Allentown Friday Review

[dckid80]

My review posted on BD Forums:

So it’s time for me to review a drum corps show again!!! If you guys remember, I got rained out of Allentown on Friday night last year and had to leave Denver before the festivities even got started. So in a way this is my first show in 2 years. I don’t really remember much about Saturday night in Allentown last year.

I purposely took the night to sleep on this because there is a lot to say about what I saw last night, the direction of the activity, etc…

This will be a lengthy review. I am doing what Truman does and writing it in Word before I copy it over to the Forums.

Also, I am writing and posting this before reading anyone else’s review so it should be interesting to see how opinions differ.

On the social side of things, it was great to see Truman and quadnut again. They are salt of the earth people; they are drum corps people doggonit!!!!! What else do you need to know? OK, they fed me, so maybe I’m a little biased.

I managed to find BDFan and his crowd. It was great to finally meet Jim and his crowd. They offered to feed me as well but I was full by that time. One of his crowd is our former bass line instructor. Hadn’t seen Kevin in 25 years. He was shocked to see me and even more shocked when I handed him the cd with our 1980 field show. I’m going to check in today and see how he liked it.

Now on to the review:

Kiwanis Kavaliers/12/ 69.925:

Sad to see their numbers continue to drop. I guess the merger with Thunder has finally worn off. The show was unfortunately without excitement. What I mean is that there are no peaks written into the show. The whole show looked and sounded like it was played and marched at the same level and pace. Very difficult to pull in the crowd without any hooks. The kids certainly look committed and are trying hard but this was the first revelation of the night for me…size matters!!!!!!!!!

State of the activity observation #1:

In the good old days you needed a big hornline to generate a big sound and get the attention of the crowd and judges today you need a lot of bodies to show movement and generate excitement with the crowd and judges when you do your drill. I’m not making a value judgment, just telling it like it is. At this level of competition, if you don’t field a full compliment, you cannot compete.

What does it say about this activity that there is no room at the highest levels for and Avant Garde or BAC of old? Small but clean as a whistle.

What does it say about us as fans?

Back to KK, I can’t help but thinking that both the kids and the activity might be better served if they competed in Div. 2. Let’s rebuild the local and regional component of the activity and begin to really appreciate what smaller groups bring to us all.(OK, I preached a little.)

Pioneer/11/73.2:

The numbers are there, the energy is there and the spirit is there. The scores are not. Overall this is a pleasing show both musically and from the drill perspective but it doesn’t have the difficulty that is necessary to compete at the highest levels. The horn line appears to be the strongest part of the corps. When I saw them warm-up before the show, girls in both the snare and quad lines were a surprise to me. I got the distinct impression that this is a very young group. (The cute little green and white plaid skirts the guard wears make the girls all look 14.) They appear to be sound in all of the fundamental areas. Some careful planning in bringing them along should result in better placements in the years to come. I know it seems like I write this about them every year but I love these guys. For me they epitomize everything that drum corps once was and can still be. I wonder how many of their members are local vs national.

Crest/10/76.65:

I’m going to try very hard not make any enemies here but after hearing so much about this corps over the last 2 years from our West Coast contingent, I was psyched to finally see them. I am sorry to say that I was sorely disappointed.

The opening statement hit was ragged and the show went down hill from there. Not a lot of difficulty or exposure in this show. The drill is curve linear with a lot of follow the leader. For those that are old enough to remember, this is exactly the same type of criticism that was leveled at Spirit by many in their early years. The horn line plays it’s most difficult passages and is at its best when not moving. Which happens far to often(at least a half dozen times) throughout the show.

The guard looked either completely lost or at times even uninterested in what they were doing. Worst of all, I got no passion at all from this group. Are they having fun? It sure didn’t seem like it to me.

State of the activity observation #2:

When standing still, every horn line is accurate, in tune and loud. Because of the emphasis on the visual as created by movement (and lots of it) today arrangements have been chopped to pieces to accommodate the drill. There are far too many examples of familiar tunes being chopped to bits and therefore becoming virtually unrecognizable and unpleasing to mention. Instead, show designers have incorporated these mini-stops into the show design to try to capture a sense of what the tune used to sound like.

The corollary to this of course is that many horn lines do not play while executing the more difficult drill maneuvers. I have much less of a problem with this. If you are going to do something really outrageous drill-wise to entertain me, I can live with the silence for a few counts.

Us old timers remember the days of the standstill concert production number when a horn line would go after a very difficult piece and wow everyone with their skills. That concert production number has now been broken up into smaller pieces to serve the needs of the drill. I think we have all lost here. Will we ever hear an intricate and layered tune like La Suerte(BD ‘79&’80) or Tiger of San Pedro(Guardsmen ‘79) again? I hope so but I am not optimistic. Is there a way that we can have the drill of today and the music of yesterday put together cohesively into the same show?

There is a challenge I would like to see a show designer take on.

Mandarins/9/79.275:

The last time I saw them was when they had that great percussion feature. They hooked me right away. They seem a bit smaller this year but are a very intense group. Horns, drums and guard were all performing with a lot of passion with drums appearing to be the strong point once again. I thought the spread with Crest should have been more. The Paganini piece was my favorite tonight. As noted with Pioneer, I got the impression that this was a young group. They remind me so much of Avant Garde from my time. I have a feeling that they will overtake Capital Regiment in Foxboro.

Drum major was the best of the night. He is top notch and could easily be with one of the big boys. Phantom would be a good fit for his talent.

State of the activity observation #3:

Is it time for DCI to consider a circuit for corps with less than a full compliment that doesn’t carry the “stigma” of being a Div. 2 corps? DCA seems to have done a very good job with the mini-corps concept. If I were a corps like the Mandarins or Pioneer, I would seriously consider leaving DCI and competing in DCA. Call me crazy but the seniors seem to have a much more accepting community that is growing by leaps and bounds.

Capital Regiment/8/80.025:

When I last saw them they looked like they were doing the Cadets ’83 show and doing it very well. This year the guard staff, except for one, walked out early in the season and left the corps without a finished routine. They seem to have recovered very nicely and have stepped up a level of difficulty in their show. The darkness and light themes are portrayed very well and are easy for the audience to follow. They seem to be struggling a bit with execution in all areas of the show this late in the season but this is an important step for the corps if they hope to crack the Top 12. Add the difficulty, challenge the membership and let them grow over the course of a couple of seasons. I still very much like the direction that they are headed in.

Best guard uniforms of the night. A very alluring all black design. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of them.(Unless I am confusing them with someone else.)

Spirit/7/85.25:

A Broadway themed show with lots of familiar tunes. Thank you!!!!!! They’re Playing Our Song and Luck Be Lady stood out for me. If you really want to hear an amazing show go get the Scouts from ’80. In a year of so many great horn lines this one gets overlooked quite often. I prefer their version of They’re Playing Our Song…but I digress.

Not sure if the posters are needed. I certainly knew all the songs. I did have the feeling that I was sitting in an area of the stands that had less knowledgeable corps people. If that is what Ken Boddiford has found in his travels, then drum corps does need to re-educate its audience. The guard uniforms are hideous!!!! Half white and half black swiss cheese, they make all of the guard members look heavy. I did not think they used color well at all in this show.

We will talk about that in a bit.

Glassmen/6/85.9:

Finally!!!!! The staff has given the kids a fun show and cut them loose. Gone is the famous Glassmen restraint and in its place is a bunch of kids who are so obviously having a good time. It really comes through. In comparison with Spirit, who while are almost just as good, seem like they are working in a more business-like manner. I love New World Symphony and they have a nice treatment of the work. They have an excellent Boston type moment where the horns rise from lying flat on the ground and add their voices to the line individually or in small groups until everyone is up and playing. Goose bump city for the first time of the evening!!!!!

The corps is solid in all sections with the guard and the guard uniforms being the standout part of the corps.

Blue Knights/5/87.0:

The very first thing I noticed as they were setting up was the pastel blue bottoms and ivory tops of the guard uniforms. These uni’s just faded away and made the guard disappear. Against the primarily black corps unis and green field, it was hard to see the guard at all.

Fortunately BK has one of its strongest corps in many years. The drum line was kicking!!! The horns are solid and the design staff seems to have cleaned up a lot of that messy drill that I have often railed against in the past. They are executing a difficult show well. As clean as BAC is right now, I think BK has the more challenging show and can overtake them during Finals week.

Boston/4/87.75:

This is essentially the same show format that they have been using since they broke into the Top 12. The design team has found a way to use space in the drill that makes the corps look very clean on the field. More so than Spirit, BK and Glassmen. The horn line is lush and full. What a beautiful sound!!!! I think BAC comes the closest to combining the best of the old and the new in drum corps of any corps in the activity today. To those on other Forums that complain about tired music and then not having any tunes you can recognize, you can’t have it both ways. Boston finds a way to bridge the gap that I think everyone can enjoy. That is another reason that they continue to compete at the highest level these days. There is not as much difficulty in this show as in others scoring below it but they are insanely clean for what they do.

I mentioned the use of space earlier but there is another area that Boston does better than most other corps and that is the use of color. The guard unis are much like BK except with rose bottoms. This contrasts beautifully with the corps unis and the green of the football field and as a result the guard pops out.

I think the BAC design team knows that this type of show will not win DCI. They should be applauded for the courage to stick with and perfect their vision. I think eventually others will catch on.

Thanks for the shot of Conquest at the end!!!!!!!!

State of the activity observation #4:

This is about space and color.

With the heavy emphasis on the visual component in the scoring today, many corps would do well to look at what BAC is doing. In the movement area they have figured out how to have a lot of movement without creating a lot of drill clutter while moving between sets. It is quite refreshing to see space used so well. You never get the feeling that corps members are going to run into each other. They never look like they are fighting to fit into a small space. There is calm that BAC has found in drill design that I like a great deal.

With regard to color there are mistakes being made out there with uniform design and flag silks that are unfortunate in many instances and inexcusable in others. One comparison between BK and BAC and it’s obvious. When designing a show, the green of the field now needs to be taken into account. Do corps now hire professional color consultants to assist with show design? I’ll bet BAC does. I’ll bet more will in the future.

Bluecoats/3/91.4:

What everyone said is true!!!!! The Coats are smoking!!!!!!! All sections of the corps are on fire. Strongest drums and horns they have put out in many, many years. The guard has a lengthy feature where they all use rifles and those two tosses went off perfectly. They switch to silks and make a nice snap while the rest of the corps is silent. Like Phantom a couple of years ago. Great stuff!!!

Where they have improved the most though is in drill. They have a beautiful move where the horns unfurl from a box running from the front left to the back right and cover the whole field. BD had better watch out!!!!

Blue Devils/2/92.5:

This is the hardest review I have ever written. I flat out don’t like this show. So much to talk about here. Up until this point, my least favorite BD show has been ’87. I distinctly remember not liking ‘90(Tommy) and ‘91(Bela & Bartok) when I first saw them but as I have learned with BD over the years one needs a couple of viewings and a full off season of listening to fully appreciate what is being done on the field. I now count those shows among my favorites. In this case, I don’t see that kind of change coming and here are the reasons why:

1. The horns sound ragged and pinched. I don’t hear the fullness that I am used to with BD. As well, through the first 2/3 of the show they are staged in such a way as to not be relevant. Is that because they aren’t as talented as in previous years and the design is trying to hide that? Or is it because the Dance Derby concept does not have a need for horns the way other shows do? I find it hard to believe the former is true. If the latter is true then BD should either be ashamed for consciously moving away from their traditional strength or lauded for taking one of the boldest steps in Blue Devil and DCI history. Only time will tell if this is a failed concept or the beginning of a very new and different direction.

2. The concept itself is a challenging one. The show focuses on the spectacle of the dance marathon that had it’s heyday before many of the audience members and judges were even alive. Does that make it harder to relate to?

I would argue that the focus of a dance marathon should be on the couples doing the dancing. That is where the human story or drama is.

I competed in a 36 hour dance marathon when I was in college and by the end it was about finishing strong and proud. About the people supporting us and helping us finish. From the point of view of the dancers the spectacle was gone after the first 8 hours. Then it became a grind for survival.

How to stage a drum corps show given this? Run it backwards so you have the excitement of the beginning of the marathon at the end of the field show. Sounds good on paper but it is so counterintuitive from the aspect of linear time that we all recognize that we now need some type of queuing to let us know where we are and what is happening. Hence the voice…Now what happens is everyone watching from the stands waits for the voice to tell them what is happening instead of paying attention to the show.

For me this is where the flaw in the concept is most apparent.

I think a more interesting way to do this would have been to focus on the couples. Let us get to know them, personalize the show through them. The focus on the spectacle renders the dancers(hence the guard) irrelevant and now both we and the judges begin to wonder why they are out there and what they are doing. Take the chance in the opposite direction. Let the show run down, let the energy run down but let us rejoice in the victory of a couple that we have come to know and root for. Let us feel their exhaustion and relief as they finish and win. Let us also feel sad for the 2nd and 3rd place couples who put in so much energy and come up short.

Sorry folks, I don’t think this show has the horses. I would not be surprised to see it finish 5th.

Cavaliers/1/95.35:

Chicago rocks!!!!!! This is a great show and the Cavies are again doing things that other corps can only dream about. Cadets are beating this?!?!?!?! They must be awesome. I was a little leery about the ladders at first but they were tastefully used. Drums are kicking and the horn line has a polish that few can match.

After several years of watching what the Cavies are doing and appreciating the excellence they bring from a drill perspective, I had an epiphany last night that makes me an even bigger fan than before.

They treat the members the way 27th Lancers and Phantom used to treat guard implements. Constant motion, furiously hard work and everyone together on the field. In some ways it’s like watching giant color guard only the rifles, flags and sabers are the corps members.

The victory concert was great. Along with a number from the show, they played Amazing Grace, Rainbow and had a mallet feature that was very good. That is one very polished horn line folks.

All in all a great night for drum corps. With one more to come!!!!!

[PRPHAN]

Thnaks for posting these reviews of Friday and Saturday in Allentown. I loved reading your opinions and perspectives! I especially appreciated your review and critique of the Blue Devil's show. I now have a much better perspective from which to view their 2005 program in Foxboro.

Thank you...very well done!!

Robert

[Kay]

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