Cadets of Bergen County..91.0 (High Brass/ GE / Visual) Santa Clara Vanguard.....89.6 (High Percussion) Glassmen.................84.2 Blue Knights.............82.3 Carolina Crown...........77.4 Spirit of Atlanta........71.7 Kiwanis Kavaliers........70.0 Allegiance Elite.........55.2 Lone Star................52.6 Thanks to Bryan Dickerson and Ed Harvey and Jose Muniz for emailing us these scores!
Lone Star: Rather well performed! I was very impressed by a corps that I was not ready to be impressed by! I'm am absolutely no drum critique but their drums had a definite presence on the field. Nicely done and very good crowd response. Now if you guys can just keep a nucleus of those kids for 2-3 more years and build on what you're doing, we might actually have a Semi-Finals contender!
Allegiance Elite: I apologize that I just didn't get into the theme, but the corps did! Well performed!...just needs more membership to fill out the ranks and flesh out the performance some.
Spirit of Atlanta: WOW!!! Where did they get that hornline??!!! I never did see the 1980 Spirit in person (saw it on PBS though, and it is still a fave!), but after tonight, it only confirmed that it has been too, too long without some "Suthern' Fried Drum Corps!" One of my very favorite moments in Precious Lord, Take My Hand. Praise God for Drum Corps!! Keep it up guys and you'll be back in the top ranks soon! Very nice show to be reminiscent of 1980, but not a rehash. A real crowd fave!
Kiwanis Kavaliers: ...had the misfortune to go after Spirit. My friend, who hadn't been in a LONG time (TOO LONG he admitted!), said "good, but I'm spoiled after Spirit!" Still a good show to have some good musical moments without being a rehash of the American in Paris that everyone else has performed.
Carolina Crown: Great show! I really got into their show as they got me back to the sound that Spirit spoiled me with! Although, in my mind, I said labeled it "this is what SCV played, and this is what the Regiment played," they put their own stamp on it. Hadn't ever heard Praise Jerusalem before, but it blended in well with Russian Christmas and Armenian Dances Good show and well done.
Blue Knights: Excellent show! And well within their idiom if you can define an idiom for BK. Although it isn't music that you would think of BK performing, they designed it well. Nice job!
Glassmen: Man! I have seen what everyone else is talking about and I, too, must say I'm impressed! There have been shows that I thought G-Men performed well in the past and shows that I didn't necessarily care for, but when G-Men are seriously performing serious music, they always do well in my book. Excellent job and watch out all you "elite" corps, you have company!
Santa Clara Vanguard: What can you say about them that hasn't already been repeated a million times? "The Cadillac of Drum Corps." "The Class of Drum Corps." And again tonight they proved it! A whale of a show! But the kids have some serious fun performing it. Amazing as I caught a few minutes of their rehearsal--serious as a heart attack, but what fun and what a crowd response--but when has Texas, and Dallas in particular, never liked an awesome edition of SCV??!!! They are the real dark horses to watch over your shoulder for.
Cadets of Bergen County: Typical Cadets show! Very good and very clean, but not quite the crowd response that SCV got. Seemed they were hit a bit hard by the Texas heat--but who wasn't? Good show, well performed and still plenty of room to improve, but right now I like SCV the best.
Thanks to the organizers of the show for returning the traditional retreat to the event. I have been rather disappointed in recent years that they didn't have that, as I always look forward to that part! And as much as people seem to hate the America, O Canada arrangement, I still love the sound of multiple brass lines playing together--gives me chills, brings tears, and generally makes me a blubbering piece of jello for a few minutes, but what a way to go!!! And finally, nice victory concert, Cadets! Thanks!
Thursday, July 23 - Dallas, Texas (Lake Highlands Festival of Drums and Bugles)
Wow, what a night for corps action...105 degrees here in the Metroplex. Not only that, but the Lake Highlands stadium where the contest is always held here is now surrounded by construction, so parking was a nightmare. Anyway, after the trek to the stadium, we reached our seats, midways up on the 40, and settled in for a great evening......
9) Lone Star - I have to be proud of the only Texas-based corps, but they are hurting a bit this year - only 14 brass and 2 guard (though an army of percussion). The music of John Tesh was (predictably) a bit boring, but it in itself didn't bother me as much as the overall GE...marching is a mess, and the music, though quite nice at times, is still very spotty. Overall, a good effort that just needs a lot of polish over the remaining few days....
8) Allegiance Elite - Nice show! I had not seen this corps before but was impressed - apparently they have gotten a little better each year since their inception a decade ago. The African theme worked well, and they did a lot with visuals - everything from dashiki gear for the drum major and pit, to tribal headgear for the guard and shields for the brass during the percussion feature. Music from the Lion King worked well along with music of John Barnes Chance. Soloists were kinda shaky in some places. Marching was sloppy, but nothing horrible...guard was very energetic, and percussion feature rocked, particularly with the added instrumentation in the pit.
6) Spirit of Atlanta - Boy, are they back...this reminded me of their in-your-face Southern Harmony show from 1987...brassy horn line and exciting (sexy, in fact) guard. Marching execution, again, was messy at times, and some phasing during more spread-out moments in the drill, but these faults can be overlooked just for the chance to hear Georgia on my Mind and Sweet Georgia Brown again. Percussion parts seemed a little underwritten, but maybe just seemed that way due to the strength of the brass. A phat show that *may* have finals potential if much cleaning can be done. Spirit scored higher than Kiwanis Kavaliers, who performed after them in the order.
7) Kiwanis Kavaliers - Gershwin! I liked the American in Paris arrangement - kept all of the buoyancy of the original intact. Color guard was able to keep energy level high and pole work exciting, though I don't know about those uniforms- some great, some very, very ?????... brass line fought the heat a bit (with some very sharp moments) but that is to be expected, not much can be done about that....overall, not overwhelming but definitely enjoyable.
5) Carolina Crown - I have consistenly enjoyed these guys' shows, and this year is no exception....though again, guard uniforms are a little weird. Alfred Reed's music is exciting, and it was played well- very crisp in key moments. Marching sloppy, but seems like most energy put into G.E. so I guess (hope) that will come along over the next week or two. Percussion tight (particularly during Armenian Dances portion)
4) Blue Knights - these guys seem to have rebounded also...the classical motif works well for them. Low brass a bit blatty at loud "hits" but not irritatingly so. Nice soloist on the New World Symphony slow movement. The Ode to Joy part of the closer is nice, but seems out of place with the rest of the show. The Tchaikovsky perc feature is remarkably tight, with little to no phasing despite drumline moving around a lot.
3) Glassmen - Yeah! This show didn't seem to wow the crowd as much as I thought it should- though not familiar with the music of Borodin, I really got into it. Guard was, for the most part, together- the Asian silks at the beginning are impressive. Biggest disappointment was dirty drill, particularly on diags during opener - it almost looked like a few lost souls were wandering into those sets, though it seemed to get better along the way. Percussion was also tight.
2) Santa Clara Vanguard - I never thought I would enjoy Copland this much- I guess I'm too used to the old standbys like Fanfare for the Common Man and Appalachian Spring (a snippet of which can be heard in this show in the middle horns if you listen carefully). This more "modernist" assortment of his music is exciting, well-arranged, and crisply played (I especially liked the block formation entrances and the solo snare at the beginning). The drill is also top-notch, and is marched remarkably well (especially compared to the SCV of only a few years ago). High point of the evening was the Dance Panels portion of the show - I never thought I'd get to see a break-dancing tenor line. Guard was tight, clean, and well-uniformed. During score announcing at the end of the evening, the some of the crowd booed noticeably when SCV was announced as coming in 2nd. I think they could have won it tonight - barely under 90.
1) Cadets - drill, drill, drill. Super-high-velocity Zingali-style drill that everyone seems to just expect from these guys, along with the John Williams-esque soaring horn lines and tightly-clipped cutoffs. Boy, did they deliver on this one...new music, Stonehenge by Van der Roost...I was in awe just sitting, watching, and listening. Despite high temperatures, tuning was great, and horn line was very evenly balanced - noone sticking out anywhere. Guard was so together that at times it appeared machine-like, yet still somehow radiated a certain individual personality. Marching was clean for this type of drill. Only low point was the poor tenor player who lost his right-hand stick at the opening of their feature and spent a chunk of time down on his knees fumbling behind him for the stick while the rest of his bretheren were hammering away. He recovered quickly once he grabbed it, though, and eased effortlessly back into the form.
America at retreat was beautiful, and Cadets' standstill victory concert just blew me away (cut short due to late hour, but still squeezed in some super-phat jazz licks and a few hair-parting hits).
Boy, I got my money's worth tonight....best of luck to all these corps as they head for the big finale.
Just got back ... it's a switch going from living 10 minutes away to an hour away from the show. :/
LONE STAR 31.4 -- come on, they weren't THAT bad! This is the most aggressive I have seen from this corps since their banner 1994 season. The brass is blowing chunks in lots of places, but hey, at least they're blowing which is more than they can say in past years. Nice upper sops, only 2 guard, 14 brass that are a lot louder than I remember. Drill is way over their heads and that will hold the quality of sound back. They should contend for Div. 3 finals.
ALLEGIANCE ELITE 55.2 - They struck me as a much bigger Lone Star, 30 brass, nearly as many guard, HUGE pit (13), but they had the same problems. Naturally they will get a bigger score due to a bigger size but they also had bigger problems! Major feet being heard in the brass tonight. Sloppy marching all around, which is even worse when you consider Lone Star has the harder drill. Nice, colorful, thematic show, but I didn't like the arrangements of the Lion King music.
KIWANIS KAVALIERS 70.0 - Ya know, after hearing all of the bad rap about them on r.a.m.d., I thought things went pretty well. I liked the arrangements of American in Paris and didn't think it was as disjunct or patched-together as other people said. However, somebody needs to beat this into the head of whoever arranged the music: PICK DRUM CORPS KEYS!! B flat and E flat are BAND KEYS!!! KK will have far more than usual tuning problems due to this bonehead decision. Really liked how the percussion feature was seamlessly worked into the music.
SPIRIT OF ATLANTA 71.7 - thought the spread between them and KK was about right, but hoped it would be bigger. Wow, does Spirit's brass pull you in and never let go. I barely recognized Georgia, but the hip groove of Sweet Georgia Brown was way cool, and those contras belting out the intro were awesome! Everybody in the corps had one goal in mind and that is to sell the show to the crowd ... which they did, and then some! Ambitious pit book, some mistakes, but if there's parts the pit can't play, don't expect the mellos to be able to back them up ...
CAROLINA CROWN 77.4 - Nifty opening drill quickly expanding from a straight file on the 50. The staff was hyping HARD tonight! Strong brass, great bari section, missed releases at a hit in the opener ruined the effect. The arrangement of Russian Christmas was serviceable, but doing the end of the chart in double tempo was just a sin to me. Armenian Dances was a lot of fun - the guard *strongly* reminded me of the playful atmosphere from the middle number of the Cadets' show last year. Oh yeah, if you're going to use mutes, PROJECT! I was in the front row and had to pay attention to hear them. Nice show overall, they'll stay in top 12.
BLUE KNIGHTS 82.3 - WOW WOW WOW what a brass sound and technique in the opener! Also the best ensemble marching tonight so far. Whoever picked out the color schemes did a wonderful job, lots of beautiful aquas and greens in the flags. That full, in-tune brass sound unfortunately gave out at the end of New World and never picked up steam again. I would have easily placed them above Glassmen if they had kept that great sound the whole show.
GLASSMEN 84.2 - Holy cow are they loud! But then, what year were they ever not? The sound is not as deep or "symphonic" as BK, but yes it was in tune pretty much the whole show. The drumline is up there, I caught some pretty nifty snare passages with subtly shifting sticking (say that three times fast while drunk) but they didn't strike me as in-your-face as all the hoopla on the newsgroup would have you believe. I loved the kites - it reminded me of Gmen's closer from 1993, their first year of finals when they used kites in their ballad closer to great effect.
SANTA CLARA VANGUARD 89.6 - What on earth were they playing? It doesn't matter! Vanguard ROCKED THE HOUSE and everyone at the show agreed. Even Dan Potter, the announcer, made a point of saying "I don't get the pleasure of saying this very often, but will you please welcome to Dallas Texas the San-ta Cla-ra Van-guard!" There is *so much* going on in this show I can't even start, so I won't. Just suffice it to say that last year and this year SCV has done the impossible - taken obscure music and made it accessible, fun, and intense.
CADETS OF BERGEN COUNTY 91.0 - What on earth were they playing? Who remembers? I have to agree with the folks who are saying, more of the same, *YAWN* wake me when it's over. The only times I saw Cadets last year were in Orlando and there was a LOT more to remember about that show than this one. The only thing I remember was an awesome tenor solo (marred by a dropped stick) and a loud, dissonant chord sustained for an impossibly long time at the end of the 2nd number. Another complaint - why is this mega talented drumline DUTTING LOUDLY? The crowd reacted as one when SCV was announced in 2nd place with Cadets as the alleged winner ... I agree, I don't see what's putting Cadets over the top right now. Then again, I had a front row seat and saw little to no drill. More on that tomorrow night when I have a pressbox seat in Houston.
Cadets performed Cadillac of the Skies and also surprised the crowd with a jammin' rendition of Boogie Down that featured a lot of wailing brass, much to everyone's delight. Overall I have to say that this is one of the best drum corps shows I have been to in years, one where I almost was able to say there wasn't a single corps I didn't enjoy, that didn't grab my interest in some way at the first viewing. But then, give me enough time, just about any show will grow on me! (Some shows take more years than others ... heh, heh)
I also came to learn that a former corps director whose name I will not mention is running the souvie stand for a currently active top 12 corps ... taking his well developed expertise in the field of selling T-shirts to Texas bando kids on the road again. Just remember folks, he honed his expertise at the expense of a once proud corps that exists no longer and whose former members are often embarassed to admit association with ... I'd like to see him take even a fraction of his profits and give Texas back the drum corps he stole. But that day will never come and I am disgusted to see he is back in the corps scene again. (stepping off soapbox now)
See y'all tomorrow in sunny Houston (I think rain is in the forecast, no fair!)
Eric Senzig
Sky Ryders 1992
This post is in no way reflective of the opinions of ANYONE ELSE BUT ME and any flameworthy opinions are probably due to an extreme lack of sleep ... except for the opinions in the last paragraph.
P.S. Coolest T-shirt award of the night goes to the Cadets who are selling a shirt with one of the South Park kids (it's too late for me to remember which one) in a Cadets uniform. LOL!
The crowd was very good this year. The stands were pretty much packed. It was not oppressively hot at show time, but it was a very hot afternoon. I missed Lone Star and Allegiance Elite thanks to the wonderful Dallas traffic. I spent close to 45 minutes parked on 635 due to an accident. Sorry I missed your show LS and AE. I'll see it in San Antonio.
Spirit of Atlanta. Well personally I think there are either some serious dreamers on RAMD or a lot of people that smoke crack. SOA is back?! Sorry, but in my opinion, their show is no where near top 12 quality. The visual filth was unbelievable. The drill is poorly designed, and is not being executed that well at the present time. The guard - ugh - where to begin. All the dancing needs to go - PLEASE PICK UP SOME EQUIPMENT AND USE IT!!! The dancing is not choreographed well, and it's not done well - very bad mix. I'd much rather see some flag work than the bad dancing. Also, why try to have a sabre and rifle line if you don't have members that can handle the equipment? Why not just have a flag line? The horn line was loud, but lacked tone quality when they played loud. The drum line was solid, and the musical package was good. Overall, I was disappointed by SOA - both from a design and from a performance standpoint. I thought their score was about 5 points too high.
Kiwanis Kavaliers. I was very surprised that SOA beat them. Visually, they are much cleaner, and the visual design blows SOA away. The horn line lacks impact, which I believe is their biggest problem. They have a very nice, balanced sound - they just need to crank up the volume. KK's guard is good, and they do a nice job of varying the look of their uniforms with various color additions throughout the show (i.e., adding skirts for part, adding tops at one point, etc.). I'm not a huge fan of An American In Paris, but they did a nice job with the show. I thought their score was right on the mark.
Carolina Crown. In a word - WOW! This corps consistently improves. their guard is very strong this year, and their drum line is very good. Drill design is good, and they are doing a good job of cleaning it. The horn line is making some impacts, but could crank up the volume a bit. The only negative think I have to say about their show is the colors of the guard uniforms and flags used by the guard. The guard begins with brown almost burlap sack looking outfits with turquoise blue waist straps. Later, they shed their tops to reveal a turquoise blue spandex top. the flags used in the opener are the same color blue with a touch of orange thrown in. The colors were just unappealing to look at - reminded me of Cadets last year - very ugly looking guard. Overall, very nice program, and they should be a strong contender for a top 12 spot. I thought they should have scored about 3 points higher. I expect the 12th place score to top Sky Ryders 1988 high score for 12th place of an 85.1.
Blue Knights. What an amazing show top to bottom. Great drill, nice charts, beautiful flags throughout the entire program, loud horn line, strong horn line, tasty drum line. Their show has it all. Excellent program from both a design and an execution standpoint. My wife liked BK's show the best this evening. She is deaf, so her evaluations are strictly based on the visual programs. She thought they had the best looking show on the field - best looking flags, best color coordination, best integration of guard and horn line, one of the best drills, very well executed drill, etc. I thought they should have score closer to Glassmen or should have beat the Glassmen. Excellent job guys!
Glassmen. Well, I really liked this show. The music was unfamiliar for the most part, yet I was drawn into the show. The drum line is fantastic! No, their book did not appear to be the most difficult of the evening, but they place their book incredibly. I was in awe of the line. The drill is well written. There were no drill moments that made you cheer or wow you, but the drill flows nicely, and compliments the music. Very much like last year. I was disappointed by the color of the flags. So many florescent colors - almost gaudy. Last year, their show was so beautiful with their use of similar hues throughout the entire show, in uniforms, and color of equipment. This year, the colors were like - HEY! See, we have color on the field! I really liked their show - just wished the colors of the flags were different. My wife was extremely disappointed with GMen, since she loved last year. I thought their score was about right.
Santa Clara Vanguard. I see Championship on the horizon for SCV this year. What an incredible show! They have improved so much since the last time I saw them (first 2 shows in June). They really got the crowd going too. Their music is not recognizable, yet they sold the @%#$ out of the show - multiple standing ovations. SCV has a total package. There are some really cool drill moves and visuals that really compliment the music, and the horn line and drum line are both smoking. I have absolutely no idea how the hell Cadets beat them tonight. I was sure they broke 90 tonight. Perhaps in San Antonio. My wife loved their show, and she thought they had won as well.
Cadets of Bergen County. They are good, but they seemed tired. Their guard was having some problems tonight - many drops. The horn line and drum line are excellent, and their marching is much better than last year. Ensemble visual is much cleaner than last years filth, but individual marching is a problem. So many different styles, and so much bouncing around - shako dance oh' plenty. There are some really amazing drill moves, but several of them are rehashes of things they have already done - company front, gating line around to another company front ala 95 and 96, the clockwise/counterclockwise alternating rotating circles to mellophone 16th note runs ala 97, etc. they music is not very recognizable, and a bit obscure, but unlike SCV, they didn't sell it. the crowd was not drawn into the musical program at all. The received a partial standing ovation (only part of the stands) at the end of the program. I did not think they broke 90, and I do not think they should have beaten SCV.
Other remarks. Blue Devils were not at the show, yet their souvenir truck was there hawking their wares. Sorry, but if the corps is not going to compete at the show, IMHO they should not be selling their souvenirs. I found this pretty tacky.
Overall, a great show. The corps were all entertaining, and had lots to offer. I can't wait for Orlando. I think we will see perhaps the strongest top 12 yet. I am also looking forward to Sunday night in San Antonio when Cadets, Blue Devils, SCV, and Cavies all go head to head - first time the top 4 will be duking it out. Should be fun.
Tim Kviz
Sky Ryders 85-88
Various Others 78-84
Madison Scouts...........87.6 Crossmen.................83.8 Phantom Regiment.........83.5 Bluecoats................81.2 Pioneer..................70.9 Les 'Etoiles.............65.0 Blue Stars...............57.9 Thanks to Kurt for emailing us these scores!
General Effect Ensemble Performance
Corps Mus. Vis. Tot. Mus. Vis. Tot. Brs. Per. Vis. Tot. Sub. Pen. Tot.
Madison 17.4 17.6 35.0 13.0 13.2 26.2 8.9 8.6 8.9 26.4 87.6 87.6
Crossmen 17.0 17.2 34.2 12.5 12.0 24.5 8.2 9.0 7.9 25.1 83.8 83.8
Phantom 16.8 16.9 33.7 12.7 11.5 24.2 8.5 8.7 8.4 25.6 83.5 83.5
Blue Coats 16.5 16.6 33.1 12.6 11.1 23.7 8.3 8.0 8.1 24.4 81.2 81.2
Pioneer 13.5 14.2 27.7 11.6 10.5 22.1 6.7 7.3 7.1 21.1 70.9 70.9
L. Etoiles 13.3 13.3 26.6 10.3 8.7 19.0 6.4 6.6 6.4 19.4 65.0 65.0
Blue Stars 10.2 11.6 21.8 9.8 9.1 18.9 5.3 5.8 6.1 17.2 57.9 57.9
NOTES:
Pioneer's score on 7/22/98 WAS 69.9, due to tabulation error.
The Brass Performance numbers from 7/22/98 was HALF the GE number.
Crossmen had a MUCH better show this evening. They kind of dissapointed
me last night.
Phantom is on the move. I really believe they will crawl back into the
Top 6 by Orlando. The members are much more confident with the drill
changes the the last time I saw them in DeKalb. The VOLUME Regiment has
returned !!
MN Brass had a Burn on tonight. MUCH better then the slightly flat show
last evening.
Dennis Delucia, the Drum God, stopped by to check us out during
rehearsal. He is good friends with our horn instructor Robb Muller, both
of whom were with the Bridgmen in the late 70's.
Kurt (Flash)
MN Brass, Inc
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