. Tried to find that friend of mine back at Pahntom's busses, but the parking garage I was in locked down at 12:30, so I had to book it out of there. It took me another hour at least, just to get home, which was only 12 miles away. Traffic was backed up for miles, because of some silly bicycle ride at 1 in the morning. Utterly ridiculous, but that's an editorial I'm saving for the local paper.

OK, so that wasn't very brief at all, like I claimed in the title. i just started typing, and a lot came out. It was a wonderful show all around, and I just wish I could be there for Madison.

[Alphornboy]

Hello,

Have they announced the top 10 nominations yet? I know many of us are anxious. Good luck. Let me know if you've found them yet. Maybe I'm not looking in the right place.

thanks

Alphornboy@aol.com