spiritalum01 Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 It was a great early season show tonight in Birmingham. The weather looked like it was going to storm from the beginning but it held off. That helped cool the heat down some but it was still very humid. Good crowd, nice facilities, and hats off to the Spain Park HS folks for another well-done show. I apologize for the review in advance since I may leave some stuff out, especially for the early corps since its hard sometimes to remember a lot of stuff. I also have not looked at any caption scores so as to get my own read. Teal Sound- I loved the music and the show has some great moments. Problem is it is very dirty. Visually there were some poor horn angles and I believe there were a few individuals that didn't know if their horn was supposed to be up or down. There is a little contra player too that is struggling with the physical demands of the horn. The hornline was very out of tune from the beginning and ran out of gas. They have a good-size horn line but aren't getting enough air behind the horns. They were also some missed entrances and late cut-offs. The guard was small, out of sync, and looked unprepared. The battery had some good moments but they have a lot of stuff where they are not locking in very well. I liked the extra bongo attached to the snares...nice use of different tambors. The pit performed and emoted well but really needs to solidify their parts as a section and with the battery...but the battery is going to have to get fixed before the pit can adequately adjust. I don't want to focus on the negative too much because I really did enjoy their show. There were plenty of positives: they were entertaining and had some nice visual effect statements but they are very dirty and have a lot of work to do. I'm sure they will do fine because I'm sure they are a hardworking bunch. Magic- Magic was a noticable step up from Teal but were very dirty as well. I love the music though. They did a jazzed up version of "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" I believe and it came off very well. There were some real tuning flaws at times in the horns but they had a decent sound. They really need to push more air and get the drill under control to gain confidence with the music. This is also another hornline facing the common problem of running out of gas towards the end. I'm sure that will get fixed in time. There were noticable ensemble tears at times and the pit and battery parts really need to line up...especially on the big impact hits between concert bass drums and the battery. The pit performed and emoted well however. I don't remember anything about the guard so I apologize. Overall, Magic has a show with a lot of nice moments and really needs some big cleaning. Southwind- I love the uniforms! Half the corps is wearing black pants with a dual white-black jacket while the other half is wearing white pants with a reversed white-black jacket. They had some great visual effects and made use of the unis nicely in the drill. The hornline has some nice moments here and there and some fun runs at times. I hope I'm not mistaken but I believe this was the corps that I noticed the melophones were very much out of tune with the rest of the ensemble and noticably weaker...I could be wrong though. "The Firebird" was done well but there were some moments where the bass voice carried by the contras was very out of balance and needed some major projecting. It created too bright of an ensemble tone color and part of it was due to poor staging with the drill. There were some great opportunities for some quality pit moments but they were dirty and missing notes I think. There were also some ensemble phasing and definately some dirty feet. Guard work is incomplete and in time they will get it all on the field. Some nice stuff though for the flags. Overall I really enjoyed their show and in my opinion should score high in GE visual. Spirit- Spirit was very noticably musically superior to the previous performing corps. The music is also very entertaining. They had some good dynamic phrasing in the horn line and a peircing group of trumpets. They aren't producing the volume of the Cadets or Phantom but they are really moving places. Best hornline for them in a long time. The percussion is solid with some good moments but they really need to clean things up, both amongst individual players within the sections and from section to section. The battery is solid and should improve nicely. I must say that Spirit's pit is really playing some beefy stuff and making use of a wide variety of skills, including ripple rolls 2 and 4 mallet runs, and other upper-tier mallet skills. They need more colors and tambors though and speaking with the techs, they plan to add more higher pitched metal sounds like triangles, break drums, ice bells, etc. I may be biased but they were playing as tough a book as Phantom and Cadets and playing it CLEANER. They were the best pit of the night. The guard has a complete package, illustrating the "Old, New, Borrowed, and Blue" theme. The opener was solid with "Old Man River" and "That Old Black Magic" as the guard spins white flags with deltas split with baby blue and rainbows. Very nostalgic. The guard had a solid show and I didn't notice any major drops or mistakes although they weren't the focus of my attention this show. Just some out of sync work. Although the show flows pretty well, it still needs more dynamic contrast and feels a little too flat. They also are lacking in the GE department. Visually speaking, there were some great moments with some deltas formed on the field...just a lot of dirt in the feet. There were plenty of feet out of phase and spacing problems. Musically Spirit is pretty strong for the first show but visually weak. Following the show, the pit techs whom I'm friends with said that in critique the percussion judge apologized and admitted that he scored them too low. He said he would tell his judging colleagues too so expect the drum score to jump up. Phantom- Phantom's hornline is HOT. They were better than Cadets tonight in horns. Great sound, beefy book, and lots of volume. There were some parts though where you could hear their feet in their sound, especially with some long chords. They have a percussion section to match the horns with some sweet licks and impressive playing. That being said...the battery and pit were very dirty. They have a great book but they really need to clean it up. Many of the mallet runs had major clarity issues. Snares, tenors, and basses need to line up with each other consistently. The music is awesome and they have another beautiful ballad. The guard has some cool moments too. There are some masked guard members running a routine with body work in one section that was interesting. There was plenty of synchonization problems however. I'm not sure I enjoyed this show as much a last year's production but it was very entertaining and they should place well. Cadets- Ah, the Cadets...basically part 2 of last year's love it or hate it show. From a GE standpoint, it was very strong. It was very concept driven. There were plenty of "Huh" moments though and I overheard many "I don't get it comments" from the crowd. In fact, there were large parts of the show that were just plain boring. By the time it was over, the audience didn't know what to think and gave a polite applause. I would not say this is a crowd pleaser- although the drums really get things going during their solo section. The battery is insanely clean for the first show. There are some great section solos...first the basses, then the snares, then the tenors. The left end snare tosses a stick to the right end snare and that really created an applause moment. The front ensemble is not on par with the battery-solid but not on the same level of skill. The Hornline has some nice runs and nice moments but they were not as strong as Phantom tonight. Cadets had the best percussion and Phantom had the best hornline. Guard- I have no idea. The door in the middle of the field is back and the show opens with just effect sounds from the pit with rhythmic pit and battery parts slowly entering in. And then the girl in yellow pops out of the door. There were four characters I think all-in-all but I have no idea what they had to do with the show. There was naration of which was not very clear and really did nothing for me. The singer, although not a bad singer, just seems out of place and gets in the way of the rest of the corps. She was also very flat and out of tune when holding a long-note with the horns at one point. The guard was extremely sloppy tonight. I'm not sure I could count on two hands the number of dropped rifles/sabres/flags and botched tosses. They do have some nice moments with what looked like pink/peach colored platforms. At one point guard members lift one side of the platform up while performers on the platforms balance. Backfield, they have propped things up with peachy and flowery backdrops. They look nice but the point of them escapes me for now. The double-sided unis are back but for me the effect wore off after last year. Musically and visually things are very esoteric. There's a little bit of "White Rabbit" in there somewhere if you listen for it. The transition from the drum solo to the ballad is terrific. The drums turn and go backfield with their parts gradually fading away while the hornline moves in and gradually takes over with the ballad. I guess the best way to describe this show is that there is more going on here in the show than a person can take in in one sitting. There are probably many nuances that become more apparent the more times you see it. It is deep, but probably too deep. I hope you enjoy the review and please forgive any mistakes since it is very late and I am more than tired. Also, any comments are my opinion only and you are welcome to disagree. Please don't hold any negative comments against me as they were made only with the intent of being honest. I wish all the corps the best of luck this season! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMS0527 Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 The review works for me :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
93Bluecoat Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 I say, reserve judgement on any Cadets show in June....it's a significant work in progress. Last year people were saying, "huh" and they won. It could happen again easily. It will be interesting to see their next few scores now that there is one read out there. DW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowend Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 Which is exactly the problem. Many people will only get to see Cadets in June, so their impression of them for the entire season is being formed by an incomplete show. The fans are getting cheated when they don't get the entire inteded concept of the show. Re, Spirit: I wonder if their dirty feat problems have anything to do with the preponderance of JSU students/grad students/former students on the visual staff? It seems like visual has always been a problem for them since the "new" Spirit emerged. Also, I usually see a lot of dirt in the feet from JSU's marching band too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawn craig Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 Which is exactly the problem. Many people will only get to see Cadets in June, so their impression of them for the entire season is being formed by an incomplete show. The fans are getting cheated when they don't get the entire inteded concept of the show. Many people, actually most fans, only get to see any given corps show 1 time. Most can't afford to travel to multiple shows, not to mention family, their own life etc. If the designers can't convey the meaning of the show well on one seeing maybe they need to do a better job. ??? I'm all for shows that challenge intellectually etc. But does this show really do that? Is it really that deep? Are there any emotions a regular person can relate to? Or is it a deep pile of S&^t??? I'll find out next Friday at the Maryland show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAvery Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 Which is exactly the problem. Many people will only get to see Cadets in June, so their impression of them for the entire season is being formed by an incomplete show. The fans are getting cheated when they don't get the entire inteded concept of the show. Re, Spirit: I wonder if their dirty feat problems have anything to do with the preponderance of JSU students/grad students/former students on the visual staff? It seems like visual has always been a problem for them since the "new" Spirit emerged. Also, I usually see a lot of dirt in the feet from JSU's marching band too. I don't want to start something but......the "old" Spirit didn't exactly have clean feet, did they? I don't really ever remember Spirit with a clean visual program. Great hornlines...sure, great drumlines.....sure, sometimes, great visual.....when? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guizeppe Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 Your review is very well written and informative to those of us who won't get to see these shows until the theatres. Nice job. It's June people, everything is dirty. If it wasn't we would accuse them of peaking too early or not having enough difficulty. Just be patient. Otherwise, this thread's responses are a ticking time-bomb. Countdown to Cadet hater/supporter explosion...3...2... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcfr3ak Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 I love reading reviews on the East Coast corps since I live in SoCal, so I thank you for taking your time to write this review! Having many pet peaves, I just wanted to let you know that "tamber" is spelled timbre! That always bugs me so I had to say it! I can't wait to see these shows at Championships since that is the only show that I will see any of these corps at! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiritalum01 Posted June 23, 2006 Author Share Posted June 23, 2006 Oops, sorry...timbre it is lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utaheuph Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 Your review is very well written and informative to those of us who won't get to see these shows until the theatres. Nice job.It's June people, everything is dirty. If it wasn't we would accuse them of peaking too early or not having enough difficulty. Just be patient. Otherwise, this thread's responses are a ticking time-bomb. Countdown to Cadet hater/supporter explosion...3...2... no kidding its already starting on the BD threads.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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