Manchester NH Sat. night

[Jim Alberty]

Big doin's in Nw England - Saturday was the Portland Center for Cultural Exchange's Festival of Many Nations - I got to volunteer and everything (got a nice t-shirt).

But I had a terrible decision to make - stick at the Festival to watch a dear friend belly dance along with 20 other beautiful women or drive 100 miles to Manchester to see the Div. II/III focus show's first night.

:P Well, ya gotta back up your friends....

So I got to the show late - sue me.

The late afternoon was warm but tolerable - the stands faced east so we were in shade fairly quckly - the stands were PACKED - I mean "haunch to paunch".

I couldn't get a feel for the makeup of the crowd but it was very responsive, very enthusiastic.

OK - scores are here.

Cadets of NYC - I think the music is defeating them - the drums weren't as tight as their usual standard and the horns, sopranos in particular, were ragged. The color guard definitely has some great moves, though.

Allegiance Elite - very capable performance of yet another Key Poulan mythological score (is there a website you can download these things from? I hear his music a lot - each score still has an individual thematic structure but for me, IMHO, it's close to oversaturation) - very well developed show.

Les Stentors - music from James Horner's three week score for "Troy" - very small hornline but they have a good grasp of the music. Nice use of props, particularly in the battle sequence.

Taipeh Yuehfu - how is this corps competing in Div.III? It's huge (comparatively) I know there's a reason but it escapes me right now - with that aside, this was defintely a crowd-favorite show - their kids were lionized by the band kids in the crowd later in the evening. My impression is that they utilize their heritage in a very effective way - the snap and appearance of fans in the color guard brought a literal gasp from the house. Wonderful show.

(I'm sure there are some managers of more average sized corps that are not thrilled a 600 lb. Taiwanese gorilla has visited our shores - I think it's great, but that's me...)

Citations - they have a great look, a great book and a style that won't say "die". Music from "Wicked", very good percussion section, huge pit, the guard was as busy as the top Div. II guards (though not as clean as I expected). They seem to be developing in very well-thought-out stages - the pit, the battery, now the guard - when the hornline really blossoms next, this will become an even more formidable competitor.

Teal Sound - Wow. A great performance of yet another score by Key Poulan - definitely the top of the second tier. For me, their visual design didn't have as much variety as the top two corps (Spartans, ECJ) and that may be holding them back - it sure isn't drums and guard. I like this show.

Memphis Sound - OK, here I disagreed with the judges - I think they should have done better - no recaps posted as of this morning so I can't see where they fell out (c'mon, DCI, inquiring minds want to know). I like their brass sound and can see how there's a bunch of very good second tier corps pushing the top two.

Oregon Crusaders - Believe the hype - this is a great corps. Striking from the moment they entered the field for setup. Very commanding. Musically a very dense show, I suspect their horns scores will be somewhat close to the top two. I'm not really fond of the last third of the show, it seems kind of a Key Poulan CHORD-run-CHORD sort of chart - however, that said, they are performing the living daylights out of it. Disagree with the judges, I had them over Impusle. This is why I'm not a judge....

East Cost Jazz - yet another green corps takes the field. This is a very different show than what I saw in Malden at the season opener. I get the impression they understand it better - the "Amazing Grace" quotes are clearer (I still think they could have made them evoke the emotional content more effectively - like those strange little "guides" you see in the Cirque du Soliel - the characters that stand around doing strange things while spotting the act onstage - they help focus the audience on the emotional content being expressed).

The corps comes out singing the hymn and it's really cool. The drill is clean, clean, clean and the horns and battery absolutely smoke the show - the french rolls in the snares midway through aroused a gasp from the percussion folks sitting around me.

Spartans - I've not seen the recaps but IMHO ECJ has the edge in terms of the clarity of concept. I still don't see the connetion between "Vizier:Knowledge is Power" and the performance on the field. This takes absolutely nothing away from the incredible skill Spartans bring to executing their show. If they didn't win drums the world is upside down.

But it's a mistake to think of Spartans in terms of another corps' show design - this is a sophisticated package - the guard is as busy as some very good Div. I guards. The horns have a lovely, dark, Phantom Regiment-like tone color that is very characteristic of them and has been for as long as I've seen them (only part of their 50 years - how many corps do we have that are 5 decades - three generations - old - well done, Spartans).

Impusle - This was a surprise to me - I would have put them a spot, maybe two, lower. Being a BD alum, I was looking forward to the characteristic "California Sound" and got in the first few measures - then they hit an unsupported patch and the tone went all to pieces.

I think "The Incredibles" has a lot more music in it that Impulse isn't using. Their show seems to use one sequence over and over. They have a very good show, I just don't hear it as being as intense an experience as some of the corps they beat. Again, I need to see a recap, so take all this with a grain of salt.

It was a great evening of drum corps in great company and I look foward to seeing the second part tonight - no belly dancers (man, you had to be there...maybe next year Key Poulan could write a show....naaaahhh)

I think Brockton is going to be a really, really interesting time for everyone.

regards - Jim

[phantomguard]

you can download key poulan's music at www.keypoulan.com or .org.