Thanks to Brian Schriber for directly emailing this review to us!
And Now my thoughts in order of performance along with MY score:
Allegiance Elite - 78: Well, I was surprised to see this corps as the step
off and not Bandettes or SPectrum. Still I have liked this corps so I was
looking forward to what they had. The midrange is a bit muddy, the sops
are missing in high end support and a couple of drill timing mistakes.
Still the whole show was solid and the GE was not bad at all. I enjoyed
this show, figuring they set the standard for the evening.
East Coast Jazz - 84: Now I was really confused. why them next? The sops
are really hot and the drill was much better than Elite's. I like the drum
line here as well. What is really surprising is that this show really is a
Blue Devils show and that takes moxy to try and pull it off in Div II/III.
And they really do a good job. I was getting excited about this show now.
Bandettes - 54: Well, into every show a let down has to come. My first
thought was 'Man Bandettes are shrinking fast. They list 14 brass but
count only 7, 12 percussion but count only 8, 12 guard but count more like
6. The only accurate number in the program was 1 drum major. Marion Cadets
have been this small and sometimes surprised all of us, but Bandettes were
not quite up to the task. They really try and I give them credit for that,
and for marching drums! Still the horns were weak, no support, and the
drums, with 1 snare and 1 tom, were... mushy. I really don't underrstand
that one myself.
Lake Erie Regiment - 64: After Last years show I was hoping to see this
corps move up a bit. To some extent they are trying, and we will find out
at finals whether they did it. They had better drill than bandettes and
better drums. Not bad but then again they also followed Bandettes, so
that may have helped them a bit. Still I was only 3 pts away from the
judges So I think we were fair.
Kips Bay Knight Club - 72: I really thought they were better than Erie by
a good margin. Obviously the judges thought different. Good Horns and
decent drill both just a bit better than Erie. Drums were about the same
but the overall show came across better. The jazz club approach I thought
went over well.
Spectrum - 71: This corps started off very well with some great horn
sounds but could not sustain it over the show. A couple of phrasing
breaks and off notes over time just showed that they could be a great
horn line in the future. They just need to hold that sound for about 6
minutes or more longer. The drums were ok and the marching was not bad.
This is funny since I thought they were just below Kips Bay and the
scores I gave for both corps on either side of Kips bay are close to the
judges. Still, 8 pts over Kips Bay is way too much IMO. maybe 1 or 2 pts
would be correct AT MOST. I really wanted this horn line to be good too
since they were playing a couple of Mangione Tunes and Elfman to close.
All in all I like this show.
Dimension - 89: Oh My GOD! I'd buy that for Dollar! This is the BEST horn
line I have heard from a small corps since Academie Musicale in 1990.
Unreal pure sound that is so clean. In fact my only problem is that they
feature a wonderful low brass section only once. After that they are so
balanced it is hard to pick out section, just hear the chords. The
control is simply beautiful. The drill is locked in and the drums just
smoked the whole show. Can you say Quality? I knew you could!
Northshore - 81: Now I was not expecting Northshore to be that good
especially following Dimension. This was a surprise that I enjoyed.
Gershwin is done VERY well here with well placed GE and some nice
marching. The drums were good but a shade below Dimension. This is a
corps that could do well in finals.
Lone Star - 76: The drums are great and the marching is fairly good as
well. But then again that is the same as last year, and as many of us
know what killed Lone Star last year was horns and the missing support in
especially the upper brass. Its fixed! Buddy Rich stuff is recognizable
and sounds pretty nice, the brass has a couple of problems putting loud
sound out but that is really their weakest point. Looking good going into
finals, But As you can tell from my score I didn't think they beat ECJ or
Elite, still I figured close on Elite. The question is what division they
march at finals. I think they are going II.
Tarheel Sun - 69: The home team, even closer than Crown! Let me state all
the problems with this corps to start. Some good horns, but even more
problems with volume plus quality than Lone Star. Some noticable cracks
in the upper brass and some even on the low brass. The drill had major
problems with spacing at times, which caused a few collisions and form
breakss. Also it caused many out of step problems and horn motion so that
fewer collisions would happen. Now for the good news. This is a first
year corps and all I can think is that they are INCREDIBLE for a first
year corps. I am so happy about their show I can't stand it. The music
never falters into the range of 'what are they playing again?' and the
drill can be fixed by finals. If they march div III they can do a solid
10-15 placement. This without seeing anyone other than tonights group.
They are that good. Div II will be tough on them, especially considering
how competitive Div II is over the past years. But they may be able to
surprise me. What they got tonight was a better score than should have
gotten. Over Elite was more than a gift, but Over Spectrum and Kips Bay
is not out of line. Whats more they have a better base show than those
two, so it should be interesting next week. GO TEAM!!!!
Well, that's it from me. Enjoy them all in Orlando, We'll see ya there!
? The 'Original-Every-Night' T-Shirt Guy
Talisman-O- Brian Schriber Crossmen 84-85
| bschribe@vnet.net brian@synxcti.com
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