Cadets of Bergen County..88.1 Cavaliers................86.9 Bluecoats................80.5 Magic of Orlando.........74.8 Spirit of Atlanta........72.4 Boston Crusaders.........69.2 General Butler Vagabonds.50.6 Lake Erie Regiment.......46.6 Thanks to Christopher Aires for emailing us these scores!
Just some quick notes after a great show in a wonderful stadium (even though construction and detours getting to and from weren't much fun) with a crowd of over 4,000:
Cadets of Bergen County - My first viewing, so that means the usual amazement (and sometimes fear) of their drill and the many thoughts of "How do they ever chart that?" It's again some great stuff, and tonight the soloists/featured ensembles really seemed to shine. In their "victory concert" afterwards, the corps played the chorale part of the show with some wicked mellophone licks, and then followed it up with a jammin' rendition of "Boogie Down"! It was a lot of fun, and the Bridgemen would've been proud!
Cavaliers - Tonight's show didn't seem as tight as in Columbus two nights earlier, with some phasing problems and ragged attacks in horns. The pit adds some wonderful sounds throughout the whole show!
Bluecoats - This show is cleaning up well, and kudos to the five contra players who are certainly carrying their weight in balancing the horn line! The guard had many very clean and impressive points tonight!
Magic of Orlando - What a horn line! They could give Blue Devils a run for the money in volume and technique! At this point, the drill seems to be the weak point of this show.
Spirit of Atlanta - They are much improved over last summer, and the horns definitely have some shining moments. Unfortunately, there seems to be lots of park-and- play sections which are probably hurting their visual scores.
Boston Crusaders - I especially enjoyed the "Captain from Castille" music to end the show, and that seems to be the strongest portion of drill also. I was in a low vantage point tonight, but it seems like the drill could use some opening up. I guess cleaning will help some of this also.
General Butler Vagabonds - The horns are really showing nice control, and the guard adds much to the show by good facial expressions and much nice work. While drill is pretty good, the individual marching technique seems unclear. The crowd responded well to this corps!
Lake Erie Regiment - With their 30 horns, they really had some nice musical "hits" tonight, and with continued cleaning they should score well. It's a nicely written show for the group, with a good portion of music from Dvorak's "New World Symphony".
Blue Devils..............86.3 Santa Clara Vanguard.....84.8 Blue Knights.............79.0 Troopers.................50.7 Div II / III Blue Devils B............81.4 Seattle Cascades.........68.3 Allegiance Elite.........67.8 Americanos...............63.5 Thanks to Ed Harvey for emailing us these scores!
Howdy folks, I guess my worrying about no one posting the Ogden scores was unfounded because I live 5 minutes away from Weber State's Stewart Stadium and saw a few posts before I could get on. I guess I'll just post my review.
It was a great night for drum corps. The sky was clear, the stadium was full (maybe 8,000 on concert side). The temperature had been 100 degrees all day, but it cooled off for the show. I was on the fifty-yard line 36 rows up. It was a great perspective for a show. The only bad thing about the stadium was that the track put the stands farther away from the walls of sound that were to be presented.
First up were the Edmonton Crusaders marching band from Canada. They were pretty good. The Crusaders had nice "modern" blue uniforms and not too many woodwinds. 8-) They were about the size of BDB. Sorry I didn't get any details on their show, but they did perform before the official show started.
Oh yea, they played O' Canada, and the Star Spangled Banner to start the official event. I have to say that I've heard a lot better renditions of the Star Spangled Banner and seen better bands, BUT they were entertaining. Score# 81 Marching Band Division
I'll be giving brief comments that I jotted down during the performances so if you think I'm screwing up verb tenses, YEP! I probably am! Here we go....
FIRST UP in the Drum Corps arena were the Americanos. (23B 25P 10G 1DM) Night in Tunisia: My first impressions were that this corps had a nice mature looking guard, nice sounding drums, BUT those horns... YUK.... Their version of Another Night in Tunisia reminded me a bit of VK's version. It's been a while since I had seen this group, so their modern uniforms looked really cool to me.
HOLD ON - The RUDE AUDIENCE was getting to me already. A woman walked up the stands DURING a quiet part of the show and yelled, "Oh, I haven't seen you in years!" SHUT UP Lady! Anyway...
The percussion feature was pretty good. Sorry I can be more descriptive, but that woman ticked me off! At one point in the show (During Late in the Evening I think) the guard put on dark skirts. They looked very elegant. The horns actually sounded much better at this point. Spain was pretty good, and as the 80 year old woman next to me said, "it was a catchy tune." I especially liked the nice tight "power" form at the end of the show. My final impressions were good drums and good guard. Much of the drill needs work and the horn line needs work. 4th place II/III Score# 63.5
Next up: Seattle Cascades. (36 H 22P 9G 1 DM) This year the Cascades are playing Music from the Chicago Transit Authority. Selections to include Does anybody Really Know What Time it is, Listen, Someday, and Beginnings.
The first brass statement in Does anybody Really Know What Time it is was pretty darn good sounding. This was the first time that I had ever seen this group and I was impressed with the first number. The second number on the other hand was not my cup of tea. Listen sounded jazzy in a "Sinatra" kind of way. They marched it pretty well. The guard had some very interesting blue and yellow flags. I think the horn line went to lunch during this number. You know, I loved parts of the drill design, but I also HATED parts of it. I don't know what it was, but some of the forms just didn't fit with the music they're playing.
OOPS, there go those pesky audience people talking in the stands... What happened? It didn't used to be like this. People were talking everywhere. It took away from the experience.
The third tune, Someday, made me like the Cascades again. The horn line put out some nice sound during this part of the show. The beginning started with sinister sounds coming from the horns. The guard's contribution was very tasteful and mature. They used these really cool green flags with a bronze square in the top right corner of the flag and a gold square in the bottom right hand corner of the same flag. Nice silks!
The fourth tune, Beginnings, was jazzy again. This type of jazzy was more fun than Listen. There were quite a few nice horns impacts in this tune, and I liked the silver silks used by the guard.
While I'm not positive what these guys were trying to do, I did get the feeling that the jazzy tunes represented the light and airy aspects of commuting in Chicago (which I've done, YUK). The more classical parts of the show seemed to represent the dark side of the transit authority world. I don't know... It was a pretty good show even though I was bored with Listen. Bravo Cascades! 2nd place II/III Score# 68.3
Next up: Allegiance Elite, Calgary Canada (29H, 22P, 19G, 1 DM) This was my first ever viewing of AE.... Their theme "Africa" was different. They started in a block form on the left side of the field and do this pretty cool percussive tribal dance. They go into Coming to Africa Incantation, which is Incantations and Dance. Let's just say, I thought their version was "different". The percussion section was a big strength for this corps. I did managed to hear a nice sounding soprano coming through also. His/her sound was very good, but it covered up the rest of the line.
...To Die For was pretty good, but I especially liked the zebra flags in the guard. There were larger banner type flags in this tune as well as the 'regular' sized ones. I'm not a guard person, but I thought the work was cool too. At one point in this number, every guard member had a zebra, lion, giraffe, or orangutan flag. They grouped them in packs and did some really neat things with them. It was really cool. During the end of this tune or the beginning of "Tribal Drums" the music became solemn and slow. The mellows were putting out some pretty notes when I noticed the lady behind me talking... Oh I mean I noticed that the guard was on the sideline and putting on 'Mardi Gras' styled feathered headgear. Going into Tribal Drums, most of the horn line went to the front sideline and picked up African tribal shields or sticks with bells on them. The percussion section began to groove.... It was actually a pretty cool feature, and I appreciated the effect of having the bells on a stick thing going on....
The last piece featured a really cool flag by the guard. It was basically white with a red diamond inside. There was a gold strip on the right hand side.
During the end of the finale the guard used many different colored flags. The horn line put out a good amount of sound for their size. 3rd place II/III Score# 67.8
Next: Blue Devils "B" The first thing I noticed with these guys was much better marching, and much better playing. (25 H 25P ?G 1 DM) These guys looked really good, and did their big brother corps justice. I won't go into a lengthy review of them here, but I wrote: Cool percussion feature, nice brass runs, tenor runs are cool too! Great guard. Really balanced horn line. Consistent. Oh, first cheer of the night. 1st place II/III Score# 81.4
The next part of the show was the open class portion. First up were the Troopers.(25H 18P 16G 1 DM) I really think that these guys should be Division II. I love them, but they would be on more even ground competitively if they did this.
The crowd here in Ogden really liked they guys. They're probably the closest corps to this location (maybe Denver is closer than Casper, I don't know).
Silverado began with a cool contra intro. The corps was doing some scatter drill. They received the second cheer of the night when the melodic statement of Silverado was played. I'd have to say it was the loudest cheer yet. Hey, the mellophones had some nice pretty licks in this piece. Oh, the field percussion looked really nice. They equipment looks new, Dark Blue I believe was the color if them. Anyway... The ending of the first tune was shaky.... I really want these guys to do well, but it isn't "there" yet.
The noisy people in the stands distracted me again, so I don't remember much detail of the rest of their show, but I'll try...
The guard uniforms looked nice and they were doing some pretty sophisticated movements during the second number. They danced and I thought they were expressive in a Western corps kind of way... The third portion of the show featured the percussion. They split up and were giving a stereo effect that was pretty cool. I liked the dissonance in the horn line and the circular drill at the end of the feature. During the end of the show the horn line was sounding tired, but the Low brass kicked in with their Silverado contribution and it sounded pretty good. By the end of the show the mellophones seemed to have run out of steam. After the sunburst move the sound got much worse. I wish you guys luck. 4th place score# 50.7
I quit writing a lot of notes for the big boys, because you'll get a lot of reviews of them, but here my scoop on them in a less detailed manner....
The Blue Knights opening set is spread from ten to ten. It looks like half a wagon wheel. Good description, I know... Basically there are a bunch of diagonal lines that are close together near the front side line, but farther away near the back of the field. It looks cool trust me. These guys are for real! I really didn't see BD being 6 points ahead of them. This is the best I've seen the Blue Knights. I remember when their director said something about them not making a statement of "Hey, we're the Blue Knights, YET!" (Star Trek year). Well this year the Blue Knights are making that statement.
It was a very cool show. One of my friend who has just been introduced to Drum corps' favorite. It has lots of potential (yeah, maybe 6th or 5th). All I can say is that the guard was great. The flags were all wonderful. They even used picture frames at one point. I liked a lot of the drill. There was this swirl that suddenly turned into a block. It was cool. The horn line sounds wonderful, the percussion was awesome too. The drill is not perfect, but it's very close to SCV in design. I especially enjoyed the butterfly flags during Largo (New World Symphony) There was an extremely pretty sop solo too. The fanfare to Symphony #9 was powerful. The guard feature was beautiful. I loved the mellophone licks while they were in the block that marches to the front. Everything was a step up from previous years. Bravo! 3rd place score# 79 (A bit low, I would have put them at 82)
Next up Santa Clara Vanguard... They were my favorite corps of the evening. The drill is cool again this year. They have lots of extras. Especially hand movements, and body movements.
I wish that people would leave the 3-year-olds at home next time. The lady behind me wouldn't take care of her little girl...
The guard used sticks (ala Star, Phantom of years past) Seeing SCV groove was cool! The driving eighth note beat in the contras was cool! 2nd place score 84.8 (Thought they should have won, I'm biased)
Finally Blue Devils...
The little girl behind me kept yelling "Not too noisy" throughout their show. It was very annoying. Please leave the toddlers at home. They are not getting into it as much as the paying customers. Get a baby sitter or at least see if they like this stuff before you subject us with their talking, crying, complaining, or whatever. If they talk and won't shut up LEAVE and take care of the little people's needs... Gee...
All I can really say about the Blue Crew is that they're clean. I liked 84 Garfield's West Side Story stuff better. Phantom did Romeo and Juliet better in 88. I liked Phantom's baritone chorale better than BD's mini ensemble on the Romeo/Juliet stuff. Sorry BD. I expect much more from you. The design is not the Blue Devils best effort. The drill is not memorable, but the horns do play! I hope this show doesn't win DCI. Sorry, but the show seems too easy for them. In fact it seems a little flat. I wish they'd do something a bit more challenging. 1st place. Score# 86.3 ALL CAPTIONS.
Keep in mind this review is only my opinion.
Madison Scouts...........82.2 General Effect, Brass Glassmen.................80.8 (.2 pen.) Percussion, Visual Crossmen.................78.8 Kiwanis Kavaliers........63.1 (1.0 pen.) Phantom Legion...........57.2 Marion Cadets............44.0 Mission Drums, Haskell Stadium, Lawrence, KS (a change of venue from the scheduled show in Kansas City) Thanks to Chad Pfister for emailing us these scores!
This is my first official review ever. So don't expect a lot of great observations.
The 1998 edition of the Mission Drums was held at Haskell Stadium in Lawrence, KS. The show was put on by Rainbow Boosters, Inc. and Sky Ryders Winter guard. It was a lovely day for Drum Corps no clouds, some breeze, hot, it was perfect. I was on the 50, 13 rows up. The show was put on really well. Couldn't hear the announcer for the first part of the show but after the intermission they fixed that problem. I'm still confused why shows must have an intermission if there is only six corps. Yeah it was nice to get a chance to stand but it just seems completely unnecessary for such few corps. It was a very good tonight for the show, I was glad to see that a couple of the local high schools had brought some buses of students. In fact one school brought three buses alone. I'm hoping by these students being introduced to the activity that Drum Corps will thrive once again in the Kansas City area. The Kansas City newspaper had a full page article about Drum Corps, and it looks like Sky Ryders might be folding forever according to the article. I left all my pens in my car so I don't have the exact scores but I have a close guess.
Marion Cadets - (5H/12P/4G) - The program said 12 brass, 15 percussion, 8 guard, and 2 Drum Majors, I have no idea where they got those numbers, but the corps was impressive no matter what size. The announcer said they were six horns and it looks like the sixth horn will be joining as soon as he learns all the drill. The horns sounded a little off but with each player carrying 20% of the horn line it's very easy to have an off night. I was impressed and so was the crowd. Overall a good performance for the Marion Cadets
Phantom Legion - Phantom Legion looked a lot older than what i thought it would be. They definitely weren't a lot of young kids just being introduced to Drum Corps. Spacing seemed to be a problem for the corps tonight I don't know if it was because of the noticeable holes in the mello and contra line or just poor marching. The pit is incredible large and wondered if they would ever get setup fully. A good performance tonight by the corps.
Crossmen - (56H/35P/35G/2DM) - Crossmen sounded like they had an off night. The horn line had some good points and then at others sounded really poor. They just haven't melded completely together yet. The guard looked really good tonight and I liked how the drum colors matched the colors of the guard. The soprano soloist in the opener was hot, I could tell he had a good night when the Crossmen staff member next to me jumped out of his seat. Crossmen could have trouble staying in the Top 6 or 7 if Glassmen, Blue Knights, or Bluecoats keep pushing the level higher.
Glassmen - (66H/30P/30G/2DM) - Everything I've heard good about Glassmen was correct tonight. The drum line was unbelievable and the horn line was loud much louder than Crossmen's horn line. Glassmen's horn players have melded much better than Crossmen's and could propel the corps into the Top 6. This corps is going to surpass a lot of people if they haven't already yet. I'm really confused with what the kites have to do with the show. It looked different but they are so unpredictable. If one of the kites fails to get up in the air it just doesn't look right. Overall, a great performance.
Madison Scouts - (64H/34P/29Aux/1DM) - Hot! Hot! Hot! I saw the Scouts rehearse Monday in St. Louis and was impressed with the performance. Last night's performance was even better. This is a different Scouts corps then in the past, it's still blow your face off but it seems to be under a lot more control then in past years. The opener is unbelievable, and the transition into Peter Gunn is nice. The mello solo at the beginning of Peter Gunn is a nice touch. Remembrance is awesome. The soloists are on and well draw you out of your seat. The drum line is impressive and really compliments the horn line well. The guard looked different tonight but it really adds a nice touch to the entire show. Madison was great and have to agree they are the dark horse this year.
Kiwanis Kavaliers - (50B/29P/30G/1DM) - What were they thinking. You can't expect a corps of Kiwanis caliber to follow the Scouts. It was a very poor decision Madison had not even left the track when Kiwanis started warming up. A lot of holes after the first half of the show but those have been filled by some members standing on the sideline. I didn't notice a lot of problems except the fact that the male members in the guard really didn't match up after the guard changed clothes. It was just a visual break in the guard. I liked the show but there is still a lot of work.
I was surprised by the results and i don't think any one else was either. It would have been nice to see the some of the Crossmen members stay on the field like the other corps. It just looked like poor sports to me when after every corps performance that corps went to the East end zone and set they equipment down. Maybe it's a Midwest thing but it didn't look right to me. A great show tonight and very few people left after the scores and the stands were still full when Madison gave there Victory concert.
Chad Pfister
Lead Trumpet
Panther Pride Bands
Knob Noster, MO
Madison Scouts 99?
Seattle Web Factory
CyberCorps Web Page Designers.
CyberWebMistress Caryn Roberts
Web and Page design ©1995-1998 Seattle Web Factory