Madison Scouts...........85.9 Phantom Regiment.........85.4 Crossmen.................79.3 Magic of Orlando.........77.6 Glassmen.................77.4 Kiwanis Kavaliers........72.3 Colts....................72.2 Carolina Crown...........72.1 Southwind................63.2 Delta Brigade............52.2 Lone Star................50.8 Thanks to Thom Lambertson for emailing us these scores!
Here's the reviews. I wrote the notes to these as they were performing, so bear with me as I comment. I'll try not to describe the shows, but the likes and dislikes.
In Performance Order:
Souveniers: First, there were lots of souvies. The new Phantom shirts are great! G-men have my favorite: a round neck buttoned faded blue shirt with an embroidered "G" on it. Xmen also brought Cadets stuff. The Madison tour shirt would have been the absolute best, if it had been a regular horn player instead of a decaying skeleton horn player on the front. They also have a Current Years CD with the 1992-1997 (this summer) shows. I was hoping for good Evita (KK) shirts, but alas, it was not to be. Most helpful and friendly: Phantom's. Best stuff: Madison. Best comments about Texas: Kiwanis Kavaliers. Xmen had a great Twister shirt for their show, which my girlfriend bought.
Pre-Game: The 3rd Corps, 4th Infantry Band from Ft. Hood did some marches. They were great fun to watch. There were only about 30 of them, and it wasn't a barn burner, but they certainly pumped the crowd up.
7:07 - Delta Brigade - They had 42 members, but played like the University of Texas marching band. Their show was a murder mystery. I liked their uniforms. Great Clue board game backdrops. Drums were kind of overpowering. Color Guard did lots of dancing, but not lots of equipment work. For so few people, they were a real treat to watch. Great soloists!
7:17 - Lone Star - This was their home show. Only 2 guard members? They did a move where they tossed their flags over the corps- and they hit in midair. GREAT drums. Still don't like the uniforms too much. They looked like they were having a lot of fun, and that intensity carried over to the crowd. Why did they use Madison's 1996 drum feature as their opener? They should have known that people would compare them... Still, they made the music come out good.
7:34 - Southwind - (Why does the announcer pronounce it as two words every year?) Cool DM Uniform. LOUD!!!!!! Obscure music at first, but you get really familiar with it as the show goes along. Some phasing problems in closer. Beautiful guard movements throughout. Not much else to say. A solid, enjoyable performance.
7:51 - Glassmen - If SCV won the 1996 "Return to Classy Shows" award, G-men win it this summer. The yellow spandex on some of the CG made people think they were naked! The show had such warm, autumn colors throughout. A visual feast. PLEASE lose the ladders. People weren't even listening to the music, they were so worried about people falling off! (My row was discussing this.) They managed to do Carmen and NOT evoke memories of SCV 1990! Great 1-legged split snare solo. Beautiful, beautiful stuff. I really like those new uniforms!
8:08 - Intermission. Last year, my girlfriend missed Crown because of the lines at intermission, so we stayed put. The weather got hotter and hotter, and more humid, as the night went on. Yuck.
8:25 - Kiwanis Kavaliers - Loved the DM dressing as Juan Peron. Great Argentine flag. Beautiful opening look. Don't look for them to tell the story. It's more like SCV's Miss Saigon. Mood music. Good new uniforms, good guard uniforms. Got my foot tapping from the get-go. Loved the 8 BD solo down the line- you never hear that from corps. Pretty straightforward stuff.
8:42 - Carolina Crown - At least they kept last year's uniforms. Why the gate props? Kind of excessive, just for the opening move. Good rendition of Crown Imperial, but I couldn't help but compare it to 27th Lancers. The guard groupings were good. Croquet, fencing, fox hunters, etc. Great croquet mallet toss. I'm glad they got Pearl drums, after those ugly Ludwigs. Why the hoop skirts? I liked the Enigma Variation much better than last year. Overall, musically more advanced than 1996, but not NEAR the visual feast that the previous show was. Right now, I'd put Colts and KK in finals over them.
8:59 - Colts - Warmup was LOUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I feel like the guy in the MTV poster. Their CG is REALLY together. Drum solo in opener rocks big time. Guard uniforms raised the temperature of the audience 50 degrees. Funny guard/soloist thing. Great soloists, all around. The show may not have many soft parts (and there were MORE than I was led to believe, RAMD), but not many corps could keep up the intensity that they did for 12 minutes. I really liked the standstill "concert" section. This will be a joke if they don't make Finals. This is what DCI shows should be like, as far as crowd/corps response.
9:16 - Crossmen - Neat DM salute. Birdland is a toe-tapper. Great soloist! Would have been better if they hadn't followed the Colts. The execution was there, but not the emotion. Groove Machine is gone, but the drums are still better than most out there. The last note is one of my favorite DCI moments EVER!
9:33 - Intermission - A young lady (looked about 18) in a green tank top (Long blonde hair) plopped down behind us, and said she was with the Colts, but wasn't marching tonight. She proceeded to tell her friends around her (in a LOUD voice) why the Colts were great and why everybody else was not. She did not stop until halfway through the victory concert! I truly hope she wasn't in the Colts' guard, as she claimed. Bad attitude, and no consideration for the people to whom this is the only show we see in person all year!!! After they left, a group of us mentioned that we were THIS close to doing regrettable things.
9:50 - Magic of Orlando - This was my girlfriend's favorite show of the night. Great music, awesome visuals. The guard unis were great, but my least favorite DCI uniforms were back. At least they added the light sash. They get my "Best Drum Majors" award. They hooked the audience from the beginning, and didn't let up. Why only 4 BD's, or did I miscount? Beautiful, lush brass sounds. Fun, fun, and more fun.
10:07 - Madison Scouts - Going in, I knew they were going to win, the rest of the audience knew they were going to win, and it felt like THEY knew they were going to win. (In a related note, it felt like Phantom knew they were going to win, too.) I agree with other reviews- the guard is the highlight. About the cymbal rack- the snares didn't really play that much during the spin. Nonetheless, it was really neat. This is definitely a different Madison than we've seen in about 15 years. They have easily the potential to win DCI with this show, and personally, it wouldn't bug me to see them do it. The percussion was flawless, the horns out-louded a train that passed by not 15 yards from the end zone, and the guard will go into every DCI program and video from now on.
10:24 - Phantom Regiment - Last year's version would have had a hard time following Madison, and this year, they couldn't get the interest. Why is everyone going bananas over Ms. Spears? It wasn't THAT revealing. Personally, she didn't look like she was having as much fun as last year. Well, none of them were. The lack of color was very annoying. Either add a full gold sash, or take that silly star off, but all it did was draw the fan's eyes and then give them nothing to look at. There were some great brass hits in it, but the connections between them. Personally, this reminded me of 1988. They did a good show, and it's one I'll listen to for ages, but it is not championship quality right now. Good execution, bad design.
11:10 - Madison's Victory Concert- They did You'll Never Walk Alone, God Bless the Child and some other stuff. Pretty neat. They seemed tired. I don't blame them.
Not much else to add. On the way out of the parking lot, we passed the
Colts CG lady again. She was still badmouthing everyone.
If you are interested in WHAT the corps did, rather than my impression, e-mail me. If you disagree with me, that's certainly your right, but try to keep it clean. Thanks!
Mike New
O.K. - I'm finally back to Dallas and ready to write this. I was in Central Texas for much longer than I had expected. Together with old friends (my best man from my wedding, a fellow corps and band alumnus, and our wives) - just hard to separate. We don't see each other as much as we would like.
Anyway...on to the reviews. I invite you to compare to my Dallas review.
Notes of interest:
Lone Star :
Drums are the shining star for this small corps. I must say that I
would be surprised if they don't steal high drums in Div. III. Watch
their snare line especially. Their parts are not terribly challenging,
but man are they tight. They march well together, too. The corps has
good soloists, but needs to build their brass line and guard.
Ladies: "I love those drums!" "Only 2 Flags?"
Delta Brigade :
From this vantage point, their show makes a little more sense. I still
don't like the sets, although I must say that the crowd easily
understood and picked up on the Clue theme with the help of the sets and
guard costuming. Drums need cleaning and the line may be too large and
overpowering for this size brass line. Guard work, when not being
dramatic, was good enough but since the guard is so small, they need to
have flags almost all the time to add GE.
Ladies:
"I like how they tell a story."
Southwind :
From the 45, what a difference! Guard work good, even though silly as
the kids at times. Brass tasty! Overall, a fun performance. The drill
is more complex than this corps may be able to handle, though, and needs
a lot of cleaning. They need to march, not walk and run. The crowd
does notice!
Ladies:
"What a cute show!!"
Glassmen :
O.K. - From the 45, the music and drill make a lot more sense and are
enjoyable. Drumline is subtle, but there seems to be difficulty in
their subtlety? Brass is very nice and does Bizet well. Low brass
makes this show work from a musical perspective - deep and dark a la
Phantom. But, the ladders do not make sense. They detract. The
interpretive dance troupe does not make sense. They detract. Their
costumes detract. The guard work is beautiful; why can't we have
everybody doing it? I'm sure that some of these dancers are good
dancers off the field. But in the show, their moves are not well
choreographed with the rest of the show.
Ladies:
"Those costumes don't fit right." "Oh, that's beautiful! (everyone with
flags)" "Ladders?"
Kiwanis:
Good show! Moving and energetic performance on this night, elevating
them above their close competition. When they pull the big white silks
at the end of the show, it took our breath away!! Nice brass sound.
The corps needs to work on individual marching technique, but the drill
is demanding enough for a top 12 show if they can clean it and keep up
that intensity! Chillbumps for the first time of the evening!
Ladies:
"That guard is good!!! Beautiful! OOOH, AHHH" "Loved it!"
Colts :
Kick A-- warm up!! We were giggling with anticipation waiting for the
beginning. Everybody loved the guard. (A Killeen audience is a little
less high-brow than a Dallas audience.) Uniforms are hot, literally and
figuratively. Watch for the girls to pull off the black leather
jackets. From the 45 or the 20, this brassline is good old in-your-face
fun. The Colts really bring it to ya. Soloists cook. Drumline even
better from the 45.
Ladies:
"That guard is great!" "They are together" "No drops!!" "WOW!!LOUD!!"
"Calm down, Lynn!"
Crossmen :
Birdland held together better tonight, although the contras are still
dragging a little at places. We were humming it all Saturday. Drumline
is very tight. Fun familiar favorites. Great guard with lots of color.
Sop soloist can really scream. The ending, which had blown me away in
Dallas from the 20, absolutely had me out of control tonight. Brass
keeps giving more and more at the demand of the drum major. Breathless
and almost voiceless after this show. Great drum corps performance.
Ladies:
"Bwee-da-de-da-dat-da..." "Flags are great!" "Rifles are tight!!!"
"Boy, Lynn, you need this intermission. Are you O.K.? You're smiling,
but you don't look so good otherwise!"
Crown :
Brass is very controlled, and I appreciated that more from the 45. The
Crown Imperial opener still needs to be stronger. All the guard costume
changes are good and add to the show except for the last one (I was
informed that these are not really corsets, but I don't remember now
what I was told they are. You'll know when you see them.) From higher
and closer to the middle, these changes were not so distracting, but
that last one needs to be dropped. The girls can't do their guard work
and stay in those things. Drill appears to be more difficult than
Crown's primary competition, but even if they clean it things are going
to be close.
Ladies:
"How do they keep so many flags together? What a great effect!" "I
like the hoop skirts with that music" "With a march, their marching
should be crisper"
Magic :
Fun, Fun and more fun. Everybody clap and sing when you see this show.
It's expected! The Killeen crowd did a better job of participating than
the Dallas crowd did. Mass was beautiful. The ending was awesome.
This was a very energetic performance that elevated Magic over G-men,
and deservedly so. Drill needs a lot of cleaning, but this has the
potential to be a 7-9 spot show. Beautiful mello solos and bari solo
with a BIG sound.
Ladies:
"OOhh, Liza..." "Now this guard works!!" "AAHhhhh! How do you wave such
a big flag?!? What a great effect!!!"
Madison : They took the field for competition. Marched out to set it up. Marched out for victory concert. Excellent guard, as always. BRASS!!! *This* is drum corps!!! Awe-inspiring. Crowd goes crazy. This is what drum corps needs! I could watch this show over and over again. If they come anywhere near you, do not, I repeat, do not miss this show.
Ladies:
"They are absolutely the best." "I love pirates!"
Phantom :
Great drill, but the execution is hard to follow because of the black
uniforms, especially after madison in their white pants with a stripe.
Guard is technical and almost flawless. Brass is in tune, in control,
has beautiful tone quality, but a book that gives them very little
opportunity to shine. Ms. Spears is an outstanding conductor. Her
uniform matches the guard, only she has pants instead of a skirt. I
think this is a very nice touch.
This show was flat and almost GE-less. The crowd just couldn't get into it.
Ladies:
"They should bring back 1812 Overture. I'll never forget that."
When scores were announced, the crowd gasped when the Colts placed under Kiwanis. Most applauded - Scouts, Crossmen, Colts, Phantom - in that order. Most under appreciated - Phantom, Kiwanis and Magic.
Drum corps, folks, is still breathing. Lets keep it alive. When you go to a show, watch what the crowd appreciates. Take a newbie and see what they like.
T. Lynn WaldenCadets of Bergen County..85.7 - Brass, visual, GE Santa Clara Vanguard.....81.8 - Perc Cavaliers................79.5 Troopers.................63.3 Division II/III SC Vanguard Cadets.......71.7 Thanks to Thom Lambertson for emailing us these scores! Thanks to Colby Springer for emailing us these scores!
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