Bayonne Review

[burdettsky]

Another windy night for the Tournament of Stars in Bayonne in what may become an annual tradition, tradition being wind and a show, not just wind.

Whatever that menas, it was a cool night with a packed house and loads of variety. The breakdown of 6 alumni units, 2 DCA Open Class corps, 1 DCA Class A corps, and a DCI Div. 2 corps to boot.

Emerald Grenadears had a fine opening to the show. They souded much improved from last year, most notably they had a hot percussion section (and anyone who knows they're an all-girl corps, I am referring to their playing when I say hot, I am not some kind of sexist or person looking to score a date , but they seemd like nice enough people)

The mellophone section was extrmely strong as this group provided another fine opening to the Tournament of Stars.

Sunrisers were next presenting what looked like about half of their production based on the music of Cirque du Soliel. They had a full guard and percussion section, but seemed to be lacking a bit in the percussion, but balance did not seem to be a problem in the early going for this corps. Some really nice things happening here, but lots of timing problems between battery and horns. Honestly, this was noticed with a lot of corps and I think wind probably had a lot to do with it as it was blowing directly into the faces of the performers. Anyhow, the Sunrisers will no doubt continue to improve and polish and should be a strong contender in the large Class A race at DCA.

Skyliners Alumni were next and as the t-shirt said, they invented playing loud. Don't get me wrong, it was a nice sound in what appeared to be a slightly smaller group than usual. Hava Nagilah is always a show-stopper with a fine trio of soprano soloists. Elk's Parade brought the house down and is always a hit with fans.

Park City Pride was up next and what a performance. This group continues to improve each year, adding some more drill this year to their presentation. In addition to their six person rifle line who doubles on cymbals with lots of class and gusto, the corps backdrop is a very large and able color guard that steals the show in the closing presentation of America. The sound is always strong from the brass line with a wonderful balance. Show sponsors, don't hesitate to add this group to your show, you won't be disappointed.

Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights closed the first half of the show with their usual display of musicianship and technical playing. Bugler's Holiday is a heck of a piece to open with but they perform it quite well. The Patriotic selections seemed to be the most well-received by the audience. One suggestion might be to close with the color presentation as many newcomers to the audience thought your show was complete. In any event, Blessed Sac did a fantastic job to round out the first half.

Intermission was nice, I bought a bottle of water.

Hawthorne Caballeros Alumni Corps opened the 2nd half of the program with a vengance. An incredible musical book was evident throughout as this corps performed to new levels of brilliance. Frank Ponzo probably had one of the best performance nights of his life as he could do no wrong. A friend of mine with me was at his first show and is a fine trumpet player. He heard Frank's first notes and said, "Wow, he has a nice sound". By the end, he was astonished and impressed and I think the performance of this group iswhat he'll take with him the most. Enchano, Flamenco Cha Cha, and many others, what a show!

The Hawthorne Caballeros competing corps was up next and had a tough draw, trying to follow their alumni corps, but they had no trouble at all with a unique arrangement of Carmen that should impress DCA audiences throughout the season. The visuals are much improved from last year, most noticably in the large, talented color guard. The closing rumps are extremely creative and this show should gain plenty of momentum asd the season progresses. Next up were the DCA Champion Reading Buccaneers performing their 50th anniversary production. This corps was so good that I didn't notice until the 2nd piece that the color guard was not there. So did Steve Vickers who was sitting beside me, and he's a Hall of Famer!! But I digress, I will say it is going to take a herculean effort to unseat this corps from their championship, not that the corps of DCA aren't up for the challenge. This show reminds me of thir 2005 show and the bass line made me laugh several times and what they are pulling off. This show is a must see for fans of DCA or anything else.

Jersey Surf perofrmed next with a complete show which a staff member told me was just completed recently. Without the benefit of a program I don't know the concept of the show, but I swear I heard California Dreaming and the theme from Shaft in there. In any event, this is a full group with lots of potential and appears in better shape than they were last season at this exhibition. Drum line overpowers a bit at times, but I'm sure tentativeness from all performers contributes to this. In time, all should be well in the land of Surf as they head to the west coast with the much better waves.

And of course, Bridgemen closed the show with the pizzaz and showmanship that all would come to expect. A great mix of music. Those who come to expect zaniness from them would be shocked at the complexity of the opening piece from the 1978 show. Favorte Things contains not only one of the best drum solos you could see, but the absolute best brass reentry after a solo in drum corps where the volume gets turned up to 13 or so. Danny Boy was a nice tough as was In The Stone. But for my $15, nothing beats the William Tell Finale. The Jersey Surf Brass section joined the Bridgemen for a finale of Battle Hymn.

Another spectacular show and well worth the 2 1/2 hour drive and $15. A great start to the season for many corps and fans alike.

[SUNSNARE07]

Another windy night for the Tournament of Stars in Bayonne in what may become an annual tradition, tradition being wind and a show, not just wind.

Whatever that menas, it was a cool night with a packed house and loads of variety. The breakdown of 6 alumni units, 2 DCA Open Class corps, 1 DCA Class A corps, and a DCI Div. 2 corps to boot.

Emerald Grenadears had a fine opening to the show. They souded much improved from last year, most notably they had a hot percussion section (and anyone who knows they're an all-girl corps, I am referring to their playing when I say hot, I am not some kind of sexist or person looking to score a date , but they seemd like nice enough people)

The mellophone section was extrmely strong as this group provided another fine opening to the Tournament of Stars.

Sunrisers were next presenting what looked like about half of their production based on the music of Cirque du Soliel. They had a full guard and percussion section, but seemed to be lacking a bit in the percussion, but balance did not seem to be a problem in the early going for this corps. Some really nice things happening here, but lots of timing problems between battery and horns. Honestly, this was noticed with a lot of corps and I think wind probably had a lot to do with it as it was blowing directly into the faces of the performers. Anyhow, the Sunrisers will no doubt continue to improve and polish and should be a strong contender in the large Class A race at DCA.

Skyliners Alumni were next and as the t-shirt said, they invented playing loud. Don't get me wrong, it was a nice sound in what appeared to be a slightly smaller group than usual. Hava Nagilah is always a show-stopper with a fine trio of soprano soloists. Elk's Parade brought the house down and is always a hit with fans.

Park City Pride was up next and what a performance. This group continues to improve each year, adding some more drill this year to their presentation. In addition to their six person rifle line who doubles on cymbals with lots of class and gusto, the corps backdrop is a very large and able color guard that steals the show in the closing presentation of America. The sound is always strong from the brass line with a wonderful balance. Show sponsors, don't hesitate to add this group to your show, you won't be disappointed.

Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights closed the first half of the show with their usual display of musicianship and technical playing. Bugler's Holiday is a heck of a piece to open with but they perform it quite well. The Patriotic selections seemed to be the most well-received by the audience. One suggestion might be to close with the color presentation as many newcomers to the audience thought your show was complete. In any event, Blessed Sac did a fantastic job to round out the first half.

Intermission was nice, I bought a bottle of water.

Hawthorne Caballeros Alumni Corps opened the 2nd half of the program with a vengance. An incredible musical book was evident throughout as this corps performed to new levels of brilliance. Frank Ponzo probably had one of the best performance nights of his life as he could do no wrong. A friend of mine with me was at his first show and is a fine trumpet player. He heard Frank's first notes and said, "Wow, he has a nice sound". By the end, he was astonished and impressed and I think the performance of this group iswhat he'll take with him the most. Enchano, Flamenco Cha Cha, and many others, what a show!

The Hawthorne Caballeros competing corps was up next and had a tough draw, trying to follow their alumni corps, but they had no trouble at all with a unique arrangement of Carmen that should impress DCA audiences throughout the season. The visuals are much improved from last year, most noticably in the large, talented color guard. The closing rumps are extremely creative and this show should gain plenty of momentum asd the season progresses. Next up were the DCA Champion Reading Buccaneers performing their 50th anniversary production. This corps was so good that I didn't notice until the 2nd piece that the color guard was not there. So did Steve Vickers who was sitting beside me, and he's a Hall of Famer!! But I digress, I will say it is going to take a herculean effort to unseat this corps from their championship, not that the corps of DCA aren't up for the challenge. This show reminds me of thir 2005 show and the bass line made me laugh several times and what they are pulling off. This show is a must see for fans of DCA or anything else.

Jersey Surf perofrmed next with a complete show which a staff member told me was just completed recently. Without the benefit of a program I don't know the concept of the show, but I swear I heard California Dreaming and the theme from Shaft in there. In any event, this is a full group with lots of potential and appears in better shape than they were last season at this exhibition. Drum line overpowers a bit at times, but I'm sure tentativeness from all performers contributes to this. In time, all should be well in the land of Surf as they head to the west coast with the much better waves.

And of course, Bridgemen closed the show with the pizzaz and showmanship that all would come to expect. A great mix of music. Those who come to expect zaniness from them would be shocked at the complexity of the opening piece from the 1978 show. Favorte Things contains not only one of the best drum solos you could see, but the absolute best brass reentry after a solo in drum corps where the volume gets turned up to 13 or so. Danny Boy was a nice tough as was In The Stone. But for my $15, nothing beats the William Tell Finale. The Jersey Surf Brass section joined the Bridgemen for a finale of Battle Hymn.

Another spectacular show and well worth the 2 1/2 hour drive and $15. A great start to the season for many corps and fans alike.

A very nice review, thaks very much, as for the show in general, it was a great show, unfortuanately the wind coming off the river hurt each corps, especially in colorguard and in overall musical ensemble balance. I only had a chance to see Cabs Alum and Sky Alum, and I must say, YOU GUYS ROCK!!!! I especially enjoyed the Cabs Alumni performance of Echano being a huge Mangione fan and having played that with my school so as soon as I heard you guys rock out with that chart, I called my friend who was the soloist in my band's version of Echano and said dude, you gotta Cabs Alumni!!! SKY Alumni was also really great, you guys are the real deal, and its awesome to hear you guys play, especially really LOUD!!! Loud is definitely good LOL!!! and I must say you guys are really class acts, thanx for your support as we marched by you guys before our performance and thanks very much for the cake in the lot after the show. I also watched Jersey Surf's drumline warm up in the lot and they definitely are a lot better than they were last year, still some issues though, some technique problems and some noticeable dirt in the book but the book is challenging and the kids are pulling it off pretty well and should be pretty tight by August, hopefully in a year or two I will be marching with them or somewhere in DCI. Anyway overall, great show, great atmosphere great people and good times had by all, congrats to the Bridgemen on a job well done with planning and hope to see everyone again next year, best of luck to all the corps

Edited June 24, 2007 by SUNSNARE06

[Fran Haring]

Hey Adam.... good to see you in Bayonne!

Ya know something? We didn't realize the Bucs' guard wasn't there, either.... so you and Steve aren't alone!!!! :P

Fran

[RUFreak]

Hey Everyone,

If you are interested in receiving email updates from the Jersey Surf as they travel this summer, register for the email list.

http://www.jerseysurf.org/tour/index.html

See you on the road!

[Chicago Ski]

Agree with all the above comments. A little windy, but it was a great night for a drum corps show. I had never been to Bayonne, and was pleasantly surprised what a nice city it is.

Sky alumni were loud, Cabs alumni were outstanding (particularly the soloists), Cabs all-age had an unfortunate draw having to follow the Alumni. Bridgemen brought the house down.

First time I ever saw Jersey Surf. I thought they were as entertaining if not more so than Buccaneers. I like the music selection of Jersey Surf and thought it was well arranged and well played. The combined Battle Hymn with Bridgemen at the end was a nice touch.

Great show!

[lp1955]

Ya know something? We didn't realize the Bucs' guard wasn't there, either.... so you and Steve aren't alone!!!! :P

Fran

Make that me too I think they are going to be tough to beat this year. But I haven't seen Bush or Empire yet.

[MikeD]

Hey Everyone,

If you are interested in receiving email updates from the Jersey Surf as they travel this summer, register for the email list.

http://www.jerseysurf.org/tour/index.html

See you on the road!

I saw your caravan of busses and truck on 130 going through East Windsor around 5:45 PM Saturday. I wondered where you were going.

[overthehillDM]

Agree with all the above comments. A little windy, but it was a great night for a drum corps show. I had never been to Bayonne, and was pleasantly surprised what a nice city it is.

Sky alumni were loud, Cabs alumni were outstanding (particularly the soloists), Cabs all-age had an unfortunate draw having to follow the Alumni. Bridgemen brought the house down.

First time I ever saw Jersey Surf. I thought they were as entertaining if not more so than Buccaneers. I like the music selection of Jersey Surf and thought it was well arranged and well played. The combined Battle Hymn with Bridgemen at the end was a nice touch.

Great show!

Bayonne IS a nice city, isn't it? :)

Even though I didn't grow up there, I did some "growing up" there, and I feel like Bayonne is my real hometown.

It has that effect on a lot of people. I just love the city of Bayonne, and the people that live there! And they are very, very good to the Bridgemen, and very supportive of our efforts!

Thank you for your kind words, and for the kind words from everyone else!

We all had so much fun at the Tournament of Stars!

Thanks to everyone that performed. You were all wonderful!!!

Especially to the ladies from the Emerald Grenadears, and to my own Bridgemen brothers, and sisters!

And thanks to everyone on our outstanding support staff, for your efforts! The show ran beautifully, and everyone enjoyed themselves!

Finally, thanks to all that attended, and provided such a wonderful, warm reception for all of the participants!

Your kindness, love, and enormous displays of affection are very much appreciated by everyone that stood on that field!!!

Have a great season everyone!!!!!!

[overthehillDM]

I saw your caravan of busses and truck on 130 going through East Windsor around 5:45 PM Saturday. I wondered where you were going.

Hey Mike,

You mean, you missed all of our publicity, especially here on DCP???

You missed a great show, right in your own backyard!

Regards,

Jim

[RUFreak]

I saw your caravan of busses and truck on 130 going through East Windsor around 5:45 PM Saturday. I wondered where you were going.

Trying to avoid the Turnpike traffic at the merge on a Saturday afternoon. Anyone who lives between exits 6 and 8A on the NJ turnpike knows exactly what I'm talking about!