2008 DCI Dallas Discussion

[Xenon]

I am up here in Wildcat-Ram Stadium in Lake Highlands waiting for the festivities to start. We have a great lineup in store for us tonight and I am planning on updating this thread throughout the evening with my impressions of how things are going.

 

Tonights lineup is:

 

7:37 Frontier

7:54 Mandarins

8:11 Pioneer

8:28 Crossmen

8:45 Madison Scouts

Intermission

9:32 Pacific Crest

9:49 Blue Knights

10:06 Blue Devils

10:23 Santa Clara Vanguard

10:40 Phantom Regiment

Awards

[Xenon]

OK, here comes Frontier.

 

The lead trumpet can really scream. They've got a really nice sound that is much fuller than last year. Oops.. That is until you get to the mellophone soli. That was odd. There was a mellophone that passed through the drumline instead of going around it. Ride was fun. This show is very centered around that lea trumpet, but that isn't a bad thing at all.

[Danpod]

Nice job, Frontier. It's nice to see the all-age corps get some love. I am eagerly anticipating the match-up between The Crossmen, Pacific Crest, and the Madison Scouts. Whomever comes out on top between those three will be in the driver's seat for a Saturday night performance this weekend.

[Xenon]

Mandarins have a nice solid wall of sound that is much nicer than I remember from last year. The drill is a bit muddy in places, but the whole show is pretty exciting in general. The sheer wall of sound to end the folk song section was intense. It is a lot different seeing these guys live than on a webcast.

[Danpod]

I remember playing Cajun Folk Songs in 8th Grade Band. Needless to say, to hear it on the field was slightly nostalgic.

[Xenon]

Pioneer seems to have overprogramed a little bit as far as high trumpets go. Lincolnshire was really pretty, but the pit amps really overpowered the rest of the corps. I like the look of the new aeroblades that the guard is using. I've always wanted to hear Crown Imperial on the field; it is just so majestic that it could make for an amazing closer when done right.

[Danpod]

Pioneer seems to be a lot farther along, in terms of quality, than in previous years. The corps seems to have some momentum with the recent success of their WGI Drumline.

[Xenon]

Here are tThe Crossmen!

 

The opening chods are strong and beautiful, but they onnly seem to get that sound when they are standing still. The drill is really exciting at fast at times and matches to the music really well. The Twinle Twinkle in the pit got a few laughs out of the audience. The guard did a great job during What A Wonderful World with vibrant X flags. I'm still not a big fan of the arrangement due to what I feel is its lack of depth, but they did it really well and pulled of an exciting show. Go Bones!

[Danpod]

I'm glad things are working out for the X-Men. I was getting a little worried about them but they seem to be gelling very well. If they make the night show on Saturday, the dome will probably implode on itself.

[Xenon]

The Scouts open up with an intense earsplitting wall of sound that had the crowd screaming. I love the cool hold-their-hat-and-look-down move as they do the classic Madison whole-corps line rotation. In this show, Madison just comes at you from the beginning and never stops. The body visuals do a great job with bringing forward the whole latin feel of this show. I didn't like the show the first time I saw it, but it was really come a long ways from back then and turned into a real competitor.

[Danpod]

I'm taking bets on whether Madison will switch uniforms again next season.

[Xenon]

Nooooo!!! I had an error on my post and lost it!

 

Let's try again.

 

Pacific Crest opened up with a warmup from The Wind and The Lion. I really like the general design of the music but as Minimaster (sitting next to me) said it sounds like it belongs to a marching band rather than a drum corps. The hints of TW&TL at the end of lines is cool. The middle brass is absolutely gorgeous in the long strong chords of TW&TL's ballad. The biggest problem with this show is the high brass just can't play what they have been given.

[Danpod]

I saw Pacific Crest live in 2006. They have been on a mission ever since. They've been pushing real hard and it's showing. If they make Finals this year, I will have to give much of the credit to their brand new food truck.

[Xenon]

Blue Knights come out with great ballet moves to go with the minor keyed Amazing Grace. The flags with the BK triangle dots are really cool. They are playing their music extremely solidly, but this show is all about the awesome bod moves that is a signature of classic BK. The drumline is kicking and has some really cool spatial effects with single hits coming from all across the field one after another. This is another one of those shows that I didn't really like at the beginning of the season, but it has really come along to be a great show. Amazing Grace to close with the rainbow of flags was awesome.

[Danpod]

Visually, the Blue Knights are probably the most intriguing corps in World Class.

[Xenon]

Blue Devils are absurd! The leg capes look really awesome with the flat out running. Some of these guys are running a long freaking ways. The music is really awesome and just pops at you. The 3 year old girl by me has been fidgeting all night, but now she is dancing with the awesome music. The tightrope walking got rave reviews from the crowd. The bass drum twirling was an absolute hit with the crowd. This music just keeps coming at you and won't let you breath. The clockwork head bobs got some great laughs. The drumline leg wobbles was the crowds favorite body move. The high brass to open the closer was just amazing! This is your DCI World Champion without a doubt!

[Danpod]

For the first time in a long time, it will be their Visual program that puts them over the top. Their guard is just all kinds of sick this year.

[Xenon]

Vanguard's guard was quite cool during Chairman Dances and drew a lot of giggles from the crowd. I really like the ideas in this drill design, but they just seem a little disjointed moving from one idea to another. The orbiting snare drums in around the triangle entering the 2nd piece are a cool effect. I'm not a fan of the pants on the new uniforms. They are too loose to be effective in the Cavies style marching. Once again, this is another show that is dramatically better live than on a webcast. The drumline groove in this 2nd piece is really awesome. The Vanguard yell is in a really odd place right now; there is no build up to it.

[Xenon]

Slaves in the Phantom Regiment colorguard dragged the drum major podium onto the field with the totally bad@$$ dm standing strong on top of it. Before the show starts, the hornline is abusing the colorguard slaves beating them to the ground and dragging them by their hair. They blow your ears out with solid chords that never seem to stop and just keep building until there is a deafening silence. The drill is faster than old PR drill and they play while doing lateral 5-to-5 jazz runs. The awesome music, trumpet runs, and mello yells just refuse to stop in the 2nd piece. Here comes the drum major with his sword during the ballad. He slit her throat, dropped her like a rag doll, and just calmly walked off and saluted. The hornline members individually paying their respects to the dead guard member is a great effect. Best music performance of the night. I Am SPARTACUS!!

[Danpod]

Violence rules.

[Xenon]

Sorry, I went to the restroom and they announced scores as I was coming out!!

[Xenon]

Dallas, TX

 

1 Blue Devils 89.850

2 Phantom Regiment 88.200

3 Santa Clara Vanguard 85.650

4 Blue Knights 81.550

5 Crossmen 78.350

6 Madison Scouts 77.250

7 Pacific Crest 74.750

8 Mandarins 72.850

9 Pioneer 67.400

[Danpod]

War Planet X!!!!

[the terminator]

The Cadets: 98.700?!?!!?!?!

 

How the heck did this happen?

[Danpod]

  the terminator said:

The Cadets: 98.700?!?!!?!?!

 

How the heck did this happen?

 

Haha. Huge error on DCI.org. No need to worry. 88.70 is more like it.