notelvis Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 Thanks for the review. I normally do not miss the Sevierville show but given the monsoon conditions we endured in the Southern Appalachians yesterday, I came to two conclusions - 1) Absolutely no way the directors of the contender corps are going to risk injuring a member by letting them march on a field that has taken that much water. 2) Having seen the Cavies do an out-of-uni standstill in Charlotte a couple of years ago, two hours driving on two-lane potentially flooded highways is too far to go to for more of the same. Sadly, the Cavies usually do not have a musical book that works unless the corps is in motion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiosteele Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 (edited) Same with us... Our drill is fast paced, with some parts of it approaching 180bpm - for an All-Age corps - that's booking it. Had we marched in those conditions, the sound of snapping ankles would have dwarfed the snare drums. Edited June 27, 2006 by radiosteele Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nero14 Posted June 27, 2006 Author Share Posted June 27, 2006 (edited) yeah- i do realize that wet-field= scary performance- i just marched 3 years ago :) but take finals in 2003-it rained really hard for a long time and they put off the show- but we went on later becase we gave the field time to drain- but not dry- this sevierville field has BIG old crown on it- which means there was no standing water on the field, and that the natural draining system would have had most of the H20 out of there in an hour or so-- just FYI-- and hoppy's body language made it pretty clear that he thought they could march it-- and i'm pretty sure he cares about his kids... not saying that the field was as good as a dry un-rained on field- but i can say that there were not any puddles or standing water out there- and that there are some fields up in the north-east that have big old sand-traps and other hazards that made them worse DRY than this one was wet-- IMO Edited June 27, 2006 by nero14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Register Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 this is honest and raw- i didnt make a huge attempt in this to be DCI-P.C.... take it or leave it i suppose... and i typed this on the road so forgive the errors...ok... i’m actually in the passenger side of my car right now as we head back from the sevierville show. for starters, it rained all day today which put me in a bad mood from the get go... i’ve been looking forward to this show for a looong time... this show really changed my perceptions about a lot of things... but i’ll get to that later... so all the directors got together at 6pm and had a vote about the show- after a split vote- the cavies said they didnt want to march on the wet field... (or so i was told) and it was declared a standstill- (outside)......at 5:45 it had stopped raining... at 6 the sun came out and by 7 things looked great—the field has a large crown to it and the water drained off pretty quickly and it was in my opinion fine to march on—and that’s coming from a former marcher-2003... once everyone had their seats by 7- filling most of the front seats- the announcer said that he regretted to inform us that the show would just be music only- and we all sighed—but that’s ok- i was still ready for a great show... i had to friends with me who had never been to DCI in any way shape or form and were ready to be informed of what exactly it was all about- i was hoping at least... Music City Legend- i didn’t really get into the show- i’m not trying to hate on senior corps- but i just didn’t dig it- maybe fill in some more later Memphis sound- impressive- i only saw them once last year- but they seem to be doing fine... i’m not a good critic of senior and div 2 corps... so i’ll leave that to those who are- i'd say an improvement over last year? maybe? not sure Southwind— love the unis, they had a semi-full corps and they played well- but when compared to cap reg their brass sound quality wasn’t in the same ball-park- their drums were rocking and they put on a good show- i enjoyed their musical selections- not much else to say- Capital Regiment- this corps woke everyone up- this was the first show that my friends really perked up and got excited... they have a full corps (10 snares, 10 contras... looked good) and they sound great- loved the tone quality- i think they could have had a few more impact moments in the show- but overall- very well done- i was really getting into their snares—who does their percussion? Kudos- IMO- top 12 percussion- very well done... i think i actually liked their old unis better.... i liked the white stripes- not enough of their blue for me—too much white— they put on a great show with some great chords and it definitly has some depth to it- love to see it on the move... if this were LAST year- i think they'd be 12th-- but we'll see how they fall this year intermission Spirit!- YES! thank you spirit- they got the place rocking- now when i say “rocking” i mean rocking for this crowd which just seemed to not be that lively- we were all pretty down for the stand-still— their brass is their best since... the late 70s? I’ve never heard them sounding so good- just rocking out- they had a ton of impact points and it was rocking—looks like they are missing a contra or two (i think i only counted 8) but i’m told they’ll fill it—the battery seemed a little thin (3 tenors, 7 snares, 5 bases) where are those guys? i mean their brass seemed to be about 64ish- do they just have like 40 guard or something? i dunno... but they sounded great- and they got everyone really excited- i was impressed—my friend was like “wow that was really a step above the ones before” Cavies- ...and i replied to him “yeah man! they were great, huh? but you know... as awesome as they were- this NEXT group (cavaliers) is just 2 more big fat steps above what you just saw—trust me- they are going to rock! get ready! so the cavies came out- everyone went crazy- everyone was real excited- they set up looking great- real shiny horns and hats... everything was good—gotta love that big looking hornline- the biggest of the night—they first played their new little chorale by salcetto (i’m sure i butchered that one) sounded like it was being played by about half their line, but no, everyone was playing...”they are just saving it for the show” i thought... no biggie... then the show... and you know- you don’t realize just how the cavies rely on their visual program this year until you see the show without the drill—FIRST of all- i KNOW dci is all about the QUALITY- that’s great- good for them... but this was just inexcusable... how could THAT many horns out there be the weakest div 1 hornline of the night (well, Ok, they were louder than southwind- but other than that....) of the night?!?! it was just so frustrating to me... they are just taking this whole conservative approach WAY too far in my book— i know they will be plenty loud by finals, but... that just doesnt do me much good in the here and now...the drums were looking pretty good- just like SCV’s 2004 line with green uniforms... even all the visuals and jam-sessions were text-book SCV, its not subtle- but they were really good... i can, however, see how they are getting outscored in drums, nothing that really blows your socks off there... here’s the deal... i have the ADP- which was definitely short so i knew there was a new ending- and they put it in tonight- it was pretty good- it was about another minute or so--just like the rest of the show before it with some reprises and what-not... but here is the deal... every single show of the night got some decent applause and atleast half the stands giving a standing O--- until that... they played their last big note at a solid mp (lol) and put their horns down- and THE WHOLE STADIUM JUST SAT THERE... i mean there was some polite clapping for about 5 seconds but then everyone just hushed down like there was more, but there wasnt... their DM didnt turn around at all, he just stopped conducting and put down his hands still facing the field, and then after about 15 seconds of SILENCE and the cavies starting to walk off the field, the announcer says "...from ROSEMONT ILLINOIS- THE CAVALIERS!"- and then everyone clapped but i’d say only about 10% of the stadium stood up... everyone around me just kinda sat there and looked at eachother and clapped... it was really really funny and akward... i looked over at my brother, who was holding the cavies shirt we brought with us and he just closed his eyes and shook his head in disappointment... let me see if he has any words to describe the show - asking him right now as i type me: “what did you think of the cavaliers show?” him: “i’m usually entertained by the touch of arrogance that they bring to their performances... it reminds me that they know that they are the best... but tonight... that was all they had. and i’m disappointed and would be embarrassed to have a cavaliers t-shirt on. They remind me of Axel Rose- a self righteous rock star- in that they are so full of themselves they would sacrifice the audiences enjoyment because there were no brown M&Ms backstage. They, as always, had the chance to increase their fan base tonight but did nothing” Cadets: i told my friends... “well... that wasn’t the big step up from spirit that i promised... i guess i just got too excited about stuff...but i think these guys will be good... i had watched hoppy the whole night (has he been working out?)... and he was shaking his head at the decision to not march- i could tell he was bummed (And let me tell you- i’ve been a pretty big hoppy basher my entire time on DCP- i mean i’m usually polite but disagreeing, but i want you to know that i disapprove of many things he does and i’m generally not a fan...) they were the only corps to come out without their unis on- just white shirts in jeans... and you know... up to this point the whole crowd was seriously very flat- the cavies didn’t deliver- it was a glum picture i assure you—but i told my friends... “you know... i’m not a big fan of this george Hopkins guy (as i pointed down to the really tan adult with the bleached blonde hair (atleast i think its bleached?)) but he’s gonna pick this place up- i know he’ll get the corps to deliver what we need- he’s good for that... and man... i cant tell you how glad i am that i was right on that tonight—they set up down front in i think 4 lines of brass with the pit in the front, the battery to the left, the guard on the field setting up for work, and a dark haired girl with a big old fat microphone over by herself on the right side-- NOBODY- had done anything extra to pep us up the entire night- just walk out- do the show- and leave--... but this was going to be different... they started out with rocky point- and it was right on, man... everyone started to pep up alittle- and my friends were DCI fans again i think... rocky was great- their brass sounded amazing- it was one of the only times the entire night that i actually got lost in my enjoyment of the moment- “that’s it, i thought... that was great- i’ll be happy if they just do their show and leave”...but you know they weren’t done—they next thing they played was my single favorite brass piece that the cadets have done in their history- and it took my breath away when i realized they were atually playing it—i don’t know the actual name of it... but those of you who sing church songs.. .you’ll recognize it as “It is well with my soul” AKA- their ballad from 1993!!!! I was in heaven- just in heaven- (they even played out the rest of the actual hymn that they didn’t play in 93- ) left the whole place breathless—and the cadets were thanked in turn with the applause and appreciation of the crowd—“that’s it- that’s was great- now they’ll just play their show”... but now- they went on and played “swing swing swing- 95/maceys thanksgiving style” it rocked and you could tell everyone was getting into it—good stuff!- THANK YOU CADETS! YOU SAVED THE NIGHT!! next the show- i actually liked it a lot—maybe it’s a visual mess? i don’t really know because they just stood there? but them just standing there playing- it was great! great percussive moments- very clean and powerful brass sound- great impacts- and the music flowed so well—at one point the brass all walked over to the right side of the front sideline and the battery did their big feature- and it went over really well- the ballad was pretty good- i didn’t like it as much as the rest- i may have been distracted by the singing girl- BUT i have to give her props for singing well and she blended well with the rest of the corps i must say- i think in her we have main reason that hoppy wanted to move the control of the amps to someone on the sideline- he was there the whole time telling someone how to adjust it- but it mixed well and i think it worked- yes the last 30 seconds is the same as last year- but it sounded good- and overall- i REALLY liked the production- The guard was doing their work in the background and from the looks of it- though it is impossible to tell- they might be the weaker of the 3 sections- but i wont make that claim because it wasn’t in context of the show—but brass, percussion, looking and sounding great—they woke the place up and got the biggest ovation of the night by leaps and bounds... i know what you are thinking “well you must just be really biased for the cadets and against the cavies” not so at all! i wanted to march cavies when i was a young fan and they have always been either my favorite or second favorite show of the year- i’ve always bagged on the cadets for one reason or another... and i think amps suck... but you know- in 2006- that is switching... go cadets! i think they have the goods there to take it all- see this show, guys! you’ll be glad you did. lets get my brothers thoughts: “the cadets (as a corporate entity) have the personality of a talented artist who thinks the rules do not apply to him. they were the most entertaining, but i did not feel like they had the same love for the audience that other corps had. they were too nonchalant overall, and i still think their using amps is against the spirit of DCI.” he really didn’t like the fact that they didn’t wear their uniforms... that didn’t bug me that much... i’d rather see them in jeans with an awesome show than a corps all dressed up but without the entertainment value... oh well... he was in a bad mood... and i totally disagree with his statement about "loving the audience" i'd put them at the TOP for that- they did everything in their power to pep us up!! (i wanted his imput becaue he has an English degree and is much better at expressing himself in written word that i am...) Predictions: Cadets- 1st or 2nd Caviest 3rd or 4th Spirit 10th-11th Capital Regiment 13th SW ? not sure... tonight’s entertainment value IMO 1 Cadets 2 Spirit 3 Capital Regiment 4 Cavaliers 5 SW what it would have been if it was judged (by me i guess?) 1 cadets 77.4 2 cavies 76.9 3 spirit 70.8 4 cap reg 69.2 5 sw 65.1 there's no telling with the visual missing- but if DCI was just standing and playing- the cadets blew this one away... and would have easily taken 1st at this show... ok i know its different for everybody but when cadets had a drum break for 2 1/2 minutes,no horns playing at all though it.It was boring.Though out their show i was bored.there is some hard stuff in their horn book but THE HORNS SEEMS TO BE OVERTAKED BY THE DRUMLINE................i did enjoy Spirit a lot(yes im a spirit fan)but there music i could get into and enjoy it.That is why i had to watch the encore because I had to end on some music i can actually listen to and when i go back to the car still have it in my head.Didnt have that for Cavies or Cadets! 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notelvis Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 this sevierville field has BIG old crown on it- which means there was no standing water on the field, and that the natural draining system would have had most of the H20 out of there in an hour or so-- just FYI-- and hoppy's body language made it pretty clear that he thought they could march it-- and i'm pretty sure he cares about his kids... Yeah......I'm aware that the Sevierville field has a huge crown. One of the corps I've worked with over the years would always double the scaffolding height on their DM's podium at Sevierville because the guys in the back couldn't see him otherwise. We're talking a lost in the forest kind of crown. Hoppy - Yeah, I can see where he would be chomping at the bit for his kids to march. His corps took a rainout the night before in Benson and missing two opportunities in a row to get his corps in front of the judges must chaff him a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuCharlie Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 this sevierville field has BIG old crown on it- The Sevierville show has been around a long time and that field is well known by most corps. The crown might be excessive, but quality of the field is pretty good though, no holes or uneven spots (that I know of). I marched on that field one year in high school marching band, but with slower tempos and no large step sizes, it wasn't bad. In 2001, I started on the front sideline and had to book it backwards up the crown at 170 with a large step size. :sshh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
00Sop Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 this is honest and raw- i didnt make a huge attempt in this to be DCI-P.C.... take it or leave it i suppose... and i typed this on the road so forgive the errors...ok... i’m actually in the passenger side of my car right now as we head back from the sevierville show. for starters, it rained all day today which put me in a bad mood from the get go... i’ve been looking forward to this show for a looong time... this show really changed my perceptions about a lot of things... but i’ll get to that later... so all the directors got together at 6pm and had a vote about the show- after a split vote- the cavies said they didnt want to march on the wet field... (or so i was told) and it was declared a standstill- (outside)......at 5:45 it had stopped raining... at 6 the sun came out and by 7 things looked great—the field has a large crown to it and the water drained off pretty quickly and it was in my opinion fine to march on—and that’s coming from a former marcher-2003... once everyone had their seats by 7- filling most of the front seats- the announcer said that he regretted to inform us that the show would just be music only- and we all sighed—but that’s ok- i was still ready for a great show... i had to friends with me who had never been to DCI in any way shape or form and were ready to be informed of what exactly it was all about- i was hoping at least... Hey, thanks for your review of the show. I had to chuckle a bit when I read this paragraph though. Don't believe everything you hear. It's amazing how "the truth" can get distorted as people pass it down the line. I was at the meeting and can say what you were told is dead wrong. Maybe this is a mistake, but I'll try to clear things up. I do not speak for any corps other than my own. What I can say is there were no representatives of Cavies or Cadets at the meeting. The decision was made by the directors who were available at 6:00. MCL did not attempt to persuade anyone on what to do since we understood this show was primarily about the junior corps competition. We deferred to the junior corps and they had legitimate reasons for opting for a standstill performance. There was no split vote. In fact, no formal vote was ever taken. The consensus was obvious after the discussion was over. I think that's about all I can say on the subject. I hope you're able to make it to some dry shows this summer and write another review for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hulka Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 (edited) ...i DID think that music city had some awesome percussion moments and the two guys playing 1 snare got the crowd going big time... Thanks for the kind remarks about the percussion section! :-) And yes, Kevin and Dustin, the two that play the split snare part, are freaks of nature and are sure to wow the crowd all the way to Rochester. Edited June 27, 2006 by Hulka Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nero14 Posted June 28, 2006 Author Share Posted June 28, 2006 Hey, thanks for your review of the show.I had to chuckle a bit when I read this paragraph though. Don't believe everything you hear. It's amazing how "the truth" can get distorted as people pass it down the line. I was at the meeting and can say what you were told is dead wrong. Maybe this is a mistake, but I'll try to clear things up. I do not speak for any corps other than my own. What I can say is there were no representatives of Cavies or Cadets at the meeting. The decision was made by the directors who were available at 6:00. MCL did not attempt to persuade anyone on what to do since we understood this show was primarily about the junior corps competition. We deferred to the junior corps and they had legitimate reasons for opting for a standstill performance. There was no split vote. In fact, no formal vote was ever taken. The consensus was obvious after the discussion was over. I think that's about all I can say on the subject. I hope you're able to make it to some dry shows this summer and write another review for us. oh ok cool- you know- it really is crazy how those rumors start- i was walking in to the stadium- and a girl from your corps (MCL) was telling my brother (they were friends in school) that it was just going to be a stand-still and that the cavies had voted against marching- so i guess she heard that from somewhere- (but not you, hehe)... thanks for the clarification- i hate to find out that i recieved bad information- and i'm sorry about my initial review, i'm all for MCL- just in my mind i tend to lump all corps together- i'm from nashville and i appreciate what you do- keep up the good work, i'm definitly rooting for you :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camel lips Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 the trumpet soloist needs afew more reps i think- i know he could probably belt out the notes, but tonight it was muffled a bit-- i dont know the standard for DCA corps... so i dont know if that performance was either good or bad for the league that they are competing in- i'll leave that evaluation to those who know more than myself... I think thats excellent advice to leave the evaluation to those that know more than you do about a DCA corps.That was a SOPRANO soloist and not a TRUMPET soloist. :P No trumpets ANYWHERE in our show. Glad you enjoyed the show. :) :) :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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