Cadets of Bergen County..84.7 Bluecoats................77.2 Magic of Orlando.........76.9 Crossmen.................76.6 Carolina Crown...........69.6 Kiwanis Kavaliers........67.1 Boston Crusaders.........64.9 Raiders..................49.5 Thanks to Joe Dziezawiec for emailing us these scores! Thanks to Daniel for emailing us these scores!
And here's my review...
Let me begin by saying I really do not like day shows. Of course, all shows should be held at night, but the Clifton town fireworks (which usually starts right after the show) was the reason the show had to END by 7:30-8. Thank God for the line-up, or I might not have made it through.
We arrived at 3:00 for the 4:30 show, and were happy to see the Cadets still rehearsing. They only had a half hour rehearsal, but it was a nice treat. (I was a little nervous about the color guard though, they didn't seem up to Cadet form).
First up was the Raiders from Bayonne, NJ (8th... 49.5). Nice little group, 13 horn, 12 drum, 11 guard. Some recognizable songs, although some parts were not so understandable. But they are definitely watchable.
Next up... Boston Crusaders (7th... 64.9). When I had seen a June score average earlier in the week, I saw Boston was in 8th place. Naturally this made me very happy, and was definitely a deciding factor in my decision to venture over to New Jersey for a Saturday afternoon show. I think they were so high because they came out later and didn't get some of the lower early-season scores. So they didn't quite live up to my made-up hype, but they were good. Show theme: Songs from the Homeland (an Americana theme), perfect for the Independence Day Celebration. They use these large frames around the field that members pose in from time to time. It was nice, but I hope they're going to paint them (or something). And the real unfortunate thing was that it takes the whole hornline to take them off the field, so only the guard and drumline trooped the stands. Again they're very respectable, and I'm sure will get better as time goes by. The guard does wear a very unusual costume. It seems like it was suppose to look like a dress in front, and pants when they turned around. My friend thought it was suppose to look like a colonial dress (looked liked a prarie skirt to me), except it had a slit up the middle (so it really only looked like a skirt when they were standing still) and it was a very large black and white plaid. Now I know black-and-white is hot this summer in fashion, but I couldn't quite figure out how it related to their show.
Third up... Kiwanis Kavaliers (6th... 67.1). Show theme: Evita. OK... right. They were definitely watchable, no real complaints. Well, I do have one... the flag set that has words on it (a concept I would usually advise against)... has the words painted on the wrong side. Hopefully they'll have to replace them mid-season and the staff will paint them on the correct side. In case you don't understand Spanish the flag that says "AVIV NOREP"... really should read "VIVA PERON".
Then it was Carolina Crown (5th... 69.6). Postcards from Britain, ok. Three big garden gates that the corps enters though are a very nice touch, very London. Their off-the-line is Crown Imperiale (please, the double meaning... I loved it.) And some of the guard were in long velvet capes with fur collars.... very regal. Some wacky characterizations by the guard made this a very cute show.
Intermission... I just have to comment, the Cadets always have bar-b-qued hamburgers and hot dogs at this show... which I love. How much more Fourth-of-July can you get?
Alright, back in our seats, happy stomachs and ready for more drum corps. Well here was the first real surprise of the night.... oops I mean day. Bluecoats (2nd... 77.2). Could they be the most improved corps? They finally have a visual book that approaches their great sound. The guard was more than adequate (a little wacky in Harlem Nocturn), good throughout. Sensible flags (from a state that leaves a lot to be desired in flag-design)... solid colors: steel blue, a burnt orange (terra-cotta-ish color) and taupe. Yeah, team! The much improved visual package combined with their typically strong musical book just makes them a really entertaining corps. Congratulations.
Next up... Magic (3rd... 76.9). The best opener of the season. A Marti Gras parade, complete with drunken singing and a lot of mad-cap hilarity. Great mood setting. Then they get into the meat of the show... and they're really good! The music is enjoyable to listen to (some of their past shows were a little too... I don't know... something), and the show design is much cleaner and easier to understand. Don't worry, they still have an unusual set of guard equipment, but the guard is good. I do have to mention the girl who got wrapped up in her huge harlequin flag at the end of the show. She still managed to do all the pole work and un-wrap herself by the end! Yeah, girl, yeah!
The seventh corps in competition, Crossmen (4th... 76.6). Very enjoyable show from the Delaware team. Last year's Birdland is the opener (actually Birdland was the only part of the show that I REALLY liked last year). This year's show is so much stronger, entertaining throughout. The guard costumes... done is shades of purple and blue... are such a gorgeous contrast to the corps black and white with red uniforms. This is definitely the best that Crossmen has been in a long time.
And finally...the Cadets (1st... 84.7). I know you've heard it before, but... WOW! They are a drum corps... doing drum corps. It was just spectacular! They are straight-forward, in-your-face, excellently designed. I'm not so much a musical person as I am a visual person (could you tell?), but I have to say, the hornline sounded better to me than in the past couple of years and the drumline was excellent. The guard needs some cleaning, but as usual the best in the activity. The dance with the blue shakos is fun, and the equipment work in the ballad is wonderful and will blow everyone away when its clean. The ending is just wonderful... very Cadets, and has the crowd on their feet well before it over! Yeah!
After the show the hornlines of the YEA corps (Youth Education in the Arts... the Cadets, Crossmen and Carolina Crown umbrella organization) did a number, followed by the Cadets hornline doing a space medley that was a lot of fun (I think the drum major had the most fun during it) and then the drumline came out to play the end of the show as the locals (non-drum-corps people) were entering for the fireworks display. What a Happy Fourth of July... only one day late.
Phantom Regiment.........80.2 Madison Scouts...........78.8 Colts....................71.0 Pioneer..................65.3 Blue Stars...............51.2 Phantom Regiment Cadets..50.7 Capital Sound............49.7 Kilties Sr...............49.9 Thanks to Derek Harmon for emailing us these scores!
First off, this obviously is IOHO [In Our Humble Opinion - Ed.]. It was a beautiful evening for drum corps! Probably the "coolest" temperature for a show this season (upper 60's). Slightly breezy however! ;-)
8th - Capital Sound
Nice Sound from a small corps. Overall enjoyable and easy to
watch and listen to. They looked like they had a really good
time out on the field.
7th - Kilties, Sr.
Very entertaining! Glad to see the level of accomplishment from
a Sr. corps. The guard seemed a little too comfortable in their
kilts. The cartwheeler in "Pechuco" was really free. A definite
crowd pleaser for the evening. The audience seemed quite
disappointed with their placement. Hmmm...
6th - Phantom Regiment Cadets
The tree props seemed to have more presence than the hornline.
Some very weak areas in the musical interpretation. Nice
utilization of the trees as a "prop". The guard was dressed like
Pocahantas and had some nice moments. Visual pictures seemed
skewed with only two flags during several segments. I would
definitely shift more guard to flag to help balance out the
ensemble. I liked the white moon flag a lot.
5th - Blue Stars
This corps seemed to have a nice show. My first time to ever see
them at all. Generally well rounded. Sorry this isn't too
detailed.
4th - Pioneer
Riverdance... NOT! If you are going to attempt such a direct
interpretation of the original show, you definitely want to teach
the guard how to dance. The hornline seemed to handle the music
fairly well. I enjoyed the drill development in the 2nd half of
the show. Sometimes I felt that the sound was somewhat cracked
and crass. Unfortunately, I believe the guard did not add much
for the show. They definitely have a lot of cleaning to do.
Timing problems and movement/body inconsistencies plagued the
guard and they seemed very out of sync with the rest of the
corps. Guard contribution seemed diminished due to awkward and
poor staging design.
3rd - Colts
GO Leather! Like it! Nice repertoire change for the Colts.
Very nice opener with drill, guard and corps. Staging for the
corps was very well done. Kudos to the drill designer. The
music was not quite as recognizable as I thought it should be,
but still played very well. They seem to insist that the crowd
join their reverie. Jacket removal gives some attitude to the
show and the horn soloist seemed to have a "leg" problem. ;-D
Gotta see it! Nicely done, it will be nice to see the final
production in Orlando.
2nd - Madison Scouts
The Pirates are coming! This was definitely the most
entertaining show of the evening. The guard is dressed in
individually designed "pirate" outfits. Each uni seemed to fit
the personality of the guard member. The opening effect of the
ship sailing in was very effective. The corps sounded very
strong and had a nice tone. The guard is very strong this
year. The rifle section has a big opening ensemble statement as
the ship enters port. It still needs cleaning, but they were
still very impacting as an ensemble. Drill development is very
well written. The drunken sailors section was a hoot! Watching
the corps "in town" was quite funny and creative. It makes you
wonder what are "really" in those bottles!!!? Things become more
intense as the battle sequences approach. One of the pirates
kill the captain and take control. The slain member lies on the
filed the remainder of the show. Effective! Lucky guy! He's
nearly the last one off the field as someone picks up his dead
body and is dragged off. Watch for the SPINNING CYMBAL RACK!
This is definitely a cool effect and it should be even more
effective as they integrate some more ideas into the "rack".
Keep watching! The closer brings Madison's traditional power to
the field and the guard opens up the Fleur de lis silks. These
are gorgeous contrasting green and white silks. The soloists are
not as strong as in the past, but still belt out the notes.
Overall, the guard is a wonderful contributor, but has a bit of
cleaning and adjustment to complete before being able to
"fulfill" their roles as they would like them to be. Madison
definitely continues their tradition as a corps for the crowd!
1st - Phantom Regiment
Kristi... where is your uniform? Actually, its very nice. The
guard matches her outfit but have skirts. Regiment's sound is
once again dark and foreboding, however, the musical selections
they choose are inherently created that way. The corps is once
again in all black, but so is the guard. The guard seems to
dissolve and blend into the corps too easily as if they are
trying to hide things. The black, gold and white opener
flag...OH, the ONLY flag is very beautiful and befits the
interpretation. I did not like their choice of keeping that one
silk through the entire show. I felt there was a lack of mood
change and dynamic change with only using one flag design. The
guard had many nice body and movement developments, but the arm
and upper torso "shaping" were inconsistent between performers.
The corps seemed somewhat flat and parched at times with poor
dynamic adjustments. Despite those observations, they still
played very well. The closer seemed anti-climactic as the drill
development wasn't building to anything for a release of energy,
drama or emotion. The guard looked finished before the show was
completed. They just didn't seem to have any resolve. The rifle
and sabers were quite clean and added nice impacts to the overall
show, but ensemble flag and timing and phasing errors.
Well, that's it from me. My roommate and I drove all the way from Oklahoma to see the show and hope that our comments are sensible. Next show for us will be on July 21st in Tulsa, OK where the Scouts and Phantom will face off yet again.
Tim Gee
Jon A. Shook
Recaps - July 5, 1997, Rockford, IL
Thanks to John Caspers for emailing us these recaps! GE Ensamble Performance Mus Vis Mus Vis Bra Perc Vis Total ---------------------------------------------------------------- Phantom Regiment 16.3 15.8 12.9 12.1 7.7 8.0 7.4 80.2 Madison Scouts 16.5 15.4 12.4 11.6 7.6 7.8 7.5 78.8 Colts 14.1 14.3 11.1 10.4 6.5 7.4 7.2 71.0 Pioneer 12.3 13.4 10.1 9.7 6.4 6.5 6.9 65.3 Blue Stars 10.4 9.9 7.0 8.2 4.6 5.9 5.2 51.2 Phantom Cadets 10.2 10.3 8.1 7.1 5.0 5.0 5.0 50.7 Kilties Sr. 10.5 9.7 8.4 5.9 5.9 5.6 3.9 49.9 Capital Sound 11.0 10.2 7.7 7.4 4.8 4.1 4.5 49.7 The judges were: GE Music: Martin McDaniel GE Vis: Ron Ruggles Ens. Music: Sherman Hong Ens. Vis: Ed Warren Perf Brass: Dave Cooksey Perf Perc: Murray Weaver Perf Vis: J. R. Carlisle
Tarheel Sun..............83.1 East Coast Jazz..........80.8 Spartans.................80.2 Patriots.................75.0 3rd Regiment.............71.6 Knight Storm.............65.6 Senatuers................64.8 Citations................61.7 Kingsmen.................51.1 Royal Cadets.............36.3
Empire Statesmen.........76.2 - Visual/Percussion/GE Brigadiers...............75.9 - Brass Westshoremen.............70.6 Crusaders................63.0 Grenadiers...............60.9 Thanks to Bud McCormick for emailing us these scores!
Recaps - July 5, 1997, Elmira, NY - DCA
Thanks to the Kingston Grenadiers' web for these recaps! Visual Percussion Brass General Effect Totals EXC.ENS. TOT. EXC. ENS. TOT. EXC. ENS. TOT.VIS. PER. BRA. TOT. PEN. TOT. POS. (10)(10) (20) (10) (10) (20) (10) (10) (20)(15) (10) (15) (40) (0.0) (100) (-) Empire Statesmen 7.0 8.2 15.2 7.7 7.4 15.1 8.0 7.4 15.4 11.67.9 11.0 30.5 0.0 76.20 1 Syracuse Brigadiers 6.9 7.9 14.8 7.6 7.2 14.8 7.8 8.1 15.9 12.07.3 11.1 30.4 0.0 75.90 2 West- shoremen 6.5 6.9 13.4 7.5 7.0 14.5 7.9 6.9 14.8 10.07.5 10.4 27.9 0.0 70.60 3 Rochester Crusaders 5.7 5.6 11.3 7.0 6.8 13.8 7.6 6.6 14.2 8.2 6.6 8.9 23.7 0.0 63.00 4 Kingston Grenadiers 5.9 6.0 11.9 6.0 6.5 12.5 7.0 6.4 13.4 8.5 6.1 8.5 23.1 0.0 60.90 5 Judges: Visual Exc., Jim Kyle; Visual Ens., Bret Mascaro; Percussion Exc., Alan Murray; Percussion Ens., Chuck Lute; Brass Exc., John Maiello; Brass Ens., Bill Hamilton; GE Visual, Gary Hoyt; GE Percussion, Bob Gross; GE Brass, Andy Bugosh; T&P, Michael Petrone; tabulator, B.J. Petrone
Bushwackers 74.4 - Visual/Brass/GE Caballeros 72.9 - Percussion Sunrisers 71.0 - High Color Guard Hurricanes 64.4 Thanks to Bud McCormick for emailing us these scores!
Blue Devils..............84.4 Santa Clara Vanguard.....81.5 Mandarins................75.8 Pacific Crest............75.2 Blue Devils B............74.1 SC Vanguard Cadets.......65.3 Earthquake...............65.2
Recaps - July 5, 1997, Glendora, CA
Thanks to Keith Higgins for emailing us these recaps! Corps MusGE VisGE Total MusEn VisEn Total Brass Perc Vis. Total | Total Earthquake 12.5 12.4 24.9 11.1 10.9 22.0 6.4 5.4 6.5 18.3 65.2 West Coast Sound 10.1 11.0 21.1 9.0 9.5 18.5 5.3 4.5 5.3 15.1 54.7 Blue Devils "B" 14.4 13.6 28.0 11.7 12.9 24.6 7.2 7.1 7.2 21.5 74.1 SCVanguard Cadets 13.2 11.3 24.5 10.7 11.2 21.9 7.7 5.2 6.0 18.9 65.3 Mandarin 14.7 14.1 28.8 12.2 12.2 24.4 8.0 6.8 7.8 22.6 75.8 Pacific Crest 14.5 13.9 28.4 12.5 11.8 24.3 8.2 6.9 7.4 22.5 75.2 SC Vanguard 16.3 16.6 32.9 12.4 12.5 24.9 8.2 7.9 7.6 23.7 81.5 Blue Devils 16.9 17.1 34.0 13.1 12.4 25.5 8.7 8.0 8.2 24.9 84.4 GE Music: Key Poulan GE Visual: Chris Szabo Ens Music: Keith Higgins Ens Visual: David Weinberg Brass Perf: Mark Petrash Perc Perf: Tom Tolbert Visual Perf: Tom Wuetrich
Cavaliers................80.2 Glassmen.................75.6 Marion Cadets............53.8 Golden Lancers...........51.2 Delta Brigade............48.2 Coachmen.................38.7 Bluegrass Brass Sr.......39.4 Thanks to Daniel E. Betz on r.a.m.d for these scores!
Southwind has an entertaining music book, Nilesdance, Children's March, a piece from the movie Radio Flyer entitled Dreaming, and movie music from Iron Will, although right now all sections need work...but then again who doesn't?
With only 3 contras on the field tonight, the low end was sorely missing. Contras had some problem with trying to overpower when they simply didn't have the strength in the numbers that they needed. The result was poor tone and some bad articulation in the Children's March. Baritones had some spots with really great tone and some exciting phrasing. I really liked Nilesdance...very exciting and pulsing rhythms. Midvoices had problems with splatting and articulation several times, the soloist in the ballad section was very in control and the piece was very smooth and serene. Sopranos had major problems with intonation and phrasing. At one point in Children's March the ensemble felt very out of sync, mainly because of the different rhythms on opposite ends of the field. Percussion seems to be a strong spot this year.
Very clean for this time of the season and a demanding book could help this section compete with Kiwanis and maybe a top twelve corps' percussion line. I like what the guard is trying to do. Their routine fits the show well and by August they will be really cookin'.
Overall, Southwind is a young corps with lots of rookies but the potential to put them back in Semis is definitely there. Main problems are articulations, intonation, and phrasing. Marching was relatively clean with minor problems in individual technique. Body carriage was strong, as was the overall feel of the show. Watch out for the Wind to make a strong mid to late season surge. The strongest thing I saw with Southwind was the hunger on the kids faces. They want Semis bad, and I don't think they are going to let a small hornline stop them. They have a very intimidating look. Very hungry for their due.
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