LMS-South/Preview of Champions

[bawker]

Finally back from LMS South, a concert of epic proportions, and some general thoughts about what I saw and heard. More "techincal" analysis when everyone hits the field. For now, everyone....and I mean everyone was great.

After some brief remarks by Fran Haring (sure enough, attired in a shirt that may have made the color blind thankful), an open bar, and some good times, we were ready to go.

This isn't exactly in order of appearance, but its pretty close...and now, from my vantage point in row number one (any closer, and I may have been on the program performing :P ) I present:

LMS South: The Art of Stomping Them

Renegades Drum Line: First thing when they came out...a little wake up "ga-GOK!" call, nice and loud. A lot of juicy licks, some awesome snare work, and my head was bobbin'. I'm not a percussionist, but they threw down. :) Even my drum corps challenged wife really enjoyed what they brought.

Heat Wave: Awesome. Just awesome. The drum major and corps proper had on some Hawaiian shirts that may have given Fran a run for his money. Great audience participation moments, and the drum featurette was played on 3 grills. Yes, that's right...grills. Awesome backsticking, and for a smaller horn line, some really good volume. Defintely crowd pleasing, and totally original. My wife enjoyed them a lot, and when we all got up to do the "Time Warp" (you had to be there!), she was right in there with everyone else.

Carolina Gold: The last time I saw Carolina Gold (circa 2002 or so), they were pretty small, but good. However, this corps came out and threw down. Hard. "Summertime" was awesome, and "Remembrance" was Scouts worthy. They really put out some volume to be mid-sized, and played extremely tight as a unit. "Autumn Leaves" had some intonation issues, but only slight ones.

During Gold's time, the percussion instructor (Is it a Mr. Raymond?) performed solo on snare. Sticking, control and attitude....all phenomenal. It was amazing to behold, and being less than 10 feet or so away, I am doubly impressed.

Renegades Guard: Seven guard members. Heh. Some nice ensemble work, and a definite feature unto thhemselves. While the performance was short, it still let you know that there are some talented individuals in the Reneguard. I'm about the last person to ask about guard work, but I enjoyed what I saw, as there were some nice catches and flag work throughout.

CorpsVets: Uh, yeah. Channeling Blue Devils 1993, this was the beginning of the end of my hearing. Solo work was great, as was the ensemble sound overall. A few muddled phrases here and there, but nothing too major. Louder than ####...and encored us with "Georgia"...for the 1st time. Wow. These guys are really something, and the brass book was just a treat all the way along. The Don Ellis book was great. I think our own DCP's usmpiano wrote those charts, and if so, way to go, dude! Loved it!

Hurricanes: Music of Elmer Bernstein was performed really well. I recognized a few of the pieces along the way, such as "To Kill a Mockingbird" and a few others. Some great control, and for what seemed like a smaller hornline than others, a big, rich sound...not too many tone quality and intonation issues at all. A great look to the corps proper, and some juicy brass writing. Color me impressed!

Renegades MiniCorps: Seriously, these guys could go on the road and be second only to Maynard's band. Amazing...."La Fiesta" and "Give it One" were #### clean, and the soloists all nailed everything. This alone may have been worth the price of admission, and I highly encourage everyone to see these guys at DCA I&E. A taste of things to come from the evil ones.

Bushwackers: Bush had some bus problems along the way, but still showed up. Wearing street clothes, and I'm sure really tired, they still blew the house down. "Russlan and Ludmilla" was awesome to hear. There were a few issues with the tounging, but I know those guys were tired. The show just seemed to get better as it went on. The singing was amazing, and actually gave me chills when they started. "1812" was one of the first moments when I closed my eyes, and actually felt the sound. Great, great performance.

Buccaneers: Oh god. Oh my ####### God. This show could probably kick a few of the Top 12 DCI ##### musically. Great ensemble sound, and lush as can be. "Farandole" was nice and up tempo, setting the stage for "Adagio". Now, you can say the Bucs show is just Santa Clara's greatest hits....but you'd be wrong. "Adagio" was the loudest, most emotional moment of the night. I closed my eyes, and towards the end I was close to tears. So loud. So perfect. "String Quartet" and "YPG" were both executed so well, I really did think this was a junior corps at times. A definite contender for DCA's title.

Renegades: What more can I say when the sops are two feet away from me? Loud, louder, LOUDEST. It was a good...so good kind of pain. No earplugs for me! ^0^ "Open Up Wide" was amazing, with solo work from all around the room in the convention center. "Nights in White Satin" was just as lush as Glassmen 1994, and the "La Villa" ending was so, so good. An amazing, super "fighter pilot" kinda group, although maybe not quite as tight musically as the Bucs during the program. However, when you're getting lead Renesops in your face, it's still a little slice of heaven. Thanks so much to the Renegades for putting it all together, and for coming all this way to musically destroy MC Benton Convention Center.

Encore: All the corps in "G" came back to play "Georgia", not once, but twice. The first was a "run through", supposedly at mezzo-forte...yeah, right. :P The second time through is why my ears still hurt. Endless fermata at FFFFFFFFFFFF, endless joy...no voice left to scream with....to me THIS is what drum corps is all about.

Overall: I left overjoyed, and renewed in an activity that always seems to reward me with such emotion and pure happiness. DCI may not be for me anymore, but I now know that DCA sure as #### is. I haven't enjoyed myself this much probably since 1995.

My wife put it bluntly on the drive home: "Senior corps look like fun. Junior corps just doesn't to me, sometimes." Well, occassionally, I can't argue with her. ^0^

Thanks to Winston-Salem, and everyone involved for making this happen. It was an experience I really will treasure. :)

Look for the review of the field shows coming tomorrow night!

Edited July 30, 2005 by bawker

[bawker]

And now, without further delay...

DCA Winston-Salem: The Preview of Champions

First off, I'm going to be posting some opinions that may not jive with some folks. If you are easily offended, or do not care for comments of a constructive, critical nature, then this is your chance to run for the exits. Also, since I am a brass player, most of my comments will fall in those area. Annnnnnnd, as this is my first DCA show since about 1991, I am not aware of any politics, or any other things I'm not supposed to say in "polite company" about DCA and so on. So, take that as you wish, folks! :)

Now, then...let's start with the show itself. About 5:00pm or so, the bottom fell out of the sky, and continued to do so right on up until showtime. Coupled with my high hopes that this show would be key to securing Winston-Salem for DCA Finals in '06, the weather was more than a little dissapointing. We headed into Groves Stadium about six o' clock under a towel, miserable, wet and a little ticked off. With thunder heard at that time... we couldn't even sit down, for threat of being electrocuted in the stands. Additionally, Ticketmaster lost my tickets in the mail, and I was "rewarded" with seats in the AAA section. No offense to those of you into seeing things from the box, but I figure that's for the videos. I like to be up close and personal.

So, from the get go, I was a little let down...well, more than a little. However, a visit to the souvenir booths helped my spirits, as I loaded up on Year 7 merch from the Renegades (some great new T-shirts), CorpVets tees, a few Bush and Gold items, and quite a bit of Bucs paraphenalia. As I was spending to my hearts content, the skies lightened a bit, and the rain slowed to a trickle, then stopped. Lo, and behold...we've got ourselves a drum corps show!

After the National Anthem by a local Winston-Salem group, we settled in in the nosebleed section for the start of the show. Row AAA was not working for me, to say the least. However, things got a lot better as the night went on....

On with the show!

7th : 61.85 Heat Wave (0.2 penalty): Heat Wave took the field with their usual aplomb...the drum major (Vic, right?) as always... getting the crowd involved from the get go. I think Heat Wave has it figured out somewhat...as a small corps, you have to be willing to go that extra mile to get your spectators into it. That being said, "Heat Wave Does Time" was in parts, a really good show. There are certain things I feel are wrong to do to a group, and one of those is overwrite a bit for your corps. Perhaps, at some point, the horn line was larger during the season, so I may be out of line...

The opener, "Adventures in Time", as you may remember, gave the Blue Devils some trouble back in 1991, and it's still a bear for any corps to play. However, the small horn line did a fairly good job, despite some tears and a few individual mistakes. Percussion was great throughout, and once the show progressed onward, it as clear that the corps kept gaining confidence in their performance. By the end, at the "Time Warp" portion of the show, tone quality was clear and bright, and there was a good, solid energy to the corps. I thought overall, it was an excellent vehicle for the corps (possibly excepting the opener), and I can't wait to see them again. After all, DCA South, as it stands now wouldn't even be around if it weren't for Heat Wave. Great program, great people to talk to...all the best in the future!

(Interjection: After Heat Wave, Fran advised us we could move in a little if we wanted, since there were some no-shows...I immediately made a B-line to the second/third row, and perched near the 50. Ahhhh, these are the seats I wanted all along. So, thanks seats 20-23 in row B/C, I appreciate you not showing up! :P)

6th 73.325 Carolina Gold: Gold definitely has the crowd tonight...loud, LOUD cheering for the corps once they took the field. I was pleased to see that they were much larger than I remembered them a few years ago, circa the "City Of Angels" production of 2003, I think. Anyway, the new uniforms look great on the corps proper, and they really put out a attitude that showed some of the other corps..."Look out. We're in your rear-view mirror." "Summertime" was the start of the show, and brought back visions of Colts 1993, as the corps provided us with the first real SMACK! of the night. Nice and loud! However, there were some issues with the ensemble that muddied up the arrangement a bit. I heard a lot of "feet" in the music, and it was a little distracting. The featured soprano was "on" pretty much all night, and gave us some nice work.

"Autumn Leaves" was done in a nice, lush arrangement...a few intonation issues still plagued the line during the build-up, but overall, the effect was definitely appreciated by me. Some nice silk work in here as well, as the guard was nice and large...a great visual compliment. As they moved to "Rememberance", I noticed that the drum line was really cooking up some good stuff. I think Mr. Raymond has done a wonderful job with the line, and although percussion isn't my forte, I thought the book was pretty rockin'. Some of the harder 8th/16th passages in the last chart did come back and bite the horns though, probably enough to explain the small difference between the Hurricanes to me. All in all, Gold looks ready to move into the upper echelon of DCA...their staff looks outstanding, as do some of the folks they have consulting. I think building on this year will really propel them forward in '06. Nice to see such talent down the road...I just wish I had a job that would let me come down I-40 to play! :)

5th - 73.913 Hurricanes: The Hurricanes made their appearance with precision and style, and the music of Elmer Bernstein was an excellent show concept. Familiar enough to get into, yet it provided a good, diverse amount of material to pick from. The brass staff for the Hurricanes really...and I mean really, know how to get every ounce from their kids. They sounded twice as loud as they actually were. Good tone quality, and aside from some bumps in the more techincal side of the arrangements, well-played throughout. This, I thought, probably gave them the edge over Gold.

Guard was talented and spun well, and the percussion book was written in a nice, complementary fashion that really meshed well overall. The qualms I may have had concerning the program are only that the show came off a little disjointed at times, due to the number of pieces referenced. For a line that size, it was, however, pulled off extremely well. My compliments to the Hurricanes...14 hours is a long bus trip, and you gave us one great show. A great corps, and I can see why they've been around for 50 years.

4th - 76.688 CorpsVets:Yeah! A little Don Ellis to do it up right! "Open Wide" may have suffered a few slight phasing issues at the beginning, it seems. However, once the opener tightened up a little, it really started to cook. Lead sops were screaming, and there was some good mid-voice work as well. Drums were hot, with a nice groove, but clearly the star of the show was the brass.

Once "Strawberry Soup" started up, though, all bets were off. The corps really took the arrangments to heart, and pretty much nailed a close-to-Madison-1993 version of the chart. Sops were again blazing, and a neat little visual with some reflective tiles during the drum break was a welcome visual treat. The show really had a lot of energy, as you can tell the corps really enjoys performing it. Again, though, as with Gold, there was a lot of muddling during the more difficult portions of the closer. I know it can't be helped, given the complexity of the chart...but if the horn feature for each section in "Soup" can be tightened up, and a few kinks out of the opener... then I think a couple of people may get passed by in Scranton. Great job, guys!

3rd - 84.475 Renegades: I STOMP THEM. Seven. Chaos. Evil. It seems the Renegades had been built up to mythic proportions even before many of us in North Carolina has heard a note. You know what? With #### good reason. From the beginning of "Ave" to the end of "La Villa", it was like someone took the Madison Scouts of the 1990's, the Blue Devils of the 80's, and added in the "Mirror, Mirror" episode of Star Trek (You know, the one where Spock had the beard? Evil? Ah, forget it...). While the visual/drill was probably the deciding factor in coming in behind Bush, I don't know that it should have been, with the musical performance they gave. You can take that for what it's worth...a dude on a message board with a big mouth. b**bs

"Ave" opens with the Renegades all in white "7" hooded cloaks, and the drums covered in a red velvet. As the show progresses, the cloaks come off, and the drum reveal their new cool "flame/evil face" motif...as this is the "prequel" to evil...or how the Renegades became so evil in the first place. What I understand as a patented "infini-trill" really got the crowd going, and once "Open Wide" hit, it was all over. Sops all over the place, drum line smokin', and the crowd throwing small children. Great horns, little to no dropping of phrases, and an ensemble sound that ...while a little top heavy, was what drum corps dreams are made of. If there is a complaint that can be made about the Renegades, perhaps the visual just doesn't quite match up to the bar the music sets, as there were a lot of box/move/box sets. But, whatever...I still got my teeth kicked in by an awesome hornline, so who cares. :P

Consider me stomped.

2nd - 84.563 Bushwackers: Bush had a very, very demanding show. "Russlan and Ludmilla", "Romeo and Juliet" and "1812" are not the stuff of even most Open Class Division I DCI corps. The opening statement was extremely strong...but the tounging thereafter is still extremely uneven. This, like the CorpVets feature in "Soup," is something I know that can be easily fixed. However, the corps loses a lot of energy due to these miscues, and come Scranton, every point will count. The big story here was that the Bushwackers visual....they moved, and moved some more...not shying away from the complexity of the horn book. Guard and drums were both nicely written.

"Romeo and Juliet" provided some nice, lush moments from the horn line, and the introduction to "1812" sounded great, as the voices (unamped...heh) really carried well. If anything, Bush has the most room for improvement of all the corps, given the book that they chose. To be this clean and good with still a month to go bodes well for them down the road, although I may have reversed the scores givem with the Renegades. It was truly that close, I felt. The end of "1812" really showcased a great low brass section, and brought the crowd to their feet. A great performance!

1st - 89.013 Buccaneers: Everything you have read, or heard, or thought about the 2005 Bucs...it's all true. The Buccaneers kick ###. Real hard, all the way through the show. I wasn't exaggerating in the LMS review I posted above...this show could easily destroy quite a few Division I DCI corps. "Farandole" lost none of its energy on the field, as the Bucs opening statement really ripped the place right in half. The horn line is so balanced its scary. And, you know, the "Santa Clara" comparison people make about this show...well, it's apt...not because it's ripped off...but because they're that #### hardcore. Of course it's not executed at an "SCV" level, but show me another group that can come this close on weekend only practices, and I'll punch my mom in the face. Really, I wouldn't care if they called their show "WE RIPPED OFF SCV. NO REALLY. WE DID.", 'cause I'd still be eatin' it up. Anyway, they don't. So shut it. :P

"Adagio" was sheer joy....even better outside, as the Bucs filled the stadium with rich, warm sound. One that envelopes, and makes you close your eyes to take it all in. Clearly the tightest, and loudest moment of the night...so good it hurt. "String Quartet 4" and "Young Persons Guide" were #### clean, and the drumline really took off...I mean those kids were playing some notes! The cymbal line was a treat, as was the guard. The only thing I can hoesntly say is that this may "peak" too early, although with the DCA schedule, that may not be an issue really. Defintely my favorite to win it all, and one of the best senior corps shows I've heard or seen..ever. (although, I do have a lot of catching up to do as far as DCA goes!)

In short, Bucs were unreal.

Overall: Great show, and after getting rained on all day, it was nice to see that it held off the rest of the evening. I'm sure that brought the numbers down quite a bit for the show..but hopefully, they DCA folks will take the rain into account when looking at the bids. I can tell you that I thougt Winston-Salem did a good job in promoting the show, and a little sun here would have probably put another 1000 people in the stands. Parking sucked, since it was seven ( ^0^ ) dollars, but what can ya do?

Well, that's about it!

After my first big senior show, I'm proud to say...

Make mine DCA! :)

Edited July 31, 2005 by bawker

[bd5times]

Great review!

It's amazing to read the success Renegades had in hosting a show 2000 miles from home. Congratulations!

[newbride91303]

My husband is in Bucs euphonium line and called last night as they were leaving and said "WOW!!! That was such an awesome show to do. We let loose and had a blast and the crowd was going ape nuts for everything. Oh and yeah, it was really loud. My ears are still ringing."

Wish I could have been there. Thank you for the review Bawker. It really made me feel as though I were there.

Good luck to all the corps in competition tonight. I can't wait to hear all about it.

[usmpiano]

Bawker:

Thanks for the compliment but that is not me that does the arrangements for the CorpsVets (maybe one day though ^0^ ). That honor belongs to the one and only arranger CV has ever had, Mr. Darryl Jones. Great arranger and a great guy too.

I am doing the arrangements for just the mini-corps.

[Murph]

Thanks for the kind words. We definitely had a good time. It was really great being that close to an audience. I love the expressions on peoples faces when we're really wailing.

[cin4057]

Bawker, from those of us who couldn't make it down too Winston Salem, thanks so much for that wonderful review.

From what I've seen so far this year the Reading Buccs. have been leading the pack. They are just outstanding this year.

From the first show I saw in Wildwood their performance has been so very remarkable. Breathtaking.

It sounds like they may have some real compitition in the Minn. Brass from the scores I saw in DCW this week. I thought maybe the Renegades would give them a good stomping. LOL I just love Renegades. They are so cool.

Scranton is just around the corner!

Mini corps should be pretty spectacular this year. I just can't wait.

[notelvis]

[Overall: I left overjoyed, and renewed in an activity that always seems to reward me with such emotion and pure happiness. DCI may not be for me anymore, but I now know that DCA sure as #### is. I haven't enjoyed myself this much probably since 1995.

My wife put it bluntly on the drive home: "Senior corps look like fun. Junior corps just doesn't to me, sometimes." Well, occassionally, I can't argue with her.  ^0^

Thanks to Winston-Salem, and everyone involved for making this happen. It was an experience I really will treasure. :)

Look for the review of the field shows coming tomorrow night!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes. Yes. Yes. My wife and I second your emotion.

The turning point for us was 2002 when we attended both the DCI Finals in Madison and the DCA Finals in Scranton. Since then we have not returned to the DCI Finals but have not missed DCA (not to say that we won't catch a DCI show when the tour comes near us....just that the flying or driving more than two or three hours doesn't seem worth the effort anymore). We've even gotten to the point where we prefer sitting downstairs in Scranton for prelims and upstairs for finals!

Last night was great seeing a big DCA show in NC. It was great seeing the rain move out right at 7pm. It was great of the Renegades to come remind us of why we all fell in love with drum corpsin the first place. It was great of the Bucs to play so darned nicely. It was great of the Bushwackers and Hurcs to make the trip south. It was all just great.

Looking forward to your review of the field show.

David

[Lancerlady]

Dang, I guess this is the show you wanted my husband and I to go to uh David? :sshh: Next year we're doing this gig!

Oh well, awesome Review Bawker..I take it you like DCA? :P I haven't been to a show yet but next year we're coming for sure.

[bawker]

edit: Field show review is in the second post in the thread.

Edited August 1, 2005 by bawker