July 25, Stillwater, MN

Thanks to Randy A. Salas on RAMD for this review!

Well, for what it's worth, here are a horn player's comments on the first 
Drum Beauty show Tuesday night in Stillwater, Minn.

It rained off and on during the evening, but nothing drastic. As noted 
earlier, the clouds broke right before the Minnesota Brass' 
(exhibition-only senior corps) Caribbean-themed show, exposing a 
breath-taking sunset in the west and a beautiful rainbow off the storm 
clouds in the east. Almost as if on cue, the clouds and the rain came back 
after their show ended.

This was the only DCI show I will see this summer :-( --although I did get 
to see the smallish DCM show in Eden Prairie, Minn., a month ago. Because I 
left my program at home, these comments are not as detailed as I would have 
liked them to be. Sorry about that.

(Comments about the competing corps, in order of placement)

ALLEGIANCE ELITE--48.0
I was expecting more from this Canadian corps that calls itself a "marching 
brass ensemble"--perhaps because of that billing. They march no drums but 
have a large pit ensemble. I guess I have really no constructive comments. 
The marching was atrocious with many folks out of step. Worthless comment: 
How can an entire percussion section parked right in front of the drum 
major not be following the beat?

SANTA CLARA VANGUARD CADETS--54.8
Having marched in a drum corps that was financially strapped even when it 
was Top 6 (Suncoast Sound), it amazes me that some corps can also run a 
feeder corps. That the Vanguard Cadets are as good as they are in addition 
to being a feeder or training corps is a credit to Vanguard's educational 
program. As one might expect from a smaller corps, the show was thin in 
spots, but all of the elements were there.

PIONEER--64.3
I was overwhelmed by this group. I know they are Div. II champions, but 
they're not that far removed from being a Top 12 contender one day. I 
imagine their proximity to Madison, Phantom and Cavvies affects recruiting, 
but if they ever get the numbers.... Anyway, they were excellent. This is 
all relative to my impression of the corps from a few years ago, which was 
not that great. Worthless comment: I once thought Enya's music could 
translate well to drum corps. I no longer do.

TROOPERS--72.5
This was a classy show. As Peter mentioned, I would have liked more oomph 
from the horns. I usually don't like "down" endings to shows, but I thought 
theirs worked quite well. The silent sunburst was incredible, although any 
playing they did soon after was drowned out by applause. There was some 
serious phasing in the high mark time before the burst, which I expect will 
be cleaned. Aside from a fairly simple drill, the only thing horn-wise 
holding the corps back is a lack of expression. They play all the notes 
well at various dynamic levels (great mellophone licks!), but there is no 
in-between in the dynamics. It's either loud, medium or soft. They could 
benefit greatly by playing the music with a little more feeling. Although 
nowhere near the level of the corps that follow, this was my favorite show 
of the evening. Worthless comment: Someone in the stands wondered if the 
drum major's holstered gun really worked.

COLTS--80.1
Yes, yes, yes. I liked this show when I saw it a month ago, and it has 
improved tremendously with some cleaning and fine-tuning. I would have 
never expected Sunday in the Park with George to translate well to the 
field, but this show is very well-crafted musically. It hits in all the 
right spots--except for the ending. The show got an enthusiastic reaction 
from the crowd, but I think the Colts are cutting their applause by a third 
(not to mention their GE score) by doing a down ending. Unlike the 
Troopers' ending, which banks on tradition, the Colts' ending still leaves 
me flat. Worthless comment: This year's Colts remind me a lot of mid-'80s 
Suncoast--definitely playing-wise, but maybe it's those white pants, too.

SANTA CLARA VANGUARD--84.1
I finally came up with a word to describe my impression of SCV's show: 
disjointed. I clearly need to see it several more times (wish that I 
could), but the whole thing left me feeling somewhat uninvolved. Maybe it's 
the whole first half of the horn book, which is more a series of accents 
and brief statements rather than continuous playing. Maybe it's because the 
entire corps seemed to be playing to dead center, thus bypassing me in my 
seat on the 35. Don't get me wrong--I did like the show. It had all of the 
razzle-dazzle I expected, but during the show, all I could think of 
was, "I sure liked the Colts." The over-sized props worked for Red Poppy 
and Miss Saigon, but I found them more of a distraction this year. I lost 
track of the guard uniform changes. I liked the initial velvet gowns the 
best. Worthless comment: In response to the high school student behind me 
who wondered how much SCV would win by, I predicted that the Scouts would 
win by at least 3 and score an 88, maybe 89. I was right on the Scouts' 
score but apparently was too generous with SCV.

MADISON SCOUTS--89.1
Four words: BALLS TO THE WALLS. (Ahem.) What a cool show. The corps warms 
up with Bolero, which sets the mood for the Spanish bullfight-themed show. 
I was turned off by the fact that Bolero picked up speed as it progressed, 
but others liked it. The show itself is exhilirating. I can't think of much 
to say other than they'll having something good going into Buffalo. One 
nit: The on-field partying during the middle of the show strikes me as more 
typical of a Cuban celebration than a Spanish one. Worthless comment: I've 
always found conducting batons in drum corps (or any marching ensemble) 
pretentious.

Final comments:

* What is with the trend of easily audible vocals in the drum lines and pit 
to fill in the gaps when they're not playing? In every corps but the 
Scouts, I could hear continual "dut! dut! dut!"s. One guy in the Troopers 
was so loud I could swear it was a written part. Really annoying.

* RAMD and the drum corps BBs on AOL and Prodigy all got a plug during the 
show.

* I went to the show with fellow RAMDer Ron Grogg, whom I met here, and his 
lovely girlfriend, Stephanie, who plays mellophone with Minnesota Brass. It 
was swell meeting someone in person with whom you've corresponded only 
through email. One cool couple.

Randy

July Scores

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