nero14 Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 (edited) soooo my first drum corps watching of the summer was phantom's practice day here in memphis, TN.... I decided afew days ago that i would get the contra guys/girls some ice cream... they were all very thankful considering the 95 degree heat all day... it didnt seem to bug them that it was from a bluecoat- considering last night and all hehe- the day was about 70% marching/visual 10% music and 20% ensemble there at the end... they were really hitting the drill hard-- learning some new stuff- i'd say about 15 sets or so... i wont go too much in detail- that was (unfortunately for my spectating) a great majority of the day- and learning drill isnt really all that exciting to watch i must say, but thats not their fault... FINALLY ensemble came tonight at 8pm after waiting around for the good stuff for about 7 hours (and i met my old friend 'mr SUN' who has left me with some bright red skin...)... and much to my dismay again, ensemble was 1 hour and 45 minutes of working the newly added drill stuff and 1 run through... so i must say- i REALLY REALLY know their drum solo stuff in the first part of their show well, let me tell you, but the rest of the show, i just got 1 look at the end of the day!! arg!!! i love their brass- the style of the show, combined with phantom's style means that much of the brass work comes wrapped in the form of long powerful chords- not a lot of daylight between many of the chunks- just a big old beefy wall of brass- but the book has its tough parts and is very entertaining... i guess it doesnt really have to be said, but the music isnt as accessable as last year-its more high-brow stuff that classical music entheusiasts and music majors will absolutely love, but your parents and cousin who came to see you march for the first time will have a hard time getting... i dont mean that in such a bad way, i just mean that you wont be tapping your toes, or humming it in the car on the way home- but thats not really all that important... its very dark, and its got lots of that good old phantom power behind the sound-- some great loud moments... drill didnt seem to go too far outside the 30's, and i'll admit- i wasnt really all that impressed with the visual program-- but they are beefing it up as the season progresses, so we'll see where it ends up. the stuff they were adding as i was watching was their hardest drill of the show... the ending is there and its big and its loud... one thing i'll say- when i'm talking about being less accessable- well there is such a thing as being too predictable, right?... well in phantom's case- i think there is almost a sense of not being predictable ENOUGH- it was hard to tell when the music was going to build, or climax, or slow down... it was like being lost in the music, and some people would say they like that, but i'm not so sure its a good thing... you watch a Cavies show (yes i know this isnt the cavies) and its not like you know exactly whats going to happen next, BUT you feel like you're in the story and you can atleast feel how that story is progressing and what type of emotion they want you to feel and the general FLOW and theme of things, right? well i didnt ever feel that way... it was a lot of big, dark, cool chords, and some awesome percussion work, and some semi-ok guard stuff- (thats definitly the weak area- BIG time in my opinion).. but i didnt feel like it had a good FLOW to it... i hope that makes sense to someone besides me, i'm having a hard time finding the best way of putting that to words... basically- its not like i disliked the PIECES of the show- its that i dont like how those pieces come together to make a cohesive story... in terms of how i think this show will fit in to the season- (and i havnt seen anyone else... so who knows) i dont think there is any way in heck this will take them to the 1 or 2 spot... and i think their chances of holding on to 3rd are pretty slim- i think they will be in a fight for 4th or 5th-- but i'm biased and there arnt enough facts out there for anyone to make a stone cold prediction-- so lets just call that my "guess" as to how they will fit in this season-- i mean... i've just got to do that so that whatever happens later- i can think "i was right on!" or "they really prooved me wrong" at the end of the season... if you dont ever make a stab at it... it'll just be no fun... ok HOLLA.. Edited June 20, 2006 by nero14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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