Yet Another Lisle Review

[TexasPRfan]

Well, my 2006 Drum Corps season got off to a great start this weekend at the Father’s Day Kickoff in Lisle. After worrying about the rain for most of the afternoon, the weather cleared off just in time for the show to start. I don’t quite understand why this small line-up show started so early, as the entire thing was over before it was even dark – and we were forced to look into the sun almost the whole evening. Another negative to the site was the fact that the field was a long, long ways from the stands due to the track, soccer field sizing, etc… I don’t think we’ll choose to do this show again if it’s at this stadium.

For a smidge of background, I marched & taught corps in the early 90s (Black Gold, from Tulsa), and have been a lifelong fan ever since, having not missed a DCI Finals since I started going in 1989. With my own corps no longer around, I’ve “adopted” Phantom Regiment as my favorite over the years – so no apologies for the bias that creeps into the below. For perspective, this is the 7th year for my other half to go to shows, and he’s an unabashed Cavaliers fan. At the end of the night, Regiment was the favorite for both of us, which was a bit surprising – but more on that below. My thoughts are going to be high level on this show due to poor site lines (low seating, near the 50), and the fact I was soaking in these shows for the first time this year.

Kilties – Kilties were the first corps up, and it’s been several years since I’ve seen them. A decent sized Sr. Corps, playing tunes you would expect to hear from them. Their power was a pleasant surprise at times, and they seem to be programming a more contemporary show that what I saw from them the last time I saw them. With a summer’s worth of work, Kilties will be worth watching as the season goes on. Thanks for entertaining us.

Pioneer – Pioneer had about 36 horns as far as I could tell, and represented well for their size. I don’t know how many holes they may have, or if they are pretty much at the size they will be for the season. While I really couldn’t see the drill forms/evolution, they certainly cover the field with a demand that is more in line with Div. I drum corps than what I’ve seen from them in a while. In fact, there are parts of this show – in particular the closer – that are quite hard. The corps is not achieving those parts of the show yet – but it’s early. This could end up being the best Pioneer corps in the last 5 years, without a doubt. The music is in their style, but is more fresh and original than many past offerings. There are some exciting moments in the show, or at least moments that have the potential to be very exciting once cleaned. The section of the corps with the furthest to go is the guard, which is also on the small side at present (I counted about 13). I hope they can get there, and I look forward to seeing Pioneer in Texas to see how far they’ve come.

Glassmen – Wow, the second most positive impressions of the night for both myself and my partner came from Glassmen. Now who would have thunk it? I’ve not been a fan of most Glassmen shows of this decade, but did warm up to the last 2. I think this year’s show has the potential to be Glassmen’s strongest show since 2001 (NOTE – I didn’t’ say AS strong as 2001, just their best SINCE 2001). The first 1/3 of the show has tremendous energy and is quite exciting. The flag they’ve chose (thanks, Glassmen for having some silks ready, already!) really “pops.” The music is familiar (Beethoven), yet is fresh & rethought, somewhat along the lines of last year’s re-think of Dvorak. The middle part of the show is a light-hearted “waltz” section, and a bit too cheesy for my taste. The closer, to me, is the part of the show that will need the most work. There are a bit too many musical thoughts melded together that don’t have time to develop and be realized. For example, we are teased by Ode to Joy one moment, only to be on to something else before you know it. I’m sure the closer will grow on me upon more hearings after they are back from Europe & their staff has had time to tweak. The hornline is the most mature I’ve heard from Glassmen in several years, and produced a nice, dark, powerful sound. The guard is huge, and if they can elevate the rest of the show to the level of the opener, will be a solid force this year. (I don’t know that much about percussion, so won’t be commenting much on it through here). Thanks Glassmen for thinking outside the box and delivering and exciting product in 2006.

Bluecoats – Hmmm. I guess I soaked up so much of the hype for Bluecoats that I was expecting more. Bluecoats are amazingly clean for this time of year – but is that necessarily a good thing for the long run? Music wise, it will take some time for this show to grow on me. It’s not nearly as accessible as last year. The opener was done a few years ago by Scouts, and I think I prefer the Scouts version. The horn line is solid, and is playing with excellent control for this time of year. From what little I could see, the drill does not seem to be as ambitious as last year, and is much more dense. Neither of us saw what the judges are seeing in ‘coats’ guard, but they are pretty clean. I don’t care much for the uniform, but will withhold judgment until they have their show silks in the show. To me, this was a very sterile show that did not draw much crowd reaction from our part of the stands. I’m sure that will change, though, as the season progresses & the staff tweaks the show. The corps is obviously talented and will again be a threat for top 5. I’m not sure if this vehicle can keep them there, though. We’ll see.

Cavaliers – I’ve learned over the years the hard way to not make big conclusions about a Cavaliers show until the end of July. This one certainly fits in that bucket. “Machine” seems to be such a natural fit for the Green Machine. I guess I was expecting more. The show opens with some exciting promise (the opener is pretty hot). Yet, by the end of the show, musically, it seems to get pretty repetitive and isn’t drawing the audience in yet. There are obvious parts of the show, though, where the final product is not in place yet, so this show’s a big wild card for me. Based on the products on the field RIGHT NOW, if Regiment & Cavies both clean up their shows, Regiment seems to have more demand and potential for excitement. But right now doesn’t mean much, does it? The percussion section for Cavaliers doesn’t seem as “tight” as they normally do, but I’m not a percussion expert by any stretch. I’m sure placing 3rd in percussion is not sitting lightly with the crew from Rosemont. They do have some very neat percussive effects throughout the show. It’s hard to say how great the visual program is, based on my low seats (never a good place to watch a cavies show from). It seems to have good demand, but is very dense in many places that I wish they’d cover the field more. I thought the guard costuming was cool, although I do wish they’d use more equipment and do less movement. The crowd around me did not react much to the Cavaliers, particularly in the closer. The jury’s still out, I’d say.

Phantom Regiment – I won’t try to hide my biases here, but whoa, is that powder keg of a show they are sitting on. Chock full of potential for musical excitement. And their sound – wow. Deep, dark, and bone-jarringly loud. I would have been disappointed if they didn’t at least win GE Music & Percussion, and they won both, so I was glad to see that. This show seems to have all the makings of what Regiment will need to keep them in the top 3 or push them higher by season’s end. That is IF they clean. And, wow, is this show dirty. The first 1/3 of the show is fairly tight for the first weekend of the season, but the last 2/3s are far less together than either Bluecoats or Cavaliers. The closer is so full of nasty demand on the hornline, and they are struggling with basic timing and execution at this point. Yet, despite that, they had the most crowd-stirring, exciting product on the field tonight, just based on crowd response. In fact, even my partner really thought Regiment was exciting, which is saying a lot. I had been on cruise control for most of the evening, but I tell you what, my heart was going a hundred miles an hour when this show was over. I cannot wait to see what they can do with this vehicle. The ballad is absolutely gorgeous, producing one of the few “oooh” moments of the night from the audience. To hear Regiment’s entire brass line on lower voices? It’s truly DIVINE.  While you can’t really evaluate a product until you’ve seen it from a higher vantage point, from what I saw/heard last night, this corps will be a real threat come August. Thank you, Regiment for doing it again. This show could end up ranking in the upper echelon of Regiment shows along with 89, 93 and 96 when all is said and done. It’s in the hands of their kids to clean & their staff to tweak. Just based on PR’s track record of in-season progress the past few years, the fact they are starting out just under 3 points away from Cavies instead of 5 or more could bode well.

Well, there you have it. I can’t believe I don’t get to see another show until the Texas Tour. That is, course, unless the “bug” drives us to do something spontaneous in the meantime. Here’s to a great summer!

Harvey

[Guizeppe]

Excellent review. I so wish I could see Phantom this year, sounds like they've really got something worth watching.

[iceman]

Bluecoats – Hmmm. I guess I soaked up so much of the hype for Bluecoats that I was expecting more. Bluecoats are amazingly clean for this time of year – but is that necessarily a good thing for the long run? Music wise, it will take some time for this show to grow on me. It’s not nearly as accessible as last year. The opener was done a few years ago by Scouts, and I think I prefer the Scouts version. The horn line is solid, and is playing with excellent control for this time of year. From what little I could see, the drill does not seem to be as ambitious as last year, and is much more dense. Neither of us saw what the judges are seeing in ‘coats’ guard, but they are pretty clean. I don’t care much for the uniform, but will withhold judgment until they have their show silks in the show. To me, this was a very sterile show that did not draw much crowd reaction from our part of the stands. I’m sure that will change, though, as the season progresses & the staff tweaks the show. The corps is obviously talented and will again be a threat for top 5. I’m not sure if this vehicle can keep them there, though. We’ll see.

I saw the show live from the feed, and video. I wouldn't call it clean or worry about them peaking too early. I could tell from the design that this show's drill isn't meant to be seen from a low/ close box, which explains why you thought it was dense. Crowd reaction was great from the dci camera... probably louder and more frequent than any other corps to perform last night. Where were you sitting?

[TexasPRfan]

Iceman, you could entirely be right. I was only 8 rows up. I think I qualified that several times in my review - you're right, not good drill seats.

[ChicagoFan]

This isn't a good stadium in which to judge crowd response. Sound doesn't carry well within the stands, thus the audience response to all corps seemed rather tepid. I was seated on the 50 yard line near the top -- right in the middle of the action, so to speak, but even from this position crowd noise seemed very subdued.

[billj]

This isn't a good stadium in which to judge crowd response. Sound doesn't carry well within the stands, thus the audience response to all corps seemed rather tepid. I was seated on the 50 yard line near the top -- right in the middle of the action, so to speak, but even from this position crowd noise seemed very subdued.

Several problems with BOTH this venue AND North Central College in Naperville, just up the road, which hosts a DCI show later in the year:

- The stadium faces due west, so the fans are staring straight into the sun as it is setting. Since the Lisle show started at 6, the only performance that I did not have the sun in my face was for the PR, and they were the last corps on AND I was in the 2nd row from the bottom! It's hard to see, what's going on on the field with the sun right in your face, and it's a major pain, and an energy drain, too. Thus, a built-in loss in crowd response.

- The field is set back a fair distance from the field. There's a large track & a fairly wide sideline. With the performers set back from the crowd, the volume & intensity is lost before it gets to the crowd. More built-in loss in crowd response.

- No trooping the stands. I can't recall if they do this in Naperville, but in Lisle, not this or last year. I think people expect it, and save some of their applause for the trooping. Plus, as mentioned, the single-file-out, single-file-in just slowed the show down & dragged things on longer than necessary.

While nothing individually is a big deal, I think these things add up to reduce the crowd's enjoyment, and thus, their response.

My suggestions:

- Start the show later. I am sure that there are considerations for travel, for the audience, the judges, and the corps, but there were only 6 corps - the show was over before 8:30. Starting at 7 or 7:30 would get the sun out of everyone's eyes.

- Let the corps troop the stands!

- If it was planned all along that PR would be giving a concert, it SHOULD HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED DURING THE SHOW! Many people, including me, leave right after the last corps performs, since there's no real retreat & many people don't really care much (or don't agree with) the scores. But, if I knew PR would perform, you can bet that I would have hung around. Sorry I missed them :-(

Edited June 19, 2006 by billj

[KiltieBD3]

- Let the corps troop the stands!

I agree.

I was just a little upset with that.

Good review and a good show. Wish I could have seen the Glassmen.

Edited June 20, 2006 by KiltieBD3

[Phansouth]

What would it take to bring back full retreat????????????? At least every now and then????

[ScribeToo]

What would it take to bring back full retreat????????????? At least every now and then????

a time machine.

Stef

[Scerpella]

a time machine.

Stef

Actually by repealing the use of amplification they could get an hour and half back in setup time and use it for a retreat.

Sunday was actually my first time at a DCI show in a long while, there was 25 minutes between each corps! When did this happen?