DCI MN 2010 Recap: The Show
Thursday, July 22, 2010 at 10:21PMWith the weather becoming unpredictable and the lot scene drying up due to the oddly detailed and unnecessarily long 51 minute first intermission (what's the point of one 51 minute intermission and then following it with two 17 minute ones? I would love to get some insight into the scheduling process) it was time to head into TCF Bank Stadium for some full corps performances.
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Welcome to "THE BANK!"
This was my first time in the new TCF Bank stadium and I was extremely impressed with the layout of the facility. The open end of the stadium that you can see above looks out over Williams Arena and provides a fantastic view of the Minneapolis skyline.
The concourses had ample space but quickly became choked off whenever a group of more than two attendants decided to park in the middle of the concourse to chat (an issue that was magnified by the delays when the crowd poured into the concourse and forced some awkward maneuvering to a souvie stand or restroom). Speaking of the restrooms, well, we'll get back to that later... I also want to note that the reverberation in the stadium reminds me of Camp Randall in Madison, WI (a huge benefit for a drum corps show) and it certainly added to the presentation of all the corps...
Because of the delays that had already occurred, we were fortunate enough to catch the last 2 minutes or so of Pioneer's performance from the vantage point you see above. Seeing the corps final push to towards the stands in the pouring rain sent a familiar tingle up my spine and had Michael and I hyped beyond belief for the rest of the corps...
...and then Brandt Crocker announced the second rain delay of show.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
A travesty to be sure, but we managed to keep our spirits up with some word games in the end zone:
As you can imagine, that grew old pretty quick (actually it didn't we spent the next 12 hours trying to see how many words we could string together) so we met up with the rest of our family and friends and waited for Spirit to take the field...
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I've been a big fan of Spirit's drumline since Shane Gwaltney took over as percussion coordinator and they did not disappoint. The member performed at a very high level but the theme: "Forging an Icon" for me, left a little to be desired. The corps utilized some very cool electronic sound effects (steam whistles, sledge hammer impacts, pneumatic hammers driving rivets, etc...) but they were far too loud in the overall mix and took all the force out of what seemed to be a strong horn line (I couldn't get a good read through the electronics). I'm also not a big fan of moving/rolling large props or flats around the field but to their credit it never became a distraction from the overall presentation. I can't help but think this show could have been just as effective, if not more so by dropping the esoteric "storyline" and showcasing the talents of their members with some musical selections from the corps rich history.
Next up: The Crossm... wait... what?! ANOTHER DELAY?!
YOU'VEGOTTABEKIDDINGME!
Well since the only impending doom was provided by thunder and lightning, accompanied by a slight drizzle Michael and I went and met up with an old friend from our High School marching band days to help pass the time. At that point we were all thankful that the show hadn't been cancelled yet and had a chance to continue... after what seemed like an eternity Crossmen were able to take the field...
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If you read our recap of our time in The Lot you'll remember that the Crossmen drumline was very impressive during their warm up but I was definitely concerned about them having to perform after such a long wait under the stadium. Despite a few odd occurrences, (including a snare player losing his aussie in the first third of the show) I thoroughly enjoyed Crossmen's performance. Of course, I'm a sucker for any show that utilizes the works of Pat Metheny, and when you combine that source material with a great drumline: I'm in! Crossmen's show design was definitely more traditional than Spirit's but the repetitive nature of Metheny's works didn't quite provide the excitement I had hoped for.
Next up: The Madisoooooooooon Scouts!
sidebar: what kind of scratch would it take to get Brandt Crocker to announce every drum corps show or at least to have him pre-record his introductions?! Come on DCI, let's make this happen!
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The Scouts were the first corps I had ever heard a recording of and they'll always have a special place in my heart as a result. I have to admit that while I was sceptical of the "throwback" uniforms this year, they definitely looked great from where we sat and this was probably my favorite Scouts production of the last 5 years. I love the fact that this show is untitled, it sums up everything I love about drum corps... (P.S. Madison is on pace to make finals this year!!! 11th place overall as of today: July 22nd)
Next up: Colts
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The Colts drumline was in straight up "beast mode" when we saw them in the lot (see for yourself on the Videos page) and like Spirit I thought the performance level was very high across the board but the show design left me confused and frustrated. I'm afraid that Colts show this year is an example of how the WGI model can go horribly wrong in a drum corps setting. The show is titled "True Colors" and on a first read seems to revolve around a "character" who wants to participate in every section (i.e. finding their passion->purpose->true self->True Colors?) and ends up "directing" the corps. That all sounds fine on paper but it is driven by some of the most ridiculous faux-enthusiasm-infused voice over I've ever heard. I applaud the design team for trying something different but it was hands down my most disappointing show of the day.
After Colts we had performances from the two All-Age (DCA) corps:
Govenaires and Minnesota Brass Inc.
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MBI
Unfortunately I was only able to get the one picture between these two corps due to battery issues but I'll give a brief summary of each:
Govies: Do what they do and they do it well...
MBI: Still rough around the edges and I was surprised they didn't have a larger horn line but the guard and drumline is selling the show nicely and with a few more weeks of cleaning they could contend for a top 3 spot at DCA championships.
Next up: Troopers
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Troopers are solid once again this year, and their theme "Wanted" was a perfect fit for the vibe of the corps. Strong efforts from all sections but other than the acrobatic "fall" in the very beginning of the show (that drew gasps from the crowd of 7,000+) there really wasn't much for memorable moments in this show. (Could have been a bi-product of all the time in the tunnel?)
Next up: Blue Knights
Unfortunately I couldn't hold off nature any longer and had to take a break during the Blue Knights performance. I heard some fantastic sound from the concourse and definitely regret leaving my seat when I did. Best of luck to BK the rest of the season!
Next up: Glassmen
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I haven't been able to see much of the Glassmen besides what I can find on YouTube or the Fan Network but have heard they've been consistently improving year over year and I was very excited to see them live. In my opinion, Glassmen's show: "The Prayer Cycle" was the most intriguing and well executed of the day! The use of religious iconography in the members body movement and drill combined with haunting musical strains had synapses firing in my brain throughout the performance. I also want to applaud the team that designed Glassmen's uniforms, those members look like GIANTS with the tall cream plumes bleeding into the shako and onto the uniform jacket. Combined with the gold accents and black pants they would have taken home my "best dressed" award if not for the final corps to take the field:
Phantom Regiment
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I don't know if anyone else has seen footage of PR's drumline this year but these guys are absolutely ON FIRE. Their percussion book reminds me of the 2007 iteration but with a level of cleanliness that makes me think of the single-called-tick judges tape from 2006 Finals. Between my geeking out over the show design principals of Phantom's 2010 production "Into the Light" and Michael's anticipation of seeing his former corps throw down in the biggest event to hit Minnesota in years we were a few moments shy of storming the field and jumping in with the snare line!
Then we noticed something was... off.
The corps had been at their opening set for well over a minute and there was no introduction from Brandt Crocker... What was the hold up? The sky was dark but there wasn't any lightning that we could see and no thunder to be heard either. Suddenly the corps began to leave the field!
WHAT THE F***?!?! (going "into the light" - of despair)
As the corps left the field Mr. Crocker made his final announcement of the evening: "We have reports of lightning within a blah blah blah..." before he finished I knew the show was over. Running well over an hour behind schedule and with eight more corps left to perform after Phantom there just wasn't enough time regardless of how crazy he weather got; and it was mighty crazy indeed...
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Only a few moments after Phantom left the field, the security staff began to usher the enitre audience into the restrooms and rear concourses since we had a tornado warning in for the area and the wind and rain began to pick up. As Michael and I passed the first souvie booth straight-line winds came rushing through the concourse knocking over entire racks of merchandise, display cases and lighting all the way around the stadium. At that point the crowd became much more motivated to get into the safest place in the building ASAP.
Michael and I were lucky enough to be able to wait out the weather in the rear concourse which was far more spacious than the restrooms and as fate would have it we ran into former Blue Devils Q5 member Eli Johnson (also an alumni of MBI and Carolina Crown)! We also ran into some some current Blue Devils members that were sick of being underneath the stadium for what must have been over an hour and a half and came up for air. Thankfully (as far as I know) no one was seriously injured and after a long wait we were able to safely get back to our vehicles and head home (albeit through sheets of rain).
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While I was disappointed that we weren't able to see the final 9 corps, I'm also thankful that we were able to spend time with some groups that I normally wouldn't get a chance to spend much time with given the wealth of corps at the event. It gave me a new appreciation for just how deep the talent pool is in DCI this year and it has reinvigorated me to double my efforts with my own students and of course on Rüdimentality ;-) I hope you've enjoyed our reflections on the madness that was DCI Minnesota 2010, and we hope to provide even more coverage the rest of this season and (hopefully) many more events in 2011!
Thanks for reading!
Reader Comments (2)
You long winded SOB, Eric Palmer... Get to the point! A couple other trivial things to add to this masterpiece! While some of you were not getting yelled at by the yellow shirted renta-cops -- being shoved into already crowed bathrooms full of not so well groomed people, the rest of us were in the basement with various drum corps and a thousand other people. I am pretty sure the temp went from a balmy 85* to 105* by the time they let us resurface to the coolness of the concourse level. Then only to be told THE EVENT IS CANCELED. I am still waiting for an email from DCI saying that we will be getting a big fat discount on any other DCI show that we want to attend this year. The billing on this event did say Rain or Shine, however, no mention of Tornadoes. $50 seats... no top ten corps = too expensive
Oh I got to the point all right: in the most thorough way possible ;-) Personally I didn't mind dodging the security staff (that's how we made it to the concourse after all) and felt I got $50 worth out of the day, let me know if you do manage to get a refund or discount on future shows!
eP