Thanks to Richard Vincent Lamb for directly emailing this review to us! Blue Devils Continue Their Winning Ways July 28, 1996 -- Ypsilanti, Michigan...Blue Devils dominated a field of five finalists, three semifinalists, and one Division III finalist, defeating the second place Bluecoats by 11 points. Despite cloudy skies and rain, spectators packed the stands of Ypsilanti High School's Shadford field and the corps put on strong performances to entertain them. Blue Devils improved on their mark from the previous nightUs show in Madison, scoring 91.6. Bluecoats led a pack of four finalists, tallying 80.9. Crown came in third with 77.7, edging out Glassmen, 77.5, and Magic 76.8. Pioneer and Velvet Knights tied at 67.6, followed by Academie Musicale, 66.2, and Northern Aurora, 53.3. Blue Devils have such a powerful hornline that their warmup in the parking lot could be heard over Bluecoats' warmup on the starting line. They were just as dominating on the field, being overpowering on the opening statement without overblowing. The opener also showed their technical sophistication through stereo effects of alternating eighth notes between the sopranos and baritones and their ability to communicate to the audience by the hornline sustaining a long chord and then popping their horns in a BANG in unison with a rifle soloist. "Desi" showed that the Blue Devils' guard can dance as well as their competition and still march, spin, and toss cleanly too. The corps showed their marching proficiency during the rest of the show, with a kaleidoscopic drill during "Brazil" and impressive block marching during the drum solo. The corps collapsed to the front sideline for a trademark Blue Devils Rin-your-faceS ending. The entire audience leapt to their feet. Bluecoats have returned to the big band sound and big flowing drill that were their trademark during the late 1980s. They sold their RAmerican CelebrationsS show well to the audience, beginning with the New YearUs Eve countdown to "Auld Lang Syne" and then going into the jazz standard "My Funny Valentine." The Fourth of July was celebrated with a fake color presentation, impressive use of block drill and fronts, and red, white, and blue flags during "Strike up the Band" and "You're a Grand Old Flag." The audience from the auto union town of Ypsilanti understood the Labor Day themed drum solo, complete with horns performing digging and hammering motions, picket signs, and gear flags. The show concluded with a jazzy "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and a well-sung and played reprise of RAuld Lang SyneS as the corps collapsed into a block against the sideline. The spectators gave the corps an enthusiastic ovation. Carolina Crown played "now you see us, now you don't" as they began their show hiding behind their chess pieces and appeared a section at a time and then quickly disappeared. Only after nearly half of their opener do all members of the corps march and play or spin in the open. Once all members are playing, Crown has a warm, well balanced horn sound with very clean horn attacks. The drill is interesting to watch, but still needs cleaning, in particular a file rotation during "Enigma Variations." This most likely will be solved by Finals Week. The ending of the show left the audience a bit flat, as "Crown Imperial" was a little difficult to recognize at first. The crowd gave the corps lukewarm applause at first, but then a standing ovation between the 35 yard lines. Glassmen, from nearby Toledo, Ohio, received an enthusiastic response from the audience as they stepped off for their marching warmup. Their commands have become much clearer and are easily understood from the stands. Flagwork has been added, as have several horn flashes, including a double ripple horns up before the start of the show proper. Although the horn flashes present at the beginning of the season during the drum break of RStars and Stripes ForeverS have been removed, horn flashes and body movement have been added throughout the rest of the show, a signature of the Glassmen. These are not clean yet, but are almost there and will add to the corps' GE and audience response during August. The corps received an enthusiastic standing ovation. Magic of Orlando played the Robert Smith composition "Twelve Seconds to the Moon" very impressively, with a warm, balanced sound, interesting stereo effects between soloists and the corps, and very clear tonguing on sixteenth note passages. Their drill was very fast-paced and well-designed. Their guard added to the show, particularly when they spun two large red flags on short poles. The drums were worth watching, especially the cymbal players, who switch between traditional cymbals and a triple high hat set on a roto-tom harness. However, they still need to clean their drill more, as their file rotations were not straight and neither were their echelons when they stood still in a spread-out block, indicating vertical spacing problems. Despite the minor marching problems, the spectators rewarded their show with warm applause. Pioneer came off their defeat of the Velvet Knights in Madison with a strong show. The guard has returned to the elegant uniforms with which they began the season. Most of the program is little changed from the early part of the season, but is much cleaner, bringing out the subtleties in it, such as the stereo effects between baritones and mellophones and then baritones and sopranos. A soft ending has been added, with the horns and battery forming a box around the guard in a circle in the center. The audience gave them strong applause, standing and clapping along while they trooped the stands. The jumpsuits may say NASA, but the red high-topped tennis shoes still say Velvet Knights. The corps showed that they still have a sense of humor when the drum major returned a yell of "Live Long and Prosper" from the audience with a Vulcan salute and the corps shouting "VK NOW!" when asked if the corps was ready. They also showed that they can march and play competently and enthusiastically with the opening silent drill from a block into a company front as they began the "Magical Mystery Tour" in space. The audience enjoyed the presentation thoroughly, especially during the Bottle Dance during the Darth Vader Theme from RThe Empire Strikes BackS which drew equal parts laughter and applause from the corps-knowledgeable fans. The corps earned a standing ovation between the 45 yard lines and enthusiastic applause from the rest of the stands. Academie Musicale is known for outstanding horn playing and they did not disappoint with their performance. They played beautifully during warmup and continued with very clean articulation, precise timing, and good tone quality during the opener. They used the stands of the left side of the field for effective stereo sound between soloists on the stands and the full corps on the other sided of the field. This made the best use of the drill, which was otherwise compressed, staying mostly between the 50 and the 25 on the right side of the field, and technically not very challenging. Northern Aurora marched a much better show than they did in Saginaw, but the rain and the opening spot did not help their horn playing, which suffered from intonation and balance problems. They recovered their confidence during the last third of the show, performing their "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" theme well. They left a good final impression and gained sincere and enthusiastic applause from the home state crowd. The fans applauded during the whole corps entrance during the "O Canada" section of the retreat and gave a standing ovation at the end of "America the Beautiful." Half stayed to listen to the Blue Devils victory concert.
Thanks to Jason Clark on r.a.m.d for this review! My first viewing of all the corps outside of the Midwest. Not the greatest weather, on and off rain throughout the night. N. Aurora's show just doesn't hold my interest, I was hoping that by my 3rd viewing it would grow on me but no. I even know all of the John Williams music that they are playing, it still just doesn't do it for me. Academie Musicle -I was expecting a bigger corps from them, they seem like a division II group. They have their pit and box props set up on the field instead of the sideline the whole show, it really limits where the rest of the corps can go. Pioneer- I like this show, I've seen it 4 times now and it keeps on getting better! I thought they should have beat VK, but who am I to judge? I saw the new guard uniforms in Dekalb, but what happen to the plaid skirts that they tied around their waist? Crowd was dead tonight- didn't even clap for the tradmark shifting-company-fronts towards the end. Velvet Knights- Always enjoyable to watch. Their blue flights suits work well, but those red Converse All-Stars are giving away every marching mistake!! I can't say I liked the alien or whatever it was supposed to be that attacks the corps. Magic- Those tight ass (literally) guard uniforms just have to go. I think that is what everyone in the stands is looking at and commenting on the whole time Magic is on the field. I enjoyed the arrangement, did you know that they had get permission from the Pentagon to use that music? The marching mounted cymbals are something I have never seen before. There was no rocket launch at the end like I was expecting, what happened???? Glassmen- The G-men were fired up after their 2 point lose to Magic on Friday in Madison! The crowd reacted as if they should have beat Carolina Crown, I would have to agree. The had a much greater sound than Carolina did. The guard finally got rid of those ugly red balls, I'm not sure if umbrellas work either. The big American in Paris flags at the end were very wet and did not stay together- I've seen it done better. Carolina Crown- I really enjoyed the opening of this group. The chess pieces are really cool coming across the field, but then they stay there!!!! I appluad the person who wrote the drill for this corps to move around all of these pieces, but they are in the way! I didn't like it until the guard moved these props to the sides and back of the field, WOW! I could finally see the corps again! I thought they were too distracting. Bluecoats- The helmets are back! GOOD! Sorry I know everyone else knows this but I haven't had a chance to see them this year. I thought labor day was a celebration of the work force? The Bluecoats are striking, it doesn't work. The guard needs to do something else besides look at eachother dance during the Chistmas segment. The singing was a nice addition! Blue Devils- Great Show! I was expecting a lot and wasn't dissappointed. The 2nd movement was my favorite (fast paced mambo) it seems like that is the highlight. I had to stay after just to hear them play it again. They can really belt out some sound! That siren is a great addition to the theme. Its a tough call, but I liked this show better than Cadets- Call me crazy! Thats its! Hopfully I'll get my ass in gear and go to Port Huron tomorrow night! I haven't seen Santa Clara and the Troopers, I also want to see the changes the Scouts have made since Dekalb! Jason
Last updated: July 29, 1996
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