Drums Along the Rockies

[HylianHero]

Alright, so this is my first review, don't be too hard on me. I'm the biggest corps person in the group I went with, I had three band people from my high school with me and I was trying to tell them the difference between Div. II and Div. I. One of them never really got it. To the reviews!

The Academy: Wow! That's all I have to say, their last competition of the year, and boy did they make it a good one. I never ever thought that they would be able to put out that much sound. Great music, great drill, and great percussion. It was overall a very wonderful show! I would have loved to see them again! They gave me chills and they were the first corps of the night!

My Placement: 1 Actual Placement: 1

Oregon Crusaders: This is a very good show with lots of potential. The brassline of OC is smoking! They had some great tone and intonation and everything. The drill is what's killing them. In my opinion, sloppy and not too well written. The defending Div. III champs made a good showing, but they were no where near Academy. A wonderful brass book all around.

My Placement: 2 Actual Placement: 2

Kiwanis Kavaliers: The Kavaliers are a very very small corps this year, smaller than I had ever seen on a field before. A good recognizable theme though, it was a lot of fun. I felt bad for them having so many holes and things, but they held their own in the music. A good show for them.

My Placement: 8 Actual Placement: 8

Troopers: A fun fun show. Gold Rush. I especially loved the She'll be comin' round the mountain portion. I never knew that you could actually make that song fun! They have a few holes, but I heard that they would be fixing that eventually. I thought that they were farther ahead of KK than the scores showed, but they were in the right place. Trumpet soloist had an off night, but still a fun show.

My Placement: 7 Actual Placement: 7

Seattle Cascades: Narration is the first thing for me. I will always applaud nicely for a corps at impact moments or at the end of the show, but a standing o will not be recieved from me if narration is used. It wasn't bad narration, I thought that the male in the pit was good (unlike many people). The props making a plane with the corps was a good idea. It got some oohs and aahs from around me. I just feel that the drill is very subpar, and these kids could be doing so much more if they had more room to work. Could be a finalist if it had been a different show.

My Placement: 6 Actual Placement: 6

Crossmen: A wonderful show bones! I loved the music and everything. It was just so sloppy, spacing errors, and even some music sloppiness. It was a good show, just needs some tweaks and a heck of a lot of cleaning to get this show into finals. I also felt that the general effect was weak, I don't really know why. The hits just didn't get me quite as into it as many of the other corps.

My Placement: 5 Actual Placement: 5

Santa Clara Vanguard: Not what I expected it to be. I sort of felt let down at the end of the show. Russian Christmas should be completely the opener and not the end. I did like the 1917->CCCP->USSR move though. That was very cool, my friends all loved that. I guess they like seeing things that they know. Classic Vanguard music, 1917 was wonderful. I don't know why, but Russian was just lacking something, maybe it was the drill or something, but it just wasn't there. Music is well done, but the rest of the show needs some help

My Placement: 3 Actual Placement: 3

Phantom Regiment: My favorite show of the night by far. It was so cool hearing PR play Gershwin. I bought a shirt from the PR booth at the beginning of the night and was wearing it with pride throughout this show! The music was awesome, great tone like PR always has. One of the few corps that I could actually hear the low brass in. A very nice arrangement of the two pieces mixed together. Soloist fracked a note, but it's alright. I thought that they were the winners tonight. Their drill had a few spacing errors but it was still very good. A very well executed and designed show all around.

My Placement: 1 Actual Placement: 2

The Cadets: The Cadets show really didn't do much for me. I really didn't like the huge door in the middle of the field, or the four girls going through it. The uniform change was pretty cool though, all of the spinning around was cool. The music was good though. I could tell from the music that the Cadets are for real this year, I was just hoping Phantom would beat them. I would say Cadets drill is slightly better than PR, but still has the same problem.

My Placement: 2 Actual Placement: 1

Blue Knights: I'll try to be as unbiased on this one as a I can. I was rooting for them the entire time, hoping that they would beat the Crossmen tonight, showing that they were for real. Boy was I surprised when they ended up less than a point and a half behind SCV. A well designed show, with good music. The GE is slightly not there, but that has been a problem with BK in the past. Trumpet soloist had problems tonight, missing a note or two. The drum break and ballad of BK's show this year is wonderful, probably my favorite of the night. Watch out, these guys are for real!

My Placement: 4 Actual Placement: 4

[Ryan H. Turner]

For a first review, I think you did very well! Thank you for taking the time to do it. Writing reviews, especially for blabber mouths like me, is a labor of love, but it ain't easy. Good job dude!

[xhead]

Thanks for your great review. This is my first post ever, just to emphasize a few points.

First, The Acadamy was great. I had no expectation of seeing this kind of quality in the first corps on the field. Congrats to all who have put together such an outstanding young corps

Santa Clara Vanguard: Not what I expected it to be. I sort of felt let down at the end of the show.

After things I have read about SCV on this forum, my reaction was not to be let down but pleasantly suprised. I think Santa Clara has set their own bar so high, people's expectations can be out of line. I thought the show was great, but agree that Russian Christmas Music (a piece which I remember from the Crossmen in '77 and '78) lacked some punch.

Phantom Regiment: My favorite show of the night by far.

My Placement: 1 Actual Placement: 2

I agree with you here absolutely, including your placement. I sensed from the comments around me that most would have preferred to see PR come out ahead. The Cadets were very powerful and clean, and executed their show like real pros -- a truly first class show -- but I flinch at the sound of amplified voice (in any show), and the door left me cold, except that it was an ineresting constraint on the drill design. I think people mentally subtract for those things that don't show up on the score card. Otherwise, The Cadets were great, but I love that Phantom Regiment.

I'm a Crossmen fan from way back (1976). I like their style. I hope they clean this one up in order to pull into the top 12.

[dcifan2002]

can CROSSMEN catch.

Glassmen

Blue Knights

Colts

Spirit

PC

mandarins

Crown

Boston

SCV

any ???

[DrumDeviL]

can CROSSMEN catch.

Glassmen

Blue Knights

Colts

Spirit

PC

mandarins

Crown

Boston

SCV

any ???

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

well, theres no need to add pc and mandarins, at least not yet anyways :( , even thou they scored higher, barly, then crossmen this season, they havent faced each other in the same show.

the rest i agree w/ thou. i broke the corps that will most likly be fighting for finals into 3 groups. 1-5, 6-9, and 10-14. obviously they are in the 10-14 group. the way i see it, they have to knock off TWO of these corps, which include, Glassmen, Colts, Spirit, and Blueknights. hopefully it'll happen'

Always a Dark Horse