Review of Bakersfield Show

[wsssb]

My review of tonight’s Bakersfield, California show:

I had an excellent seat in row six, on the 45 yard line, number one side. The venue was a standard high school stadium with a low box. The temperatures stayed in the 80s, even after the sun went down.

I thought the show organizers fared poorly in two respects. First, all of the corps had to enter and exit through the same gate. This made for a log jam as each corps tried to get on while the preceding corps was leaving. The pit crews, especially, had problems. Second, the organizers put on three corps, then had a half hour break, then put on the other three corps. Why not start the show a half hour later and run straight through? That way, the first few corps would not have to stare into a rather brutal setting sun.

Modesto Fever (19 horns/23 drums/6 guard) - Final Score 48.55

Fever started things off well, but they performed a very short show (no closer) which contained almost no guard work. At many points the guard would seem to disappear while one member would come out and perform solo. The strength of this corps is definitely the drum line, specifically the seven snares. Unfortunately, the six xylophone players performed the entire show without once looking up at the drum major. They were pounding away (and I do mean pounding -- they were perfecting the art of the overhead slam) while oblivious to the fact that they were phasing. Even if they occasionally thought about looking up (which they didn’t) they wouldn’t have been able to see much, with the bright sun in their eyes. Speaking of the drum major, she came onto the podium wearing a shako at least three sizes too big for her. She dumped the shako before the show started, but at first I thought it was a joke. Fever’s show was hindered by the numerous holes in all of the sets. It looks like the drill was written for about 30 horns. Their score was about right.

Concord Blue Devils B (45/39/22) 63.70

OK, a “B Corps” with a 45-man horn line, and all I could look at was the kid on rifle. I remember seeing him in the C corps a couple of years back when his rifle was taller than he was. He’s taller, and he still has the chops. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a lot of guard work for him and his buddies to do. They did a lot of marching around simply holding equipment, or else just stood there during obvious feature passages. Speaking of just standing there, the horn line does a part where they play a chord, and the drum major points from one end of the line to the other. Everyone changes chords when they get pointed at. I think every horn line in the country has done this at one time or another during their warm ups. That’s just the point -- it’s a warm up. It was beneath BDB as a production piece, and the audience was completely unimpressed. Their drum line ran hot and cold. At times they were very good (especially the bass drums) then they would rattle like a Volkswagen van. The corps played their closer at a standstill. They beat the Vanguard Cadets by 0.05, but I thought BDB should have been beaten by a spread.

Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets (33/28/17) 63.65

The drums and horns looked spectacular in classic SCV uniforms, while the guard wore white sleeveless unitards with a wide brown belt. In short, the guard looked like they were on their way to Pilates class. They also had almost no guard work done. Their drums were good, especially a tenor and snare unison during the drum solo. There was one part in the drill where a couple of guys went in different directions, did a touch and go, and then came back. It just didn’t make a lot of sense. The horn line played stuff that I liked and sounded quite good, but they ran out of gas near the end of the show. But at least they performed their whole show, which is more than I can say for BDB. Note to Santa Clara staff: this drum major is studly, and would have won tonight’s “best DM” award. He directed entrances and releases, dynamics, and even cued some marching step offs. Send him up to the big corps to replace that drone you have there.

Diamond Bar Pacific Crest (52/30/32) 61.45

PC played a fairly clean but extremely simple jazz book. The drum line was good, but there was a point in the middle of the show where the horns played a ballad and the drums disappeared for about a full minute. Question: if you have a good drum line, why do you perform numbers where they don’t play? Second question: if you have a decent horn line, why do you play a boring ballad in the middle of the show? It seems that PC didn’t have a color guard, having decided instead to bring out a dance troupe. As with the other corps, the guard outfits made no sense. They wore 1950’s style mid-length house dresses in pastel colors, which you would think would go well with the jazz theme. Wrong. When was the last time you saw Betty Anderson spinning a saber? Then they dropped everything and danced for a few minutes using a fedora hat as a prop. The skirts got in the way of their spins, and the guard got in the way of the drums. At one point a quad player tripped backwards over a guard member and went down hard. Their huge horn line had a lot of impact, but they were only playing “la la LAAH.” The show is entertaining, but PC will never get the scores they are looking for unless they start playing something.

Santa Clara Vanguard (56/31/35) 72.40

Talk about playing something. Wow. Sixteenth note runs galore, including a lick that started in the contras and ended in the upper sops. Pacific Crest should steal one of SCV’s sixteenth note runs. SCV wouldn’t miss one (they’d have plenty left over), and this way PC could have a sixteenth note run of their very own. Both the horns and drums did a lot of running, most of it backwards. I especially liked how they built a box marching backwards. It was a blind set for everyone, and they pulled it off. They had a very powerful sound, which unfortunately was often masked by the eight xylophones. These guys were amped to the max, and were slamming away. They seemed to be trying to wrest away from the Mandarins the title of “most obnoxious xylophones.” Nice guard work, including lots of exchanges, even though the guard outfits made them look like they were ready to go to ballet rehearsal. The guard wore black sweat pants and white tops that were short skirted on the women. The best thing I can say about these “uniforms” is that they were not as bad as last year’s hotel waiter/waitress outfits. Nice ankle chops by the cymbal players. The closing drill was a very sharp box rotation. I think they should be beating the Blue Devils.

Concord Blue Devils (68/27/32) 76.10

The judges had them three and a half points up on Santa Clara, but I didn’t see it that way. First off, as usual, I have to complain about the guard outfits. Purple crushed velvet pants on the guys. Purple? Isn’t this the BLUE devils? The women wore burgundy crushed velvet pants. Yuck. They would look more “mafia” like if they borrowed PC’s fedoras. Second off, I have to complain about the pit. They had two amps, both of which were the size of industrial refrigerators, and they had them cranked up. Third, the horn line didn’t play the opener. I’m serious -- off the line they had a soloist play the theme, then they went directly into a drum solo. The contras didn’t even “pick up” until a minute into the show. Their drill was very nice in parts, such as a rotating cross, but then they would follow that up with a bunch of scatter drills. At one point they mumbled something, but I couldn’t tell if it was a chant or if it was supposed to be noise. Sorry, not buying it.

Edited June 21, 2006 by wsssb

[jjeffeory]

I'm tired so bear with me!!! Here's MY take on the show!!! I may just blurt out random thoughts, or I may actually give you a full sentence. Bear in mind, I'm just sharing my thoughts. Agree, disagree, or cuss me out! I don't care!

It was nice in the shade... I had 50 yard line seats, 9th row. I guess I was right behind wsssb and didn't know it!

I felt sorry for the performers who went on earlier in the show. It was nice in the shade, but on the field the sun was blaring in their eyes. Why not start the show a little later? Especially since Impulse was a no show. Oh and I hate having a 30 minute break after only 3 corps! I know you want us to buy food, but come on!

I don't think BD should have gotten a 76; maybe a 73. I guess the point here is not the score, it's the spread. That being said, I don't think BD should have scored a 76. Maybe they should have gotten a 73! Blue Devils are performing a little better than SCV right now, IMHO. They were very good tonight and all of that, but they seemed pretty dirty compared to previous years for that score and this time of year... I saw a few train wrecks, many crooked lines here and there. That being said, it's JUNE! BD has a VERY good show and it should do well come August. I love the purple flags from BD. The guard uniforms are cool, but the guys are wearing purple velvet, and the girls are wearing red velvet? They're the Blue Devils??? That does get me. As I always say, at least it's not burnt orange velvet!!! The design of this show is excellent and the designers have done little things to feature each section of the corps nicely. This is true between the percussion, brass, and guard. This is also true within the brass section. There are just tons of musical quotes to grab onto with each section of the brass choir. I don't know about the other sections of the corps though. I was mainly concentrating on the brass, as I usually do. This aspect of featuring each section in BDs show really separated their design from everyone else tonight and it is one of the things that makes them special. The only other corps that was attempting something similiar tonight was SCV. I guess that's the hallmark of top corps. Oh, BD, thank you for all those melody lines! I noticed! I'm not sure about starting the show with a solo, then percussion feature without the whole brass ensemble coming in for a while, but at least don't cover up all the other solos with the pit... The uniforms work fine, so I guess I have to change my opinion from Nay to Yea in regards to them! You only have 10 contras? Well, they were sweet. They sounded like 14!!! One question though. Why does the pit need to be soooo loud? Turn down the speakers! I could hear most of the stuff in there before you started amping everything! Also, what are you all mumbling? It's a little disconcerting to try and figure out what you're doing and miss the next part of the show. Overall, this is my favorite BD show of the decade!

SCV will do well too. I thought their score was the only score that was about right. They were very comparable to BD. In fact, I think they should have been around a point away from BD. SCV's music is really awesome and their visual program is leaps and bounds better than last years. The music is very imaginative and in a word, refreshing! I can't remember any of it, but I was just sitting there thinking, "WOW". There were notes flying around everywhere from both the percussion and the hornline, and it worked! The complexity of the drill was amazing. The box that the hornline built while marching backwards was a really cool move, and a highlight for me. There were just so many moments that I can't recall, I HAVE to see the show again, and when it's a little cleaner.

I think the white tops on the guard work well with the dark bottoms with white stripes. Hey, it reminded me of Blue Devils.... ;-) This show could go very far! Let's see how many corps we can brand "top 5 quality" this year (At least 5, I know). This show is designed that well! Sorry to see the low brass guy on the sideline. People here did the Vanguard yell in two places. I don't like it, but for those who do... There's a spot near the beginning of the show, and then there a spot near the end of the show. I bet people will do it at both places as it was done tonight.

Pacific Crest's show reminds me of a simplified version of Madison Scouts or Dutch Boy's version of "City of Angels" performed way back in '91 and '92 ( MS '91 & '92/ DB '91). PC only makes it their own in the 4th part of their show: the closer. The closer is truly different from any other version I've witnessed in that PC utilizes small ensembles playing for a while in the beginning of it and also the little groove they add to it... There's the high brass ensemble playing, then the low brass ensemble playing then the whole corps, and then I don't remember how it all played out. I think both ensembles come together for a few bars... Anyway, it was pretty good. They definitely should play on this through out the show and make "City of Angels" theirs completely. It's definitely the highlight of their show. The opening small ensemble doesn't work right now. It was better tonight than on Sunday when I first saw it, but the playing is quite a bit muddled. It should be watered soon, or axed... This should be a really good year for them, though.... I was actually VERY surprised by how high their score was. This was my second time seeing the show on the field and third time hearing the music. I wonder how high they can place this year. The show music doesn't strike me as being terribly challenging, yet they have a talented hornline. Actually, their drumline strikes me as pretty talented too. I hope they have the design to drive the talent!

Kudos to the support staff and administration of this corps. The members are truly loved. Also, they're going to have a sweet chuck wagon!!! Also, I counted 9 mellophones. Wait, I saw 9 Sunday, only 8 tonight. I hope all is okay over there PC. Sorry about the tenor wreck. He recovered quite nicely. The guard wore 1940s or 1950s style mid length dress and slacks, pastel in color. I liked them as uniforms, but I didn't notice much impact from them until they use the pastel double flags near the end of the show. The rest of the time, they mostly danced and played with black fedoras! There's gotta be more!

SCVC was very good as well. The show has so much room to grow. I counted around 40 horns. I really can't think of anything from their show to share except that it will be special in division II come August. It seems like a really complex show...

BDB was great too.... Things are a blur right now, but I was expecting them to be A LOT better than SCVC. They were cleaner, perhaps, but not that much so... I really enjoyed their show concept, and there were mostly good moments. I only counted 41 horns. I thought they were going to have more... I guess I got caught up in the preseason hype. They're good though...

Impulse was a no show. I heard this was the second one from them. I hope they're doing okay in my back yard... I made it to this show, I could have given some of yall a ride as it was only a 135 mile drive up...

Fever's drumline was great! The show ended abruptly. I counted 20 some horns. The drumline did an excellent job of not covering up the horns. I'm sorry I can't say more about them right now. I don't think everything is on the field yet...

That's it for me.

Edited June 22, 2006 by jjeffeory

[chris ncsu]

Thanks both for the reviews! We're gonna be watching SCV take on BD for the next week, will be interesting to see if SCV can gain any ground.

[BD020304]

Concord Blue Devils (68/27/32) 76.10

Third, the horn line didn’t play the opener. I’m serious -- off the line they had a soloist play the theme, then they went directly into a drum solo. The contras didn’t even “pick up” until a minute into the show.

In 2003, we didn't really play much in the opening as it was a drumline I & E - fest :P , and didn't even turn forward until about a minute into the show, and then turned forward and for 8-9 seconds everything in the world was at peace. b**bs LOL jk

I've been hearing A LOT more great reviews of all the shows than bad reviews.

There is definitely a show for everyone to like this year, so nobody goes home calling a particular show a waste of money.

This season is going a whole lot better than last year in my opinion.

[FUGI]

Unfortunately, the six xylophone players performed the entire show without once looking up at the drum major. They were pounding away (and I do mean pounding -- they were perfecting the art of the overhead slam) while oblivious to the fact that they were phasing. Even if they occasionally thought about looking up (which they didn’t) they wouldn’t have been able to see much, with the bright sun in their eyes.

If the pit is on front sideline (as opposed to being on the field or back sideline) they aren't supposed to use the drum major for a tempo source. (or atleast most pits don't) Idealy you should listen back towards the battery for tempo source because of field acoustics would cause phasing by looking at the drum major that far up the field.

[michsta8]

the slotting has begun

[Maestro767]

[Guizeppe]

Very nice reviews. I think it's actually good that BD isn't super clean and SCV is behind, gives them both something to work for. I agree, this year is looking to be FAR better than last year at this time for our West Coast corps.

[Gbassman5]

i would just like to take this time to thank the bakersfield crowd for being by far the most energetic crowd i have experienced so far this year

Edited June 21, 2006 by Gbassman5

[mello916]

dablablalablabladablablablabla Vito! Vito!

(anyone who's seen BD this year will know what I mean); wsssb was right on the $$$ with his review ... but in Modesto, it was BD that had the over-amped pit.