dans Posted May 30, 2006 Share Posted May 30, 2006 And for the record, this is the 2nd year in a row where a Cadet hornline member somehow botched the Star-Spangled Banner (last year a lead sop missed the final cut-off, this year a baritone and mello came in during the prep). Funny that a world champion hornline can't figure that one out, lol. However, the other combined piece, Philip Bliss, was PHENOMENAL. Wow, both lines read each other perfectly and sounded amazing. Those 128 horns nearly knocked the place off its foundation.A good night indeed for drum corps. I was at the concert and I don't know who botched the Star-Spangled Banner, nor do I care, humans make mistakes! Did you get a copy of the cd after the show? I got a copy and listened to it on my ride home sunday evening. Crossmen had alot of bad sounds coming from their ensemble. Not a very good brass sound (not a mature, refined sound), loud yes, quality of sound very weak. I don't mean to bash the Crossmen, I think they show more potential than last year, however, they have much work to do before they can even think about making top 12. As far as the Cadets go, WOW! Cadets sounded like a championship caliber corps, Crossmen sounded like a corps that hopes to make the top 12. Good luck to both corps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fincis Posted May 30, 2006 Share Posted May 30, 2006 And for the record, this is the 2nd year in a row where a Cadet hornline member somehow botched the Star-Spangled Banner (last year a lead sop missed the final cut-off, this year a baritone and mello came in during the prep). Funny that a world champion hornline can't figure that one out, lol. However, the other combined piece, Philip Bliss, was PHENOMENAL. Wow, both lines read each other perfectly and sounded amazing. Those 128 horns nearly knocked the place off its foundation.A good night indeed for drum corps. For the record, I know for a fact that it was not a Cadet that hung over last year. Can't say anything for this year. Wish I could've gone to see it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcifan2002 Posted May 30, 2006 Author Share Posted May 30, 2006 I don't mean to bash the Crossmen, I think they show more potential than last year, As far as the Cadets go, WOW! Cadets sounded like a championship caliber corps, Crossmen sounded like a corps that hopes to make the top 12. Good luck to both corps! you did twice now. how many reviews are you adding from the same show ? I received a full review from someone else who was there and it differs from BOTH of yours. She did say Cadets were clean. music was strange. Crossmen were exciting. Better drum line than past few years . guard was excellent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tubamann Posted May 30, 2006 Share Posted May 30, 2006 you did twice now.how many reviews are you adding from the same show ? I received a full review from someone else who was there and it differs from BOTH of yours. She did say Cadets were clean. music was strange. Crossmen were exciting. Better drum line than past few years . guard was excellent. Opinions vary... :sshh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dickyv077 Posted May 30, 2006 Share Posted May 30, 2006 (edited) Lets not forget that the Cadets have been in Spring training for over a week now and the Crossmen did not begin until today. Both corps performed well. Overall, I thought the entire night was enjoyable. Edited May 30, 2006 by dickyv077 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildabeast Posted May 30, 2006 Share Posted May 30, 2006 I only saw Vanguard Cadets over the weekend. The show is catchy, and the brass sound much more solid than last year. If they can get their numbers up in the brassline and the guard, they could be in the thick of it for D2 in Madison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Laubhan Posted May 30, 2006 Share Posted May 30, 2006 I checked out BK's Memorial Day presentation. Caught the tail end of their ensemble rehearsal, and then they performed about half of the show with drill. It's a little rough right now in terms of overall cleanliness, but they start spring training today, so I expect that to improve. The show has a lot of potential, and if it cleans up it should set them up very well. It was hard to get a good read on the pacing of the production, but individual sections that they were rehearsing sounded cool. The percussion writing is very cool, and pretty different and distinct. The battery is a little green to the corps, but I'm under the impression that a lot of them are students of Ausdemore's (spelling?) at UTA, so I'd think that they'll be used to his writing/teaching style. The pit is smoking. Most of them have been playing together for years in the corps and winter percussion ensemble, and they do a good job of handling the piano features from the concerto. Overall, the show is as dark and aggressive as promised, and seems to be a pretty good adaptation from Barber's piano concerto. I think it'll be a good vehicle to keep them in the 9th/10th range... maybe a touch higher, depending on how clean they get it at year's end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ipdaily Posted May 30, 2006 Share Posted May 30, 2006 (edited) Keith, thanks for the BK review. I miss them in the top six (even though it was only for one year) and hope to see them up there again some year soon! Good luck BK!!! Edited May 30, 2006 by ipdaily Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dans Posted May 30, 2006 Share Posted May 30, 2006 you did twice now.how many reviews are you adding from the same show ? I received a full review from someone else who was there and it differs from BOTH of yours. She did say Cadets were clean. music was strange. Crossmen were exciting. Better drum line than past few years . guard was excellent. I would like an honest answer, how did I bash the Crossmen? Have you heard the cd from their performance Sunday evening? They have some real issues with quality of sound that could hurt them this season. I have no axe to grind with the Crossmen, just stating facts. I do wish them well, and I'm sure they will work very hard and improve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rut-roh Posted May 30, 2006 Share Posted May 30, 2006 I would like an honest answer, how did I bash the Crossmen? Have you heard the cd from their performance Sunday evening? They have some real issues with quality of sound that could hurt them this season. I have no axe to grind with the Crossmen, just stating facts. I do wish them well, and I'm sure they will work very hard and improve. I haven't heard the recording. Don't need to. I was sitting in the audience. Yeah, the Crossmen had some quality issues. But so did the Cadets. Both corps had ensemble and balance issues from where I was sitting. But I expected that. It's May for crying out loud. The stage set up certainly had something to do with that...I was amazed they could fit a drum corps on a stage that small. Plus the way the brass was stacked on top of one another didn't help. Speaking to members of both corps afterwards, many said they had trouble hearing themselves on that stage. Fortunately, I got to hear both hornlines outside in the lots, and I heard some very nice sounds all around. Much better overall balanced sounds than what I heard on stage. I was actually impressed with the Crossmen. I like the show concept as it was explained by their director. I think they may have actually come up with a use for amplification that is downright creative and will serve their show (and please the audience) quite well. We'll see. I liked the arrangements overall. I liked what they were going for, and I thought they were well prepared. They played a LOT of music. More than I've ever heard them play at this show. I was pleased with their offering and I look forward to seeing them this summer. The ballad is BEAUTIFUL. And the closer rocks. Cadets were also very well prepared. I guess they've been moved in for a week now, so no surprises there. The show is growing on me, but there is still something missing for me. It might be that there will be inevitable comparisons with last year. Singing didn't bother me. Drums are gonna be the team to beat this year. WOW. Brass sounds good. I'm thinking that changes are coming to the book, though. As they usually do. I now get that they changed the Empire of the Sun tune (Jim's New Life) around to fit the style of the intro...I still prefer the straight movie soundtrack version. A fun night, for sure. Eager to see them both on the field very soon! And for the record, not that I really care either way, it was the Cadets who came in early on the SSB. No biggie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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