Corps at the Crest
June 30, 2012
Mount San Antonio College -- Walnut, CA
As usual, I arrived late to the show because I had a Mass, so I ended up finding parking in an employee lot, near a place where part of Pacific Crest was rehearsing. I didn't stop to listen, though, because I just wanted to get to my seat. Luckily for me, I got there right before intermission, so I was one of the first people in the restroom, then found Bro and V at our seats. V kindly offered me waffle fries because I was already hungry, and needed to wait until after the show to eat something substantial. I was not about to get into the very long line for concessions. This was my first show of the season, and I needed to get my drum corps on ASAP.
MANDARINS
Repertoire: "Prophecy" -- Ancient Prophecy, The Guardian, Sacrifice, Doomsday/New Dawn -- original compositions by K. Poulan
The color guard's legs don't match: their right leg is one pattern, and the left one is something else. Why are their big bass drums teal? They are not PC. I'm not used to seeing a non-Asian drum major for this corps. Oh, it's the Mayan prophecy! The Mayan calendar flags are cool. I like the effect of the solar eclipse flags . They need to work on their synchronization, though. Chant corps! (They chanted for a while during the sacrifice). It reminded me of the fish in the aquarium chanting in "Finding Nemo". I enjoyed that particular movement. That girl punched that chief guy. Overall, they had a good strong sound, although it was a little muddy.
THE ACADEMY
Repertoire: "Left of Spring" -- Rite of Spring by I. Stravinsky, The Song of Purple Summer (from "Spring Awakening") by D. Sheik
The CG is very pink, and they strip later on to white. Even the drums are pink/black. But they don't strip to white. There are pink poles, too. Bro says that Miss O would love this show because of the colors. At one point, the tenors couldn't get through the opening they were supposed to have in the horn line. They have a beautifully clear sound, except for the brass ensemble solo, which needs a little cleaning. Ooh, the bass drummers lay down on their drums, with their feet on the other person's drum! Nice! I like the bright-colored flags. I see those Phantom-esque flexing of the foot moves during Rite of Spring. More chant corps, as the drummers chant at the end. I'm loving the Rite of Spring. It's very well done melodically ad dynamically.
PACIFIC CREST
Repertoire: "The Spectrum" -- Butterfly Yellow by L.J. Buckley; Tarantella Red by L.J. Buckley; Yellow by G. Berryman, J. Buckland, W. Champion, C. Martin; Blue Sapphire by R. Cichy, End Credits (from "The Green Lantern -- First Flight") by R.J. Kral; True Colors by B. Steinberg, T. Kelly
The CG starts with white uniforms to show off their flag colors, until the last piece, wherein their uniforms are the whole rainbow. I like how they kept the PC teal on one of their arms. Beautiful yellow double flags. I like the blue sparkly umbrellas, but one got turned inside out. Nice, big opening sound! They really sound great.
A guy wearing SCV credentials sat next to Bro. Turns out that Chuck is the driver of the staff van. Bro told him that he wants to drive around a drum corps someday. He told Bro to watch his kids grow up first. I guess he doesn't realize that the kids would be there, too. :)
SANTA CLARA VANGUARD
Repertoire: "Music of the Starry Night" -- Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine by E. Whitacre; Hymn to a Blue Hour by J. Mackey; Mars, the Bringer of War by G. Holst; Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity by G. Holst
How could I not love this show?! I have been excited about this show ever since the day that SCV started announcing their repertoire, starting with the Whitacre piece. It is no secret that I really enjoy Whitacre's music. He's just a genius, and SCV plays the piece beautifully. Mix that up with some Planets by Holst, and I'm in celestial heaven. The CG uniforms look like Van Gogh's art. Beautiful shade of solid blue flag, beautiful starry night flags at the end. I'm loving all of the chords, with Jupiter being played throughout the show. I love the low brass ensemble solos during Mars. The "Vanguard" yell is during Mars, for all of you that want to join in on the fun. Cool ending with Mars and Jupiter being played simultaneously. They just need to straighten out their lines. The lady sitting near us with the SCV tattoo shouted, "What the hell was that about, it was soooo good!" I agree, Tattoo Lady!
PHANTOM REGIMENT
Repertoire: "Turandot" -- Popolo Di Pekino!...Indietro, Cani; Gira La Cote!...Perche Tarda La Luna?; O Mondo, O Mondo...O Tigre, O Tigre!; Gravi, Enormi Ed Imponenti; Gloria, Gloria; Tre Enigmi M'Hai; Nessun Dorma! All Selections by G. Puccini
Oh, Mr. Turner, the last syllable is not pronounced "Daht". The opera is not about the Animaniac sister. Their beginning formation is the same as the symbol on the corps uniforms. The beheading took many people by surprise. Lots of helmets on sticks around the perimeter of the field. They strip, too. Both the pre-strip red chongsam and the last post-strip blue/white dress are quite beautiful. Also, underneath their gold crowns is a lot of long hair. I wonder how many of them needed to get hair extensions. Their music is clean. I like the gunmetal color of the drums. I love hearing Phregiment play Nessun Dorma!
BLUE DEVILS
Repertoire: "Cabaret Voltaire" -- Tristan Writes a Manifesto: Harmonielehre by J. Adams, Morrison Mania by J. Horner, The Children's Hour of Dream by C. Mingus, Symphonies: V by A. Souris; Marcel Paints a Moustache: Bird & Bella in B Flat by D. Sebesky; Hannah Makes a Collage: Gymnopedies by E. Satie; Man Ray Makes a Metronome: Ballet Mecanique by G. Antheil; Gertrude Writes a Play: Pappy and George (from "The Artist") by L. Bource, Dr. Bones by S. Perry, New Arrival by D. Elfman, Tevot by T. Ades, Rhapsody in Blue by G. Gershwin
Well, thank goodness I only do the repertoire thing once per corps per season, because I do NOT want to type that out again. Damn BD and their penchant for using too many clips of different songs. They left their jackets on racks with their shakos. There is way too much French speaking. Actually, there is way too much speaking in general. They are hella clean. The sopranos killed, and so did the marimbas. This show confuses me. Is that on purpose because of Dada? I like the different shades of blue in the uniforms before they put on their jackets. So I guess they do a reverse strip. I also like the hoops. There was a moment of silence in which I had a strong urge to yell out "VANGUARD!" Afterward, the lady with the SCV tattoo told us that she just had a 12-minute nap during this show. I'm too confused to like this show right now. What the heck?
ENCORE
Pacific Crest, the host corps, did the encore.
 |
| PC Encore |
-- Show material: I like the soprano soloist during "True Colors"
--Ave Maria
"Drum majors, front and center!"
SCORES
All-Age
56.05 So Cal Dream
Open Class
4) 50.6 City Sound
3) 54.7 Velvet Knights
2) 59.4 Impulse
1) 67.4 Gold
World Class
6) 61.3 Mandarins
5) 63.55 Pacific Crest
4) 64.2 Academy
3) 74.25 SCV
2) 75.8 Phregiment
1) 77.6 BD
Afterward, the 3 of us went to Chiji's to take care of my hunger. While waiting for our food, we looked up the story of Turandot, as well as the meaning of Dadaism. Oh, I see: it's supposed to be nonsense! Well, there you go. Now I can watch those shows and be more informed. Then I can just love Vanguard without having to hurt my brain.
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