very quick thoughts on Huntington

[Orpheus]

This is just going to be a very quick series of impressions. Keep in mind that I'm just a fan and a former horn player. I've never been a serious music student or anything like that ... just a band geek and a die-hard corpsnut. I've been watching drum corps since 1986 and I marched a couple seasons in A-60.

First off, the weather was absolutely ideal. About 80 degrees at showtime and not a drop of rain. And I may be biased, but I still think that Marshall's stadium is one of the better sites around for a regular-season show.

Was that Brandt Crocker's voice I heard? - B) - I sure think so. Nice to hear a professional announcer at this show.

The crowd was *TINY* by Drums Across the Tri-State standards. Really disappointing, as far as that goes. Frankly, though, its not surprising -- I didn't see any advertising locally and I don't think there were any local vendors selling tickets. And I don't know if I ought to complain too much, however, about how my seats were supposed to be on the 50 yard line, according to the diagram on regiment.org, but they had the seat numbers reversed on the website and I ended up at the other end of the row, on the 40. And maybe I'm asking too much, but this show always used to have really high quality programs ... all nice and glossy with all the info on all the corps and the standard explanation of the judging system and all the other stuff that you can fit into a little program booklet. This year, it was just a single sheet of paper.

As for the corps ... and I'm just gonna write things as I think of it. This is going to be absolutely disorganized and not at all professional, so don't be expecting one of those high quality Ryan H. Turner reviews.

Cadets -- I didn't dislike them as much as I thought I might. In fact, if it hadn't been for the singing and talking, I would have thoroughly enjoyed it. (It also helped that you really couldn't hear the singing tonight. Must not have had everything mixed properly ... ?) Anyway, the horns and drums are really on fire. Musically it was pretty incredible, and it was pretty stunning visually, as well. I don't really understand the whole deal with the four clowns, and in my opinion, the backdrops are totally useless and add nothing. When it comes to the voice, I don't see how it added anything to the show. The singing was just sort of there and didn't really contribute much, although like I said, it was hard to hear. The talking during the drum feature, on the other hand, was just plain dumb. You can't tell what they're saying half the time, for one thing. At least I couldn't. But the crowd loved the Cadets. The dopey stuff elicited a few giggles, but mostly the reaction seemed extremely positive from where I was sitting.

P.S. Ever notice how with the Cadets' color guard, someone seems to drop on almost every big rifle or sabre toss? Or am I just imagining that? I know they're doing harder work than a lot of other guards, but still ...

Phantom Regiment -- I guess I just don't "get" this show. I don't know what it was about it, but it simply didn't grab me like I was hoping it would. One of those things it's hard to put your finger on. It was a great show: well designed and well performed. Maybe it'll click more later on in the season. I wasn't always sure what exactly they were trying to portray. Not a whole lot about the show necessarily said "Faust" to me and I didn't really know what the shirtless dude and the five S&M guys were trying to tell me. But generally, the horns were pretty hot. The arrangements were okay but, like I said, they didn't reach out and grab me.

Crown -- my favorite of the night. A really great, great show both musically and visually. For this point in the season, I thought their horns were really smokin'. Loved the drill, too. Extremely effective. And the show still has lots of room to grow. The thing I've always loved most about Crown over the last few years, of course, is their guard. I'm not a guard guy, and I know that Crown's not necessarily the best technically, but whatever it is, they've pretty much been my favorite to watch in recent seasons. Love this corps.

Spirit really knows how it's done. This is what those of us who have been following the activity since the 80s love about drum corps. It's not exactly a "throwback" show, but it kind of has that feel to it. I think this show should land them solidly in Finals come August. "Waltz of the Mushroom Hunters" was definitely a highlight for me. Drill-wise, the show is still pretty rough, but most of the problems seem to be things that should clean up pretty well in a couple more weeks.

Southwind -- Wow! Great stuff. I love the "duality" concept and they definitely put it across to the audience. The black & white uniforms are very effective. I loved the music, especially the recurring "Firebird" theme. Like last year, this show *WORKS* and the corps really brings it. BTW, I'd like to be at the design meetings when someone says, "Hey, let's put the guard in orange day-glo spandex!" Actually, the guard unis were pretty much okay, just really bright.

Magic -- Well, it's still just June. It was an okay sort of show. It just needs a lot of work, visually and musically, to get where it's going. Except for a few players in each section, the horns really seemed to poop out by the end of the show. Lots of holes, too, apparently. I will say, and maybe I'm being too critical ... but if you're going to have some sort of "high concept" artsy-fartsy sort of theme to your show, you need to do *SOMETHING* to portray the theme to the audience. Maybe it'll start working when the guard gets their real uniforms. But to me, nothing about the show really conveyed anything that was said in the pre-show announcement.

So basically it was a good show, and I think I got my $20 worth. Wish I'd got the seats I thought I was gonna get, though. And I wish it had been a full retreat. They announced "Drum majors report to the tunnel," so I left. Was there a post-show concert by PR or the Cadets? Maybe. I dunno. I want my old-style retreat back! That's all I know.

Now my only hope is that the poor attendance won't mean that this show won't return next year. The old sponsor used to run TV spots and newpaper ads a couple weeks before the show. Drums Across the Tri-State can and has drawn really big crowds in the past ... and it will again if people actually know about it in advance. I live close to Charleston, WV, about 45 minutes from the show site. If I were a casual fan who didn't check out corps stuff on-line all the time, I doubt I'd have known the show was going on at all. Sorry if I'm being too critical of the show sponsors, and I'm really thankful that the show is taking place at all, after a few years of non-existence, but I just think that a little advertising would have drawn in many more fans.

And finally, this is a drum & bugle corps show, for Pete's sake! Surely somewhere they could have found an American flag to display during the anthem ... wouldn't you think? There was none flying at the stadium, and none to be seen anywhere on the field.

Edited July 1, 2006 by Orpheus

[DannyII]

I was kinda disappointed with turnout as well. And yes, one would think Marshall could have gotten a flag to be flown.

Overall, I agree with your analysis of the corps except I loved Phantom's show, and didnt care for the Cadets show.

[Huntington Mallets]

We faced the flag at McDonalds :P

[Orpheus]

And yes, one would think Marshall could have gotten a flag to be flown.

... shouldn't have been Marshall's responsibility. But that's neither here nor there, and hardly worth worrying about. Gotta be more important things to discuss. B)

Edited June 29, 2006 by Orpheus

[jwillis35]

Thanks for the review. You called it the way you saw it. You need to see Phantom's show a few more times to really get the visual. The music is great, but the visual takes time, and probably still needs some work. But they are great.

Glad you liked Cadets to some extent, and it's interesting that you report that the crowd really enjoyed the Cadets, when we seem to get so many reports saying otherwise. Hopefully they are making some changes to generate for fan interest.

Can't wait to see Spirit and Crown. You are right about Crown, they tend to have beautiful music. Michael Klesch does a nice job, and I think Donny Van Doren is still doing their brass.

Jonathan

[Orpheus]

Thanks for the review. You called it the way you saw it. You need to see Phantom's show a few more times to really get the visual. The music is great, but the visual takes time, and probably still needs some work. But they are great.

Well, frankly that's too bad. Because I won't see them again this year. At least, not until I get the DVDs ... because of work and other considerations, this was my only show this summer. Why should you have to see a show several times before you're able to understand what's going on? I'd wager that the large majority of fans who pay to watch corps over the course of the season only see any given corps once, twice at most, and most of them don't buy the DVDs or watch videos on dci.org. They should matter, too. But that's not necessarily my issue in this case. I can usually enjoy a show even if I don't "get" all the details. This one just didn't do it for me. That's all. Like I said, I couldn't exactly put my finger on it ... probably more the music than the thematic elements. Not sure.

edit -- and like I said, Phantom Regiment just didn't connect with *ME* ... not saying that they won't appeal to most other people. B)

Glad you liked Cadets to some extent, and it's interesting that you report that the crowd really enjoyed the Cadets, when we seem to get so many reports saying otherwise. Hopefully they are making some changes to generate for fan interest.

Oh, I think there's plenty of interest for general fans. Most of the audience seems really excited by the Cadets performance, based upon my observation, even tho they didn't necessarily like the voice-overs or understand exactly what was going on. For example, the music itself seems very fan friendly, the drill is pretty cool, there's several "WOW" moments from the color guard, and the drum feature is obviously designed to be a crowd-pleaser. I think the negativity is coming from a certain group of hard-core fans who don't like the Cadets on principle. Of course, I've only been to the one show, so maybe fans in Huntington are just too ignorant to know they're not supposed to enjoy the Cadets ... ? Take out the vocals, and is this show any weirder than Suncoast Sound's "Symphonic Dances for the Contemporary Child" show from 1988?

Edited June 29, 2006 by Orpheus

[BMBob]

Not a whole lot about the show necessarily said "Faust" to me and I didn't really know what the shirtless dude and the five S&M guys were trying to tell me.

I have a feeling that the shirtless guy is the title character and the others are demons of a sort.

[Orpheus]

I have a feeling that the shirtless guy is the title character and the others are demons of a sort.

I understood that much.

[Lance]

Thanks for the speedily posted and excellently constructed review. :)

[njthundrrd]

Think Romeo and Juliet, but with the devil or demons involved.

Some "Faust-like" movies -

West Side Story

Devil's Advocate

Constantine

Crossroads

or music like... The Devil Went Down to Georgia.