Div I Santa Clara Vanguard.....77.5 Div II/II Mandarins................66.4 SC Vanguard Cadets.......64.5 Seattle Cascades.........55.3 Youth Band Northern Lights..........no score announced We were at this show!
General Effect Ensemble Performance
Corps Mus. Vis. Tot. Mus. Vis. Tot. Brs. Per. Vis. Tot. Sub. Pen. Tot.
SC Vanguard 15.8 15.3 31.1 11.3 11.6 22.9 8.2 7.5 7.8 23.5 77.5 0 77.5
Division II/III
Mandarins 12.8 12.9 25.7 10.0 10.9 20.9 7.4 5.7 7.1 19.8 66.4 0 66.4
SCV Cadets 10.9 12.7 23.6 10.6 9.3 19.9 7.8 6.6 6.6 21.0 64.5 0 64.5
Cascades 10.4 10.8 21.2 9.2 8.2 17.4 6.1 5.2 5.4 16.7 55.3 0 55.3
Judges:
GE Music - Larry Graves
GE Visual - Larry Plumb
ENS Music - Garry Gilroy
ENS Visual - Wayne Harris
PERF Brass - Dennis Aquilina
PERF Percussion - Keith Higgins
PERF Visual - Dan Smith
Division I Kiwanis Kavaliers........58.7 (0.1 penalty) Division II Dutch Boy................50.7 Division III St. John's...............60.1 (0.6 penalty) (brass, percussion, guard, visual) Conqueror II.............55.5 (high colorguard score) Emerald Knights..........53.6 (1.3 penalty) Division IV Blue Saints..............40.2 Rochester Crusaders......In Exhibition Ontario Drum Corps Association 2173 Line 29, RR 2 Tavistock ON N0B 2R0 Phone: 519-655-2093 Fax: 519-655-3813 Email: odca@golden.net Thanks to Ontario Drum Corps Association for emailing us these scores!
Empire Statesmen.........76.80 Hawthorne Caballeros.....72.40 Reading Buccaneers.......69.90 Sunrisers................67.20 Hurricanes...............66.00 Bushwackers..............59.80 Thanks to Mr.Bud McCormick for emailing us these scores!
Glassmen.................74.1 Troopers.................50.8 Govenaires Sr............45.2 Marion Cadets............39.2 Coachmen.................33.7 Marquis..................23.6 Thanks to Ken Martinson for emailing us these scores!
General Effect Ensemble Performance
Corps Mus. Vis. Tot. Mus. Vis. Tot. Brs. Per. Vis. Tot. Sub. Pen. Tot.
Glassmen 14.5 14.7 29.2 10.8 11.1 21.9 7.7 7.9 7.4 23.0 74.1 0 74.1
Troopers 11.4 7.4 18.8 7.4 7.6 15.0 5.5 5.4 6.1 17.0 50.8 0 50.8
Govenaires 9.5 7.9 17.4 6.9 6.9 13.8 5.2 3.8 5.0 14.0 45.2 0 45.2
Marion 9.1 6.1 15.2 4.3 6.2 10.5 4.8 4.0 4.7 13.5 39.2 0 39.2
Coachmen 7.2 3.9 11.1 5.5 5.7 11.2 3.4 3.5 4.5 11.4 33.7 0 33.7
Marquis 5.6 3.2 8.8 3.8 3.8 7.6 3.0 2.8 2.6 8.4 24.8 1.2 23.6
Judges:
GE Music - Rich Nicola
GE Visual - J.R. Carlisle
ENS Music - Tom McCarthy
ENS Visual - Sandra Bertelle
PERF Brass - Marla Weber
PERF Percussion - Steve Posan
PERF Visual - Dale Rolfson
Cadets of Bergen County..80.5 Crossmen.................74.0 Carolina Crown...........69.5 Bluecoats................68.6 Magic of Orlando.........64.1 Spirit of Atlanta........62.0 Div II Tarheel Sun..............71.3 Jersey Surf..............62.4 Thanks to Doug for emailing us these scores!
ELKTON, MD -- While the Cadets of Bergen County swept the captions on their way to easy victory, as expected, in Saturday night's Music in Motion Mid-Atlantic Debut, they made big news by becoming the first corps of the season to crack the 80 barrier. The Cadets posted an 80.5 for a whopping six-and-a-half point spread over the second-place Crossmen -- a fellow Youth Education in the Arts (YEA) corps which hosted the event.
In addition to the Cadets, YEA may have been the big winner as its three main corps -- Cadets, Crossmen and Carolina Crown -- finished one-two-three respectively in front of a near capacity crowd. Crown may have pulled the upset of the evening by topping the fourth-place Bluecoats, just one night after the 'Coats scored 70.0 for a 3.8-point victory over the Carolina corps in Lynchburg, VA. Magic of Orlando, YEA's other corps at this show, also beat Crown on Friday night, but slipped to fifth at this show while dropping 2.8 points to 64.1.
While Tarheel Sun easily won the "Division II" competition, it fooled everyone that it was even on the undercard with a 60-player brass section which was the second-largest of the evening. Sun certainly looks like one of the top competitors for Drum Corps International's Division II title and should also be a strong contender for open class semifinals.
Cadets of Bergen County (66B, 25P, 34CG, 2DM) continue to draw gasps from the crowd with their vintage whiplash drills, fast tempos, staccato unison attacks and releases, and high color guard tosses throughout their production of "Stonehenge." Along the way, they also make some beautiful music during softer, ballad-like segments. The music is unrecognizable, but the Cadets once again draw in the crowd with the demands placed on their performers -- both physically and musically. As fans have grown to expect, the visual package appears to be their strongest area -- scoring a 16.1 in GE visual for a 1.2-point spread on the Crossmen and nearly 2.5 over the rest of the competition.
The corps opens with the brass in intersecting arcs in the front half of the field. After a group of baritones begin the show, the full ensemble soon enters with a big, full opening statement. From that point on, it's "off to the races" drill-wise, climaxed in the opener with the brass forming a fast, compressing spiral while the guard completes a big unison toss opposite the form. The final horn run of the opener sounds like so many Cadet runs of the past.
The brass and color guard seem to lead the corps this season, with the percussion a bit behind its execution of previous years at this stage. While the Cadet percussion (6S-4T-5B-10P) won their caption with an extremely high 8.6, it was just .2 better then the Crossmen -- as opposed to the seven-tenths spread both the brass and visual captions had in the performance areas. It was surprising to see just six snares on the field for this show, particularly since it appeared as if they had eight during preseason camp at Allentown College. They appeared to be marching one snare hole and that concurs with the 26 percussion listed in the program.
The color guard adds considerable color throughout, providing "hot" and "cool" effects by using flags with various shades of yellow in the opener, and then going to shades of blue in the second number. They display those blue flags with a backfield move timed to a brass run. They then instantly change to big maroon flags with a fluorescent green stripe. The following number finds the guard using the double, Blue-Devil-like butterfly flags -- once again with blue and green accents. The corps-proper has some nice visual moments in the third number with a set stretching between the 10-yard-lines, and a scatter drill which quickly turns into straight ranks on the move.
The final number is highlighted by a percussion break which finds the brass quickly forming a moving rectangle. The show ends with another fast spiral eventually expanding to intersecting lines for the closing set and the now familiar rigorous standing ovation by the crowd.
Like the Cadets, the Crossmen (52B, 32P, 36CG, 2DM) draw on some of their past success with their 1998 program titled "The Music of the Pat Methany Group." The 1991 version of the X-men made their Methany show successful with the crowd and judges alike. This one also appears to appeal to judges, and has the crowd humming the familiar music on its way out of the stadium. But unlike the Cadets, which continue to produce the same style as so many of their great shows of the past, this is a very different version of Methany by the Crossmen -- right from the beginning with the different shades of fluorescent green covers over the field drums.
The battery writing may be a big part of the different feel since the show was built around the percussion in '91 -- possibly one of Mark Thurston's best -- and Thom Hannum's percussion of '98 plays more of a background role. The Crossmen fielded just five snares on this night -- although there appeared to be a hole -- opening with cymbal players on toms for seven total, with five basses, four additional cymbals and 11 in the pit. The snares once again have cowbells mounted to the front of their drums. After sporting the green covers in the "Third Wind" opener, the battery takes them off to display shimmering teal-colored shells. While the field percussion parts are full in the opener, they experience much "down time" in the final two numbers -- "Letters from Home" and "First Circle." One interesting effect was the interplay of various bongos in the opener. There were also some mini percussion breaks throughout the program, but nothing similar to the the now famous break in the '91 show. Regardless of the differences with '91, the percussion book is apparently selling since the X-men had solid second-place in percussion with a very high 8.4 -- possibly because the pit ensemble was one of the best of the night.
The Crossmen color guard was also one of the best of the night and could be a real contender to take high honors at finals. Dressed in sleeveless teal, form-fitting tops and black pants, the 36-member guard thrilled the crowd with its high tosses and appropriate dance moves to the music -- ala their Cadet influence.
The visual program is done well throughout with a lot of fast-moving arcs. A nice drill effect was the precise, moving circle in the "First Circle" closer. The guard accents the "circle" theme with pretty light blue flags with darker blues in a center circle. The number ends with big field coverage quickly converting to a tight form for a big closing impact featuring the familiar off-beat drum accents. The guard once again accentuates the moment with hot orange flags. The climax may have had even more effect on this night as a nearby fireworks display began in the distance behind the corps as they hit their final note.
Carolina Crown (46B, 31P, 35CG, 1DM) is pretty ambitious with its show titled "The Music of Alfred Reed" -- and apparently it paid off in this show with the panel judging the general effect caption. Crown finished third in GE at Elkton, with the 1.7-point spread (28.0 to 26.3) over the Bluecoats, giving the edge it would need. The night before in Lynchburg, the 'Coats were a decisive 2.2 points better then Crown.
Like their famous YEA counterpart the Cadets, Crown also enters the field in a tight rectangle. They eventually open to an interesting opening set which finds the brass in one long rank on the 50, with the large sky-blue clad guard scattered between the 20s and the field percussion in a long curved rank across the back at four-step intervals between the 10s. It's a nice effect, although a brass member pulled out of the form early before the opening note, setting off some noticeable foot problems in the opening moves, which eventually form a large rank for the big impact. The corps has some volume for its big opening statement, although it fielded just 46 brass on this night and the rank showed some nine horn holes still to be filled.
After the big impact, the corps settles into a unique version of "Russian Christmas Music," quickly forming three musical groups which pass around the early melody. The guard provides beautiful color to the song with sky blue and orange silks. It also executes a nicely-received unison toss between their rifles and sabers. The song draws to a climax with the pit percussion setting the stage for the big push through the bells and chimes. The final minutes of the number feature a fast-paced drill with numerous pass-throughs. The horn line seemed to lose some energy as it ran from one side of the field to the other.
The brass had to gather itself for some tough early musical moments in "Armenian Dances." The number once again feature numerous fast-paced pass-throughs, with the guard twirling lightening-bolt like rifles and pretty teal flags. The closing form once again appeared rough visually -- largely because of the demands put on the performers throughout the number.
The "Praise Jerusalem" closer began like the ballad of the past two seasons, with a pretty sound featuring just the brass and pit. The number eventually picked up the pace into yet more fast-paced drill -- so fast that a snare drummer lost his footing just prior to the drum break -- losing his shako in the process. The drum break came off effectively nonetheless, with a highlight being the fast sweeping cross sticking during the tom feature. The percussion (8S-4T-5B-4C-10P)played a big role in win over the Bluecoats, placing third with a solid six-tenths edge over the 'Coats in performance percussion. Crown lost the other two performance captions to the Bluecoats on the night.
The show ends with yet more fast-paced drill, with the brass struggling to keep up with it all. It was still a good effort for a very demanding show.
While their score didn't reflect it, the Bluecoats (50B, 29P, 26CG, 2DM) may have had the most cohesive show of the night. Everything about "The Four Seasons of Jazz" show seemed to tie very neatly together. It had well-performed identifiable music with some interesting drill ideas and a talented guard to support them. The last two numbers -- "Summertime" melding into the Bluecoat classic "Autumn Leaves" -- were probably the most familiar songs of the evening and very well received by the crowd.
The opening set finds the corps using the whole field in wide five-yard ranks across. As the pit begins "Winter" with sleigh bells, the guard -- initially dressed in silver jackets over black tights -- one-by-one begins spinning white flags with blue snowflake-like accents. As the flags spin, the drill begins rotating too with the corps compressing and accelerating in the rotation to a big solid form in the middle. As the corps proper hits its opening statement, the guard quickly discards the silver jackets to expose an explosion of various colors with corresponding colored silks. It was a well-conceived design to open the show. The corps eventually forms a big tight horn arc along the front hash for a big impact -- which was effective in spite of some eight to 10 holes that were exposed by the set. "Winter" closes with some impressive fast sweeping cross sticking by the tom players as they quickly move in front of the brass, which ends with a loud finish.
The percussion section opens "Spring Really Can Hang You Up the Most/It Might As Well be Spring" with a good Latin groove -- reminiscent of the sound Magic had during its 1994 show. The guard compliments the Latin feel with another uniform change -- this time switching to alternating tight red and yellow tops to go with their black tights. The number gradually picks up in pace and leads into a half-time drum break of "Summertime." While the snares are proficient, the toms "stole the spotlight" with yet another fast-handed fill which brings the entire corps into the song in the front half of the field. The brass players vocally sing the familiar "Summertime" melody throughout the chart. The song ends with some unison brass vocals fading into the haunting strains of "Autumn Leaves" on the horns in the low brass. The phrase "nice transition" were heard among the crowd.
The guard changes outfits again, this time into red velvet tops while pulling out copper-colored shimmering flags which resemble the colors of autumn leaves. The corps performs probably its most famous song with tremendous emotion -- featuring a famous Bluecoats soprano section feature as well as individual screech soloists along the way. A big arc which is filled by the colorful guard brings the show to a close and drives the crowd to its feet.
As good as his corps is now, Corps Director Bill Hamilton said after the show that its only going to be better once it fills out its horns holes and finishes its show. Like most corps, no doubt, Hamilton says "we're not done with the show and have a lot of things we can put in yet."
Magic of Orlando (58B, 30P, 27CG, 1DM) features a show similar to last season's with its "Muddy Water Blues." In fact, at first take, it appeared as if the color guard just dyed its white Mardi Gras uniforms red for this season's production. The corps proper also has changed its uniforms a bit to solid rich purple jacks with solid black accents underneath. The spike on the black shakos is also now purple -- presenting an attractive appearance on the field.
The familiar strains of "God Bless the Child" open the show with a solo passing between a baritone, mellophone and soprano with the pit accompanying. The corps proper eventually enters and builds to an impact. Popular drum major Michael McKee is back and up to his old tricks as he asks the crowd "How's that?" as the corps hits its first impact. He then turns back around, brings the corps volume up more and asks the crowd "Is that better?". McKee is certainly the most expressive major in the junior ranks these days.
After the big opening, the tempo begins to accelerate with the "train effect" in the pit while the corps expands its form outward. The battery adds some appropriate visuals for the effect. The corps eventually kicks in with "St. Louis Woman" -- a song which features some nice running mellophone and soprano parts. An effective moment is when the corps hits big impact from a scattered set, followed by a pit interlude while the corps quickly forms straight ranks before hitting another big impact. The song ends with a nice flag toss among a mass block to end the song.
"Willow Weep for Me" begins with another full "God Bless the Child" impact and then gradually fades to a pretty mellophone solo like last season's ballad, gradually accompanied by muted sopranos which will remind fans of the former Florida great Suncoast Sound. The guard wears multi-colored shawls for some nice effects. The tempo gradually picks up, although the corps seemed to lose some energy on this night. The battery (8S-3T-5B-4C) lays out for much of the song, gradually entering with a brush sound on the snares. The percussion eventually leads into a break, which offers an interesting drill move with the corps forming a "wave block" effect similar to the Cavaliers' during their 1995 championship show. The break itself has a slow Latin feel to it. While it is performed well, the tuning of the ensemble was exposed to have some very wet-sounding snares. The tom line has some nice moments, but definitely wasn't up to the 'Coats. The line as a whole appears to be lagging as it finished last among the open class corps in performance at 6.4.
The corps eventually moves into the familiar "House of the Rising Sun." While the song was performed well, the brass had definitely lost some punch. The visual program also appeared to lack some substance at this stage as the guard work was not done and the corps just kept moving forward playing full out, ending across the the front sideline. If this show can finish like it began, Magic could still make up a few points by the time it returns home for DCI Championships.
Like last season, Spirit of Atlanta (57B, 31P, 24CG, 1DM) looks different then its great corps of the past with a its slick navy blue, red and gold military uniforms, but it very much wants that old sound with its 1998 show of former Spirit favorites. The corps now appears to have the size and talent to make it back to finals -- even in the guard which has been so small in past years -- but the show still lacks some of the ensemble punch to compete with the other contenders. Spirit was dead last in open class ensemble on this night -- trailing fifth-place Magic by a whopping 2.4 points (19.4 to 17.0) and the rest by over three.
Wearing black, tight outfits and featuring the sultry "Southern Belle" look of old, the guard begins hidden behind the brass players and pops out between the ranks as the show begins. Musically, the show starts like last year -- beginning slowly and softly and gradually building into a big impact, this year to "My Friend." The corps then kicks into "Way Down Upon the Swanee River," which is performed proficiently with a fairly long drum break in the middle.
Much has been made about Mark Thurston now arranging for Spirit, and his influence can be seen in the new red Premier drums along with a more mature-sounding line. While the Spirit drums hay not have people "hooting and hollering" like Thurston's old Bones lines with the Crossmen, it's still early and the group is off to a good start. Both the percussion and brass beat Magic in the performance caption by two-tenths on this night.
"Take My Hand Precious Lord" begins with a sound like the Spirit classic "Amazing Grace." The guard provides a nice effect by carrying wooden planks which they eventually transform into crosses with purple accents. The song is performed proficiently, but somewhat unemotionally at this point.
"Maybe God is Trying to Tell You Something" eventually melds into "Sweet Georgia Brown" and finds the corps forming its familiar Delta, with the guard performing a sexy dance up in front of the form. The "Sweet Georgia Brown" segment has another drum break -- this time with a Thurston-signature bass feature with fast running licks. The song eventually leads into an "Amazing Grace" reprise with the corps forming Cadet-style ranks to close. While it was an effective finish, the drill was somewhat slow and nondescript throughout -- featuring a lot of "park and bark" segments on the front half of the field. Spirit is improved from last year at this stage, but that improvement needs to continue if it is going to make a strong push for finals.
Tarheel Sun (60B, 28P, 20CG, 1DM) certainly appeared like an open class unit. The corps proper has donned new lemon-colored military jackets reminiscent of Avant Garde of the early to mid '80s, although it still features its shimmering sun on the front of the jackets with black pants, shoes and shakos. The guard uniforms and "Stan Kenton Suite" show design still appear like old DCI finalist Dutch Boy, largely because former Dutch Boy Corps Director Al DiCroce is very active in its creation.
The opening set appears to be an "S-pull" design which stretches for the five-yard line on one side, to the 25 on the other side, with the guard behind in a T-like formation. The corps begins "September Song" featuring the baritones and mellophones moving backward as the form compresses inward and leads to a big full impact which sound like the fanfare to "Artistry Jumps." The guard forms a pyramid shape for that opening statement and unveils beautiful warm-colored, long, tapered flags. The rest of the opener is performed proficiently, with a very mature sound from this three-year-old corps.
An arrangement combining "El Conga Valiente" and "Malibu Moonlight" continues the program with some nice Latin accents from the percussion. The guard adds pretty red flags to add warmth to the visual presentation for the first tune. "Malibu Moonlight" features a nice baritone solo and a very lush sound, with the guard changing to aqua and white flags with wave designs.
The drum line eventually takes the lead during "Artistry Percussion." While it plays proficiently, the writing appears to be a little simplistic in comparison to last season's line. Eventually the break leads the corps back into "Artistry Jumps," with the percussion establishing a nice Latin groove early. The show ends with loud impacts up front with the corps forming a large, expanding picket fence. The drill as a whole is nice and flowing, complimenting the music well, but largely "vanilla" in nature.
Jersey Surf (34B, 31P, 19CG, 2DM) appears to be much improved from last season at this time and much more approachable from the crowd with its "Picture of Spain '98" presentation. The black guard outfits with white Spanish piping create the proper Spanish flavor for this show.
"Pictures of Spain" opens the show with a strong percussion feature on the front hash. The brass section puts out some good sound and is positioned well to project with much of the drill taking place along that front hash. The number, which is a similar to the arrangement the Crossmen opened their Spanish show with in the 1980s, also features a strong soprano soloist.
"Portraits of Spain, Scenes 1,2 and 3" makes the crowd think back to some of the special Spanish sounds of the Madison Scouts and Blue Devils. The brass plays a beautiful backfield mini-version of "Malaguena" with some kicking sounds of the recent Madison arrangement of Arturo Sandoval's "A Mis Abuelos." Scene three is one of the more famous Blue Devil Spanish numbers -- right down to the end. It appeared that the corps has worked very hard cleaning up the opener and scenes one and two, but still needs to work out the edges with scene three. This is a stronger version of Jersey Surf then recent years and it should contend for Division II/III finals in Orlando.
Following the performances, members of the brass sections from the YEA corps accompanied the drum majors back for the announcement of the scores. DCI Executive Director Dan Acheson was the surprise presenter of the awards. The YEA brass sections then teamed up for a unison number which sounded like the Carolina Crown ballad from the last two seasons. Cadets then took center stage for their encore.
This was a well-run, entertaining early show at Elkton High School. The fans were on the road again by 10:30.
Of special note in all the corps performances, was the lack of props in this season's show. Other then the Bluecoats' black panels along the front sideline for the guard to change behind, none of the other corps brought any backdrops or large props onto the field. It was kind of refreshing.
General Effect Ensemble Performance
Corps Mus. Vis. Tot. Mus. Vis. Tot. Brs. Per. Vis. Tot. Sub. Pen. Tot.
CBC 15.3 16.1 31.4 12.2 11.7 23.9 8.4 8.6 8.2 25.2 80.5 0 80.5
Crossmen 13.4 14.9 28.3 11.6 10.5 22.1 7.7 8.4 7.5 23.6 74.0 0 74.0
Crown 14.3 13.7 28.0 10.3 10.0 20.3 7.1 7.9 6.2 21.2 69.5 0 69.5
Bluecoats 13.0 13.3 26.3 10.6 9.8 20.4 7.8 7.3 6.8 21.9 68.6 0 68.6
Magic 14.1 12.6 26.7 10.9 8.5 19.4 6.5 6.4 5.6 18.5 64.6 .5 64.1
Spirit 13.6 12.9 26.5 8.3 8.7 17.0 6.7 6.6 5.2 18.5 62.0 0 62.0
Division II/III
Tarheel Sun 14.0 12.6 26.6 11.3 11.4 22.7 7.6 7.1 7.3 22.0 71.3 0 71.3
Jersey Surf 12.8 11.5 24.3 10.7 10.4 21.1 6.0 5.7 5.3 17.0 62.4 0 62.4
Judges:
GE Music - Bernie Baggs Jr.
GE Visual - Brett Mascaro
ENS Music - Ralph Venezia
ENS Visual - Mark Metz
PERF Brass - Joan Marie Penney
PERF Percussion - Ted Nicholeris
PERF Visual - Not Available
Cavaliers................76.3 Phantom Regiment.........73.4 Pioneer..................58.5 Capital Sound............49.9 Kilties Sr...............47.4 Phantom Legion...........47.3 Cincinnati Glory.........44.9 Memorial Lancers.........31.9 Thanks to DCI for these scores!
Ok, gang, I gripe about reviews enough, so here's mine. This was my first of few shows this season, so I was very excited to be there. The Cavaliers started the night (first by being late, but it was the equipment bus' fault!) by having a concert for the start of their celebration of their 50th year. It was a beautiful way to start the evening. See Terri Dettrich's notes on what they played. The evening was very pleasant (chilly, if you ask me, but I'm used to the St. Louis 85 degree nights!). I wish I knew who the announcer was, 'cause he was great- so enthusiastic! (he said a few dumb things, but what can you do!) I believe he was associated with the Scouts, but I'm not sure.
Memorial Lancers, St. Louis, MO...31.9 - Ok, I'm a little biased on this one, because I see these guys a lot at home. They have a really cute show and the soloists are great. However, there is no enthusiasm in the show. I'm sure they'll be at the IL State Fair again, as well as the VP Fair parade next week.
Cincinnati Glory, Cincinnati, OH...44.9 - I was so pumped to see these guys after reading about the efforts to get them started the past few years on RAMD. I'm sorry I don't have what songs they played (weren't in the program), but I know one selection was from Ben Hur, so that can give you an idea of what the theme of their show was. I really think these guys got screwed. In fact I think all the scoring for this show was a little screwy, except the top two. Anyway, the guard is wearing some purple sheaths over black spandex and chains tied around their waists. The chains are cool because in the beginning, there is a solo, and as the guard dances, all their chains clang in unison. I thought this was a very entertaining, exciting show and well executed. All the members are enthused about the show, and you can tell watching it. I really expect their scores to go up. Probably since we were so low in the stands (5th row!), we missed a lot of dirty stuff.
Phantom Legion, Rockford, IL...47.3 - Not much to say about these guys. The guard is wearing PR's unis from '96. These guys are a mini-PR, just more exciting. They actually look like their having fun. Again, I couldn't tell you what they played, but I know it was symphonic, of course. The whole show is duplicates of PR's work, but not executed as well.
Kilties Sr, Racine, WI...47.4 - Whatever. The score means nothing. Why even give these guys a score, when they deserve so much more. What can I say about the Kilties? Do I have to say anything, when we know it all? They kick butt, they rock the house, they are the coolest corps on the planet! I love these guys, and have so much fun watching them. They got everyone clapping and singing, and it was a blast. Heeeeeeeeeeyyy, hey baby.... :)
Capital Sound, Madison, WI...49.9 - These guys have come so far from when I first saw the newly formed corps. They also doubled their guard with the use of mannequins! It was a very cute idea, and the girls danced with them, while one girl tried to steal a man. She ended up getting a real one in the end of the show. The show is very exciting and a lot of fun to watch. I expected them to score higher, too.
Pioneer, Milwaukee, WI...58.5 - These guys score is screwy. Why are they scoring so low? The show is very exciting, very clean (from where we were, 5th row, again), and well executed. Unfortunately, they have an incomplete show. What the guard does perform, they perform very well, but there are about 5 minutes of no work. The horn line is wonderful, and their playing fits the theme, Irish in your face.
Phantom Regiment, Rockford, IL...73.4 - As most of you know, PR is doing Pines of Rome. There is no comparison b/w this show and Star. I found myself mostly bored with this show. There did not seem to be much movement or enthusiasm. There is no ingenuity with the guard work, it is all the same old stuff. The corps has added a red sash with gold and purple accents to their unis. One special note: With it being so close to the 4th, there were many people in the neighborhoods lighting fireworks. At the company front that closes the show, a red and gold fireworks went off right behind the field near the 50. It was very cool. Perhaps PR should consider it! :)
Cavaliers, Rosemont, IL...76.3 - First, let me say I am very biased. That out of the way, this show is awesome. I was so excited waiting for it, and it delivers. It literally starts out with a bang and is non-stop. The beginning is traditional, and it is load of fun finding old stuff throughout the show. Things to look for: thumping of the bass drums, authentic Cavie drill, marching over the guard. My favorite part has to be the third movement. This beautiful song is absolutely awe-inspiring. It starts out with muted sops that sound like voices from the past. Then, a mellophone solo comes in, as if to be a voice from the present, and he is joined by the rest of the corps. It sent chills down my spine. The song crescendos beautifully and finishes gracefully, returning to the muted sopranos. You could almost feel the souls of 50 years of FMM's moving these young men around the field, it was so mesmerizing. I can almost guarantee that I will be crying my eyes out during this song when my baby brother takes the field for the last time in August. The final song finishes the show in a flourish, looking to the next 50 years. It will get you moving. I thought the end was a little choppy, drill-wise, but I'm sure it is being worked on. I cannot wait to see these guys again, of course.
The Cavies' "Traditions" CD went on sale during this show. It is a must-have. Selections include: 1957, 1961, 1967, 1971, 1972, 1980, 1984, 1992, 1995, 1998, and others. Anyone that buys this CD and listens to how the crowds grow (you can hear them on the CD), cannot honestly say that drum corps is dying!!!
After the presentation of the anniversary cake to Don Warren, and a framed 50th anniversary T-shirt (which I must get), The Cavaliers finished the night with their concert, which included the show, the Corps song, and Rainbow. Then, all alumni were invited onto the field to sing the Corps song and Rainbow. Then, we all ate tons of cake! (which was very good!!! :)
GE Ensamble Performance
Mus. Vis. Mus. Vis. Bra Per Vis pen
The Cavaliers 15.6 15.6 11.6 11.6 7.2 7.2 7.5 0 76.3
Phantom Regiment 14.8 14.8 11.4 11.2 7.0 7.0 7.2 0 73.4
Pioneer 10.9 10.6 10.4 9.1 5.6 6.0 5.9 0 58.5
Capital Sound 9.5 10.4 8.3 7.4 4.3 4.6 5.4 0 49.9
Kilties Sr. 10.7 8.5 6.0 6.4 5.3 5.4 5.1 0 47.4
Phantom Legion 8.9 9.6 6.7 7.9 4.0 5.0 5.2 0 47.3
Cincinnati Glory 9.0 9.3 6.4 7.2 3.8 4.5 4.7 0 44.9
Memorial Lancers 6.6 6.4 5.0 4.1 2.6 3.7 3.5 0 31.9
Judges:
GE Music: Paul Hinman.
GE Visual: Dave Schliewe
Ensemble Music: Mark Ponzo
Ensamble Visual: Tom Colla
Perf Brass: Richard Saucedo
Perf Percussion: Jay Webb
Perf Visual: Joe Krepel
Blue Devils..............81.0 Madison Scouts...........78.0 Division II/III Blue Devils B............75.6 Pacific Crest............75.4 Earthquake...............64.2 Westcoast Sound..........59.0 Thanks to DCI for these scores!
Westcoast Sound - Kicking off the real drumcorps of the night, Westcoast didn't quite match up with the rest of the big boys. Their percussion is excellent (props to my man Steve Barron who marches tenors), and overpowers their brass. The brass starts off pretty good, but tends to get lazy as the show goes on. But a good improvement from last year, and they should grow again next year, as they are planning on going to World Championships as a Division II Corps. Not much to say about the color guard, being only 4 of them. That's an area that Westcoast will have to work on.
Blue Devils B - Overall a pretty impressive sound. The battery is pretty solid, being on of the few corps that didn't play triplet rolls (a.k.a triplet diddle) as their on the field warmup. As one would expect, the brass was excellent as well, but a few blemishes were present. Probably the best marching execution of the Division II/III corps, but with a less demanding drill than Pacific Crest. They were good, but IMHO, not as good as Pacific Crest. Guard was pretty solid.
Earthquake - Well, they didn't exactly meet my expectations, but hey, I'm a hard guy to satisfy. I didn't particularly like the quality of the brass sound, but that's just my opinion. Percussion was mediocre, and marching execution was below average. I kept spotting people out of step and phasing all over the place. There were a few spots in the show when me and friend would turn towards each other and say, "Bad release," and "Stickout." They have some room to improve, and I'm sure they will.
Pacific Crest - As I already said, I think that PC should have won the Division II/III category. They had a rich brass sound with a good arrangement. Battery was in my opinion far better than BDB, and half the tenor line with their hair dyed red (including my friend, Chris Johnson). Drill was far more demanding than BDB's, and almost executed as well as them. Guard is fairly impressive. There was even one point where the Ass. DM (and another friend of mine, Brennan England) marched across the field to join the DM. A more entertaining show than BDB's in my opinion, although my friend liked BDB more. PC had a more balanced sound than BDB, as BDB was rather top-heavy. Watch out for PC in shows to come.
Madison Scouts - In a word - [D**N]!!! When the cart started wheeling out the pit equipment the crowd started going wild. It's been a while since the Scouts have been down in SoCal, and their presence was highly appreciated. Their show, "Power, Pizzazz, and All That Jazz," (or so I think that's what it was) was very entertaining They had a show before the show with their warmup. Half the corps started out on either side of the field and marched towards each other and did a weird Z drill into a block that drew ooohs and ahhhs from the crowd. The battery started out with twelve snares, and were pretty clean for such a big number. The brass is [extremely] loud, and more balanced than Madison has been in the past years. When they formed the flour de lis, the crowd went wild. The Scouts had a few standing O's tonight. The second song started out with a contra solo, and very entertaining drill that was greeted by the crowd with laughs. The only thing I didn't like about the brass tonight was that there wasn't a great variance in dynamics. Soloists were excellent. Battery did some new things, and I don't recall seeing the classic forward lean that they're known for. They crossed their legs a few times during the show, and were pretty good for this point in the season. The guard as you might already know was dressed in the regular corps uniforms for the opener, but took the jackets off for the rest of the show. They were fairly clean as well. They were the most entertaining corps, but Devils were more technically sound. By the way, the encore kicked some major ass too. My score - 80.3
Blue Devils - I guess the fact that our school did a bad rendition of WSS a couple years ago took away some of the enjoyment that I might have had. There was a pretty good balance of Bernstein and Tchaikovsky, but the sound got a little top-heavy at times. Battery was okay, but I still think the heads are way too wet. Pretty good execution of drill. They didn't get the same crowd reaction as Madison though. No full standing O's to my memory. Guard was pretty clean. Not much else to say. For the encore they just played the show over again. My score - 82.1
Overall this was a very entertaining show, with the encores by Madison and Devils being a real highlight. I can't wait till I get to say Devils and Vanguard go at it next. I'm lickin' my chops waiting for this one.
General Effect Ensemble Performance
Corps Mus. Vis. Tot. Mus. Vis. Tot. Brs. Per. Vis. Tot. Sub. Pen. Tot.
Blue Devils 16.5 16.0 32.5 12.6 12.2 24.8 7.8 7.7 8.2 23.7 81.0 0 81.0
Madison 16.4 15.2 31.6 12.0 11.8 23.8 7.7 7.4 7.5 22.6 78.0 0 78.0
Division II/III
BDB 14.0 14.5 28.5 12.0 11.8 23.8 7.7 7.4 8.2 23.3 75.6 0 75.6
Pac. Crest 15.0 14.2 29.2 12.1 11.5 23.6 7.4 7.3 7.9 22.6 75.4 0 75.4
Earthquake 12.9 12.4 25.3 9.0 9.0 18.0 6.9 6.9 7.1 20.9 64.2 0 64.2
Sound 11.7 10.5 22.2 10.0 8.2 18.2 5.6 5.6 7.4 18.6 59.0 0 59.0
Judges:
GE Music - Rubino
GE Visual - Pizani
ENS Music - Kristensen
ENS Visual - Roe
PERF Brass - Petrash
PERF Percussion - King
PERF Visual - Moore
Seattle Web Factory
CyberCorps Web Page Designers.
CyberWebMistress Caryn Roberts
Web and Page design ©1995-1998 Seattle Web Factory