MaestroBen Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 Lincoln, NE “Cornhusker Summer Music Games” Review ----from previous thread--- (moderators, you can delete part I) I’m writing the first part of this review before the show, so I can get it posted before I head to Madison for the final MSARP rehearsal weekend. I’ll post the actual review—assuming the thunderstorms don’t wipe out the show—when I return from Madison on Monday. The City: This is Lincoln’s first drum corps show. The Cavaliers rehearsed here in 2004 at the beginning of finals week. There was supposed to be a show last year (with the same 4 corps) but Coach Callahan decided that the Memorial Stadium turf needed to be replaced. Lincoln would be a great venue for a major regional show. The airport is very close to downtown (5 minutes max., unfortunately only Northwest & United fly here. Cheaper fares and more flights can be found in Omaha, 50 minutes east), there is a lot of hotel space (80,000 Husker fans need a place to sleep during football weekends, many good restaurants, abundant corps housing possibilities, and a great stadium. The Lincoln/Omaha area reminds me a lot of Madison/Milwaukee, for those of you whose only connection with Nebraska is driving through it in the middle of the night coming back from Drums Along the Rockies (that would be me before I moved here). Except, Lincoln doesn’t have nearly as much ‘character’ as Madison, there are no lakes, and we have more tornados. The Stadium: Ever since I moved to Lincoln 8 years ago, I’ve thought that Memorial Stadium would be a prime venue for a drum corps show. Tonight I’ll find out for sure, but here are some of the features. The stands are right on top of the field, on both the home and visitor sides. And, the stands are steeply banked, so wherever you sit you feel right on top of the field. The stadium is also completely enclosed, so the sound should really ring. Again, I’ll have a full report Monday. There’s a nasty looking thunderstorm outside my window right now that’s heading towards Lincoln. The radar suggests that this storm should blow through quickly, but the forecast is for scattered strong storms throughout the evening. I hope we can get the show in. I’m not particularly excited about seeing Cavies in a standstill inside. ----Brief New Review follows---- The show started at 7:30, featuring a brief performance by the senior high University of Nebraska summer band camp band. Great job guys. The middle school kids joined them for the National Anthem. Very nice. Blue Coats The first 20 seconds of the show has too much narration, talking about "freedoms" that our Founding Fathers gave us, that, as my wife pointed out, only 1 or 2 of the four were actually given to us by our founders. And then the rains came. We waited for an hour. We were promised, when we bought tickets, that the Devaney Center would be the "Rain Location". Well, the DCI representative announced at 9:00 that we should all go home because of the continued lightning. No mention of a rain location. At this point I feel very sorry for the wonderful people sitting behind us from Beatrice (an hour south of Lincoln) who had heard of DCI for 10 years, and always wanted to go, but could never make as far as Omaha. They were thrilled to go to their first show. What do they get? A promise of $15 tickets next year. Why was there no standstill inside? The show was cancelled at 9. The printed schedule showed an encore (by all 4 corps, a very neat idea for a small show) beginning around 9:30. We could have all gotten to the Devaney Center--conservatively--by 10:00. The corps would have been on the road half an hour later. Instead a couple of thousand people, including 300-400 high school and middle school kids, who have never had a show in their town, leave after hearing only 20 seconds of narration. I'm quite disappointed in D.C.I. I know we can't control the weather. I've been in shows that have been cancelled by the weather. Every one I can remember, however, we performed a standstill SOMEWHERE, either in the stadium, or a nearby basketball arena, or somewhere. Unfortunate. I'll have more thoughts on this when I return from the Madison Reunion Corps rehearsal and performance weekend. -Ben -Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davereid Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 (edited) Why was there no standstill inside? The show was cancelled at 9.Hey Ben, I wrote the other review of the non-show tonight. I'm still sad. I had talked to two Cavaliers last night and they are traveling to Denver, Colorado tomorrow. Sometimes when a show is getting so late with the rain delays, the big names can throw weight to cancel the show so they can just get moving. A 2-3 hour rain delay sucks so much because corps lose so much sleep and/or rehearsal time. That's my guess anyway.Still, $15 for a 'possible' show next year is crap. >:( Edited July 14, 2006 by davereid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gentleman Marcher Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 The corps was the Blue Stars, not the Bluecoats (one word, please). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afd Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 Lincoln, NE “Cornhusker Summer Music Games” Review----from previous thread--- (moderators, you can delete part I) I’m writing the first part of this review before the show, so I can get it posted before I head to Madison for the final MSARP rehearsal weekend. I’ll post the actual review—assuming the thunderstorms don’t wipe out the show—when I return from Madison on Monday. The City: This is Lincoln’s first drum corps show. The Cavaliers rehearsed here in 2004 at the beginning of finals week. There was supposed to be a show last year (with the same 4 corps) but Coach Callahan decided that the Memorial Stadium turf needed to be replaced. Lincoln would be a great venue for a major regional show. The airport is very close to downtown (5 minutes max., unfortunately only Northwest & United fly here. Cheaper fares and more flights can be found in Omaha, 50 minutes east), there is a lot of hotel space (80,000 Husker fans need a place to sleep during football weekends, many good restaurants, abundant corps housing possibilities, and a great stadium. The Lincoln/Omaha area reminds me a lot of Madison/Milwaukee, for those of you whose only connection with Nebraska is driving through it in the middle of the night coming back from Drums Along the Rockies (that would be me before I moved here). Except, Lincoln doesn’t have nearly as much ‘character’ as Madison, there are no lakes, and we have more tornados. The Stadium: Ever since I moved to Lincoln 8 years ago, I’ve thought that Memorial Stadium would be a prime venue for a drum corps show. Tonight I’ll find out for sure, but here are some of the features. The stands are right on top of the field, on both the home and visitor sides. And, the stands are steeply banked, so wherever you sit you feel right on top of the field. The stadium is also completely enclosed, so the sound should really ring. Again, I’ll have a full report Monday. There’s a nasty looking thunderstorm outside my window right now that’s heading towards Lincoln. The radar suggests that this storm should blow through quickly, but the forecast is for scattered strong storms throughout the evening. I hope we can get the show in. I’m not particularly excited about seeing Cavies in a standstill inside. ----Brief New Review follows---- The show started at 7:30, featuring a brief performance by the senior high University of Nebraska summer band camp band. Great job guys. The middle school kids joined them for the National Anthem. Very nice. Blue Coats The first 20 seconds of the show has too much narration, talking about "freedoms" that our Founding Fathers gave us, that, as my wife pointed out, only 1 or 2 of the four were actually given to us by our founders. And then the rains came. We waited for an hour. We were promised, when we bought tickets, that the Devaney Center would be the "Rain Location". Well, the DCI representative announced at 9:00 that we should all go home because of the continued lightning. No mention of a rain location. At this point I feel very sorry for the wonderful people sitting behind us from Beatrice (an hour south of Lincoln) who had heard of DCI for 10 years, and always wanted to go, but could never make as far as Omaha. They were thrilled to go to their first show. What do they get? A promise of $15 tickets next year. Why was there no standstill inside? The show was cancelled at 9. The printed schedule showed an encore (by all 4 corps, a very neat idea for a small show) beginning around 9:30. We could have all gotten to the Devaney Center--conservatively--by 10:00. The corps would have been on the road half an hour later. Instead a couple of thousand people, including 300-400 high school and middle school kids, who have never had a show in their town, leave after hearing only 20 seconds of narration. I'm quite disappointed in D.C.I. I know we can't control the weather. I've been in shows that have been cancelled by the weather. Every one I can remember, however, we performed a standstill SOMEWHERE, either in the stadium, or a nearby basketball arena, or somewhere. Unfortunate. I'll have more thoughts on this when I return from the Madison Reunion Corps rehearsal and performance weekend. -Ben -Ben that sucks. But one thing, don't know if you can blame DCI for not having a standstill. Most shows have aevent partner and they are the ones who decide policy at the venue. DCI sanctions the show and might do the ticketing the but other than that, the show sponser is actually handling the event. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orpheus Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 Should we expect show sponsors to shell out $$$ to reserve a secondary, indoor performance space "just in case?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom&Phitch Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 its times like this you wish a corps would step up and give the crowds their own encore performace by their busses or something... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plugcatcher Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 (edited) Actually, this isn't Lincoln's first drum corps show. IIRC, there was a show in Lincoln from about 88-91. In fact, the very first show I marched in '91 was in Lincoln, at Seacrest Field. Edited July 14, 2006 by plugcatcher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davereid Posted July 15, 2006 Share Posted July 15, 2006 Actually, this isn't Lincoln's first drum corps show. IIRC, there was a show in Lincoln from about 88-91. In fact, the very first show I marched in '91 was in Lincoln, at Seacrest Field.It's the first show in the great Memorial Stadium however. We've been waiting for that forever... :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cardman Posted July 16, 2006 Share Posted July 16, 2006 Should we expect show sponsors to shell out $$$ to reserve a secondary, indoor performance space "just in case?" Yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaestroBen Posted July 18, 2006 Author Share Posted July 18, 2006 Hello all... Back from a scorching weekend in Madison. First of all, I apologize to the members of the Bluecoats (who weren't there) and the Blue Stars, who were, for managing to corrupt both of their names in the original review. Too little late night proofreading. Just a few items that should be noted before this discussion ends. First, a change of decision has been made regarding ticket refunds. They are now being granted, or you can get the $15 expensive seats for next year. Nice decision there. Also, there was an explanation in the Lincoln paper (in an article Friday which I cannot find a link to) about the reason that the event was not moved inside to the Devaney Center. Apparently, University regulations stated that the Devaney Center must be notified by 5 pm whether the building would be used. The organizers wanted--obviously--to get the show in outside, since it wasn't raining at 5, so they decided not to go with the Devaney Center. So, the lack of the inside performance is the 'fault' of the University regulations, and not DCI or the Lincoln show organizers. Better weather next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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