Tuesday, July 19, 2016

July 18, 2016 - Tour of Champions - Warrensburg, MO

Concord, CA - Blue Devils - As Dreams Are Made On - I just didn't want this to end - it is so beautiful and so well done and they just keep getting better - which is very hard to imagine what their score will be by the end - I am so happy for my friend Kim's son Tanner - who is marching this year - what fun he must be having.  Also - I am guard guy - but I would love to play trombone in that corps - man they just rock - what they play and how they dance - mind blowing - foot work while playing - it is just incredible -Love the color combination - has to be one of my favorites and really looks like the sea   Score: 84.75        Place:  1

Canton, Ohio - Bluecoats - Down Side Up - Love this show too - another amazing show - .One thing that was disturbing was the number of wholes - and hope this is not like what happened to the Cavaliers last year with the illness that went through the corps - I love the ballad - that jazz is really awesome and the Metheny music just rocks - It is hard to not just sit and watch to take it all in.
Score:   84.65     Place:   2  

LaCrosse. WI - The Blue Stars - Le Reve' -   It is really nice to see this corps back in the thick of things - I do like the show the more I see it - I don't understand it any better than the first time I saw it - and I have to say that compared to the first 2 - The Blue Stars have a long way to go - lots of messiness - I think their color guard does way too much - as a result it seems to be constantly a mess -  they need to dial it back a bit and be a little cleaner - with all the costumes and costume changes - it just gets to be too much - but as I said - the show is growing on me
Score:   74.95      Place:  8

Santa Clara, CA - The Vanguard - Force of Nature -  Earth Song is just beautiful - Love the show - some form errors - Hard to tell where they will finish - but such a beautiful show from start to finish.
Score:   81.15      Place:  5

Rockford/Loves-Park, IL - Phantom Regiment - Voice of Promise-  I'm not sure I understand why they do Young Person's Guide - when it feels like the show ends at the conclusion of the song before it.  It's not that it is awful - just not sure I get that.  I am fairly certain I am not fond of the pony tails on the guard.  I know they "work the hair" but tonight it bothered me enough to say it. This just isn't one of my favorite Phantom shows - But - don't get me wrong - the music is beautiful - felt bad for the rifle soloist on the platform - she dropped - last show she released with her hand to the right a bit but snagged it - tonight it just went too far and she lost it.  That was a huge bummer.
Score:   77.65      Place:  7

Fort Mills, SC - Carolina Crown - Relentless - I am curious to see what they have done that has moved them so close to Blue Coats -  Well now Roxanne makes a bit more sense than it did - backing up a stage coach?  Really?  I have to think that maybe Steam-Punk was not the best idea - They were so much better than they had been - but I still don't get it completely - not like some of the other shows - it's a bummer - but clearly they are a crowd favorite
Score:   83.95     Place:   3  

Rosemont, IL - The Cavaliers - Propaganda - Man are they having trouble with their sound tonight - feedback is nasty - well - except for the feedback thing - the show was amazing like always - Just not sure how they will fare tonight with that feedback thing - it did seem to really hinder them - musically
Score:  80.00    Place:  6

Allentown, PA - The Cadets - Awakening - Some rough moments in the drill before the tan people come out - the climax of that section was not too pretty - Color Guard is amazing compared to last year - some really good stuff - but there are still segments of this show I just don't get - I know the new guard caption head is from Mechanicsburg High School - I wonder how many of the girls in the guard are also from Mechanicsburg?  That is Mechanicsburg, PA - They have a World class WGI Scholastic color guard - and a National Caliber marching band.  The response at the end was a bit underwhelming - as was the crowd response.
Score:   81.50    Place:  4


Can't imagine marching a show and then coming back out to play the encore or exhibition to kill time while they finish the scores - I'm going to add photos to the bottom of the page tonight -

Going out on a limb here and predicting before the scores -  Devils, Coats, Crown, Vanguard, Cavaliers, Cadets, Phantom, and Star- interesting to see how close I am to be correct.  Well I was a little mixed up in the middle but actually the way it played out is the way I really thought it would - I just went with sentimental favorites - but pretty good - and the scores are getting closer -

I can't say it enough - no matter what these students are to be commended - They are all extraordinary!!

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