July 21, Columbus, OH

There is another review of DCI North and Columbus.

Thanks to Mark Herzing on RAMD for this review!

In their first meeting of the 1995 season, the Devils edged the Cadets with
a relatively subdued performance (a problem the Devils rectified the
following night at DCI North).   Most of the corps in attendance appeared
to struggle with the acoustics of Cooper Stadium (a minor league baseball
field with a prominant overhang and a huge, open "backfield").  Also,
practically everyone appeared to get dinged hard by the DCI judging crew
(for whatever reason).  As a result, scores dropped 3 to 5 points for
everyone but BD and CBC from previous performances.

1st - Blue Devils ( 88.5):  Devils showed many (but not all) of the
qualities that have  driven the West Coast fans to such  extremes in their
reviews over the last month.  This is not the greatest drum corps to tread
turf, but they are certainly within spitting distance of that standard.
Initial impressions: the visual program is richer and more complex than
last year's.  Although most of the drill difficulty is packed into the
first movement and the very end, this is certainly as demanding a visual
book as the Devils have ever tried.  The guard is superb, but the show
lives and dies on the quality of the music.  In particular, the battery
stands out, both as a musical and visual highlight.  More on these guys in
my review of DCI North.

2nd - Cadets of Bergen County (88.0) :  This may have been CBC's best
chance to catch the Devils (until finals week, that is.  Hee Hee!).  "The
Rievers" is as hard a piece musically and visually as I've seen anyone try.
It's still quite dirty, though.  The closer has been rewritten (shortened)
and they've  added an American flag presentation (help me, old timers.
Does this qualify as an old-style color pre or not?).  From a crowd
standpoint, CBC is doing great: they were the clear  favorite (even some
scattered boos were heard at the announcement of scores and placement).

3rd - Glassmen (73.2):  Glassmen should get some credit for trying very
recognizable music this year.  Quite risky, IMO, since everyone and his/her
uncle have played or heard "Ode to Joy", "Mighty Fortress", etc.  Just a
hunch, but I think they may be able to pull it off and move up in the final
rankings (9th maybe, behind Bluecoats and Magic?).  As usual, there is
enough horn line/drum line dance movement,  unusal percussion and props to
make the traditionalists cringe and howl.

4th - Magic (72.3):  Clearly an attempt to step forward competitively.
Fans should recognize much of the second movement ("Land") from last year's
show.  New music, but much of the afro-rhythm, park-and-blow stuff from
"Cirque" remains.  Magic's first attempt at a true "speed drill" (in the
third movement "Air") doesn't come off too well yet, but they have time to
clean it up. Unusal props abound in this show.  In fact, just about all the
corps tonight (Crusades and Nite Express excepted) are hauling a ton of
stuff onto the field (yes, even the "in your face, no gimmicks, REAL DRUM
CORPS" Devs are carting a bunch of things on the field.  In their case,
though, they're substituting pit percussion for props).

5th - Crusaders (61.6):  BAC had nothing but trouble this performance.
Guard work remains incomplete (closer).  In general, not a particularly
dynamic show, with a severe threat that they will finish out (perhaps well
out) of the top 17.

6th - Nite Express (54.1):  NE struggled with practically all aspects of
their show tonight.  In particular, intonation and phasing problems were
severe.  The stadium's strange acoustics may have contributed to an overall
lack of musical and visual cohesion.

I'll take a moment here to join the chorus of catcalls for DCI's new
retreat format.   The performance of "America" was merely OK, largely due
BD's lead sops hot-dogging (unsuccessfully) in the upper octaves during
their performance of the verse prior to the tutti performance of the
chorus.   We were fortunate that the show sponsors secured an agreement
with CBC to get them to do an encore performance of their show (although
this generated the  strange sight of BD leaving the field 2nd to last:
something that hasn't happened in a while).   CBC acquitted themselves
admirably, and may have won some new drum corps fans with their encore
performance.  I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but I'll say it
anyway:  the victory concert is AN ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL component of DCI's
maintaining public relations with local crowds.

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