Cadets of Bergen County......80,6 Acadimie Musicale............66,7 Kiwanis Kavaliers............66,2 Spirit of Atlalta............64,4 Les Itoiles de Dorion........59,7 3rd Regiment de St-Eustache..58,3 Les Sinateurs de Joliette....53,8 Thanks to Andri Thiriault, Friends of Drum Corps Quebec for emailing us these scores!
Show started 10 minutes late. Why??? I don't know since clouds in the West were ominous.
Governnaires - No headwear. Looked silly. Tried hard. Suggestion: Why not merge with Minnesota Brass and have one really solid corp from Minnesota/Midwest that could compete with Eastern DCA corps?
Phantom Regiment Cadets - Trees looked stupid. Tough to figure out what was going on most of the time. I know you've got to start somewhere, but why on my dime?
Americanos - Announcer stated entire repertoire during introduction of their show -- "A Tribute to the Music of Gloria Estefan." It is a good thing he named songs because I couldn't recognize the melody in most of them. They had 9 sops on the field and at least 5 of them were fakers taking up space. Embarassing is the word that comes to mind. Good effort by drumline and good looking uniforms for Hispanic-flavored group from Appleton Wisconsin (go figure!), but the hornline is pity-full not pretty full.
Then the idiots running the show had the gall (rhymes with???) to place a 15-minute intermission. Just enough time for black clouds to start rolling in.
Next on was Minnesota Brass (the show sponsor). Like a return to the mid-60's. Everyone seemed to have a good time and play their hearts out. Enthusiasm made up for lack of style and composure. Like all senior corps, they left it all on the field that night and every night.
Pioneer - Oops! I knew from the long-winded introduction which sounded more like a description of Miss Ballantine's Interpretive Dance Studio Spring Recital, that I was in for something 'special.' Their creative committee has clearly gotten way too far down the road with this 'Riverdance' thing before they have realised that IT JUST ISN'T GOING TO WORK! Funny thing is when I saw the 'real' Riverdance Show in Mpls. I mentally noted how much the dancing/marching reminded me of drum corps and how much I thought that the live music was the best part of the live show. Judging by the Pioneer performance of Riverdance, I was wrong on both counts. Other reviews on the internet and in these pages are not as cynical as I am when I say 'there's always next season.'
Then came the obligatory Sheriff's deputy advisory to exit the stands and the show was cancelled. Do NOT go past go, and do not collect your $12.00. This happened before seeing either the Glassman or the corp most people came to see... The Madison Scouts. I understand the theory behind stacking the corps in order to 'save the best till last,' but by starting late, not hustling between corps, and sticking a 15-minute intermission into the program, the show director and sponsor deprived the audience of seeing the top two corps in attendance and allienated most of the audience. It is amazing to me that someone could be put in charge of such a major event as a drum corps competition and yet exhibit so little common sense.
Oh well, my overall thanks to all the corps that showed up and both performed and were ready to perform and special congrats to Pioneer who encountered a wind storm in the middle of their show and they were looking pretty scared as lightning strikes could be seen on all horizons. They toughed it out and did the best they could. They deserved the fine ovation they received for their effort from the disappointed fans sitting on the metal bleachers. And that my friends about sums it up. See you at Drum Beauty. Pray for good weather. I know I will.
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