MagicBobert Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 I'm sorry, but I need to stand up and defend all the corps you just bashed. 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. They're having a rough year in terms of membership, so please cut them at least a little slack. Also, unless you spent the entire show staring at their pit I think it is rather unfair for you to say that they spent the entire show "slamming away" without looking up at the drum major. There are phasing issues in everyone's shows right now because the corps staff are still trying to work out staging issues. And what the heck does the size of the drum major's shako have to do with the corps performance? If it was too big, there's no reason to be bashing the corps for it. The problem could just have easily had been with a billion other things like early season shako sizing, the size of shakos in stock, etc. 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 base 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. First of all, the guard guy's name is Garrett, and he's almost 16 years old. And yes, he's crazy good. As for the guard work, we're working on finishing our show, just like most other corps in the nation, thanks for noticing. As for the brass chord, obviously your were too busy thinking of ways to criticize it than listening for the quality of sound and accuracy of intonation that the corps is working to achieve. And it's not a "production piece", it's 12 measures at the beginning of a production piece. It is not "beneath us" to play it, and as a member of the brassline I can say that that is one of the hardest parts in the show for me to play with good sound quality and intonation because I am breathing like mad and sweating bullets from the opener and the transition period in which I am jazz running to most of my sets. Playing long tones with good sound quality after such a physically taxing period is one of the hardest things you can do. It certainly isn't beneath the World Champion Blue Devils of 2003 (who did a similar "warm-up" during their championship-winning show), so it isn't "beneath us" either. As for the audience being completely unimpressed, I respect your opinion that YOU were completely unimpressed, but unless I was mistaken, I saw quite a bit more people than YOU in the stands. They don't need to clap/scream/shout/holler/throw babies to appreciate what we're doing. I can't comment as much about the drumline running "hot and cold", but I can say that Allan Kristensen gave them some very, very positive comments on their previous performances. Yes we played our closer at a standstill. We spent the majority of Monday's 9-9 learning intro material for the opener and the closer's drill, which was not clean enough to present on Tuesday night. I apologize for that, but that's how early season shows work. Our next show isn't until June 30 (the Precision West) at which we will have a completed show. 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. What a nice compliment to give their guard. Because they usually perform right before or after us I haven't have the privilege of seeing their show yet, but I'm sure when they picked out the guard uniforms they weren't going for the "Pilates class" look. I'm sure they go just fine with their show concept. As for the drill? That's a pretty stock drill move, I don't know why you're criticizing it. Phantom did as similar move last year, and they finished third in division one, so I'm sorry that it "didn't make sense" to you, but it's a cool move for some us. Bravo for the hornline's sound quality, and sounds like they're fighting fatigue, just like most of the other corps this early in the season. Also, how about leaving the BDB-bashing comments out of Santa Clara's review? Kudos to the drum major for having all of the stuff down, but I know for a fact that the "big corps" don't have "drones" on the podium. 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. I haven't had a chance to see them this season, so I can't really comment all that much, but why do you have to be so derogatory in your review. I know these guys are working hard and you're making it sound like they haven't been doing anything. I don't know if you've ever marched or where you have marched, but I believe that someone who HAD marched would have had a lot more class than to make comments like these. If you have marched, please don't tell me where, because I don't want to get a bad impression of your corps from your comments. 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. I hate to make this comparison, but the "lick that started in the contras and ended in the upper sops" is cool, but it sounds to me like a chromatic scale. I don't see how you can bash one corps for playing "warm-up chords", but say it's awesome when another corps plays a chromatic scale. As for the sixteenth note runs, yes they are there, but there aren't a TON of them. They're also not the only corps to have them. As for the box, it was a blind build for half the hornline, not everyone. There are other corps that have similar blind moves that are just as difficult, but I see no mention of them in this review. It's not too hard to see where your bias lies... 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. Why on earth does the guard HAVE to wear blue? The name of the corps is the Blue Devils, but that doesn't dictate that everything must be blue. Should we change the uniform pants to blue, the shakos to blue, the plumes to blue, the gloves to blue, make them put on blue face paint? Then they can be Blue Man Group! Personally I think the color of the guard's uniforms compliments the blue and black very well and gives a good tone to the show. The amps were not the size of industrial refrigerators, please... And you forgot to mention that Vanguard had amp racks too. As for the hornline not playing in the opener, nothing could be further from the truth! According to my 2006 CD, the opener is 5:17, and the hornline begins playing in full at 1:20. That's unfortunate that you were too busy coming up with criticisms that you missed an incredible four minutes of great brass playing. What's the big deal about moving the drum solo from 3/4 of the way through the show to the opening? The Blue Devils did a similar thing in 2003, when they placed first. I'm sorry you couldn't see the drill forms as clearly, but that is due to the crappy high school stadiums in Bakersfield (I live there, so I'm allowed to criticize :) ). If the show had been held at Bakersfield High School or Bakersfield College the drill forms from ALL CORPS would have been much more readable because of the height of the stadium. I'm sorry that you're not "buying it", but I am and most of the fans are. All in all, this was a very derogatory review and gives a bad rap to all the corps that attended the show. Perhaps next time you decide to review a show, you could comment on all the positive things a corps is doing rather than all the negatives. Also, your bias towards certain corps was very apparent in your absence of criticism, many of which were present in your favorite corps too. All in all I respect your opinion, but this was a very badly written review. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david403 Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 All in all, this was a very derogatory review and gives a bad rap to all the corps that attended the show. Perhaps next time you decide to review a show, you could comment on all the positive things a corps is doing rather than all the negatives. Also, your bias towards certain corps was very apparent in your absence of criticism, many of which were present in your favorite corps too.All in all I respect your opinion, but this was a very badly written review. Going through WSSB's profile and past posts, he seems to be an "old school" drum corps fan. Like most hardcore old school fans, he's bitter about guard costumes, dance work, and any other modern innovations. He's used his review to put down corps of today only because he's emotionally stuck in his glory days of when he marched: the good old "70s" when "drum corps was drum corps," right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NR_Ohiobando Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 Going through WSSB's profile and past posts, he seems to be an "old school" drum corps fan. Like most hardcore old school fans, he's bitter about guard costumes, dance work, and any other modern innovations. He's used his review to put down corps of today only because he's emotionally stuck in his glory days of when he marched: the good old "70s" when "drum corps was drum corps," right? I don't think it's so much that he's old...maybe he's just being honest? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
84BDsop Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 Going through WSSB's profile and past posts, he seems to be an "old school" drum corps fan. Like most hardcore old school fans, he's bitter about guard costumes, dance work, and any other modern innovations. He's used his review to put down corps of today only because he's emotionally stuck in his glory days of when he marched: the good old "70s" when "drum corps was drum corps," right? Actually, no....he's just VERY honest about his opinions...I've known him for 5 years and have never known him to be any other way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSGreen Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 I actually found the review refreshing. If I want to read how everyone is fabulous and the only problem with their performance is that the field was wet, or they just learned the opener today, etc, etc... I know where to find those reviews. What I appreciate is someone who tells it like THEY see it. Even a bad review can make me want to see a show. I'm an adult I decide for myself. The arts are going to be criticized. No need to apologize if something prevented you from delivering the best product... Either you deliver or you don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildabeast Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 (edited) I hope that drum corps shows in the Bakersfield area return to Memorial Stadium at Bakersfield College. There hasn't been a show there since 1989. I would certainly make the trek down. Edited June 21, 2006 by Wildabeast Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjeffeory Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 (edited) Yo, I was sitting behind the guy. I saw him clap for all the corps just like everyone else in the audience. He didn't seem to have an axe to grind to me! I mean I didn't hear him cursing or screaming after Blue Devil's performance! b**bs It looks like he just wrote his opinion. And gosh, did it occur to you that people have different tastes and thoughts than yours or your staff? It was a very well written review, full of insight and thought. Geesh, the grammar, punctuation, and spelling were sublime!!! I even think it was well thought out and presented!!! I didn't agree with some of it. I agreed with other parts of it. I posted my own review to compare... Overall, it was a very well written review, IMHO. One does tire of today's society as far as feeling like we must always be politically correct and feel good. We can't hurt anyone's feelings or make people feel bad. Even at the expense of truth. There's a difference between attacking criticizing. The first review did not cross that line. Criticizing the design is NOT a bad thing. It's fair game. I don't recall reading any attacks on members... FWIW... I'm sorry, but I need to stand up and defend all the corps you just bashed.They're having a rough year in terms of membership, so please cut them at least a little slack. Also, unless you spent the entire show staring at their pit I think it is rather unfair for you to say that they spent the entire show "slamming away" without looking up at the drum major. There are phasing issues in everyone's shows right now because the corps staff are still trying to work out staging issues. And what the heck does the size of the drum major's shako have to do with the corps performance? If it was too big, there's no reason to be bashing the corps for it. The problem could just have easily had been with a billion other things like early season shako sizing, the size of shakos in stock, etc. First of all, the guard guy's name is Garrett, and he's almost 16 years old. And yes, he's crazy good. As for the guard work, we're working on finishing our show, just like most other corps in the nation, thanks for noticing. As for the brass chord, obviously your were too busy thinking of ways to criticize it than listening for the quality of sound and accuracy of intonation that the corps is working to achieve. And it's not a "production piece", it's 12 measures at the beginning of a production piece. It is not "beneath us" to play it, and as a member of the brassline I can say that that is one of the hardest parts in the show for me to play with good sound quality and intonation because I am breathing like mad and sweating bullets from the opener and the transition period in which I am jazz running to most of my sets. Playing long tones with good sound quality after such a physically taxing period is one of the hardest things you can do. It certainly isn't beneath the World Champion Blue Devils of 2003 (who did a similar "warm-up" during their championship-winning show), so it isn't "beneath us" either. As for the audience being completely unimpressed, I respect your opinion that YOU were completely unimpressed, but unless I was mistaken, I saw quite a bit more people than YOU in the stands. They don't need to clap/scream/shout/holler/throw babies to appreciate what we're doing. I can't comment as much about the drumline running "hot and cold", but I can say that Allan Kristensen gave them some very, very positive comments on their previous performances. Yes we played our closer at a standstill. We spent the majority of Monday's 9-9 learning intro material for the opener and the closer's drill, which was not clean enough to present on Tuesday night. I apologize for that, but that's how early season shows work. Our next show isn't until June 30 (the Precision West) at which we will have a completed show. What a nice compliment to give their guard. Because they usually perform right before or after us I haven't have the privilege of seeing their show yet, but I'm sure when they picked out the guard uniforms they weren't going for the "Pilates class" look. I'm sure they go just fine with their show concept. As for the drill? That's a pretty stock drill move, I don't know why you're criticizing it. Phantom did as similar move last year, and they finished third in division one, so I'm sorry that it "didn't make sense" to you, but it's a cool move for some us. Bravo for the hornline's sound quality, and sounds like they're fighting fatigue, just like most of the other corps this early in the season. Also, how about leaving the BDB-bashing comments out of Santa Clara's review? Kudos to the drum major for having all of the stuff down, but I know for a fact that the "big corps" don't have "drones" on the podium. I haven't had a chance to see them this season, so I can't really comment all that much, but why do you have to be so derogatory in your review. I know these guys are working hard and you're making it sound like they haven't been doing anything. I don't know if you've ever marched or where you have marched, but I believe that someone who HAD marched would have had a lot more class than to make comments like these. If you have marched, please don't tell me where, because I don't want to get a bad impression of your corps from your comments. I hate to make this comparison, but the "lick that started in the contras and ended in the upper sops" is cool, but it sounds to me like a chromatic scale. I don't see how you can bash one corps for playing "warm-up chords", but say it's awesome when another corps plays a chromatic scale. As for the sixteenth note runs, yes they are there, but there aren't a TON of them. They're also not the only corps to have them. As for the box, it was a blind build for half the hornline, not everyone. There are other corps that have similar blind moves that are just as difficult, but I see no mention of them in this review. It's not too hard to see where your bias lies... Why on earth does the guard HAVE to wear blue? The name of the corps is the Blue Devils, but that doesn't dictate that everything must be blue. Should we change the uniform pants to blue, the shakos to blue, the plumes to blue, the gloves to blue, make them put on blue face paint? Then they can be Blue Man Group! Personally I think the color of the guard's uniforms compliments the blue and black very well and gives a good tone to the show. The amps were not the size of industrial refrigerators, please... And you forgot to mention that Vanguard had amp racks too. As for the hornline not playing in the opener, nothing could be further from the truth! According to my 2006 CD, the opener is 5:17, and the hornline begins playing in full at 1:20. That's unfortunate that you were too busy coming up with criticisms that you missed an incredible four minutes of great brass playing. What's the big deal about moving the drum solo from 3/4 of the way through the show to the opening? The Blue Devils did a similar thing in 2003, when they placed first. I'm sorry you couldn't see the drill forms as clearly, but that is due to the crappy high school stadiums in Bakersfield (I live there, so I'm allowed to criticize :) ). If the show had been held at Bakersfield High School or Bakersfield College the drill forms from ALL CORPS would have been much more readable because of the height of the stadium. I'm sorry that you're not "buying it", but I am and most of the fans are. All in all, this was a very derogatory review and gives a bad rap to all the corps that attended the show. Perhaps next time you decide to review a show, you could comment on all the positive things a corps is doing rather than all the negatives. Also, your bias towards certain corps was very apparent in your absence of criticism, many of which were present in your favorite corps too. All in all I respect your opinion, but this was a very badly written review. Edited June 21, 2006 by jjeffeory Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcfr3ak Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 I don't understand how people can criticize people for having opinion! It's YOUR OPINION!!! But besides that, I liked the review a ton! Thank you for it! I was just wondering if you had ever seen "City of Angels" performed live on stage? Well if you haven't, you would be suprised to hear that this did take place in the 1950's and the men and women wore those type of clothes, maybe not the most dramatic and make the audience go "GAH GAH" but it fits the show! I have only had the chance to see Pacific Crest, so I cannot add any insight on them until San Diego's show. I look forward to all the reviews and comments on upcoming shows! PCfr3ak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 I have no problems with this guy's opinions, but for goodness sake, if you're going to criticize the pit, name the instruments properly!!!!! These groups may not even have been using XYLOPHONES, most groups just use Marimbas and Vibraphones, with maybe one xylo or glockenspiel or set of crotales thrown in for color. You make yourself sound like some inexperienced BAND PARENT when you just call them all "xylophones." At least call them "keyboards." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddie Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 (edited) All in all, this was a very derogatory review and gives a bad rap to all the corps that attended the show. Perhaps next time you decide to review a show, you could comment on all the positive things a corps is doing rather than all the negatives. Also, your bias towards certain corps was very apparent in your absence of criticism, many of which were present in your favorite corps too.All in all I respect your opinion, but this was a very badly written review. not a bad review at all. I for one very much appreciated it. Always good to get different views from different people. It keeps your mind open :) P.S. - Welcome to the performing Arts Edited June 22, 2006 by bari_benzo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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