TubeNet

Well I just got home and am just relaxing here on tubenet.

Carolina Crown had 16 tubas. their show was awesome, incredible and above all very entertaining unlike most of the DCI shows anymore.

Unbelievalbe horn line with over 70 players. DCI upped the allowable number of performers this year to 150 so many of the big corps's hornlines are huge and sound great.

i would recommend lookihg onyoutube or some such place to find a recording of their show, although it does not do the sound justice. they were really the only corps all night that had the crowd unrestrained on their feet going crazy.

All I can say is WOW.

They did not win tonight however, Phantom Regiment won with their performance of Spartacus, which was incredible also, but Carolina's horn line was just phenomenal.

Some other very nice shows wre the crossmen with Planets or i should say impresions of planets, they never really come out and play the darned thing but their book was very tasty.

colts did a NY NY broadway type show which was very entertaining and again it should be called impressions of Broadway.

Blue Stars had a bicycling theme, very unique and interesting show, excellent horn line also.

ken k

Crown's got a hell of a hornline now, don't they? Their loud end is a big, fat, seamless LOUD, but their mid- to low-dynamic control is extremely good, and that's where good hornlines earn their keep. I'll even say that the opening chunk from Candide was more impressive than the first big hit -- although that hit gave me the only goosebumps of Wednesday night's show here in Warrenton. I wasn't a fan of their arranging, though; although it wasn't as schizophrenic as the Colts (see below), it felt like the out-of-left-field interjections interrupted whatever musical idea they had going rather than enhance it. When they learn how to feature the drumline better and write a visual program that gives more variety than simply "let's spread the horns across the field in front of the drums", they could start hassling BD and Cavies.

I also saw Crossmen, and I thought that their jazzy, Crossmen-Metheny-flavored treatment of The Planets was interesting. They're trying to play too dark all the time, though, and their trumpets are being held back so much that they can't be heard at forte and above.

Colts are energetic once again, but even though they run a lot, their drill just doesn't look that fast or intriguing; it's a classic Colts hindrance, IMO. Their arrangements, while entertaining from an arranging perspective, seemed like they were done with the letter-scrambling centerpiece from a Boggle game -- throw some standard ballad melodies in a box, then dump them onto the staff paper; repeat for the opener, closer, and production number/drum feature.

I saw a few others, too -- Glassmen: good corps, somewhat unclear concept, not a good use of the little girl character, they weren't finished with things like setting the dynamic shaping in the closer, so even if they hadn't fixed it by Allentown, it should be ready by Finals week.; Cadets: wild drill as always, standard Gino Cipriani hornline (LOUD and aggressive, just like Gino ), too much narration, and the "living room" parked in midfield became a visual liability; Blue Knights: lots and lots of body movement which, while interesting, easily becomes a dirt magnet, lacking the crisp polish that drum corps have historically strived to achieve.

Don't take my rumblings the wrong way, though. The kids are putting a TON of effort into performing these shows, many of which are more demanding & intricate than almost anything that was being attempted when I started over twenty years ago.

I won't get to see much of anything else besides the Quarterfinals simulcast on Thursday. Looking forward to it, too.

If anyone is willing to shell out some cash, DCI has a new media-thingy this year called the Fan Network. It gives you unlimited access to video and audio from the finals of every year since the start of DCI in 1972 (with a few exceptions, like video for 07, I think). There are currently full-show videos up from (about) 15 competitions so far this year in addition to tons of short videos uploaded by the corps themselves (interviews, "lot" footage, and lots of various behind the scenes stuff).

Also included are live shows streaming online (but I think quarterfinals is the only streaming show left). I think the Fan Network is great, especially for those (I included) who haven't been able to catch a live show this season. The resolution isn't awesome, but it is more than good enough for the large library at hand and still much better than the hand-cams found on YouTube.

Subscriptions from the beginning of the season were $70, but DCI has lowered the price for those wanting to join in before the season is over to $40.

Fan Network Info

~I'm watching Phantom from their Allentown performance earlier today/yesterday right now on the Fan Network.

Leland wrote:Crown's got a hell of a hornline now, don't they? Their loud end is a big, fat, seamless LOUD, but their mid- to low-dynamic control is extremely good, and that's where good hornlines earn their keep. I'll even say that the opening chunk from Candide was more impressive than the first big hit -- although that hit gave me the only goosebumps of Wednesday night's show here in Warrenton. I wasn't a fan of their arranging, though; although it wasn't as schizophrenic as the Colts (see below), it felt like the out-of-left-field interjections interrupted whatever musical idea they had going rather than enhance it. When they learn how to feature the drumline better and write a visual program that gives more variety than simply "let's spread the horns across the field in front of the drums", they could start hassling BD and Cavies.

I also saw Crossmen, and I thought that their jazzy, Crossmen-Metheny-flavored treatment of The Planets was interesting. They're trying to play too dark all the time, though, and their trumpets are being held back so much that they can't be heard at forte and above.

Colts are energetic once again, but even though they run a lot, their drill just doesn't look that fast or intriguing; it's a classic Colts hindrance, IMO. Their arrangements, while entertaining from an arranging perspective, seemed like they were done with the letter-scrambling centerpiece from a Boggle game -- throw some standard ballad melodies in a box, then dump them onto the staff paper; repeat for the opener, closer, and production number/drum feature.

I saw a few others, too -- Glassmen: good corps, somewhat unclear concept, not a good use of the little girl character, they weren't finished with things like setting the dynamic shaping in the closer, so even if they hadn't fixed it by Allentown, it should be ready by Finals week.; Cadets: wild drill as always, standard Gino Cipriani hornline (LOUD and aggressive, just like Gino ), too much narration, and the "living room" parked in midfield became a visual liability; Blue Knights: lots and lots of body movement which, while interesting, easily becomes a dirt magnet, lacking the crisp polish that drum corps have historically strived to achieve.

Don't take my rumblings the wrong way, though. The kids are putting a TON of effort into performing these shows, many of which are more demanding & intricate than almost anything that was being attempted when I started over twenty years ago.

I won't get to see much of anything else besides the Quarterfinals simulcast on Thursday. Looking forward to it, too.

It is funny you would mention about the trumpets being held back. many of the corps are going for that pyramid of sound concept, but quite frankly while it sounds gorgoeous at lower volume levels it just lacks the punch of the "old time sound' I dont see the harm in using more trumpet sound at certain points in a show to give a bit more impact, as long as it doesn't go overboard, but again i am an old fart drum corps type.

As for the Blue Knights i must say one word...boring. Same with the Spirit and a few other corps that escape my memory at the moment (Pacific "something"...). They try to do these "impressions of.." music selections, or they do totally unrecognizable music and it just goes nowhere and seems like 7 minutes of the same thing over and over again. (Not the kids' fault of course i realize) The thing with using familiar music is you can take it in a different direction and/or mix it with other things and then people can appreciate the creativity of the arrangement. if you use unfamiliar music the listener has nothing to relate it to and has no sense of surprise or interest. The exceptions of course being the top teir corps like the Cavies, Cadets, Blue Devils. , etc. who just play the hell out of the stuff so that you have no other choice but be blown away. After Friday nights DCI East show I was almost tempted to not bother going to Saturday nights show. The shows were just so bland and boring. I am glad I did since the shows Saturday were much more entertaining night.

I had to joke about the Colts. the reminded me a bit of (a much more refined version of course) the old NY Skyliners. They even had the red cadet style uniforms and all the NY NY music. it was a fun show.

ken "Again just the ramblings of an old time drum corp fart..." k

As for the Blue Knights i must say one word...boring. Same with the Spirit and a few other corps that escape my memory at the moment (Pacific "something"...).

Really? You are talking about this year, yes? I saw Spirit at a show last week, and I enjoyed their show the best out of all the corps that I saw there. I thought they had the best music (Saint-Saens Organ Symphony, Faure Pavane, La Vie en Rose, etc).

Some of the best corps there were the Blue Coats, Spirit, Troopers, Vanguard Cadets, and Blue Stars.

PWtuba wrote:

As for the Blue Knights i must say one word...boring. Same with the Spirit and a few other corps that escape my memory at the moment (Pacific "something"...).

Really? You are talking about this year, yes? I saw Spirit at a show last week, and I enjoyed their show the best out of all the corps that I saw there. I thought they had the best music (Saint-Saens Organ Symphony, Faure Pavane, La Vie en Rose, etc).

Some of the best corps there were the Blue Coats, Spirit, Troopers, Vanguard Cadets, and Blue Stars.

Well it could have been a bad night too. they seemed flat (not pitchwise but GE wise). I will aggree with your other votes however. I especially enjoyed the Blue Stars "Cycling" theme.

ken k