Thanks to Tom Brace on r.a.m.d for this review! Hey all: Tom Brace (I announced the show) More on this later..... 8. PRC 41.2 Hey, I can't really judge (I am a dad of two kids in this corps, so I am biased. Their horns are better than last year, the guard is consistent and the drum line is consistent as well. A very good corps for 11-17 year olds. Many first time drum corps kids. Marching is a problem at times, but these kids are working hard and steadily improving. When was the last time a DCM non-member corps made finals in the following year? Golden Lancers? Hmmm. Watch out Coachmen. 7. Kilties 45.5 Some overtime penalties I think...(I didn't see a recap as the mimeograph machine was on the fritz.) Hey, they show up and treat the crowd. What does a judge say to them..."You march like old men." SO!!!! "You play that horn like an old man." SO!!! They come to please the crowd and they do that. Auld Lang Syne ending chills the neck of an olde fart like me and the cymbal player is great in Minnie the Moocher. I may play mellophone for them next year...because I play and march like an old man! 6. Capital Sound 46.8 I am suprised a bit about this. I like their show and they seem to have high energy, but somehow translation of this isn't getting through to the judges. Their horns lazer a bit every now and then (typical for the Wisconsin Capital Corps) but I continue to think they are as good as Blue Stars. And if I could give them a hint, never advertise in your spiel sheet how little you practice each week. Judges hear that every contest. I really like the Caravan interpretation. And I really like the drumline work. 5. Blue Stars 50.2 Down 2 points from Racine the night before. It was obvious. These kids were tired and when this is matched with a fairly boring Copland show (not all Copland is boring, I know) it was a tired performance. So much horn work and they were biffing all over the field. These (mainly college) kids march up a storm...very clean style, nice lines....but, I find their show very flat. 4. Americanos 51.4 I saw the Americanos for the first time a year ago and I asked where their hornline was...it was all percussion show for the most part. Well, the hornline showed up this year. WOW! Nice show! Tons of energy and lots of excitement everywhere. This percussion section including an outstanding pit works their butts off like last year, but they now have some decent horns to match. I had a lot of fun watching this show. 3. Madison Scouts 79.0 I'm not a big fan of the Scouts this year. Flame away, but it's nery simple to me. No, it's not the de-emphasizing of their guard. The guard work was a bit out of control last year. Not enough machismo for matadors. I feel that is much more evident this year. I don't like the Scouts hornline sound. It's all top endy kind of harsh lazor like tone. It gets very nonmusical after a while. I know...that's the way it always is, but they need a lot more baris and euphs and contra sound to balance all of those leads. The drumline has nice features and I really like the basslline feature and of course the (now) 7 man tenor line feature. My final comment on Madison has to do with construction of the show. And no, I'm not going to wail on Malaguena, although I agree, some new repertoire would nnave been nice here. Malaguena works for me as the Scouts closer. It accomplishes its mission. It brings folks to their feet. It does this better than any drum corp number I have seen this year. My big problem occurs way before all of those 360 degree finale turns, etc. First...the all-man pinwheel happens way too early in the show. There is no build up for that moment. You could lose this throw back to last year's show and no one would notice. Second...LOSE BOLERO COMPLETELY!!!! Maurice Ravel wrote a piece that lasts 22 minutes and stretches from pppp to ffff in that period of time. NOT IN TWO MINUTES!!! What an injustice to one of Western Music's finest romantic pieces of literature. This version outright stinks. I know, that was harsh, but so is going from mf to ffff in ten seconds. Lose it. 2. Cavaliers 80.2 I like the flags and the guard propos from the Cavies this year. In fact, I like the way this guard performs. They are very athletic. That is about all I like about the Cavies show in fact. I really need to see this show from on top of a stadium to see the drill completely and these guys march very well, but their hornline is weak this year. That is a fact. They have been consistently getting their butts kicked this year and at this show they couldn't recover enough in other areas. I don't think they have what it takes to return as DCI champs this year, but I said the same about their show at this point last year and they came up and stroked by everybody. Maybe that Cavie philosophy will have those hornline players kicking ass in August...when it really counts. We'll see. 1. Phantom Regiment 80.7 Home show??? Could be. Hornline line judge from Rockford??? Heard some folks talking about this on the way to their cars. To those of you conspiracy minded individuals out there...forget it. This is by far the most musical corps in DCM...maybe in all of drum corps this year. I know...it's a football field and not a concert hall...but, what about a corps that can successfully blend the two concepts? Hornline...tops in DCM.. hands down...no contest. Pit....also the best in DCM. Guard....hmmm this is where it gets tougher....second to third depending on the evening. Although the Regiment guard is more athletic than in recent years, it is this grace and femininity versus the sheer strength and athleticism of the other top 5 guards. This year, there is more dance and that looks great and the poles are a very fun effect, but I like the Cavies guard better for the things they do on the field...but the tradition of the Regiment has always been a graceful feminine guard and they have exactly that. And no ugly purple uniforms. Now the drum line....loving those new ruby Premier drums. They look like cellos and violins up close. On the field against the black unis, they look dark and sinister. It is very hard to judge the battery. They don't play for much of the opener and then aren't really featured to the extent that Scouts and Cavies lines are. The drum feature comes very early and moves by very quickly as well. Again, this is another corps I need to see from a top vantage point. To me, the black unis do as much harm as good. While hiding some mistakes, they also hide good marching to an extent. It's kind of like chemotherapy is to cancer. It kills the good cells to rid the bad cells. How about a ruby pinstripe down the side of the trousers? Probably not. The new design red chevron is also an upside down (defiant) heart...get it? It is almost un-noticable on the field. I'm not sold on the all black unis as of yet, but I like them against the red much better than the purple of last year. Having an all black baldrick also doesn't cut the uni in half the way the glittery silver one did last year. There you have it. A partially biased attempting to be unbiased view of the Rockford show. Oh, by the way. Boylan HS field PA was completely out of order for the show. This was discovered at around 4:30pm and the janitor on duty couldn't (wouldn't) do much too remedy the situation. They finally got some help there too determine what myself, a couple of volunteers and the show coordinator already knew. The PA was broke and they couldn't (wouldn't) fix it. So, out came a couple of Long Rangers from the Regiment and a bull horn from DCM and we did the best we could. I was amazed at how well it went considering only a third of the crowd could hear anything. Of course by this time in the year, most avid fans have the spiel sheets about memorized so what good is the announcer except for the scores. The funny note is that periodically throughout the evening, people (mainly older folks) would come down out of the seats to the tablle on the field to let me know taaht the PA wasn't working and that they couldn't hear. Also, couldn't I do something to fix those big speakers so people could hear what I was saying. Oh well...stuff happens. Funniest part...the raffle!!!! We had to write the winning numbers on big cards and display them to the crowd ala Vanna White. What a hoot! We also came up with a great drum corps contest....for the first person who leaves their lights on, give them a set of jumper cables as a gag prize!!! And also, maybe something for the first car that is going to get towed. I would love never to have to announce those kind of things at a show. If you do something stupid like park your car where you shouldn't...you deserve to get towed!!!! Thanks for enduring the length of this post. Tom Brace PRC Drum Corps Dad, Cook, Chaperone, Driver and Voice of the Phantom Regiment Cadets Aaron (pit) and Kenton (hornline) 1995, 1996
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