We're sorry to advise that due to an all day torrential rain, the DCA contest in Oswego NY was moved indoors as an exhibition standstill.
Oswego, NY - Indoor Exhibition
The first clash of the co-defending champions of DCA was won by mother nature. However, even indoors the excitement of the Empire Statesmen and Brigadiers meeting for the first time in '98 was evident.
Brigadiers were loud, louder and loudest. Totally awesome. 60+ horns, much improved pit, great guard.
Empire Statesmen's West Side Story is another classic. Control, emotion and dynamics prevailed. Had these two met on the field... blood would have flowed. Match postponed until next Saturday in Belleville, Ontario.
Rochester Crusaders are definitely improved over the 1997 version. The solo work of David Martin is most welcome back to DCA. This enjoyable corps will do well over the long course of the summer.
Kingston's Grenadiers feature a corps that unequivocally is the best they've ever put on the field. They will do some damage in 1998.
The weather was a tough break for first time show sponsor, Alan DeLong. Even with the mess, his committee did an admirable job in running the show indoors under very difficult circumstances.
Spectrum and Patriots were the exhibition corps. Div. III's Spectrum, though quite small, showed that properly trained kids can still perform. Patriots are a refined drum corps even if very early in their tour. Solid brass and great guard are the trademarks which will make them successful in Div II.
Before I get into this too far, I think you should know that I am just a Drum Corps fan who thinks you might be interested in some of my observations from the Oswego DCA show. I am not a judge and haven't marched since '72. However, I did see and hear some good and bad things at the show and thought you might be interested. Though a gymnasium is hardly an ideal venue to assess a Corps' current progress towards the championships, it was good enough to make some general observations. So here it goes...
It was a soggy 4th of July in Oswego NY that forced the show to be performed as a standstill in the High School gym. I give great credit to the organizers for implementing this back-up plan as I had dragged my mother-in-law all the way from Ottawa, Canada for her first Drum Corps experience. It would have been a shame had the show been cancelled completely. I estimate that the show attracted about 300 paying customers, which was great considering the lousy weather. Well done ladies and gents!!
The show opened with an exhibition by SPECTRUM from Corning/Oswego NY. Spectrum is a DIV III Corps marching 9 Brass, 7 Battery, 6 Pit and 8 Guard. (NOTE: Any numbers quoted are what I could count on the gym floor and not necessarily what any particular Corps might be marching on the field.) It wasn't until Spectrum was halfway through their show that I decided to take notes for this review so I didn't get the details of their repertoire. (I know...next time don't be so cheap and buy a program!!) They did look great in their white and blue blouses and black pants with the guard dressed in a what looked like (to me) a European peasant woman's outfit. The Corps played with obvious enthusiasm and concentration, working hard throughout their performance. For their size, I thought that Spectrum sounded great and were a pleasure to watch. The only comment I would make is that the guard needs to tighten it up a little but I am sure that will come as the season progresses. Keep up the great work Spectrum!!
The DCA portion of the show opened with the GRENADIERS from Kingston, ON, Canada marching 32 Brass, 16 Battery, 7 Pit and 16 Guard. They performed the "Prisoner of the Ring" featuring "Conquistador", "The Woman", "Amigo", "The Dance of the Demons", and "Conflict & Finale." (I borrowed a program...grin) The Grenadiers looked great in their black and white with blue and pink trim uniforms and the guard in purple spandex with blue lace wrap-around. The Grenadiers sounded nice and tight throughout their show though the gym (I think) made the bass drums sound a little overpowering and muddy. Special mention has to go to the Pit's concert bass drum player who was an absolute pleasure to watch throughout the show. Ya gotta appreciate a guy who obviously enjoys what he's doing!! Overall it was a great clean performance! Finally, I could parade (yuck!) for miles to the Grenadiers' street beat and their Drum Major is very cool! I look forward to seeing them again!! Good luck!
Next up were the Rochester CRUSADERS. They marched 25 Brass, 9 Battery (no quints), 6 Pit and 11 Guard. They featured a "Maynard in Motion" show that included "Piagiacci", "Carnival", and a "MacArthur Park" melody. The Brass lead/soloist soprano can wail in a very Maynardesque fashion but seemed to be the only feature presented in their show with the rest of the horns only providing a back-drop to his performance. I noticed a couple of ensemble problems and the five man bass drum line were a little too loud and not as clean as they need to be. (Again, it might have been the gym.) Though the venue made it very difficult for the Guard to really move properly, there is some definite room for improvement with this section. I am a big Maynard Ferguson fan so I really enjoyed this show. I think a little fine tuning will result in a very impressive presentation at future competitions.
The Syracuse BRIGADIERS were next up marching (yikes!!) 63 Brass, 19 Battery, 9 Pit and 25 Guard. Though the Corps chose to not have the Guard perform, they looked great in their jet-black with silver trim outfits as they stood along the left side of the gym. The Brigadiers also marched a 4 person color party resplendent in what I have to assume were old style Brigadier cream colored with red trim uniforms. The color party took up station on the very right, forward side of the gym and were an instant crowd pleaser as they entered. I have seen a lot of comments in this newsgroup (rec.arts.marching.drumcorps) on bringing back national flag color (note the spelling) parties to Drum Corps competitions. If the crowd reaction to and applause for this color party were any indication, I think that the Drum Corps governing bodies might want to take another look at bringing them back. I also would like to commend the Brigadiers for their color party as I thought that it was very appropriate to field them on this Independence Day celebration. Anyway, I digress! The Brigs featured "Just One of Those Things", "Night & Day" and "What is This Thing Called Love?" An extremely tight drum solo started out this performance followed by an impressive sound of all 63 brass just wailing! The Brigadiers let it rip, big time, throughout the show. All I could do was sit back and enjoy!! I'm still getting goose bumps. Great performance Brigadiers...can't wait to see you on the field for competition.
The last Senior Corps to perform were the EMPIRE STATESMEN from Rochester NY. They had 60+ Brass, 24 Battery, 10 Pit and 13+ Guard (Some of the Guard were on the sideline due to space limitations {Go figure!!}). They presented their rendition of West Side Story which included "Maria", "The Rumble" and "Somewhere". The Statesmen turned it down just a touch to reveal wonderful passages from all sections that were truly audible within the confines of the gym. Instead of just playing at the standstill, they played to the rear and side of the gym which helped provide the musical ambience required for their show. During a nifty drum solo where half the snares shed their drums and picked up 4 quints to play an 8 person quint feature, the brass moved to the sides of the gym. The drum solo was so cool that nearly I missed the horn line quick change where they doffed their bright white tunics to return to center floor in T-shirts that equally divided the horn line into the red gang and yellow gang for the Rumble. Outstanding! Who said you can't do drill with 100 plus people in a gym?? The Statesmen were smooth and controlled throughout their show but still provided wild impacts where necessary. They were HOT!! Finally, the thing I enjoyed about their show the most was the fact that they looked like they were having a blast out there!! I thought it was great to see them enjoying what they do best and that helped me and the rest of the audience get into it as well!! VERY cool show Statesmen!! Congrats!
Finally, after a VERY hard couple of acts to follow, the PATRIOTS of Rochester NY took the floor. The Patriots have moved into DIV II this year with about 30 Brass, (They have some room for anyone interested!! Best tour fees on the circuit!), They have brought back an 11 person marching Battery this year, and are fielding a 30 person Guard and 10+ in the Pit. The Patriots are featuring Phillp Glass with "Pieces of Glass" and selections from the Cirque du Soleil. Though the Brass line is a little small right now, they are truly accomplished musicians and can deliver throughout the show! And so they did on Saturday evening. Their musical program is as beautiful as it is difficult and they pull it off VERY effectively. The Patriots Guard is outstanding - 'nough said! I think the Patriots will be a force to deal with throughout the summer and are a contender as finalists in August! Best of luck Patriots...from your #1 fan!
Overall, what could have been a literal washout due to bad weather turned out to be an extremely enjoyable evening for everyone. Again I have to thank the organizers for reacting to a bad situation and pulling it off very well!! Whoever owns the gym we were in might want to thank you as well because I'm sure the Corps moved the walls out about 6 feet all around! (Musical renovations???) I f I had to rank the DCA Corps for this show it would be:
Did anyone get any scores?? (sheeesh...minor details!!)
Crossmen.................77.6 Bluecoats................73.7 Carolina Crown...........71.8 Boston Crusaders.........64.8 Kiwanis Kavaliers........62.1 Les 'Etoiles.............57.0 Phoenix..................37.6 In exhibition: Cadets of Bergen County Boston Crusader Srs Northern Lights Band (youth band Washington State) Thanks to cindjo@aol.com on r.a.m.d for these scores!
Cincinnati Glory.........53.7 General Butler Vagabonds.51.4 Marion Cadets............46.3 Blue Grass Brass Sr......44.9 Marquis..................36.6 Thanks to DCI for these scores!
Madison Scouts...........78.9 Capital Sound............57.9 Kilties..................57.7 Memorial Lancers.........39.0 Racine Scouts............31.4 Thanks to Frank Schoenbach on r.a.m.d for these scores!
The 1998 version of the 4th of July celebration was one to remember. The morning was filled with the sights and sounds of Wisconsin's largest 4th of July Parade. The parade competition was won by Bayou City Blues Drum and Bugle Corps from Houston Texas. Congratulations Bayou City!
The show that evening was sponsored by the Racine Kilties. The stadium was jammed past its capacity, with hundreds of people sitting in the grass in front of the bleachers, and hundreds watching from the hill outside the stadium. Probably had something to do with the fact that the price of admission was only $5/family.
Here are a few of my thoughts. In order of appearance:
Aalborg Garden Band - Aalborg Denmark. - exhibition - This 65 piece youth marching band hails from Racine's sister city in Denmark. The band was outfitted in red, white, and blue uniforms, with all of the girls wearing blue mini-skirts, and white knee high lace up boots. Vert cool. The band started its performance by marching completely around the field playing John Phillip Sousa songs. They then set up a concert formation on the 50 yard line and played 3 more numbers. The battery consisted of 4 snares (on slings), 4 straight tenors (also on slings), and one bass drum. The battery played in the style of late 50's - early 60's drum corps lines. Again, very cool! The highlight of their performance was when their color guard came forward and did a "can-can" style kick line. The crowd ate it up.
Bayou City Blues - Houston Texas - exhibition - Bayou City is always a crowd favorite where ever they perform and they were again at the Kilt show. They are bigger this year with about 30 horns and a full battery featuring 6 snares 3 quads and 5 bass. They performed a full field show this year, with 13 sets just in the opener! Their powerful hornline and exciting soprano soloists had the crowd on their feet throughout the performance. The contras endeared themselves to the Wisconsin crowd by removing their hats during the contra feature, and sporting Green Bay Packer bandanas. If you missed them at this show, they will be back for the Kiltie Klassic Alumni show on August 8th at State Fair Park in Milwaukee!
Racine Scouts - 31.4 - I thought that this score was way too low. The Chrome Domes are much improved this year, playing an entertaining show titled "Western Chrome". Every section of the corps is improved over last year! One highlight of the show is when one of the snare drummers picks up a soprano and along with another lead, does a screech solo that always gets a large ovation. Their horn line sounded a little tired toward the end ot the show, probably because they marched 3 parades before the show. Their corps director (Paul Chaffee) told me they played 61 times during the parades. That should build their chops for championships in DeKalb. I think the Scouts have a legitimate chance of gaining DCM membership for the first time in their history.
Memorial Lancers - St. Louis, MO - 39.0 - These folks surprised everyone last year, and did not disappoint this year. They continue to be one of the most popular drum corps at the 4th of July Kiltie show. Their music is always very accessible, and the crowd really appreciates this. Their closer of St. Louis Blues is again my favorite. Their guard has new uniforms this year. Very classy blue full length pants suits. Their drum line is their strength (they beat Capitol Sound in performance percussion by 0.4). The runs in the bass drum line were flawless all night, and their 2 quads are superb. They marched their full drill for the first time tonight, and with a little cleaning, I look for them to do some damage next week in DeKalb.
Capitol Sound - Madison, WI - 57.9 - This corps has arrived! They are large, and they are entertaining. Their show continues to be pull people from their seats. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see them this show (I was warming my chops up with the Kilties). Judging from the large roars coming from the crowd throughout their performance, they must have wowed the crowd.
Madison Scouts - 78.9 - I last saw Madison at their first show in Sun Prarie. Tonight I viewed them from the old finish line while waiting to take the field. I must say that even from the side, the improvement was evident. They have added all kinds of bells and whistles since then. The crowd was going nuts throughout the performance. Racine crowds tend to like the more traditional approach to show programming since half the town marched in one of the 9 corps that existed in Racine in the 60's and 70's. Madison delivered for this crowd which in my opinion speaks volumes for this show. Can't wait to see them again in DeKalb. It looks like it will be between them and Cavies for this years title.
Kilties - 57.7 - Madison is a tough act to follow, but I think we pulled it off. The obviously biased crowd gave us 3 full standing ovations (which gives me goose-bumps every time). The home crowd sure can make you forget about all of the long hours and all of the sweat that goes into producing a show. Thank you Racine for such a wonderful reception.
After the grand finale, the Racine 4th fest fireworks began. Most of the Kilties and Bayou City folks stuck around for the fireworks and a few beers. Always fun partying with Bayou City! All in all, it was a great day to be in Racine!
John Caspers
Kilties Sr.
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