August 12, 2010

DCI Broken Arrow 2010

As usual, it was extremely hot for this show and the drumlines did a good job finding shade where they could. Good idea considering 90% of the corps there had dark colored pants.

This show had nine corps: Music City, Legends, Teal Sound, Pioneer, Madison Scouts, Blue Knights, Boston Crusaders, The Cavaliers, and The Cadets. With this being a high school, it was much easier to find the warm-up spots as opposed to the Edmond show. The hardest group to find was Madison Scouts - they found a little strip of grass between two buildings that was about half the width of a football field. Other than that, I got most of the groups and I hope you enjoy what we've posted on YouTube.

Let's get on with it:

Legends Drumline


Teal Sound Drumline


Madison Scouts Drumline


Blue Knights Drumline


The Cavaliers Drumline




The Cadets Drumline

Posted by Ryan on 09:27 PM

August 04, 2008

3 Shows in 4 Days

With 3 shows in 4 days, 3 states and over 750 miles of asphalt...we saw just about every Top 12 corp minus SCV, Phantom Regiment, and Carolina Crown - one corp we even saw at all three shows (Blue Knights). So instead of doing three seperate posts about each show I decided to combine them into one giant review - corp by corp. We'll tell you where we saw them, what we saw, and then give out a little video from the lot of each group. Granted we couldn't get to all of them, but we sure tried!

So on to the review:

Boston Crusaders
Denton, TX

Boston comes out again with a strong line and snare tuning that sounds crisp and well balanced with the other sections. Their rolls are strong, and exercises seemed utilitarian (nothing wrong with that), but I didn't have time to sample the book as there were quite a few other corps to run around and check out.

Blue Knights

Denton, Broken Arrow, and Van Buren

This was the corp that I saw at all three shows, and I saw them at three different stages in their warm up. In Denton, it was sub sectionals working on breaks or tuning drums. I decided to check out the tenor line as they were working on what looked like their break in the show. I later learned at the Van Buren show that there is not a vet on the tenor line this year, all new cats...that's impressive. In Broken Arrow, they were tuning drums when I walked up so I checked out other corps and didn't get back to them. In Van Buren, all the drumlines were scattered throughout a neighborhood in different directions, this made it very hard to get footage. What I did get in Van Buren is very cool and worth a listen.

Bluecoats
Denton, TX and Van Buren, AR

I have heard great things about this drumline and they did not disappoint. The bassline is VERY strong and their parts prove it by the solos and splits throughout the book. The snare and tenor lines are strong as well and as a whole they still have some ground to make up, but the book's complexity gives the drumline the greatest room for growth in the Top 6.

I also happened to run into the Bluecoats front ensemble at both shows and thought I would cover a little of them as well. I was pleasantly surprised to find some difficult runs and some singles that would rival the best snarelines in the business.

Blue Devils
Denton, TX

Meaty parts, lots of movement, and tons of showmanship are what you come away with after watching the Blue Devils drumline warm up in the lot. At times, there are clarity issues, but they clear up the longer they go into their warm-up set. Snare tuning was a nice thick midrange tone that can only be had from a mylar bottom head. The tenors have a lot of notes but their roll quality is top notch and come through very strong - section of the day in my book. Not in the posted videos at this point, but maybe posted later, is a lot of body movement practice. It is integral in their show and almost seems to be a must to run through it during warmup. (Editor's Note: if you want to become a future Blue Devil, you better start taking some dance and movement classes)

The Cavaliers
Denton, TX and Broken Arrow, OK

While not the hardest book when compared to just watching Bluecoats and the Blue Devils, they are very clean and very polished. This group started with 9 snares but lost two players early in the season for various reasons. So with 7 snares, 5 tenors, and 5 basses you would think that you would get an unbalanced sound, but the seven man snareline puts out a level of sound that matches snarelines with 8 or 9 players. Something to note with the tenors is that they are using one 8" drum instead of the typical 6" spock drum(s).

Blue Stars
Broken Arrow, OK

Let me be honest, I thought the Blue Stars' tuning and approach to playing LAST year was abrasive. I could only stand in front of the group for about five minutes and then the sound of the drums got on my nerves. I like more of an open, organic ensemble sound and I would describe last year as metallic. That said, THIS year's group is great. The tuning is much more enjoyable and they are playing some nice licks. There are still some moments where the playing gets thick, but I'm sure the staff is on it. The corp as a whole is on the way up and the drumline is obviously making a positive contribution to that movement.

Madison Scouts
Van Buren, AR

There are always trade offs when it comes to many things...one of those is when the last corp of the show goes on, they are pretty much playing in the dark unless they find a street light or a parking lot light to stand under. Unfortunately they were under neither, the closest was a light across the street in the neighborhood and it just wasn't enough for the camera to pick up - you can barely see the tenor line. I had a great shot and the staff even invited me to get closer, but my camera just couldn't pick it up. Still, there are some things that need to be said, so I'm uploading it anyway so people can hear what I heard.

First off, bravo to the drum staff for bringing back the cymbal line! It is a tradition that needed to be resurrected - Roger Carter has brought about many positive decisions that is putting this group on the right track. You can tell by the attitude and approach of the staff and the reponse from the members that they are enjoying what they do.

As for the playing, they are improved from last year and have some great sections of the show to really display the ability of the group. While it does get hard to read in a few sections, rolls are crisp and all sections balance equally across the board. The addition of the cymbal line really adds to the ensemble and helps get back to that signature Madison sound.

Posted by Ryan on 12:40 AM

August 09, 2007

DCI Broken Arrow Review

Broken Arrow was the site for a great lineup of corps on July 30th and DrumlineBlog.com was there to take it all in. While normally the end of July hits 100+ temperatures, up to this point Broken Arrow hasn't seen a day of triple digit temperatures all Summer and this day is no different. Low 90s and some storms that stayed just out of range, but cooled things off, provided a decent venue for the show hosted at the home of the 2006 BOA Grand National Champions - Broken Arrow High School. This is a great show for me, because it is quite literally in my backyard.

As I've said before, my drum corp experiences usually do not involve setting up a camera during "8 on a Hand" and sitting there for an hour. True, it might make for some good video, but it's not how it usually takes place for me. Drum corp shows for me are more like a "reunion" of sorts. So while we do have some video, hopefully the story of my night running around and who I talked to will be just as interesting. So without further ado...

So I arrive at the high school around 6 PM....just about the time the Colts are pulling into the parking lot so I take a seat on the curb by the Colts equipment truck and watch them unload. I sit there mainly because the only other corp there at that time was Phantom Regiment and they had been staying there - the rest of the parking lot was empty. As I was sitting there, an old friend named Mike Brandes strolled up to say hi. He marched on the Colts snareline in 98 and 99. That 1999 Colts drumline was probably one of the best they ever had there; go back and check out some scores from that year. They beat a lot of drumlines that Summer.

About that time, Southwind and Blue Stars had pulled in and were unloading their trucks. So we decided to go check out Southwind and see this much improved drumline. We were joined by another Colts snare player named Travis that marched 98 and 2000. We watched the snares warm up in a sub sectional for about 15 minutes and then saw the Colts take off for a remote spot. We decided to follow and found them set up on the other side of an adjoining elementary school.

Standing there in the elementary school parking lot, we watched Tyler Dempsey and crew run the drumline through their warm up routine which started off a little raw, but soon locked in. By that time we had ANOTHER Colts snare player from 2006 walk up to see how the group was playing. Why so many Colts alumni? Well, Oklahoma has had a strong tie with the Colts over the years starting back in 1995 with a tenor player from Ponca City, OK. Since then, there has been an Oklahoma kid on the drumline/front ensemble every year since that 95 season. This year is no exception as Bass 3 is from the Edmond/OKC area and attends OU.

I'm sure other states have the same thing going, but you have to remember that until Memphis Sound came onto the scene the closest drum corp to Oklahoma was a 12 hour drive. I think that says a lot about dedication.

After talking to the cymbal tech for a few minutes I realized that the Colts tenor tech was none other than Mike Apodaca who marched on the Santa Clara Vanguard Tenorline from 1991-1993. I caught up with him after the Colts warm-up and talked to him about the old days, seeing SCV in 91 (my first live drum corps experience), his involvement with the Colts, and what else he is up to.

While the other guys decided to go into the stadium, I decided to look around for other drumlines. At that point, Spirit of JSU was just getting started, Boston Crusaders were cranking drums, and Phantom wasn't going just yet...so I decided to walk up to the stadium gate and check out Colts from the corner.

Remember how I said it was like a reunion? Funny how you run into people at these shows and I just happened to run into some staff members of another corp that I knew (and that shall remain nameless). We talked for a few minutes and they asked if I was going in to see the Colts. I said, "Nah, I don't have a ticket so I'm just gonna listen out here for a few minutes". "Nonsense" said one of the staff members and they handed me an extra staff badge! Whoo, staff member! So I walked right in with them and went up by the press box to check out Colts. It was a solid show that is getting stronger and stronger, and still has some room to push further. I expect to see them in the 8-12 range come DCI Finals Saturday night.

After the Colts performance, I headed back to the lot to see if Phantom Regiment was going and by that point, they were just about ready to get to the drum book. I ran into two of the drum guys from Union High School (Tulsa, OK) and we talked for a few minutes before PR started playing the book.

I was anxious to see them in person after checking out other people's videos on YouTube. Let me just say, they are unreal! Everything, I mean everything has such a high level in the quality of sound department that it is just sick. No slurred phrases at the end of rolls, no fat shots even on level 15 stick heights, just an amazing sense of control. If you are in California this week and can get to the lot in Pasadena, go see them play. It is a treat to see that high of a level of not only ability, but musical maturity.

When Phantom had finished, I started towards Boston Crusaders, but as I got up there, THEY FINISHED TOO! Not five minutes after Phantom! What happened? Turns out Phantom went a little late and Boston was finishing about the time they needed to make it to the gate on time. So unfortunately no video, but their snare tuning sounded great. I got a close look during the tuning session earlier, and from about 20 yards out, they sounded fantastic. Take a look at Vic Firth's DCI 2007 coverage for some great video of Boston.

The last group to go on this night was Madison Scouts. Yes, for the third time this season, I got to see the much-talked-about Scouts program. After watching Phantom Regiment, there is a noticeable difference between the two groups. They are getting better, but after seeing 5 of the Top 6 corps this season (based on latest aggregate scores), they are not up to the level of those groups. Again, not the end of the world, but for all the people saying they can't understand why they aren't getting the points....well, it's because of the playing level of these other groups. I'm not worried about the Scouts, they will bounce back and almost every group has had a dip at some point in their history.

After Scouts, I hung around the trucks looking for staff members from "that corp" that let me borrow the staff badge. I needed to give it back to them before they left, but no one was around the trucks so I headed to the stadium to check out Madison Scouts. I hung around inside the fence from the 5 yard line with Paul Rennick and Boston staff such as Jerry Carpenter talking about "reads" of their respective shows right next to me.

After the Scouts finished their show, I had a sinking feeling in my gut. For some reason I imagined "that corp"'s buses pulling out of the back lot early with me still holding on to that badge! So I headed back at a quick pace and as I turned the corner, sure enough, their buses were pulling out of the parking lot!!! At this point, my brisk pace turned into an all out run to try and catch the staff bus before hitting the main road out of the school. They were a good 500 yards away when I started to run and fortunately for me, they were slowed down by the numerous speed bumps (for once, a useful device in this circumstance). I was able to knock on the window and hand off the badge before being "blacklisted" from the staff for future favors. Whew! I was lucky this time.

After a long evening of a lot of walking and seeing familiar faces, I headed back for THE shortest drive home of the season....12 blocks.

Posted by Ryan on 02:28 AM

July 22, 2007

DCI Denton, TX Review

(Denton, TX) - You better be in shape if you decide to go to a show with me. Why? Well, I usually take in a hybrid show of sorts: half stands, half lots. While the shows are cool, sometimes you want to just see what the drumlines are up to. This just happened to be one of those shows...

So between two lots, my car in a parking lot between them and the stadium right next to that, it made for a lot of trips back and forth and a lot of walking/jogging - two trips to the bus parking lot, three trips to the car, two trips to the stadium, and one trip to the warmup lot. Like I said, lots of walking. So, this isn't going to really be a run down of the "shows" since I didn't see everyone. This was a big contest with nine groups performing, and I missed a large chunk of the shows because I was in the lot taping Bluecoats, Santa Clara Vanguard, and Cavaliers just for you.

So let's just talk drumline warmup. Due to the nature of the venue, there was not a lot of places for the drumlines to warmup, especially since the stadium was isolated off the highway and only one big building between them and the stadium. While I know the corps didn't like the situation, it made it a lot junkies paradise since each group was about 60 yards away from each other. You could see and hear where they were in their warmup and go check out different sections of each. So when you check out the vids and notice one scene has sunlight and another doesn't, you'll know why.

Bluecoats

Watched the bassline sectional warmup because I know one of the two bass techs and wanted to check out his guys. One word: SICK. They are doing some splits that defy anything I've heard in recent history. The drums are gun metal gray sparkle Yamahas with Innovative sticks and Evans drumheads. The bassline is using the MS1 heads which is a normal head without the Evans muffling system. While the typical MS1 is 10mil I know they are testing some new thicknesses (read: thinner) this Summer and look forward to the fruits of their testing for Evans.

The snareline was extremely tight and had a wet snare sound that seems to be very popular these days; no tape on the snare guts, just a small patch of muffling on the bottom snare head (cotton ball size).

Cavaliers

They were last to go, and got such a late start that most of the video was shot in the dark. They are running silver sparkle Yamaha drums with chrome hardware, Innovative sticks, and Remo heads. They are using the new PowerMax bass heads with the overtone ring that allows you to insert foam strips in for muffling. I know for a fact that they are running extra muffling on bass 4 and 5 so take that into consideration if you plan to buy these for your group in the Fall.

There is some really tight interplay between the snares and tenors throughout this video clip. The clarity level is just a tiny notch above Bluecoats and SCV. I love the writing, but I think I'm on the fence when compared to the Bluecoats writing this year. I've never been a listener of Billy Joel's music, but I can get into what they are doing with it here....nice work.

Santa Clara Vanguard

Fantastic! It was nice to see some of the old Vanguard coming through in this group. They played with a relaxed style that reminded me of 2003-2004. All the typical elements are there, solid bassline, nice slightly wet snare sound like the other two, some beefy notes in the tenors and a cymbal line with a definite snap to every move. This is a young group, especially in the snareline with five of the eight just graduating high school. Even so, I will make a prediction right now: if this group sticks together over the next two years they will be competing for a high drum trophy. There I said it! I'll let the vids speak for themselves.

Posted by Ryan on 02:24 AM

DCI Siloam Springs Review

Normally, the Siloam Springs DCI show is a great venue to check out drum corps - flat terrain, lots of shade trees, and a good little stadium. Well, this year they had some field maintenance going on and had to move the show to Fayetteville. How was the change of venue? Well, they have shade trees. No, the stadium is great, the only problem is the school is built on the side of a hill. This made tracking down drumlines an extremely rough process.

More commentary, pictures and videos after the jump...

Being as this was the only show that I could see The Cadets perform, I decided to split my time between the stands and the lot. Unfortunately, the way they did the lineup made for some hard decisions. Instead of going by scores or something rational, the lineup went something like this:

Pioneer
Southwind
Colts
[break]
Cadets
Blue Knights
Madison Scouts

See the problem? I would miss the entire first block to tape Cadets in the lot, and then would miss most of Madison in the lot by watching Cadets - ugh. The other problem that only added to the situation was that the school was on one side of the hill and the stadium was at the bottom of the other side. Needless to say I got my exercise Wednesday night!

Just a quick run down of what I saw, whether in the lot or in the stands, here it is:

Pioneer - I was just getting there when Pioneer was on the field so I'm not going to comment on something I didn't see. I know some guy posted some video of the Pioneer drumline warming up so go check that out on YouTube.

Southwind - I watched them from the corner of the stands, and the one word I can use to describe the drumline at Southwind this year is "HOT". They are playing more notes than some of the Top 6 corps out there and their quality of sound is just night and day from last year. I'm not trying to take anything away from the group last year, but the Music City guys have outdone themselves in preparing for the season. Just about every note was crystal clear even from my bad angle.

I'm not sure why their scores aren't going up more, but I think some of it has to do with some judges not being able to just close their eyes and listen for a minute - they can't get past the name. It seems other judges don't have a problem with it and are scoring them on what they see and hear, but then some judges out there still like to put the name brands up front. I'm not naming any names, but go look at the drum scores and you'll see some dips back and forth between them and the Madison Scouts.

Colts - with new uniforms, bright red sparkle Yamaha drums, and a mostly new drum staff, they seem to have stepped it up their performance as a corp this year. The first half of the show takes some time to evolve, but the second half is fantastic. Open exposed rolls by the snares had a consistent sound from start to finish. The drum book is different from past years and I like the new phrasing I am hearing from the drumline. If they make the opener a little stronger, I think this is a Top 10 show.

Cadets - First, I love their musical program this year, but I can't stand the voice overs. It actually distracts me from enjoying the show. Silence has a role in music and The Cadets just don't seem to understand that this year. Almost every tacet spot in Blue Shades has some wonky voice over like "You can do it" or "That's it!" or "Yeahh!". Give me a break!

Ok, enough of that. The drumline has new Yamaha drums with a brown to gold fade stain that looks amazing up close. As for the drumline they are playing some great stuff. Other than some clarity issues during the drum break tonight, I think its a solid show with some great music and some surprising visual aspects. They are worth seeing if you can get out to a show in the next few weeks.

Blue Knights - a solid show with some great visual bits throughout. The drumline turned a great performance and they have some very nice Pearl drums with what looks like an aqua marine fade stain on the shells. Not my color choice with the cobalt blue, black, and white uniforms, but the drums still look cool by themselves. Great bass splits between one and two and some nice tenor licks filled out the rest of the section. I also noticed they have one of the largest front ensembles I have seen in a drum corp in quite a while.

Madison Scouts - this is the show everyone is talking about - good or bad. Frankly, I like the show, and the intro has a very cool and mysterious feel to it. That said, the rest of the show doesn't live up to the build up provided by the intro - that's just my opinion. It kind of makes you expect more than just a rock-n-roll Rush show. As for the scores this year, I've heard the Scouts weren't entirely happy with the visual/drill book and rewrote it, learned it, and put it in starting around the Atlanta show a few days ago. So, there are still some dirty spots in the drill and it doesn't seem to "pop" as much as other shows probably just because of the newness of the material. I will say there are a few runs in the horns that are not very clear at this point in the season and is uncharacteristic of the Madison Scouts. Looking at the scores, they are moving up quick, but I don't know if it is quick enough. They are racing against time and at this point I speculate that they will fall into the 13-15 range by Finals week.

The drumline and colorguard are holding things together. The drums put in a respectable performance and played strong throughout the show, but there were balance issues in the front ensemble that were caused by the amplification mix being too hot. Normally I wouldn't mention that, but if corps are going to use it, then its part of the review if it hurts or helps the group. We could go into a whole other tangent about drum corp amplification, but this isn't the time. I understand that marimbas are hard to hear outside, but in the amplification game, to me less is more. Several other corps tonight pulled it off, but I didn't even mention their use because it didn't detract from the show.

That's it, look for a few more reviews in the coming week or two as we get closer to Finals in Pasadena. Until next time, keep drumming and go check out a show!

Posted by Ryan on 02:20 AM

July 01, 2007

The Secrets of Drum Corp: Rehearsal Days

So those that have marched drum corps in the past already know this, but I thought I would let everyone else in on a little secret. You ready? Here it is: you can see drum corp shows for free. Click for more information (and to see some brand new videos)...

Yes, that's right I said it. How? It's called rehearsal days. Ever notice on the DCI.org Calendar that corps don't do a show every night? Ever wonder where they are and what they are doing? Well, start checking out the individual drum corp websites and look through their Summer schedules. There they list where they are every day, including rehearsal days.

If a corp is rehearsing in your area, go check them out! Most are very cool about people watching and you can get some good insight into the daily grind that a corp member goes through - it's not all stadium lights and screaming fans 24/7. You never know what you are walking into, but most likely it will be set-to-set drill cleaning or a chunk of music stuck on repeat. That's ok, because it's free.

Just to show you what you can find, check out what I saw a couple of days ago just one mile from my house. Enjoy people:

Blue Devils 2007 Rehearsal

Blue Devils Drumline 2007 OnField Warm-up!!!

Posted by Ryan on 11:23 PM | TrackBack

May 30, 2007

Glassmen Drumcam

Wow, May has flown by! I have been extremely busy with getting ready for the upcoming Summer and Fall seasons. And since Summer is almost here, I thought I would get everyone in the mood with a great snareline video I ran across the other day.

This is the 2006 Glassmen drumline performing a run-through during Finals weeks. You get a true sense of the amount of effort it takes to make it through a show (and a good one at that). So lean forward, crank up the speakers and get ready for a taste of what is to come in a few weeks.

Glassmen drumcam during a run through

Posted by Ryan on 09:57 PM

March 07, 2007

Video Vault: Star 93

By far, one of the greatest drumlines ever. This home movie was just added to YouTube, check it out:

Posted by Ryan on 01:46 AM

February 08, 2007

Video Vault: Phantom Regiment 93

Posted by Ryan on 10:32 PM