DCI Southwestern - Evening Show Review

[MikeN]

You can view Part II here.

Okay, first my sad tale of the afternoon show. If you want to get straight to the meat of the review, skip down until you see EVENING SHOW.

We were supposed to meet Cathy Benford (former Revolution staffer) to get our tickets – we’d gone in with the group she was bringing – at 11am in front of the Alamodome. However, I managed to lose her cell phone number, and I wasn’t able to reach anyone else in the group! Thusly, I was reduced to wandering around the concrete plaza in the horrible heat and humidity, hoping I could spot them.

After an hour, and no sign of the group, my daughter was darned near heatstroke, so we called it a loss and went to lunch instead. I was very disappointed, obviously – I have *still* now never seen the Mandarins live! – but these things happen. Instead we went to lunch, to the museum over by the dome (Institute of Texan Culture – very hands on stuff – very cool) then to a little hole-in-the-wall diner for dinner (where they did manage to forget that I ordered a meal, and we ran out of time for them to fix one – man, this was not turning into my day) and a frantic cab ride once I finally heard from the folks in my group on where to meet for the night show!

By the time we got there, we were tired, hot and sticky, and the show hadn’t even begun yet!

EVENING SHOW

The lineup of viewers who contributed to this review:

- Me. (Drummer for 20 years, never marched DCI, but I challenge you to find a more rabid fan. :))

- My wife, Jenna. (been going to shows with me since ’96 – she’s worked as an actress and stage manager, so she’s very guard oriented)

- My daughter, Maddy. (3 years old – first show she’s ever been to.)

- My brother-in-law, Clifton. (not a musician – first show he’s ever been to.)

- My brother-in-law’s girlfriend, Nicole. (did drill team in HS, first show for her, too.)

- My fellow pipe band drummer, Bruce. (middle school band teacher and composer, very brass/wind-oriented, hasn’t seen DCI for many moons.)

- My fellow drummer’s wife, Karen. (very GE oriented – not a musician – she was there for the overall pictures. :))

As you can see, we got most of our bases covered.

The Souvenier area had some neat exhibitors this year – the UT Longhorn Band had a table right up near the front, as well as the Marines. The Xymox (drum pad) table was crammed all night with teenaged drummers trying to show off how good they were; the old man running the booth had a look on his face like, “Oh, I’ve seen all of *this* before...” WGI had a table, but I couldn’t get over there to see if the DVD’s were still on sale, and when the show ended, they’d already packed up and left. Overall, corps are getting much better about putting all of their stuff online so there’s not so many “surprises” in the merchandise when you see them live.

Santa Clara has another *awesome* show poster this year, and Boston won the Souvie of the Night Award for their “Vote for Waldo” handmade-looking shirts (and apparently sold out of them, too!). Our group – Napoleon Dynamite fans all – found those hilarious. I think my favorite tour shirt this year is the Glassmen’s – it’s a neat shade of green.

Surprisingly, aside from the DCI booth (always jam-packed), the booth with the most traffic this year wasn’t Cavaliers. It was Phantom Regiment – you couldn’t even get near their table to buy anything. I finally managed to push my way through to ask about a small rainstick, but they told me they were $20! A little much for us to spend for pre-show effect, so we instead headed over to the Capital Regiment table, where we bought Maddy a 2 foot flagpole with a flag – I gave her a choice between that and a pair of drumsticks, and she took the flag. <sigh> I’m losing my little drummer girl to the guard – help! She spent most of the night in her seat trying to do the moves with the flags that she saw on the field. (She was right between Jenna and I – luckily we escaped with only minor injuries.)

Our seats were in section 115, which put us on the left 20-25 yard line on the lower deck. Surprisingly, those were actually pretty good – you could still see / hear everything, though some of the nuances (especially when played towards the right side of the field) were lost in the echoes.

The Star-Spangled Banner was performed by the BOA band group there for the Cavaliers clinic – they’d learned the Saucedo arrangement the day before. As far as band arrangements go, it was nice, reflective and well-written. As our nation’s anthem to open an event in a 68,000 seat dome, it was too quiet, had a confusing introduction and nobody really could sing along with it.

(And as an aside, one of the benefits of modern technology as I write this review is that I can stream the shows on Season Pass (www.dci.org) while I write the reviews, thus making sure I’m not missing anything!)

Spirit from JSU (12th, 80.000) opened the performance tonight with their program “The Spirit of Broadway.” The corps is still in the baby blue, but with a navy blue delta on the front. The guard is wearing what looks like a stylized usher’s outfit in black and white, though I could be wrong on that. :)

After an opening fanfare to “New York, New York”, the corps’ opener to me is the weakest part of the production. It’s very cut-and-paste musically, and doesn’t really develop a full musical theme. It’s much more “mood” music, really – setting a bright tone for the rest of the production.

The ballad, for me, is the entire centerpiece of the show. Much like 2003’s “October”, the mix of “Pie Jesu” and “As If We Never Said Goodbye” contains a number of musical quotes within it, in this case, of past Broadway shows. The guard sets up a number of giant Playbill programs along the back sideline, all from Andrew Lloyd Webber shows. As the ballad reaches the climax, all but the Phantom of the Opera program are turned around to show “closed” written across the back. While I got it – Phantom’s the only show still open on Broadway – it didn’t make musical sense – they weren’t playing a clip from Phantom at the time. Unless you know what’s on Broadway right now, that might get a little confusing.

The drum feature is “Luck Be a Lady” from Guys and Dolls. You know, it’s drum corps that introduced me to that piece, back when Dutch Boy played it in ’93 with that friggin’ *awesome* drum solo. Spirit’s drum feature doesn’t go on quite as long, but they still get out front and throw down, something that’s becoming a rarity these days.

The closer is a medley from “Wicked”, and the folks around us seemed split. Those that had heard the musical before thought it was pretty cool, while those who hadn’t were kind of looking around. The horns playing the melodies in there get kind of hidden by the harmonies at points – they don’t stand out as much as they should, I think. I’m familiar with the musical, so I was grooving along, but not everyone was.

Visually, I though the color guard was pretty good, and I didn’t see any obvious flaws in the marching (we were so low, though, it’d be hard to tell you for sure). We could see individual techniques quite well, but the overall drill was sometimes harder to follow. (Luckily, DCI had the video feed from their cameramen going on the jumbotrons, and much of the time they were showing the high-cam view.)

I’ve only heard Crossmen to date, not seen them, but right now I think Spirit has a solid handle on the 12th position. Their production is very friendly, energetic and they obviously enjoy playing it. They seem fairly even in all captions, and it’s one of those that folks will like listening/watching when the CD’s and DVD’s come out. Hey, what more can you ask? Bruce (the band director) thought the brass had a lovely tone, and he and Karen both watched the show, nodded, said “nicely done” and settled in for the next corps.

Glassmen (11th, 80.575) were on next. The corps is wearing the same uniforms as last year – cream shoulders / top sides of arms, black everything else. The guard, though – wow. I didn’t see them very up close, but from where we were sitting, it looked like a Latin American festival. Everyone was wearing a patchwork of bright colors and patterns, and for at least the beginning of the show (while I was still noticing), the flags had the same fabric patterns on them. Lots and lots of orange, blue and purple – very vibrant!

The Glassmen’s program this year is “New World Symphony” by Dvorak, and while they do present all four movements (again, a rarity in drum corps, I think!), they’re given with a twist. The Glassmen approached the symphony with the idea of: what would happen had Dvorak visited America in the 20th century instead of the 19th?

The first movement (to me made famous by the 1989 Phantom Regiment) is done as a bright, jazzy swing tune, with walking bass lines and high soprano riffs. I think depending on how you feel about Dvorak (and remixes), you won’t change your mind based on the Glassmen. To me, it was a hugely entertaining and innovative gamble that paid off, but my wife thought it kind of took already powerful music and watered it down.

The second (largo) movement (“Going Home” – everyone’s heard this one) is presented in a kind of floaty fashion. It’s hard for me to describe – it felt almost like one of those cartoons or films where they show the Native American tribes in their village, or rowing down the river at peace. Lots of up and down vibraphone runs over the horn solos. Speaking of which, the horns all lay down at the beginning of the song (and at one point make carpet angels) and then stand up and play in solos and groups as the melody builds. I thought that was a very nice effect.

The third movement (the waltz movement) is the one rarely seen in drum corps. The Glassmen still give it to you in a 6/8 form, and they’ve added a very industrial feel to it – the horn fanfares are harsher, and there’s a lot of metallic effects over the top of the drum solo. It’s a really short interlude in the show, mainly due to time, and serves as a transition to the finale.

The final movement is the one that everyone’s been talking about this year – Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9, Mvt. 4 has gone tango. The opening Jaws-like fanfare is played by two horn blocks 30 yards apart, striking tango poses as they play, interspersed with a pretty cool timpani solo. Much like the first movement, how you feel about this depends on how you feel about Dvorak and remixes in general, and again for me, I thought it was great! Near the end (and the recap of the melody), there’s an extended 90’s dance-music interlude that the guard goes wild to – it got everyone in my section cheering for them.

Tonight they finished half a point ahead of Spirit, but honestly, I think they were farther ahead than that. The show has a higher degree of difficulty / sophistication than Spirit’s. That said, though, Bruce detected some major problems in horn tuning and tone tonight, and Jenna thought the guard seemed to completely overpower the horns visually. Whether that was due to the staging or just that the Glassmen had a smaller hornline, I don’t know, but she thought that the drill was getting hidden at points. Even with all of that, though, I think they’ve done a great job this year – this was one of the shows I was most hoping to see live, and I’m glad I got to!

Blue Knights (10th, 82.025) were on next, performing “A Midsummer Knight’s Dream.” According to what I read, this is supposed to be a show about a day in the life of a drum corps. Honestly, I don’t think *anyone* on my row got that from the show, and I was even looking for it specifically. Programming-wise, this is a very-much-sister show to the 2004 production. They are still wearing the same uniforms they have since 2000, with the guard in a lighter-blue bodysuit. I assume they’re still getting the flags painted by their Denver artist – they’re very much in line with their previous shows, if a touch darker this year.

In fact, the whole production has a dark feel to it, from the costuming (the light blue of the guard is kind of muted against the dark blue / black of the corps) to the music (very medieval-sounding) to the darker flags. The opener does have strains of Trittico from years past in it, but not nearly as obvious as last year.

The second “movement” – again like last year – is broken into a 90 second musical passage then the drum feature. Intended or not, this segment is the show-stopper of their program. The drum feature (by the way, the drums this year are metallic blue, and look *really* cool) includes what is supposed to be a stylized “basics” block / warmup. There’s a number of really cool drill moves – my favorite was the snares circling around a lone guard member doing rifle tosses. As they circled him, various snares would point at him – it just created a very neat effect.

Also like 2004, the ballad is not original, but the darker presentation of it is. The corps plays “Some Enchanted Evening” and I thought they really got the crowd going at that point – it gave everyone something familiar to latch on to. Unfortunately, though, the way the show is programmed, it’s over all too quickly. (If they’d just legalize 15 minute shows... :))

Their closer recaps the melody from the opening piece, and I think they do a good job musically of tying the whole production together. They still have the bendy-knee marching style, and it looks like this year they’ve really gotten into it – I didn’t see anyone having trouble with it at all. (And the high-mark time as they turned to leave got appreciative applause from our section.)

Based on the early season recording I’ve heard, as well as comments from previous reviews, it seems like they had a pretty good night performance. I know fatigue can be a factor with the corps from the afternoon (Madison in 2001 at the Alamodome is a prime example) shows who advance, but they (actually, all of the first three corps) seemed to handle it pretty well, and put out the energy to make sure that the evening show had some spark to it as well. I think depending on how they keep cleaning, and more importantly – selling, this program, they’ll pass SCV for 9th. This show still has a lot of room to grow, and while the various sections are all performing very well, it’s the GE (musical and visual) that’s going to cause this show to rise or fall.

Santa Clara Vanguard (9th, 82.425) entered in an unfamiliar spot – having to qualify for the evening program as well as looking up at a number of corps. The corps uniforms have been redesigned this year, with an all-red jacket and white pants, though it has the same basic cut / design as last year’s. The white really gives them an old-school SCV look from afar that was really neat to see. The guard is costumed in black, with the women wearing black and gold tops and the men black pants, white shirts and an open black jacket.

The program “Russia: Revolution – Evolution (1917-1991)” centers in very broad strokes about the rise and fall of Communism, told through the restrictions (and reinstatement) of freedom of religion. Honestly, you’d have to be familiar with the music to get that – the visual *kind* of sells it, but none of the first-timers around us had any clue what was going on in the show.

The show is broken into two major parts, with Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 12 (In the Year 1917) as the first segment. All four parts of the symphony are presented in a opener-ballad-feature-closer form, and to me, that’s part of the problem – they’ve presented an established show format (one that every listener is used to) then tack an extra song on the end in Russian Christmas Music.

But I digress – back to the explanation of the show. The opening strains of Russian Christmas music suddenly get overpowered by a bold, discordant brass fanfare, and I have to give SCV credit – year in and year out, they are one of the *loudest* corps on the field. Usually, seeing them at the ends of shows, they’re slightly louder than the corps around them. This group’s brass volume-wise simply overpowered the other corps in the early group – even Crown’s.

Each of the movements from Sym. No 12 get about a minute and a half treatment. Honestly, if you remember Phantom’s 1993 Estancia opener, it feels very much the same way – very quick development / transition / finish to each piece. Also to SCV’s credit, though – they do make the pieces (which could fill out an entire show on their own) *not* feel rushed.

The drums this year are using matched grip, and sound-wise, it didn’t make a lick of difference. Just listening to the show, you never would have known. Visually, however, I found it to be a bit of a distraction, but I’ve never really liked match grip. But, hey, if it floats their boat, more power to them, though I never saw the integrated visuals with the tenor line that they said would be easier due to everyone having the same grip. (Oh, and for those interested – the techno-double-beat is their on-field warmup this year.)

I’ve already read reviews of this show that have said the guard had lots of issues tonight – all I can say about it (and Jenna as well) is that they were kind of... nondescript. They didn’t really stand out at all. The drill, though, is sorely lacking in the velocity of the other top corps. It works with the music, but up against the other corps, they come off as really slow.

Russian Christmas Music (in an abbreviated form from the 1987 version) ends the show, and I’m still having trouble with the placement of the piece as a closer. The way it’s presented, the program feels like <_< where they build to a finish and then start again halfway through. Then again, it could be to the big finish that’s on the Symphony No. 12 causing that rather than RCM right after.

Okay, I know I’ve gotten on them about show design, average guard and slow drill. Even after all of that, though, I’d still say this is a good show from SCV, and they have nothing to be ashamed of. Why? Because they can flat-out *play.* The brass and percussion make the show just drip with energy – they sell it so it always feels like they’re leaning forward, about to sprint off again. (And the drum book is – as always – impeccably tied to the horn book in ways that few corps can manage.)

We all enjoyed their show, thought it was quite nice, and all agreed, though, that they’re right where they should be, score-wise. Earlier in the summer I had a gut feeling they’d sneak into 7th, but I now think 9th is more likely. Even then, though, I still think it’s a good show, and one that a lot of folks are going to like to watch and listen to in the years to come.

Carolina Crown (7th, 84.500) came out next. Due to the way DCI seeded the show, the shows from two weeks ago were averaged to determine the show order. The only corps this really affected was Crown and Boston, as Crown in the past week had surged ahead of the Crusaders.

The corps is using the same uniforms as they have from 2003 on – light cream colored, with the purple stripes and offset white plume. The guard was dressed in black, with what looked like little white wings on one leg.

Their show is called “Angelus” and the angel theme is readily apparent throughout. In fact, the visual program ties the various (and very distinct) musical styles together into a cohesive whole. What I’m trying to say is, if all you’ve been able to do is buy the APD, you need to *see* this show as well – it really makes a *lot* more sense live than it does audio-only.

The introduction to the show is from Rutter’s Gloria (complete with the Cavaliers-esque spinaround at the big hit), and the opening is a compilation of two hymns – The Reason and A Mighty Fortress. It takes about 30 seconds to realize that the horns are by far the strongest suit of the corps, and the scores to date have borne out that this is a top 6, if not top 4, hornline.

The ballad is Sarah MacLachlan’s “Angel” and the guard then removes the black tops to reveal... well, more black tops, but with white angel wings on the back. The corps uses a lot of body movement to symbolize angels carrying folks, and a lone guard member carries a pair of giant white flags as a lone angel. Every single person I asked for this review cited this song as the far-and-away best moment of the first 6 corps. Every one of them. Both Clifton and Nicole (first time viewers) had goosebump moments during it, as well as Bruce and Karen. Maybe it’s my advanced age now (turned 30 as we were driving home from the show), but I was able to resist it. :)

The rest of the show (as I remember it) is taken from Joesph Curiale’s “Gates of Gold” (also played by the Troopers this year), and just listening to the show, you get a great sense of disconnect due to the very apparent “western” nature of the piece. Live, however, the guard is using the number to depict the conflict between a number of light and dark angels, and it *really* works well. It doesn’t hurt that the horn fanfare that begins the piece was so tight that the echoes resonated off the dome and right back on to the crowd, giving it an eerily otherworld-like effect.

The closer – also from Gates of Gold – includes the entire guard bringing the large “wing” flags onto the field, and along with the light-colored corps uniforms, really give the field a white-out effect that is quite nifty to see. Musically, the show ends with a recap from the opening hymns and a giant major chord that had the crowd on its feet before they’d finished – and for some reason, at this show such a reaction was a rarity. (Believe me, I was watching the crowd as the night went on, and from one end is actually a pretty good place to do it since the stands curve around.)

My whole row thought this was one of the top four shows of the night (can’t tell you the other three yet). For me, I think they’re pretty well stuck in the 7th spot. I can’t see anyone behind them catching them, but I also can’t see them passing Bluecoats, Phantom or Madison for 6th. While the horns are superb, the guard (technically, not GE) and the drums aren’t quite up there with the others. I will, however go out on a limb and say that this 7th place show is head-and-shoulders better than their 6th place show from last year!

Boston Crusaders (8th, 83.550) ended the first part of the show with their production “The Promise of Living.” The corps is wearing the familiar red/black cadet-style uniforms, and the guard is wearing... well, white tops, pink cinch-sashes and pink pants. Before you cringe and start invoking the spirit of the 2002 Carolina Crown (pink togas) on me, with the red corps uniforms, and the various shades of red on the flags throughout, it actually works just fine.

The opening drill is a sight to behold – giant concentric circles of corps and guard spinning as they play “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring.” I have no idea how they can clean such a drill move, but they absolutely nailed it for this performance. After a recap of the main melody of the piece, the full opener is the Overture from Candide. The corps does put a unique twist on it, moving a phrase here, a measure there, a passage here and there – enough to make sure it’s not the same version you’ve heard a million times before. (And thankfully, it sounded like they took out the West Side Story passages from the piece.)

The ballad is from Tender Land – specifically, well... “The Promise of Living.” :) Honestly, this is probably the one piece I don’t have a lot to say about – it is what it is, they play it the way you’d expect them to, and it has the effect you’d expect it to. That’s about it.

The third pieces is by far their show-stopper. After a quiet pit groove off of the end of Promise of Living, the drummers put on various parts of drum set drums and cymbals and move out onto the field for Gordon Goodwin’s “Sing Sang Sung.” It’s an old-school throw down and jam session, and the crowd responded quicker to it than any other individual song of the entire night save the Cavaliers’ “Sweet Home Chicago.” Even my daughter – 3 years old and honestly, kind of bored at this point – started jumping up and down and clapping as they were playing this. Naturally, the reaction that this (and the Cavies’ piece) provokes is: well for goodness’ sake, why don’t *more* corps play swing / jazz? The crowd wanted it, the crowd *loved* it, and if done well, the judges will still reward it.

The closer is Ode to Joy, and as bright and energetic as it was, it didn’t capture the crowd like the jazz did. The hits from Conquest again find their way into the show, right before the closing chord.

While I think Crown will stay ahead of Boston for 8th, I think that first, Boston very well could stay ahead of SCV for the rest of the season, and second, this is a *great* Boston show. They have good drill, good music, a great visual design, and they connect with the audience *very* well.

After asking each person their thoughts on the first half, all of them - from the folks at their first show to the band director to my wife who’s seen 10 years of shows - agreed that Carolina Crown was the hands-down winner of the first half of the show. The emotion they generated was something that the other corps simply didn’t do.

You can view Part II here.

Mike

[TexasPRfan]

Excellent, very detailed review, Mike. Nice job telling the story of each corps' show, for those who haven't seen them yet.

Harvey

[MikeD]

Spirit from JSU (12th, 80.000) ...

After an opening fanfare to “New York, New York”, the corps’ opener to me is the weakest part of the production.  It’s very cut-and-paste musically, and doesn’t really develop a full musical theme.  It’s much more “mood” music, really – setting a bright tone for the rest of the production.

It's the title tune from "They're Playing Our Song", a tune I've always thought rather lame. I thought the same as you at Giant's Stadium (see my own review).

Not that they play it poorly...just that it's a pretty weak number in any format!

Marvin Hamlisch has never been a fave of mine, outside of "A Chorus Line"..one of my all-time faves. The original Broadway cast starred Lucie Arnez (Lucille Ball's daughter with Desi) and Robert Klein.

The ballad, for me, is the entire centerpiece of the show.  Much like 2003’s “October”, the mix of “Pie Jesu” and “As If We Never Said Goodbye” contains a number of musical quotes within it, in this case, of past Broadway shows.  The guard sets up a number of giant Playbill programs along the back sideline, all from Andrew Lloyd Webber shows.  As the ballad reaches the climax, all but the Phantom of the Opera program are turned around to show “closed” written across the back.  While I got it – Phantom’s the only show still open on Broadway – it didn’t make musical sense – they weren’t playing a clip from Phantom at the time.  Unless you know what’s on Broadway right now, that might get a little confusing.

Right...they were playing the Sunset Boulevard number you mention above...again, I said the same thing in my review of Giant's Stadium...they should have the Sunset Playbill where the Phantom one is (and vice versa), and when they do the little quote from Phantom, THEN pick that one up...to make more visual sense, anyway.

Glassmen (11th, 80.575) were on next. 

The second (largo) movement (“Going Home” – everyone’s heard this one) is presented in a kind of floaty fashion.  It’s hard for me to describe – it felt almost like one of those cartoons or films where they show the Native American tribes in their village, or rowing down the river at peace.  Lots of up and down vibraphone runs over the horn solos.  Speaking of which, the horns all lay down at the beginning of the song (and at one point make carpet angels) and then stand up and play in solos and groups as the melody builds.  I thought that was a very nice effect.

Sounds better than the Neal Hefti-ish light jazz beat Regiment used in 89. I always HATED that spot in what was an incredible show.

Blue Knights (10th, 82.025) were on next, performing “A Midsummer Knight’s Dream.”  According to what I read, this is supposed to be a show about a day in the life of a drum corps.  Honestly, I don’t think *anyone* on my row got that from the show, and I was even looking for it specifically.

Hmmm...maybe they need soe amped narration. ^0^

The drums this year are using matched grip, and sound-wise, it didn’t make a lick of difference.  Just listening to the show, you never would have known.  Visually, however, I found it to be a bit of a distraction, but I’ve never really liked match grip. 

Interesting that folks comment on this...as SCV was amongst the first to use match grip in the early 70's with Fred Sanford.

Boston Crusaders (8th, 83.550) ended the first part of the show with their production “The Promise of Living.”  The corps is wearing the familiar red/black cadet-style uniforms, and the guard is wearing...  well, white tops, pink cinch-sashes and pink pants.  Before you cringe and start invoking the spirit of the 2002 Carolina Crown (pink togas) on me, with the red corps uniforms, and the various shades of red on the flags throughout, it actually works just fine. 

Doesn't it though...the colors really work well for them.

I love the spot where the guard basically fills the field with the brass down stage.

Great review!

Mike

[arno0940]

Awesome review Mike, I can't wait for part 2.

[MikeN]

I've got to learn to be more concise - I just wrote 1200 words on the Cadets alone. :)

Mike

[glory]

Good stuff. I'm guessing you can't win the review contest, which is a shame.

HH

[PhantomR]

Glassmen's uniforms have been altered.

although they are just a modification of the ones from last year, they are different none the less.

they have a silver sheild overlaped by a turqoise shield... it's pretty sweet.

~>conner