Corps at the Crest 6/29/08

Walnut, CA -- June 29, 2008
Mt. San Antonio College Hilmer Lodge Stadium

This was my first viewing of a drum corps competition this season. As with all other DCI reviews, I will only give the program information for each corps upon first viewing.

I wasn't able to get to the stadium for the entire show due to another obligation, but arrived during Velvet Knights' performance after almost running over one of the jaywalking corps members dressed all in black. From what I could see and hear from the sidelines, they have an enjoyable show, and sound good. I entered the stadium itself at intermission, and Tim was going the other way, so I wasn't able to say hi to him. Bro didn't see me when I tried to sibling-mild-meld him to look at me, but at least we touched base via cell phone.

My seat was 12 rows higher than those of Tim's and Bro's, as I was in the PC donor block. I was in the 25th row, about the 40 yard line. I guess the box office didn't sell my extra ticket, so V was able to sit with me the whole time. That was good, because I was still a little hyper from the strong coffee I had in the morning, and I don't know what I would have done with myself without someone to talk to the whole time.

All corps that performed after the intermission were in the newly-entitled "World Class" category.

Mandarins: "The River" Repertoire: Wind River (I Am) by J. Curiale, Cajun Folk Songs by F. Ticheli, Sunrise (from Grand Canyon Suite) by F. Grofe, Inferno by R.W. Smith

Bro really liked the Drum Major's (DM) name: Santiago Sabado. Their duet needs work on the intonation. Color Guard (CG) solos were good, but they had no unison when they tried to do anything simultaneously. I like the last piece -- they sounded good and loud. I like the blue/gold/white flags, which remind me of a river, and now I'm thinking that those might still be practice flags because I feel like I've seen them before. Whatever. They were nice. BTW, why is "Wind River" the only title up there that actually has anything to do with an actual river, the name of the show? No Taiko drums this year. Bummer.

The guys behind us then started talking about my alma mater. I think they were commenting on the tremendous number of people in the AHS marching band.


The Academy: "Vienna Nights" Repertoire: 1. Freud's Dream, Mozart's Theme, Variation -- Quasi Presto, 2. Cafe life, Gallop, 3. Notturno, Finale Alla Turka by P. Wilby

They already started waltzing before the competition started. At one point, the cymbal players dance with the CG -- nice! Awesome accelerando in the first piece. CG needs work on their unison. Actually, all of the visual needs work, but this corps' mission is to educate the music first and foremost, so that's understandable. I do like that maneuver that looks like a reverse Z Pull, though, and the cymbal players do a modified Viper at the end of the show. You can tell that their music is important to them, because, as usual, it is AMAZING, especially those sixteenth-note runs. Or are those thirty-second-notes? Goodness gracious! I do like the dissonance of the pieces: it reminds me, in a good way, of Charles Ives, and ends up providing a nice relief of the tonal chords toward the end of the show. V enjoyed the hint of darkness from the basses as the trumpets had their ensemble solo. You can hear the Phregiment influence there. Their marimbas absolutely ROCK! Rudy is going to freak out when he sees/hears this show.


Pacific Crest "Primality: The Rituals of Passion" Repertoire: Crossing the Bridge, Village Attack and Fall of Freetown (from Blood Diamond) by J.N. Howard, I Remember and Raisuli Attacks (from The Wind and The Lion) by J. Goldsmith

WHAT are they wearing?!

I like the opening rhythm, and they have a very nice sound. I was distracted by the purple hair thing that a CG dropped on the field. (I kept worrying that someone would trip on it). I like the singing and sitting from the corps during the duet, which was very nice itself. I thought at one point that the cymbal line was going to run into the CG gal, but phew! Nice bass drum ensemble solo. I thought that the gal playing the small bass drum was the same gal that called me for my donation earlier this year, so I cheered for her without a name. It turns out that I was supposed to be rooting for Maria, the mellophone player. Well, the bass drum gal rocked, anyway. Bro said, and I agree, that the music in this program is a bit too simplistic, and needs to be kicked up a notch. They do sound great with what they've done so far,though.


Santa Clara Vanguard: "3hree Mind - Body - Soul" Repertoire: The Chairman Dances by J. Adams, The Man in the Bath by P. Glass, Eclipse by T. Singh, Cloudburst by E. Whitacre

I pointed out a male CG dude's skinniness to V, and she likened him to a Stick Man, and half-expected him to do the Chaplin walk. Before the competition began, one of the CG gals was all pumped up and excited, and the dude in back of me said, "She's gonna use up all of her energy before the show starts." Apparently, this was just a hint of what was to come in the frenzied show. The entire CG started to shake, leading me to believe that they all had the jitters from my coffee today. I mean, they were, like, spastic. The maneuvers of the corps were amazingly done, some of them reminiscent of 1999's Canyon. Hey! That's the Vanguard Shield! Very cool CG. They had a few drops, but the solos at the beginning were awesome when done simultaneously with the muted trumpet blasts. I did like the muted trumpet ensemble itself, too. Nice Kodak moment of the lone SCV member in front as the corps did another formation. Cool moment of the bass dancing with the CG member. Those drums are really yellow-goldish. Bright! Awesome drum feature, BTW. Great sound, although I wonder what happened with the amps during the marimba solo. The show is not finished (we didn't see a Viper, nor did they play "Cloudburst" -- which leads me to believe that it'll end calmly), but from what they've shown so far, this show is going to put them in the top 5 this year, if not make them champions. Yeah, I'm a huge SCV fan, so I always hope for the top, but I can't help but love this show. We were on the edge of our seats for the entire thing. It is tighter than tight.


Blue Devils: "Constantly Risking Absurdity" Repertoire: Line Fifteen: and other high theatrics Serenada Schizophrana and Pianos by D. Elfman, Line Twenty-Five: where Beauty stands and waits I Will Wait For You by M. Legrand, Line Thirty-Two: spreadeagled in the empty air of existence The Untouchables and The City of Prague by E. Morricone



I tell ya, the CG looks like a bunch of Big Stick Popsicles. And you can see the male CG's belly buttons. So they're Big Sticks with Belly Buttons. The corps itself has changed their plumes to what look like white feather dusters. I now understand that they're supposed to look like a circus ringmaster's outfit, because their coats have half of ringmaster's coattails. I love that visual, BTW, especially when they're moving around or the wind blows or whatever, because the lining is white, and their coats are black. Nice effect. The CG brought in a bunch of white poles, which at first were used as balance poles in a tightrope walk prior to the start of competition. What are those little drums that they used before the CG carried the multi-tenors for them? Wow -- they're RUNNING! How do those poles (now on the ground) not get kicked around more with all of the maneuvering around them? That's tricky! At one point, they used the poles (and a circle) to form a Stick Man. This had me laughing hysterically when they all started to do the Chaplin walk (see above in SCV). I mean, EVERYBODY did the Chaplin walk. Even the snare drummers during their ensemble solo. It was AWESOME. Awesome sound, very nice visuals, beautiful solos (especially the ballad). They do Elfman well. Bro didn't like the slow-mo at the end, though, because he thought it happened too soon after Crown's performance last year. Apparently, Tim's friend Mike thought that the CG looked like Big Sticks, too. You see? I'm NOT alone in this! It takes 4 people to take that circle off the field. That must be a pain. Great show, BD. I LOVE those coats!!!



FINALE

Horn players from Pacific Crest, Blue Devils B and Velvet Knights formed an arc around the drum corps leaders for the awards ceremony.


Scores:


All-Age Corps

68.875 -- Dream


Open Class

53.2 -- Incognito (they even wear masks for awards)
55.2 -- Mystikal
59.5 -- Impulse
60.4 -- Gold
65.4 -- Velvet Knights (nice "Thriller" moves for the salute!)
65.6 -- Yamato
73.7 -- Blue Devils B


World Class

69.0 -- Mandarins
69.6 -- Academy (69 of that must have been for music)
71.7 -- Pacific Crest
79.5 -- Santa Clara Vanguard
81.9 -- Blue Devils


The combined horn line was conducted by Pacific Crest's Drum Major, Zach Headon. They played some new arrangement of "America the Beautiful," which started with "Auld Lang Syne" and contained bits of other patriotic songs. I want to say that it's going to get better with more experienced corps playing together, but Bro has no such high hopes. It seems DCI is still struggling to find a suitable replacement for "America/O Canada" from years ago.

Pacific Crest had an encore performance. They played something that will probably be done on Friday for Independence Day: a patriotic medley that began with "Strike Up the Band." They then played their show at stand still, and I really like their sound. The show ended with the corps' anthem "Ave Maria."


That was a really cool show, which contained NO NARRATION from the World Class Corps, and I'm quite happy about that. I can't wait until later today!