Pursuing Love Behind the Velvet Rope...with a shark

Drum Corps International

Open Class Finals

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Lucas Oil Stadium -- Indianapolis, IN

We got up early this morning, since the show was to start at 9:30 a.m. I was really tired, because it was difficult for me to sleep during the night because of the after-party going on at the bar where we were on Quarterfinals night. I'm thinking that when we come back here, we'll try to get a room facing Lucas Oil. But still, we woke up, had our breakfast, wherein Bro lamented that it was his last cinnamon roll of the trip. We walked over to Lucas Oil and, since it was General Admission, got ourselves seats in the cushy Advantage seats. Not that I noticed that they were cushy until after the 1st corps was done, sleepy as I was. I think I only noticed the cushion when I sat down quickly and heard air coming out of my chair. our seats were 8 rows up on the second tier, on the 50. The early bird gets the good seats!

The Star-Spangled Banner was sung a cappella by a woman whose name I didn't catch. It was quick, but pretty.

On to the Finals corps!

7th Regiment

Repertoire: "Excalibur" -- Liturgical Dances by D. Holsinger, Of Kingdoms and Glory (Movements II andV) by A. DiLorenzo, Courtly Dance by S. Wolf, And the Mountains Rising Nowhere by J Schwantner, Lavos Battle by Mitsueda/Uematsu


OK, so the programs don't really have all of the titles of the shows. I had to look up the repertoire later on. So my comments are from my limited resources. I mean, they didn't even post them on the big screen. I only know some of them because of a very knowledgeable man in back of me who was talking to his protege or whatever she was.



I, of course, have to preface my comments with this, because I wrote in my notes about a certain flag: "Jesus, or Excalibur?" Well, the flag was blue, and in the corner there was something cross-shaped, that either looked like it was in a rock or on a hill. Later on, I believe that the character of Arthur was being presented with a Shako on a royal purple pillow. Oh, I get it. It's his crown. I liked the percussion feature: it sounded like "On the Waterfront" to me. It did not sound like that to Bro, though. (It especially sounds like that right now because I'm actually listening to "On the Waterfront" from last year as I type this. I'm so confused).



Memphis Sound
Repertoire: "Celebrations...rebirth of a Planet" -- Theme from Earth Day by P. Williams, Appalachian Morning by P. Haley, Palladio by K. Jenkins, Overture to a New Age by J. de Haan



Bro said that they borrowed Arcadia High's ball. Dude in back of me said that this is the corps' last year with this moniker. Next year, they are moving toTexas with the new name of "Forte." Nice soprano solo, and actually nice sound for all of the soprano section. They played the song that the one jeweler plays as its music. You know, the one with all of the shadows of events happening? I turned to Bro and said, "Somebody's getting engaged!" I think that Bro just tries to humor me when he smiles like that.



Legends
Repertoire: "INCREMENTUM" -- Selections from Daphnis et Chloe by M. Ravel

I don't like their color guard outfits. They look like reptiles or something. Somebody dropped something black on the field and it distracted me. I obviously was not crazy about this show. Dude in back of me challenged his friend to find a melody from this show that you could sing afterward. Bro and I compared notes later, and both of us said that we had lost the melody halfway through their performance.


Velvet Knights
Repertoire: "Circque D' VK...Lions, Tigers and SHARK!! Oh My..." -- Thunder and Blazes by J. A. V. Fucik; Toy Store Jam, Mahoney's Debut and Temper Tantrum 2 by A. Desplat & A. Zigman; Flight of the Magorium by A. Desplat & A. Zigman; Carnival Capers by R. Hinshaw & T. Nelson; Hungarian Rhapsody by F. Liszt

As usual, VK makes me laugh just when they enter the field. They all shouted to the audience, "And now we meet again!" We all cheered, and they replied, "Thanks, Mom!" And, of course, from the start of the show, the DM makes us all giggle by pretending to do the Phregiment thing to take his baton out of his jacket, and instead pulls scarves out, like a magician.

VK Drum Major with 1st Scarf

Notice the plant on the drum major's stand

And here he is with more of the scarves

They had a chair for the lion tamer, and Bro figured that they were spoofing Blue Devils' chair stunts. I like how they had to paint "VK" on the chair to make sure that it didn't get mixed in with BD's later on, since they look exactly the same without the paint. I love the modified crab step by the drums. Great drum feature! The ballerina fell (on purpose, yes), and she came back on the field with crutches, which one of the other CG members kicked away and nearly hit the judge. They had more balls than the last corps, and NO synthesizer. Happiness. As a great homage to the old-school VK, the cymbal players held their cymbals like a shark biting, and then, at the end, a shark ate a guy. This was, by far, the most entertaining show of Open Class Finals, and it was well-played musically to boot. Awesome.


Raiders

Repertoire: "Isle of Hope" -- An American Elegy by F. Tichelli; Hungarian Peasant Songs, Romanian Dances, and Swineherds Dance by B. Bartok; Gan Ainm (Traditional Celtic Lament); Overture from The Barber of Seville by G. Rossi

Well, my goodness gracious! How in heck is someone supposed to follow that? Especially when they cymbal players were still dead on the field until the Raiders got there. APPARENTLY, you follow their show with recorded voiceovers, because we know how much Sherry just *loves* that! EEEEW. Nice horn sound, though, and the CG was dropping stuff at important points.

Revolution

Repertoire: ElementALL -- Music from Metheny, Mancina, Holsinger, Howard, Glass and Brackett

Nice sound, and they made a star formation at the end. I think that's signature for them. No weird stuff. It was very pleasant.


INTERMISSION
I needed a Coke Zero, I was sooo tired. Kept telling Bro that I was going to get cookies later on.

Oregon Crusaders
Repertoire: "Equilibrium"

As they carried the wooden planks onto the field, I wondered: are they for see saws, or will they be baking salmon? Oh, BALANCE! Dude in back of me told everyone the name of the show. So they balance on those planks while playing. That takes concentration. I was especially impressed by the CG gal who was actually balancing so that the plank was horizontal, and she had a long pole balancing on her shoulder. Nice high brass sound.

Oregon's Equilibrium

Capital Regiment
Repertoire: "The Storm" -- Two Tribes by P. Gill, W. Johnson & M. O'Toole; Hello by A. Lee, B. Moody & D. Hodges, Between Death and Life by Y. Mitsuda, New Beginnings by P. Boyer

They had umbrellas, and I wondered if they stole them with the Bluecoats. I turned to Bro and said, "It's windy again" and blew CO2 at him. He wasn't as amused as he was the other day. Perhaps this will make you laugh, Bro: "Ma hangin pa!" (No,that's not about lynching. It's Tagalog, and an inside joke. Awww, I miss my grandma). Great sound, and I love the strong soprano duet. nice drum feature with the shiny silver modified rifles, which signified lightning. Aren't those the Capital flags from last year? Do they use those every year? They also stole SCV's bird sounds.


Teal Sound
Repertoire: "The Velvet Rope"

So I saw the Velvet Rope, and we figured that it was about a dance club. I said that we needed origami to enter the club. Bro laughed. For real. The corps got new uniforms. There are guitars and an actual rock band in the show. This made me think of "Drumline", during the part when Petey Pablo is entering the field in a car. Too much showiness. The bouncer guy (who really didn't do much but open/close the rope gates -- REALLY!?) wouldn't allow corps members in, just the CG. So Bro said that the entire corps was going to jump the rope. He was close: all of the cymbal players jumped it together, then jumped over each other's cymbals. It was cool. A mellophone guy put down his instrument and started dancing like Michael Jackson, which was fun. Great sound, especially from the horns. There was really no need for that band to be there, really, nor was there a need for the recorded talking. Or the bouncer. I mean, he didn't dance or anything! LAME. He could have at least picked up a horn and played, or swung one of the ropes around, or SOMETHING.

Velvet Rope, keeping Corps out

Citations

Repertore: "Portraits of Desire" -- Michelangelo 70, Libertango by A. Piazolla; Vincent by D. McLean; Day Danse by C. Corea, Nights in White Satin by The Moody Blues

One of the dudes wanted us to clap for him, just for unrolling the stupid portraits. He didn't do it musically or anything. Perhaps if he had danced, it would have helped. He was almost as frivolous as the damn bouncer. Pretty flags with Van Gogh's "Starry Night" scene. The horns sounded flat, although the mello solo was very nice.

Vanguard Cadets
Repertoire: "Love" -- When I Fall in Love; Seasons of Love from "Rent", Elephant Love Medley from "Moulin Rouge", Tango de Roxanne from "Moulin Rouge", Nessun Dorma from "Turandot" by Puccini

Much like the Vanguard Proper, this show was quite pretty. They played a LOT of love songs, so I would hope so. Stop. Dropping. Stuff!!!! I love hearing that bass drum cadence at the end. SCV is really liking the yellow this year. I think there was a huge sale on bright yellow fabric, come to think of it, because a lot of corps used that yellow. As they were leaving the field, the couple in the storyline was still holding hands. Awwww. Sweet. I love hearing that bass drum cadence.

SCVC Drums in Love

Blue Devils B
Repertoire: "Pursuit" -- Music by I. Heep, J. Meehan and J. Mapes

And much like the Blue Devils Proper, this show kicked some serious ass. I was happy to hear the F-tuning warmup, since BD-A hasn't been doing it this year. Awesome brass chords, and strong! Awesome percussion feature. Run, everyone, run, run, run!!! I actually giggled when they rested and there was an amplified "Sigh" breath sound. They could have done without it, but it was funny.

Run, BDB, Run!

FINALE

OK, I did NOT like the music that was playing while they marched in. What happened to actually marching in to, you know, a drum cadence? It just felt icky/cheesy. Not good cheese. Like, Cheez Whiz cheese food.

SCVC took forever to be done with their final formation. They were already announcing scores while the contras were being set.

Most Improved Corps: Legends

Outstanding Director: Director of Legends

Drum Major: Legends

Fan's Choice: Blue Devils B

SCVC was still not done with their formation at this point. I got nervous that they wouldn't even be ready by the time their score would be announced.

SCORES

12) 80.650 -- Memphis Sound

11) 81.350 -- 7th Regiment

Best Brass: Blue Devils B

10) 81.950 -- Legends

9) 83.650 -- Velvet Knights

General Effect: Blue Devils B

8) 87.950 -- Oregon Crusaders

Visual Effect: Blue Devils B (do you see a trend here?)

TIE for 6th place

6) 88.250 -- Raiders

6) 88.250 -- Revolution

SCVC was finally done with their formation. Here is the result.

SCVC Final Formation

5) 89.950 -- Capital Regiment

Percussion: Blue Devils B (SCVC's CG saluted them)

4) 91.250 -- Teal Sound

3) 91.750 -- Citations

Color Guard: Citations (wow, BDB actually didn't sweep!)

2) 94.700 -- Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets

1) 95.500 -- Blue Devils B

No final song. Weird. SCVC also didn't salute BDB, which I thought was odd, too.

So there you go. Blue Devils have a chance of sweeping both classes at Finals. Last year, both classes were edged out by less than a point, with their being placed 1st at Semis. BD is back with a vengeance.

Next up: World Class Finals