August 16, 1997, Orlando, FL - DCI World Championships

Blue Devils..............98.4
Cadets of Bergen County..97.6
Santa Clara Vanguard.....96.9
Phantom Regiment.........94.2
Madison Scouts...........93.9
Crossmen.................93.0
Cavaliers................92.8
Glassmen.................90.0
Blue Knights.............88.2
Magic of Orlando.........85.7
Bluecoats................85.6
Carolina Crown...........85.0


Music Ensemble...........Blue Devils
General Effect...........Cadets
Brass....................Blue Devils
Percussion...............Blue Devils
Marching Perf............Blue Devils
Color Guard..............Blue Devils
Visual Ensemble..........Blue Devils

Review - August 16, 1997, Orlando, FL - DCI World Championships

• The following review is solely the opinion of the reviewer.
  
• The following review may contain opinions that some readers may find objectionable.
  
• If you have a response you would like to sumbit, please visit our reader response submission page.
  

Well guys and gals, I am back in Tallahassee for a week following the DCI Finals in Orlando, so I figure I'll pester y'all for as long as I can. Here are a few thoughts, opinions, and ideas about what just happened....

• First off, how many friggin' fires can there be in Orlando on two nights? Between Friday and Saturday nights I must have counted about nine sets of fire engines roaring by. Sheesh!
• As much as I love the fact that Finals are in my own back yard, I gotta say this. The weather is unpredictable, the heat is pretty overbearing at times, the food is expensive, the parking is questionable, and the ticket prices are way too expensive. How many fans were in the stands on Saturday night? I know that some DCI exec once commented that attendance had been declining at Madison every year that Finals were there....anybody want to bet that we would have drawn more people at Camp Randall than at the Citrus Bowl? This would also save many corps the travel expenses required (especially the California corps.)
• Has anyone ever seen a more uncooperative and rude set of stadium personnel...anywhere? These people are clueless....

Okay, now, about some of the shows....
Remember, these are opinions, not facts. Please remind yourselves before flaming that everyone is entitled to an opinion, no matter how wrong y'all might think it is:

• Crown....interesting show, the brass seemed to suffer from a lack of breath support, in that a lot of the phrases were simply not held out to the end. The drill was slow-moving, but I liked the props and their musical choices.
• Bluecoats....as always, these guys wailed. I liked the show, but the hornline didn't seem as tight as they were last year. Drill was good, and I enjoyed the color guard.
• Magic......in a word: Weirdness. Will Magic ever play a "normal" show? Who cares. They seem to have found a pretty good niche for themselves, and they were extremely entertaining. Although I still feel like retching when I look at their unis.... :)
• Blue Knights.....very interesting show design. A huge improvement from last year, especially in brass (kudos to Larry, Lori, and crew).
• Glassmen....wow! What a great show. Except for the mello soloist being way flat on both Friday and Saturday night, this hornline is much improved. And the percussion! As much as I dislike Beddis, way to go! Kudos also to Al Dunn and Frankie Chapple.
• Cavaliers.....the most overheard comment about their opening "firebird" routine? "Lamaze?" This visual package was very innovative, the percussion was thunderous, the brass.......well, the brass was. Oh what the hell, the brass was awful. Intonation, missed phrases, edgy sounds....what happened? Was there a staff turnover. The show should have been a top five show, but the brass is what kept them down.
• Crossmen.....cool damn show! For the second time in six years, the Xmen boot out a corps (or two) from the (almost) never-changing top six. Congrats Crossmen.....now build on this and kick ass for years to come.
• Madison....what a show! My girlfriend, who had never seen a drum corps show before Saturday night, was blown away. I don't know what these guys have to do to get high marks, but if it means changing their style, f*** it! There's too much knuckling under to pressure in this world! Madison rocks!
• Phantom.....very nice show, I just wonder how effective it was for the common fan who doesn't have a clue what the Ring is about? The brass had a few problems, they almost seemed hesitant or afraid...next year guys, next year. The monkey is off your backs now....just have fun.
• SCV....I am so glad to see this corps back in the top three. I saw these guys rehearse on Friday, and I dare say I have never seen a corps this intense. Congrats, you have nothing to be ashamed off. Welcome back.
• CBC....movement movement movement! No one can ever argue that Cadets haul ass. Likewise, no one can argue about their ensemble visual...however, let me point out what has always been a flaw with them....posture. I understand that moving that fast is difficult, but if you can't do it without keeping good posture, should you be doing it at all? Aside from that, this show amazed me! The brass was quick-footed and lithe, and the drill was designed about as perfectly with the music as it could have been.
• Devils....okay, let me vent. Is it fair that the Devils get such a head start on the other corps by beginning practices in January? Who cares? Sometimes it works (1994, 1996-1997), and sometimes it doesn't (1990-1993, 1995). But let's face facts...this Blue Devil show was one of the damn cleanest I have seen in recent memory, if ever. They deserve the championship.

And that's that.....

Nikk

Recaps - August 16, 1997, Orlando, FL - DCI World Championships

                 GEN EFFECT      ENSEMBLE        PERFORMANCE         TOTALS
                 MUS  VIS  TOTL  MUS  VIS  TOTL  BRS PERC VIS  TOTL  FINAL  AUX
Blue Devils      19.7 19.4 39.1  14.8 14.9 29.7  9.9 9.8  9.9  29.6  98.4   9.9
Cadets of B. C.  19.8 19.8 39.6  14.6 14.8 29.4  9.5 9.6  9.5  28.6  97.6   9.8
S. C. Vanguard   19.6 19.5 39.1  14.4 14.6 29.0  9.7 9.7  9.4  28.8  96.9   9.6
Phantom Regiment 18.8 18.9 37.7  14.4 14.0 28.4  9.6 9.2  9.3  28.1  94.2   9.5
Madison Scouts   19.3 19.3 38.6  13.9 14.1 28.0  9.4 9.0  9.0  27.4  93.9   9.1 (.1 pty)
Crossmen         19.4 18.6 38.0  14.0 13.7 27.7  8.9 9.5  8.9  27.3  93.0   9.4
Cavaliers        19.1 18.5 37.6  13.3 14.3 27.6  9.1 9.4  9.2  27.7  92.8   9.3 (.1 pty)
Glassmen         18.3 18.2 36.2  12.9 13.8 26.7  8.8 9.3  8.7  26.8  90.0   8.8
Blue Knights     17.9 17.6 35.5  13.2 13.2 26.4  8.6 9.1  8.6  26.3  88.2   8.4
Magic of Orlando 17.5 17.3 34.8  13.1 12.5 25.6  8.7 8.9  7.7  25.3  85.7   8.3
Bluecoats        17.0 16.8 33.8  13.4 12.6 26.0  9.0 8.6  8.1  25.8  85.6   8.6
Carolina Crown   17.3 17.1 34.4  12.5 12.8 25.3  8.4 8.6  8.3  25.3  85.0   9.0

August 16, 1997, Kingston, NY - DCA

Empire Statesmen.........93.7 - Percussion, Visual, GE
Brigadiers...............92.5 - Brass
Caballeros...............92.1
Hurricanes...............85.2
Crusaders................81.6
Grenadiers...............75.8

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