Sunday, May 13, 2007

DCI Classic Countdown 2007- Running Diary

* NOTE: As a special feature I am doing a little cross blogging, bringing you something I wrote up for my drum corps blog, because I decided I hadn't done enough to promote drum corps love on this particular piece of Internet real estate. Hopefully you can enjoy it even if you aren't familiar with drum corps.

As I so rarely get a chance to actually take part in a drum corps related activity, I like to make a big deal of it when it happens. So when I managed to finagle my schedule enough so I could make it to this year’s Classic Countdown from Drum Corps International –where fans of drum and bugle corps get to relive classic performances through archive footage shown for one night only in movie theaters across the county- I had to do something related to it to add into the blogosphere. After explaining to my wife that I would be abandoning her for the evening to do about the dorkiest thing she’s ever seen me do (though she seemed neither surprised nor upset that I would rather spend my evening chest deep no dorkdom than with here), I purchased my tickets and rushed to get a good seat. The event itself went down on April 26, 2007 at 7:30pm Eastern Time. Sorry if you missed it. What follows is my running log of my observations and impressions as they occurred.

7:15- I have made a conscious effort to arrive at the theater early to ensure I could get my choice of seats. In 2004 I went to DCI’s first “cine-cast” of their World Championship Quarterfinals and that theater was pretty packed. So if I want to find a place where I can comfortably stretch out and get enough ambient light to take notes, I figure I should be sure to beat the crowd.

7:18- Okay the crowds were not actually a problem. You probably could have guessed that. I’d thank you to stop you snickering.

7:20- I’m watching this show from the luxurious facilities of the Regal Cinemas at Brier Creek in Raleigh, NC (just in case anyone wanted to offer me some sponsorship dollars). Representatives from the local corps, Carolina Crown, sent some representatives to pass out post card sized advertisements for discounts on Crown tickets if we order early. Heck, if I knew there would be deals this sweet, I would have started coming to these Classic Countdowns sooner.

7:29- Instead of the traditional preshow entertainment you get at the cinema like movie trailers or even commercials, we are stuck watching a little animation loop with a grating light jazz ditty playing in the background. It may have already driven me insane.

7:30- Thank God the show started just before I tore off my own ears. We first get a pre-mini-countdown-rundown-thingy of those corps considered for this countdown. I don’t know if this pre-mini-countdown-rundown-thingy was assembled in any real order because it doesn’t seem to be chronological or alphabetical. Maybe it was done by how the shows did in the online poll that determined what I’ll be watching tonight. I’m starting to think I maybe should have voted in that.

7:33- As the pre-mini-countdown-rundown-thingy continues I wonder if the new DCI slogan “marching music’s major league” is going to do anyone any good. No outsider knows what they mean by “marching music”, and the comparison to baseball’s major league is completely off the mark. I’m sure Bands of America would love to be considered some second-rate puppet organization to Drum Corps International.

7:35- Seeing a clip of this show reminds me, does it bother anyone else that the Cavalier’s 2003 World Championship show is best known for a moment that includes no real marching and almost no music?

7:39- Through the miracle of prerecording, Steve Rondinaro is welcoming us to the show from Pasadena and pimping the DCI Championships that coincidently will be held at the Rose Bowl this August.

7:40- We get our first full show of the night which means this is the show that placed eighth in the online poll

The Garfield Cadets, 1987- Selections from Appalachian Spring

7:40- Could we make Michael Cesario the drum corps version of John Madden complete with the rotund physique, the jovial attitude, and the tendency to ramble about obvious points. I think with the write marketing package we could make it happen.

7:41- The Cadets have “boisterous”, ballet-style male dancer which you just don’t see much for some bizarre reason.

7:45- I may not know all the history of every drum corps, but I have the unshakeable impression that we could put every Cadets show of the last 25 years into a figurative bag pull one out at random and have no idea which year it came from. I know there is something to be said for consistency and tradition, but come on.

7:48- This was the performance where the Cadets famously earned a perfect percussion score. The really interesting thing is that they seem to have done it not so much through flair or brilliance from the battery drums out on the field, but through precision and grace from the pit percussion sitting on the sidelines.

7:49- These may well be the worst color guard uniforms ever. They have big baggy dresses in garish colors and just a bit of a resemblance to bloody facial tissue.

7:50- What?! Did that company front just disappear than reappear? OMG!!1! It’s like magic! I am so glad Cesario told us to watch out for that moment.

The Bridgemen, 1980

7:51- Wait if the Bridgemen are the “clown princes” of drum corps, what does that make the Velvet Knights?

7:52- Not only could you not get away with a Bridgemem style show with all the zany stunts and gags, no way could you get away with their bright yellow rain slicker uniforms. Those things are hard on the eyes.

7:56- Never have I seen any man handle a costumed chicken with as much care as I saw that Bridgeman set down their mascot.

7:58- I catch myself tapping actually tapping my toes to “In the Stone”. I would never do that in real life. Curse you Bridgemen!

8:00- I am not nearly as shocked with the guy in the bright red clown wig as I am that all the featured horn players look like rejects from the Electric Light Orchestra.(At this point you’re probably starting to wonder if we were passing around psychotropic substances in the theater. No, I assure you this is just what the Bridgemen are always like.)

8:02- In my day job I’m teaching middle schoolers about the Civil War. I think I might be able to use the last section of this show, titled “War Between the States” as a teaching tool if I can get it past the school board.

Star of Indiana, 1993- The Music of Barber and Bartok

8:06- When Cesario mentioned that this show was controversial in its time, it made me proud that drum corps in some small way shared in the proud artistic tradition of stirring public debate and discomfort, like Elvis Presley, Catcher in the Rye, and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.

8:07- Of course they talk about how odd it was that this show went from being polemic when it first appeard to becoming a cult favorite of drum corps fans today. Ummm, didn’t they want to note that Blast! incorporated huge chunks of this show into their drum corps based Broadway show. So now drum corps fans pretty much have to accept it into the mainstream since it has been offered up for mass consumption.

8:09- The plain and simple black tights the color guard are wearing prove that this show was designed by either a true minimalist or a true cheapskate.

8:12- The guard whips out the brightest most festive flags of the whole show during a passage of extremely subtle and muted music. Yeah, okay, now I’m starting to get why this was a controversial show. Plus the guard’s props and equipment have been weird all show. They’ve already used dowel rods and what looked like partial frames to IKEA furniture.

8:15- You can clearly hear someone from the audience scream “Go finish it!” as the show approaches its closing moments. Now that he mentions it with a nebulous show like this I can’t help but wonder how they end it with anything that looks or sounds like a grand finale.

Blue Devils, 1994- My Spanish Heart

8:19- I could listen to Michael Cesario describe things as “sensual” and “animalistic” all day. Really, just listen to that voice and tell me you wouldn’t love to hear a heavy set guy from New York describe the way you eat donuts as “sensual” and “animalistic”.

8:20- Just from watching the mist filled footage of this show I got the actual physical sensation of being in Foxboro stadium on that cool summer night. That’s what makes these Classic Countdowns such a great experience.

8:22- As the Blue Devils perform I could feel all the people in the theatre pick’em apart. As soon as they came on screen I could see everyone shift in their sheet to take a more aggressive posture. I keep hearing them make little comments and take digs about the show. I just can sense how much drum corps fans love to hate the Blue Devils. No doubt about it they are the Yankees of DCI, which just leaves the question of whether the Santa Clara Vanguard are the Red Sox or the Mets.

8:25- Not much to say about this show. It’s a classic show and a typical Blue Devils performance. What do you want from me? The Blue Devils are what we thought they were. They're what we thought they were. We watched them in prelims. I mean, who the hell takes the three rounds of the prelims like it's b.s.? We watched them the whole season, everybody played their show... the Blue Devils are who we thought they were! That’s why we let them take the damn field! Now, if you want to crown them, then crown their ass! But, they are who we thought they were, and we let them off the hook!

8:30- Okay we get it BD the show’s title is “My Spanish Heart”. You’ve got like three different heart formations in your marching patterns and you have that constant heart beat in the background. It’s clearly a very heart themed show. We get it.

8:32- Now we have the mandatory pimping of Pasadena to appease the shows sponsors from the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce, because apparently its very difficult to get people to visit Southern California in the summer.

8:33- Hmmm, all the tourist attractions featured would fall under the Trivial Pursuit category of “Arts & Leisure” (Trivial Pursuit being the definitive guide for all questions of knowledge categorization). Apparently the sponsors from the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce don’t think drum corps fans would be interested in their vibrant lucha libre community.

The Cavalier, 2006- Machine

8:35- I’m pretty sure I heard people groan when this show was announced. Listen when you can get sick of watching recent shows after just a few viewing, I say that’s a good sign you need to retire to some old school mix tapes from Drum Corps World.

8:38- I complained that the Blue Devils 1994 show beat their motif into the ground, but they’ve got nothing on the 2006 Cavies. They incorporate machine like elements into every facet of the show including driving the symbolism into our skulls like a ruthlessly efficient industrial device.

8:40- Someone please tell me that I wasn’t the only one who saw those guard uniforms and thought of Captain Power. Come on, help me out Children of the Eighties.

8:44- I guess one advantage of an all male corps is that you can have all the members of your color guard do some pretty athletic stuff, like lifting each other off the field. I can’t help but wonder if the creator of Blades of Glory got their idea from DCI.

8:47- That show was like Return of the King it had about nine different places it could have stopped before its actual ending and been just as good.

The Phantom Regiment 2006- Faust

8:49- Well the fans voted the 2006 runner-up over the 2006 champion. Maybe this is why it is so hard to persuade fans of traditional sports that subjectively scored events like this, synchronized swimming, and ice dancing uphold the same pure competitive ideals of other sports with their Super Bowls and winner take all tournaments. Hear that college football. Subjectivity is bad.

8:53- With all the satanic imagery I’m surprised the people who protest the Harry Potter books weren’t all up in arms about a corps named after ghosts doing a show about a deal with the devil.

8:55- I don’t know if any corps has given us many pure brilliant brass moments through the years as Phantom.

8:56- One of those ultimate questions if you’re a drum corps fan is whether you prefer your Regiment in white or black uniforms. I’m for the all black look myself, though I don’t mind if you prefer the white. If you genuinely like their short lived khaki look though, don’t ever talk to me.

9:00- I guess that big guard outfit at the end was supposed to be an angel of some kind, but I thought it look more like a drag queen getup from Brazilian Carnival.

Madison Scouts, 1995- A Drum Corps Fan's Dream: A Day in the Life of a Bull Fighter

9:01- I remember this show as the definition of everything that’s great and flawed about the Madison Scouts. First they pick a show that’s meant to be raw masculinity and power, terrific choice for one of the few all male corps. However they played their biggest and best song “Bolero” by Ravel as their on-field warm-up before they can earn any points for their performance. Just to show how big, loud and manly they are they spend most of that year performing their show half-spent from the preshow. The ultimate example of blowing your wad to soon.

9:05- The sheer amount of testosterone dripping out of the Scouts as they blaze away on the field makes me think that for every upside of an all male corps the Cavs have shown us, we’ve seen a downside from the Scouts.

9:11- Watching the guard in their glittery matador outfits, I’m surprised they didn’t try to reenact a bloody bullfight somehow. I’m absolutely sure they tried.

Santa Clara Vanguard, 1989- Phantom of The Opera

9:15- Y’know I don’t think I’ll be able to enjoy our top corps’ performance as much now that Cesario has told us that its pretty much an edited repeat of their previous show. Didn’t anyone call shenanigans on this? How can you do okay one year then come back the next year with a director’s cut of the same show and be allowed to win the championship?

9:17- Boy if there has ever been a corps in need of a classic and definitive uniform it’s the Santa Clara Vanguard. Frankly, I’ve never liked any of their costumes, and I can’t help but think that that affected their general effect scores.

9:18- O.K. The eye patches to mimic the famous Phantom half-mask I get, but making the kids with glasses wear one is pretty bloody funny whether they wanted it to be or not.

9:20- DCI’s experiments in frame-in-frame set ups that show both the whole ensemble and the soloists were on display in his footage as the total train wrecks that they were.

9:24- “Music of the Night” has to put chills down your spine. I don’t care who you are. It is the only Andrew Lloyd Webber song I can stand, because it’s just that damn brilliant.

Overall Impressions- Not a bad evening out. I thought they were eight good performances, but not the all time greats they would have gone through at the earlier Classic Countdowns (which meant they couldn’t be used this year). I think getting another look at recent greats like the 2006 Phantom and Cavs were good, plus I think 1994 BD and 1989 SCV belong among the all-time Top 12 even if the vox populi disagrees.