7:16- After a frantic journey down Interstate 40 from Durham, we arrive at WJHS with just barely enough time to park, buy tickets and find our seats before the show starts. I immediately get into an argument with my mom (tonight’s Official Running Diary Companion) about who is responsible for buying the tickets. She says I drove so she’s buying. I say that I’m an adult now and I can take care of myself thank you very much (well most of the time I can take care of myself).
7:19- Out of nowhere Mom is jovially accosted by Marty Spitzer, former band director of the school district where Mom teaches. He recognized her as she walked by and they quickly start catching up right in front of the row of corps merchandise booths present at ever Drum Corps International event. Mr. Spitzer has been called upon to start up a marching band program and University of North Carolina- Pembroke since they are going be fielding a football team for the first time since 1952. As I write this I have no idea when and where this band will be performing yet, but if you do happen to see them I can tell you what you can look forward to. Their show for the first year is entitled “Groove Machine” and will feature an assortment of pop music featuring danceable beats and catchy tunes. Spitzer’s goal is to make a show that’s palatable for general audiences that can be put on easily by a first year marching band program with out much in terms of institutional support or experienced leadership. If nothing else I’m sure they’ll make things interesting for anyone who comes to watch their show. So if you’re in the vicinity of
7:25- The disadvantage of my insisting to purchase my own ticket springs up quickly once we reach the actual bleachers. I have a ticket for seat G-12 Mom has E-12 two rows down. The woman in G-11 found this hysterical.
7:28- We rush to get food from the concession stand before the show’s scheduled start time of 7:30pm. I’m absolutely certain there are no other circumstances in which two adults could have a panicked discussion of whether a “cheese dog” is a hot dog topped with chili and cheese or just cheese.
7:31- As the exhibition corps takes the field a quick glance at my and the schedule at the program lets me know this show will so significantly longer than I thought. I shouldn’t have told my wife to expect us by 10 o’clock because we definitely won’t be home by 11.
7:32- This isn’t a problem for a standstill performance by the exhibition corps, but I have to note we have TERRIBLE seats (what do you expect when you buy them eight minutes before the show starts). So incase this diary reduces to nothing but a string of grumpy comments and complaints about by neck cramping, you’ll know why.
7:33- Why do the announcers at these events introduce themselves? Does anyone care who it is in the press booth that reads the corps’ names and show titles? Is anyone going to come to a DCI show based on who asks the drum majors if their corps is ready?
7:36- The announcer (whose name I refuse to acknowledge) explains that our exhibition corps, Carolina Gold, will be performing a program made up of selection from past Carolina Gold programs. Ummm, we all know that all senior corps shows are just random hodge-podge of old drum corps book numbers. You really don’t have to make excuses.
7:38- A bird flies by and its call interrupts the show. Animals seem to naturally despise all things drum corps. I was once at a show where a performance was ruined by, kid you not, llama bleating.
7:40- Two startling revelation: 1) the cheese dog comes with chili, a cheese whiz type topping, and an impressive dose of delicious; 2) the Carolina Gold performance is actually quite good which in my experience is saying quite a lot for any senior corps.
7:44- We are told that “due to unforeseen licensing issues” the Carolina Gold will not be performing their complete show. Wait, how could a bunch of songs the corps has played before result in unforeseen licensing issues? In the words of my Mom, “That’s kind of too bad.”
7:46- We use this unexpected break to negotiate with the woman in seat G-11. Mom at first proposes a simple seat swap, but the woman decides to try sneaking over to the premium seats. So Mom comes up to fill the newly vacant territory.
7:49- Looking through the program, Mom insists she knows the guy who instructs percussion for Carolina Crown. It may be true, but my Mom spent a few years as a substitute teacher around our home town so she tends to think she knows nearly everybody. (The Marty Spitzer instance early this night only supports her theory.)
7:50- Members of the
7:55- We start the evening with Teal Sound. Their shows entitled “Voices of the Sun: The Music of Rajaton”, and I officially have no idea what that means. From the titles of the songs/passages it seems to be themed around the son’s passage through the sky during the day.
7:57- We are told by the nameless announcer that Rajaton is a renowned a capella group. So we’ll be getting an instrumental performance of music originally written for voice only. That’s DCI, baby, marching music’s major league.
8:00- Teal Sound makes sure that first big brass hit counts for something.
8:01- We’re seated too close to the field for me to make out the marching forms which is a shame because I love seeing how the corps construct those big shapes you see on field. I truly believe that each corps has a distinctive style of forms they like to make with the marching performers and methods they use to break out of one form and move to another. If I had an animated program that just showed dots move around a grid, a dedicated drum corps fan could tell what forms belonged to what corps even without uniforms or music to clue her in. I guess I’ll just have to spend the evening watching for flaws in the performers’ footwork.
8:03- Now that I think of it transferring music from an a capella vocal group to a drum corps works well because they both use different voices of the same musical “instrument”. All right Teal Sound you win this round, but I’ll be back.
8:07- I’m not an expert, but I think at only 8 minutes we only saw part of the show.
8:08- As Teal Sound exits I’m still watching footwork flaws. HAH! I told you I’d be back Teal Sound!
8:09- I really enjoy Boston Crusaders. I consider them one of the most visually interesting and creative corps at work right now. Their show tonight is call “A Picasso Suite”, and I’m expecting big things. I’m just hoping that if I give them a bad review tonight Bill Simmons won’t bash me on his blog.
8:12- Perfect demonstration of what I’m talking about with BC. The guard is wearing Spanish style dress and setting up easels. This can’t help but be interesting.
8:15- The movements are based around Picasso’s artistic periods Red, Blue, Cubism, then Surrealism. I really hope the Surrealistic movement has people playing in different keys, and marching over each other, just to really take the them all the way.
8:17- Spanish music really works for
8:19- I don’t like hearing a middling drum lick performed well and knowing that its not the lick they plan to play at Finals, its just the lick the battery is ready to play at this point.
8:21- Hearing a full rich brass sound live was all I needed to remind me why I love this activity.
8:24- The guard has “extra-artsy” rifles to twirl and I can tell that the musicians little body movements and dances are meant to have a cubist feel.
8:30- Now we move on to Spirit from JSU a corps with a history of struggling to survive. Their show is entitled Genesis but sadly it seems that none of their show was inspired by Phil Collins.
8:33- A hint to all you guard coordinators out there: black spandex is a look that works on so few people its probably best to just avoid it altogether.
8:36- Why is it the pit always has the show fully developed and mastered before the rest of the corps? Is it just part of nature’s design like girls hitting puberty like three years before boys do so everyone’s early teenage years are as awkward as possible?
8:38- Its always a risky move to have your corps members sing. You trade all the natural harmony and amplification the instruments provide in favor of the always shaky human voice box basically in the hope of a random comedy moment if somebody’s voice cracks.
Intermission- I’m going to get chips.
8:47- They have chili, cheese, and Fritos, but not walking tacos. That’s just tragic.
8:58- The Cadets are setting up. I know this sounds crazy, but I really do miss their two sided costumes of 2005. Those just made the show a little bit more fun to watch.
9:02- There’s a group of people taking notes just behind me in the stands. I hope they aren’t also planning to blog about this event, because I’ll probably crack against the pressure of competition.
9:04- I just remembered I could have gotten the chance to march out with the Cadets if I had entered their essay contest. I just had to write about something I believe in, because their show is entitled “This I Believe”. They probably would have said my essay was too sarcastic and snarky anyways.
9:10- Remember my hint to color guard directors about black spandex? Follow up: white spandex is worse. (Hat tip to my mom).
9:12- Um, Cadets I don’t know how no one mentioned this during your preliminary show planning meeting, but this whole “This I Believe” show, it’s pretty much just like a high school marching band show. I know this because I think I’ve seen about seven dozen schools put on the same freakin’ show over the last couple of years.
9:15- I love that moment when the guard pairs off to act out a dramatic scene, but you can still see them counting beats in their heads. It sort of saps the moment of the music.
9:17- I know that the amplified narration over top of the show is supposed to be cute and all, but when they start imitating every band director in the world during a marching rehearsal just kept having trippy flashbacks to hot August afternoons from my youth.
9:21- Dagnabit! They just did something that I know looked much cooler from above. Maybe we should look to pull a seat change and ditch this crummy G-11 ticket.
9:28- Now comes the host corps Carolina Crown with a highly horse themed show called “Triple Crown”. They’re so committed they even have brown plumes in their shakos.
9:31- They just hit a note that lasted longer than most horse races.
9:32- I want to see a performer pretend to break a leg during this show, then the pit can imitate the sound of a gun shot, an then the guard can drag him off the field. Okay I’m an awful person I’ll stop now.
9:36- Crown may just sucker me into this goofy show yet. They play a selection from Copland’s “Red Pony Suite” one of my all time favorite pieces of music.
9:40- You have to admire the guts it takes to try playing the William Tell Overture on a marching field even if they are staging an incredibly hokey fake horse race in the background.
9:59- The most underrated moment of any corps show is when one of the corps’ batteries plays a cadence to lead the other corps back onto the field for the awards.
Your final scores for the night are
Division II- 59.65 Teal Sound
4th- 67.10 Spirit from JSU
3rd- 71.50
2nd- 75.20
1st- 78.00 The Cadets
Now I’m going out for frosty chocolate milkshakes.
