Westminster Show - View From The Pressbox

[Fran Haring]

OK.... I figured I'd add my less than two cents about the DCI/YEA show in Westminster, MD:

Mind you, I'm a former horn player (emphasis on former!!!!).... so that's usually my perspective/bias when I watch a show. So I apologize to drummers and color guard folks if I don't focus too much on those sections. Also, this was my first viewing of junior corps this season, and I really don't get into technical details about any show. If you want a technical play-by-play, this ain't it. Just some thoughts and opinions from a guy in the press box. :)

First, I'd like to thank my friends from YEA for again giving me the opportunity to announce this show. YEA's Sean King is great to work with.... always prepared, always professional. And heck.... anytime a show is within an hour's drive from my home, it's a good thing.

Spartans: Last time I saw this corps in person several years ago, they put me to sleep. This time, I went in with an open mind and I gotta admit, the Spartans impressed me. Solid, confident brass and percussion sound, and one of the best marching styles, in terms of body carriage and positioning, in all of drum corps, IMO. They do need to work on staying in step... there were some problems there. The uniforms look great!

Overall, I can easily see why this corps is at or near the top of Div. 2 every year. My wife Barbara made a point, and I agree with her, that the Spartans' show design gets you to focus on the one main thing going on at any given moment..... be that brass, percussion or color guard, or all three.... rather than scattering your focus with a million things going on at once. That's good show design, IMO.

Crossmen: Their show this year is much more energized than last year's product, and I think the 2007 X-men definitely have the potential to go further than they did last year. There is some very cool brass stuff going on... the crowd really enjoyed the "Russian Christmas Music" teaser near the beginning of the show.

The percussion section seemed to blow hot and cold... right on the money one moment, not quite up to par another moment. Lots of field coverage in the visual show. It's good to see the Crossmen alive and well.

Boston Crusaders: I enjoyed this show! Strong brass and percussion throughout, aggressive marching in the "traditional" Boston style (elbows out!!!), and a talented color guard. The visual staging with the painter's easels framing the hornline during a "trade-off" section was creative and well-performed. There were some issues from time to time with performers not hitting their visual sets.... but hey, it's still early in the season.

There were a few moments when the Crusaders' brass volume seemed stuck on "loud".... nothing wrong with loud, mind you.... but contrasts are nice, too. Major props to the trumpet player and bass drummer who hit the turf during the show (the field was quite slick in spots), but bounced right back up and got back into line in a hurry. Overall, I'm not quite sure why this corps is not scoring higher.

Carolina Crown: Great hornline..... Great hornline..... Great hornline!!! (Now THERE'S a news flash, huh??? :P ) Wow, can these guys play... I love brass lines with a big, full, rich sound, and Crown fits the bill nicely. There were a few issues.... an edgy ensemble attack and a less-than-stellar release come to mind, and there also was a mellophone frack during an extended note... but overall, holy mackerel.

The percussion section seemed to be much further along this year, and the color guard was terrific. One thing, though.... the guard's earth-tone uniforms seemed to blend into the natural-surface field, perhaps a bit too much. Also, the visual pace is more frenetic this year ( in keeping with the "horse race" show theme).... but it seemed that Crown covered more ground last season in terms of field coverage. Bottom line, this is a show that anyone.... trained musician, hard-core drum corps nut, or casual fan.... can "get." Hats off to Crown for that.

Blue Knights: This corps has left me cold the past few seasons. This year, it was a bit different for me. First of all, whatever the Knights are feeding their lower brass players, it's working. The lower brass sound was absolutely fantastic.... bold, dark and rich, like a cup of Starbucks coffee :). The corps' visual show fits the "dark" theme well, with lots of columns, files and lines..... almost a militaristic feel to the drill, as opposed to "softer" curved forms.

I enjoyed the Knights' ballad.... or should I say, the anti-ballad. Very dark and foreboding, compared to the more standard "pretty and lilting" ballad style used by many corps. But it worked for me! Good visual staging during the ballad, too. The end of the show...... I didn't care for it at all. Very abrupt, and it leaves the audience hanging, wondering if that's actually the end or not. It was a letdown after an otherwise strong performance. The Blue Knights are still not my favorite corps, by any means..... but they're growing on me.

Phantom Regiment: Once again, this corps is the real deal. Their show continues to build, and build, and build in intensity as it goes along, climaxing with a smash-you-over-the-head "Firebird" finale that pulls the fans to their feet for a thunderous standing ovation. Strong hornline.... that trademark deep Phantom sound is there, for the most part... and a great drumline.

The upper-brass duet in the ballad was superb (from my vantage point, I wasn't sure if the players were using flugel horns or alto horns), and the lush baritone soloist gets "Firebird" off to a great start. I loved the visual staging at the beginning of "Firebird" too....... all of a sudden, there is that baritone soloist, framed by other brass players. Phantom Regiment has done it again..... combining classical sophistication with pure audience appeal.

Cadets: I love the sound of a Gino Cipriani hornline at the top of its game. The Cadets have that sound this year.....full and confident. And did I mention loud????? Anyone who doesn't think a B-flat hornline can rip your face off needs only to stand in front of the 2007 Cadets' hornline to find out that yes indeed, a B-flat line in the right hands can do some serious damage. It's all about the training of the players, not the key of the instrument, IMO. Cadets' percussion is smoking, as is the color guard. This is a very solid, well-trained corps, with a high-energy, fan-friendly show. Any Cadet-bashers out there may not like this, but the members of 2007 Cadets could very well be wearing gold medals around their necks on that Saturday night in Pasadena.

The narration? Some of it made perfect sense to me.... the opening statements in particular. There's a term in radio called "hitting the post".... when a DJ talks up until the start of a vocal on any recording, without "stepping on" the vocal. In a reverse application of that, the Cadets "hit the post" big-time near the beginning of their show, when the narrator finishes his segment and boom.... on the next count, the corps proper enters with a huge audio impact. Great job there. However, some of the narration made no sense to me... there were times when the narrators were seemingly competing with the hornline for attention.... the audio mix was not good, IMO. And quite frankly, some of the dialogue was..... well...... kinda forced and trivial. And with junior corps, you're also dealing with announcers who are not professional announcers.... they're kids who also have other roles in the corps, to be honest. Now....while those young people may not be the best voice artists in the world, I do tip my hat to them for taking on that additional responsibility within the show. I support the concept of narration and amplification, but the narration part of the Cadets' 2007 show is still a work in progress. Whether it costs them on the scoresheets is another story.

Overall, a good night in Westminster.... the weather, which was threatening all day (it was raining hard in some areas not too far from the show site), cooperated in time for the contest... no rain! It was nice to see some old friends there, too.

Best of luck to all the corps as they continue their summer travels!

Fran

Edited July 1, 2007 by Fran Haring

[chris ncsu]

Thanks Fran!

[Ryan H. Turner]

Far better review than my grumpy affair from earlier.

[shawn craig]

Great review Fran. Good job announcing the show!

Just a few additional comments.

Spartans- Enjoyed very much.

Crossmen- I like the new accents on the uniform. It really brightened them up. Enjoyed the show very much. I see this corps heading in the right direction. Forgive my negative thoughts but I think that top 12 this year is a bit to optimistic. They're young and I believe need another year to gain the maturity in their playing to move up into the top 12.

Boston- Enjoyed the show. Better energy this year. The easles are effective at times but I felt they were in the way at other times.

Crown- This is such a fun show! You can sit back and enjoy the total package! I forgot how long they hold the chord at the end of the opener. WOW

Blue Knights- Good horn sound, but I thought they had some tuning issues tonight. Nothing they're not capable of fixing. I like the guard outfits and how they imitate Russian Cossaks. The problem I have is the blue is the same as the corps proper uniform which is something I usually like. But at times the gaurd got swallowed up when integrated into the horn line and their coreography didn't come through.

Phantom- I think some are way underestimating this show. I saw Phantom at the Westminster show last year (same time of season). The emotion that people felt at the end of last year was not present in the Westminster show. The potential is there same as lasst year and I fully expect that to happen in the coming weeks. I do believe that the overall design and framework of the show is in place to a much greater extent, especially the visual aspects. Lots of bird flocking and flying formations, good field coverage, and the gaurd is twice as far along as last years. There were some great flag and weapons work. Some great tosses with clean catches; they were not reaching to catch things like last year at this time. As others have said the pit is amazing! A great book with lots of beautiful orchestration and difficulty being handled VERY well by the members.

Cadets- This show has energy that others are missing at this point in the season. The corps is talented moving and playing fast etc. I wish Goerge would take the narration out of Blue Shades, let the kids play and the audience just enjoy the music to at least one tune without any distratactions. He did change one of the lines a hated the most. "The guy I march beside is from Mississippi and he's ok." Thank you!

[MikeD]

Blue Knights- Good horn sound, but I thought they had some tuning issues tonight. Nothing they're not capable of fixing. I like the guard outfits and how they imitate Russian Cossaks. The problem I have is the blue is the same as the corps proper uniform which is something I usually like. But at times the gaurd got swallowed up when integrated into the horn line and their coreography didn't come through.

That's funny...see my comment on the Giant's Stadium review...I said pretty much the same thing!

Cadets- This show has energy that others are missing at this point in the season. The corps is talented moving and playing fast etc. I wish Goerge would take the narration out of Blue Shades, let the kids play and the audience just enjoy the music to at least one tune without any distratactions. He did change one of the lines a hated the most. "The guy I march beside is from Mississippi and he's ok." Thank you!

I liked much of the narration, as did the guy sitting near me (also a corps vet about my 50+ age)...he kept nodding his head and smiling...I do think it needs a bit better pacing though...said that in my comments.

[shawn craig]

That's funny...see my comment on the Giant's Stadium review...I said pretty much the same thing!

I know, I read you're review just after I wrote that. :)