Kitchener Review

[kusankusho]

Wow - around mid afternoon I wasn't sure this show would get off the ground. The weather whipped up really bad, thunder, heavy rain, strong winds the whole bit and I was thinking my one and only junior show this year was toast. Fortunately it cleared quickly, for the moment. We had no idea what was coming up later..

Anyway - got to the stadium - did the usual pre-home show round of hugs and catching up. A little different this year - actually a lot different this year because I'm not teaching Dutch anymore, so the kids I was seeing every day last year I was now re-uniting with. Great, great kids...

As for the show...

First up - HYPE. This is just their second year on the field and they have come a long way. Nice show, one of the bigger Div 3 hornlines tonight looking very distinctive with their brass that was, uh, brass. This corps is heading in the right direction.

St. Johns were next. It looks like it has been a tough winter season for St. Johns as they were smaller and younger than I remember last year. Only 7 horns and one of two corps that only just make the 30 member limit. Still, good effort and good use of limited numbers. Pit is staged way back on the field so as not to overpower the young hornline, maybe too far back as they get lost in the music occasionally as a result. They are using some plastic barrels to add punch and colour to the battery feature - nice idea but the sound didn.t come through too well, maybe I was too high up in the stands. Great effort and I'm hoping to see them stronger and bigger next year as St. Johns is a Canadian drum corps institution.

Wow - where did Vision Elite come from? This was a pleasant surprise for a brand new corps - I'm wondering if some of these kids are from Cadets of NYC? There were some great solo moments and the battery ain't no first year line! A lot of fun in this show, I especially enjoyed Fantasy and Birdland. They need some cleaning but the show is all about the crowd and having a good time! These kids are on the field in corps T-shirts, no doubt a budget consideration, and they wear them with pride. Look out for these guys over the next couple of years.

Quick Edit - I jusst found out that theVision Elite truck broke down and everything was borrowed for tonight's show, so that's the problem with the uniforms, not budget as I first said. Under the circumstances these kids deserve even more credit for a great performance!

Blue Saints had to follow Vision Elite, which isn't an enviable position. Again, very small with just 6 horns, although they were producing a bit more power than St. Johns. The magical 30 mark is reached by staging some younger kids at the back of the field doing some visuals, setting up chairs etc. The wedding theme was well portrayed.

After intermission Raiders were up. Obviously older and more polished than anything that had gone before, Raiders show was played without a drum major. I was watching closely on this as I was interested in seeing how they pulled it off, especially when the battery was staged behind the horns and came in a few bars after them. I was thinking "guaranteed ensemble tear" - but they pulled it off - no major ensemble problems that I noticed. It may hurt them on the occasional bad release, but overall a great job.

Citations - another corps that has come a long way over the last few years, and this season they are presenting a Broadway theme with music from Rent and Wicked. A couple of things puzzled me with the battery, being a drummer kind of guy. They were marching two snares tuned with a muddy sound, and I'm wondering what kinds of heads they are using, mylar? Second, the bass are mounted very low on the body so that from bass 2 and down the forearms had to be angled down to place the mallet head on the centre of the drum resulting in a non-uniform looking technique. Speaking as a bass tech my first move would be to adjust the carriers to raise the drums and give the kids a better chance at achieving good technique. Last thing was staging. The snares - only two of them remember - were somewhere back around the hash when they played their feature. It would sell better if they were moved down front. I hope I'm not sounding too harsh - these are design observations. The kids were giving it everything and the crowd did enjoy the show.

Before I go any further - see my sig - I taught Dutch for 4 years so try to guess my bias.

First of all - the new uniforms look great. There were moments where I felt like I was watching the Dutch Boy of the glory years in the way they look and carry themselves - the pride is obvious. Second - we discussed the Southpark theme a few years ago and I wasn't all that keen on it at the time, mostly because of the vulgarity of the movie. Boy am I stupid - this is just a great show. Dutch have 12 horns putting out a big sound and I often lost track of the fact that it is only 12 - they just looked bigger at times - good staging. The pit is the best in many, many years and the battery is sounding great - pretty clean and playing an exciting book. The guard had a few drops tonight but visually the package is well supported and there are some great moments on weapon especially. It was a home town crowd, so what can I say? The fans loved it.

I felt a little sorry for East Coast coming on after Dutch - not because Dutch is better, ECJ obviously is in a whole different league, but there were two things going against them IMHO. First, the Kitchener crowd had been on their feet for Dutch and I think there was an emotional drain that took a while to recover to really appreciate the great stuff Jazz was putting out. Second, the crowd was distracted by the approaching storm clouds and ominous lightning off to the left, and a lot of us spent almost as much time nervously watching the sky as we did the show. That's too bad because Jazz is HOT! Harlem suite, A-Train with some great solo and small ensemble work - great battery features. This show isn't quite as engaging as last year with all the great solo work, but this is a stronger ensemble effort show, and it still had plenty to get the crowd up on their feet again. I'll look forward to seeing their results in Madison.

And then the clouds got a little too close, and the wind started to tear across the field. Jazz made a quick exit off the front sideline and through the tunnel under the stands for the safety of their kids - good call. Scout House bravely lined up to go on but their exhibition was rightly, if unfortunately, cancelled. The rain hammered down and folks just ran for their cars or huddled under the stands hoping it would pass and wondering if we were about to get hit with a tornado. Corps loaded and split quickly. As a result I didn't get to say goodbye and good luck to the kids in Dutch, or any of my friends - it was just craziness as folks tried to cope with what looked like an impending tornado. No scores were announced and I had to get on the DCI site at home to find out how it went. My only thing was I thought Dutch should be closer to Raiders, but maybe I have to discount that as personal bias.

So that's it - my first full out review. Sorry I can't comment too much on guards and drill but I have a tough time taking my eyes off the battery. Also, being a tech I tend to look for things that can be improved so I hope I don't sound unappreciative of anyone - every kid on that field last night had every reason to be proud!

Cheers

Jim

Edited August 3, 2006 by kusankusho

[corpsreps]

Nice review. Great to hear such good things from the II/III world. Can't wait to see them on Tuesday.

[CanadianDirector]

Was there too and Jim great review, your observations were correct as I saw it. Great job by all the corps, I too feel the spread between Raiders and Dutch was a little big, definitely right placement, Raiders score was appropriate I think Dutch should have been a little closer. What a great show, what great corps, for anyone who doesn't think that Div. II/III is "drum corps" think again, these corps work hard and have more guts. A few observations I have to add also: Great singing of the National Anthems by the members from Dutch Boy, HYPE impressed me, for only their second year returning to competition I though they were remarkably improved, missed St. John's due to 3 yr. old restroom break, what I heard sounded decent, keep up the good work, Vision Elite, wow very impressed was not expecting that (especially the soloists), Blue Saints, young and small but always a real crowd pleasing program, this is grass roots drum corps at its best. Citations i enjoyed it, not overly impressed but not disappointed a good job. Raiders very good, seemed a little flat to me but definitely a mature corps, Dutch is better than last year, if they keep this momentum going a possible champioship in 2-3 yrs. East coast Jazz I love the program if youi want recognizable music performed well SEE THIS SHOW. BTW as was pointed out to me, anyone else notice the advertisement in the program for the strip club? I have never been there but that's what I was told it was (I will post the ad once I get it scanned)

Great Job to the Northstar Youth Organization a great show good times, good friends BEST OF LUCK TO ALL CORPS.

[MikeD]

Very nice!

[ItsOnTheField]

First up - HYPE. This is just their second year on the field and they have come a long way.

Excellent review! Although, HYPE has been around since 2000 when the name of the corps was changed from Conqueror II. They were on the field in 2000 under the new name and did well that season. But, agreed that this year is probably one of the best for them!

[DrumCorpsMom]

Great review Jim... I decided to add mine, even though yours is better :P The weather caused some nasty driving home, so I hope the buses were ok. It was great seeing old friends & the kids all did a great job!

Edited August 3, 2006 by DrumCorpsMom

[kusankusho]

Excellent review! Although, HYPE has been around since 2000 when the name of the corps was changed from Conqueror II. They were on the field in 2000 under the new name and did well that season. But, agreed that this year is probably one of the best for them!

My mistake - sorry. Although to all intents and purposes this is pretty much a new incarnation of the corps.

Great to see the Conqueror II legacy live on - see my sig!

Jim

[Matt_S]

Great review Jim! You definitely need to keep it up in the future. :)

[kusankusho]

You are very kind - thank you. I love to write - maybe I can get a job at Drum Corps World? Do they pay well? :)

[Matt_S]

How about "nothing at all"?

I ran into a guy that writes for DCW at a bar in Indy after the show. We spent a long time talking, and I expressed some interest in getting a gig with DCW as well. It's definitely something I'm considering, if I can work it out.