Thanks to Rick Olson on RAMD for the following review!
Cardinals
22 Horns, 6 Snares, 3 Quads, 6 Bass, 7 Pit, 13 Guard
Their show is themed "Morning to Morning" and features the music of
David Foster who composed the original music for the Calgary Winter
Olympics.
The horn line seemed weak in the opener (1st show jitters?) as they
attempted an extended build playing toward the backfield side.
Unfortunately, when the corps turned around for their first big hit,
the expected power was not there. This will surely improve as they
gain confidence.
The drill is quite difficult, especially for a corps with as many
rookies as the Cardinals. Consequently, it is quite rough at times.
The many pass-throughsbarely came off tonight with some members going
through the wrong holes. The drill is not yeat finished. They played
the last number in concert formation, so I'm sure scores in this caption
will improve also.
Some nice solo and ensemble work higlighted the musical book and the
horns showed more power as the show continued. The guard work was
inventive and showed that the members have a lot of talent.
This corps has definite possibilities and a show that will be very
respectable once it's finished and polished.
Spartans
31 Horns, 6 Snares, 3 Quads, 5 Bass, 7 Pit 17 Guard
I hadn't seen this corps for several years and I was very impressed.
New white uniforms with purple capes draped across the back from the
right shoulder were very crisp looking and were set off nicely by the
Roman helmet headgear with purple "horsehair" plumage. THe guard
wore flesh colored bodystockings with maroon harem pants and sandals.
The guard used lots of body movement without equipment thru the fanfare
and then picked up flags and Roman Legion insignia standards as the
corps played music from "Ben Hur".
"Bachanale" from Samson and Delilah followed and featured several
rotation maneuvers ending in a solid block formation.
THe closer of "Pines of Rome" showed lots of stop/start drill with the
melody passed back and forth between the horn line and the pit percussion.
Flag work was still incomplete.
This is the most difficult and adventurous program I've seen this corps
attempt. When the program is finished and refined, they may well contend in Division II.
Patriots
14 Horns, 9 Pit , 15 Guard
Their show sonsisted of David Holzinger's "Jubilation Suite" and
a second number whose title I missed and John Rutter's "A Gallic
Blessing" and "All Things Bright and Beautiful".
As might be expected in a corps of their small size, they exploit
their excellent guard (a WGI Finalist). With no marching percussion
and only 14 horns, they present a reasonbly entertaining show. The
drill looked as though it were written for a larger corps. Maybe
they have more members to be worked into their still incomplete drill.
What assets they have, they use well. THey just need more people.
Spirit of Atlanta
36 Horns, 7 Snares, 4 Quads, 5 Bass, 2 Cymbals, 7 Pit, 9 Guard
Spirit's show is themed "All on a Southern Afternoon" and includes
music from the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes" and "Georgia on My Mind".
The pit is staged on the field slightly left on center. THe corps
sets up in an arc toward the right rear of the field. THe show begins
with the corps sauntering onto the field to a solo horn player near
the pit and begins building into a powerful fanfare.
Musch of the drill is park and play with large segments of the movement
occurring while the horns are not playing. THe horn line is powerful
(just what you'd expect from Spirit) and relatively clean for this
early (1st show for Spirit, I think) in their season. The low brass
often shines in the arrangements and will probably be the corps'
strongest point.
The drill is weak and I found it uninteresting and the guard ... Well,
let's just say that they were most effective when they were holding
some old-fashioned metal ad signs (the kind that advertise Coke,
Dr. Pepper, etc. found in general stores) for the drum line to play on.
I LOVED the music and the horn line is SOLID though a few holes still
remain, but hte drill is weak and they really need to recruit a guard
from somwhere. I'm very glad to see them back and I hope they make it
over the rough spots ahead.
Crossmen
48 Horns, 6 Snares, 3 Quads, 5 Bass, 8 Cymbals, 9 Pit, 32 Guard
Music included Samuel Barber's "School for Scandal" and Alfred Reed's
"Symphony for Brass and Percussion".
The corps seems to be stronger than in recent years and better prepared
though they still need to fill about 12 holes (if I counted right) in
the horn line.
The first part of the show could use some work as it does not measure
up to later segments in either drill or music.
Thing's begin to heat up when the battery doffs their drums to pick up
additional cymbals creating a 17-man cymbal line. The excellent guard
does some interesting interpretive dance and very inventive sabre and
rifle work, thaough the guards routines are obviously not yet complete.
(that phrase is becoming all to common these days, especially with
so many corps starting their seasons later and later.)
When they add 5 extra bass drums to the 5 already on the field for the
drum solo, the show really takes off and never looks back. That solo
really cooks.
The Crossmen will definitely remain among the finalists. Just where remains to be seen.
Cadets
54 Horns, 8 Snares, 4 Quads, 5 Bass, 10 Pit, 32 Guard
This show is not traditional, but it is a GAS!!!
It has the Cadets usual non-stop drill and probably the BEST guard they
have produced.
I was surprised at how well the props worked. They don't over power the
filed at all.
The horn line is READY!!! performing many runs up and down the scales
to great effecct.
This is the patriotic
This is the patriotic show Star couldn't do in '91. It's a MUST SEE!!!
Rick Olson
A member of one of the BEST Senior color guards ever to take the field/floor.
The KINGSMEN of Hamburg, New York
-----------------------------
Thanks to John Spoonhower on RAMD for the following review!
Glad to see Spirit back!! The crowd enjoyed them
and were also very pleased to see them back in
competition again. Their show is very entertaining.
Nice bluesy charts, especially "Georgia on My Mind."
Lots of stuff needs to be cleaned, but hey- it's
early and their back froma long vacation....
Crossmen blew me away! One thing that shocked me is that they
changed their hats. They now have the pillbox hats instead
of the old aussie kind.I never thought they'd change, but oh well
.. Wow, where to start... Well, as you all know their style
is TOTALLY different than the last few years, but they made
a heck of a transition from jazz to classical. They did
EXTREMELY well with the new idiom (yes I know they've done
classical before). The show is EXTREMELY well designed-
all the pieces work well together, transitions and all that
stuff. Lots needs to be cleaned, but again, it's early in the
season and they'll get the dirty work done eventually. Drumline
sounded great, and the horns have a REALLY tough book this
year. Wow. When this show is cleaned up, it's going to be
amazing. The end was unreal too.
Cadets were really fun. They have the fast drill
back for this year, and all the fast runs in the
brass and perc. are here too. "Fourth of July"
theme worked well for me, since John Williams is
my idol...but the Cadets did a good job getting
Williams musical style across in the DC medium.The
opener "Blowing off Steam" is a blast- lots of quick
runs in the brass + drumline. ops.. that's not their
opener, I just remembered...Oh that's right... They
opened with "The Riever's". That song was cool too.Again,
lots of fast stuff happening throughout the entire corps,
great power chords at the end of the tune. The ballad
"Born on the Fourth of July" was quite beautiful. A
couple people sticking out here and there, but that'll
be fixed for sure...Blowing off Steam I already
mentioned was a HOOT. This is the portion af the show
where the different sections of the battery have
short solos... the fast paced thing they've been
doing for the past 3 or so years. The crowd ate that up!!
"Swing Swing Swing" was terrific. Lots of fun. They set
up these crate type boxes around the field where several
guard members danced on. Very "get down and dirty/ big
band" approach to the tune. It worked well. I actually
heard some sop screeeeeaching at the end of this number.
Hmmmm,..... :^) The closer was typical Cadets, but I wasn't
to crazy about it. The last chord just didn't do it for me...
this is all personal of course, but...Overall the show
is a blast and I'm thrilled that they chose to play John
Williams "American Quintet" theme. Can't wait till they
clean it and change the ending.:^)
Anyone else there like to comment?BTW good job to
Ryan Artherton in the Patriots who played snare, toms,bells,
and cymbals at THE SAME TIME!!
Someone comment on my review because I like
talking to people over computers...
-Jeff Spoonhower
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