Quarterfinals Review!

[gellio]

Here's my take on Quarterfinals. First, a couple things!

Gripes:

#1. Why do designs design crappy weapons work for guards that can't handle even crappy weapons work? Why not have the entire guard on flags - it's much more effective than rifles and sabers being dropped all over the field, and weapons work that is completely ineffective.

#2. Slotting. I'm starting to buy it based on what I saw tonight.

Disclaimers:

#1. I know nothing about the quality of percussion performances.

#2. I am not a judge. I have never, since being involved in this activity, disagreed with two corps scores and placements as I did tonight.

#3. I marched Madison. Along with the Scouts, Phantom and Santa Clara are my favorite corps. Before you call me bias (because this review will be honest) make sure you read what I say about these three corps.

#4: This review will be blunt and honest.

On to my thoughts. I didn't arrive until Southwind.

SOUTHWIND:

I liked their show. The corps split between black and white uniforms was cool, although I wasn't sure what the point was. This was one unit that had uninspired weapons work, which wasn't performed very well. The drill was nice, and I enjoyed the music quite a bit. They looked pretty sharp on the field. I'm sorry, I don't have much more to say about them.

My placement, 17th (remember I didn't see Mandarins) - Judges placement, 18th (I think) (77.950)

CAPITAL REGIMENT:

I was pretty impressed by there show. They had a good visual design, but it was dirty. I was impressed with the quality of the design and the demand it carried. The show was fun and the crowd really enjoyed it. I didn't care for the guard uniforms at all. I thought they were kind of ugly, to be honest. They should be proud of what they accomplished this season.

My placement, 15th - Judges placement, 16th (81.925)

BLUE STARS:

It's really such a shame that a good hornline, decent guard, and nice visual package was ruined by lame vocal narration. I don't like patriotic shows (except Star '92) to begin with, and when someone tells me how I am supposed to interpret what they are doing, I like it less. I mean it was just silly. I felt like shouting "Shut the #### up and play!" They did have a nice brass sound. The music they played was really nice and powerful at times. The drill was adequate and their uniforms are sharp. It's nice to see LaCrosse back in Division I. I hope they keep moving up the ladder, and dump the dumb vocals in process.

My placement, 16th - Judges placement, 15th (82.225)

CROSSMEN:

Sorry, hated the vocal stuff. I will admit I thought it was the best use of amp'd vocals so far, but it was still cheesy. I am sorry to call it cheesy, but to me it is. I also did not like their visual package at all. Really subpar drill design. The music was a lot of fun though, and I enjoyed that aspect of their show, when the DJ was spouting his garbage. Their guard was typical Crossmen - effective and pretty tight. They were the best part of this corps IMO. I thought there should have been a wider margin between them and the Blue Stars.

My placement, 14th - Judges placement, 14th (82.675)

COLTS:

I was totally impressed by this show. Nice hornline, nice drill and nice guard. A good well rounded package. I don't care for their uniforms very much, but that's really the only negative thing I can say about this show. The drill was effective and the design was adequate. I felt they placed right about where they should have - the gap between them and the Crossmen was right on.

My placement, 13th - Judges placement, 13th (84.625)

SPIRIT FROM JSU:

Ok, these guys are LOUD. I really liked their musical show. It was nice to hear some of SCV '99, among others, played. The inclusion of "Old Man River" throughout was a nice touch. Wasn't crazy about their guard uniforms, but I thought their guard was pretty good. They should have no problem making the final spot into finals. I did, however, think they were scored too close to Glassmen.

My placement, 12th - Judges placement, 12th (86.525)

GLASSMEN:

I think this is their best show since 2002. I really liked the introduction, although I think it would be better if there was some drill to go with it, or at least a nicer opening set. Oh, the guard guy who escorts the gal in the gold gown onto the field has the darkest tan and whitest teeth ever. His teeth were the most visable thing on his body. I couldn't help but look for him throughout the show and it was easy to spot him. Lay off the Crest Whitestrips. I liked the music a lot - there was several great impact points. The guard was nice too. Loved the 18th Century dresses the gals wore. The crowd seemed to really like the show a lot too. Great job Glassmen!

My placement, 10th - Judges placement, 11th (88.125)

MADISON SCOUTS:

What can I say other than I just didn't like it. I loved the drill in the sense that it was fun to watch because it was so crazy, but it was pretty dirty. Considering the difficulty, it wasn't as dirty as I would have expected, but there were times I saw some members a good distance out of line. Still, it was fun to watch the drill. I thought the hornline was pretty darn good. I give them the edge over Glassmen because of their hornline and drill. For being much more difficult than Glassmen's, it was on par execution wise. The guard - horrible! Ineffective design, awful uniforms, and bad execution. They did nothing for the show, outside of the very beginning when they are under the fur rugs, or whatever they were. Wasn't a typical Scouts show. Leagues behind last year in terms of design, entertainment value and execution. I have a feeling they will be cleaning the guard house this off-season, as they should.

My placement, 9th - Judges placement, 10th (88.250)

BLUE KNIGHTS:

I really enjoyed the music - much more than I thought I would. Now that the postive is out of the way, how could this show have been scored so high? Was it cleaner than Madison and Glassmen? Somewhat - only when it was easier. When the drill called for anything remotely difficult there wasn't a straight line to be found. It was as dirty, if not dirtier, than Madison or Glassmen when the demand reached the levels of the demand found much more frequently in Madison's and Glassmen's drill, especially Madison's. The guard work design was unispired and ineffective, and the execution was not on the level of the Glassmen's guard. This was the only corps in the top 12 that didn't have one single moment that wowed you or even made you want to say "nice". Way overscored and placed way too high. If they would have finished 9th (behind Boston), I would have been fine with that. Placing them ahead of Madison and Glassmen is not out of line, but placing them ahead of Boston is, and this close to Crown - WAY out of line.

My placement, 11th - Judges placement 8th (89.650)

CAROLINA CROWN:

One word to describe this show - SPECTACULAR! Two words to describe their score and placement - ####### Bull####! I was absolutely stunned when their score was announced - 0.025 ahead of the Blue Knights? WTF? Crown blew Blue Knights and every one beneath them away. As soon as they started, you knew the level just increased ten-fold. I have not one negative thing to say about this show. Awesome, elegent, well designed, executed brilliantly, entertaining...it goes on and on. I was amazed at how good they were. I have never in all my years in drum corps felt a corps got hosed to the level they did tonight - not even remotely close. I'll be interested to see the recaps.

My placement, 4th - Judges placement 7th (89.675)

Yes, you read that right - I thought Crown should have been forth. They were visually cleaner than SCV, Bluecoats and Cadets. Their brassline was better than Bluecoats, SCV and Cadets. Their colorguard was as good as SCV, Bluecoats and Cadets. Their show design is as good as SCV's and better than the Bluecoats and Cadets. I didn't hear the phrasing and tone quality problems in Crown that I heard in SCV, Bluecoats and Cadets. Such a shame. What does a corps have to do to get the recognition they deserve? Slotting - I definitely believe it exists now.

BOSTON CRUSADERS:

Great guard, loved the music, the drill was nice too, but dirty. I didn't get the whole point of the arches. They seemed to obstruct more than enhance the show. The crowd around me seemed puzzled too. I didn't think their hornline was as good as a few of the previous groups. I mostly spent the whole show watching the guard.

My placement, 8th - Judges placement, 9th (89.325)

SANTA CLARA VANGUARD:

I love this show, but after tonight it probably lost my "favorite of the year" title to Crown. Their brassline did not seem as loud as anyone from Crossmen on. They seemed a lot louder in rehearsal the other night, but again I was closer to the field then. I loved the guard - such a great level of design and execution. I am interested to see the recaps (haven't looked yet) to see how they fared on the sheets. Brassline is one area holding them back. I did, however, feel they were on the level of Bluecoats and Cadets in Brass. The three of them had similar problems to me - intonation and phrasing at times. The crowd really loved the show, and got the VANGUARD yell right. Oh, and a Contra bit it during the jazz number.

My placement, toss-up 5th - 7th - Judges placement, 6th (92.375)

BLUECOATS:

I really liked this show, especially for the guard which was great - very effective work and staging. It felt like the guard was integrated very well into the show. Their brassline was pretty good. At times I thought they were better than SCV, then I'd hear something like bad intonation and think maybe not. They did some cool things visually and it was very well designed, but unlike some of the other top corps it really did lack any "wow" moments. I wasn't sure what the judges were going to do in terms of them and SCV, but I wasn't surpised with the outcome.

My placement, toss-up 5th - 7th, Judges placement, 5th (92.975)

CADETS:

At the beginning, when the chic hears the knock on the door and goes to open, someone in my section yelled "No, don't do it!" The crowd laughed. The opening was pretty tasty, and I thought for the first couple minutes that they were going to handedly beat SCV and Bluecoats. Then it went downhill. The characters, vocals, and all of it were just plain cheesy. It wasn't even good. Are we supposed to understand what the singer, during the ballad, is singing? If not, what's the point? The acrobatics were pretty cool, and the music was great - when they weren't a back-up band to a third rate lounge singer. It's really too bad, because if they dumped all the garbage I probably would have liked this show a lot. They had the same problems brasswise that Bluecoats and SCV had. This show also contains some very cool drill. But, it was ruined by all the vocals. There was a couple next to me that had never seen drumcorps before, and they asked me what I thought of the Cadets. I was good and said the quality of the performance was good, but I don't like vocals in drum corps. Anyway, enough about the Cadets - they've already wasted enough of my time today. Even without all the vocal garbage, they are executing at a 4th - 7th place level. Don't be fooled into thinking the garbage is causing them to place lower than last year - overall execution is just not there. Yes, they have a great guard - but so do Bluecoats, SCV and Crown.

My placement, toss-up 5th - 7th - Judges placement, 4th (93.475)

Side note: They were selling anti-AMP t-shirts outside the stadium. I like it.

PHANTOM REGIMENT:

WOW!!! Awesome show. Loved the brass, loved the percussion, loved the guard - almost loved it all. Like previous years, I think their drill design holds them back. There's no comparison between them and Cavies (or Cavies and anyone else for that matter) but if you can't execute on a higher level than the Cavies, you are never going to beat them, because they are executing a much better visual design just as well. That being said, it was just awesome. Along with Crown and SCV, my favorite show of the night. That brassline was SWEET. If they didn't win brass I'll be shocked. I think their brass and percussion must be what's keeping them so close to Cavies. The ballad was gorgeous and received a huge response from the fans. The finale was awesome! Brilliant! Great show...loved it...can't wait to see them again tomorrow.

My placement, 3rd - Judges placement, 3rd (96.025)

P.S. Faust is hot! Phantom should get extra GE points just for having him out on the field!

BLUE DEVILS:

What can I say that you all already don't know. The brass was great, the guard was great, the percussion was great, the drill was squeeky clean. Man those rifle tosses were amazing. I hope they win best guard (at least tonight, because they deserved it). I loved the guard performance and was glued to them most of the show. I thought the drill design was ok. Nothing really awe-inspiring. I thought Phantom held the edge in visual design, but BD was just very clean. A special mention has to be made about the rifle tosses - holy moly - I'm surprised they don't lose sight of them in the stadium lights they're so high...and they nailed it. I was surprised they were as close to Phantom as they were.

My placement, 2nd - Judges placement, 2nd (98.525)

CAVALIERS:

Incredible, magnificant, sheer brilliance, league of their own, untouchable, undisputed champion - what other words can I use to describe the Cavies? They should be untouchable. They had the most effective visual package and the music was fused in perfectly. Not my cup of tea when it comes to the music they played, but they out-exeucted everyone visually. Their guard was great too. The machine theme was utilized brilliantly and so effectively. The crowd ate it up. Not sure what the problem was with the guard tonight, but I saw at least five rifle drops. I'm not sure why BD and Phantom were so close. I had Cavies at least a point out front. The only weakness is their ending. It's sort of anti-climatic. I was like, "That's it?" I hadn't realized they were finished. I see no reason why this won't win the rest of the week, and it should.

My placement, 1st (by a mile) - Judges placement, 1st (96.900)

Edited August 11, 2006 by gellio

[Cadetsaholic]

drill cannot be ruined by vocals...and she really is not a third rate lounge singer...and you aren't supposed to understand it...it adds effect, mood, emotion...which it did...I guess you don't like the music from "the gladiator" which all the singing is the same way....hmmm....

[George]

next time you think about writing a review can I yell "No, don't do it!"?

I pretty much disagree with everything you wrote about every corps...

I think that's a new record!

[burdettsky]

...and you aren't supposed to understand it...

If that's the case, then who is supposed to understand it, because I don't think the judges do either?

[topsops]

Quick review.....surprised by a lot of these kids. I dislike the narration stuff but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would all be. Amping the pit was such a downer for SCV....killed the sound of the hornline.

Southwind....sorry, I was un-impressed. Nothing stood out, except those shakos....ugh

Capital Regiment....another let down for me. The judges had their placement right though, and I am glad to see them up in 16th place.

Blue Stars....nice to see them back. Not a bad show, not a great show.

Crossmen.....I thought I would puke when the narration started, but I actually got used to it. I would like to see this show again. I was surprised that I actually liked this show.

Colts.....this corp surprised me. Enjoyed the show. Corps are getting better as the night progresses (obviously). Nothing standing out in my mind though.

Spirit.....I wanted to like them more, but just couldn't. I enjoyed the music though and thought they did a fine job. They have a determined look on their faces which will help them in the future.

Glassmen.....one corp I NEVER liked. They would bore me to tears and I always would see them once during the year and thats it. Hot dog stand every time they came out. Nothing against the kids, just a boring show. This time however....I was totally shocked that I really liked this show. I would like to see this again. They played VERY well and marched great. IMO, (which means nothing), I liked them better than Madison, Boston, and BK. I think they should have placed much higher. I hope they move up before the end this year.

Madison....drill was so fast and entertaining. They just couldn't perform it. Sorry. Guard unis, need to go. Music was okay, just unimpressive. The last week of the season, and they are still this dirty? Then water down the drill for heavens sake, just too hard for them.

Boston, I was impressed with their ability out there, but unimpressed with the whole show. Kind of a let down to me. I wanted them to really kick butt this year, but it just won't happen.

I was just let-down.

Blue Knights....I didn't get to see, but heard too many negative comments about them from others.

Carolina...now this hornline impressed me again this year. Nice show kids, and performed very well. Something about them that I like. The clean look, the determination, just an all around nice package. I had you placed one spot higher.

SCV.....so dissappointed with my all time favorite corps. That amping in the pit killed the show. The hornline was in audible (were they playing?). Impressed with the use of the field, but that pit noise just turned me right off.

Blue Coats.....after all Ive heard about this corps, I couldn't wait to see and hear them. What? That was it? Did they have a flat night? What am I missing? Not what I expected. Sorry guys/girls. You worked hard, I know, but it just didn't do it for me.

Cadets.....as much as I wanted to walk out on this show, I just couldn't. I can';t believe I'm even saying this, but I actually like their show. Thought the narration (as much as I hate it) was done well. The drill was nice and clean, drumline was impressinve, and the hornline played very well. The Alice in Wonderland thingy, is too much, but I'm totally shocked that I like the show. I can see them over Blue Coats, but not any higher.

Phantom....loved that drill. Very sharp looking corp. A few WOW moments too. Good for Phantom, but so far tonight they are really the tops. That's an entertaining corps.

Blue Devils.....all of a sudden I am taken in by them. Didn't think I would like this show, but want to see it again and again. Great hornline, guard, drill, drumline and pit. Very impressed with them this year. Now I thought Phantom would surprise everyone, but I'm not so sure anymore. BD will win if Cavies fall apart out there (don't think it will happen)

Cavaliers.....what a machine. Loved that kind of show, so different, marched extremely well, and the whole design of it grabs you and pulls you into the show. Music isn't all that great, but you forget they are even playing. You want to catch everything that is happening. Congrats to them.

Overall....this year is unimpressive to me. Not one show gave me goosebumps or would make me feel like jumping out of my seat. Just standard applause and standing ovation at the end of each performance. I miss the audience going crazy in the middle of a show. The spontaneous roar of the crowd was missing with every corps.

Lousey review, but I needed to get things off my chest.

Sorry

[Murph]

drill cannot be ruined by vocals...and she really is not a third rate lounge singer...and you aren't supposed to understand it...it adds effect, mood, emotion...which it did...I guess you don't like the music from "the gladiator" which all the singing is the same way....hmmm....

"Do you like gladiator movies, Timmy?" ^0^

[LAMystreaux]

She is singing syllables and sounds. . .not words!!!

Its already beeen covered.

[Phantom&Phitch]

If that's the case, then who is supposed to understand it, because I don't think the judges do either?

I believe it was in reference to the singer singing "ahhs" and "ooohs" instead of words.

[gellio]

She is singing syllables and sounds. . .not words!!!

Its already beeen covered.

Well, she had a very pretty voice, but I am not sure I get the point of having someone singing in syllables and sounds. People around me sure looked puzzled. I think people definitely were wondering what she was singing. It was my mistake - I didn't know they were actually supposed to be audible words.

Edited August 11, 2006 by gellio

[gellio]

next time you think about writing a review can I yell "No, don't do it!"?

I pretty much disagree with everything you wrote about every corps...

I think that's a new record!

Then you know what....tonight and tomorrow night look in the topic starter thread, see my name, and don't click!