Cadets of Bergen County..86.8 (All Captions) Crossmen.................79.6 Bluecoats................79.0 Carolina Crown...........73.0 Magic of Orlando.........71.5 Spirit of Atlanta........69.7 Boston Crusaders.........65.4 Kiwanis Kavaliers........63.3 Les 'Etoiles.............60.7 Thanks to Mike Ferlazzo for emailing us these scores!
A glorious day for daytime drum and bugle corps (mostly sunny, highs in low 80s, slight breeze, no humidity). The glow of the lengthening afternoon sun made the final few corps particularly colorful. Hersheypark Stadium was filled between the 10s.
Review of participating units in order of appearance.
(Note: All impressions are to be accepted as gospel truth. But don't flame me; I can't take the heat.)
Northern Lights Marching Band: Not a bad performance of Pat Metheny's First Circle. Loud at times, with power, and kids were really performing and maxing it out out there. But as posted by someone else earlier this week on RAMD, why have woodwinds if you're going to just march them around the back of the field?
I heard flutes and clarinets about twice. Adding woodwinds to an on-field mix is foolish if you don't feature them. Enough of us have heard good marching band woodwind sections used well to know that it can be done.
US Marine Drum and Bugle Corps: Lately it seems to have become fashionable on RAMD to slam the Marine Drum and Bugle Corps. My question: Why? Sure, they trade off speed for playing musically (and together). And sure, they're kind of vanilla to watch. But I'll take it. I loved the Glad arrangement of "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" and the laid-back version of "Ensueno." Their backfield playing is spectacularly well done. The few and the proud did themselves proud in Hershey.
Spirit of Atlanta: Mark Thurston's percussion writing has a unique stamp, and he's brought it to Spirit. The brass book is also very demanding, with the mellophones having some killer runs in "Swanee River". They kind of get lost in the muddle, though; maybe they could be doubled an octave down and that would help? Precious Lord, Take My Hand features some wonderful guard staging and a very mature musical treatment. The finale of "Sweet Georgia Brown" is a lot of fun and has a lot of potential, but the brass are tiring near the end of the show. As the judges indicated by their scoring, if the show can be given firmer definition, Spirit will challenge for finals.
Les 'Etoiles: I like the darkness of the arrangements of music from recent action movies "The Rock" and "Dante's Peak". More low brass would help. The high voices tend to overbalance them. The seven sopranos play very well. For about 3/4 of the show the field battery are playing eight quads and eight basses. 1/4 is 8 snares and 8 basses. The large # of quads lend themselves to the dark texture, however, it seems as if the pit has most of the material. And the spinning drummers do nothing for me. It looked like they imported a thrill ride from neighboring Hersheypark.
Boston Crusaders: My program bears the words: "sop. ouch!" But there is a wonderful baritone soloist in the ballad. The best part of the show, to my mind is "Conquest." There is a lot of potential with good solid traditional drill evolutions and neat flags at the end of the show bearing the Boston "lion" designs. Again, the brass section needs to endure.
Kiwanis Kavaliers: Rhapsody in Blue was a bad choice for Spirit of Atlanta of 1996, and An American in Paris is a bad choice for Kavaliers this year. Why? Because there is no flow established in either piece. In his book "The Joy of Music" Leonard Bernstein explains how both of these pieces are basically great melodies stitched together by little bits of music. In other words, no development. So I wish what Kavaliers''s arrangers would have done is rearranged the melodies so they would flow in more of a drum corps style. I also wish the bright tops would be on the guard the whole show instead of just at the end. The rhythm picks up nicely at the end, and the kids have the potential to make this one work better.
Magic of Orlando: Great volume! Good definition from the horn line and good ensemble sound. I really enjoy the mellophone soloist in the middle number. Percussion unmemorable. This is the first corps that I enjoyed the drum solo drill. Question: will they jazz up the end?
Carolina Crown: At this point in the season, the design is way ahead of execution, although Crown does a decent job at performing all aspects of the show. But for the second straight year, I am really impressed by the guard staging and overall visual concept of Carolina Crown. Russian Christmas Music is the weakest part (needs more oomph.) I bopped along to Armenian Dances and dug the alto section. The closer of "Praise Jerusalem" is also very nice. If we can sell bigger impact points, we'll be set.
Bluecoats: The short "Winter" opening is very nice, with the corps coalescing from full-field coverage and the guard spinning very shiny, wintry-looking sabres and flags. The field explodes with color for "Spring." "Summertime" features a lot of vocalization from the males in the horn line. The melody is kind of disjointed between sections and I sort of zoned out for that, but there is an excellent segue into the quiet part of "Autumn Leaves" and "Autumn Leaves" delivers the goods.
Crossmen: I like the color scheme. It reminds me of a day at the beach. This corps feels nearly seamless in its weaving together of brass, perc., visual. The feel of the Metheny charts is extremely authentic. We perhaps will have no other show this year with this much "build" and "drive" in the design and execution. But Crossmen's horn line needs to be consistent to make that happen. There were wonderful moments from them, but also very scary sounds from the lower voices in the beginning of "Letter from Home" and some other glaring inconsistencies. When (not "if") that is cleaned, program will kick. As it is, it kicks pretty hard.
Cadets of Bergen County: No falls. Head and shoulders above the rest in execution in all areas. Clearly the hands down best corps here, and maybe the best in the country. But I have one major problem with the Cadets this year. Last year I said that the show reminded me of a fireworks display. This year, it's even more so. I almost feel like this show has so many pyrotechnics crammed into it that there is no room for storytelling or even involvement in the process. It's as if somebody said, "Let's do eleven minutes of amazing stuff." Runs, tosses, evolutions, company fronts, power chords, tenor solos, Z-pulls... but I don't feel anything when I watch it. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe the Cadets have done it so well for so often I have simply ceased to be amazed when they're incredible. Well.
Reading Buccaneers: Hey. I was pleasantly surprised. Reading has a good show this year. I particularly like "Festive Overture." Way to go.
The combined Cadets/Crossmen thing at the end was very, very, very, very, very loud and hot. The kids really seem to be comfortable with each other and really enjoy the whole thing. That's nice to see.
BTW, the reason we had to see the show in the afternoon is that there is a professional soccer game in the stadium this evening. I kind of liked it in the afternoon. I'm sure a couple of the corps are enjoying being at Hersheypark tonight. It's a gorgeous day for it.
HERSHEY, Pa. -- To nobody's surprise, the Cadets of Bergen County remained undefeated and retained their Drum Corps International Atlantic Division title as they scored a whopping 7.2-point victory over the second-place Crossmen, 86.8 to 79.6, in Saturday's Hershey Spectacular. The Cadets were clearly the class of the nine-corps competition field and swept ever caption in the lopsided victory.
The winners were the lone corps to drive the smaller then normal crowd into a frenzy during the rare afternoon championship contest. While weather conditions were as ideal as they could be for an afternoon show in mid-July -- with low humidity, sunny skies, and temperature in the 80s -- the afternoon heat seemed to dull both the performances of the competitors and the reaction of the crowd. An evening home game by the Hershey Wildcats professional soccer team at the same Hershey Stadium facility forced the switch to an afternoon start. The Wildcats received the preferred evening time since they are owned by the Hershey Corporation, which also owns the stadium. Unfortunately for the show organizers, Five Star Brass, the 12:30 start also kept the crowd down. The normal capacity concert-side crowd featured almost four empty sections at starting time and it was rumored that the organizers were 700 tickets shy of the break-even point.
Nonetheless, the Cadets of Bergen County (66B, 27P, 32CG, 2DM) gave the crowd what they paid to see with their performance of "Stonehenge." It's vintage Cadets with its expertly performed musical complexity, whiplash running drill, and dazzling guard tosses. All sections are performing tightly at this stage of the season and the corps appeared to be full -- unlike the holes which still dot the performances of almost all the other corps today. The Cadets were the only serious contender for this season's DCI title competing in Saturday's show. How serious that contention is has yet to be seen since the Cadets have received little competition in their Eastern Tour. That lack of competition early could hurt them later on, particularly since this year's program lacks recognizable music and is only memorable because it has the same elements of vintage Cadet performances from the past.
The crowd particularly responds to the fast compressing spiral drill towards the end of the opener, the color guard's effortless change from various shades of blue and green silks to maroon with a yellow diagonal after the corps proper completes some silent drill, the heavy cross-sticking during the tom feature in the percussion break, and another fast-paced spiral-like drill towards the end of the program. Like last year's show, there are a lot of notes in this year's edition of the Cadets -- notes they seem to be cleaning up and performing better with each viewing. The tight red-outfitted color guard continues to be one of DCI's best.
The Crossmen (53B, 31P, 36CG, 2DM) had been the 80s for the last week and had been gaining ground on the Cadets while separating from the Bluecoats prior to Hershey. They lost ground Saturday, possibly because it looks like they are in the process of uniform modifications which include the removal of the red Maltese cross on the black jackets and the red bands from the black aussie hats. The removal of the red -- possibly facilitated because it clashed with the turquoise of the guard tops and drum shells -- left the corps with a very "stripped" black and white appearance on Saturday.
The crowd continues to "dig" the Crossmen, which play catchy, familiar music in their "Musical Selections from the Pat Metheny Group." While the corps cracked the top six with a similar show last season, time will tell whether this program has the same "legs" as that show. It certainly features the best brass section this corps has fielded in some time, as well as a fabulous guard which is only slightly behind the Cadets. The percussion section may not have the same "Bones" sound of yesteryear under second-year caption head Thom Hannum -- although "Bones" did make appearance backfield prior to the performance -- but the pit is one of the hottest in DCI and really carries the Metheny theme well. The question remains whether the battery will fill out its ranks as it continues to march just five snares and four basses (5S, 4T, 4B, 6C)after starting the competitive season with six and five respectively. It does open the program with seven toms.
The "First Circle" visual and musical package continue to be a highlight as more circles seem to appear, move, intersect, and disappear with each viewing.
The Bluecoats (52B, 29P, 26CG, 2DM) were obviously excited to be closing the gap on the Crossmen -- trailing them by just six-tenths for third Saturday. While their "The Four Season of Jazz" show has a slower tempo then the top two, it still seems to fit together the best of any of the Eastern corps and is popular with the crowd -- probably receiving the second-best ovation of the afternoon. The selections in this show -- particularly "Summertime" and "Autumn Leaves" -- WILL have you humming on your way to the parking lot.
Despite their gains on the Crossmen, the 'Coats overcame a shaky start which saw one of their five tom players lose his balance during the opening move. That move is still a crowd favorite as it finds the corps opening in ranks spread over the entire field and compressing into a tight formation in the center while the pit performs an accelerando of winter sounds to lead the corps into the selection "Winter." The guard gradually adds spinning flags to the move before throwing off their silver jackets to reveal multi-colored tops while spinning multi-colored flags as the corps makes its opening statement. The guard changes costumes throughout the program to capture the various colors of the seasons, finishing with Auburn-colored uniforms and flags to depict "Autumn Leaves."
The tom player recovered from his opening stumble to join with his partners in wowing the crowd with their crosses, scrapes and "figure eights" throughout the program. They are definitely one of the tom lines to watch among the Eastern corps. The snare line supports nicely, but the Bluecoat battery writing seems to highlight the tenors.
As for the horns, they project that clear, brassy sound of past Bluecoat editions -- even if they don't have as big of numbers. They also possess some of DCI's top screech soloists, although the heat seemed to leave them a little off on this day.
Carolina Crown (48B, 31P, 36CG, 1 DM) won the latest round in their season-long battle with fellow Youth Education in the Arts corps Magic of Orlando -- topping Magic for fourth, 73.0 to 71.5. A more demanding show seems to be the main key, although Crown also appears to have a decided edge in both percussion and color guard over their Southern rival. When Crown outperforms Magic, it wins -- as it has in all three of my viewings. But its "The Music of Alfred Reed" program doesn't usually capture the attention of the audience, giving Magic a decided GE edge and the overall decision when performance scores are close.
Crown's opening move is an eye-opener. The brass opens in a big line on the 50 and spins smaller pinwheels on that line while individual ranks move quickly outward. The corps eventually opens into the strains of a rather contemporary arrangement of "Russian Christmas Music," which now features complete brown Russian peasant costumes for the guard. The number doesn't seem to capture the audience like the more familiar arrangements played in the past by the Crossmen and Vanguard.
The crowd does love the high unison guard tosses throughout, as well as the speed of the drill, which is getting cleaner with each viewing. The smallish brass section still needs some more bodies to fully carry this program off as it lost a lot of energy in the afternoon sun on this afternoon.
Now Magic of Orlando's (63B, 31P, 26CG, 2DM) hornline, on the other hand, projected quite nicely throughout their "Muddy River Blues" program. But their drumline, by contrast, continues to portray the "muddy" theme in a negative way -- right down to the continued "wet" tuning of the snares, which sound dangerously close to the toms. While the creative staff just changed to a new drum break a week-and-a-half ago, the battery appears to be cleaning ever so slowly and could be holding back the scoring potential of this show. Fortunately, they still have a little over a month to pull it together and they appear to have the talent to do that.
The guard continues to add to their red costuming and accentuates the Riverboat jazz theme, even if it does more dancing then equipment work. The crowd loves the opening "park and bark" statement by the horn line in "God Bless the Child," as well as the antics of drum major Michael McKee. At this show, he kept his hat on as the show opened -- at least until that impact when he turned to the crowd, showed his displeasure, brought the horns up louder, and then slammed his hat down on the podium in approval of the big volume.
The rest of the show flows nicely until "House of the Rising Sun." While the drill is more interesting and at least the guard work is now done, the familiar song still comes off a little flat. As a whole, the show continues to get off to a fast start -- particularly with the train-sounding accelerando following the first big impact -- but tails off by the end.
Magic better watch its back side for the Spirit of Atlanta, which now appears full (58B, 32P, 28CG, 1DM) and continues to make strides with its vintage Spirit program -- trailing Orlando by less then two points in sixth at this show with a 69.7. Under the tutelage of Mark Thurston, who was on the front sideline with wife and new baby, Spirit's drumline appears much tighter then Magic's, while its brass and color guard sections are very similar to Orlando's. The brass section full and powerful, and the color guard portrays the proper sultry Southern feel with more dance then equipment work. The guard has added maroon one-piece jumpsuits to replace the all-black spandex they wore in my last viewing in Elkton.
The crowd loves the first big brassy impact during "My Friend," accentuated by big gold flags. The guard's wood planks which eventually turn into crosses with purple accents are still a big hit during the "Amazing Grace"-sounding "Precious Lord Take My Hand." The crowd also grooves to the "Sweet Georgia Brown" standstill segment. Kudos also go out to bass five, who pulled off the bass lick in the drum break despite popping his drum head closest to the crowd. The last minute and a half of this show really moves and is very exciting. Unfortunately, up until that point its kind of slow and meandering -- like a steamy Southern summer afternoon. By the way Thurston fans, his signature lick IS in this show. Listen for it towards the end of the closer.
By appearance, the Boston Crusaders should have a show which would really be an improvement from past years. They continue to field a big corps (52B, 34P, 22CG, 2DM) and their "Seascapes from the Big Screen" program has three real crowd favorites with "Seahawk," "The Captain of Castille" and "Conquest." But alas, the show doesn't have that "old BAC charisma" and is failing to sell -- at least at this point. The brass section, which is bigger then Carolina Crown's and the same size as the Crossmen's, sounds much smaller then it looks. But at least you can hear the brass, which is more then you can say about the battery. I don't know whether Ludwig drums are getting harder to tune crisply, but you simply cannot hear this large line (8S, 4T, 5B) very well because of the tuning. That doesn't help the percussion break, which is somewhat uninteresting by nature.
"Seahawk" doesn't seem to have the drive that it had when the 27th Lancers played it. "Captain of Castille" is the abridged version and not as well received as it was when we played it with Avante Garde in 1983. Even Boston's own staple "Conquest" doesn't get the rise it used to. Maybe that's because it has some questionable staging decisions. Just when the corps forms the big rank for the traditional unison impacts and high mark time which primes the crowd for the drive forward, the corps turns and plays the number on the move backfield. While it turns around and does give a similar, fast-moving version coming forward, it's like a big moment was lost.
On the plus side, the last minute of drill is probably the best moment of the show and the white guard silks with the familiar red English Lion in the middle are a nice accent to this corps' storied past.
Kiwanis Kavaliers (48B, 26P, 26CG, 1DM) continues to be searching for answers with its "An American in Paris" program, but have yet to find them. Since viewing them in Altoona a week-and-a-half ago, the staff has changed the opening set and move, taken out the big percussion feature, and revamped the ending. Those changes, combined with some recently added members -- there were six members of the brass standing in the pit following the opener -- all add up to some performance problems, at least right now.
The show now begins with the corps-proper in a rectangle surrounding the dance duo, which is now in the center of the field. The show formerly began with that duo dancing a soprano solo up front. It now dances to that solo passed around among several sopranos in the form on the field. The big guard toss at the end of the opening number still needs to be cleaned up.
The brass section continues to be plagued by some intonation problems, probably because it is adding members on the fly and changing parts. The percussion section is largely non-descript throughout, with its brief and basic break in the final number being its only real exposure. The guard -- while still lacking some execution and even work in spots -- does set the proper mood with its three different costumes and appropriate silks.
This show does feature some familiar music, but the corps has yet to sell this musical like it did "Evita" last year.
Les 'Etoiles (30B, 20P, 13CG, 2DM) got a late start to the season with a smallish corps and is going to be hard-pressed to catch up. Just like previous years, the program -- which features music from movies "The Rock" and "Dante's Peak" -- is largely disjointed and abstract. The field percussion is particularly peculiar this year, opening with seven toms and seven basses, later changing to seven snares, and then changing back to the toms. They did, however, bring back the now famous "gravity" roto toms -- the toms that really rotate -- from last season. But unlike last year where viewers were surprised when the curtain was unveiled to find six players strapped into the devices, this year's show finds the apparatus cloaked right on the middle of the field. While the cover blew down midway through the opener, I don't think there was any surprise in the crowd as to what was behind the curtain. And unlike last year when those drums added to what was already a pretty hot drum break, the show this year stops and features a pretty basic pattern played on them. The crowd still loves it when the members spin for the first time though.
On the positive, the show is now done! That's a far cry from my first viewing of this corps in Altoona a week-and-a-half ago when there were no roto toms because there was no final number. The corps is working very hard to make up the lost ground from the slow start, but it may lack the bodies and the show design of past years to catch its closest open class rivals.
In addition to the nine competing corps, the Hershey Spectacular featured three exhibition performances.
Northern Lights Marching Band from Portland, Oregon, was surprise opener (they weren't listed in the program) and quite a hit. The band was big -- featuring 34 in the color guard (14 rifles, 20 flags at one point) and 24 in the percussion (7S, 3T, 5B, 9P) -- and surprised the crowd with its entertaining performance of Pat Metheny's "First Circle." It was pleasantly surprising to see a high school group this far along with its show. It also may lend a clue to why the drum corps scene in Oregon is struggling.
The Marine Corps Drum and Bugle Corps followed and entertained the crowd with their crisp performance of drum corps favorites, topped off by their traditional "Stars and Stripes Forever" and "Marines Corps Theme." While the show is somewhat slow and methodical, the razor sharp disciplined and crispness of the performers is always a treat.
The Reading Buccaneers (37B, 28P, 17CG, 2DM) senior corps had the unenviable position of following the Cadets of Bergen County, but made a good account of themselves with their program of traditional Russian favorites "Festive Overture," "Hopak" and "Russian Christmas Music." While the staff felt the performance was a little tentative and flat -- which is understandable following the Cadets -- it still showed off the best corps Reading's put on the field in some time.
Much has been made about the similarity of the Bucs drum line to the now defunct Westshoremen. While the Bucs are under the tutelage of the former Westshore staff and have some of the same aggressiveness as that line, they are doing a good job of creating their own identity. Reading is definitely on a mission to regain its glory of yesteryear.
Div III finals St. John's...............75.2 (GE) Kips Bay.................72.7 (Brass, Perc, Color Guard) Lone Star................72.4 Les Senatuers............68.8 Bayonne Raiders..........66.7 Lake Erie Regiment.......66.3 Conqueror II.............59.9 Div III Prelims St. John's...............74.1 Lone Star................71.7 Kips Bay.................69.5 Bayonne Raiders..........69.2 Les Senatuers............68.9 Lake Erie Regiment.......66.5 Conqueror II.............61.6 Emerald Knights..........60.7 Citations................60.1 Knight Storm.............58.0 Spectrum.................57.1 Phoenix..................56.9 Quest....................53.7 Kingsmen.................49.2 3rd Regiment.............no show
Recaps - July 11, 1998, Rochester, NY
Recaps here (opens a new page with recaps thanks to DCI).
Division II finals (no Prelims) Tarheel Sun..............86.1 (Brass, Perc., GE) East Coast Jazz..........85.2 (Color Guard) Rochester Patriots.......82.1 Spartans.................80.0 Jersey Surf..............76.5 Thanks to Tom Peashey, Rochester Patriots for emailing us these scores!
Blue Devils..............86.5 (Vis., GE, Brass)
Santa Clara Vanguard.....85.7 (Perc.)
Div II
Pacific Crest............83.4 (Perc., GE)
Blue Devils B............81.2 (Visual)
SC Vanguard Cadets.......79.2 (Brass)
Seattle Cascades.........69.3
Div III
Mandarins................81.7 (Vis., GE, Brass, Perc.)
Earthquake...............70.1
Westcoast Sound..........66.0
Blue Devils C............exhibition
Youth Band
Spiirit of
Santa Fe Springs.....77.0
Conquistadors............64.7
Scarlet Regiment.........56.0
We were at this show!
West Coast Sound from Chula Vista, CA took third place in Div. III(66.0) with their show of 'Adventures in Time' by Stan Kenton. An ambitious show for a young group. They made a strong showing, and I'm sure that they will continue to grow better in the coming years. They had strong drums, and a hornline that made a lot of improvement since the first time I saw them in Concord.
Earthquake from San Diego, CA was second in Div. III (70.1) playing a show of Stevie Wonder tunes. I didn't recognize any of the songs, but the audience got into it and the corps had a lot of energy. Another young corps that made lots of progress over the season, and I hope that they keep up the good work.
Mandarins from Sacramento, CA won Div. III (81.7) and took all captions. Big shocker...NOT!!!! These guys are a Div. III juggernaut. They always come out with a small hornline playing some of the hardest music I have ever heard, a jammin' drumline, a terrific guard, and a pit that almost outnumbers the horns. Their show is well put together, and well performed. Their show is a collection celebrating Chinese music, and is very good. A couple of very exciting moments. These folks should be a real contender in Orlando
Cascades from Seattle, WA were fourth in the Div. II (69.3)competition. This is their first season back after a year off due to financial problems. They had a show of music from Chicago Transit Authority. I have never heard of the group, but the show had some rockin' moments. A little out of control at times, but lots of energy and excitement. I don't know if they are going to Orlando, but I wish them luck and hope they can get things going again up north.
Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets from Santa Clara, CA took third in Div. II (79.2) and won the High Brass Caption. They were definitely the best brass line in their division. Some of the horn parts sounded great. I don't really agree with the placement for this group (I marched in the SCV Cadets and SCV A-corps so I'm biased) but I thought they should have been higher. They are playing a show based on the Broadway musical 'Titanic', and it is a well crafted production. The guard is much larger and better than last year, the drums are strong, and the horns are splendid. They are going to Orlando, and I think they have a great shot at Div. II Finals, and are a good contender.
Blue Devil 'B' from Concord, CA took second in Div. II (81.2) and won High Visual. Their show is called 'There's no place like home' and has music from 'The Wizard of Oz' and a few other sources. This one didn't do too much for me. The kids were giving a great effort and all captions were strong, but the show itself just left me wanting a little more. The drums had some cool features and there were some good moments for the horns, but overall, it just fell a bit short on the entertainment meter.
Pacific Crest from Diamond Bar, CA won Div. II (83.4) and won the High Percussion and High General Effect captions. Their show is from the movie 'Hamlet'. All I can say is .....WOW!!! An excellent production from beginning to end. I got a few goosebumps even. I can remember when these guys just got started a few years ago, and the progress is amazing. Every section was strong, and the show was exciting and well executed. If these guys ever decide to go to nationals, they could do some real damage. Very impressive.
Santa Clara Vanguard from Santa Clara, CA took second in Open Class (85.7) and won High Percussion. Like I said earlier, I marched SCV, so try to keep that in mind as I rant about this show. This show rocks. It is called Aaron Copland: The Modernist. It features Copland songs I guarantee you have never heard before, but they are all good stuff. The first big brass impact will plaster you to your seat, but they never lose that nice tone quality. The guard is excellent, the drumline is smokin', and I think the horns should have won their caption tonight. During a very jazz inspired song in the show, they do a park and blow worthy of the Scouts or Blue Devils. When they hit the road and really dig into this show, it will be hard for anyone to top.
Blue Devils from Concord, CA won Open Class (86.5) and took Brass, Visual, and General Effect captions. Their show is 'One Hand, One Heart' with music from 'West Side Story' by Bernstein and 'Romeo and Juliet' by Tchaikovsky. The brass line is great as usual, the drums are strong, and the guard is strongly featured all through the show. The show never really grabbed me. It seemed a little too disjointed for me. The execution was as strong as you have come to expect from the Blue Crew, but the show just didn't do it for me. Maybe it's because I think West Side Story has been dome to death. But, that's just me. These guys will be right in the hunt in Orlando, and I'm sure they will make a strong bid to defend their title.
First of all, I was at both the Stockton and San Jose shows. Both places are great to see DC shows. The weather was perfect on both nights. Here's a short review of the San Jose show.
Div 3.
(3rd place) Westcoast Sound. Nice sound coming from this small corps. The music was from Kenton's Adventure in Time. This is a difficult piece but they played it pretty well.
(2nd place) Earthquake. I can't remember much from this corps.
(1st place) Mandarins. Loved them this year. Very entertaining. They march like a Div. 1 corps. Great colorguard work throughout. The drum solo is really cool. Another Div. 3 crown at Orlando is coming.
Div. 2
(4th place) Cascades. Didn't see them on either night. Sorry.
(3rd place) Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets. Loved the opener. Great effect. The music was okay. An overall nice show but nothing great.
(2nd place) Blue Devils B. Solid in all captions. Horns sounded a little weak compared to SCV Cadets and Pacific Crest. Guard work was good. Loved the different colored flags. Nice visual show.
(1st place) Pacific Crest. Was the best on both nights. Hamlet show is well designed. Parts of it reminded me of the BD Carpe Noctem show in 95. If these guys went to Orlando, they could really challenge for the Div. 2 title.
Div. 1
(2nd place) Santa Clara Vanguard. WOW!! and I mean WOW!! The hornline in back. Drums are the best. Very fast paced show. This show is so improved from the first viewing in Concord 3 weeks ago. The drill formations reminded me of the 1990 show (Carmen). But the hornline is what impressed me. I haven't heard that SCV sound since the 80's. These guys are serious about taking the title in 98.
(1st place) Blue Devils. Let me start out by saying BD is my favorite corps. I'm a huge BD fan. But this show is not growing on me. I have to say, I'm disappointed by their choice of music. I know it's West Side Story meets Romeo and Juliet, but it's really West Side Story. It's 95% WSS and 5% Romeo and Juliet. The 5% is thrown in there at times. No real excitement other than the colorguard. The guard is top notch again but that's about it. The drumline seems non existence this year. Their show is very clean, but I think SCV will pass them up in Denver. Even their victory concert was dull. West Side Story has been done to many times. Oh well.
DCM Championship Finals Division I Cavaliers................83.0 (Perc., GE, Aux., DM) Madison Scouts...........79.9 (Brass) Glassmen.................77.5 Phantom Regiment.........75.2 (Visual) Colts....................73.5 Pioneer..................66.1 Division II Capitol Sound............57.0 Blue Stars...............52.4 Americanos...............(Perc.) - Awarded for prelim. performance Cincinnati Glory.........(Aux.) - Awarded for prelim. performance Division III Phantom Legion...........56.6 (Brass, Perc., Vis., GE, DM) General Butler Vagabonds.48.4 (Aux.) Marion Cadets............40.4 Coachmen.................38.3 Sr. Minnesota Brass, Inc.....67.8 (Brass, Perc., Vis., GE, Aux.) Kilties Sr...............55.1 Governaires..............(DM) - Awarded for prelim. performance Thanks to Jeff Duncan for emailing us these scores!
Please note: Through an editorial oversight, Joel's name and email address were inadvertantly omitted when this review was first posted.
The show started out with Division 3,2, and Senior Corps. I will just tell you that Phantom Legion won 3 with a 59 something, Capitol Sound won 2 with a 57 something, and Minnesota Brass won the Senior division It was interesting that Legion outscored Capital Sound.
Now to Division 1....
Pioneer was first. They have new uniforms this year, and I think that they look really sharp! I have always enjoyed their shows, and this year was not an exception. They are fielding a full corps of 128 this year. Their Brass line was loud (but extremely crass at times). I really didn't notice their drumline. They didn't play anything outstanding. the colorguard was in short green dresses with Black tights (there were some fine girls in their guard). Anyways, I like them and am glad to see them so competitive this year. They have to be running out of music to play now. I mean how much Irish literature is there out there?
Colts were next. Their show was some wierd mix of Gospel/jazz. They had the same Corps uniforms. I didn't really care for the guard uniforms
On to Phantom. I marched phantom in 96 and so this is going to be sorta hard, but I am going to be completely honest here. I really like the music selections. They have a fantastic Hornline(in the warm-up arc). I talked to a bunch of corps members and they said that they learned 15 sets of drill that day. It was very evident that they are rebuilding the show. On the field the Hornline fazed, the Visual Package was interesting but really dirty. The drumline was playing great, and the Colorguard was really tight (bodywise, and workwise). I think that if they finish all of the changes and clean it, that they will stay top six. If they don't get it together soon though, they will fall out of top six.
Glassmen was up next. There was a noticeable difference from them and Phantom. They are Clean....I mean P**s-clean. This is actually a bad thing for them though. I really don't see how they can get any cleaner. They are peaking right now. They had an easy show. Their drumline lost for the first time last night....they are now 13-1. I didn't care for their colorguard. ugly uniforms...sorta like a maroon and gold cat suit. Their hornline was really bottom heavy too.
Madison was next. I liked their show. The Hornline is amazing! in your face with a big Phat wall of sound. The show never really lets up. They start out hot and kept the energy going the entire show. Their drumline was sorta dirty. Also the colorguard starts out in the same unis as the corps (I didn't really like it). They change outfits after every song. Actually they take off something after every song. Chuck (a friend whom marched with me) and I were afraid that they were going to get naked. But they ended up just stripping down to these extremely shiny silver outfits. It looked good in the drill and all. They are going to be extremely successful this year.
Last but not least was the Green Machine. I don't like the Cavaliers (go figure), and I won't till the day I die. However, they had an amazing show. It was the best designed show of the evening. Lots of GE. Their Drumline won the Caption and deserved too. The hornline was the biggest surprise to me. They were good. I mean really good. A big full sound. The drill was typical Cavalier. lots of rotating cubes and diamonds (well marched too). So as much as it pains me to say this, I have to. They were hands down my favorite show. I hate myself for it, but it is true. They deserved to win this night.
First of all I'd like to say that I have attended four shows already this summer and I think as a whole, that the corps are doing better then I've ever seen them, and I have been involved with the drum corps activity since 1981. I've have also been reading the reviews on this page and have been somewhat disappointed with the way some people approach their reviews. Some of the comments that are being made are not being made in a constructive manner and no doubt being taken as such. Think about the kids who sleep on the buses all night, arrive at their destination at 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning, sleep on the floor for an hour or two and practice all day. They are giving 110% and would probably like to hear positive comments and not negative, in a productive unbiased approach.
With that in mind, here is how I felt about the 98 DCM Championships.
Divison II
Cincinatti Glory was up first. I have only heard of this corps a few times before and this was my first viewing ever. I'd like to say that I was impressed. My initial thoughts were dirty and inexperienced but when they came out on the field I thought differently. They looked good and sounded mature for a newer corps. They had some timing problems front to back and not everyone watched the drum major when they needed to, but overall good. Look for this corps to advance in the coming years. 4th 50.30
Americanos where up next. Wow! I think this is the best that I've ever seen the Americanos. There is a reason why their battery won the Steve Mayer Percussion Award. They have a very talented pit and the hornline was excellent as well. Especially the sopranos, with the staccato notes in "Late in the Evening." It was a surprise to hear this corps did not make finals. 3rd Final score 51.10, nice job 'Canos.
Next up where the kids from God's country, the Blue Stars. Their show "The Trails of Sparticus" is very difficult. The Blue Stars visual program is pretty good overall with some minor flaws. They have a good sized Division II corps (20 brass, 14 battery, 9 pit, 14 guard, 2 DM) Unfortunately, the brass could have produced more sound then they did. I think they need to push the air more and have everyone contribute 100% all of the time. They had some phasing problems tonight mostly in the snares and basses. Some of it due to overplaying. The pit seems to hold their own with some very nice runs coming out, and they handled the 7/8 well in the opener. They crowd responded better to the two previous corps. 2nd 51.40
Finally in Division II the Capital Sound from Madison, WI. Very good size (41 brass, 17 battery (7sn 4qd 6bas 4cym), 12 pit, 19 Guard) They started off with an entertaining ensemble warm up. The guard dances along. Why not the pit? Nice opener, the battery needs to play through the ends of all phrases. The lady that is the center of attention in the 2nd tune does her job well with her partner. The percussion has cleaned up alot since I saw them last (3rd viewing) and the entire corps has good energy during both "park and blow" sections. Maybe they can transfer that same energy into the rest of their performance. 1st place 57.50
Divison I Prelims
Pioneer were up first in the Div I competition. (52 Brass, 26 battery, 13 pit, 20 guard 2DM) "Irish in Your Face!" definitely in the opener "Irish Suite." With screaming sopranos at the end taking center stage. They have brand new uniforms which reminds one of 27th Lancers. Awesome!! The corps had some visual problems tonight but are pretty musically sound. The snares and tenors are pretty clean and the brass has some nice triplet runs in "Irish Rhapsody." The corps seems to lack energy at times but they have pretty solid impacts when necessary. Maybe it will pick up when they meet the corps in their competitive range (Boston,Kiwanis, Spirit, Magic - those guys). 6th place with a score of 66.1 Seemed rather low!
Colts were up with their show "An A Cappella Celebration" I was I'm pressed with their opening statement, "Crown Him with Many Crowns." Much improvement over last year at this time. The battery plays with their hands in "Searching for Reza." Nice effect but you can hear individual mistakes from my vantage point (45 yard line stage left). Brand new Premier drums look very sweet, but are they sponsored by Premier? I saw some Yamaha equipment in the pit. The brass plays well together and the "park and blow" section was awesome. The battery marches extremely well and they play well to boot. Look for this corps to fight for those last couple spots in Orlando. Looking good Colts, 5th 72.50
Then came the Phantom Regiment. (70 Brass, 25 percussion, 32 guard) They, like the Colts, have a good opening statement. Intervals are a problem at times but overall not too bad. The herald trumpets are awesome and have a nice effect. The battery plays well in time and the tympani player has a good ear. Nice six-mallet work in the pit but can hear timing problems occasionally, battery to horns. Nothing major. The banner at the end reads Spiritus Concordia Unitis Sempre. Or something like that. 4th 76.70
Next up were the Glass City Boys. The Glassmen. Boy, they are off to an awesome start again. (60 Brass, 33 guard, 29 percussion) They had some bad intervals at times but this is a minor problem. Nice percussion feature in "Prince Igor." Very good 16th notes in the brass followed by some excellent 32nd notes out of the pit! Wow!!! There seem to be holes in the brass at times but again minor. The battery "Tacet in Notturno" looked very classy. Kites were a good effect as well. Good luck in Orlando, Glassmen.
The boys with power pizazz and all that jazz were up next. Madison Scouts as always a crowd favorite. (60 Brass 26 guard 24 battery 9 pit) Their percussion is showing off their versatility this year. Switching from snares to quads and then back again. Very solid all around. The swing version of "Hall of the Mountain King" was smokin'. They should have to take a fire hose to these guys after the show. Wow! Can't say too much more about them. Nothing more left to say! Wow! 2nd place 79.80
Finally, The Green Machine went to town. The Cavaliers. As usual, awesome. (60 Brass, 32 guard, 19 battery, 10 pit) A very typical Cavaliers show solid all around. Lots of Cavie traditions i.e. : the snake drill move, guard playing cymbals, horns marching over guard. Very good all around. I've always noticed that their battery takes account for every count, every step ect... When the tenors play the tambourines during "Vivo & Lento" they looked like they were having trouble putting them away. Not the Cavie tenors that I know. Just something to ponder about. Anyway this was the best performance of the evening. Very nice job Cavaliers. Lets see how ya do against Blue Devils and Cadets. 1st place 81.30
Overall, everyone looked in fine shape for this time of year and everyone was smokin'. It's great to see the corps doing so well and hope to see some more soon. Maybe some people that write their reviews should be more cautious in how they word some of the things they say. After all this is supposed to be a positive experience for the kids and hopefully they all become better individuals.
Hawthorne Caballeros.....78.5 Reading Buccaneers.......72.6 Sunrisers................71.4 Hurricanes...............68.9 Chieftains...............49.6 Thanks to Tom Peashey, DCA for emailing us these scores!
Empire Statesmen.........83.8 Brigadiers...............82.2 Grenadiers...............68.8 Crusaders................63.6 Thanks to Tom Peashey, DCA PR for emailing us these scores!
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