Thanks to Matt LaFontaine on r.a.m.d for this review! 1st-Cavaliers 72.5 This was a big suprise. Cavies have a great sound and good guard, but the show seemed a little flat. It was exciting at the hit points, and LOUD! but in my opinion, it wasn't a winner against Madison or PR. 2nd-Phantom Regiment 71.7 Much booing when announced in 2nd. PR had an AWESOME performance, and visually the show was exciting. I must agree with those who say Phantom is a real contender this year. They deserved better than what they got. Phantom also has a mean mellow section, they are out for blood this year. 3rd-Madison Scouts 70.4 Even more booing here. Most people (myself included) thought they deserved the win here. The bari section is intense, and so are the sops. Bolero DOES need more volume though. Everything is just pure, exciting, loud MADISON! Malaguena was incredble to a 1st time listener (myself) and even the warmup was exciting (taken from last year's show). They were the real winners here. 4th-Colts 63.3 Incredible concept, great drill, awesome music. This show has a little bit of everything and will be a winner when it peakes. The Colts will be a force to be reckoned with this year, they have the total package. If they can put it together, it will be awesome. 5th-Pioneer 58.1 WOW! The best 58.1 I've ever seen. Music, drill, battery, performance, all of it was there. It needs a lot of cleaning, especially on the attacks, but by the end of the year it will be as good if not better than last. 6th-Golden Lancers 52.9 A very good show. Nice arrangements of music and visually exciting drill. A strong Div. III contender with a promising season ahead. 7th-Northern Aurora 39.7 Good show. Some cleaning up needs to be done, especially in the lower sections (baris and contras). A solid start to the season, and if they can build it will be interesting to see what they can do. 8th-Marion Cadets 32.5 Great show concept (Tribute to Ray Charles) Fever cooked when it was on. The contra really knows how to wail, and there was a great contra/bari duet in the middle of the show. A 5 man horn line shouldn't be able to put out that much sound, but they did and it was good. Drill was well written for such a small group. They deserved a higher score IMHO, and they certainely will have one by August. 9th-Mirage Sr. 33.0 Good corps, great music, o.k. drill. I loved the StarGate sequence. The music is very exciting, and they have a terrific low brass section. Much cleaning of drill is needed though it's still early and that's to be expected. 10th-Coachmen 30.2 Beautiful music, great concept here as well. Drill was pretty good also. The bari solo in Amazing Grace should face the audience though. It was too quiet. Exhibition-Limited Edition Good concept in returning to Beethoven. The corps proved itself by playing what they did with only learning it in a week or so. Once drill is learned, this should be a good show. LE has a lot of heart which makes up for their small size, and they will improve as they gain more members and more rehearsal time. Overall, the show was exciting. I really enjoyed every performance I saw. I didn't like the America/O Canada thing. Too anti-climactic in the middle. If the songs are both to be played, play them _SEPARATELY_! They are both ruined by the stupid round/melody thing. The booing was to be expected. Most people thought the show went to Madison. They are suprisingly clean rght out of the gate and so was Phantom. They look to be the strongest contenders yet (I haven't heard news about BD or CBC yet). Cavies' show was ok, but it really pales in comparison to The Planets. They kind of painted themselves into a corner by needing to top last year's show to win, and without incredible precision they probably won't do that. All I can say is this; if the rest of the year goes like it did today, then look for some exciting competition and some thrilling performances. Matt LaFontaine -- +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Dublin Scioto HS Marching Band Trombone | Dublin Scioto HS Varsity Tennis All Star Brass Band Varsity Euphonium | mattl@freenet.columbus.oh.us +--"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure" Dan Quale--+
2 show reviews in 1 (Toledo and Columbus) Thanks to Jeff Wise on r.a.m.d for this review! This early in the season, I thought it might be better to put these two shows together and save people space and time and all that. The recurring theme here will be, without a shadow of any doubt, "it's early." One other caveat before beginning, the remarks from the Toledo show are influenced and presented in part with my friend, Dentist Dave. Dentist Dave and I got to Toledo a little later than we wanted to and ended up catching Pioneer from one of those tunnel things. Pioneer's loud though, real loud. And they're taking ambitious steps to whatever the next level is. And that's a question for anyone -- it appears that Pioneer has 90-plus members, isn't that over Division II limits? Drill design, I'm told, is by Todd Ryan and it's apparent. Pioneer had one of the most interesting drills in both shows. Especially in the Columbus show where I got to see them straight on. If one could call a drill tasty, then Pioneer has it. I'll put the first "it's early" in here, because the drill isn't perfect by any means. The guard has much, much work to do (timing, timing, timing) and I'm not sure I understand the significance of the little bouncy balls they use (and when they drop the balls inadvertantly they tend to bounce a ways away from the performer, a marked problem in Columbus). And at least their dutting wasn't noticeable in Columbus, but extremely annoying in Toledo. Dutting sucks. All in all, this show has much potential. They scored like 6 points down to G'men in Toledo and should've been much closer. GLASSMEN - It has to be a bit of downer to have your very first show be your big home show. The crowd was supportive though. Guard uniforms appear to be almost the same as last year and the corps entered the field with field drums on slings and some of those double bass drum things that were red, white and blue. Aside from those drums, the colors of patriotism was nowhere to be seen for the next 17 minutes. The opening Sousa march proved that low brass is becoming a stregth for G'men, but more so it showed that there is a glaring dearth of high brass (duly noted by the plastering of signs everywhere asking for horn players, plus a few pleas from the PA announcer). Sousa is pretty much equated with patriotism, no? Someone might want to let the Toledo people know that, it tends to help in the GE category when the colors of a show match the music. Going into Gershiwn showed that maybe G'men are still learning parts of the show. I cannot believe I'm about to say this, but in the American in Paris parts, G'men's choreography stuff actually fit and made sense, and on the first viewing I thought that. Wow, an old dog can learn. It still wasn't uniform and all that great, but it wasn't horrible either. The drill however, left much, much to be desired. There were people running around the field taking 2-to-5 size steps during slow music parts -- yeah, that'll pile up Visual points. However, "it's early." As a first show, it wasn't a wreck, but there's much that needs to be done to this show if Toledo wants to stick around the same Finals placement. My cynicism comes out when I say that G'men got homefield advantage by edging out a much better Colts squad by a tenth and being over 6 points above Pioneer. CAVALIERS - First corps after the break in Toledo and the first corps to catch the bando crowd's attention in Columbus. The drumline jumps out at you right off and they are definitely strong. Also, the hornline continues to become veyr good and was extremely solid in both shows. One note, if you have a choice try not to watch Rosemont from the left side of the field. We saw them on the left side in Toledo and straight on in Columbus and the difference visually was amazing. At Toledo, much of the drill didn't seem that big of deal (of course, "it's early"). The guard stuff with the trellises was interesting and highly reminiscent of Madison and those palette thingys from a few years back. At one point, remarked Dentist Dave the guard looked like the Flying Nun with the trellises. Symphony #3 (fanfare for the common dude) is nicely done and not incredibly obvious either. Still, the Cavaliers did not march as well as they could be at this point as many of the forms were way out to lunch. I already said, "it's early," but there are parts of this show that could be much better in June. Musically though, they are solid and that must be what's putting them over everyone, because in an overall aspect they are not ahead of Madison and PR right now. COLTS - Yes, let it be noted for the record that I hereby rescind my comments in my "Everybody's preview of the Season" post about Colts and their drill problems. Eating crow in short. Not only did Colts NOT have a silly running drill move in the opening minute of the show, but for the most part the drill is highly improved over previous efforts. More kudos to Chuck Naffier as he's given the Colts a tremendous base vehicle to work with for the summer. Musically, this is real good stuff, real good. Colts seriously need to look into new uniforms. The guard appears to be more talented than years past, but timing is a good concept to teach. With an already improved drill, the actual technique isn't nearly as behind as it has been in years past, all of which will help Colts to gain good momentum into August. Another note, when spinning and throwing the rifles and sbares, the guard does not spin out of a catch, which is a cool thing and as I'm told, more difficult. Plus the work is exposed, so when the timing comes through ("it's early") this should help in the performance captions. Musically, the Colts should be able to move up the ranks this summer, despite a better written drill, it's still not anything to scream and shout about. There are ineffective parts, but in June that is a given. This show should make listening to the second CD worthwhile, again especially with those Chuckbrass arrangements -- excellent stuff. Dubuque was much better than G'men and should have been at least 1.5 if not 2 points over them. PR - complete black uniforms with a little red chevron. Nice look. Guard in short red dresses that look exciting, but then reveal those trendy shorts underneath (which caused a noticeable sigh in the audience). Maybe too short, as the uniform doesn't exactly fit the conservative Russian nature of the show or guard work (that remark attributed to Dentist Dave). Drums are the same lavender from 95, but the bass drum heads were missing the Premier sign -- is PR waiting for new drums or switching? Because the purple doesn't match everything else. The show takes a long build into the first big hit, but my goodness Shostakovich translates well to a football field. Real well. Already this show is a favorite. The hornline is loud and good. Watch for the flagless poles that become really effective in the middle of the show. Consistently, PR has been able to come up with extremely effective visual aspects over the past 4 to 5 years. "It's early." In the all black, PR is able to hide some of the technique problems and visual gaffes. Sometimes the show doesn't seem to really take hold and take off, but the music is so thick and full of textures and contrast that it's not a huge loss, although it could hurt in some caption areas. In Columbus with the roof over the stands, PR was able to really showcase their sound. I haven't heard loud like that since PR in 89. Wow. Some of the complex horn passages are real cool, but a bit of a letdown considering they stand still for the runs. (side note, no corps stood still for any real length of time as a whole unit.) With some tinkering and additions and changes this show could take PR places. My opinion had them winning both shows only to be overshadowed by Cavaliers. MADISON - Performance is definitely the key here as Madison really projects the attitude of "let me perform for you." From the on-field entrance to the warm-up (notice not many corps warm-up on the field anymore?) to the opening moves, Madison is out to hook the crowd and make you stand. All in all, it works. Crowd favorites in both venues, they were the only corps to receive a standing ovation in retreat (the Columbus show). 8 tenors. What luck to find 8 people of that talent. Exploit it and so they do. As the show was about start, Dentist Dave says to me (in an affected accent), "Lucy! You got some 'splaining to do!" Hey it fits the show, right? Then in a fit of words, Dentist Dave says the guard uniforms look like a cross between Antonio Banderas and Danny Terrio from Dance Fever. Dentist's can have real good insight sometimes. The show moves and grooves and is generally pleasing to anyone interested in watching drum corps. There is some drill problems, but guess what? "It's early." Even the patented Madison crouch to extend the step size couldn't help in some areas. The drum solo shows those 8 tenors have real talent, real talent. In a possible obscure metaphor the Neon drum heads used by the cymbal line behind the drum line ends up looking like famous mouse ears at the end of the tune (in Columbus, one of those drum heads fell off the mount and the cymbal player should be chastised for not picking it up when he had the chance). Sadly, Malaguena is nothing new, nothing remotely original. It smells much like 88, of course throwing in the same drill moves contributes to that. It is still good and entertaining, don't get me wrong, but how many corps have been able to capture the same magic when repeating a tune (the park and blow section for example, in 88 Finals that was just unreal, even when Scouts get it down it won't have that same magic). Bolero is way too short, way too short. There's much potential in that tune, both musically and visually, it'd be nice to see another minute or so added to that tune. The red guard boxes at this point serve no real use. Overall, Scouts were probably the cleanest of everyone, with PR being close behind. However in Columbus, PR did have the better show and deserved to be over Madison, but in both shows, Madison was easily over Cavaliers. The retreat has turned into near joke status. The corps now play a mdeley of America and O Canada. Why? Shouldn't O Canada be played with the National Anthem, and after an anthem is played it's not supposed to be played again until the next show/game. Therefore isn't it disrespectful to play O Canada AFTER the show is finished? And then as part of a medley with an American tune? Ouch, yikes and zoinks. Bad move, bad move. Plus, aside from the Columbus crowd standing for Madison after their announced score, the fans don't have a chance to directly show their appreciation to an individual corps after they find out where they placed. I remember many times being roundly cheered after the crowd disagreed with our finish as we played out of retreat -- it's an added wonderful experience to the drum corps summer. That's all I have. I apologize for misspellings, there's no spell check here anymore. Comments and criticisms roundly accepted, but not always squarely accepted. Jeff Wise
Thanks to Chris Maher on r.a.m.d for this review! Exhibition Limited Edition This was my first time at Cooper Stadium. I didn't realize that it was a baseball stadium. The field was not parallel to the seats. If I sat straight in my seat I was looking straight at the 50 yard line marker, but not straight down the 50 yard line. If I twisted a bit, I could look straight down the 40. Don't know if that description makes sense, but I found the layout disorienting. My favorite, again, was Phantom. This is a great show. Crowd responded very positively, even after just seeing Cavaliers. Crowd favorite, though, was Madison. Boos were heard when Madison was announced in third. A few boos and a hushed gasp when Phantom was annouced in second. I'm not sure why the Cavaliers show is not appealing to the crowd. Its a well designed and well executed show. Full of great GE percussion. Drill is much more intricate than Madison or Phantom. Guard is more interesting than either Madison or Phantom. Phantom did beat Cavaliers in GE Music and Ensemble Music. Cavaliers won all other captions. Madison placed second in Percussion Performance - just .2 ahead of Phantom. Tonight I did agree with the judges. Cavaliers did what it took to win. Unfortunately (I guess), that doesn't include connecting with the crowd. It seems that there should be a component of GE that reflects audience appeal. The show was well run. No breaks. Too many shows have long intermissions. Cavaliers played Over the Rainbow after the victory concert.
Last updated: June 19, 1996
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