Hey kids. Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've been out with a cold. But it's almost gone, so here's some highlights of the last few days.
I went and checked out two
Drum Corps International shows last weekend at CSUH in Hayward on Saturday and at DVC in Pleasant Hill on Sunday. Some thoughts on the corps I saw:
Division III:
Blue Devils "C" - Honestly, I know they're cute and this is the most talented BDC hornline I've heard, but I can't shake the feeling that they're just some sideshow for parents' amusement. Ah well, it was fun nonetheless.
Senior Corps:
River City Regiment - Embarrassing. From the totally inappropriate recitation of the unconstitutional version of the pledge of allegiance at the beginning of the show to the total reliance on one soloist for the bulk of the musical prowess, this corps (and this is to some degree true of all senior corps) should not take the field in any marching capacity.
Renegades - They have chops, it's true. But here's my thing: I don't think you should be marching drum corps shows after you've aged out of junior corps. It really is bizarre. I'm all for groups like the SCV Alumni Corps, getting together and blasting standstill shows out on the field, but to watch a bunch of 40 year-olds march around on a field playing, it's just awkward and sometimes even ridiculous. Still, this show is wildly entertaining with some stratosphere-breaking soprano work.
Esperanza - Really talented hornline, this corps is making great strides in its short existence. Nothing about the show sticks out, though, which is always unfortunate.
Mandarins - Dirty as sin. Sure it's a difficult show, but the stationary horn run opening the show should NOT be that dirty. I imagine they'll run away with DCI-Pacific Div. II, even though Vanguard Cadets and Esperanza had cleaner and more interesting shows. If they win the DCI Div. II championship, though, it'll be a travesty. I don't even think judges pay attention to Mandarins' shows anymore.
Vanguard Cadets - I really was impressed with their cleanliness, especially given the difficulty of the show. I really thought they had it won last night. Still, the inaccessibility of the music is a definite downer and will make it hard for this corps to make it over the top to another title.
Impulse - Total cheeseball but fun. Powerful but dirty hornline. Drumline was nothing remarkable, but the colorguard had some really good moves. They know their purpose and execute it well, I just wish the the cleanliness was their. Even during VK's decline they still had some rocking hornlines.
Blue Devils "B" - Now, I marched with these guys for two years and have an unique perspective since I marched the last dominant BDB year (1998) and the first of the fall-out years (1999). I wish this corps could muster up ten more horns. The hornline really has some balls and had the loudest per person output of any of the Div. II hornlines. Unfortunately, the balance just wasn't there because it's simply impossible with so few horns. The drumline was killer as always and the colorguard was pretty good with great uniforms and showmanship. As usual, BDB had the cleanest feet of any of the Div. II corps (and cleanest of any of the Div. I corps except BD and Cascades), but the drill design left something to be desired. I know it's hard to write for such a small group, but even the drill that I marched in 1999 had a coherent flow, this just seemed to be random spaghetti splats.
Division I:
Pacific Crest - Not as strong as last year's great show, but still a very formidable performance. Although easy drill (as usual) the marching still wasn't all that clean. The hornline was very loud and very clean. Drumline was also clean and had a pretty difficult book. I know a lot of people say that Pacific Crest could make Top 12, but I disagree. The show is great, but it's written to max out in July. It's not a difficult show and I don't think could break an 82 or 83 ever simply due to difficulty. And with the0 Top 12 scores getting higher and higher, I see this show falling a little bit short. But that's fine. I'm sure if Pacific Crest starts touring nationally, the shows will be written differently with the idea of maxing out in August and Pacific Crest could easily break into the Top 12 given the ability of their talented staff.
Seattle Cascades - Holy shit. I remember in 1998 when we beat these guys by 14 points at Drums Along the Rockies in Colorado. My how things have changed. I was surprsied and pleased to find that John Freeman from The Blue Devils was handling their visual caption. He's a great instructor and drill writer, especially with younger corps and I thought he was languishing with too many chefs over in Concord. Their visual book was great, with really clean marching for such a very difficult show. The music was rocking and, although I wasn't familiar with the music at all, left me humming a few bars. This show should place Top 12 in Madison EASILY. It's pretty damn hard (not Top 6 hard, but hard) and very clean, especially for July. Really killer hornline, too.
Madison Scouts - Look, the Scouts are great. They're entertaining and their screw-the-judges attitude is endearing. But they're also dirty and not on the way up any time soon. The first thing I noticed was their music selection. If you're going to be playing shows for the fans, why would you pick such unusual and down tempo music? Very odd. The hornline was loud and pretty clean as usual. The drumline was very clean, but my friend who I was with at Precision West noted that, despite the cheers, the drum book is not very hard. The bass line is great, but the snares and tenors don't have all that many notes. The colorguard was really bad. They really seem to be limiting themselves by only taking men in the guard, both in terms of numbers and choreographing abilities. I've always believed that a guard with more or less equal numbers of men and women are best (e.g. BD and Cadets). The drill was pretty entertaining, but the feet were dirty. Of course, dirty feet are one of the hallmarks of the Madison Scouts and their marching style. These guys need to go back to their killer shows from 1995-1999 where they just blew the walls down and brought the crowd to their feet. The last few years have been very disappointing. The closer was good though, reminding me a lot of "Remembrance," the closer from the 1998 show.
Santa Clara Vanguard - These guys are good. Hornline is good and clean and the drumline has monster chops. But they lack passion. I haven't seen passion in a Vanguard show since 1998 and 1999. They're simply too professional and too caught up in that unflinching "Vanguard image" to really cut loose. And my other pet peeve: I'm a pretty musically-knowledged person and I've heard and played A LOT of stuff, but this show left me in the dark. Why do corps like the Vanguard and the Cadets insist on playing such esoteric music? Anyway, a very difficult and demanding show with a pretty strong degree of cleanliness, but the inaccessibility of the music and the and the dry performance style may keep it out of the extremely competitive Top 3 this year.
Blue Devils - Man. This is one hell of a show, especially the first three numbers. The hornline is probably the best since 1997 and the drums are as good as they were in 1999 (when they were robbed of the High Drums title). The corps plays with trademark BD intensity and they blow past all other corps in terms of volume by several decibels. The colorguard is not as strong this year as in recent years, and may lose its hold on the DCI colorguard trophy. The closer, a condensed version of Channel One Suite, was flat and uninspiring, but I'm certain that the rewrites are already underway. That's what really sets BD apart, their ability to make their show an ever-changing production that keeps being tinkered with until its perfected. The drill is TOUGH, but BD marched it very cleanly. Jay Murphy's drill design is also phenomenal, really accompanying the music well. The horn book isn't the hardest I've heard BD play, but it's flawlessly written and played with skill and passion. I expect this show to be Top 3 and the corps may make a run for the championship, although I haven't seen Cavaliers and Cadets yet this year, and I probably won't until the PBS broadcast.
Those are my thoughts. To all of those out in Berkeley Land reading this blog who don't even know what drum corps is, I apologize.
Cheers.
