July 8, Montreal, QUE

Thanks to Donald Chinn on r.a.m.d for this review!

Montreal, July 8 (short) review

Got back from a trip to Montreal and the land of Francophones.

Stadium: A nice stadium with an overhang.  The overhang is great
for the small corps, since the sound is really amplified.  However, it's
bad for large corps because the echoing becomes noisy.

3rd Regiment, Multi-Visions, Northshore: Not much to say here other than
they had decent shows (again, the overhang helped).

Les Etoiles: Fun show with lots of neat visuals near the end.  Look for
them in Championship Week.

Academie Musicale: music from Waterworld.  I assume they are competing
in either Div II or I (all the announcements were in French, so I can
only infer from the program).

Bluecoats: music representing various American holidays.  The show's
theme is nice and the corps performed it well, but the show design
didn't do much for me.  There was no (apparent) connection in the
various parts of the show, either by the color guard or musical themes.
It seemed like a show that consisted of a bunch of tunes slapped
together.  It does have some potential, though -- the arrangements are
jazzed up and drum corps-ified versions of familiar songs.

Cadets of Bergen County: An all-Copland Out West theme.  Props are big,
but they are not nearly as numerous or pervasive as last year's.  They
are mostly used as staging areas.  The western theme seems to work well
-- the color guard, and even the percussion and brass get into it
(especially in the Hoedown).  The opening starts off soft but then
builds to be really loud ("5th gear" as one of the Cadets staff members
called it).  The Red Pony seemed too drum corps-ified for my tastes.  I
prefer the Blue Knights version (1992?).  The Cadets' show has lots of
potential, too.  The pacing of the show needs a little work (breaks
between pieces, tempi, etc.).  Each section looks good for early July.
Balance in the hornline is something they need to work on.  Finally,
drill-wise, it's the chaotic wild drill we all know and love.  A highly
entertaining show, but perhaps not quite enough sophistication to win it
all.  Who knows.

Scores (may or may not be accurate -- I could barely hear the announcer
on the PA system):

[see scores page]

A quick note: Having been on the West coast in the early season for so
many years, it was refreshing to be in the East in the early season.  I
did not detect any major scoring differences between the West and the
East.  (Also, this show was judged with 5 judges: GE Music, GE Visual,
and three ensemble judges).

-- Donald

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