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Official DCI Quarterfinals Cinecast Thread


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Audio mixing was pretty bad. Pit vastly over powering the horn lines? come on!

that happened livve in Allentown...tho SCV was truly painful

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The Tulsa show went ok,

[snip]

Overall, I was impressed with the whole broadcast.

I agree, Tulsa's show went okay. They didn't get the video working until 5:30p. It went out for most of someone else's show before intermission and part of the next corp. I know some people went to get refunds then. It went out during Cadets closing and part of someone else's.

All of the commotion during the "evacuate the building" message and the strobe lights kinda ruined Bluecoats but it was kinda funny that 99% of the crowd's attitude (including mine) was "hey, if they want us out of here they will have to haul us out."

The audio was okay. Wished it would have gotten louder during the loud parts though. I thanked the manager for having the show when I left.

John

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I saw the previous post in which the poster thanked the manager. I think this is a good idea.

In Brunswick, Maine, we had a thunderstorm roll through during Blue Stars, which caused us to completely miss Crossmen, Colts, and Spirit. The manager there, too, offered refunds or passes. :beer: The thing is, from Glassmen on, the weather cleared, and the show went on. Apparently, many expected this and stayed in the theater. The crowd was bigger than last year, which is to be expected since finals were in Boston last year, and some may have made that trip instead, but that's just my guess.

I'd like to see finals back in the Brunswick theater. For me to send a thank you note would be nice.

Oh, one observation was the DCI telecast on ESPN is going to be televised at a good time slot. (I believe, 8 p.m. Tuesday September 5) ^OO^

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All in all, what a great job DCI has done!

Although I have a few things about the cine-cast that kind of made me mad..

Did anyone notice that the camera angles were SOOO annoying during the show? They would always be in the WRONG places at the wrong times, or whatever. Often they would focus on a random person during a big GE moment.

For instance...

they missed the ENTIRE part with the web for the bluecoats. ( the whole web thing with the streamers)

The missed the big Wave saber throws with the cadets, and basically every great moment in the show. Half the show was ZOOOMED in on the 1 dancer. Realllly annoying, too much going on in that show to do that.

Bluedevils, not toooo bad, but alwaays in the wrong place.

Cavaliers... WOW... they almost missed their HUGE moment with the " jello" like visual. and they totally missed the whole starting of the engine, and the guy gets knocked..

All in all, I would not usually complain. But the camera angles were horrible. They would always be focused WAAAy to close on a single member. I know that a live broadcast is not going to be perfect. But the team almost seemed to go out of their way to put it in the most odd places. I mean, I even caught myself saying " noooo, don't miss that... they can't miss that... that's important".. I heard people in the audience get the same reaction too.

anyone on the same page with me?

oh and btw, that madison guard interview was hilarious... maybe he was really dizzy?

I definitely know what you mean...it's like the camera started out good but got progressively worse as the night went on. I had this picture in my head of the camera guys going, "Hey, remember in the 80s when the camera would focus way too long on one person who wasn't even playing and miss cool drill? I'm kinda bored so let's do that for a while...in fact let's see if we can find a stuffed bear that says You're the Best! and we can just shoot that for like five minutes...people will love it!"

Yeah, I hear ya...

Here in Oklahoma City, we had a very large crowd, almost full (just a few single seats here and there).

Warning: RANT ALERT!!!

:beer:

There were a bunch of High school kids in the crowd, and there were three in particular that were sitting around me (2 behind, 1 to my left) that annoyed the #### out of me. I had to restrain myself from punching them in the face. Not really, but they were pushing it... I actually got some crap talked to me by the two behind me and my wife during the intermission. I had my cards out (duh), practicing some moves and whatnot, when I see these two punks (who were sitting in adjacent seats) take out their cell phones and call each other and one of them said, "Hey, you see that guy with the cards?" and the other one says, "Yeah, he's right in front of me....pretty funny huh?" as if I couldn't see/hear them...I guess they thought I would be too afraid to confront them...they were wrong. I just stared right at them for a while to give them a chance to knock it off, but they persisted, so I leaned in close and asked them if they were talking to me (the whole time they still had their cell phones up to their ears), and they said "no...", so then I asked them if they had a problem, and they said "no...", so I told them they needed to chill out. I always give a verbal warning first before taking any further action...lol. They seemed a little surprised that they couldn't just say whatever they wanted to about me without me confronting them...reality is tough...one of them took off right after that...after the break had ended, at least...good riddance...

As for the kid to the left of me, he was "squishing heads" from that "kids in the hall" skit...I was kinda like, "OK...he's doing the 'squishing your head' thing from kids in the hall....why?", but then he kept doing it, for like every corps. He was also making rude remarks about the different corps, talking loudly while doing so. He stopped when I shot a look over at him...didn't have to say anything...He started back up later. I was starting to get up to go over to him to tell him to shut up, but my wife "restrained me"...she has too much tolerance for this sort of garbage. Do I sound like a bully? I was defending my right to watch a show for which I paid good money to see. I wish I had known who these kids' director was, because I would have told him that his kids are giving his band a very bad name. There were more than these 3 that were making noise and talking during the performances, but the others were at least keeping it to a near-whisper level, and keeping it brief...Seeing the way these kids behaved tonight really makes me angry and sad for today's youth. I don't wanna judge the whole lot by what I saw in a few bad apples, but it sure seemed like those kids would have rather been somewhere else...I say GO somewhere else, and let me watch the quarterfinals in peace!...

END OF RANT

As for the show...well, Vanguard was awesome, except they had the pit amped WAY WAY too high. The pit was drowning out most of the horns, and made their brass sound weak. I'm sure this has been mentioned already...Vanguard should have beaten the Cadets. There is NO WAY the Cadets deserved to score so far ahead of them (or Bluecoats, for that matter, though Coats did kind of have an "off" night...) We had a few instances of the audio "popping" out for a split second every hour or so, as was mentioned by someone else earlier, but overall, it was a good presentation (other than Jessica's EXTREMELY loud voice killing my ears...I cheered when they had the audio problems and she was "muted" for a while...lol) I didn't do the Vanguard yell because I thought that would be kind of stupid in the theater, seeing as how the corps can't hear you from hundreds of miles away...it's a good thing, too because NOONE in the theater yelled it. I could just see myself yelling, "VANGUARD!!!" and everyone staring at me, going, "What the heck is wrong with that old guy? What a loser..." :)

I actually liked the Cadets' show much more without the opening singing, and I was enjoying it as a drumcorps show until that percussion feature came up, and that just ruined it for me. It sounds AWFUL, imo...WHY in the world would you want everyone speaking into their mics at the SAME TIME!!?? I know, I know....it's supposed to be a dream, right? Well, if you think Cadets are gonna place higher than fourth this year, then YOU'RE dreaming...Zing! That was a jerk thing to say, but I don't really mean it, just wanted to put the "dream" joke in there, sad as that is...it is very possible that the Cadets could place higher than fourth, but I don't think it's gonna happen.

Bluecoats seemed a bit off tonight, as Rondinaro mentioned. I was really ###### that the camera folks COMPLETELY botched the job and missed the streamers entirely (except for the two horns "tied" to the tenor) TERRIBLE job on catching the right angles on the camera tonight. It was like they were TRYING to miss the good shots...I told my wife that it was a ploy to get people to buy the dvds, lol...

Phantom seemed a little sloppy in their drill tonight, which is good, because they can increase their score tomorrow night, although I wouldn't hold my breath for them to beat Cadets because of Castanza (sp?) judging them Saturday (it's a conspiracy, man!....lol, not really but he DOES score their guard much lower than all the other judges during the same time frame) LOVED the fast drill near the end with the 360 spin, like the old days, and the quote from 2003 was awesome too....GO PHANTOM!!!!

Blue Devils-WOW!!! I really like their show this year! This isn't so surprising so much as the fact that I like their DRILL a lot this year...normally I don't care too much for the Devils' drill...clean but pretty dull, imo normally, but not this year!!! They do make the cross 3 times in the show....too many times...but this is a small complaint. Why isn't the member who is doing the, "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse" line trying to sound like Marlon Brando? That's who delivered that line in the movie, and you would think they would want them to try to sound like him...oh well...The gun formation made the crowd laugh in our theater, including myself...great stuff. I can honestly say that I would be OK with BD winning it all this year, but I have to say that I would prefer for the Cavaliers to win it...

Cavaliers-Whoa, I was worried before they announced the scores that BD was gonna beat them...They seemed kind of sloppy in the drill department tonight compared to normal finals status (if you don't count last year). GREAT show, GREAT visuals, just GREAT all around...Nice job to the camera guy who completely missed the single member who was "stuck" and the guard member who knocks him on the head to "un-stick" him during the Marsalis tune...D'oh! This show deserves to win. It was clearly the favorite tonight in the theater (though I could tell people REALLY liked the Blue Devils' performance also) Here's hoping they score a 99.20 in finals...

Late. Must sleep.

Oops..P.S.-Why in the world did the filter edit the word for the place where the devil is meant to go to, but the nicer version (it's not like I can put the word here cause it gets censored, duh...) but it didn't edit the word "crap"? What's the deal? (sorry for the harsh language, btw...)

Edited by Cardman
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The cinecast in Auburn, WA went off fairly well. The audio wasn't as loud as I'd have liked it but at least it didn't fluctuate. There was only one tiny hitch-- we lost the video feed for about two seconds near the end of one of the corp's performance. That was about it.

Was it just me or did the camera angles seem to have a confounding attraction to picking up colorguard errors?

Edited by Backstrom
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Phantom and Cavaliers got big applause in Indy, of course...

But by far the biggest cheering of the night was when they mentioned the relocation to Indy in 2008! ^OO^

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Was anyone in San Diego? I heard from my family that there was booing. Yikes.

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Only thing that bugged me was that there were several corps (including Regiment) that made you feel like you were at a colorguard show. I swear I didn't see but 45 seconds of Regiments drill and 10 minutes of the colorguard guy dressed as faust.

At any rate, the highlights of the evening for me were

Regiments Drum Line

BDs new ending

The Cavaliers whole show.

I have NEVER been a fan of the Cavaliers and their music, drill, and guard do nothing for me this year individually, but man do they have the total package.

I can see BD and PR fighting for second, but I'll be shocked if Cavies fall from first.

Camera work was horrible. The worst I've ever seen for any event ever, drum corps or not.

Cavies could easily drop to second. BD and Phantom have much more demanding shows. Cavies are no different than any other year. Of course, they're still awesome, but I'm growing tired of it.

Although I have a few things about the cine-cast that kind of made me mad..

Did anyone notice that the camera angles were SOOO annoying during the show? They would always be in the WRONG places at the wrong times, or whatever. Often they would focus on a random person during a big GE moment.

YES.

Was it just me or did the camera angles seem to have a confounding attraction to picking up colorguard errors?

YES.

Let's just all go to the Rose Bowl next year, and we won't have to worry about the awful camera angles.

The DVDs are going to be a disaster. Thank goodness for the high camera angle option.

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Alright, time for some of my own quick thoughts...

Between Indy and Battle Creek, I've seen almost all these corps live. The only two being broadcast that I hadn't seen were SCV and BK.

Got off work at six, and I arrived at the theater just in time to catch almost all of Capital Regiment. Love this show! Performance has improved in the last few weeks, and they're really selling their closer. What a gas! I don't think the ballad (Rest) works as well as they wanted, a little too hokey, but I'll be listening to their semis APD for Work and Play.

Blue Stars don't really do it for me. A good safe show for their first year back, and it's great to see them in Div I again. Everyone in the theater clapped just to see them take the field. Now let's hope they take some risks next year.

Crossmen were a hit with their radio section, it seemed everyone in the theater was into it. ####, even Matt (Galen) next to me enjoyed it! They're much better this year than last, the only problem is that everyone else is too.

Loved Colts in Indy, didn't get the same feeling in Battle Creek, and felt the same way last night until the closer. Ride has the energy that the rest of the show seems to lack. Ballad took a while to develop, but the payoff of the As Time Goes By theme was definitely worth it.

Spirit seems to have another safe, but solid show. Some neat moments, a strong hornline, and I love Blue Shades, but the difference between them and the rest of the finalists is attention to details in show design.

Glassmen were on again! The Moonlight Sonata ballad gets better every time I hear it. I feel like they changed some guard work during the silent section, so that the equipment doesn't slap until the corps comes back in. Just a fun show, definitely going to get a lot of DVD play.

Madison Scouts were dirty, but nobody does the full ensemble moments like they do. I actually like a lot of the guard work, I like the aggression in the music, the only thing I don't really like are all the follow-the-leader moments, which wouldn't be so back except it's the same shape four or five different times.

I love, love, loooove Blue Knights this year! I got choked up during the ballad, and that's the only moment of the night that did that for me. Haunting, chilling, mesmorizing. Closer is a little stretched thin, a recurring theme for them the last few years, but they bring it home well. One of my favorite shows of the year. Should have broken 90, no question, and I'm pulling for them to get 7th.

Crown also had a solid show. I like the music more and more as the show goes on. When they start sounding evil halfway in, that's when I really start to feel connected. Another show that should have broken 90.

Boston isn't as good as the two corps ahead of them, and should not have taken music to that point. They don't take you anywhere. The performance is solid, of course, but they don't draw me into their show. In fact, I wrote this entire review, and had to go back because I forgot to write this paragraph about Boston.

First time seeing Santa Clara, and wow, they're back. Reminds of 2001, as someone else mentioned earlier, but that might be the guard. Love the drill, really some great moves, probably my second favorite behind the obvious Cavaliers. Music's a little jazzy for my taste, would have preferred a more classical approach a la the 1997-2003 years, but my risk-taking Vanguard is back!

Bluecoats seemed off, I could tell in the brass. Still a great show, but seems like we missed a lot due to the camera angles and such. The tag ending was new and I really liked it, but they need to fix the transition. Right now it's too obvious that the ending was tacked on, rather than a part of the show from the beginning.

Y'know what? Cadets have a good drum corps product. They march, they drum, they play. The only parts that are really unorthodox are the guard characters and the benches, and there's so much mor eto the show than that. I don't like the new beginning; if you've seen last year, then you've seen this and it's not effective - if you haven't seen last year, then you don't get the reference and it's not effective. I actually preferred the singing. I also love the singing in the ballad. Gorgeous. What I don't like about the show is what Rondo and Dennis announced for us, that sometimes there's just too much going on. Actually, that was one of the biggest surprises of the night for me. Both announcers were quite critical of the show, almost trying to rationalize it. I'm used to DCI announcers glowing and beaming about every corps, so this was unexpected.

Phantom was definitely much improved from Battle Creek. The ballad is finally working for me, though like Colts it takes a while to set up. 2006 is the year of the ballad, no doubt. The Corigliano starts out great, but i feel like some momentum is lost in there. Like they spent too much time telling the first half of the story, and had to rush the second. The drums are solid, the horns are solid, and I don't see the drill as the weakness that everyone keeps saying it is. Some very nice moments in there, and while it's not great, it's no worse than some of the corps around them.

Blue Devils have added some really neat moments. I love the marionette. Hadn't been able to see the gun cocking before either, so that's cool. These guys are so underrated, everyone's been talking about Phantom and Cavaliers fighting it out. Opener takes too long to develop, but the rest of the show carries you along for the ride. It's just a little dirtier than I expect from BD.

Cavalies should be your 2006 champion. Multi-cam made it hard to catch all the great little things that happen throughout the show. Performance seemed off, in the way that opening night is always a little off. I expect them to tighten up the next two nights. Hopefully they can pull off brass as they have all season long. I want to see the new ending on DVD, I feel like I was teased with it last night. I love htat they're tossing in Machine effects again, hopefully they'll sell it even more in finals. Score was too low, in my opinion, I would have had them mid-97, but then just about all the corps were underscored. BD, BK, and Crown stand out there as well. 2006 is a great year, no question.

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My thoughts on quarterfinals, corps by corps:

Wish they would have shown more of Pacific Crest, and that I had gotten to see their show live- they had a good-sounding hornline from an early recording I heard and I was hoping to hear more of them.

Academy: Holy #### they were good! The day they move up to D1 is the day about 8 or 10 directors start getting MAJOR goosebumps... B)

Southwind: Ok show overall, liked a lot of the visual effects but it was just too busy musically this year.

Capital: Visually rough around the edges, hoping they can clean up tonight and pass Crossmen and Blue Stars. I think I actually heard the pit tubes last night.

Blue Stars: Very nice show, agree with Matt that it was a bit on the "safe" side musically and visually. Very good to see them back in D1 and I'm looking forward to seeing what they do next season.

Crossmen: Loved the entire show, although they seemed to lose a bit of energy towards the end. My friend next to me died laughing during "Radio"

Colts: I've enjoyed this show every time I've seen it, and tonight was no exception. Work on the drumline in the winter and they're a contender for finals again.

Spirit: I was a bit disappointed by Spirit tonight, to be honest. For starters, didn't get to hear "Georgia" in the theater, and the show is just kind of "there". My thought on them is that they really don't seem to be going anywhere as a corps- they're good enough to safely get the last spot in finals each year but they really don't seem to be doing anything to move up to the next level.

Glassmen: Good solid performance, one of the first corps to really project their sound and to have a lot of visual demand in their drill. Not a fan of their guard outfits (they look like what Apollo Creed wore in Rocky 4) but the guard work itself is pretty high-quality. Thought they should have been ahead of Madison tonight.

Madison: A bit cleaner since Indy, the music's ok, but it still really doesn't strike me as a real "Madison" show. A lot like 2000 in many ways.

BK: LOVED this show, especially all the stuff going on in the pit. Liked how they turned their closer from '02 into an entire production (and also liked how they seemed to tone down a bit on the ballet). Thought they should have been ahead of Crown, honestly.

Crown: One of those shows that I like the individual pieces of the show, but don't really get the whole "big picture". Overall it's one of those shows that I like, but don't really know why I like it.

Boston: Sorry, but they didn't grab me at all. Visually they're pretty clean, which is keeping them close to Crown and BK, but I don't see them passing either of those corps.

SCV: Well, they've got a good pit :P

Cadets: Drumline's good, ballad is growing on me. Rondo and DeLucia's candid comments were right on, and you could tell they were holding back on the criticism.

BLUUUUUUEEEEEcoats: Very enjoyable show, liked how they added more steel drums to various sections. I did like the original loud ending better though.

Phantom: Love the show more and more every time I hear it, but it seemed like they slowed the opener down a LOT compared to earlier shows. The guard is doing a better job of presenting the story, but they had way too many drops. Time to crack whip on those girls and boys.

BD: Still enjoy it, but it seems to be lacking that last little bit of "something" that Cavvies do have at this time. Will be a close second unless the Machine breaks down.

Cavvies: Great show, nuff said. I said to Matt after their 1st minute, "There's your champions this year"

Edited by Galen
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