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Incredibly Long Atlanta Review...


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Actually Jerald, we just made the decision to sell the tickets. So I guess we'll see ya in Rochester :)

Seriously.........I have two seats..........for all 3 nights. QF's, SF's and Finals.

Seats are Section D Row 47 Seats 7 and 8. Face value for each seat is 40, 50, and 125 respectively. If you are interested, please email or PM through DCP.

I'll post the same information in a more appropriate thread.

Eric Watters

Atlanta, GA.

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Maybe we'll see you this weekend at the Rockmart show.

Oh well... See you in Rachacha..

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Intermission, time for overpriced cokes and snacks.

The first corps back from intermission was the Crossmen. (How come it's not THE Crossmen? ;-) The show concept is "Changing Lanes" and this was easily understood by the crowd, thanks to various images presented to us by the corps' visual deparment. The radio section, I am sorry to say, is a tad silly. SJ finally piped up with a comment, her comment was: "This is weird." And you know...it was. It was a tad weird, though I completely understood what they were trying to do and why they would put it into the show. The radio announcers were not easily understood in the dome, however...I am sure they will sound just fine in Madison. The Crossmen play and march well...they just don't play and march as well as the other corps in front of them right now.

Great post Nikk. Thanks for doing it. FYI Crossmen had the identical DJ-amped projection problems in (the domed) Indy with their RADIO segment (so we're told). So your "they'll sound just fine in Madison" comment is probably correct. "A tad silly" you say? Perhaps you're right. But Nikk it's memorable. We can remember it. It is a musical segment that you (we) can recall. Like it, don't like it, whatever: Crossmen's RADIO is distinctive in its individuality and uniqueness. Hard to say that (unfortunately) for a number of higher scoring corps. So, try singing (humming) some of Crown, SCV, BK, etc. Great corps; great achievement, but still unfortunately somewhat forgettable and not recallable(vacuous?). I am NOT criticizing them; just opining that our contemporary dc shows STILL need an element of recall for greater achievement (IMHO of course) Kudos to Crossmen for this unique and singular programming. Thanks for listening.

Jim

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Thanks for the excellent review, Nikk.

I was also in Section 321 about midway up.

I mostly agreed with your review, but as a twenty-year band director veteran, I'd like to add a few comments:

Since this was my first dome DCI show, I was interested to hear the effect it would have on the overall sound. The dome seemed to reward certain corps' sound while punishing others. Perhaps it was a matter of centering the tone, as those whose sound spread somewhat tended to be muddy and ill-defined, while failing to project convincingly.

OTOH, I thought Carolina Crown's brass tone was extraordinary; full, rich, extremely well-balanced, transparent and beautifully centered. The tone retained its resonance and projection in all dynamic extremes, a rare thing indeed. I didn't see the caption scores, but considered them to be top five in brass, if not top three.

SCV was indeed not your father's Vanguard, but I enjoyed their visual presentation more than almost any other, save maybe Cavies. Was also gratified to see them return to their mid-70s look...that's the Vanguard I know and love.

As an alumnus of Madison, I maybe shouldn't comment either, but I thought this was their best show in many years and was glad to see them "back". I'm not sure why they placed so low, as I thought they were better than several corps that finished above them, but maybe this is a result of my happiness at enjoying them again after several years of disappointment.

I like to see new corps in the top five, as having the same ones year after year just can't be good for the activity, so seeing Bloo continue their climb was fun.

I know that Phantoms' sops picking up baris was controversial and maybe with good reason. I did not think they blended with the ensemble as well as they have in the past, and while I really enjoyed hearing that all-bass-clef feature, I'm not sure it was worth the toll it seemed to take on the sops' sound for the remainder of the show. Still, they are a great corps performing a great show.

Cavies are just someting else again...clear audience favorites. Great visual book and the hook with the CG member "pushing" the block out of shape until it sprung back was the talk of the day. The sops getting "stuck" on their lick was also fine. As a judge who routinely evaluates 32 or more units each day, I can safely say that it is indeed a good idea to have some enjoyable hooks that stick in the mind, as judges are human too and naturally tend to reward the more emotionally satisfying shows.

I thought CBD's execution was on another plane and was somewhat surprised to see them beaten this night. Speaking of machines, their performance seems so inevitable that it is a pure joy to watch them go through their paces. BTW, was the "cross" not really the marionetteist's sticks? I'm no Godfather guru, but I know that the marionette theme was used in the movie and in fact, one of the CG members carried a facimile of it in one of the tableaus. I did like when it morphed into a knife that then went thru the heart. I'd need to see it again, but I think I saw the snare line sticking from ear-level like crazy while tapping out a fairly simple pattern. Did I just imagine this? It IS just the sort of off-the-wall thing that they love to do.

As for rude audience members, there was a woman sitting behind me who was old enough to know better, but who rarely stopped running her mouth, loudly. (She wasn't discussing the corps, either.) I turned several times and gave her the glare that has stopped many an unruly student, but she was fairly impervious to my ex-BD's eye powers. I thought that at some point the people sitting with her would become embarrassed for her and shush her but it never happened.

Looking back at my experience in DCI, (I saw my first show in '73, first marched in '76 and have caught at least one show every year since) I am astounded at the technical improvements in both design and execution. It is difficult to accurately assess modern shows on the first viewing, because there is so much to take in at once. I'd need to see them at least once more, preferably several times, to feel that I had an accurate read on them.

OTOH, I cannot help feeling that something was lost when the corps lost their "predictable indentities". You could always count on the Kilties to do a Scottish theme, the Troopers to do something Western, the Muchachoes to do Spanish, etc. Now everyone does knockout designs, but they just seem a bit lacking emotionally to these more experienced eyes and ears.

Still, I was glad to see such a great show so close to home (Chattanooga).

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