Finals Review

[dckid80]

Here I sit with some donuts and coffee at the start my annual rite of trying to put what I have seen on the field this year into some sort of meaningful perspective. The cats have been fed and my lovely wife is sleeping off the indulgence that I call Finals Week, which for her and every other spouse that did not march must be a mind-numbing experience more akin to running a marathon, than the labor of love I perceive it to be.

If you are reading this then I can assume that we have one thing in common. At some point in each our lives this activity reached down into the very core of our being, took hold and has never let go. We spend time on line with others like ourselves making up things drum corps for 9 months out of the year, all the while waiting for the season to begin so that we have something real to discuss.

Come with me on this journey then and let’s have some fun!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would like to take a minute to set the stage for you.

I woke up Saturday to what turned out to be the hottest and most humid day of the year in New England. It’s Finals, it figures!!!!!!

This was a particularly emotional day for me. You see I marched in a Massachusetts drum corps. From 1978-1980 I played baritone in the Middlesex County Guardsmen. In 1979 we went undefeated in the local Eastern Mass and CYO circuits and won the Class B World Open (when that sort of thing mattered). We did a short tour in 1980 and finished 29th in Birmingham. Although the corps was not around for very long, the impact to my life has been immeasurable.

There is a long and rich drum corps history in this area that gave birth to my drum corps experience. Those were heady days in Massachusetts back when I marched. The 27th Lancers, North Star and Rockland Defenders were all reaching the peak of their powers at the time. I have been to many Finals but never before in my hometown as I was living in New York in ’94 with work commitments that prevented me from attending. To be attending the Finals with my “family” was a homecoming of sorts. The best way that I can think to describe the how it felt is to open a can of Play-Doh, take a smell and let yourself immediately be transported back to your childhood when the world was good and safe and familiar.

Change in our activity:

I will take some time to look at each corps performance and thus the activity through a slightly different lens than that of a fan. I challenge each of you to take that look with me. We are, I think, on the verge of a period of revolutionary change in this activity and it helps at times to take a step back from the individual corps focus that we have, to look at the art form itself. For most of our history in this activity change has been evolutionary. By that I mean that it has changed slowly, over time as opposed to revolutionary, which seemingly happens all at once. In fact, the only revolutionary change I can put my finger on is the ’83 Cadets show that forever changed our perception of what was possible on the field from a visual perspective. I think we are entering a similar period now.

Show Design:

As show designers and corps directors your charge is to put a winning production on the field every year. Your challenge is to be relevant and original all at the same time. You face 30 odd years of history that have eaten up almost every creative musical and visual idea imaginable. What can you do to distinguish this show that you will put together so that crowds and judges alike will fall in love with it?

The key is to expand the boundaries of the activity so that more tools become available for use or that current tools can be utilized beyond their conventional, previously accepted roles. You adopt rules that allow you to experiment with some new ideas without (hopefully) changing the core of the activity.

Your palate consists of 3 elements; Sound, color and motion which you must weave together into a cohesive whole.

Sound – traditionally sound in this activity comes from a bugle/ horn and various percussion instruments. Vocals whether amplified or not have the potential to add a layer of sound/enhancement not previously experienced in the activity. Performers can be challenged to do things that have never been heard before. Any idea what will fly and what will not?

Motion – Where do we go from here? Seriously, use your imagination and come up with a visual package that is cohesive, original and entertaining. Easy, right? Try this…how about expanding the dimensions of the flat field that we compete on. Any ideas come to mind?

Color – Everything must be taken into account now. The color of the field has an impact on your visual design. What if the field were blue? Red? Would that change how you use color in your design? Can’t take that green for granted any longer. You can’t do what BLAST did with black light and white snare heads. So what direction to head in?

So you see the challenge today is monumental. As a fan, before you criticize or berate, try living in the shoes of a designer and see if you can do better.

The Finals:

Disclaimer – Where I draw comparisons it is only to do that, not to judge. If you discern any bias on my part that is fine but my goal is to remain objective. I leave it to you to determine what you prefer.

(Keep in mind sound, color and motion.)

Spirit/12th:

Changing the delta on the uniform front to a neon green in the push is the only notable use of color in this show. The Broadway signage adds a small amount of dimension that might not even really be necessary. Not a lot of field coverage or complex drill moves this year. The corps relies on a musical book of familiar Broadway tunes to distinguish itself. I classify Spirit as a ‘sound’ corps this year. More experimentation across all 3 elements will be necessary if the corps is to stay competitive in the future.

Glassmen/11th:

Individually designed guard uniforms add a splash of color this year. Did you notice that no two are alike? Nice idea that works.

The corps expands the idea of the field when the horn line and guard lie down during the Adagio section. Rising as individuals or in small groups created a beautiful effect that reminded me of the BAC opening move from a couple of years ago when the horn line collapsed to the 50 from the end zones in the opening statement. The Glassmen looked at the field from a vertical perspective instead of the horizontal one that BAC used. I think that is a very creative expansion in the area of motion.

Finally, they took a page from the Bridgemen’s Civil War show and had a nice little duel between to halves of the horn line with the ‘Jaws’ moment.

It was nice to see the corps having fun out there. Gone was some of that famous Glassmen restraint that we have grown accustomed to.

So here we see a corps experimenting with sound, color and motion a little bit. I would classify them as a ‘motion’ corps as the drill maneuver was the signature of the show for me.

Blue Knights/10th:

I didn’t see a lot of new ideas here in any of the 3 areas. The drill was certainly the most complex of the corps to that point but it was a lot of the standard stuff that you expect to see these days. They took a shot at color with the powder blue guard uniforms but they just faded into the corps and the field. No use of vocals in this show just straightforward horns. This is a corps that is just getting its stride back after a couple of years looking up at the Top 12. A solid performance last night. They will need to try some different things to keep progressing. Not sure how to classify them.

Boston/9th:

Similar to the last 5 years Boston does almost everything well from a design perspective this year. What they at times lack in difficulty is overcome by their use of space in the drill and color to frame and highlight the corps. This design approach has consistently been one of the most pleasing in the activity. The circles in the opening and closing sets frame the show very well. The horn line is usually lush and full but had an off night last night. Very similar guard uniforms to BK except that the salmon pops the guard out visually and brings them into the show. Boston is a ‘color’ and ‘motion’ corps again this year. I wonder what kind of sound experimentation they will attempt in the coming years?

Lest ye be judged…

Never before in this activity have I seen so much venom directed at individual judges by fans of individual corps. I don’t how this can be healthy for the activity. To challenge the character or competency of an individual who devotes their time to improving this activity for us all is wrong. The judges work within an imperfect system to do the best that they can to give consistent, constructive and honest feedback to the corps. It is a system that the corps themselves organized. If you think that a judge is lacking don’t you think that your corps was aware long before you were? Let the certification and review processes in place in DCI address those issues. Let us not turn this into youth soccer/hockey/baseball. When you do it as a fan, you reflect poorly on yourself and more importantly on the corps that you are trying to defend.

SCV/8th:

A tough year for a classy corps. The Russian theme is one about the life of a nation. It is a majestic one. This is music that you cannot run to. The corps made a conscious decision to honor the melody and while pleasing to the fan may have limited their exposure in the eyes of the judges. A strong performance this evening pushed them ahead of Boston. Rather than utilizing vocals or signage, the corps chose to use the drill and guard to illustrate their message. This resulted in a drill that while well performed was certainly not as complex as their own show from last year. How to classify this corps? I do not know and maybe that is the same issue the judges had.

Ask these questions; Was the show pleasing? Did they break any new ground this year? Did they have the most complex show on the field? How well did they perform? Whom would you have them beat? To my eyes they landed in the right spot. Tough but fair.

Crown/7th:

A very lush and full sounding horn line is the current signature of this corps. The drum line continues to be strong and the drill design is coming along. I thought there was a good use of color in the guard. The moving box with the drums filing in between the horns was very pretty. They performed very well this week and deserved their placement. Their current design reminds me now so much of the kind of show that vaulted Boston into the top 5 a couple of years ago. I classify Crown as a ‘sound’ corps for this year.

Scouts/6th:

The first thing you notice is that all the red has been taken out of the uniform. Only Carmen wears red, a very effective yet subtle use/non-use of color. For most of the show I found the drill to be choppy in nature. It did not seem to have a natural flow. The collapsing box that kills Carmen is very effective visually but was not executed as well tonight as in previous shows. The horns and drums are the strength of the corps but there is nothing going on here that is really new or expansive. The ending was a letdown especially after Cesario left everyone thinking there would be a change during his interview after the Semi’s performance. I will say that once I had seen the show a couple of times, the novelty of having a woman in the Scouts wore off. It was definitely an attempt to expand on the corps identity but in the end it did not work for me. To be fair many first time viewers around me thoroughly enjoyed it.

I classify the Scouts as a ‘sound’ corps based on the obvious strengths in horns and drums.

Did you notice?

The bottom 7 corps tonight did not use vocals in their shows. Four of the top five did. Is there a message there? It seems that the top corps are being rewarded for trying new things, for trying to expand the boundaries of the activity. It will be interesting see how far this goes before fans begin to rebel (if they do at all). Do not take BD finishing 4th as a condemnation of their attempt to branch out. Instead the concept may not have worked in the judges’ eyes for some reason. You can be sure that every designer in the activity is paying attention to the feedback BD gets.

Do you prefer your cheddar sharp?

Catholic schoolgirls

A dance marathon

A baseball game between the Cubs and Red Sox.

If I told you these things were in a show, you would be psyched because it meant that either the Bridgemen or VK were back!!!!!!!!!!! Right?

WRONG!!!!!!!!!!

Why is it that we are so willing to allow certain corps to have some fun out on the field but that when others like the Cadets, Cavies or BD try these kinds of things we reject them and call it cheese?

I urge you to think about your own biases.

Let’s not forget to have some fun out there!!!!!!!!

Bluecoats/5th:

This corps experiments with all 3 modalities in varying degree. The gold uniforms of the guard beautifully complement the blue and white of the corps uniforms. Whoever designed their silks has a great eye for color.

We hear a small amount of scat singing coming from the pit but the strength of their sound is the horn line as usual. The drum line is noticeably improved.

In comparison with the Scouts this is a smooth drill that flows very well. The signature moves are the reversing triangle and the beautifully executed floating line across the field.

Cohesiveness and strength in sound, color and motion and an excellent performance earn the ‘Coats a rung in the upper echelon this year.

BD/4th:

One of the most talked about shows in recent memory was well received by the Foxboro crowd. The horn line was smoking tonight!!!!!!! Narration adds an element of sound that we are not yet accustomed to. Classifying BD has always been easy; they have traditionally been a ‘sound’ corps. What other corps cd’s would you own a whole collection of? This is sound in a very different way and takes some getting used to. The running oval at mid-field and corps box in the lower left had corner at the 100 hour mark are as demanding motion moves as you will see. However, BD looks to be marching like everyone else now. In the past they have always seemed to either float or glide through the visual portion of their show. That quality seemed to be missing last night. After several viewings the show has grown on me but the backwards movement in time may have been a bit too much conceptually. Difficult for me to acknowledge but 4th was the right spot this year.

Scoring

Like most other people, the Cadets 99.15 shocked me. The very same way that Frameworks score shocked me. Scoring is a relative exercise in each year never mind trying to compare scores between years. I make no claim as to what score a show deserves. The ordinal idea, I think better serves our purposes.

A scoring system that comes this close to maxing out is starting to show its inadequacy in interpreting what is happening on the field.

Any of us can spend time dissecting a particular corps performance to justify a position that we take but to what purpose? Does tearing down another corps performance make your chosen corps performance better?

From my point of view a more instructive way to look at scoring and placement goes something like this:

Take a look at the top 4-5 from most recent years. Is there really that much discernable difference in execution? Honestly, I don’t think there is. So what are we left with? Entertainment value. You can’t get more subjective than that but it is really all we have. What touches or speaks to you? Go with that show and make it your own champion and don’t worry about the score so much.

Phantom/3rd:

So here is my bias, to which I freely admit. This is my champion this year. To me this is what this activity can be at its absolute best. You had me at the first uniform change… The show design incorporates fluid movement, cool/ soft colors and an amazing musical book into a dazzling kaleidoscope that pulls you in, hooks you from the beginning and doesn’t let you go until the end.

I am unable to see any weaknesses here.

For those you who are so stridently opposed to amplification, you are not being honest if you cannot admit that the tap dancing during the drum solo is the single most effective use of the idea we have seen. In this instance it works!!!!!!!

Like the Bluecoats only stronger, Phantom uses all modalities at an amazingly cohesive level.

Thank you for putting together such an incredible show!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cavies/2nd:

It is primarily in the area of motion that the Cavies have broken new ground in the last few years. This year they use the ladders to expand our notion of what the ‘field’ is and by doing so challenge us as viewers. When you stage a dozen mellophones 6-8 feet above the rest of the corps, you change both your motion and sound components, quite effectively I might add.

The baseball game is fun worthy of the Bridgemen or VK and I’m willing to roll with it.

I saw some attention to color but nothing that I would consider out of the ordinary. Maybe they do it so well I just take them for granted now.

No discussion of the Cavies would be complete this year with talking about the horn line. In all of my years I have never heard a sound like the one that they are putting out. It is so in tune, clean and controlled. They sound qualitatively different from every other horn line. It is almost ethereal or spooky in nature. Someone help me out here because I am really at a loss to describe what they are doing.

They utilize all modalities at a very high level as well.

Tonights show looked to be on in all areas.

Cadets/1st:

The Cadets expand our idea of the field and motion through the use of the door. The door is a gateway to other places. Use your imagination a bit and you can easily find yourself caught in the rain or at a construction site or at a castle.

They expand the idea of the corps through the use of color with the mirrored uniform backs. For all of the fuss that was raised when pictures were first released, the truth is the idea worked.

Finally the drum line sings one of their parts. Like it? Do you realize that that is one of the ways drummers learn their parts? I’ll bet drummers the world over loved it.

The Cadets are also experimenting with all 3 modalities. Very successfully I might add.

Throw in one of the best drum lines in DCI history, an intense and dark horn line and a good “old-fashioned” drill as only the Cadets can do and you have a champion. No disputing the level of difficulty or performance in this show.

Crowd Reaction

Some catcalls when BAC was announced in 9th.

More people upset with SCV in 8th.

The usual but smaller group of Scouts fans who won’t even be happy when they win spoke up.

The reaction and booing when the Cadets score was announced was directed at the score not the corps.

By far the most moving moment of the night was the growing standing ovation that Phantom received right after their 3rd place score was announced. I hope the kids heard it and realized that they are the people’s champion this year.

A final note to all who spend time discussing drum corps online. We have a special responsibility because we are the most vocal of drum corps fans. Do not forget though that we are a minority. Most of the people who attend shows in the summer go to one only and are tangentially affiliated with the activity. When you post something online it is a reflection of who you are as a person. It also reflects on those that you comment about be it positive or negative. D.L. Moody, as quoted by John Worfin, said, “Character is what you are in the dark.” Remember that the next time you hit the post button.

A special shout out to my friends from Harrisburg, hope you had a safe trip home!!!

See you all in Madison!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[pitboy06]

AWESOME REVIEW.

Thanks for taking me to finals.

Edited August 14, 2005 by pitboy06

[NakedEye]

Wow..now THAT is an intelligent and really well-written review. You really touched on the various levels of design and thinking that go into an overall show package, and which are often rewarded by the judges, but not necessarily instantly apparent to someone viewing the show once or twice.

The shows that are very successful are the ones written in levels, so that they appeal to the crowd but also contain sophisticated elements that can be supported by advanced color and music theory. As a professional designer, who deals constantly with color and message in my work, these are the things I tend to notice and appreciate when going to a show.

With that in mind, a few comments related to your comments:

Cavies -

"I saw some attention to color but nothing that I would consider out of the ordinary. Maybe they do it so well I just take them for granted now."

You ARE just taking it for granted, because their color design was again really strong, as it has been for about five years. Their "Four Corners" and "Frameworks" shows demonstrated as much perfect control with color thought as they did and still do with the musical moments you discuss. In each case a single flag design was used, colored differently to move the audience through the show. This year they took a largely similar approach, with the "skyline" motif and again very tightly controlled color...bright green for the beginning, red for the fire. Also this year they added the element of the hats to the mix, matched to the mood of the silks at the moment. I personally didn't care that much for the hats, as they seemed too "cutsey-pooh", but they sure did reinforce the design idea.

Crown/7th:

"A very lush and full sounding horn line is the current signature of this corps. The drum line continues to be strong and the drill design is coming along. I thought there was a good use of color in the guard"

Ok on this one I disagree, and you put the pieces of why I do in your statement. Their sound was beautifully lush and full, but their colors were not. When I first heard about the "angel" theme, I was looking forward to some beautiful effects, and to me it the final product seemed lacking. Last year's show had it, but this one came up short.

The creme uniforms give them a wonderfully blank background against which they can create color effect, and instead we had a series of white and creme-based flags with "fruit loop" styled halos in colors that either washed out or didn't work too well with the creme. The idea of angels being in street clothes as opposed to flowing robes was a good one, but as someone posted on here a while ago, "they take off a black shirt to reveal....another black shirt." EXACTLY. There were no surprises, and nothing to add an etherial quality to the understated costumes (screen-printed wings aside). Likewise the closing double flags. "Ah cool...these are angel wings." Except they were a clunky square shape that looked really "earthbound."

Still a nice show but, oh what a few tweaks could have done for the effect.

For an example of using blank uniforms + color to great effect, see Phantom. Now THAT is how to do it! And they almost always do it well.

You made some really observant and spot-on comments about everyone and I appreciate the time and thought you put into it!

[elementwrx]

VERY good review...absolutely spectacular!

[iceman]

The review of the year. Thank you for commenting on it from a unique perspective.

What are the three modalities you refer to?

(Tonal, Atonal, Solo?)

(Aeolian, Dorian, Phrygian etc....)

[JMS0527]

He's not referring to musical modalities, though they're all great ones B)

He's referring to his 3 areas of design (sound, motion, and color)

[the_aborigine]

Thanks for your great review!

But I need to ask something . .

The running oval at mid-field and corps box in the lower left had corner at the 100 hour mark are as demanding motion moves as you will see. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Really? I saw nothing in their drill. I saw follow the leader, block, scatter, conveyor belt, park, repeat.

Cavies and Cadets move like crazy compared to the Crue of Blue . . . IMHO

[cymsrevil]

classy review all the way!

[KFanti]

Excellent review and a terrific take on the activity and it's future.

thanks.

My vote for review of the year.

[Fran Haring]

That was an absolutely outstanding review..... thanks!

Fran