July 7, Michigan City, IN

Thanks to John D. Weldy on Compuserve for this review!

Okay, I got a few comments on my last review from people who liked my "scathing
honesty", so I won't hold anything back this time.  I hope not to step on any
toes TOO hard, but consider this a disclaimer.

The first corps on was the Golden Lancers (6th, 46.6).  Pound for pound, they
had the most mature hornline all night.  There were parts of their show that
were absolutely beautiful and they fully embraced their existance as a small brass
ensemble and ran with it.  The only real problems were the individual mistakes which a
big corps could cover up ( how many times has Cavaliers' 3rd soprano line all fracked
at the smae time???)  They also had endurance problems which should be fixed soon, but
for the most part were very nice to listen to both tone and balance-wise.  The
drumline, on the other hand sounded very muddy, but this may have been partially due to
the drums (take this with a grain of salt, because I'm just a dumb horn guy who doesn't
know a flam from a paradiddle).  Color guard was adequate, but small.  The visual
program was also quite clean, with few major problems.  Some more refining and they'll
be great in August.

Next on was the Jr. Scouts/Capitalaires conglomerate now known as the Capital Sound
(7th, 42.8).  Capital Sound was about twice the size of the Lancers, but I was relieved
that the judges put them where they belonged.  Drums sounded much cleaner and color
guard more adequate, but the drill was dirty as piss, body control was out the window,
horns were hurting, and music was simplistic.  Basically, they are a feeder corps
playing a feeder corps show.  And as such, they do pretty well.

Northern Aurora (5th, 50.3) was up next with their Yanni show.  Maybe it's just that I
don't care for Yanni, but this show came across to me as a bunch of ideas just flung
together instead of a cohesive unit.  With few exceptions, the corps performed it well,
though.  The short DM mello duet was kind of nice, but Yanni the mello-playing DM
played his solo with thin tone.

For those of you who have recently seen scores from the Kiwanis Kavaliers (4th, 59.3)
that were above scores of VK and Boston and don't believe it, BELIEVE IT!!!  Kiwanis'
Pat Metheny show is very hot.  The kids perform the music with a confidence and style
that could easily place them in the thick of the hunt.  Only real problem seems to be
that they have an overpowering soprano line, but then again so do BD, Madison,
Bluecoats, and Colts!  Drill is coming along well and has adequate demand to take them
as far as they can go.  Here's the bottom line...on semifinals night, they'll probably
be only one corps playing Pat Metheny and if Boston doesn't watch out, it won't be
them!!!

After an extended intermission, we were treated to the stylings of the Chicago Vanguard
(8th, 34.1).  Now, I won't try to really comment much on them because I usually see
about 3 senior corps a year, but it seems that they've got the same qualities of every
other senior I've ever seen: 1.) They all park and blow more than they march, 2.) They
all have a couple hotshot sops that stick out a lot, and 3.) They all play Slaughter on
10th Avenue.

Two weeks ago, I thought that the Cavaliers (1st, 82.5) were highly overrated, had
really tinny-sounding sops, and a low-calibre production.  Now I have to eat my words. 
The 1995 Cavaliers may just turn out to be, IMHO, the best Cavaliers in 10 years.  The
hornline, book and performance, has improved dramatically.  In fact, I think this is
the first Cavaliers hornline I have ever respected!!  They play the book off the line
with a vengance.  They're out for blood.  They've got the product and they want to take
it to the edge!  But even more amazing is the subtlety and nuances they convey in the
softer sections of the show.  I just kept repeating, "This is the Cavaliers
hornline?!?!?"  And that's not the best part!!!!  They also have the best Cavalier
DRILL in years!!!  This is something you truly have to see to believe, but it truly
never stops!!!  There's always like 5 different things going on at once, and when they
finally hit a unison, it's breathtaking.  The only beef I have is those damn globes.

Well, as it appears, the "New" Phantom Regiment with their film music and standing
ovation gimmicks is gone and the "Old", straightforward Phantom Regiment (2nd, 77.8) is
back...and this is not a good thing.  The show is reminiscient of 1990's Saint-Saens
show, where there's not really anything wrong with it, there's just not really anything
right with it, either.  It's very forgettable.  The 14 contras volume is impressive,
their breath and body control is not.  In fact, body control seems to be a major
downfall for this corps.  I don't know about anyone else, but I for one am not
impressed by this:  BOP!!!  (Flail wildly)  BOP!!!  (Run madly)  BOP!!!  (Bounce some
more)  BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!   Those of you who have seen the show know the
part I'm talking about.  This is weird, too, because that's usually not among their
problems.  It must be the dreaded "we-can-get-away-with-anything-in-black-pants"
disease.

Glassmen (3rd, 72.7) got the dirtiest 72 I've ever seen.  The show starts out well
enough with a decent (for early July) performance/warm-up thing which, much to my and
probably several musically-educated people's approval, ends without resolving!!  So
far, so good.  The opening fanfare is good.  Then the crap starts.  Jesu, Joy of Man's
Desiring seems to highlight the drumline dancing around with the grace of a cow.  But
that's okay, because the hornline is mirroring that lack of grace wonderfully.  Then,
the drumline finally decides to play in a Hooked on Classics version of Ode to Joy.  If
that wasn't bad enough, the drum break features the hornline and guard passing ugly
neon blocks through even uglier neon blocks for no apparent reason other than to keep
them busy and maybe pick up some stray GE points.  The bad part is it seems to be
working.  They wind it up with an almost bearable rendition of A Mighty Fortress is our
God which the horns play rather well, it's just that the drum parts do not fit at a
ll.  It seems they decided, "Oh, the drums aren't playing enough...let's add some more
crap."  And this is the main problem with the whole show.  They're taking the music too
far from it's element.  Organ music was not meant to be played with percussion.  It was
also not meant to be played with a drum corps feel.  When they just play the music as
is (ie, in the warmup) it's pretty good.  Problem: the drums will never play and there
will not be enough hits for drum corps.  When they "drum crops-ize" the music it sounds
campy.  Solution: DON'T PLAY BACH IN DRUM CORPS!!!

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