The Troon Review

[troon8]

The disclaimer: This isn’t the most technical of reviews. That’s partly because I’m just a fan (or groupie, as my aged-out BK friend calls me ;) whose experience beyond HS marching is only extensively in other artistic mediums, but also because we were near the very top of the stadium and my eyes and ears just ain’t that good. And I don’t believe in using the phrase IMO – if it wasn’t in my own opinion, why would I write it?? So keep in mind the whole thing is.

WOW, what a year! The overall talent of the Top 12 just keeps raising the bar higher and higher. Incredible showmanship and performance levels all around. There wasn’t a single corps I saw Friday that I wasn’t looking forward to seeing again on Saturday for one reason or another. We unfortunatly were late on Friday, and only got there in time for Colts and Crossmen first, and I would’ve loved to see either of those shows in Finals, too. :(

SPIRIT:

Rousing start off. A lot of surprising and impressive ensemble drill moments. Wished they had focused on fewer songs and extended them, instead of the sampling hodgepodge, but it was all pasted together nicely, without awkward transitions. I bestow on them my: BLUE & GREEN CAN (SOMETIMES) GO TOGETHER AWARD! While the neon green triangles were a nice little touch, some of my group didn’t even notice it until it was pointed out, due to our extreme height.

GLASSMEN:

Dvorak tango? Jaws? Why not? I had a good time, and it certainly looked like the whole corps was too. Beautiful, simple ballad. Overall, music was more memorable than the drill. They tie with the Cadets for my THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX AWARD! I’m curious at what point in the show development process the words "New World Symphony" and "Tango" were uttered in combination.

BLUE KNIGHTS:

Maybe I’m just overcompensating for my geographical bias, but I thought they had decidedly less impact Saturday than they did Friday. There was a few uncertain minutes before their show when it seemed that they might get delayed due to weather, so I’m sure that didn’t help. Regardless: Their musical book was a lot more sophisticated than most of Spirit’s and Glassmen’s, and it was handled well, though it didn’t always grip me. What did grip us was their visual work. My GOD that hornline can bust a move!! They get the DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION AWARD, hands down! Great guard staging and their dancing was especially impressive. One of my friends, a knowledgeable and experience aspiring pro dancer in New York commented that the guard’s level of performance was up to the standards she’s learned to expect at auditions. High praise indeed.

SANTA CLARA VANGUARD:

Mind you, I had some bias about this one. I already have a special emotional attachment to Russian Christmas Music, so I don’t care if it’s 5 year old with kazoos playing it, I’m still going to get chills. So when I discovered that VANGUARD was dusting it off again, I was excited to say the least. And you know what? Despite the marked difference in score and placement from last year, I wasn’t the least bit disappointed! Loved the guard outfits. While not the best color guard of the night, they carried themselves with a certain grace throughout. A very different visual feel for them (least of all because their new uniforms look uncannily identical to my old high school’s. Blasphemy, I know! But it’s true!) The iconographic (now THAT’S a bad Russian Orthodoxy pun!) drill forms were far more impactfull and exciting than I ever would’ve guessed. The drill overall was really hit or miss, but they brought in the Big Noise, and woke us up and out of our seats. RUMORS OF THIS CORPS DEATH HAVE BEEN GREATLY EXAGGERATED AWARD! goes to them with pride.

BOSTON CRUSADERS:

Ah, the home team…Another very big brass sound. Lots of tricky circular drill, and exceptionally demanding drill near the end. Great jam session! They win the: FUN WITH DRUM KITS AWARD!

CAROLINA CROWN:

Nice show. Tear – jerker ballad. From Queen to Sarah McLaughlin…I’m curious what’ll come next year in that sequence. Lush, full horns, good use of whole field, and great usage of pairing during the ballad. After last years beatnik misadventures, I gladly bestow upon them my BACK TO BASICS AWARD! My roommate’s typically a Crown basher, but he grudgingly admitted that this was his favorite Crown show yet. :angel:

MADISON SCOUTS!

b**bs AYE! MUY caliente!!! This entire show was just an inferno of pure of Madison energy. Musically, visually…I think all those sirens in the beginning was a way of warning us to hold on to our seats. ”Carmen” in that flurry of red streamers was one of the great moments of the night. Oh yes, the girl in red...Totally engrossed in her character. That field became her stage. We were surprised Bluecoats beat them on Saturday, but I’m getting ahead of myself. This show is awarded by going my a list of 101 REASONS WHY MADISON ROCKS!

BLUECOATS:

Also a really terrific, total package performance. Friday night we couldn’t decide if we liked them or Scouts better (and that was before we learned that the judges agreed) but for Finals, Scouts seemed just a hair more on musically, and Blue just a bit more off visually. We found ourselves repeatedly pointing at a poorly covered contra or two. Nonetheless, this was still another “wow” show. Very intense feel for Blue. Haunting ballad, loved all rich musical texturing with the mutes. Loved the slowly unfolding box at the end of the ballad that eventually snaked its way across the whole field. Make no mistake – this corps came to play. I loved this show plenty, but they win my MOST GRATUITOUS EXPLOITATION OF DRUMMERS AWARD! Drumspeak is cool. Drumming is cooler. Could’ve done without it.

BLUE DEVILS:

This show grew on me after a second viewing, but not by much. The concept itself was fine, but how they approached it just annoyed me, I’m afraid. We could barely make out the narration from our height and angle on Saturday (which might have been for the best) so a few in our group took half the show to figure out what the heck was going on. Yeah, about that narration…How the heck can I be entertained by the show when I’m so busy trying to formulate an opinion about all the talking?! Their visual book was occasionally impressive (like the rotating spoke pass throughs at the beginning) but rarely exciting. My biggest gripe about their drill was that they NEVER seemed to change intervals. Also interesting balladish section. Horns & guard acting all tired and mopey against the drum features was a bit too much of a contrast, but on the plus side I (being a non-drummer) could actually HEAR what the drums were doing. Overall musical pros & cons too. Pros: LOVE it when these guys groove!! Cons: So groove more! I was dying to hear how they’d treat a melody. I’ll finish this up just by reminding everyone to hate the narration, not the narrator. I’ll try to keep it positive, so he wins the BEST MULTITASKING AWARD for playing and talking at the same time. The kid could actually do a decent voiceover too, so I got to give him that.

PHANTOM REGIMENT:

Spirit of Disney was a no brainier for ‘em. This show was pure entertainment from start to finish. I found myself (and everyone around me) with a huge smile on the whole time. Loved the umbrellas, the tap dancing, the GORGEOUS flag palette, and the ‘40’s attitude. The lone guard gentlemen looked like he was floating on air the whole night and having an absolute blast. He practically skipped around the field at the end. And oh yeah, hornline sounded ridiculously articulated and mature Honored recipients of my CLASS ACT AWARD! Class was a word floating around with a lot of other reviewers about this one, and I agree wholeheartedly. I hate this next word, but I’ve got to say it: Phantastic!

CAVALEIRS:

Very terrific show! I’m not sure how the spread between them and the Cadets was QUITE so large. Of COURSE they were out of this world visually as always! Hornline was exceptionally well blended. During the “Great Fire” sequence, there was such heavy dissonance, but you could still hear every part, and when those mellos climbed up the LADDERS (in step, of course!) and chimed in so clearly with “Amazing Grace”…OH! Such an evocative effect, ya just had to be there! And Cavs do the BLUES?! Yes indeed, walking (contra)bass line and all! First time I’ve ever seen them really let their hair down (and hats off) and jam. And the “LITTLE” stuff!? There were so many things happening that had us doing all double takes, especially since we were near the top of the stadium. So I’ve got several exciting question, like, “Was that a REAL BASEBALL?” “Did the GUARD just play horns??” and the most intriguing of all, “Was he just playing TWO TRUMPETS AT ONCE?!?” That’s what it looked like on the Jumbotron briefly, at least. So of course, they get the “DID THEY REALLY JUST DO THAT?!” award. Wild stuff.

CADETS:

Controversy? What controversy? I disagreed with the spread, and I liked the Cavs sound better, but I felt that love it or hate it, the Cadets performed like champions. As one of our group pointed out, they were so visually clean, we didn’t even REALIZE how clean they were! There just plain so little dirt in their show (from our height at least) to compare it to. I barely got a chance to watch the guard with all that was going on visually, I’m starting to understand why their GE scores have been so high. Of course it appears mandatory for me to talk about all the bells & whistles…Their narration, unlike BD’s, was quick and painless, and served to clue the audience in to what was going on efficiently. The uniforms? From our height, a very cool effect. The door didn’t bug me, but that might have only been because I was so far on the side. The 4 girls (or at least personalities) / 4 dreams theme I actually enjoyed, but the Bjork speak just didn’t do it for me. There was plenty of other surrealist stuff going on without it. And marching that good? Now THAT’S surreal!! Winners once more of my: CORPS CHUTZPAH AWARD! There was surely know way of knowing before the summer whether their treatment of the theme would be effective or not. Despite the fact that I’m sure there are lots of people who will always hate this show, you can’t deny that it was bold.

AND ONE MORE THING…

For finals, we were seated in Section 315, about halfway up that section. OK seats, and I enjoyed the stadium, EXCEPT we had a clear view to a freight elevator near the end zone that had a ridiculously loud bell going off literally every minute or two, frequently during the most inopportune moments. One of my friends went to try to do something about it, and eventually found a stadium employee who informed him that the elevator runs up and down AUTOMATICALLY, and that there was no way to actually turn it off. When asked if maybe just the bell could be shut off, he replied with the immortal phrase of “I’ll look into it.” While I did my best not to let it interfere with me having a good time, it was really the most obnoxious distraction one could concoct, especially considering these were finals. Our entire section and then some could be seen clenching their teeth whenever it went off. While I understand it’s the sort of thing that was probably very easy for DCI to miss when selecting the stadium and getting things ready, we’re still all writing strongly worded letters to them and the stadium, and I encourage others who experienced it to do the same, though I’d gently remind them that politeness and good grammar can get better results in such situations.

[chris ncsu]

Yeah, that elevator alarm was like fingernails on a chalkboard to me at the end of the night...to the point that it SERIOUSLY hindered my Phantom Regiment experience. :-(

[oldsoprano]

The ridiculous bell was just one of many examples of how the folks running and working at Gillette Stadium were TOTALLY unconcerned about the folks who had shelled out lots of money, and traveled from across the country, to enjoy DCI Championships.

Believe me, the numerous DCI staff members that I spoke with were just as upset with the way the stadium personnel treated the paying customers as anyone. Unfortunately, they were powerless to do anything about the gestapo tactics employed by the stadium.

I would suggest that everyone write letters to the editors of the Boston Globe and Boston Herald, describing how Gillette Stadium gave Boston a black eye.

I'm quite sure this will be the last time they are given the opportunity to mistreat drum corps championships fans.

[PhilSCV]

The bells, the bells! I am SO glad I have lost high frequency hearing in my left ear. I didn't hear it at all and would've gone MAD if it had disrupted my enjoyment of the Vanguard, Phantom or Cadets.

PhilSCV