San Antonio Impressions

[LAMystreaux]

San Antonio Impressions (afternoon and evening shows)

I won’t do a full out review, but some overall impressions of the corps from San Antonio:

REVOLUTION: Nice corps with some nice visual ideas, but my main beef with them is please (!!!!) pick something more friendly to the fans. I can’t remember one note they played.

KIWANIS KAVALIERS: I liked most of it, but the pick panther thing did not work for me. Small corps, but they are trying.

ESPERANZA: They seem to be pretty aggressive. The music was barely memorable, but I liked their approach to design otherwise. . .fairly in your face kind of corps.

TROOPERS: This is the best I have ever seen the Troopers live. This show in a different year would be much higher in the ranks. Congratulations to them for taking such a huge step up.

THE MAGIC: This show is not as friendly as Pirates, but it sure is a heck of a lot cleaner.

CAPITAL REGIMENT: Sorry, but after 2 viewings I dislike it even more.

SOUTHWIND: Fun show. . .still very dirty though.

SEATTLE CASCADES: Why was the voice-over necessary for this show? I enjoyed it aside from the voice over and some of the props. . .very prop heavy show.

MANDARINS: This was my first time ever seeing them live. I enjoyed the performance, but agreed with their placement.

COLTS: It’s a nice a show, but the postcards (as I stated from Dallas) do not work. They are much stronger musically as a corps than they are visually.

CROSSMEN: I think they should be scoring higher than they are. This show had a nice balance between the music and visual. I enjoyed it quite a bit. I hope they make a push to get into Finals, but its probably not gonna happen.

SPIRIT: Very nice take on Broadway. You can definitely see the Gaines influence visually. I hope they stick it out and stay top 12.

GLASSMEN: This show grows on me after 3 viewings. I like it more each time.

BLUE KNIGHTS: Solid show, but probably not as fan friendly as it could be. They have probably the best percussion feature of the summer though.

SCV: Still lots of dirt, but some changes already since Dallas are helping sell the show. I see them staying 8th or below.

BOSTON: Solid corps, but I was left feeling like I had seen it all before. Candide, while nice, is quite watered. Regardless of design though, they have a solid corps and an enjoyable show.

CAROLINA: I love love love this show from a music standpoint. The arrangements are just so full and chordal and that lush hornline sells it big time. I do see after a couple of viewings that maybe they could have pushed themselves a bit more visually though. Great show, though.

BLUECOATS: Solid from top to bottom. I had them and Phantom duking it out for 4th. Sidenote on them. . .Dan Potter interviewed a percussionist after the show and asked about Hajj. The kid basically said what they were saying was drumspeak. Why have they not received the same criticism The Cadets have? By the way, I like it from both corps.

PHANTOM: This is the best Phantom overall package since 1996. They have both the music and the visual working for them this summer, and the show is just a treat from beginning to end.

MADISON: I really enjoyed the show but in the end felt like Phantom and Bluecoats have more to offer from a design standpoint. I guess the judges disagreed hehe.

BLUE DEVILS: I feel the same way I did in Dallas. It has some amazing moments, but as a complete show it has no flow. I was glad to see them points behind the top 2 because that is the way it should be.

THE CADETS: This was the show I was most anticipating since it was my first and only live viewing of them this summer. I feel like I need to see it about 10 more times to catch everything they are doing. The music and the visual design are there, but still some dirt to overcome. There is sooooo much going on at all times that your eyes are not sure where to go. The door nor the girl (characters) were a distraction at all. They do no grandstanding showing off, no pandering to anyone. . .which is all the mess people hate from them. This is definitely a more serious offering. My pick for 2005 World Champion, which brings me to. . . .

THE CAVALIERS: This was also my first viewing of them for the summer and man, are they clean! It is a really nice show with a good flow to it, but without any of the wow moments we are used to from them, which is why I think they will be caught very soon. Unless they have a new ending planned, with as clean as they are, and with as much dirt is still in The Cadets show, that .60 difference on Saturday night said quite a bit to me.

I see it as a 2-horse race for numero uno with Cadets coming out on top in August.

[TexasPRfan]

Thanks for the thoughts on the show. Interesting - for all the reviews from S.A, I can't find one that thought Madison should have been over Regiment, and most thought they should have been behind Bluecoats as well. Will be interesting to see what happens in Indy!

Harvey

[billparlan]

The Bluecoats drum speak is not "just" drum speak. The show uses various eastern musical ideas and the drum feature vocals are used in Indian Tabla drumming. They have not been composed or made up by the Bluecoats.

[LAMystreaux]

But my point is that admitted from a Bluecoats members who is "speaking" it during the show, it is drumspeak. If we are going to dog out drumspeak (which I like it) then lets dog out all of it.

[bluecoats88]

I think most of the dogging of the Cadets drumspeak has to do with the fact that they are amplifying it, and other than the first part in the pit the Bluecoats tabla drum speak is accoustic from the field.