Listed are the dates and the show site, the reviews will be filled in, if and when they are available or submitted.  The following reviews are solely the opinion of the reviewers.  If you disagree with any comments, feel free to email the author, all reviews are signed with an email address.  If you want to add your review to this page, send any reviews, comments or questions to: soundmachine@soundmachine.org

Friday July 31

Ypsilanti, MI (DCI MidWestern) #1 A few notes: (in order of performance) Pioneer - Loved the spats. Been a long time since they have been on the field (short of the guard using them). The Kevlar/Mylar split was very pro- nounced now. Each doing thier own marching/playing. Boston - Horns made thier presence known this time. BAC added posing at the end of the 2nd piece (title eludes me :) signifing the conflict of the music. Kudos. Conquest did get some older audience members going. Horn music was true to form but the percussion wasn't. Felt muddled. Colts - Very muched cleaned up from when I saw them in Port Huron, Mi. The addition of hand movements in the 2nd piece was good. Lot of little body movements made the show looked better. Crown - Opening move oohed the audience. Also the high (20') rifle toss was a hit (with music and audience). Problems with horn angles. The audience was liking the corps when they were in the "baby doll" costumes. Lot of giggling. Fun to watch. Bad part, to much dropped equipment. :( Bluecoats - lol, the had nature working for them in the opener. A nice breeze from the north came in the same time Winter started. Felt nice. Yes, Bluecoats had a good show. They were jamming (as a past post said). Cavalier - 1 of the 2 crowd favorites. Very fast, entertaining show. Audience loved the opening with the "traditional" guard flag presentation. And YES, 8 to 5 works great for Cavies. Remember, it's the illusion of speed. The audience ate up all the old Cavie moves, crossing boxes, dragon, etc. They felt like part of the show. The closing changed. They guard now passes the flags in front of the horns, all lay in straight line, the corps marches over them at one time (ala 1980). Crowd was going crazy then. Blue Devils - First off, this isn't your father's BD. Someone left them and brought this lookalike corps in. BD this year is a study in the classical/jazz debate. This is BD...solid horns, solid guard, solid percussion. I was liking this. But I also think it's a show that's going over people's head. They broke rule #1 of drum corps.....Do not try to educate the audience. People were responding but more of confused, what are they doing, look. Crossmen - they had the bad draw of performing after BD. Hard to say much. The cross in hard to see, black on black....shesh, who made that uni design? What they lacked in color they made up with sound. Crossmen came out to play, and they did. Guard was hot tonight. Not one saber was dropped...and they reached 20+ feet in height. Audience loved it. I'm certain that gave the kids a lot of confidence. In my opinion...best guard work. I did see that at some times the guard was not part of the show...more of an afterthough, esp. at the end. Horns were blasting away and the guard was in a block behind the back hash. They need to integrate the guard...come on designers. Just a few thought....the rest tomorrow. Steve Burstall Yes, I know the scores are all posted, but I just wanted to add what I thought about tonights groups. Pioneer(74.6) Overall a good show. Drumline was a little dirty, but appreciated the different tones out of the Kevlar/Mylar split snare line. It was interesting to see how they fit that into the show. Boston Crusaders(76.3) Enjoyable show. this is the first time I have seen it, so can't really make any new reportings on it :( Colts(81.4) Much more enjoyable show then last years. They are improving in both marching and playing. The more they clean up, the more they have a chance of making top 12 this year. Carolina Crown(81.6) What can ya say? They did what had to be done to edge by the colts. Loved the first couple of opening drill pages. Overall a good show, but the guard was dropping equipment left and right. BlueCoats(84.7) Always a crowd favorite at the show, with the fans yelling "bluuuuuuue". Very energetic show. I thoroughly enjoyed it, both marching and playing. Some perc parts were dirty, but i'm sure those will be cleaned up. Look for them to make a statement in the finals :) Crossmen(85.5) As the past poster pointed out, WHAT IS WITH THOSE UNIFORMS? It looked like a big black blob moving around on the field. Madison Scouts(88.4) From the moment the marched they stepped on the field, the crowd was enjoying them. Even the warmup was spectacular. Show was good an energetic. Some of the sop's who did solos I believe were tired, due to the fact that phrases were cut short. Overall a good show tho. Crowd wasn't too happy with the score they recieved though. Cavaliers(92.3) Show was energetic from the first step off. Marching was INCREDIBLE. Very good formations, and intervals were extremely good. Add all of that to good horn playing with good percussion and you have the 2nd place cavaliers. BD(93.6) WOW! What a show. Classic Blue Devil brass sound really added to this show. Percussion was solid and pretty much clean, along with the guard. Was very glad that the Blue Devils won. They definatley deserved it tongiht. I look forward to seeing another championship ring on their fingers next year. Well, that is all for tongihts show. I will post tommorow's show, with my own little thoughts on it (as i'm sure 40 otherh people will too). Adam What a thrilling evening for Drum and Bugle Corps, in one of its most stirring venues, Rynearson Stadium in Ypsilanti, MI. This is night 1 of the DCI Midwest Summer Music Games. A better weather pattern could have not been ordered for tonight's show -- a pleasant, cloudy 80 degree day gave way to a crisp and clear evening. Absolutely perfect for Drum Corps. The hot dogs, by the way, are still as yummy this year as they were last year. MMM MMM. Scrumptious. I want another one tomorrow night. :) My vantage point was pretty interesting tonight; I was in the center section, but only around 10 rows up or so. Therefore, I wasn't able to discern the drill very well, but I got a nice good look at the nuances of the performance of all the corps. It was an even trade-off, I say. I attended the show with a good glee club buddy of mine who was a drum major in his local HS marching band but had never really been to a drum corps show. Needless to say, he will be attending LOTS more now. :D By the way, did anyone else notice how dropped rifles and flags BOUNCE on astroturf?? I felt sorry for anyone who dropped something tonight and then had to chase it down.... :( On to the corps. First up was Pioneer (9th Place, 74.6) who in my opinion are getting slammed by the judges this year for reasons beyond my understanding. This was my first viewing of Pioneer in their new unis -- and I must say, their new khaki spats look EXACTLY like the MSU Men's Glee Club uniform pants. If they're as flame retardant and water resistant and made of the same canvas-like material, I feel very sorry for the kids out there marching. The khaki looks a bit odd with the rich green, but it does grow on you. The visual program for Pioneer has improved dramatically. Add some new, crisp orange and green flags and throw in a few artistic bells and whistles, and suddenly the corps looks a LOT larger and sharper. I wonder if the kevlar/mylar percussion mix isn't hurting the corps in scoring a bit. It's a neat and unique idea, but the entire snare line sounds quite.... sloppy... due to the different sounds being made by each half. I'm pretty sure they're playing rather cleanly, but the mix of the sounds tells you otherwise.... I'm not a drummer. Anyone care to comment further on this idea? Next up were the Boston Crusaders (8th Place, 76.5) who stretched past Pioneer tonight in what will be a very interesting battle in the next coming weeks. Frankly, I was suprised that they pulled it off. Definitely, the corps has improved quite impressively since I saw them in Port Huron a couple of weeks ago. It's like they added 10 more members to the corps! The hornline is louder, the percussion line is (somewhat) crisper, and the visual package is developing nicely (although I'm still not wild about the black and silver leathery look). Conquest is quite a closer for the Crusaders, and the older members of the crowd became quite excited at the start of the piece. The entire show is still a little out of focus yet, but Boston has come quite a way and is a real threat to pass up Pioneer for good. Those of you who are going to the Allentown show should watch these two corps closely as they struggle for "supremacy." In their rich red uniforms, the Colts (7th Place, 81.4) startled the crowd with an impressive performance tonight. The first corps to appear tonight with a full roster of 128 members, they immediately made their presence known with some LOUD ringing chords that made many fans squeal with delight. I immediately noticed that the hornline sounds MUCH better this year than last. Gone is the crassness that pervaded their playing, and it has been replaced with a sweet, rich tonation that is very well suited to the A Capella music they are playing this year. Highlighted in this well-crafted show is the ballad, "Morning" by Vox One. While it doesn't bowl you over with power, the incredibly sweet playing of the single female soloist while the hornline plays to the backfield gave me the first goosebumps of the night. Also of note is the interesting "hands only" playing by the drumline. After viewing this performance tonight, I commented to those around me that it would be a shame if the Colts didn't make finals this year. I got many hearty approvals. Suddenly, the Carolina Crown (6th Place, 81.6) have a real challenge coming from the Colts as we head into the homestretch. The color guard is still quite glaring with its sky blue/burlap-brown combo at the beginning of the show, especially when you see them against the rich purple of the corps. I still don't know WHAT the visual designer was thinking when he put these outfits together. With that said, this guard makes you forget about their interesting clothing with some impressive flag work, although the rifle and sabre sections need a little accuracy tweaking. Watch their opening drill -- it's hard to describe, but something to see. The second piece, "Armenian Dances," is the showpiece for the corps this year. The percussion line gets most of its hard work in during this explosive, bouncy piece, and the guard gets into the music by donning loud polka-dot aprons and acting generally goofy. :) This corps is really starting to cook as the season winds down, but they had better not look in the rear-view mirror. The Colts and Spirit of Atlanta are starting to gain ground, and it's going to be a bit of a fight to get in on Saturday. Still, if tonight's show was any indication, Crown should be able to get in for the 4th year in a row. The Bluecoats (5th Place, 84.7) were up next, and the crowd immediately welcomed them with a rousing "BLOOO" as they set up, which pumped their pit up quite a bit, I noticed. The "4 Seasons of Jazz" is working very well for the 'Coats this year. The breezy "Winter" piece gives way to a thoroughly entertaining "It Might as Well be Spring" as the guard wildly waves many spring-like colors. One immediately takes note of the Bluecoats' hornline -- they're not as silky smooth as the Colts', but they have enough pizzazz and, well, OOMPH that made tonight's crowd roar appreciatively with every FFF they gave us tonight. Oh my holy heaven, Summertime is a real treat for every hetero male in the entire stadium. :D With the guard sultrily gyrating to the song's strains, the men in the audience let out a chorus of cheers and whistles, which only succeeded in making the guard ladies smile even more. My Glee Club buddy stood up after their performance tonight and as they were trooping the stands, he LOUDLY asked the entire color guard to marry him. :D So far, no takers yet. Ah, and the rich sounds of the men in the corps belting out vocals in Summertime really makes this section of the show one to experience. Combine that with a jamming percussion section and you have a corps that may be having one of its strongest seasons ever. Bravo, Bluecoats for a wonderful show this evening. Up next came the Cavaliers (2nd Place, 92.3) who took the crowd by storm and turned the stadium practically upside down with excitement. I thought they had done it -- I really thought they had taken the Blue Devils tonight. The crowd was into this show right at the beginning, and the traditional flag presentation in "Path Between the Mountains" got large numbers of the spectators to give a spontaneous ovation. :D There is just so much going on in the show, its hard to pinpoint some moments to share. The Cavies have brought out all of the visual bells and whistles, and the crowd loudly cheered for every one of them. It's all here: the writhing "dragon", the crisp, morphing geometric drill, and those seemingly impossible pass-throughs that give us all the willies. And the show is CLEAN. Almost everyone hit their lines tonight, with a very few, almost insignificant exceptions. And, as far as I could tell, the guard had no drops tonight. KEEP IT UP, Cavies, and you'll break through yet. Tonight's winners were the Blue Devils (1st Place, 93.6) and their show is very impressively performed, even if they don't cause the wild excitement that the Scouts and Cavies are making this year. BD has gone with its "formula" again this year that has served them so well this decade. The hornline is second to no one, and their AWESOME playing had me in complete awe. The guard is incredibly crisp and clean, and the percussion section is so completely integrated in the show that you hardly realize they're playing. The show (a mixture of West Side Story/Romeo & Juliet) is full of familiar, hummable music for the average fan to listen and enjoy, but the corps often plays a piece from each suite AT THE SAME TIME, one right on top of the other, making it difficult to follow along. This is an example of stellar composing and writing by BD's staff, but it takes away a lot from the accessability of the show. Oh well. I think this is a show that will take some repeated viewings to get accustomed to. I know that when I heard them perform again in their encore, I picked up a lot more from the musical selections and heard how the two suites were masterfully intermeshed. This show is capable of giving BD yet another championship, but I don't think their destiny is in their own hands. If the Cavies and SCV can clean and polish their shows and prove to the judges that they are better, it is my humble opinion that BD will not have much more to answer with. Their show is already so polished and clean; I don't know what else they can do to it to improve. Poor Crossmen (4th Place, 85.5). They had the inenvious position of performing between BD and Madison tonight -- ouch. The black on black look on the uniform's fronts need help. Perhaps the cross outline should be white or silver. HEY, there's still time to change this! BETTER YET, make the outlines *sky blue*! This color is already heavily used by the guard, and even the percussion lines' drums are this color! I really think it would look good on the corps members too! OK, their show. First off, their colorguard is still every bit as good as last year's, IMO. They are obviously benefiting from some strong talent in this area. Few to no drops from them tonight. Only 55 or so horns for the Crossmen this year? After BD's whopping hornline, it only served to make them seem that much smaller and thinner. I suspect they got hit pretty hard in Brass Performance tonight, due to their placement in tonight's show. Pat Methany works very well with the bluesy/jazz identity of the corps, but the pieces aren't easily remembered. I struggle to really recall what they were playing as I sit here. I DO remember their percussion feature (with those sky blue drums) and noted to myself that it was the most impressive of the night. Congrats, Crossmen! Finally, the Madison Scouts (3rd Place, 88.4) mercifully went on last, and treated the crowd to a classic dose of Drum Corps "power, pizzazz, and all that jazz." Oh my, what a thrill this corps is to watch and hear. The entire corps (guard included) starts out in full Madison attire. The guard then starts to shed alarming amounts of clothing (much to the wild excitement of a few high school girls directly behind me -- my ears are still ringing). The crowd was insanely happy to see 2 fleur-de-lis in the Scouts' drill, both in the opening number, "Lupon." Next up is a lovely ballad that had the crowd "OOHing and AAHing" with delight as the guard used several light blue and green flags for a shimmery effect. The real crown jewel of the show comes in the third piece. A "ball" made up of the soprano horns "rolls" along the rest of the corps, much as a ball does on a lake. Very cool, and it got a whopping response from the crowd tonight. But then again, which Madison corps has NOT gotten a response from the fans? Some final thoughts: ** Madison is NOT 5 points behind the Blue Devils. I'm sorry, that's just a crock. Come to think of it, the Cavies aren't 1.5 points behind BD either. What's going on here? ** This is going to be a helluva fight to get into finals. Magic, Colts, Crown, and perhaps Spirit of Atlanta are all starting to bunch up. Who's gonna get in? ** I'm thinking that perhaps 9, maybe even TEN corps could theoretically break 90 on Finals night? Wouldn't THAT be cool? ** Tomorrow is my last show of the season, thus my last review will be tomorrow night. *sob* See ya at Ypsi tomorrow for Day 2! Jeremiah Peterson Drum Corps Fan

Wednesday July 29

Alton, IL (DCI) Here we go again. My "second" ever official drum corps review! The so called "trip to the show" was nothing short of a nightmare. I was bringing a very close friend along with me this time to experience her first "Drum and Bugle Corps Show", and, "rush hour traffic driving in St. Louis". Jane and I left Ballwin at 4 :30 with intentions to meet John, the holder of my tickets, at 5:30 in Alton. We hit some "bad" traffic on the way there. We ("I") got cut off to my exit during a lengthy orientation of "Drum and Bugle Corps" to my co-pilot and ended up getting "hung out to dry" by the unforgiving traffic. Before I had realized it, we were taking a U-turn at the St. Louis Arch. Beautiful!. Numerous detours and an outdated map later, we finally made it back on the right road to Alton. We were way late meeting John, but I gratiously accepted his apology for being late and felt much better about our scenic trip. After meeting John, his wife Jennifer, and their 5 1/2 month baby girl Megan (awwwww), we were all excited and ready for the impending performances. One of the horn judges was running about 30 minutes late in his first experience with the St. Louis Airport. I asked Bob Lendman if I could be the substitute. Well, I'm sure you all know what the answer to that one was. We had great seats. John really delivered. Thanks man! We were on the top two rows on the 40, stage left. I've always liked this venue. The threatening weather held off, and a comfortable 80 degree breeze warmed a pretty green field that looked in great shape. The lighting was much better than the St. Louis show and the delay in the program would give the starting corps' more of the night stadium lighting. To start us off this evening, we had the National Anthem performed by The Colonial Fife an Drum Corps from Alton. This corps consisted to 4 fifes, 4 snares, 6 flags, and 2 1/3 sabres. A fine performance and a class corps. Thank you guys. The first drum and bugle corps on the field tonight was the Spirit of Atlanta. It's good to see these guys back in full force and out on the field gain. I am glad that this corps went on first, and baby Megan was too. Jane, although new to drum corps, had previously marched in her college band and had done some flag work, some baton twirling, and was even drum major for a season. Her focus was easily directed towards the guard and, of course, their drum major's butt. My primary focus, of course, was LOUD HORNS. I was expecting a little bit bigger sound out of these guys, but this could have been due to the slightly thick air and me being ten yards away from the "sweet" spot. The typical Spirit repertoire got the crowd stirred up right away and then gave them a blast of a fairly strong and balanced hornline at their first park and blow. A lot of nice solo and duet work mixes it up well. A screaming solo soprano misses a couple of cut offs (yeh, we heard you). Jane had noticed that the guard was extremely busy and had a lot of different things all going on at once. I agreed that it was hard to focus on the guard as a unit when they are in spread out in groups and doing a variety of things as well. It wasn't as hard to focus on their uniforms, though. Wow! I broke my trance just in time for the drum solo. Their tenor feature was "on" tonight and the corresponding drill had some appeal. The contra marching was a bit sloppy, but hey, what do you expect, they're contras. The guard sure does a lot of dancing, and they haul an aweful lot of lumber out on the field as well. Enough to build a house! They could use more equipment work and a little less dancing to add more color to their show. "Sweet Georgia Brown" finished out their show and their last power cord struck a slight chill with me and brought the somewhat conservative crowd to a partial standing O. Good job, Spirit. With a little more cleaning, these guys could very well be knocking on the door for an appearance at Finals. The second corps on tonight was the Boston Crusaders. This is another corps survival story that I am happy to see doing well. They start off in a nice large symmetrically spread formation. The guard colors match the blood red and black uniforms of the rest of the corps, giving the corps a much more massive appearance than what Spirit had. This corps marches a lot of exposed symmetrical drill and it really looks nice. It still needs some more cleaning in a few places, but everyone knows how hard it is to march a box. The horn line sounded every bit as balanced as Spirit at only a slightly reduced volume. Nobody was sticking out of the ensemble, either. The 8 snares make a nice presence on the field, but they could use to lose the loud dhutting (yeah, we heard you). The solo rifle toss resulted in a near perfect catch. Jane had noticed that the uniform flag and rifle work added a lot more color to the show than the dancing did. The sabres were hard to see and got lost on occation in the non-symmetrical part of the show. The Crusaders closed out with one of the all time drum corps classics, "Conquest". What can you say. This song is COOL. They performed it well and finished it off bringing the crowd to another partial standing O. I was impressed with their show tonight. I thaught that they were a lot closer to Spirit than the final scores reflected. Megan liked these guys too. Next on was Carolina Crown. Hmmm. What is up with those guard colors? I really didn't know what to expect from this corps. Their horn line sounded pretty solid during "their" rendition of "Russian Christmas Music". The guard does a lot of dancing in the beginning. They finally get around to pulling out the flags and rifles and perform a nice toss and catch. The guard proved to be pretty fair handed tonight. Oops, as soon as I said that, they had a couple of drops. Sorry guys. A kamikaze sparrow just crashed into our bleachers. Fortunately, no relation. It distracted several fans as they felt sorry for thepoor bird. Not much to say on Carolina's drum line. I think I finally know whyI have overlooked much of the pit action tonight. None of these guys wear their hats. The color guard pulls out some flashy yellow flags towards the ending and the corps finishes up with a final strong push. Hmmm. The rest of the crowd thaught the same with a partial standing O and a respectable round of applause during the traditional troop the stands. It's intermission time. The crowd seemed a little apprehensive tonight, although I believed that everyone was enjoying the show thus far. They were probably saving it for the next three corps. There wasn't of lot of background noise going on tonight, fortunately. I didn't have to take care of any annoyances either. The baby was holding up remarkably well. I think she really digs drum corps. The second half of the show started off with the Blue Knights. I had seen a few good reviews about these guys and I was anxious to see them. The guard was in the same color of uniform as the rest of the corps which gives them a large field presence, filling up the field with dark blue. The trimmed out snare drums looks killer along with the tenors and bass drums. I love it when a good hornline performs classical music. The Blue Knights picked out a pretty good selection to perform. The hornline was very LOUD and solid, and they made that statement right off the bat. The hornline continued to be strong throughout their entire show. They marched pretty well, too. Stripes down the sides of the pants might show it off more. The second set of flags that the guard pulled out were really colorful. The blue colors just kept getting more abundant as the show progressed. The butterfly flags added even more shades of blue and the cymbal line elevates one of the butterflies high above the corps in the center of the field. Very nice touch. Ok, what's up with the window frames? Put some glass in those things and let's see if the LOUD hornline can shatter them. Then I'll really be impressed. Nonetheless, the Blue Knights' hornline starts off strong and finishes strong. The audience liked it with a 3/4 standing O, Megan loved these guys with a standing O, and I enjoyed most of their show as well. I wish them well in the coming weeks. It will be interesting to see how well they finish at Finals. Just when you think you've heard a LOUD hornline, in walk the Blue Devils. WOW! They are FFFF LOUD! There is nothing like a massive sounding hornline that releases cleanly with an ensuing echo. That's the kind of stuff that brings on major goosebumps. They put the "West Side Story" stuff in your face, occasionally backing off with the lovely "Romeo and Juliet" parts. These guys are really clean. The all male rifle line executes a really nice toss and catch in unison and the crowd noticed. Behind their horn assult, they are marching a pretty clean drill as well. The contra line has a nice feature, but it was marched in the true contra form. I almost missed a soloist during the show. I was looking all up and down the 50 for him and eventually spotted him over on the 45. The hornline could maybe add some additional visuals to an otherwise fairly plain and simple drill. I didn't know what to think about what the guard girls were wearing when they first set up on the field. The pink flags seem to help out a bit and bring the costumes more into perspective. The sabre work, however, didn't seem to fit in. I don't know why, other than the fact that sabres really don't stand out that well. Maybe the non-symmetrical drill takes away from many of the features, or, maybe I just get overly impressed with a large display of color, expecting at least streamers or something else that would fit in a little better. Nevertheless, this corps pack a powerful punch. It's hard to deny a corps that executes the heck out of it's show. They played the two alternating styles very well and I was impressed on how well it all turned out. They ended their show with one final "blow for the O". After the Blue Devil's bombardment, The Santa Clara Vanguard took their starting position as the last corps to perform tonight. It was different seeing Santa Clara's guard in a uniform that varied from the traditional red and green. They were in jet black velvet that carried a certain mystique about it on the carpet of green. I was excited to see just how well this corps performed the unique music of Aaron Copeland. So, how do you top a hornline that can really play? You calmly march in with a hornline AND a drumline that not only can play, but THEY CAN DANCE! This show just grips you with the first power chord in the beginning, an pulls you right through the entire program. Incredible music, Incredible drill, and incredible marching with plenty of horn visuals. Tenors, you guys need to be giving lessons on how to dance to some of these guards. It is the most effective use of tacet time that I have seen yet. The two marching units are the primary focus of this show, and these guys deliver. The movements and antics of the hornline, along with those dancing tenors completely stole the show. A lot of people really like this show, and I can see why. It's a very fun and entertaining program. The crowd responded with a couple of partial O's during the performance and a big standing O at the finish. I thought that they would be real close to the Blue Devils tonight. I thaught that the point spread should have been a lot tighter. This is definately a potential championship winning show. Hang in there guys. You CAN win. Recap: The Blue Devils, of course, got to treat us with a brief victory concert. Nothing like standing in the middle of a BD hornline arc and listen to them let it all hang out. Did I say that these guys are FFFF LOUD? Sorry I didn't get to pay as much attention to the marching percussion or the pits tonight. Maybe if the pitsters would put on their hats and get out on the field where the action is, they would get a little more exposure. It's hard to catch everything in a drum and bugle corps show the first and only time you get to see a corps, especially with the non-symmetrical shows offering way too much to look at in one sitting. Jane and I were concentrating mainly on the visual aspect of the shows and the sound of the hornlines. We both agreed that there needs to be less dancing and more equipment work. Off-color guard uniforms and poor dancing take away from some of the unity that I feel is very imortant. Uniform equipment work adds so much to a show as a whole. Overall, this ended up being a very good line up and provided a good variety of performances. I really enjoyed marching the Alton show many years back, and have enjoyed it almost as much many years later as a fan. John and Jennifer, your baby girl was adorable. To think that she sat through all 6 of those fine drum corps without a fuss was truely amazing. Thanks to all of the participating corps for providing such a wonderful show. The kids were terrific! Dennis E. Sparrow

Tuesday July 28

Cincinnati, OH (DCI) A good sized crowd (4,000+) was on hand tonight at Nippert Stadium on the campus of the University of Cincinnati. This is a great venue for drum corps with the following exception: The stadium sits next to the university's physical plant, and the exhaust fans for the boilers are operating virtually 24 hours a day. Needless to say, this creates some unwanted noise. If you've been there, you know what I'm talking about. The weather was in the mid-80's and a bit on the humid side, which might have contributed to everyone being a little on the flat side tonight. Americanos have cleaned up nicely since I saw them in June. The kids seem to having a lot of fun with this show. They still have a good deal of scoring potential left in the show, especially in the area of visual execution. Listen for the baritone soloist in "Spanish Eyes". He is excellent. Glory was really fired up for the home crowd tonight. The hornline had some really nice moments, especially during the Ben Hur segment. Color Guard looks much more mature than earlier in the season. If they can clean up the visual package, they have an outside shot at Tuesday night's Div. II/III finals. This corps is definitely on the right track. After reading all of the gloom and doom stories regarding the Troopers, I wasn't sure what to expect from them tonight. True, they are having a down year, but this isn't a bad corps at all. They started off strong in Silverado. Mellophones are the strength of the 29 horns. The second half of the show was a little rough from an execution standpoint, and the corps seemed to run out of gas in the closer. Some hours on the practice field should help to build a little endurance for the show. Don't know if they have the goods to put them back into the Top 21 this season, but don't expect the kids from Casper to give up. Les Etoiles was a pleasant suprise this evening. For 26 brass, they can fill up a stadium with some sound. It's scary to think what they would do if they had 50+ horns. They are clean visually and have a very talented color guard. The "spinning drummer thing" didn't get as big of a reponse as I thought it would, but the "pit stages rolling over the guard thing" got some good applause from the crowd. Spirit of Atlanta got the first big crowd response of the evening. Sopranos were strong in the opener tonight. The build in "Precious Lord" was huge! Their arrangement of "Sweet Georgia Brown" is really unique and totally different from what we've heard from Spirit in the past. They still need some work visually, especially in the front half of the show. The second half is so much easier to read from the stands. Although they are probably still a year away from making it back into finals, this is one of the more entertaining shows of the year and was rewarded tonight with a HUGE standing O. Magic is marching what might be their most talented horn line in the history of the corps. Opening impact is LOUD. They have one of the finer contra sections I've heard this season. Their visual performance might be the deciding factor as to whether or not they will be appearing Saturday night in Orlando. They have some really shaky moments in the drill. The big arc at the end of the ballad on the right side of the field was nothing short of a disaster tonight. The show is written well and the members obviously have a good time performing. If they can bring the visual and percussion performance up to the level of the horn line, they could probably finish as high as 10th. If not, they will be scrambling with Colts for the last spot in finals. Bluecoats opening set covers the entire field from 0 to 0. "Winter" takes up no more than 15 seconds of show, and then they move right into the next season! "Summertime" is a really nice arrangement made more interesting by vocal enhancement. Guard is very talented throughout, and has some nice sabre features. "Autumn Leaves" got a good response from the crowd tonight. This is another show that needs some work in the visual performance area (notice a pattern here?). Crossmen were a bit of a disappointment tonight. They are very talented in all sections, but something seems to be missing. They seemed to have so much fun performing the show last season, and this year's group seems so much more controlled. The guard has some stellar moments. Watch for the sabre/rifle block in "First Circle" with the four tosses one after the other. Drill is very challenging for the horn and drum lines. It seems that the guard was an afterthought in the drill design as there are quite a few moments when they seem totally removed from the total picture. Hopefully they can rediscover their performance level from last season. Madison was a big hit tonight. There is something in this show for everyone. The retro rifle work in the opener is great and reminiscent of what Cavies are doing in their opener as well. Look for the pod of sopranos that "rides the wave" across the field during "Swingin' Pete". A very cool visual statement. Was suprised to see Scouts score so low tonight. They seem very clean all around from the stands except for a couple of fuzzy percussion moments. Could their score be a little down due to the fact that the don't have some deep underlying PHD-requiring concept to the show? Gimme a break guys and gals in green! Madison IS the concept. This is one fine drum corps. Although they are probably a lock for 5th place, they should be closer to the top four. Mark Culp

Sunday July 26

San Antonio, TX (DCI Southwestern) The crowd was very large tonight - much more than I had expected. The temperature was actually pretty good, compared to what it has been lately. Once the sun went down, it cooled off and was actually quite nice - not oppressive like it has been these past few weeks. Spirit of Atlanta - 76.5. I thought SOA's horn line did much better tonight that i the Dallas show a few days ago. They played with more control, and TQ&I was improved. The drum line had a solid show, and they have a pretty good line. The corps really has a good musical book; however, the visual design really detracts from the show. The guard struggled with the wind tonight, and they are just plain dirty. The marching is very dirty as well. I thought their score was too high simply because of how incredibly dirty the visual program is. The crowd enjoyed the show, but they certainly were not throwing babies over it either. Boston Crusaders - 75.0. This was my first viewing of BAC, and I was not overly impressed with the show. There was nothing in particular that reached out and grabbed me, and no section of the corps that caught my attention. Conquest even seemed a bit lame. It's early, so there is still hope they can fire it up and crank out a traditional BAC ending. I thought their score was high as well. Kiwanis Kavaliers - 74.9. I thought they did a much better job tonight than in Dallas a few days ago. I don't know if it was my improved vantage point in SA over Dallas, but the horn line seemed to have much more impact. It seemed to me like they had cranked up the volume, but like I said, I don't know if it was the vantage point or perhaps the stadium. Anyway, the horn line certainly had some punch when the music called for it. They have a nice show put together that is visually interesting (for the most part). The arrangement of An American In Paris is really pretty good. I have to admit that I like it much better than Madison's or Les Eclipse's versions from the mid 80's. I thought that they beat both Boston and SOA. Carolina Crown - 82.0. OK, now there was the first score of the evening that I agreed with. Their scores in the past few shows have seemed extremely low to me, but tonight's score was right on the money IMO. The horn line had a good show - great TQ&I, and an emotional performance. The drum line is string, as is the guard. The guard did struggle with the wind, but so did everyone else (except BD). I still think the flags and guard uni's are ugly, but the show is very good. The crowd seemed to really like Armenian Dances this evening. Glassmen - 85.9. I really love Glassmen's show. Tasty percussion book, executed by a fantastic line, nicely written and performed horn book, and a well written drill that's being marched well. The crowd really to into the percussion feature at the beginning of the opener - very tight. The show flows very well - both musically and visually. I am not that familiar with the music of Borodin, but Glassmen did an excellent job of presenting it. The guard is pretty good as well - I just hate the color of the silks. Glassmen march very well, and I think they could add to their score if they stripped their pants. Cavaliers - 91.4. My first viewing of Cavies, and all I can say is WOW! Their show design, both musically and visually, is fantastic. Yes, they have a couple of drill moves from days gone by, but most of the show is original. My wife especially liked the use of the pikes in the opener and the flag work on the 50 (ala 70's guard moves). Cavies drill is probably the most exposed of the top 4 (more straight lines and pass thrus), and once it is clean will have incredible impact. Cavies could increase their score by striping their pants as well. They march well, but it's more difficult to see in the solid black. Their horn line is much improved over last year, and their drum line is strong as usual. Cavies had the crowd from the beginning of their show, and they received an great response throughout the entire show. Blue Knights - 83.9. BK had the unenviable task of going on after Cavies, and they stepped up to the plate. They did not receive the crowd response that Cavies got, and the crowd was a bit quite, but it did not seem to affect their performance - they still knocked off a rock solid show. Their horn line puts out some volume, and they are very good. The drum line is excellent, as is the guard. Drill is well written, and is being executed very well. The guard had trouble with the wind, but not as much as others. Their musical selections fit well together, and the overall show is perhaps BK's finest. I really love the Adagio from the New World Symphony - most beautiful. Santa Clara Vanguard - 92.0. SCV kicks some major butt this year. Myron Rosanders drill is amazing - very fast and exciting. There are some very scary pass thrus and both the horn line and drum line are hauling tail. They march incredibly well. I though that they were best in both ensemble and field visual; however, like Cavies and Glassmen, the lack of the stripped pants actually hurts them (IMO). The stripped pan would show off just how good they do march, and it would add to the impact of their moves. Oftentimes they are doing things visually that scream - Hey look at us - we can march the @$!& out of this show! You just can't see it as easily. The drum line rocks! I thought they had the best line on the field tonight. The horn line is strong, and the guard is improving. They had some trouble with the wind, but not as much as most. They really sell their program well, and they got the crowd into their rather obscure show. I am really glad to see them performing and selling their show like they have been. If they were not selling it like they have been, they might be laying a big fat egg on the field. They have the potential and the show to take it all this year. I thought they beat Cadets (but just by a slight margin). Cadets of Bergen County - 92.8. Well after a second viewing of CBC, I must admit I like their show better. Also, I think CBC did a much better job tonight than they did in Dallas. Their guard had some serious troubles with the wind, which were very distracting. The drill is good, but like Cavies, contains moves from previous shows. Visual ensemble is better than last year at finals, but individual marching is still a weak area. Differences in marching style and lack of body control are still very evident. Their drum line is excellent - I thought they had the second best line on the field tonight. The horn line is very strong. They have the potential to win it all. Blue Devils - 93.0. Well, BD executes their show incredibly well. The horn line plays very well, and the guard is fantastic - best of the night. They seemed to be the least affected by the wind. They march well, but their drill does not have the exposure or the demand that Cavies, SCV, and CBC have. They were no cleaner than the Cavies, SCV, or CBC visually despite the lower level of demand, and I think their visual program will hurt them at championships - it simply doesn't deliver. Overall, I still do not like the show design. It's disjointed and choppy. Loud brass chord, percussion rim shots, silence, guard toss, catch, loud chord, and so on and so on and so on...... There you have BD's show. YAWN! Their line sounded fantastic when they were playing full out on the Tchaikovsky. I'd love to hear BD play a full Tchaikovsky program - that would be sweet! Did BD deserve to win tonight? Yes. They performed the best overall. Did they have the best show? No. SCV, Cadets, and Cavies all have superior show design with the potential to take them at Championships. I do not think they will win in Orlando. OK - now some comments on the show itself. Traffic coming into the stadium was hideous. I didn't see anyone directing traffic, but it was desperately needed. Parking was sparse ( a foretaste of things to come next year in Madison). Souvie stands were set up on the walkway going into the stadium itself, which created excessive congestion at the front of the stadium - bad move. Congestion entering the stadium was made even worse by a ridiculously small number of entrances being used and small number of ticket takers. Add to that stadium attendants that had to look at everyone's ticket before descending into the stands to tell them which side of the isle their seat was on. And let's not even mention concessions - how could I since it was almost impossible to get any. 2 concession stands with only a couple of people working in each one. The lines extended the entire length of the stadium! It took forever to get a drink! On a positive note, the prices were very reasonable ($1 cokes and $1 water, even though it was warm). Canadian flag was conspicuously missing as well. Either the stadium or DCI (whoever is responsible for running the event) did a lousy job! The corps on the other hand did an excellent job. This was a very exciting show with excellent performances top to bottom. Thanks to all of the members of the corps for pouring out your heart and soul into a wonderful performance! Tim Kviz Sky Ryders 85-88 Various Others 78-84 I am still sunburned from watching Vanguard rehearse for an hour on Sunday ... they were giving their kids sixty second water breaks every ten minutes. It was HOT!! Fortunately when we got to the stadium it was pleasantly breezy, which caused some problems for the guards, but kept us from burning up in the stands. Over the last week I have learned one thing ... if there's no VIP parking at the show, get there early!!! I got to Alamo Stadium an hour before show time and found a shady parking spot on the campus of Trinity University across from the stadium. It made my day after my bad experience in Houston. I do not envy the colossal bus corral though ... every corps bus and truck, along with every school bus and chartered bus there, was herded into the same small area, and I imagine it took quite a while to sort all of that out after the show. There were definitely some first-time-hosting-a-show growing pains. Souvenier alley was directly in front of and perpendicular to the stadium entrance, making traffic difficult. The only entrances to the aisles were at the very top of the stadium leading down, and yes the staff was taking the time to point out exactly where everyone's seat was, which slowed down the seating process considerably. I didn't visit them myself but I was told that the lines for concessions were ridiculous and there were hardly any open. But my biggest gripe was the fact that the ushers DID NOT STOP PEOPLE FROM ENTERING ONCE CORPS BEGAN PERFORMING. Folks, I make no apologies for my tone, this really pissed me off and a lot of people around me as well. If you were sitting near the aisles high up in the stadium like we were, this meant that for almost the entire corps performance for Spirit and BAC you could not see the field for the solid wall of people in the aisles trying to find their seat. If I shell out the money I better be able to see, ya know? One of the DCI staff had a talk with the usher in charge of our aisle after Spirit (the first corps on) performed, but the poor lady must have been clueless because it happened all over again during BAC (the second corps on). Someone must have notified someone high up, because there was a long break after BAC to allow for all of the late arrivals. My good buddy Eric Short who was sitting the next row down from us also had a talk with the usher and made sure himself that it did not happen in our aisle any longer. It didn't. :) Okay ... now that all that's out of my system ... on to the best part of the evening, the corps! Wait - before I forget - I have to mention that one of my idols, trombonist Ron Wilkins of San Antonio, played that Canadian and American national anthems ... which included playing and sustaining the last note two octaves higher than expected. This guy is just a god. If you EVER get a chance to hear him you should. Not only can he play multi-phonics in harmony with himself ... but he is an accomplished scat singer and can often be found jamming at The Landing on the San Antonio Riverwalk. Oh yeah, on to the corps ... Spirit - These guys have really come a long way since last year. I believe that their horns and Lone Star's have a lot in common in that they are not afraid to play out and their tendency to overplay is holding their brass scores back. But -- the audience doesn't care! This is a great, fun show. In the mini-race between last year's semifinalist corps Spirit has been consistently ahead of KK and BAC. Their guard is not quite together yet, the drumline is nothing special (well, the bass drums have a killer solo), but those horns are miles beyond anything they've done since the corps has been resurrected. The contras still need to open up when they lay down the groove at the beginning of "Sweet Georgia Brown". And oh yeah, the drill especially in the closer also needs a lot of attention. But Spirit will be definitely moving up this year. Boston Crusaders - all right, their last 3 sets came together tonight! (Not even close the night before.) The corps seemed to be slightly improved tonight in all areas. The drill clicked more, the brass was stronger more often, the guard seemed to be more into it. After being surprised how many people in the stands were cheering at the first strains of Conquest at the previous Texas shows, this time I was surprised at the total lack of applause until the corps turned around and played the full tune. The guard has a cool look - black pants, silver studs on a black belt, and a see through black mesh top over a white tank top. (Ask me sometime what I thought of their outfits in 92 ...) I also noticed that at the end of Conquest the guard brought out big Waldo flags (Waldo is their lion mascot), red on a white background. I thought they were improved, but was surprised they finished ahead of KK. Kiwanis - the more I see this show the more I like it and the less I understand why they're not scoring higher. I don't think it's finalist material, but I think it's a better show than either of their past 2 years and worthy of 13th or 14th place. I *really* don't understand why they got 10th in brass, I thought they had the best TQ&I of any line up to and maybe including Crown. But as a friend of mine quipped "You're just a mere mortal, not a judge". ;) I said it before and I'll say it again (just not as harshly), arranging the book in the keys of B flat and E flat for so much of the show will cause tuning problems for G bugles. Maybe that's part of the reason for the low brass score. Honestly, I would have put them ahead of Spirit and BAC and close to Crown. Crown - My my my, look at that score jump. 5 points in two nights. Doesn't every corps drool over jumps like that? Not to take anything away from Crown, but I thought there was no way they would break into the 80s let alone an 82. They were not noticeably improved over Houston, there is still some barking in the brass and the drill is all over the place. I mean, I came away thinking that they might be in danger of missing finals this year. But like I said before I'm just a mere mortal ... ;) Anyhow Crown's show, I think, is more interesting and definitely more fun than last year's. Armenian Dances is a real treat to hear and watch, garish colors notwithstanding. I'm just worried that their lack of attention to drill will hold them back from realizing this show's potential. Blue Knights - Why on earth did they go on after Cavaliers? They had a great show, but doggone it if the crowd didn't just sit on their hands the whole time. Drill moves and brass hits that had been getting spontaneous applause for the last three shows got absolutely nothing. The section where they are playing Beethoven's 9th backfield needs a lot of work, that wasn't the first time I heard front-to-back phasing there. I don't know what's keeping this show behind Glassmen except to say it lacks just a little bit of polish and finesse. Again I was real disappointed that this great show got golf applause at best. Glassmen - hooooooooeeeee they were hot tonight! Everything clicked and the crowd, while they didn't exactly get into the show, was very impressed with the professionalism and polish this corps has. My fear is that they will peak too early and possibly fall out of top 6 contention. I had fears that the wind would prevent the kites taking off ... fortunately they did, and then I was waiting for one of the gals to put the pole down on the field only to see that the attached kite was still airborne in the stiff breeze. :) And look at those drum scores, they beat the BLUE DEVILS tonight! That's gotta be a hype after their undefeated streak fell through at DCM. Their brass line continues to improve and shows the same quality and unity of playing as the drumline. Cavaliers - man, you wish they could win, but you know how hard it is to do that on a night when ALL of the contenders for the title show up. I said it before and I stand by my prediction, San Antonio's top 4 corps WILL be DCI's top 4 corps in Orlando and they WILL change placements from this regional. I thought Cavies were just a little bit off in drill and brass performance tonight. I can't get over how pretty those Harmon-muted sopranos are ... and they added a set after the wavy block at the end of the ballad "For The Brass" for a softer visual ending. "Machine" just plain rocks. Back in Houston, the snares were doing the snake along with the brass in the percussion feature, why'd they take it out? For my taste, there could be just a little more crescendo and musical/percussive impact the in the last few measures. Once again they were crowd favorites tonight. I think everyone has a sentimental hope that this anniversary show will come from behind and take the title in Orlando. Vanguard - Okay, I got to see their clinic at TBA today and they really went into the background behind the music, so I'll pass along what I remember. The opener and 1st part of the closer are from Copland's early ballet "Grohg" (frequently mispelled in show programs), which has to do with a legendary sorcerer who brings people back to life for his sinister purposes. The music is accordingly dark and foreboding. The 2nd and 3rd numbers, "Dance Panels" and "Down A Country Lane", are non-ballet works. The staff explained that "Country Lane" was still a work in progress, but it still sounded pretty good in the arc, anyway. The famous jam section is from another early ballet, "Hear Ye, Hear Ye", which is actually some sort of courtroom drama, during which a chorus line is called to testify, and they do so with a jazzy showgirl style. "Ahhhh" - I hear you thinking - "THAT's why they're doing jazz!" :) I could never picture Copland collaborating on something that bizarre, but I guess if Philip Glass can write an opera about Nixon visiting China, anything can happen. The last part of their closer is a dramatic and noble non-ballet work "Canticle of Freedom". Oh yeah, their performance - funny, they were missing a contra, but they were marching all 10 in rehearsal. Wonder what's up with that. Everything else was right on, they continue to improve and slooooowwwwly catch up to BD and CBC. One other thing I saw for the first time - watch those tenors HIGH MARK TIME while they're beaming at the pressbox judges! Wow! I have to say though that after that way cool jam section, the closer seems a little of a letdown in terms of intensity and crowd appeal. But MAN are they marching well! I have no idea how Cadets can beat them in visual with so many different individual styles, or how Blue Devils can beat them with their usual non-challenging drill ... repeat after me ... "we're just mortals..." Cadets and Blue Devils - I have to lump these two shows together because they are both being performed great right now, but I get the feeling from both corps that the shows just don't excite me anymore. I will have to listen to Cadets a little more to get into it, at least BD's music is recognizable - but it's been done so many times before (at least the West Side Story material) that it's hard to get excited by it. Both corps had *different* and *exciting* shows in 96 and 97 but somehow it's just not working for me this year. One definite thing to watch for ... listen for BD's drum book ... all sections have some KILLER riffs buried under some brass hits that are just to die for. In particular listen to the bass runs at the beginning of the closer. BD also had some brass entrances that would be called "nasty" in corps scoring way below them, and "totally uncharacteristic" in the Blue Devils. I can't find much more to say about the Cadets. Well there you have it folks ... thanks to those few who had some nice things to say about my other show reviews, brief as they were, I really appreciate it and hope you enjoy this one. Tomorrow - Eric's Blue Devils Onstage Review!! This show is something you do NOT want to miss if you have the chance to see it ... and if you don't have the chance, the review will give you a good idea of what to look forward to next year. Later all - (flames and choruses of praises are cheerfully welcomed as usual - ) Eric Senzig Sky Ryders 1992

Go to the Next Page of Reviews!   Go to the Previous Page of Reviews!

LE FastCounter     Hits since June 24, 1998!