II/III DVDs

[Carl306]

I don't know a lot about judges, but I know that Carl Bly, Jeff Harper, Todd Fox, and Neil Sylvia are all very well respected judges in the drum corps community. I doubt they had an ulterior motive to dump OC and put them in fourth. As much as I love OC, I'm kind of tired of people (not necessarily members, they've been very classy) talking about how much OC has gotten screwed. If you can give me a legitimate reason why the judges would want to bash OC, I'll support you 100%. But I've seen no concrete evidence of a conspiracy or any unfair judging to tell me otherwise.

Agreed. We didn't get screwed, nor do I really care about what place we got. Getting a medal would have been nice, but in the end, it doesn't really matter. I couldn't even tell you where my finals medal is right now...

Edit: Also, the fact that you placed OC '06 as one of your favorite shows of ALL TIME kind of makes me question your impartiality. Is OC '06 better than Cadets 87, 00; SCV 89, 99, 00, 04; Star 91, 93; BD 82, 94, 97, 03; Cavies 95, 02, 04; Phantom 96, 03, 06; Madison 88, 95, 97? Really? You honestly think OC '06 was better than all of those shows? I'm sorry, but that statement kind of makes me question your impartiality.

Also: ECJ '06 = nowhere near the best drum corps show of all time. I wouldn't even put it in the top 100.

Once again, agreed.

[oldguard]

Ok nevermind. Seems all people care about is the top 4. right on....

There is entirely too much emphasis given to the top end.

And for what purpose? How many times do we really have to discuss some of these petty little details?

I'm sorry I am guilty of not having written reviews about some of the shows from last summer which I really enjoyed. Blue Devils B put on a really fine performance at Finals. Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets marched the heck out of their show. Sometimes I sit back and wish someone else, someone new, will write an actual review so that I don't have to read my own words all the time.

For example, Mr Argonne Rebel has given us some interesting thoughts on the corps he's watched on the DVD so far. Maybe when he has the time to watch the rest of the tape he will come back with the more (Heavy hint, here, Mr Rebel.)

One of the shows I have watched repeatedly since I got the tape was Teal Sound. I did not get to see this corps in the early season because they did not come my way. I did write a review from memory a week or so ago and was just waiting for the DVD to see it again. I really like their style. This is such a well constructed show. The camera angles are pretty good for this one; the audio, not so good. I had to crank the volume up too high to hear the ballad and I have a fairly decent system.

Over the next few days I will try to get in some more good DVD playing time and come back.

I really have to get some work done today ...

[CSGreen]

Wow, what a discussion.

Long time fan of II/III, I marched it, I taught it

I enjoyed II/III this year, but I don't think it's one of my favorite years. There were some stand outs, like Academy's closer, OC's show (and yes I too would put it in my alltime favorite list, like many other shows people don't think about much like Freelancers 91, Glassmen 92, Seattle Cascades 99--STILL WANT A RECORDING, Academie Musicale 90, and a few Railmen shows); Memphis Sound being MUCH improved, Dutch Boy, Citations, and a few others

Some people say they hate shows I marched, honestly, I hated one show I marched. Some hate shows I marched that I loved, I get my feelings hurt, but move on. They have opinions, and they are just as valid as mine.

[Richard]

My observations, which are mostly opinions were thus:

Academy's show was very good. The first 7 minutes or so were just kind of boring at a lot of places, and you can tell the song before the closer was meant as a breather. The closer is fantastic, but I think it would have been better had they moved when they played the hard licks--not to take away from what they did, I just think it would have been much more impressive....it seems to me that everytime they play a tough lick, they stood still. Great job overall--def. deserved the gold. Oh, and I loved their DL.

ECJ had an all around good show, I just didn't like it personally--they performed the heck out of it though. I would have liked to see more hornline though. What with all the solos, little jazz combos, and drum features, it seemed like they didn't play that much. Absolutely rockin' drumline and pit though.

Spartans had a good show. The little write up is ight in that they take up the whole field with their 'crisp marching style and technique'. However, watching the DVD you can really hear some intonation issues from their horn line, most noticablely in the big hit in the ballad, and the notes after the hit. They were really moving though, playing or not. White pants are risky sometimes, but they def. pulled it off. Oh, and what a guard!

OC's show was performed very well, I just didn't like the writing at times. Seemed kind of formulaic and predictable. Great bassdrum feature, and I liked alot of the drill. The only probem I had was with the trumpet player(s) who would scream on a lot of the big chords. That's good and all, but they seemed to not hit the note right on the beat, or had intonation problems up there. As I said though, great overall performance. On a final note, I liked the soloists...great tone, all around.

That's all I've watched so far.

Muffin

[dudes]

ECJ didn't move much? Are you blind?

Maybe if you had been around the corps on the field with them the entire season, you would realize how incredibly wrong you are. They also acheived a very demanding visual program extremely well. ECJ's drill had more demand in the first minute than Academy or Spartans had in their entire show.

One minute doesnt equal 8 minutes... So if people move around like crazy for one minute and park and bark the rest...its makes the entire package more demanding?

I disagree that ECJ drill was more demanding than spartans... (in all aspects... stride size, use of field and tempo demands) maybe ECJ has academy visually though

Edited November 29, 2006 by dudes

[DC Dog]

One minute doesnt equal 8 minutes... So if people move around like crazy for one minute and park and bark the rest...its makes the entire package more demanding?

I disagree that ECJ drill was more demanding than spartans... (in all aspects... stride size, use of field and tempo demands) maybe ECJ has academy visually though

Demand is for Div 1. Div 2/3 is all about the execution, design and coordination.

When execution, design and coordination are equal, then you can compare demand.

A hard to execute mess, is still a mess.

[liebot]

...

Edited December 3, 2006 by TSRTS13

[janet2k2]

i hope people are more aware that theres more to a visual score than what was just stated, there's also execution, uniformity of technique. now i cant argue with everyone because i havent seen the videos. but im sure if you took what i said into conscideration it might weigh differently.

[acecannon]

meh

Edited November 29, 2006 by acecannon

[Timing Gun]

I appreciate the frankness of your critiques. But I honestly and (somewhat) impartially disagree with your assessment of OC's show... Not that it wasn't awesome, but I'm pretty sure the judges are able to deal with a lot of notes and didn't drop it because it had "too many notes for this panel of judges."

I don't know a lot about judges, but I know that Carl Bly, Jeff Harper, Todd Fox, and Neil Sylvia are all very well respected judges in the drum corps community. I doubt they had an ulterior motive to dump OC and put them in fourth. As much as I love OC, I'm kind of tired of people (not necessarily members, they've been very classy) talking about how much OC has gotten screwed. If you can give me a legitimate reason why the judges would want to bash OC, I'll support you 100%. But I've seen no concrete evidence of a conspiracy or any unfair judging to tell me otherwise.

I'm sorry that we came in second this year. You guys probably thought our show was terrible. I enjoyed performing it and am extremely happy with the placement we got. End of story.

Edit: Also, the fact that you placed OC '06 as one of your favorite shows of ALL TIME kind of makes me question your impartiality. Is OC '06 better than Cadets 87, 00; SCV 89, 99, 00, 04; Star 91, 93; BD 82, 94, 97, 03; Cavies 95, 02, 04; Phantom 96, 03, 06; Madison 88, 95, 97? Really? You honestly think OC '06 was better than all of those shows? I'm sorry, but that statement kind of makes me question your impartiality.

Also: ECJ '06 = nowhere near the best drum corps show of all time. I wouldn't even put it in the top 100.

Firstly, I said that the OC's show was ONE of my all time favorites. Secondly, I don't believe that this panel of judges intensionally bashed the OC or that they conspired to shut the OC out of a metal. Finally, I'm as impartial as they come and I don't play favorites just because they are my corps or my team.

My point is that we all have different tastes. (I'm pretty old school and I still don't care for the front ensemble for example) The OC's show touched me like no other show this year, in any division. In my opinion, they should have finished second. Obviously, the judges had a different "opinion".

And a agree, Madison 95 and Cavies 04 were great shows!