Drum Corps International
Prelims
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Indianapolis, IN -- Lucas Oil Stadium
I flew out of Burbank to Phoenix, where I had an hour plane delay on top of my 2-hour wait. So I ate at the Mexican restaurant near my gate. I had texted Bro to let him know that the flight was delayed, but he didn't get it in time, so he joined me. Lunner was yummy, BTW: a Mexico City Chopped Salad with grilled chicken and a mango Agua Fresca. We ended up waiting for an additional 2 hours because of mechanical problems with our plane. It was especially excruciating for Bro because he was only 6 miles away from his house and could have gone home and back. The airplane ride was not without its own drama as someone was allergic to the cinnamon spray that the flight attendant used in the restroom, and needed medical assistance. She was also in a row where the oxygen masks were about to fall out. Row #3 was not so lucky on this flight. We finally arrived in Indianapolis at about 2 am, and our taxi driver knew that DCI was in town. He knows how to play an Indian drum called the "tabla". As we approached the hotel, I looked at Bro and said, "Home". We unpacked and slept for 4 hours before getting up for breakfast in our beloved Holiday Inn Express. I decided to bring my backpack even though I knew it wasn't really allowed, since Bro said that we could just come back to the hotel if we weren't allowed to take it in. Thankfully, nobody cared, and I was able to bring in my snacks and such. Bro and I shopped around to the booths that were open, and I finally bought my 2010 Blu-Ray DVD.
Our seats were on the 20-yard line, on the left side, 3rd tier, 1st row. We had a desk and cushioned seats. I was happy. I was also very tired, but ready to see over 40 corps for the day. That's right, 40. For the first time, Open Class corps were all invited to participate in Prelims along with the World Class Corps. Blue Devils B had won the Open Class division the night before, but they were all ready for another day. So here we go!
The Star-Spangled Banner was sung a cappella by a woman from the Racine Scouts, and it was nice. She went up the scale in a place that surprised me, but I liked it.
The top 25 corps advance to Semi-Finals, and are marked with an asterisk. This used to be Top 17, but I guess it's different now due to a bigger batch of corps.
SPIRIT OF NEWARK, NJ -- 41.35
Repertoire: "Spanish Flavors" -- Malaguena by E. Lecuona, A Land of Make Believe and Children of Sanchez by C. Corea, Malaga by B. Holmes
The bra straps on the color guard gals distracted me. Their tops were tube tops. Have they never heard of strapless bras? They didn't have a drum major. The show ended with a solo as the others marched out: nice. I guess you're required to wave at people in the audience during Land of Make Believe, because they do that in this show and in "Blast!".
BLUE SAINTS -- 44.20
Repertoire: "Stranded" -- Leaving on a Jet Plane by J. Denver, Dies Irae from "Requiem" by G. Verdi, Truman Sleeps and Lightning by P. Glass, and an original piece by J. Avery, T. Schultz and C. Scarberry
I didn't even know that this corps existed until today. Um, they're late. Or at least it seems like they're late. They seem to be wearing BD's old uniforms. What's with the numbers 11, 52, 19 and 20 on the field? Oh, it's supposed to be like "Lost". Then we see Wilson the volleyball from "Cast Away" at the end. The tree things looked like feather dusters. The mello soloist played with one hand, while pulling luggage with the other. Impressive.
So then Bro tries to explain to me that I've been tying my shoes wrong all this time. Then he realized that I'm kind of tying them the right way. My shoelaces never untied the rest of the day.
RACINE SCOUTS -- 48.4
Repertoire: "Resurrection" -- Requiem Aeternam by J. Rutter, Dies Irae by G. Verdi, Ave Maria by C. Gounod, The Ascension by R.W. Smith
Sher: They don't have a color guard?
Bro: Yes, they do.
Sher, seeing them hiding behind corps members: Oh, there they are. (Have I told you that I'm sleepy?)
Anyway, they only had 3 CG members. The lead CG did a good solo. Nice Ave Maria, which is my favorite one, the Gounod, and then it ended with a little bit of the Schubert.
LES STENTORS -- 51.75
Repertoire: "Music From Home" (I'm not sure if the selections on the site are for this show, so whatever).
Mr. Crocker (the announcer) called them "The Senators". He's usually so on the money with his pronunciations that Bro and I second-guessed everything else he said for the rest of the night. One of the dudes in the Park and Blow bent back as if he was Scott Leonard. People with no rhythm are funny-looking when they try to snap their fingers to the beat. The CG gal was conducting on the sideline at the end. They had a fleur-de-lis on their flags at the end. I've since learned that this is their symbol.
COLT CADETS -- 54.3
Repertoire: "Notorious" -- Overture (from Anne of the Indies) by F. Waxman, Overture (from Mutiny on the Bounty) by B. Kaper, Billy the Kid (Ballet Suite) by A. Copland, Finale (from The Godfather) and The Immigrant (from The Godfather Part II) by N. Rota, Symphony No. 5 in D Minor, Op. 45 (Mvt. 4 Allegro Non Troppo) by D. Shostakovich
Yay, a non-blue corps! Somebody lost a shoe and the judge wasn't sure what to do with it when he picked it up. Nice solos during the Godfather pieces. They made a triangle out of cymbals at the end. They're pretty good! It made me look forward to the other corps.
FORTE -- 56.6
Repertoire: "DreamZzz": REM Sleep -- Original Music by M. McCartt; Mystical Dreams -- Sleep by E. Whitacre; Nightmare -- Burly Brawl (from The Matrix) by D. Davis & B. Watkins; Dreams Into Life -- Chorale VI & Cantus -- Song of Aeolus by K. Jenkins
Bro: Whoa, are they wearing pajamas?
Sher: Dude, those are beds!
If this show didn't put us to sleep with its theme, then nothing would. I was ready to sleep on those hard beds, though. The lead CG had a blanket with a big star on it. Later, the others had blankets with Zzz, which were actually their flags before they laid down.
I told Bro that the lady sitting near us has A.D.D., because she would not keep still the entire time that Forte was playing (no, she wasn't watching the show and appreciating the music).
JUBAL -- 61.3
Repertoire: "Back To The Future" (musical selections not available)
Jubal is celebrating its 100th year, so naturally, they formed a "100" after starting off their show all old-school-like, at the sideline and marching in ranks onto the field. APPARENTLY, the solo CG gal sleeps with a lot of pillows. The rainbow flags turned into silver and orange. What was up with that weird recording at the beginning of the show? It sounded like it was made in modern times, like yesterday, but were we supposed to be in the distant past? I was confused. I did recognize "Happy Birthday To You", but that's it. They formed a "J" with their cymbals, and the cymbal player jumps over the other player's cymbals, like in SCV.
RAIDERS -- 57.5
Repertoire: "Blueecentric" -- Blue Shades by F. Tichell, Bluette and Blue Rondo a la Turk by D. Brubeck, Rhapsody in Blue by G. Gershwin
Bro and I had high hopes for this show because it had some great musical selections. However, our hopes were dashed as soon as we heard them testing their narration recording. I guess they wanted to define all of the shades of blue for us as they played. I did not appreciate this color lesson. The narration totally ruined the music for me. I was also irritated that the blue flag that had been carefully shaped to look like a dead person on the field was nothing but a regular big flag that really didn't mean anything. The horn line sound was muddled, so I wonder if it sounds better up close.
Sher: I like the color guard uniforms.
Bro: Breezy.
Sher: I like the flags. Sponge-y.
We speak in Sibling Shorthand.
Had we known we would be so disappointed in this corps, we would have gone to get hot dogs during the show.
LEGENDS -- 60.65
Repertoire: "Skyscapes" -- Cloudburst by E. Whitacre, You Are (Variations), Mvt. 1 by S. Reich, Pagodes (from Estampea) by C. Debussy, Goldrush by J. Ter Veldhuis, Aurora Awakes by J. Mackey
Sher: "They have things." (I meant that they had holsters for something on their hips, but I was not feeling descriptive at the time).
Yay! Cloudburst was done by the drums as their drum feature. Eric Whitacre is this generation's choral composer icon, and Rudy calls him "a rock star". The lead CG had a hat that looked like it came from the Corn Dog place in the mall and was painted green. Later, she put a yellow plume on the center snare's shako. Then I daydreamed, and when I started paying attention again, the whole corps had the yellow plumes. I was, like, "How did THAT happen?" Bro just stared at me.
FIRST INTERMISSION
Bro and I shopped. I bought a bracelet from Madison, because it has a fleur-de-lis charm, and a Devil's Staircase shirt from SCV. Bro noticed that Phregiment and Academy had not yet opened their booths. We bought some food for lunch, and ate at our desk.
MUSIC CITY -- 62.2
Repertoire: "Let's Dance!" -- I Could Have Danced All Night by J. Lerner & F. Loewe, Bandstand Boogie by C. Albertine, L. Elgart & B. Horn, Waltz of the Flowers (from the Nutcracker Suite) by P.I. Tchaikovsky, Rain Dance (drum feature) by H. Stricklin, Singin' in the Rain by N.H. Brown & A. Freed, Jai Ho by A.R. Rahman, Tennessee Waltz by R. Stewart & P.W. King, Dancing Machine by D. Fletcher, H. Davis & W.D. Parks, Shake Your Tail Feather by O. Hayes, V. Rice & A. Williams
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| Music City Stage |
They look like the PCC Honor Band. They had half of a stage on one end, and the other half on the other, which served as screens for the CG to change their outfits for each song. When they brought the two pieces together, then a few of them could stand on it for the curtain call. What an enjoyable show! The Tennessee Waltz was lovely. Bro wishes that the Rain Dance had been better, but really liked the show, too. Nice mix of all kinds of dance music. There are even some snippets that I recognized which were not listed in the repertoire, but I'm not telling.
YOKOHAMA SCOUTS -- 66.55
Repertoire: "In Rhapture" (musical selections not available)
Great show. No props or microphones or electronics. The music was beautiful, too. That's the way to do Gershwin: without someone explaining the colors to me. They had some sparkly accents on their uniforms.
7TH REGIMENT -- 64.35
Repertoire: "(un) Square" -- Everything in its Right Place by Radiohead, 15-Step by Radiohead, Take Five by D. Brubeck, Creep by Radiohead, Pranoid Android by Radiohead, Unsquare Dance by D. Brubeck
Their pre-show was a rendition of "Africa", played by the pit. Creep! Yay! Bro wnats to know if "unsquare" is a verb or an adjective. All I know is that they turned their square into a triangle.
Bro has decided to bring his SCV static window cling next year to put on our desk window.
GENESIS -- 65.8
Repertoire: "Big Top After Dark" -- Scenes From a Psychotic Circus by K. Poulan, Send in the Clowns (from A Little Night Music) by S. Sondheim
THANK YOU for not screwing up "Clowns"! Interesting meld with the big top theme that most people know. One of the clowns kind of looked Joker-ish with his green hair and purple suit. Yeah, that's not going to freak me out at all. I thought it was funny when the lead CG soloist tried to spin rifles and play horn, but she was afraid when the rifle fell (she was playing a little girl).
REVOLUTION -- 66.5
Their scarves are sparkly now! Nobody's waving the last city flag anymore. Maybe they were done on their Finals night? They're still having unison issues.
SPARTANS -- 69.35
Repertoire: "Midnight" -- Midnight by K. Poulan, Bella's Lullaby (from Twilight) by C. Burwell
The masked CG was scary. They had "Twilight"-ish moon flags. Were the CG members supposed to be werewolves or vampires? I was confused.
SANTA CLARA VANGUARD CADETS -- 72.6*
Repertoire: "Balance" -- Original music by K. Poulan, N. Bourg and M. Gussek
They borrowed Oregon Crusaders' planks from 2008, it seems. They also stole their yellow CG hue from the Cascades. There was too much talking in the show for me, and I don't need defnitions! Grrrr....There is a reason that Bro did not talk to me ahead of time about this show, because I love the corps, and I hate narration. I liked the different balancing acts, though, including the horns balancing on the legs of the board instead of the board itself. They also had pretty, straight lines. :)
OREGON CRUSADERS -- 73.35*
Repertoire: "The Blue Hour" -- Moonlight Sonata by L. van Beethoven, Blue Shades by F. Ticheli, A Hymn to a Blue Hour by J. Mackey, Variciones Concertantes, Op. 23 by A. Ginastera
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| Oregon Crusaders Moon |
They had a big moon tarp, and a smaller tarp of their logo. The narration (grr) was muddled, and all I understood was the part with text from "Goodnight, Moon". Great music. Their blue blanket-things remind me of BD's 2000 show, when they played "Vertigo".
BLUE DEVILS B -- 75.15*
Repetoire: "Synchronicity" -- Synchronicity by Sting, Kaleidoscope Heart by S. Bareilles, Murder By Numbers by Sting & A. Summers, Krump by S. McAllister, Original Music by J. M. Meehan
The CG wore hoodies. Bro believes that's the "in" thing with the corps nowadays. Uh-oh, I started to fall asleep during the show, but caught myself.
INTERMISSION #2
This time, Bro checked to make sure that the booths for Academy and Phregiment were open, which they were, but Bro's friend wasn't with the Phregiment stuff. She may not have made it after needing to open up a school or something this week.
PIONEER -- 68.4
Repertoire: "Celebrate" -- Four Scottish Dances by M. Arnold, Second Suite in F for Military Band by G. Holst, Symphony No. 9 (From the New World) by A. Dvorak, As Time Goes By by H. Hupfield
Go, Mike! (A friend on FB has a friend who plays tuba for Pioneer. Bro remembered to cheer for him. I forgot until Bro did that). They have big white and gold screens. I like the CG uniforms -- white top, green velvet skirt. Aw, they're the only World Class corps not to make it to semis.
JERSEY SURF -- 72.25*
Repertoire: "Petal Tones: Shades of Rose" (Part 1: Purity -- White, Part 2: Love at First Sight -- Lavender, Part 3: Seduction -- Red, Part 4: Passion -- Orange, part 5: Betrayal/Death/Rebirth -- Black) -- The Flower Song (from Carmen) by G. Bizet, Bad Romance by S. Germanotta & N. Khayat, Habanera (from Carmen) by G. Bizet, Libertango by A. Piazzolla, Kiss From a Rose by Seal, Tango de Roxanne (from Moulin Rouge) by Sting, M. Mores & B. Luhrman, Toreador Song (from Carmen) by G. Bizet
They had picket fences and very bright green CG uniforms. I heard the motor from their pit cart and thought that they had added a lawnmower sound effect. At one point, each of the pit members had a rose in between their teeth. I like the leg lift leading to marching to the other side of the field, which is done in waves. Good solos/duets, especially for Seal's song. They make a heart formation. That is a huge headdress thing at the end!
CASCADES -- 72.8*
Pandora's box is faded, and the little purple box is now bigger and black. Pandora now wears white at the end, while the arms inside the box are trying to pull her back in. 2 horn players ran off the field as the show ended. Bro thinks they snuck in, stole a couple of uniforms, and needed to run away before getting caught.
TEAL SOUND -- 75.4*
Repertoire: "Sinvitation 7" -- Lust: Judith by A Perfect Circle; Envy: Weak & Powerless by A Perfect Circle; Greed: Money for Nothing by Dire Straits, Money by Pink Floyd, Music from Scrooged by D. Elfman; Pride, Gluttony and Sloth: Pride, Gluttony, Sloth by C. Naffier, L. Hansen & J. Johnson; Wrath: 160 BPM by H. Zimmer
They made a VII formation. It's the year of big hair in the CG, APPARENTLY At one point, the CG rested a copper pipe on a horn player's shoulder.
MANDARINS -- 76.35*
I guess those weren't their practice flags after all, because here they are, at Finals Week, with the same plain flags. It's amazing how much better a show looks when people aren't dropping things left and right. Did she kill them all in the end? Or were they all asleep from her stories?
PC -- 76.85*
Great sound! Bro thinks they sound better in the dome. Great solo/duet/trio portion. Their lines are still not totally straight, but I like seeing the formations from our vantage point.
CROSSMEN -- 81.1*
Repertoire: "Renewal" -- Episode: Prelude by N. Lauria, Ursa Major by C. Naffier, Spinning Wheel by D.C. Thomas, Hallelujah by L. Cohen, Back Home by N. Lauria
Nice show, X-men! And Bones is here. :) Not as jazzy as I'm used to from them, but it's still really nice, especially with "Hallelujah" in there. Bro is not a fan of the big white screens up front. Me neither.
COLTS -- 81.35*
Repertoire: "Deception: The Jagged Edge" -- Swan Lake by P.I. Tchaikovsky, Danza de los Duendes by N. Galbraith, The Swan (from Carnival of the Animals) by C. Saint-Saens, Mind Heist by Z. Hemsey
They have new uniforms. I tried to explain the lightning on the corps uniform in terms of the story of "The Black Swan", but he didn't believe me.
Bro: "Maids?"
Sher: "They're swans in Swan Lake."
Nice Black Swan interpretation! Gotta love that Tchaikovsky!
THIRD INTERMISSION
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| That's our hotel across the street from LOS |
This intermission was 56 minutes long, so that they could set up for the movie theater live broadcast "Big, Loud, Live". Bro and I had dinner: I had a "Caesar" salad which had Italian dressing with it (whatevs), and Bro had a pretzel. He was still full from the weird Philly Cheesesteak sandwich topped with nacho cheese. Bizarre.
ACADEMY -- 82.1*
I love this show. I love it so much that it went by way too fast! I love all of the brightness, both in the color and the sound. Yay! We get to see them again tomorrow!
GLASSMEN -- 82.95*
Repertoire: "My Mortal Beloved" -- Act 1: Chasing the Moonlight -- Original Composition by D. Hill; Act 2: Falling for the Moonlight -- Moonlight Sonata by L. van Beethoven, Can't Help Falling in Love by G.D. Weiss, H. Peretti & L. Creatore; Act 3: Forever Together -- Original Composition (including excerpts from Romeo and Juliet by Tchaikovsky and Requiem by G. Verdi) by D. Hill; Act 4: My Im'mortal' Beloved -- Original Composition (including excerpts of Requiem by G. Verdi) by D. Hill
More big hair.
Bro: It's like the 80s again.
There's a lot of deathness in this year's shows. The mylar flags had a cool sound effect when they were spinning.
TROOPERS -- 82.7*
Repertoire: "The Road Home" -- The Old Church (from Prairie Songs, No. 6) -- by S. Paulus, China Gates by J. Adams, Memory (from Hepomuk's Dances, 3rd Mvt.) by M. Zarvos, Muted and Sensuous (from Four Piano Blues, 3rd Mvt.) by A. Copland, Mama by E. Meyer
There's a road on the field, and it takes them a long time to set it up. The Troopers are not supposed to make me sleepy! Yet they did until the end of the show when the horns held a very long note while the DM turned around, unsheathed his sword, saluted, and then put it away and turned around to finish conducting the corps again. Then the corps took the road to the end zone, where the CG did a mini-Sunburst. Nice ending.
SPIRIT OF ATLANTA -- 85.5*
Repertoire: "ATL Confidential: A Tribute to Film Noir" -- Noir Overture & Detective and the City: Death at the Olympic (from The Black Dahlia) by M. Isham; Lady in Red: Love Theme (from Chinatown) by J. Goldsmith; The Night Club: Harlem Nocturne by E. Hagen; Street Chase and Gun Battle: Prelude (from On Dangerous Ground) by B. Hermann
This show would have been perfect for me to watch last year, when I was watching the Film Noir series that was presented by AMPAS. They have big screens with pictures from noir films, and I tried to figure out which ones I had seen, but I couldn't. There is too much recorded stuff going on, which was unnecessary. I like the lamp posts. Yay, they made a Delta! They also made a formation that spelled "NOIR", which was kind of cool. The flags with the lips on them made me giggle. Spoiler: She did it!
BLUE STARS -- 86.9*
I thought that the new screens were of the NYC skyline. Bro believes they are of Chicago. I told him that I only know Chicago by the Michael Jordan statue. It makes me nervous seeing them get up on the platforms, especially the parts where it's only a bridge, but it looks cool. The platforms are now situated on the side a little bit more, whereas I had seen them at the beginning of the season, and they were right smack dab in the center of the field, which was annoying. They make good use of them now, and my favorite highlight is that of the tenor ensemble solo. I also like how one of the guys is laying down on it at the beginning, and then the corps comes through, underneath him on the bridge. I like the crosshair flags, and when they use their horns as if they were snipers.
BLUE KNIGHTS -- 88.7*
Ooh, they added banners to their exit! Nice.
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| BK exit |
MADISON SCOUTS -- 88.5*
Repertoire: "New York Morning" -- New York, New York by L. Bernstein, Oh, What a Beautiful Morning by R.Rodgers, Beautiful Morning and Requiem by R.W. Smith, Empire State of Mind by A. Keys, S. Carter, J. Sewell, A. Hunte, A. Shuchburgh, B. Keyes and S. Robinson
This is not in the program, but the show has been said to be the Scouts' tribute to the 10th anniversary of 9/11. The show was NICE. I like how the CG is also playing their own cymbals toward the end. I loved all of the emotion, starting with the busy morning and guys too busy to look at their newspapers to notice anything else around them, to the interruption of the beautiful morning, and then the strength and poignance of the last piece. New York loves you, Madison. New Yorkers that have posted on the boards say that they've been brought to tears by this show, and it almost happened to me, too.
FOURTH INTERMISSION
This intermission was a short 17 minutes, so we didn't do any shopping or walking around.
BOSTON CRUSADERS -- 90.2*
Repertoire: "Revolution" -- Do You Hear the People Sing, I Dreamed a Dream, The Attack on Rue Plumet, On My Own, Bring Him Home, One Day More (all from Les Miserables) by C-M. Schonberg & A. Boubill; The Year 1812, Festival Overture in E-flat major by P.I. Tchaikovsky
Bro's been waiting to see this show all year. I've been waiting since he told me that their show is Les Miz, because, well, you know how I am about Les Miz. The pre-show is the corps singing a cappella Do You Hear the People Sing. I wanted to sing along, but I didn't know if I was allowed. I'm so going to do it at semis, though. I so am. They have a big white sheet that goes over the people that I think are dead or something, because it's done during "Bring Him Home", which featured a very nice solo. I like those fire flags!
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| B Cru Fire |
SCV -- 91.85*
Bro (before the show started): They've changed the whole thing.
Sher: It looks the same to me so far.
Bro: They're going to do it all on their hands.
Sher: And play with their feet and buttholes?
Bro: That would be funny.
Sher: That would be gross!
Much inappropriate giggling ensued.
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| Sixes |
BLOO -- 91.8*
PHREGIMENT -- 94.15*
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| Juliet Cries Over Romeo |
CROWN -- 94.8*
There was much audience participation during the pre-show of "We Will Rock You". That totally rocked! The CG lead guy broke a guitar at the end, wherein the audience was already going crazy like a real rock concert. Flames are always appropriate to put on drums! I loved seeing the drummers bop their heads during the battery feature.
CAVALIERS -- 96.45*
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| Upside Down Tenors |
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| Horns Not To Be Outdone |
CADETS -- 97.35*
They changed their screens to look like Greco-Roman-type walls. They also changed the Angels' entrance. I thought that they were more orderly than that before. Mr. Crocker announced the title of the show thusly: "Between Angels (cheers)...and Demons (other cheers)" like they were teams vying against each other, which, of course, they are. After the dissonance, the hymns start to work together beautifully, and then the demon throws the angel to the floor. Hilarious. There is a lot more white at the end now, and the angel seems kind of boastful, if you ask me.
BD -- 96.85*
I feel like I've seen this show a hundred times, so I watched the drum judge run around the obstacle course on the field. That was entertaining. I like the CG unis less and less with each viewing. So I guess I like the uniforms 100x less than I did the first time I saw the show.
As we waited for the final 2 scores, we were told to sit tight and wait. A bunch of people left, though, much like those that leave the movie theater before the credits are over. They missed out on a nice treat:
CADETS ENCORE
It started with a horn sextet playing the William Tell Overture, then the other horns interrupted with Moondance, then it went back to the sextet playing Simple gifts and the overture again. That was fun, and well worth the wait.
Bro and I walked the not-very-long walk back to our hotel. I almost finished this report before going to bed, but that just didn't happen.
Up next: Semi-finals
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