Blue Knights.............72.1 Pioneer..................60.1 Kiwanis Kavaliers........56.4 Cincinnati Glory.........49.4 Coachmen.................35.9 Bandettes................20.1 Thanks to Jeremiah Peterson for emailing us these scores!
As always, my review is made up of my opinions, and you may find them completely wrong. So be it.
First off: the stadium tonight, Housemann Field, was almost barren. I'd say around 250 people tops, and maybe that's even a little generous. Not a good turnout for something that's supposed to be a fund raiser for a corps. The Coachmen hosted tonight's show.
Grand Rapids is a BIG town -- much bigger than Port Huron, MI or even Michigan City, IN, that hosts TWO shows.. ADVERTISE ADVERTISE ADVERTISE your shows, coordinators -- people don't fill the stands if they don't know there's a show. *sigh* I felt almost embarrassed for the corps coming all this way to perform for such a paltry audience.
But those of us that WERE there were all hardened Drum Corps vets. We knew what was going on, and we made PLENTY of noise. A good time was had by all :)
Anyway. On to the show. In reverse order of finish:
Bandettes: 20.1 Well, what can I say. I give these young women my full respect for a wonderful effort. The Bandettes are fielding 10 brass, 9 perc, 8 colorguard, and a DM.
OK, so they're not the Blue Devils. But I will say, they have a VERY good sop soloist whose solo rang through the stadium and gave me goosebumps -- and the colorguard is actually quite advanced and are very well together. And the entire corps is so darn cute -- there's just something neat about an all girl bass line in kilts. Bravo for a gutsy performance tonight, ladies.
Coachmen: 35.9 The Coachmen are smaller than the Bandettes -- 9 brass, 7 perc, 3 colorguard, 1 DM -- but those 9 horns play very nicely together. They have an ensemble quality to them that is very impressive for such a small group. There's definitely talent in that Brassline just screaming to cut loose.
The 3 colorguard are also very good for their size. They did very well with their flag and rifle work during the show. Odd musical moment of the night: the guard pounding black boxes with metal chains. The significance of this moment escaped me -- anyone else care to help me on this?
Cincinnati Glory: 49.4 FUN FUN FUN FUN. This corps is a hoot to listen to. Kudos to the soloist at the beginning of the show -- you set the tone for the entire 11 minutes. The opening number has a melody that is absolutely infectious -- you catch yourself humming along with the music. FUN FUN FUN. This was the first corps I had to stand and cheer for in the middle of the show.
And that drumline! Zowie! I'm not a drummer, but they were doing SOMETHING right because the audience erupted in applause after the end of their Drum Solo. I dunno what kind of score they got, but in my humble opinion they were right up there. DON'T miss this corps -- this is NOT a bathroom or hot dog break time when they hit the field. This group is going places.
Kiwanis Kavaliers: 56.4 Someone get this corps some COLOR! The entire corps -- brass, perc, and guard, are dressed in black with silver highlights. It's OK when the guard is twirling flags, but when they don't -- and there's a section towards the end where they don't spin a flag for a couple of minutes -- the corps suddenly becomes a bore to watch. There's nothing to focus on, just a lot of black. I dunno why that is, just perhaps a psychological thing.
The last push towards the end is lovely with the multicolored flags, and the corps looks as if they enjoy the music they are playing, which is important. "An American in Paris" is very accessible for an audience, and they responded nicely.
Pioneer 60.1 I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I think this corps' scores are low for some reason unbeknownst to myself and the audience. What am I not seeing that drags their score down a bit? The brassline is MUCH better than they were two weeks ago -- not nearly as crass - , the percussion seems very sharp and together, and the colorguard girls are steadily progressing and bringing the Visual scores up. Everything seems to be clicking for Pioneer.
The corps got a well-deserved ovation from the crowd after the end of their first number -- they were quite hot tonight. A couple of screaming sops ups the excitement notch a factor or two, and the kevlar/mylar mix on the percussion is very interesting to listen to. No new unis yet-- when do they arrive?
Blue Knights 72.1 A well deserved score, IMHO. Some of you will probably look at the score and think "inflatomatic." Normally, if I was sitting in your position, I would definitely think the same thing. But I very much believe that BK earned this score tonight.
I may be wrong. I probably am. :/ We'll see what they get tomorrow with Phantom around. Anyway, the show.
The opening Shostakovich is an absolute thrill to watch and listen to -- it was even better when we got to hear it up close during the victory concert. The pit is FLYING during this song -- keep an eye on them. The brassline is very rich and lush and up to the task, and the percussion is classic BK.
I'm an owner of Shostakovich's Sym. 10, Mvt. 2 on CD, and I listened to it on the way to the show tonight. It is by no means an easy piece to play yet BK NAILED it to the wall. I want a recording of them playing it -- it was sweet.
The flags look like someone took a bunch of paintings off the wall of a museum, took the canvas out of their frames, and stuck them on flagpoles. They're beautiful. And the butterfly apparatuses (?) during the second ballad were also very lovely. A nice, solid job from the colorguard. And the level of the drill looks as if it has been taken up a notch from last year, as well. Beethoven's 9th is an excellent end to a very well crafted show. This is a show with its own flavor this year, and you're not too likely to forget it in the shuffle like some other BK years.
Fun side note: When the BK Drum Major (don't know a name) came up to conduct the finale for the corps, a bunch of the little local kids ran up to him and wanted to shake his hand, play with his hat, etc. The DM was a class act, greeting the kids with a smile and letting them touch his uniform, hold his hat, play with the plume, etc. And when he was conducting the encore, they all stood in front of him and mimicked conducting along with him -- it was HILARIOUS. The corps members down on the track were having a hard time keeping a straight face.
BK this year is a very classy corps with a decent shot at making some noise and causing a few earthquakes along the way this year. Congrats on their win this evening, and good luck to them tomorrow night and the rest of the season.
Cadets of Bergen County..78.4 Crossmen.................72.3 Bluecoats................68.1 Magic of Orlando.........66.8 Carolina Crown...........65.2 Spirit of Atlanta........60.5 Tarheel Sun..............53.9 Thanks to Michele Reed for emailing us these scores!
7th Place: Tarheel Sun (53.9) This was the first competition of the drum corps this season. I must say that for their first show, it was a good debut. The score may be a little low, but fans should be impressed with Tarheel Sun when they see them this year. Their strength lies in the percussion section once again. They have new jackets (bright yellow) over the black bottoms. I think this will be a good year for Tarheel Sun and they should bring home the ring in Division II.
6th Place: Spirit of Atlanta (60.5) I had been hearing a lot of good things about Spirit of Atlanta this season and I must say that most of them are true. Mark Thurston (former percussion arranger for the Crossmen) has taken over the percussion section at Spirit and has done a good job. This corps will definitely move up in the ranks this year and I wouldn't be surprised if they make a serious run at finals.
5th Place: Carolina Crown (65.2) "Heroes...Then and Now" Music of Alfred Reed. A very well constructed show. The hornline is much improved over recent years and the guard was very strong. The drumline impressed me the most. They were very tight and will definitely place well this year. I believe they were .6 of a point behind Cadets in drums the night before Durham. The weak point of the show tonight in my opinion was visual execution. the drill was good and once it is cleaned up, this show could be one to bring Carolina Crown their highest placement to date.
4th Place: Magic of Orlando (66.8) This show impressed me more than last year's production. The hornline was incredible. Don Taylor and his brass staff have really done an incredible job with this program. The guard had a solid performance tonight. The drumline has improved from last year. The tenor line was probably the strongest section in the drumline. This show will be one to watch. This hornline is one everyone needs to see.
3rd Place: Bluecoats (68.1) "The Four Seasons of Jazz". Very nice show tonight. Matt Savage has done a great job with the drumline. Nice tenor solo. The hornline was once again living up to its reputation. They had singing in the show very much like 1993. Summertime was well done. The color guard had a few flaws. I noticed one girl not doing her work in the middle of the feature. The work ,however, was nicely done and should be impressive in the future. This is definitely a corps to watch this season.
2nd Place: Crossmen (72.3) Very tight Guard and Percussion section. From what I hear, the colorguard is mostly veterans of last year and it shows in their performance. Thom Hannom never ceases to amaze me in his percussion writing. The percussion section was very strong tonight. The pit had a very nice show. I wish the battery was more involved in the drill during the ballad instead of resting on the front sideline.
The hornline seemed like the weakest section right now, though they were still solid. Very nice show from the Crossmen. Reminds you of the 1991 production of the Crossmen due to the same music of Pat Metheny, but with a new flare.
1st Place: Cadets of Bergen County (78.4) VERY nice show. I really enjoyed watching this show. I expected props of Stonehenge to be out on the field, but there were no props and there are no plans to have props in the show. The drill was once again incredible. The opening of the show draws your attention to the middle of the field with nice drill and loud aggressive playing, then all of a sudden out of nowhere a small brass ensemble on the 40 yardline plays softly with a beautiful sound. There were lots of rapidly moving,contracting sets. The corps is very spread out and then rotates in a tight box until all the horns are side by side. Very nice effect. You never know what to expect in the drill.
The drumline and colorguard are once again impressive. This is the first of the "Big Three" (Cadets, BD, and SCV) that I have seen this year and I can tell that Cadets are going to be up there again like they always are. If you haven't made plans to see the Cadets this year, do so.
notes: After the scores were announced, the Cadets came up to the front to do their encore. They warmed up in a large arc like they were going to do their show, then the drum major called them up front and they played a concert of just a fun tune. This was not from the show. It is very nice and fun to listen to. Get to a show. 1998 should be a great year for drum corps.
Well, to all the friends of Cybercorps who I have not kept up with, its that time of year again. Time to do a review of the local show and let you know what I think, as if that really matters. I'll have this posted on my web page sometime really soon, as well as updating a couple of links.
Well, lets get the scores out of the way first.
And now for a review of the show proper. Starting with the stadium, which is pretty neat. I liked it last year and this year I was sitting inside the 45's near the top. Really great seats. Most of us either couldn't hear the preannouncements or didn't bother listening and then it was time for the Star Spangled Banner. I have to give the lady credit for making through one of the weirdest intro's I've ever seen. They introduce her and she waits for the music. And waits... And waits... I figured maybe she should just try and do it a capella, and someone quipped she didn't know Italian. Finally some music starts, and she has to have them bump it up so she could hear it to sing along. I wasn't sure but on occasion it seemed like she was getting feedback, but what was really going on was a duet between her and the tape. They played the side that had the vocals she practiced with instead of the side with just the music. She'd cut off and the voice would just keep going. You could see her laughing about it while she tried to finish. The crowd gave her a really big ovation. And now my review in order of competition along with MY scores.
Spirit of Atlanta - 58.3 - Well, I like the show. The snares are muddy and the pit was not quite in sync in spots but it was still good. As the show went on the horns got weak, but they start very strong. Only a couple of tone problems here and there. The multi-tenors were pretty hot though. The closer will be a lot better once they clean it up. They are showing improvement from last year and should move up, but there is quite a bit of cleaning to do.
Carolina Crown - 60.5 - The sops are a bit brash especially in the opener. They have some M&M problems but not as many as Spirit did. Once they drop into Armenian Dances though, the horn line starts to cook pretty well. I think the thing keeping this corps in the running right now is the drum line. Top to bottom these guys are Sync'ed. All in all a very nice show, but the horns will need work on the opener to soften the brashness and on the closer to get better tone.
Bluecoats - 65.8 - Wow. Although the horn line is nice, I've seen much sharper from Blue in the past. They start off really nice with loads more GE than Crown. The drums are behind Crown though. When they start off Summertime, its pretty neat, but they drop into a lot of vocal work, with tantalizing hints of a huge balanced horn line. Once the horns take over fully, though, its not near the level the horn hits sounded like. The ending is really nice dropping into a quite held note, which segues right into Autumn Leaves. Autumn will smoke at finals, but tonight it needed a bit more work.
Magic of Orlando - 66.8 - I never thought I'd hear better horns from Magic over Blue this early in the year. Magic had the better horn line tonight though. They have balance, tone quality, and they can crank. The drum major showed this off by getting them blowing and then turned to us to see if we could hear them, shrugged like he couldn't and took it up another bell (not deci). Very Cool. The drums went back and forth being really tight to being very muddy. Crown still has drums, but this horn line is neat. The closer is even better then Blue's but it needs a bit more cleaning in the sound, so as to not muddy up. M&M seemed a bit behind Blue, so maybe here and drums are why they were behind Blue.
Crossmen - 66.2 - It pains me to think of Crossmen behind Magic, but although the opener is HOT, the rest of the show was not quite there. If you went by the opener and drums, they would be up there with Cadets. The drums smoked all night, they walked all over Crown and seemed like a contender for Best drums at finals. The horns muddy through the next few numbers, and the closer needs a lot of work. The M&M is the tightest so far, but slips in the closer as well. Although they smoked in places I thought overall Magic was ahead by a smidgen. But then again they RULED in drums!
Cadets of Bergen County - 78.1 - The winner and still champion of the show? Umm let me think. Well, I'd have to give drums to Cadets, but not by huge margins, it was just obvious. The same goes for the horns, but there was no real competition tonight in this area. The M&M is so much more difficult, and they are so much cleaner. They won without a doubt, but there were some very obvious mistakes here. This is not the same corps who last year came in and trashed everybody. I'm not sure they have the show to win this year.
Tarheel Sun - 56.8 - Not bad. Again they follow Cadets. Again they come in last. Again they impress me with the fact that they CAN follow Cadets. They are even cleaner than last year, just not quite as exciting. M&M is better then Spirit, drums maybe just behind, and horns could go either way. I put Spirit just a bit ahead this year due to GE and sound quality. Once again I see this corps making a move on the open class corps. If I was in the bottom open spots, I'd be very worried. These guys are really good. The opener and closer both cook pretty well from an arrangement side, but the middle of the show has a GE drop off. Look for them to once again contend for a Div-II championship.
Retreat - Cool. - Ok, drum majors front and center please. Tarheel's DM tried to be last but lost the war to Magic, which didn't even head for the line until after everyone else was there. Hmm, that's the way to win a war. All night long we had heard "Comp ... etition", as if it was two distinct words. A full retreat has been promised and it's just what we look for. Each corps plays themselves off the field, Spirit of course playing Georgia. Cadets come down front and the over the loudspeaker the announcer starts talking about 'the facial' we are about to hear. So Cadets play a nice easy tune, more in the Ooh-Ahh tone quality variety then the 'crease-face' stuff. Just one tune and then they pick up the hats. Hmm, Was ist los? Well they then move closer to the stands. I'm up saying "Closer, Get Closer. Get in the stands." Cadets have picked a GREAT tune to 'crease-face' with, Al Jarraeu's "Boogie Down." This is a REAL treat! And they have some VERY loud hits. What a way to end the night.
Until next time... And that's Winston-Salem in August.
The 'Original-Every-Night' T-Shirt Guy Talisman-O- Brian Schriber Crossmen 84-85 | bschribe@vnet.net http://users.vnet.net/bschribe
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