June 21, 1997, Malden, MA

East Coast Jazz..........74.6
Spartans.................72.9
Phoenix..................64.1
Knight Storm.............62.7
Kips Bay.................58.8
Citations................58.2
Kingsmen.................48.4
Royal Cadets.............31.1

Thanks to RSBDrum on r.a.m.d for these scores!


June 21, 1997, Hamilton, Ontario - ODCA

Division III
Emerald Knights..........61.0
St. John's...............58.0
Conqueror II.............53.4
Ridge Raiders............36.3
Blue Saints..............34.0

Division IV (5 to 7 minute show)
Dutch Boy................40.2
Squires..................35.3

Thanks to Ontario Drum Corps Association for emailing us these scores!
Ontario Drum Corps Association
2173 Line 29, RR 2
Tavistock ON  N0B 2R0

Phone:   519-655-2093
Fax:     519-655-3813
Email:   odca@golden.net


June 21, 1997, Hayward, CA

Open Class
Blue Devils..............80.7 - All Captions
Cavaliers................74.4
Santa Clara Vanguard.....71.2

Div  II/III
Blue Devils B............68.0 - Perc.
Pacific Crest............67.6 - Brass
Mandarins................66.7 - Visual, GE
SC Vanguard Cadets.......57.1

EXHIBITION
Arden High School, Reno Nevada
Chinese Christian Drum & Bell Corps
Spirit of Sunnyvale Marching Youth Band
Blue Devils C
Santa Clara Vanguard Alumni Corps

Thanks to Larry on r.a.m.d for these scores!
Thanks to Mavroudis on r.a.m.d for these scores!

Review - June 21, 1997, Hayward, CA

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

Good morning:

What a show! What a time! Last night at Pacific Procession was some of the best drum corps moments I can remember. And definitely the best outside of Finals night in Boston with 27th. I won't go into full detail of the shows - see my review on Friday's show for the that - but here are the highlights of the experience. Warning: it's a little long.

Cybercorps West in the embodiment of Neil Hamilton, John King, Tom and Sue Matthews and their two friends, plus moi met in the parking lot directly across from the stadium at Cal State Hayward. Initially I couldn't find Neil's motorhome, but I spotted the Union Jack and realized John's FDCI corps, Queen Mutha, couldn't be far behind. (FDCI=Fantasy Drum Corps. Contact Jeff Butera for more info at jvbutera@eos.ncsu.edu) Tom brought out his stereo system and we listened, quite appropriately, to Vanguard through the years. Potluck was tasty - including the plaster looking substance which Neil swears was an ambrosia concoction. (Hey-*I* liked it!) We met Stuart Miyasato and several of his friends in the stands. See- we're doing our part to the conversion of the world to the activity!

Heading off for our seats, we scattered at the souvie area for a smorgasborg of corps treats. Gotta tell you that this is the first year that nearly all the shirts and other souvie items are really classy, high quality stuff worthy of wearing at say your work. Vanguard has a truck load of new stuff: a tour shirt with the word BERNSTEIN emblazoned in yellow on the bottom of a nightime San Francisco skyline and a yellow Trans- American building. Also the music titles surrounds the edge. Nice work. The patches are terrific too - the 30th anniversary patch is a must. They also have a new CD out which continues from the Through the Years CD with shows from '93-96.

Blue Devils had a great selection and I picked up the new DCI Year Book/Program Book. Steve Vickers has really outdone himself this year. What a treat! It's a monster compilation - !200 PAGES! - with pictures on EVERY page and a history of the organization listing not only winners, but Hall of Famers, Volunteers, and a huge list of "other junior corps" like The Princesses" who only march parades. There's also a huge section with two pages devoted to every year of DCI - photos and ALL the scores. At only $10 - this big is a steal and a great addition to any and every drum corps library.

Cavaliers have a nice collection as well. The souvie guy is a gem. He was kinda punchy and when I said he must have been on tour too long - he sighed, "Yeah all of two days." Embroidered shirts are the wave this year and they have a beauty for only $20. Some of the $40 ones are a little out of reach for most people - but the sweatshirts were a hot item last night.

Sweatshirts in California? In June? It was FREEZING last night. Noses were red and runny from the cold. Fingertips nearly froze off. People huddled under blankets while trying to keep their sandled toes warm by nervous movement. Clapping furiously for every unit was one way to keep warm too. They not only deserved it - but it saved circulation from becoming popcicle favors. Even Stuart Miyasato, who brought three friends, was abandoned by two who couldn't take it anymore. Granted they were dressed in shorts and tanks, but it was their first show and they left right before Division I. As Stuart would say: "Doh!" Those of us who weathered the weather...it was heaven.

At 6:05 PM at the top of a mountain side stadium overlooking the Bay Area - a truly majestic view - Pacific Procession (or PP as it's lovingly called) began it's 31st anniversary year with the Chinese Drum & Bell Corps from San Leandro, CA. They have been around for 8 years and presented a program this year of an American medley, "Appalachian Spring" (or "Simple Gifts"), "Beauty & the Beast" and a salute to the Armed Forces. The musicians are all female, but I think the rifles were guys and flags were ladies.

Next Spirit of Sunnyvale played in Summer Youth Band International exhibition. When they were told to take their "Sixty MINUTE warm up", one guy in the stands yelled, "DO IT MAN!" Chuckling at his own mistake, 20 year veteren announcer Dave Walker, corrected himself and said, "No! We'll be here all night!" Dave is a wonderful asset to the show. Dressed in a tux down on the track, he gave continuous commentary which was entertaining, amusing, and witty. This guy is great - I can't imagine a PP show without him. Definitely THE best around here. Thanks, Dave!

Blue Devils C - which many call their favorite group- gave an outstanding performance complete with drill and competitive drum feature. Little bits that were shakey the night before, seemed to come together nicely at PP. Southern California is in for a treat when these little tykes travel down there on tour. Wish they could take it all the way to Orlando.

From Reno Nevada - a band we think was called Arden H.S. and who performed at Clinton's inagural - did the National Anthem. It sorta fell apart several times, but the gutsy kids kept going and made it to the end. I'm guessing here, but I think with school out, these must have been incoming Freshmen.

Pacific Crest started us out with the competitive portion. They still have some drill and guard work to go, but they are looking great. At the end, Stuart noticed that the snares have to carry both their snare AND the set of tenors they use during a drum feature. (See separate story on the Cybercorps West Adopt-A- Corps program.)

Even though the winds distorted much of the sounds in this Division II section, BDB seemed to edge the other groups to take first. They'll be a great corps to watch in Orlando - music is entertaining, guard is skilled, and of course the musicians are trained by top notch folks.

I went down to the field at this point to meet up with some Mandarin folks, so I got to see them close up. Those pit pass throughs are tight. The drum solo is probably one of the best crowd pleasers of the night. Gone tonight was the choo-choo smoke at the end. I kinda liked it. Second pass at the music and you can hear all kinds of train-type sounds, rythmns, and symbolism.

Vanguard Cadets received a heros welcome from the crowd as they continue to improve their show. "Evita" really hit the sentiment of the alumni, and there was a mightier sound at the ending company front.

At this point, it was announced that several corps will be performing Sunday at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets at 3 PM, Cavaliers at 4 PM, and Vanguard A-corps at 5 PM. Catch it if you can---I'm still in recoop mode.

After a quick intermission, where everyone fled to get hot food items and warm clothing, Cavaliers began the Division I portion. Higher up than last night, I was able to see their marvelous drill. The twittering during the first minute of silent movement was substantially less and there was even applause during the expanding drill section. I was intrigued by a small exchange between a bass drummer and a judge who retrieved his mallet. The drummer gave a quick nod of thanks which I thought was very mature - especially in the middle of a show when your brain is going a million miles an hour thinking about drill and music. The crowd gave them a standing ovation and one guy in the stands even yelled, "Sorry about the weather!" After being a drum corps void for the last couple of years - we were very grateful for the chance to see another face in California.

Blue Devils continue to dominate the field. Their show is clean and sounds...well I've used every superlative there is...it's just plain good. They're the loudest I've heard in a while with screamers that just take your breath away. The guys next to me who hadn't seen the show before were floored by the high-note-to-even-higher-note finish to one of the numbers. The audience groaned when the ladies stripped to leotards with the temps mixed with wind chill factor easily in the 30's. I yelled for the guys to be gentlemen and give up their jackets. It actually would have been very gallant of them to have at least given them up on the stadium troop. Those poor ladies looked frozen.

With keen anticipation - and more alumni in the stands than probably ever before - Vanguard made their way into the stadium to a standing ovation. As soon as they hit the first notes - red and green balloons were released. Happy Birthday indeed! We now know where the "Vanguard" yell is supposed to be although I'll have to listen one more time to get the spot down. (All corps fans are welcome to join us in this fun bit of audience participation.) Silver flags at the end were totally in sinc. Their show, boosted by the overwhelming spirit of the home crowd, was on tonight and reflected in their jump in score.

Immediately after the shows, there was a drum major only retreat for scores and the hint to not leave the stands for a special "extravaganza" was about the happen. SCV drum major, Daemon Williams, who will be aging out this year, won the annual "DM Race" by slowing walking out...last. ;) Missing was Mandarins DM.

After scores, we were treated to one of the most marvelous sites imaginable: the SANTA CLARA VANGUARD ALUMNI CORPS! They rounded the bend and kept coming and coming and coming. I counted 18 percussion, 43 guard and get this 86 horns! That's 147 performers in addition to the 9 conductors=156. Representatives from every year - 1967 to 1996- were there. Our own RAMD personality Martha Leeson (SCV Tympanist extraordinaire) actually performed WITHOUT music (hurrah!) and was oblivious to our shout of "Yeah, Martha!" They looked great out there dressed in black pants, shoes, and red shirts with black sleeves and a gold star. The guard - which included guys! - used a variation on the old SCV multi-point flag and they performed in unison on all equipment - flag, sabre, and rifle. Dance too.

Just a bit of info:
Drum majors - Jeff Pearson ('85), Mike Munoz (70), Tim Andriese (86-87), Tim Moxely (71-74), Albert Montemayer (74-75), Rick South (76-79), Mike Zapanta (79-82), and Gary Butera (88-89). Two of these guys conducted warm ups stationed on the backfield hill of dirt.

Donations of equipment came from many sources and special thanks to Seattle Cascades, Drum Corps World, Kanstul Musical Instruments, Freelancers, and the Vanguard.

Music was broken down into three production numbers:
1. Festive Overture Fanfare, Procession of the Nobles and Russian Christmas Music.

2. You've Made Me So Very Happy, Choral from Young Person's Guide, Tradition, and yes...the wildly popular...40+ guard strong...audience on their feet yelling and applauding...The Bottle Dance. First time there were guys in the line I believe. Goose bump time!

3. Chorale from Jupiter, Phantom of the Opera, Music of the Night, and a closing medley of bits from many recognizable tunes.

After we caught our breath, Music Director Scott Pierson (67-70) conducted a 180 brass choir in a stirring rendition of Send in the Clowns. The line consisted of alumni, A-corps, and Cadet corps members with red shirt alumni alternating with the white tunic'd 97 horns. What a sight!

Many thanks to John Flores and Gloria Madrid-Flores who headed PP. Their dedication to details (like free visors to ward off the setting sun) is appreciated. Thanks to to everybody who made this show one that will live in very pleasant memories.
MAV


June 21, 1997, Streator, IL

Phantom Regiment.........74.5
Blue Knights.............64.6
Colts....................64.1
Kwanis Kavaliers.........58.8
Capital Sound............47.6
Phantom Regiment Cadets..43.6
Bluegrass Brass Sr.......33.3
Coachmen.................28.6

Thanks to Ginny Boyer on r.a.m.d for these scores!


June 21, 1997, Waukesha, WI

Cadets of Bergen County..73.9
Madison Scouts...........73.8
Glassmen.................66.4
Blue Stars...............47.0
Americanos...............40.3

Minnesota Brass Sr.......49.7
Kilties Sr...............47.8
Govenaires Sr............35.7

Thanks to Derek Harmon on r.a.m.d for these scores!

Review - June 21, 1997, Waukesha, WI

Thanks to Eric Camburn on r.a.m.d for this review!

Beautiful night for a drum corps show. Waukeshaw South stadium only has 15 rows, so last night was an "up close and personal" experience. Here are a couple random impressions.

Senior Division:

Minnesota Brass - 49.7 Big sound. Pretty clean drum line. Oh my my they have two great sop soloists. One screams (I think this is the guy featured on the Finals video a couple years back) and one plays with a lot of control and emotion. It's a nice mix.

Kilties - 47.8 These guys are great. Witty concept. A wonderful mix of the old and new. On one hand they play a 70's version of Auld Lang Syne that I'm sure brought a tear to a few eyes in the crowd. On the other hand they pulled out day-glo green and orange flags that humorosly clashed with their unis and played a song from the movie The Mask. Nice bright sounding horn line. If anyone wants to hear what a good corps sounded like in the 70s, these guys give you pretty good idea.

Govenaires - 35.7 These folks looked like they were having a lot of fun out there. There were a couple things about this show that bothered me though. 1) They attempted a knock-off of the Scout's opening Fleur de Lis move. C'mon no one can duplicate this, why even try? 2) They attempted what appeared to be a knock off of the Cadet's bass drum move from Swing Swing Swing a couple years back. Again, why try to repeat something that's so closely aligned with another corps?

Junior Division

Cadets of Bergen County - 73.9 Can't wait to see this show when it's cleaned up musically and drill wise. The show starts with a killer unision 16th note run that seems to last about 8 bars longer than the Cadet's trademark horn runs. The minimalist approach works for me. Tremendous guard work. There are the typical dramatic big tosses and such, but the guard work during the ballad was particularly noteworthy. It's very fast paced with a lot of tosses. You might think that that would seem out of place during a ballad but it works.

Madison Scouts - 73.8 By far my favorite show of the night. This show is overflowing with intersting ideas. I encourage people to try to see the Scouts down low to get the full effect of the guard work. The guard looks like they stepped off the set of the movie Hook. They dance extremely well and the equipment work is very strong as usual. But the guard also does a great job at depicting a story. They do a great job of acting. One of the strongest examples is when one guy stabs another with a sword after a prolonged fight scene. The winner steals the dead guys hat, vest and sword and then saunters over to the middle of the company front that's been forming, plants the stolen sword in the field (not sure what they're going to do on astroturf) then leads the front in a massive push to the sideline. The other must-see aspect of this show is the rotating drum thing. The snares (9 of em) and tenors (6 I think) line up on opposite sides of this large rack on wheels that holds cymbals for the snares and some other kind of metallic for the tenors. The tenors and snares then play this rack while it is rotated. Can't wait to see that move on astroturf!

Glassmen - 66.4 Saw em from the side so I won't comment.

Blue Stars - 47.0 Very tough book all around. Should be great by the end of the summer. The drum line was much tighter than they usually are this time of year.

Americanos - 40.3 The color guard is by far the strongest unit in this group. The corps has a really thin sound largely because of the 18 or so person horn line.
Eric Camburn


June 21, 1997, Red Lion, PA - DCA

Caballeros...............70.4
Bushwackers..............68.7
Sunrisers................67.0
Westshoremen.............65.5
Buccaneers...............55.1

Thanks to Bud McCormick for emailing us these scores!

Review - June 21, 1997, Red Lion, PA - DCA

Thanks to Henry G. Grilk on r.a.m.d for this review!

My personal impression of the contest (admittedly slanted toward lower brass & M&M) - last to first - is as follows:

Buccaneers: Need a lot of work - show didn't look finished (they got a 1 point penalty, I think for the show being too short but not sure) - good velocity in some sections, good visuals, and an interesting & challenging book - very weak fundamentals, particularly in M&M - show was interfered with by some percussion section practicing outside the stadium, very annoying (also affected Bush & the Cabs) - Lots of room to grow this show

Westshoremen:: I thought they might have finished higher, but - again - I was focusing on lower brass & M&M - middle of the show kind of fell apart, particularly with the Guard and percussion, and balance was spotty - the closer was very exciting, with good velocity and a big sound. A lot of M&M and musical phasing side-to-side. Good foot technique and body posture in the lower brass except for one Contra player who was always pointing his horn where he was walking instead of to the front.

Sunrisers: Really improving and a potential contender - good book and starting to play it well - I liked the low brass run - big problem in the slow section - music not together and out of tune - also I counted at least 7 different back-up techniques (!) - everyone seemed to be trying SOME kind of technique - the effort was there - but no one has decided which one they should all be using.

Bushwackers: Good brass sound on a challenging (but so far "uninteresting") book - lots of phasing - show interrupted by the practicing percussion people (PPP?) outside the stadium to the point where it was really a major distraction - This show has a great potential for growth - watch out for Bush! They're gonna be in this to the end!

Caballeros: Much improved over last week! (Emotions starting to settle down) - Much better balance in the lower brass and the percussion line was fantastic! Great velocity throughout the show - Not sure I like the new RUMPS - they start off very soft (actually couldn't hear them because of the damn PPP outside the stadium!!!!) - I've heard this during practice and it's fine, but it isn't happening on the field....YET! The opening set was very exciting but I expected a bigger sound (maybe it's the new Baritone horns they just got not being totally in-tune yet). Good M&M, but some soprano player had better learn what it means to guide and what "splitting the 40-45" means! It doesn't mean one step outside the 45! The rotating boxes aren't quite there yet - - - it'll come.

It's tough sitting in the stands after so many years on the field - hard to get a perspective on the entire show as I'm focusing on detail areas.

This is gonna be a great, competitive, year! Good luck to all.
Hank

June Scores

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