Thanks to Brian Schriber for directly emailing this review to us!
Ok First off here are the scores in order of placement:
Blue Devils..............93.1
Santa Clara Vanguard.....91.1
Carolina Crown...........82.9
Magic of Orlando.........82.4
Pioneer..................74.7
Les Etoiles..............68.8
Spirit of Atlanta........67.0
Tarheels.................59.6
And Now my thoughts in order of performance along with MY score:
Tarheel Sun - 54: I was hoping that Tarheel Sun had improved, but with
only 2 days from the last show I was not expecting much. Surprise! Huge
improvement. Most of the major drill problems were cleaned up, The horns
started weak but steadily improved the entire show, something that did
not happen Monday. Fewer cracks in the sops, and the drums were a smidge
better. The only drop from Monday was in GE, they did not seem as intense
as they did then, but then again they were putting on a better
performance so I won't complain. Tonights show would have put them over
Elite I think by a slim margin. It will be interesting to see them go
head to head on Tuesday at Div-II.
Les Etoiles - 68: This is a big jump up from Tarheel. And the show really
has some influence from L'Insolite in the drums. The horns are not as
clean as Dimension but they have drums that are tighter, and GE all over
the place. The music really pushes harder as the show unfolds ending with
a really good GE section. I am going to love Div-II prelims and finals.
Spirit of Atlanta - 69: Ahh Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. I really like
this tune and I was hoping that Spirit could pull it off. Well, for the
most part they do. The horns are pretty good, the drums are pretty good,
and the drill is fairly well done. I figured they would edge out Les
Etoiles by a bit because of the overall show and how clean they played.
The problem is that they hit their huge GE spot in the middle of the show
and never get back to that level at the end. I think that may have hurt
their score a bit against Les Etoiles who finished with big GE. But I
really like this show.
Pioneer - 74: One of the defining moments of this show happened before
they even started playing. While everyone is yelling things like 'Go
Marty!' and 'Go John!' we hear a lone voice yell 'Go Open'. This is
really true considering just how much they outclassed Spirit and Les
Etoiles. Pioneer should be an open class corps considering they have a
better horn line than last years which was pretty good, a drum line that
has some really nice moves, especially the 'marching to a grounded piece'
which came off great. This years corps is really awsome. I hope Pioneer
can afford to do a DCI tour next year so they can go Open. This is
another great Irish style show.
Carolina Crown - 79: Oooo! Now this is a GE show! I like this version of
Crown. They continue their steady march forward as an up and coming horn
line and the drums are doing well also. The only down side is the M&M,
which could use some heavy cleaning. But it is an extremely difficult
drill from what I could see, but then again I don't really know either.
Still the music is very different, and just goose bump inducing. This
corps should have absolutely no problem making finals.
Magic of Orlando - 80: Another very differnt musical arrangement. Magic
and Crown are really sitting right next to each other. Horns are about
equal and Drums are about equal. M&M is much better for Magic but GE is
higher for Crown. This is a solid show that should make Magic another
finalist as well. The guard has some very nice props that go well with
the show espacially the ribbon in the opener.
Santa Clara Vanguard - 87: They start off with sea shore sounds and the
corps rocking like waves. It is a nice effect and then when the horns
come in they just sound great. They have some of the best releases in
this show. The sound just seems to echo. This show probably takes a bit
to get used to, but they perform it extremely well. I will probably love
it the fourth time I hear it on CD if not by the time finals are over.
Blue Devils - 92: Um, words fail me. Wow, awsome, GEEZ! What else is
there to say? The first note, which lasts a lot longer than it should at
volume levels that ought to be illegal, will wake the dead. The drums are
incredibly tight, and the hits that both them and the horn line hit...
Wow. Unless they falter by a HUGE margin it will be difficult to beat. In
fact I was surprised that Vanguard was only 2 pts away. I thought I was
being generous by only putting it 5 off when I thought at least 6 pts was
a minimum spread. Just wow.
I also have to mention that this year we didn't have a loud obnoxious
judge practically screaming into a microphone that is 1/2 inch away from
his mouth. What a relief. And I met some new people who were really great
to sit near, including a couple who had never been to a show before.
What a way to start off your life with DCI!
Well, that's it from me. Enjoy them all in Orlando, We'll see ya there!
? The 'Original-Every-Night' T-Shirt Guy
Talisman-O- Brian Schriber Crossmen 84-85
| bschribe@vnet.net brian@synxcti.com
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