Star-Studded Semis

DCI Semifinals

Lucas Oil Stadium -- Indianapolis, IN

Friday, August 13, 2010

Wine Station

After getting breakfast from downstairs, we rested for a while as I typed my Quarterfinals review.  We then went to lunch at Tastings -- A Wine Experience.  You can purchase a card for whatever amount of wine you want to get, and then can try as many wines as you'd like with your card, based on the price of the wine.  So you would get 2 oz of whatever.  I had 3 wines, and Bro had 4 in order to use up the card.  Unfortunately, his 4th wine bottle had run out so he didn't get the full 2 oz, and the card wasn't charged the full rate either.  The trouble is that we then had a balance on the card for less than any of the other bottles available.  Oh well.  He had a Filet Mignon Pizza, and I had a prosciutto-wrapped pesto shrimp plate.  Both dishes were very good.  I enjoyed my wines, and plan on purchasing a couple of them when I get home:  a St. Supery Moscato from Napa, and a Villa Maria "Cellar Selection" Sauvignon Blanc.from New Zealand.

We had a lot of time before the show, so we rested for a couple of hours in the hotel room.  It's hot and humid outside, the warmest in Indy in several years.  Luckily for us, we don't mind walking to get lunch for ourselves.  We made our way to the stadium and checked out the historical Drum Corps stuff for, like, 3 minutes, then separated to go to our seats.

If you recall yesterday's post, Bro's seat for this show was in the first row.  My seat was in the top section, 9 rows down from the very top.  I was sitting in the Blue Devils block, but the people in front of me were fans of Madison Scouts.  The couple next to me was wearing BD stuff, though.  

The Star-Spangled Banner was performed by Star United, and they did a nice job.  I liked those closing dark chords.

Corpss marked with a * advance to Finals.

CROSSMEN -- 80.90

OK, I can see a LOT more circles from up here.  Nice sound, mello must have had a mic for his solo, because there's no way he's naturally that loud.  Bro, though, said that they wouldn't have allowed a mic on the field, so I don't know.  I like this show.  Visually, it's very nice with all of the circles.

X-Men Circles

SPIRIT -- 81.45

The thing about being in the terrace level where I sat is that I get speakers above me, and I get to hear all of the amplified stuff.  I do not like the amplified stuff.  I had to hear machine sounds and some robot-like voice saying "Forging.  Icon.  Forging. Icon."  Dislike.  I understand the show now, though, with them forming their Delta icon.  I did see a lot of delta formations.  Bro texted me to tell me that the whole pit was crying after the show.  I teared up a little bit just thinking about the emotion they must have been feeling during their last show of the season.

TROOPERS -- 83.35

Busted!

Why are all the soloists flat?  Did they tune to something weird, or were they all just nervous?  I didn't notice before that the CG gal in navy blue gets chased and caught by the other guard members.  Then she's the one that actually arrests the DM.  That doesn't make me really understand the plot line better, though.

ACADEMY -- 84.05

Bro texted to tell me that the cymbal player in the pit was crying before the show even started.  So guess what happened to Sherry?  Yup, I was on the verge of tears for the whole show.  Never mind that the show was absolutely GORGEOUS tonight, musically.  It's also visually beautiful, except for, as Bro says, the gold hats.  I like the kind of way that they marched and looked like a moving ocean wave.  I would probably be a mess if I sat up front and saw people's last shows.  I texted Rudy to tell him that I thought he would have cried had he seen their show tonight.  He immediately went into withdrawals, and went to look for his Phregiment DVD.  Thank you for a great show and a great year, Academy!

COLTS -- 84.65

A Touch of Blue

They always drop their green things from their uniforms onto the field.  I really like that soprano duet during True Colors.  The guy that gets his cymbal stolen is busy spinning his plate on his finger during the robbery.

GLASSMEN -- 86.50*

Why do they always make me sleepy?  Is it the timing of their show against my biorhythm?  It's weirdly consistent every year.  It's a pretty show, but I couldn't see a lot of stuff because of the tall man that sat in front of me.

BLUE KNIGHTS -- 87.85*

I really like the music in this show.  Nice solos during the Shostakovich.  I really like whatever they're playing during the hand painted flags.  Later, I realized that it was the Elgar Nimrod.  More on this later.

MADISON SCOUTS -- 89.20*

The row of Scouts fans in front of me got very excited.  What a great, fun show!  Bro said that one of the guys doing the acrobatics is just crazy.  I like the physicality of the all-male corps, because their color guards always do cool things.

BOSTON CRUSADERS -- 89.60*

I like how they sideways jump with each blast.  Cool effect.  I also like the way that they play the Rachmaninoff.  I like that Paganini theme anyway, so it's just a plus for me when somebody plays it that well.

--Intermission--

I got in a line for crappy food because I was too lazy to wander around to find something better and stand in another line.  When I got back to my seat, there was a family of a BD trumpeter sitting to the right of me.  The people that had been sitting to the left of me never returned.  I don't know what was up with that, since they were clearly BD fans.

BLUE STARS -- 92.05*

I like that opening blast!  I saw the guy get in the box this time.  I also saw him get out.  Oh, they have padlock flags, too.  I like the music while they have their key props, probably because SCV has done it before.

SCV -- 92.45*

Gosh, I love the tension in their music.  The audience seemed to appreciate it more than other audiences.  Go Big Red!  Isn't this question mark cool?  I just noticed it tonight.

I've decided that guys wear hats to the indoor shows only in order to get in my camera view while they talk to their girlfriends during a show.  Seriously, dude?  Stop it!  He got kicked out of his seat anyway when the Scouts fans came back.

PHREGIMENT -- 92.95*

Oh, look!  An angel came out of the tunnel at the end!  I didn't notice that yesterday, but Bro said that it happened.  Beautiful show.   I thought their drums were really good, especially because they won last night, but Bro said that they were not so good from his vantage point.  Interesting.

Nectarine Flags

CADETS -- 94.85*

I think I saw a wind-up key in one of the really quick formations.  Someone dropped their rifle.  I'm not used to seeing Cadets CG do that.  I like the show even more when I'm not watching Little Jeffrey do stuff.  Bro said that everyone was annoyed by his over-exaggeration from the front of the stands.

CROWN -- 95.35*

I like that Elgar piece.  I know I heard it today already (Blue Knights), and it's beautiful, especially the way Crown plays it.  Just plain gorgeous music.  I don't remember those shiny flags at the end, though.  Hey -- that CG gal gets hit by the guy's rifle, then gets on the horn player's shoulders to get to the other side of the field.  No wonder she gets slapped around: she's fickle, and everybody sees it.

BLOO -- 96.50*

Yesterday's photo only had half the snares.  Go, Nathan!

I would root more for them if they got rid of the amplification:  there's recorded singing, recorded cello, and, I think, recorded oboe and other crap.  Their show is too good for that stuff.  They brought it big tonight, though.  

CAVALIERS -- 97.25*

Pre-Show Cavalier

"It's a mad world..." followed by scary laughter.  They're chanting whatever is being said before the show.  Something like "It's my life..."  I really like this show with all of its darkness.  It just kicks ass because of its Cavie-ness anyway, but the dark just makes it cooler.  Bro was not as scared of the CG as he was yesterday, because up close, he sees that they're just guys with costumes and make-up.  Don't ask me why he couldn't think that last night.

BD -- 98.05*

Wow -- I get even more confused with the mirrors from up high.  I understood the DM-going-through-one-mirror-and-coming-out-of-the-other-one thing tonight.  When they shake the mirrors, there is a sound of glass breaking.  I just don't think that you should be breaking mirrors on Friday the 13th.  Even the fake kind.

2010 DCI Hall of Fame inductees were announced:

Raymond Baumgardt of the Madison Scouts

Brandt Cocker of Announcer Extraordinaire fame

Robert W. Smith, the first composer to write an entire piece exclusively for a drum corps show

They also had a memorial segment for George Bonfiglio of the 27th Lancers, one of the founding members of DCI.

We then heard/saw 3 of the acts that won the Individual & Ensemble competition between scholarship winner announcements.  The age-outs were seated at the end zone, and they were restless, and doing the wave.  The coolest part of it, though, was when they did a slo-mo wave.  Nobody can do that better than drum corps people, and it was AWESOME!  I exclaimed a guttural "Yeahhhhh!"  

The Star of Indiana Alumni Corps then performed some portions of their shows between different video segments about their history, which took place between 1985 and 1993.

• When You Wish Upon A Star (1985)
• Pines of Rome (1991)
• E.T. (1986)
• Fantasia on the Dark Side (1985)
• American Variations (1992)
• The Music of Barber and Bartok (1993)

(Thanks to corpsreps.com for the above info.)  

Hey!  They had little mirrors!  I like their patriotic double flags. They had pictures of their shows on big panels behind the corps.  They were all dressed in pink with a star on the front, and a "10" on the back.  I didn't know that they used to wear pink.

We didn't stay for the Age-Out ceremony, but I did hear Star of Indiana's drum line play their cadence while the A/Os walked onto the field.

We walked back to the hotel and I bought some more nutritious crappy food from the hotel snack shop thing, and Bro and I compared our experiences.  He looks forward to another year when he can sit in front again.  I hope to do that someday, too.

Next Up:  Finals