June 23, 1998, Warner Robbins, GA

Division I
Cadets of Bergen County..74.0
Magic of Orlando.........66.3
Crossmen.................66.1
Carolina Crown...........64.9
Spirit of Atlanta........60.6

Division II
Lone Star................57.8
Volunteers...............49.8

Thanks to Matt Haynor for emailing us these scores!

Review - June 23, 1998, Warner Robbins, GA

Thanks to Chuck Walsh for emailing us this review!


Editorial notes:

I may sound negative about what I heard and viewed last night but here it goes.

I decided to bring 4 friends along to last nights show that had never seen a live DCI show. They liked the drills, but had no idea what most of the corps were playing, and I must agree with them. I go to the Championships every year and sit on the 50 yard line 24 rows up.

It's getting to the point where I don't come to my seats until the last 3 or 4 corps come on. I just don't enjoy the music these corps are playing anymore. I asked my friends if they would ever attend another show? There response was, only if I paid for them to go. So the way I see it, it's only a matter of time before Drum Corps go by the wayside, just like many of the great corps of the past, that played for the fans and not the instructors egos.

I certainly hope I'm wrong, but unless one of the top 3 Corps plays nothing but crowd favorites in the next couple of years and wins a Championship with that routine, I know the others will follow, because right now, no one has the guts to do it first. It's like watching music clones on the field, that would be great if they were all playing music you could identify with. If I wanted to see people prance and dance I'd go to the ballet, I go to see great young men & women march and play, the way it was meant to be done.

These people who now march, are by far the most talented people to ever do this, it's just too bad they are not given the proper music that turns the crowd on. We the spectator (Customer) demand a better product and unless a better product comes out soon, we will stop doing business with you. I hope some instructors read this and wake up, before they are just working for some band and Drum Corps will be history like the Corps of the past.


Review - June 23, 1998, Warner Robbins, GA

Thanks to Dave Ballard for emailing us this review!


Editorial notes:

It was still 90 degrees at the stadium when the show started, but there was still enough energy left for the fans to applaud enthusiastically for the efforts of the corps as they convened for their first scored show of the season.

Lone Star - (12B/11P/4CG/1DM) This group showed that small is no handicap when it comes to entertainment. Their brass played confidently, their drill made good use of the field, and their guard was talented. Look for a rifle exchange on the top of a wooden set they build on the field during warm-up. There were plenty of wrong notes and other miscues, but this group looks to overcome those and do well in Div. II/III competition.

Volunteers - (18B/16D/12CG/1DM) The Volunteers are putting on an ambitious program consisting of Leonard Bernstein's "Chichester Psalms," and selections from "Mass." This was one show that will be much improved by the time August rolls around, but at this early season show their good horn-line sound was outweighed by an apparent lack of confidence and a lot of missed notes. The drill was entertaining, and should be very eye catching before long, and the percussion did a good job of keeping the corps from losing control during the technically demanding sections.

Spirit of Atlanta - (58B/32P/28CG/1DM) Their 1998 repertoire consists of everything you ever wished you could hear Spirit play one more time. "Georgia On My Mind," "My Friend," "Way Down Upon the Swanee River," "Summertime," and finally "Sweet Georgia Brown," all had this home-town stadium rocking with a full corps sound that got people out of their seats. Their brass looks to have a full range of dynamics and the guard looks like the Spirit of old. To this corps the crowd could only respond with a hearty Southern "Welcome back! And don't stay away so long next time, ya hear?"

Carolina Crown - (56B/33P/38CG/1DM) Carolina's show won out over Spirit's by being just a bit more difficult, and just a bit cleaner. With some work, they'll be pulling people out of their seats elsewhere just as easily as Spirit did here. "The Music of Alfred Reed" included "Russian Christmas Music," "Armenian Dances," and "Praise Jerusalem," all of which works well on the field. Look for the "crown" in the drill as the show closes.

Cadets of Bergen County - (66B/26P/34CG/2DM) Cadets were out of the gate fast again this year. "Stonehenge," by Jon Van der Vost, is not something that you will find yourself singing on the way home, but it was bright, powerful, and very clean for the early season. The auxiliary were the stand out section for this corps, and the corps' marching was clearly more polished than the other corps this evening. The brass were strong, but not exceptionally so by Cadets' standards, and the percussion was fortunate in that when you heard them they were pretty good, but once again they only play for one-half to two-thirds of the show, much of it inaudible in the stands.

Crossmen - (56B/35P/35CG/2DM) This show, on the other hand, had you foot-tapping until the next morning. Crossmen, possibly responding to popular demand are putting on a show full of Pat Methany's rythmical tunes. "Third Wind" is the opener, "Letter From Home" is the ballad, and "First Circle" brings it home. As always, the percussion leads this corps, but don't believe the recap (3rd in drums tonight): they play more notes than ANYONE and EVERY thing is clean. Look for this battery to challenge for tops in DCI this year. The guard is cut from the same cloth as Cadets, and will challenge the elite in DCI as well. The drill is difficult, and it showed both in a lack of overall cleanliness, and in the fact that the brass had only enough energy to match the drums for the first tune. This show will live or die based on wether their good sounding horns can keep up with the percussion for the WHOLE show.

Magic of Orlando - (64B/31P/32CG/1DM) This group made a splash with their show entitled "Muddy Water Blues." the only song that I recognized was the closer, "House of the Rising Sun," but it was all enjoyable. The obvious strength of this unit was its hornline (2nd this evening): VERY LOUD! Unfortunately, this was the one dynamic they were great at, though I'm sure the rest will come, and their tone quality was certainly more toward the Madison Scouts "shredding metal" sound, as opposed to the "velvet metal" of some one like Phantom Regiment. Their guard did not have the last song's worth of routine, and the marching and percussion seemed to have some glitches as well, but hey, it's early yet.

That was how it happened. I was there.


June 23, 1998, Columbus, OH

Blue Knights.............66.5
Bluecoats................64.9
Kiwanis Kavaliers........57.0
Cincinnati Glory.........44.9
General Butler...........38.4
Marion Cadets............33.3
Phantom Legion...........(announced as no-show due to breakdown)

Thanks to Phil Lehenbauer for emailing us these scores!

Review - June 23, 1998, Columbus, OH

Thanks to Phil Lehenbauer for emailing us this review!


Editorial notes:

Some thoughts on tonight's Columbus (actually West Jefferson, OH) DCM show:

Blue Knights (53H/30P/29G) have a nicely constructed "classics" show which begins with Shostakovich Symphony #10 and ends with Beethoven Symphony #9. They're off to a good start, as all sections seem to be strong as this season starts. Again, they've utilized the work of visual artist Brenda Vang in their flags, again making some of the nicest visual impacts of all corps! Especially nice is the use of beautiful butterfly wings in the Dvorak section!

Bluecoats (53H/29P/28G) put on a crowd-pleasing performance in their first contest of the summer, with another vintage Bluecoats show. Their "four seasons" depiction begins with winter, but quickly explodes into spring with color and sound! The singing at the end of the "Summertime" section leads directly into "Autumn Leaves", which has now become a Canton classic. The "new" arrangement filled with screaming soprano licks from the "old" days and is a great way to end the show!

Kiwanis Kavaliers (38H/24P/26G) presented their "American in Paris" show, using all the familiar themes from this Gershwin work. The guard used some nice equipment at the beginning, but then went equipment-less for the second half of the show, making the all black corps pretty colorless. The drum line seemed to be the strongest section currently, with some nice pit work in the drum solo spot.

Cincinnati Glory (24H/28P/11G) continue to impress for such a young corps. In this, their second as a field corps, they present a nice, mature package. All sections were highlighted at appropriate times, with the large drum line doing some excellent feature drill. They should do well this season!

General Butler Vagabonds (14H/10P/7G) performed their "Fiddler on the Roof" show with the whole corps dressed in peasant garb, which gave a nice look, but to me made some the drill sets unclear since everyone looked similar. All in all, the highlights were some nice guard effects and the enjoyable latin-style of "Sunrise, Sunset".

Marion Cadets (5H/11P/4G) again don't seem intimidated by their small membership size, but tonight the weakness of the horns made the overall effect of this jazz show below their normal standards. The drum line is much larger than the past couple years, and again the guard is very visible and uses many forms of equipment quite well. Once the horns catch up this will again be a fun corps to watch!

General show comments:
Why do shows continue with intermissions? Tonight because of the cancellation of Phantom Legion and the actual step-off of corps at 7:22 p.m. (start time was listed as 7:00), we saw only two corps perform in the first 90 minutes of the show! The "break" of 40 minutes before Cincinnati Glory really seemed to take any life out of the crowd.


June 23, 1998, Charles City, IA

Cavaliers................75.5
Glassmen.................73.2
Blue Stars...............52.1
Decorah Kilties..........30.8

Cavies won all captions except percussion, and won brass by 1 tenth.

Thanks to Nikk Pilato on r.a.m.d for these scores!

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