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September 2005
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March
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December
November
October
September

Show: The Zone [dreamscapes in four parts with a door]

  • Twisted Nerve (from Kill Bill)
  • Liquid
  • Overture to a New World (from Dancer in the Dark)
  • Cualda (from Dancer in the Dark)
  • Vertigo
  • False Mirrors

The Good: Unlike a lot of people, I liked the two-sided uniforms the corps used this year and the concept of the girl dreaming different dreams. Twisted Nerve is a unique way of starting the show. The Liquid portion of the show reminded me of the opener from 2000, very fast paced. The overture from Dancer in the Dark is a favorite of mine from when Bluecoats performed it in 2002. Cadets do a great job of capturing this piece and making it their own. The drumline goes insane during the 2nd half of the overture, laying down more notes during this one piece than some corps seem to play in their entire show. They play it clean, too. They also do it on the opposite side of the field as the horn line, so the simple fact that both sides are in time is box 5 material. More crazy drumming during the beginning of Cualda, especially from the tenors. Time for a guilty admission: I actually get into the drumspeak and anybody that gets upset because they're not drumming for 30 seconds totally ignores EVERYTHING the drumline has played up to that point, which, again, is more than what some drumlines play their entire show. Strange to hear Medea on the field again.

The Bad: The Twilight Zone narration just doesn't sound right if it isn't Rod Serling. The hornline, again, does not feel powerful enough to me and the sopranos sound strident, not what a championship hornline should sound like. The hornline is too top heavy for my taste, too bright for an outdoor sound. The Bjork speak during Cualda doesn't fit like it does in the movie, especially since it's so distorted over the microphone.

The Ugly: None.

Overview: I'm not sure this show should have won and I'm definitely not convinced it deserves to tie the highest score in DCI history, but it is definately one of the top shows of 2005 and one of the more unique shows on the field in a while.

Website: http://www.yea.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Cadets

2006 Auditions: November 18-20

Category:Reviews -- posted at: 4:57pm EDT

Show: My Kind of Town

  • Chicago
  • The Magnificent Mile
  • Jig
  • The Great Fire of 1871
  • Sweet Home Chicago

The Good: A very difficult opening statement full of double tonguing and 16th note runs. I've become quite the fan of Jean-Luc Ponty (not Picard) thanks to 27th Lancers' drum solo of New Country, so I was quite pleased with Cavies use of Jig during the baseball portion of the show. Especially appreciated hitting the home run over Johnny Damon. 2004 is over, Johnny, get used to the feeling. The mellophones on the ladders playing Amazing Grace was one of the most effective moments of the season for me. The Sweet Home Chicago closer was the perfect way to end the show, a chance to the corps to throw down like drum corps should and a chance to show off, both in terms of the crazy drill among the ladders still on the field from the previous pice as well as musically as sopranos played both their sops and flugelhorns AT THE SAME TIME.

The Bad: This is another hornline that I feel doesn't push the envelope in terms of volume and, as a result, doesn't fill up the stadium like I wish they would. I'm also not sure how clean that opening statement was. Waaaaay too much marimba throughout the entire show, it might as well be marimba corps.

The Ugly: None.

Overview: Chicago's my kind of town and Cavaliers are my kind of corps. Great show this year.

Website: http://www.cavaliers.org/

2006 Auditions: November 25-27

Category:Reviews -- posted at: 4:42pm EDT

Show: Rhapsody

  • Rhapsody in Blue
  • An American in Paris

The Good: Paul Rennick is a god. Jamey Thompson is a god. J.D. Shaw is a god. Adam Sage is a god. Double-tonguing sopranos are gods. "Buicks" are gods. The drumline are gods. Hell, every single person involved with this show is a god. That's how much I love this show. The hornline makes me melt. The drumline makes me giddy. The drill makes me want to march. The colorguard make umbrellas cool guard equipment for the only time in DCI history. The melding of Rhapsody in Blue and American in Paris is so seamless it's sick. Can you tell I love this show? The contras are so good they must be from another planet. The crowd just ate this show up and so do I.

The Bad: Anybody that tells me I'm wrong is bad.

The Ugly: See The Bad.

Overview: How could this show place 3rd? This was, by far, the best total package of the night, speaking to both old and new fans alike.

Website: http://www.regiment.org/

2006 Auditions: November 25-27

Category:Reviews -- posted at: 4:20pm EDT

Show: Dance Derby of the Century

  • Redline Tango
  • Brother Can You Spare A Dime
  • Prelude Fugue and Riffs
  • On the Town
  • In Wartime

The Good: That first chord the hornline hits is just beautiful. The hornline performs this show at typical BD standards. The drumline throws down some insane playing as well. The tenor line does this crazy lick that I can't even describe but sounds something like each player has his own part, and they all fit together.

The Bad: Who thought that doing a dance derby in reverse would make sense??? On top of that, we have even more of the horn book dedicated to stand alone chords what essentially amount to parking lot warmups.

The Ugly: Three guesses what this would be and the first two don't count.

Overview: This show belonged no higher than 6th. This is the last time I listen to this show.

Website: http://www.bluedevils.org/

2006 Auditions: BOA - November 11 / Texas - November 19 / California - November 26-27

Category:Reviews -- posted at: 4:11pm EDT

Show: Caravan

  • Caravan
  • Incantation (from Cirque du Soliel)
  • Ombra (from Cirque du Soliel)
  • Hajj

The Good: It's amazing how far Bluecoats percussion has come in just the past two years. They're now one of top drumlines in DCI and for good reason. Add the always spectacular hornline sound and it's no surprise that Bluecoats are a Top 5 corps for the first time ever. I have a hard time picturing this corps as the same group I would compete with during the 90's. It's amazing how good the hornline sounds from top to bottom, so mature with such a full and dark sound. The contra line is just phenomenal, especially during a fast-paced walking bass line during Hajj.

The Bad: The Tabla chanting, while I understand how it fits into the show concept, is a little annoying, especially since the drumming isn't necessarily Tabla in nature.

The Ugly: You know the corps is good when you can't say anything ugly about your in-state rivals.

Overview: This is another show where it's hard to review the entire show because I'm lost in the performance. There's just so much that's amazing about this performance.

Website: http://www.bluecoats.com/

2006 Auditions: Texas - November 19-20 / Ohio - November 26-27

Category:Reviews -- posted at: 1:44pm EDT

Show: The Carmen Project

  • Carmen

The Good: Michael Cesario pointed out during a DCI Field Pass interview that the hornline starts with the trills from Slaughter on 10th Avenue. They do, but backfield. I kind of want my face blown off by those trills. The Scouts, however, make up for that by hitting my square between the eyes with the opening statement of the Fate theme from Carmen. Percussion sounds so much better than in years past. Nice double tounging by the sopranos and mellophones during the opener. This is a very Madison show, thanks in part to the Scott Boerma horn arrangements. The fans go nuts when Carmen appears, which was a pretty effective visual moment from what I saw in Allentown. The whole show is really Variations on Themes from Carmen with some West Side Story and a little Malageuna thrown in for good measure and it works well. It doesn't hurt that there's plenty of screaming sopranos. After all, it wouldn't be a Madison show without them. I just noticed how, as Carmen is carried off the field, the horns are playing the Somewhere chords while the pit is playing the Carmen theme, nice touch.

The Bad: The ending never really did work, no matter what the designers did to make it better, which is too bad because they did try their hardest to put something together to end the show properly. While the ending drill moves are great to watch, it just doesn't fit with the rest of the show. Bringing back the whistles from the drum solo is a little overkill in that particular area.

The Ugly: Carmen's not ugly, she's hot, and so's this show.

Overview: The best Madison show since 1999, both in terms of entertainment and placement, and a great start to the Top 6 of 2005.

Website: http://madisonscouts.org/main.asp?corps=madisonscouts

2006 Auditions: TBA

Category:Reviews -- posted at: 12:58pm EDT

Show: Angelus!

  • The Reason
  • A Mighty Fortress
  • Angel
  • Never Surrender from First Knight
  • Joy (from Awakening)
  • Call of the Mountain (from Gates of Gold)

The Good: Crown had one of the lushest hornline sounds, another King hornline that I worship. It's so clean, too! Just listen to the opening statement of The Reason, which is brass only. This is the 2nd corps to perform music I played in '95 Glassmen (Mighty Fortress), so, again, I have a soft spot for this corps as a result. I like our Mighty Fortress arrangement better, more meat to the horn book in my opinion, but that's not to say that Crown's arrangement is bad at any level. The arrangement and performance of Angel is beautiful and has a kind of gospel feel to it which fits well. The mellophone statement of the First Knight theme is majestic and I half expect King Arthur (or, at least, Sean Connery), to show up in response. A reprise of Mighty Fortress along with a lot of numbers, Roman and Arabic, in the drill finish the show perfectly.

The Bad: I'm still trying to understand why this drumline placed 12th. They sound much cleaner than that. Was the book lacking in demand?

The Ugly: This show is angelic, not ugly.

Overview: Between Crown and SCV, I may never get to CD #1 in this year's set.

Website: http://carolinacrown.org/artman/publish/

2006 Auditions: November 18-20

Category:Reviews -- posted at: 12:44pm EDT

Show: Russia: Revolution-Evolution: 1917-1991

  • Carol (from Russian Christmas Music)
  • Symphony 12 - The Year 1917
  • Cathedral Chorus (from Russian Christmas Music)

The Good: Another show the crowd was behind 110% and SCV answered with plenty of energy. I can't tell that the snares are playing matched grip at all, the writing and technique is that good. The Vanguard yell during Russian Christmas Music had to be THE loudest ever and sent chills through me.

The Bad: I feel there's a dropoff in energy before the final push of RCM. It's been there in every recording I listened to so I can't tell if it was written that way or if the corps had endurance issues.

The Ugly: The drill was VERY dirty and one of the reasons SCV placed as low as it did.

Overview: It's actually hard to write a full review for this show because I'm too drawn into the performance, even during a streaming audio recording which doesn't do justice to how good this show was. 8th place my butt.

Website: http://www.scvanguard.org/

2006 Auditions: November 25-27

Category:Reviews -- posted at: 11:04am EDT

Show: The Promise of Living

  • Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring
  • Overture to Candide
  • The Promise of Living (from Tender Land)
  • Sing Sang Sung
  • Ninth Symphony (Ode to Joy)

The Good: Two pieces I played with '95 Glassmen were used this year. One of them was Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, which Boston performed this year. As a result, I already have a soft spot for this show. So, it appears, did the fans, as there was a strong reaction just to the opening intro alone. Candide's always a fun piece to listen to and I like how they worked Make Our Garden Grow into the arrangement. I greatly prefer Boston's Promise of Living arrangement over Colts. I feel it's more like the original piece and less choppy. I love the groove the drumline puts down at the beginning of Sing, Sang, Sung, although I felt like this was similar to 2002's Artie Shaw section. Of course, Conquest grunts in Boston are going to make people go nuts.

The Bad: Candide was pretty watered down, giving much of the melodic line to the pit. Not sure that was really necessary as the horns sound pretty good. Sing, Sang, Sung was a played a little straighter than I prefer. Ode to Joy was a little muddy before the final push of the song.

The Ugly: This show is the joy of no ugliness.

Overview: A very fun, crowd pleasing show, practically taylor-written to get the home crowd off their feet at Finals.

Website: http://www.crusaders.com/crusaders/home.asp

2006 Auditions: November 25-27

Category:Reviews -- posted at: 10:40am EDT

Show: A Midsummer Knight's Dream

  • A Midsummer Knight's Dream
  • Some Enchanted Evening

The Good: Another great sounding hornline for the Blue Knights. It seems to me that all the hornlines using King horns have improved greatly since making the switch. The drumline, which has been a staple of the Blue Knights ever since they broke into Finals back in 1991, are once again at the top of their game.

The Bad: Nothing really happens during this show. I feel like they're trying to recreate 2004 and it doesn't work. The opener sounds like they're trying to copy Trittico, while the next piece sounds like they're trying to copy the feel of last year's drum feature. I never feel like I'm going to get a powerful moment during this show.

The Ugly: This show is just so...vanilla.

Overview: This show really didn't do anything for me. The corps performs it well, but I felt like I sat through the show waiting for something to happen that never occured.

Website: http://www.bknights.org/

2006 Auditions: November 19-20

Category:Reviews -- posted at: 9:58am EDT

Show: A New World

  • New World Symphony

The Good: I purchased a copy of a pre-season recording of this show. It reminded me of when I started marching with the corps, mainly because there were a lot of weaknesses to overcome in the brassline. Fortunately, the hornline has come a long way since that May recording. It helps to have such a fun, innovative, yet familiar book to play. Robert Smith does a great job re-imaging the New World Symphony for the 21st century. I especially love what he did with the Largo (Going Home) movement, almost New Age in this new desgin. I also like that Glassmen used ALL the movements from New World, unlike Phantom in 1989 when they substituted one of the Slovenian Dances for their drum solo. Speaking of drums, the drumline has taken a step up over last year with more demand and exposure. I'm looking forward to seeing them continue this improvement. Of course, the New World Tango closer got everybody's feet dancing and is a blast to listen to.

The Bad: Despite my comments above, the hornline is the weak link for this corps. It doesn't play quite in tune, sopranos are strident with individuals sticking out and cracked notes.

The Ugly: The guard uniforms. Orange doesn't go with the theme nor with the corps color scheme in general and just distracts my eyes from what's happening on the field.

Overview: The current design team might be what this corps needs to climb back towards the Top 5.

Website: http://www.glassmen.org/

2006 Auditions: November 25-27

Category:Reviews -- posted at: 9:24am EDT

Show: The Spirit of Broadway

  • Give My Regards to Broadway (from Yankee Doodle Dandy)
  • New York, New York (from On the Town)
  • On Broadway
  • They're Playing Our Song (from They're Playing Our Song)
  • Entre Act (from Sweeney Todd)
  • Not While I'm Around (from Sweeney Todd)
  • Pie Jesu (from Requiem)
  • As If We Never Said Goodbye (from Sunset Boulevard)
  • Luck Be A Lady (from Guys and Dolls)
  • No One Mourns the Wicked (from Wicked)
  • Defying Gravity (from Wicked)

The Good: The low brass has such a strong presence in this hornline, especially in the contrabass section. I feel this gives the hornline sound a very rich and full resonance. The Broadway theme works very well, including many songs which drum corps fans are already familiar with. The Pie Jesu section seems like a similar design to 2003's October, paying tribute to past Andrew Lloyd Webber shows as opposed to past drum corps icons. I'm surprised so few corps have performed music from Sunset Boulevard. Outside of the Bushwackers in senior corps and Defenders and Quad City Knights in junior corps, it's rarely been touched. I just heard thunder during the Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again solo quote, very neat yet unintended effect. Luck Be A Lady makes me think of Dutch Boy, although they only played it one year. It's just their style. Very strong drumline, believe it was reflected in the scores. They're just tearing up their solo (in a good way). The music from Wicked is catchy. I don't know the musical that well (my wife read the book) so I may have to pick up this soundtrack.

The Bad: Like Esperanza, Spirit's hornline, while sounding wonderful, doesn't pack enough of a punch for my taste. I feel like they fill up the stadium in front of the stands, not including the stands.

The Ugly: Just the Wicked Witch.

Overview: A strong return to Finals for Spirit and a great way to start the night for the fans.

Website: http://www.spiritdrumcorps.org/

2006 Auditions: TBA

Category:Reviews -- posted at: 9:08am EDT