Ryan H. Turner Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 (edited) OK...I'm just going to go ahead and call MYSELF all kinds of names for being a lunkhead dumb-head dimbulb stooge for LEAVING MY DANG PROGRAM AND MY NOTES IN THE DANG PRESSBOX WHEN I LEFT LAST NIGHT FROM THE DANG SHOW DANGIT!! DANG IT!!!!!!! Or in the words of Napolean...."IDIOT!!!!! GOSH!!!!" Ok...well...here's to my MEMORY...what's left of it after years of habitual Diet Coke abuse. No disclaimers here...I'm pissy right now, so it's going to be a little bit of a pissy review most likely. Or heck...I don't know. I don't even know what to write. Let's see what the Diet Coke intravenous feed brings out... So Cal Dream First off, the uniforms. About 1000% better than the strange uniforms of the past few years that I personally couldn't stand. But be that as it may, today they looked VERY professional and STILL were able to incorporate the yellow, purple, and black. COOL! Music--cool. Drums--cool. Horns--better sounding this year than last, except for tone quality in baritones at times. Duet in the pit between sop and mello was VERY fun. Guard was intergrated VERY nicely, and the drumline REALLY REALLY REALLY had their act together. Only 2/3rd's of the show was on the field, hence, the low score of 55 whatever. The closer is going to be GREAT. I hope. Hawthorne Gold Better, bigger, and blacker than last year. BLACKER? I don't know--I have the memory of thinking "That's a lot of black in the uniform". I'm old. I have no memory. They are obviously playing some pretty advanced music out there--working hard. And it SEEMS like they're working hard. Opener if I remember correctly was in 3/4...a FAST 3/4. TOO fast. Not what I would call a musical selection that would show off the strengths of my group right off the bat. BUT...BUT...if they DO get it cleaned up, it may work for them. Drums were strong. Guard I don't remember much about. Show design (drill) was VERY problematic at times. VERY. I will say this though--thankfully, in the program (you know--the ONE I FRICKEN LEFT IN THE PRESSBOX!!!!!!!!), they (whoever runs Gold) shed some light on who they are and who their membership is. They have NO WEB PRESENCE whatsoever--which is a little strange in the 21st century. They sure have some potential. I'll give them that!! Jester Oh my...first off, the good news. Arrangements were more aggressive and ATTAINABLE by this group. Drum line was pretty good. Guard...I'm sorry, I just don't remember you much. Hornline--all NINE of you...GOOD JOB. Bad news...well, strangely, there's not really "bad" news. Just concerned news. I just continually hope that these kids are having a good time and they're working on getting better. There's a model for success with a small hornline--and that was with San Diego Alliance a few years ago. So you guys can do it. Keep going. And afterthought--don't try to outblow hornlines bigger than you. Play to the limit of your ability. Some crazy sounds coming out of the hornline by the time the show ended--fatigue most likely. Mystikal I'm going to sort of stick my finger into the side of the visual staff. With THAT many people listed in the program, I'll just say, I expected MUCH MORE in technique than what I was seeing. And TWO GUARD MEMBERS?!! With only enough work for...I think it was 32 seconds and they sat down. I'm guessing--but I could be wrong--but I'm guessing either a whole bunch of people missed the bus, or there's something going on behind the scenes that may be affecting people's desire to want to march. The names listed in the program for the guard staff are pretty dang good instructors...so something wasn't adding up. Horns were ok--music was blah. Drill did nothing for me, with some very questionable staging of drums to horns at times. Some sets didn't lock for me in the "well that made sense" department. LOTS of visual cleaning to do. Impulse MUCH smaller corps than I anticipated. They seemed to be rather flat tonight, but solid. SOLID FLAT? Drums were fairly strong. Guard--eh. Pretty good. Visual design of the drill was pretty solid. Notice I'm sort of using the words "pretty" and "fairly"? There was nothing REMARKABLE about the corps--and I know Impulse has a reputation of coming out early and getting the basis of the show done FIRST, and then adding the "remarkable" later. I was surprised quite honestly they scored as high as they did. But that's a GOOD thing. They have potential to be a solid corps. But overheard in the pressbox--they may be FORCED to Division III because of their numbers. I think they have to (DCI RULES?) be bigger than they are to stay in Division II. Don't know what will happen with that. If they do go to Division III, they'll be at or near the top for sure. They don't stand a chance against the next unit. Academy So let's see who's on visual staff....ahhhhhhhhhhhhh...STUART SHULMAN. Well, the SCV influence in how they look and present their "look" is pretty evident, and I would venture to guess that Stuart had a lot to do with that. I'm CERTAINLY NOT BAGGING ON IT EITHER. I was HOOKED from the minute they marched on to the field. What a look. What a corps. WHAT A GUARD!!!! This is NOT a Division II corps, and whether anyone agrees with me or not, they out played Esperanza, Mandarins, and too a certain extent Pacific Crest. Sorry. They did. Their visual book however, the drill that is, is fairly conservative with LOTS of opportunities to showcase the guard. There's nothing that caused me to go "HOLY COW!" And I think it's high time that Academy do "HOLY COW" stuff. They sound GREAT. Their "ethnic" show I thought, at least by what was in the program, was going to bore me to tears. No way. And besides...who HASN'T played the old Soundpower Series arrangement of "El Cumbachero" by Bill Moffet, and who DIDN'T think about that during Academy's closer? Oh....so I was the only one? DANG IT!!! Anyway...one other thing that my Diet Coke addled brain is allowing me to remember. The color of the red in the corps proper uniform is THE MOST GORGEOUS shade of red. VERY rich. VERY classy. Just great. And the guard--you guys were fantastic. I made a deragatory remark in my review last year about your choice of colors on the field because in my eyes it was truly horrendous. This year, it was TRULY BEAUTIFUL. Hats off to my old friend (and I DO MEAN OLD!!!) Peter Gomez and his crew. Good job. Esperanza I think that Esperanza, who hails from an area of EXTREME musical talent, needs something to give their region a kick in the ### and get more kids out. There appeared to be holes galore in the hornline, and I was really sad to see that. Esperanza has a LOT to offer to the youth of the San Diego area--wish more people would realize that. Their show, Chakra (which reminds me--was marketed REALLY well--cool preseason video), was interesting although I must say without my notes I'm not sure there's much else to say. STRONG guard as usual, but everything seemed smaller and more subdued this year than in years past. I hope for the best for Esperanza and for their future--and I think if I had my notes I could be a little more "comprehensive" with my review. Mandarins I lamented the fact that they rid themselves of DCI's most UNIQUE uniform by going with what they wore last night. BUT...seeing the uniform is person...well...pretty nice actually. You know what I liked most? The burnt orange color. It was very subdued and like Academy, I thought it was, strangely, a "classy" color. Horns were pretty good--louder than I remember in the past. Visually...eh. Dirty. Which is pretty understandable this time of year. BUT...they too have a large visual staff. So....what gives? Kids not listening? I don't remember too much else about this show, I'm sorry to say. Blue Knights OK OK OK...this is COOL. First, BK is well known for doing their body movement GALORE on the field. For some it's cool to see, for others like me, it gets old. Tonight, whatever they did on the field really impressed me and for whatever reason I DIDN'T get sick of it like I have in the past. So...ok. SO? Well--just sharing with ya! :P But they have this COOL marching technique which I personally would never teach in a MILLION YEARS, but THEY do and they did a great job with it. They do that little pre-movement POP out with their knee--and their actual movement technique is "wiggly legs" to me but everyone seems to do it exactly the same. Sort of "Cavaliers" like in their marching technique. But good!! Uniform!! Guard was spectacular. Drums--they were whatever. Didn't really notice them. Want to know what I DID notice? The hornline. VERY VERY dark sound to these ears. VERY nice. Almost TOO dark. Trumpets--because I have to call them trumpets now--were overbalanced by the low brass. Good show--definitely finals material. Pacific Crest BLACK PANTS?!?!?!? Say it isn't so!!! ((((sigh)))) OK...well--part of their appeal to me has been the white pants. This year, thematically, they completely shed their previous "look" or style of show, and went with something relatively upbeat and jazzy--"City of Angels". Great sounding hornline. FINALLY getting the sound that I've been waiting for. Drum line was very strong. Guard was OK. Visual design was pretty good--different than what I'm used to--but pretty good. LOVED PC's "entertainment value" as they attempted to put some humor into the show. LOVED it. The "disco" section at the end--or towards the end--COOLNESS!!! They're off to a great start. Finals material!? I think they're in for the fight of their life for the Top 12. Santa Clara Vanguard Well...first...I have to share a quick little funny story. Some time after Blue Devils performed and before Kingsmen came on, I heard a voice from behind me..."Ryan H. Turner?" I turned around, and was greeted with an enthusiastic hug from Key Poulan, SCV's COMPOSER (not just an arranger folks), as he said, "Oh thank GOD you know how to pronounce my name." Apparently the name "KEY" throws people at other shows. :P Just change your name to Bob! "Hi I'm Bob, I write SCV's music." Sure Bob...sure you do. ANYWAY--to the review... LOVED IT!!! LOVED IT!!!! LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Guard!! I'm going to talk about you first because I really let you guys have it last year in my review. While I don't take back what I wrote last year, I DO say though that this year is like a freakin' 180 for you guys. THANK YOU!!! I loved your contribution to the show. Horns sounded great, however...I will say this. If I used an equalizer to describe BK and Academy's sound, the levers on the left side would be up high and the levers on the right would be down. It was reverse with SCV. The highs were up, the lows were down. Just a different balance. Not bad. Just different. Music was great--I feel that Key is really starting to expand his "style", just in case he was worried what I thought about that subject. :P I'm such a nerd. Anyway...good sounds. Exciting music. SCV is WAY WAY WAY back on the right road. Thank the Lord. Now--the BIG news. I was dismayed....nay, #### near in despair, when I heard that my favorite drill designer on the planet Myron Rosander was leaving SCV. Heartbroken. Seriously. I think he's a genius and I love how he writes. Apparently though, the "new guy", Pete Weber, who had a LOT to prove to me, is a genius as well. It's just that no one told me he was. Well, he is. As a matter of fact, if there was anything to ME that stood out about SCV other than the programming of the show (thank you Mr. McCool), the great charts, and the guard....it was the great drill. GREAT!! SCV is in solid, capable hands with Pete. I don't know him personally, but I think he's filled the very BIG shoes that my idol left behind. Congrats Pete in case you read this board. I think you have a great future with this corps and in the "hall of fame" of drill designers. I hate you because of that too! KIDDING...mucho bravo!!! Blue Devils ((((sigh)))) I can't lie. I can't. I can't do it. I lllllllllllll....I lllllllllllll...(((sigh)))...I really really LIKE DEVILS THIS YEAR!! THERE!! I SAID IT!!! They're playing MUSIC!!! HOT DIGGITY!!! The guard is actually telling a story!! I GET IT!!! YEAH!!! Drums!!! You are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO important to the show--and you NEVER failed to amaze me last night (which is really not too different from any other night in any other year whether or not I appreciate your show). Horns were strong--but NOT QUITE as strong (yet) as I seem to remember. I don't mean not TECHNICALLY strong. I'm talking DECIBLES. I'll comment more on that a little bit later. Just a great production from top to bottom from the Devs. I was really impressed. They'll get cleaner and cleaner (a couple of strange drill moments). They'll be in the hunt for #1 this year. and now...frrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrom Anaheim, California.... THE KINGSMEN ALUMNI CORPS!!! Who thought you'd ever hear THAT again. As the tears welled up in my eyes as I saw quite literally LIVING HISTORY marching out on to the field, I got myself ready for a performance that would be one for the record books. After years of coordination and planning, the Kingsmen returned to the field with a 90-member hornline, a 35-member drumline, ooodles of guard members, and 4 drum majors.......and last but CERTAINLY not least, an HONOR GUARD. THE Honor Guard of Honor Guards. Dang if I didn't start to blubber again when the colors came forward for their presentation during "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" and the crowd stood in respect. I was stunned. Words can't describe it. It was UNBELIEVABLE. From the warm-up towards the crowd to the exciting "Folk Song Suite", from the entertaining "George of the Jungle" percussion solo to the soul-stirring "When Johnny Comes Marching Home", the fans in the stands at the "Corps at the Crest" show were treated to an unparalled performance in the history of southern California drum corps competitions. The "old folks" in the crowd got to see what it was like and it brought back great memories, but MORE IMPORTANTLY, it was a "lesson", a NEEDED lesson for the young and those of the "modern era" of drum corps to appreciate the history upon which our activity was built. The Kingsmen were spectacular. The descriptions would fail to do it justice. I was caught up in the moment, so I'm probably not the best judge of things. But when you consider the amount of work over the last 2 years that have gone into making this corps a reality, they could have, as I explained to a staff member in an email today, gone out there in monkey suits and stood on their heads, and I still would have been impressed. Congratulations to the Kingsmen--and congrats to those who pulled it off both administratively and creatively. And it's ONLY GOING TO GET BIGGER AND BETTER BEFORE 2007!! You thought 27 was great in 1994??? They were! Kingsmen though...well...I'll let the performing do the talking for me. AFTERTHOUGHTS... --Maybe I'm being impatient, but as I alluded to earlier in this review...what's up with the hornlines nowadays? Will horn instructors PLEASE leave their music degrees behind them JUST FOR A FEW MINUTES and let your hornlines just UNLEASH once in awhile. I barely got that out of the Devils, and NO ONE ELSE. Folks--while I'm on a historical slant here...THIS IS WHAT DRUM CORPS IS ALL ABOUT! Great...you can be technical all day long and do great crazy ### drill and blah blah blah. Great. I love that stuff. BUT COME ON. JUST FRICKEN KNOCK US ON OUR ### ONCE IN AWHILE! PLEASE. I'M BEGGING YOU. --I'm a drill designer, so I know the answer to this question. But I guess guard drill is a thing of the past, hanh? Sheeeeeeeesh... --Full corps retreats. DOA. Snooooooooze. Wake me up when we lose this ludicrous "we need to get back on the road" silliness that has crept into this activity. Screw that. Give us 20 bucks worth of entertainment, and play yourselves off the field and pass and review in front of the show winner--play us your "theme song", or your 20 seconds of something from your show...what is this "drum major only" crap. I'm tired of it. Time to name me King of DCI. There are just SOME things that need NOT be screwed with. Next thing you know, we won't be able to do victory or encore concerts anymore. Bah freakin' humbug. You listening DCI?? BAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HUMBUG!!! --PC!!! You guys--youse guyz...you sure know how to run a show. Hats off to perennial hard worker Betty Yoder and to Exec Dir. Stuart Pompel. I know there are a ton of people behind the scenes, but those two names come to mind that make me realize that a large part of the organization's success falls on these two. Great show!! 6000 people??? That was my profession crowd count. --Thanks to the Mt. Sac maintenance dude who felt as though the chairs just HAD TO COME DOWN OFF THE PRESSBOX RIGHT THEN AND THERE...even though it was while a corps was performing and it scared the holy crap out of me. --Special thanks to DCP Owner John "The Big Dog" Donovan for saying hi to me. It's because we don't talk ENOUGH ON LINE, HANH JOHN!!!??? b**bs I kid...I KID... --I take it as a compliment when DCI-Pacific guru Tom Hope says, "Turner, are you announcing tonight?" and when I answer in the affirmative, he grabs his chest as if he's having a heart attack and says "Thank God". Ok. You're welcome. :P --I was trying to find a job description for DCI judges to see if SNOOTY was in there somewhere. But not Mike Stone. Mike rocks! --HEY!! Check that out. Local politicians finally getting a peek as to what kids are actually capable of besides being bored all summer and getting in trouble. We had two Diamond Bar city councilmen and a state assemblyman part of our audience last night. I DIG THE EXPOSURE!! OK...that's it. I say no more. Hope for those that were there you had a good time. I had fun and am continually honored to be asked to announce. Great stadium. Sucky weather--but it could have been FAR worse. Thanks--I'm gone. (edit to format--that's all I did) Edited June 26, 2006 by Ryan H. Turner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tubawarrior Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 great review....makes me really miss being out west. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BariEuph Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 The color of the red in the corps proper uniform is THE MOST GORGEOUS shade of red. VERY rich. VERY classy. Just great. and getting that exact shade of "academy red" had us marching our first few shows in the black member jackets... :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crashhelmi36 Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 MystikalI'm going to sort of stick my finger into the side of the visual staff. With THAT many people listed in the program, I'll just say, I expected MUCH MORE in technique than what I was seeing. And TWO GUARD MEMBERS?!! With only enough work for...I think it was 32 seconds and they sat down. I'm guessing--but I could be wrong--but I'm guessing either a whole bunch of people missed the bus, or there's something going on behind the scenes that may be affecting people's desire to want to march. The names listed in the program for the guard staff are pretty dang good instructors...so something wasn't adding up. Horns were ok--music was blah. Drill did nothing for me, with some very questionable staging of drums to horns at times. Some sets didn't lock for me in the "well that made sense" department. LOTS of visual cleaning to do. Just want to clear up some of this before I go to bed (its been a looooooong weekend...). Hopefully nothing I say make my corps looks bad :P . Marching technique is getting there, along with music. Yes, we have a lot of cleaning to do, along with a lot of visual stuff to add in (movement, etc.), so take what we have now with somewhat of a grain of salt. It will be better. On the subject of guard... Yes, we have a very good guard staff... and yes, we only have two guard members at this point. No missed buses involved. No one really knows why we haven't been able to get anyone, we just haven't. Because of this, Joe Paul (our guard caption head) has been holding out on teaching the drill to the guard; no sense teaching it to two people if we are going to get more the next week. Apparently, we got committments from nine other guard people, the question is now to see whether they actually show up. I'm just a measly soprano player in the corps, so I have little idea what the staff is thinking a lot of the time, but I hope this clears up some of the issues about us. Watch for us, we will be better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan H. Turner Posted June 26, 2006 Author Share Posted June 26, 2006 I'm just a measly soprano player in the corps, so I have little idea what the staff is thinking a lot of the time, but I hope this clears up some of the issues about us. Watch for us, we will be better. I am sure you will, and you represent your corps just fine. Keep on working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orpheus Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 Great review, Ryan. Best so far this season. B) Agree 100% with your first three "afterthoughts." Can't wait to hear the Devils this year. They're actually playing tunes this year, you say? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrumCorpsRadio Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 Inviting local elected officials to shows should be in the show hosting plan book (is there such a thing?). Getting a few well-placed politicians on the side of DCI/DCA could pay off in huge ways -- and already has for corps using the resources in Wildwood, NJ. Free or reduced general admissions prices for high school band members is also important. I don't care if you throw them in seats at the 10 yard line. They need to be exposed to drum corps early and often. For all the bashing of YEA! that is done, I'm able to bring my band kids to Giants Stadium for $10 each which includes not only a clinic with The Cadets but also general admission tickets to the show -- awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morganhill Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 Great review, Ryan. Very long but enhoyable, none the less. I completely agree with you regarding your thoughts on SCV, BD and the Kingsmen. I also had tears in my eyes once the Kingsmen entered the stadium and through out their entire show. Looks like California will be well represented in drum corps cirlces for years to come and on all levels thanks to these outstanding corps. West is (still) Best! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Who's Got The FEVER? Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 Great review, Ryan. Best so far this season. B)Agree 100% with your first three "afterthoughts." Ditto! ^OO^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guizeppe Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 Excellent job. Sucks about those show notes though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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