Allentown Show Review (7/1)

[Triple Forte]

Allentown Review

Here is a review of what I saw and heard in Allentown on Saturday night.

Raiders:

Presenting their show called Coast to Coast. The corps started out a little on the tentative side tonight for some reason. The color guard had a nice rifle toss in the opener and the pit kept drawing my attention. The hornline was a little shaky in spots of the opener. The tune is pretty difficult. The contra line seemed to be fairly strong and the corps did a good job finishing the opener. The pit continued to play really well as did a mellophone soloist in the ballad. There were a few timing issues between the battery and pit during the drum feature. Strawberry Soup featured a couple of nice small brass ensembles. The marching and color guard work is not complete at the very end of the show.

Overall: I would say the corps is a bit off pace compared to last season. In a couple of weeks I will have a chance to see them at their home show. Curious to see how they look then.

The Magic:

Presenting their show Imagine. I saw the corps hornline (50 + horns) warming up and it was obvious that they have a younger corps this season. The Magic put out a great sound along with a suspended note at the first big impact. The crowd ate it up and this interaction between the crowd and corps would continue for most of the show. The pit was full of life and sound at the opening. Magic’s HUGE drumline was very powerful (Possibly too powerful in some spots) throughout. I was very impressed by them. The cleanliness of the quads and snares for a corps of their caliber and time of year was pretty impressive. The ballad featured a great mellophone soloist. The guard used long thin pieces of material and formed red ribbons with them….interesting effect. If there was one area that seemed to stick out I guess it would be the marching. They need some work in this area.

Overall: Any fan who is looking for a fun, light musical show is going to love this one. As I said…..the crowd ate it up and rewarded The Magic with the 2nd best crowd response of the night. I love this show and I REALLY hope then can clean it up and catch a few corps by surprise later in the season.

Southwind:

Performing Duality. The black vrs. White dark and light theme was represented well with the uniforms. I will agree with another reviewer of this show that it appears (For the second season now) that there are way too many separate pieces of music being presented in one show. They seem a bit more technical then magic but the overall flow of the show felt very uneasy. The crowd did not get in to them much……the crowd became deflated. One item that I kept noticing is that the hornline had some sloppy playing (Especially some mellophone runs). Also….at times I could hear their feet through the horns during some of the more up-tempo sections. The drumline seems like a strong point and it was pretty cool how the pit played the ballad. They featured four separate pit members playing four separate kedal drums. Nice effect…..The color guard rifles were very good as well.

Overall: There maybe a bit of a disconnect between the judges and the crowd on this one. I thought the show did not flow very well musically (Mostly due to arrangements). Interesting show idea but…..a little hard to follow.

Crown:

The first thing I noticed about Crown was the new purple plumes on the shakos. They look good. The hornline is strong again this season and it is great to hear such a nice balance and blend. The color guard is rock solid again and all of the big tosses went very well tonight. There are some interesting marching things happening in the opener and the corps utilizes a lot of body movement. Musically…..I am sad to say I did not like it much. This was a bit of downer for me because I have really enjoyed their shows the last 3 seasons. The ballad is probably my favorite number of theirs. There is a really nice mello/trumpet duet and a long sustained note. The drumline appears to be more visible this season compared to the last couple, which is definitely a good thing.

Overall: The corps reminded me of Star 93 a little for some reason. Some unusual music along with a lot of body movement is probably why I felt this way. Solid corps….should be trading paint with Boston all season.

Boston Crusaders:

Performing Cathedrals of the Mind. Like Crowns show here is another that kind of starts appruptly. What I mean is that there is no real build to an impact. It feels as if they start the show in the middle of a song. The corps is very strong and like Crown…the drumline is more visible this season as well. I like the silver uniform changes they have made. They have a silver shiny sash and gauntlets this season. The huge props on the field are not used much at all. They eventually bring them to the 50 yardline and perform some rifle work and a toss in between them. Cool effect….for those of us on the 50 yardline. The rifles kept my interest throughout the show. The corps featured a few good trumpet soloists and the sound and control in the ballad was pretty.

Overall: This show did not grab me as much (Musically) as I was hoping. The corps is definitely strong and will be bumping heads with Crown quite a bit (I think).

Phantom Regiment:

Well…..Phantom brought us another DARK….very DARK show (3rd in a row tonight) The corps is really strong in all areas. The drumline is actually scary-clean right now. The corps featured some interesting footwork in the ballad. The ballad is very pretty and features a really nice long powerful cord. The show is very aggressive and fast most of the time. The Good vrs evil theme is carried out well and the CG uniforms play a big part in capturing this.

Overall: Here is another show that did not grab me as much as I was hoping for. I REALLY LOVED their show from last season. It was my favorite show out of all of the junior corps. I did enjoy their show from an execution standpoint tonight….especially the drumline and pit.

Cadets:

So much has been written about this show already that I am really going to try and use different verbiage to describe it. The opening is a tad unusual with a silent musical start. Its different….no doubt about it…but I am not sure that it really wows the crowd to any degree. Those of us who don’t like amped narration are going to be turned off right at the start. The show is definitely complex and demanding. What I found really interesting is that the show is written in a way that it does not let the crowd participate with much of a response until about 3 or so minutes in. The drum solo is really the first opportunity the crowd has to let loose with a little applause…. The drumline is doing some amazing things and will be really awesome as they clean things up. Very good strong hornline and CG is awesome with only a few individual drops tonight.

Overall: I had trouble with the overall flow of this show. Especially during the drum feature. It felt really dis-jointed to me. I hope some rewrites are in the works to bring out some wow impact moments…especially toward the beginning of the show.

Crossmen:

Changing Lanes. The corps is featuring a very ambitious show this season. The drill is some of the hardest I seen them attempt to date and the opener is filled with challenging music for the hornline. The hornline was not as powerful as Crown and Boston….but put out a good solid sound where needed. The use of amplification during the radio section is done with a lot of flair and entertainment….comedy. I think that those good ole folks of Madison are going to eat this up. The crowd here in Allentown ate up the show.

Overall: The corps has got a great show to work with but they need to clean it up. Especially the opener and parts of the closer. I am looking forward to seeing this one improve throughout the season.

Overall Comments:

This was my first junior show of the season and unlike the first show that I saw last season…..I walked away feeling a bit down and frustrated with some the choices that the staffs have made musically in 06. I really loved Boston, Crown and Phantom last season and this year (So far) I am not to optimistic that I am going to get into their shows much at all. The music is very dark and all three sound very alike a certain moments. I even liked the Cadets more last season. Good news is that I have a lot of corps to see and hear yet.

Triple Forte

[jwillis35]

Very nice review. Excellent points. Can't wait to see Crossmen's show. I actually liked the visual program of Southwind and the uniforms. But you are right about the music, it can be somewhat confusing with too many themes. They have a nice ballad. Still, they are a very talented corps that i think will place better this year. Boston sounds fasinating to me...and Crown.

Jonathan

[marimbaman89]

Thanks for the compliments-Raiders pit member right here! This show wasn't great but we had a much better one last night at Springfield MA after a week of mini tour, and I think you will be surprised at how much we've improved next week at our home show!

[rai-mello]

The MA show for the Raiders was a little under expectations but in the end, they pulled through, no matter what happened. I would know, I'm 2nd mellophone. I really wonder how the crowd receives our performance. I wonder how the show looks in general. But then again, I wonder many things. Anyway, the next show we had was much better.

[marimbaman89]

Well from the pit I can say that the crowd did receive our MA performance much better than our allentown performance. There were actually quite a few people standing and cheering after our performance. Anyway we did much better at our MA show than allentown, and I suppose that was reflected in the scores. By the way, what's your name? You said you were second mellophone and I was wondering which one you were.

[rai-mello]

Just to answer you're question and then return to the topic. It's the only male second mellophone. Back to topic, Crossmen had a very good show. The only problem in my opinion is they need to clean....using Mr. Clean :P But Volume 2:Through the Looking Glass. The Cadets were amazing on that. The only thing is percussion cleaning. Once again, Mr. Clean :P

[marimbaman89]

Unfortunately our home show this weekend was cancelled due to the fact that we couldn't find a facility to have it in. We will still be at the Wildwood show saturday.