July 30, Erie, PA

Thanks to Donald Chinn on r.a.m.d for this review!

A quick note on the Erie show, held at Corry H.S. in Corry, PA.

Weather: A massive thunderstorm hit the area about 4 hours before
show time.  The storm lasted about 2 hours.  (Does this remind anyone
of Buffalo last year?)  They went on with the show.  As the evening went
on, there was a hint of fog rolling in.

Crowd: absolutely dead.  Perhaps the thunderstorm made people a little
less enthusastic.  All the corps seemed to have gotten a smattering of
applause (even after being blasted in the face in the standstill by
the Blue Devils afterwards!).

Lake Erie Regiment (Erie, PA) (exhibition): "Contemporary Liturgies."
This is a young corps (founded in 1993).  The music they chose was
pretty sophisticated, perhaps a little too sophisticated for them at
this point, but the corps shows much promise.  Watch out for them in a
couple years.

Golden Lancers (Pittsburgh, PA): "Through the Air."  Their new gold and
black uniforms look really sharp.  Again, another corps who look like
they are on the right path.  Score: 66.25.

North Shore (Toronto, ONT): "Gershwin melodies" (Cuban Overture, Someone
to Watch Over Me, I Got Rhythm).  Another entertaining performance.
They could have taken Cuban Overture a little faster, as it seemed to
drag at times.  Score: 57.9.

Kiwanis Kavaliers (Kitchener, ONT): "West Side Story."  An very
entertaining show.  Their show seems to be influenced by the Cadets
1994 show.  They do a few new things, though.  One is the use of
garbage cans as instruments (a la STOMP).  The color guard is dresses
"ganglike." Score: 72.55.

Boston Crusaders (Boston, MA): "Portraits of Our Homeland -- the East."
A well-designed show with an American theme.  Performance levels not
quite there yet, though.  In many ways, the show feels like Star 1992,
but there are a several interesting twists in the show.  One is the
ending of Grovers Corner, where a color guard member places flowers in
one of the props (a landscape of farm country) they have. Score: 70.65.

Velvet Knights (Anaheim, CA): "VK in Space."  More zaniness from the
crew that brought us previous Magical Mystery Tours.  This time they
are in space.  I won't spoil too much for you here.  The opening "fake
out" moves are neat.  Star Trek is the most heavily used theme, but
there are a few bars here and there from Star Wars, 2001, and a bunch
of other tunes that I recognized, but couldn't place.  They spoof other
corps: Cavaliers, Santa Clara Vanguard's Bottle Dance.
After 2001 and Jetsons, their show gets really serious with Star Trek
images and Klingon bat-leths.  But then the final push is more
lighthearted again.  Score: 67.35.

Magic of Orlando (Orlando, FL): "Twelve Seconds to the Moon." An original
composition by Robert Smith, commissioned for the USAF Band of Flight.
I don't know much about the piece, but it is basically a contemporary
wind ensemble piece.  The color guard have some pretty funky goldish
uniforms.  Score: 78.15.

Phantom Regiment (Rockford, IL): "Defiant Heart -- music of
Shostakovich."  To me, this was a very dark show.  The 14 contras
help a low in getting the deep dark sound needed.  (Of course, most
of Shostakovich's music is dark and/or depressing, except for works
such as his 9th Symphony.)  All throughout the show, images of Russia
under the czars, Lenin, Mother Russia, etc. raced through my head.
This show is just a short bit away from being a really powerful and
thought-provoking show.  I think work needs to be done on the execution
(especially in the brass).  Also, I think the color guard should be
involved a little more.  (Their all-red uniforms are nice color-wise,
but they just seem to disappear in the sea of black.)  Score: 88.45.

Blue Devils (Concord, CA): "Club Blue: A Gangster Chronicle."  I felt
like I was in some smoky bar drinking a beer (and having my ears ripped
off) while watching this show.  What can I say: great horns, great
drums, great color guard.  They execute the show really well.  The
standstill afterwards was amazingly in tune and together.  Attacks and
releases were great.

About the only negative I can think of is that the performance as it
is now seems a little too mechanical.  Perhaps little changes in
tempo, dynamics, or phrasing could make the musical part of the show
a little more interesting.  The Blue Devils have done these kinds of
changes in the past, so I should hope they will do so this year.  Score:
89.95.

Erie Thunderbird Alumni Sr. Corps (exhibition): An entertaining
standstill concert.  Lots of antics and silliness (amazing what can
happen when there are no rules or points).  The crowd was more
entertained by this corps than any of the other corps.  The soloists
were outstanding.

Who will win it all?  I personally think that the Blue Devils don't have
a Championship-calibre show.  (It's executed at Championship level,
though.)  The Cadets certainly have all the elements of a Championship
show, but they need to work on their execution (there are a LOT of notes
to master in their show).  Phantom could have a Championship show, but
I think the show may be too dark to have audience appeal and/or general
effect.  Something about their show doesn't flow smoothly, but I can't
put my finger on it (then again, I have only seen it once).

I have not seen Cavaliers, Madison, or Santa Clara, but out of those
three, my guess is that the Cavaliers has the best chance, because their
show presumably is sophisticated and may require all of the last two
weeks left in the season to perfect it.  I am looking forward to seeing
all three of these shows.  As has been said before, this looks like a
good year.

-- Donald

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