August 17, 2018Volume 47, Number 10Copyright 2018 by Sights & Sounds, Inc. in the United States and Canada. The logo for Drum Corps World is a registered trademark and is protected by all applicable laws. Material originally published in Drum Corps World (in print or on-line) may not be reproduced in any other publication or in any electronic medium -- in whole or in part -- without the written permission of the publisher, in advance. Drum Corps World is published on-line monthly, for a total of 12 issues, plus five weekly e-mail blasts during June, July and August, with additional show reviews and photography. This is a complimentary service provided by Sights & Sounds, Inc., a privately-owned Wisconsin corporation, dedicated to the distribution of news, photographs and feature material on the drum and bugle corps activity worldwide through publishing Drum Corps World, as well as graphic design and recorded products and implementation of printed materials. Drum Corps World is provided free through financial support from advertising placed by companies, show sponsors and corps worldwide, and through the sale of history books, historic CDs and DVDs. Please support our advertisers and thank them for believing in Drum Corps World!Statements or opinions of columnists, correspondents, staff members, advertisers or readers that appear in Drum Corps World do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher or owners.Register a change of e-mail address at least 10 days prior to the next issue release date by sending an e-mail with old and new address to: publisher@drumcorpsworld.com.Advertising specifications and demographic information will be supplied upon request. Information about advertising can be viewed at www.drumcorpsworld.com -- click on “Advertising” in the menu bar. A proposed advertising program can be provided by the publisher. Published by Sights & Sounds, Inc.Mailing/shipping address:4926 North Sherman Avenue, Unit HMadison, WI 53704-8443Madison office phone:608-241-2292 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM Central time, Monday - Friday, 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM Central time, Saturday/SundayProduct order line:608-241-22929:00 AM to 9:00 PM Central time, Monday - Friday9:00 AM to 9:00 PM Central time, Saturday/SundayWeb site:www.drumcorpsworld.comMadison staff:Steve VickersPublisher / Editor / Graphic DesignE-mail: publisher@drumcorpsworld.comAdvertising sales: Jeff Collins 916-200-8151 (cell, California)E-mail: jcdrumman1@yahoo.com or Steve Vickers 608-241-2292 (office, Wisconsin)E-mail: publisher@drumcorpsworld.com or 608-249-2590 (Steve’s cell, Wisconsin) 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM Central time, Monday - Friday 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM Central time, Saturday/SundayThe next issueThe September edition will be uploaded to the Internet on Friday, September 7, with full coverage of DCA Championships.Photo creditsSupport our advertisersFront cover: Santa Clara Vanguard, Santa Clara, CA (John Matter)Back cover: Blue Devils B, Concord, CA (Donny HelveyJuly 13 contents 4 • 08/11 -- Indianapolis, IN, DCI Finals, Gary Dickelman 18 • 08/11 -- Indianapolis, IN, DCI Finals from the fifth level, photos by Chris Maher 20 • 08/10 -- Class of 2018 age-outs, Russell Tanakaya 22 • 08/11 -- SoundSport and DrumLine Battle, Timothy Kearney 28 • 08/10 -- Indianapolis, IN, DCI Semi-finals, Larry Denman 38 • 08/09 -- Indianapolis, IN, DCI Prelims, Donald Chinn 51 • Corrections 52 • DCI marks 15 years in movie theaters, Kevin Gamin 53 • Completing a summer with the Bluecoats, part, Landry Kendrick 54 • 08/07 -- DCI Performer’s Showcase, Russell Tanakaya 58 • 08/06 -- DCI Open Class Prelims, Chris Maher 64 • 08/07 -- DCI Open Class Finals, Amanda Maher 68 •08/11 -- Jefferson Township, NJ, DCA show, Fran Haring 72 • Early-season review of DCUK corps, Lawrence Nicholwitz 76 • 08/06 -- Massillon, OH, Kevin Gamin 80 • 08/06 -- Allentown, PA, DCI East, Park 1, Timothy Kearney 86 • 08/04 -- Allentown, PA, DCI East, Part 2, Gary Dickelman 90 • 08/04 -- Avon Lake, OH, Kevin Gamin 94 • 08/02 -- Lawrence, MA, Timothy Kearney 98 • 08/04 -- Kingston, NY, DCA show, Bill Flaker102 • 08/05 -- Pittsburgh, PA, William Aldrich-Thorpe106 • So, the current-day drum corps activitiy . . . , Dale Lofgren107 • Yamaha marks 34 years of excellence with DCI108 • 07/27 -- Dothan, AL, photos109 • 07/27 -- Cape Girardeau, MO, photos110 • 07/29 -- White Lake, MI, photos111 • 07/29 -- Oskaloosa, IA, photos112 • 07/31 -- Annapolis, MD, photos113 • 08/01 -- Dixon, IL, photos114 • 08/02 -- Rome, NY, photos115 • 08/03 -- Plainwell, MI, photos116 • 08/03 -- Cedar Rapids, IA, photos117 • 08/04 -- Metamora, IL, photosDrum Corps World 3 • Drillmasters Shoes 7 • Kaleidoscope AdventuresTHE BLUE DEVILS WON 348 CONTESTS AND 10 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS INMAYBE YOU SHOULD TEST-MARCH A FREE PAIR ?www.systemblue.org www.drillmaster.com If you march our shoes or previously received a free pair please understand this offer is not available to you.Ask your dealer, now!BLUE DEVILS 348-10 CHAMP.indd 13/21/18 5:15 PMTHE BLUE DEVILS WON367 CONTESTS AND10 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS OVER 17 YEARS INAugust 11, 2018 -- Indianapolis, IN . . . The 2018 Drum Corps International season can be characterized, on the one hand, by innovative and disruptive change, while in other respects it was typical drum corps of recent years. On the latter point, the pecking order was characteristically established very early on, with only a small number of heated competitive reversals -- for example, between Boston Crusaders and The Cavaliers, and between Blue Knights, Blue Stars, Phantom Regiment and Mandarins. Positions have otherwise been relatively stable since the latter days of July. Guards still tossed rifles and sabers, and drum lines (aka “batteries”) consisted of snares, multi-tenors, basses and (sometimes) cymbals. There remained some recognizable marching in discrete segments of performances (when not running or perched on props) and some brass remained un-microphoned (albeit inadvertently amplified). On the former point, 2018 marked a quantum leap in loss of visual identity as iconic uniforms were further replaced by WGI-style performance costumes. “Who is that?” was heard frequently from the stands as a corps was entering the field. Bluecoats had no blue, Madison Scouts had no green, The Cadets had no recognizable patterns of maroon, gold and cream, and so on. It is interesting that The Cadets retained a young recruiter at shows who wandered the marketplaces and concession areas in the iconic Holy Name uniform. Thank you, Crossmen, The Cavaliers, Carolina Crown and only a few others, for at least a thread of historical reference in the costumes.Visceral color contrast was provided by guard, dancers and their props, especially large, colorful flags and tarps of a pallet opposite that of the musician’s uniforms. It seemed a requirement to organize the field by creating boundaries with props and rearranging them frequently to change the mood in support of musical selections and story lines. This tacit requirement added yet another huge vehicle to many corps’ fleets to transport the mammoth structures. Moving them onto the field added physical burden to the performers. Further, it took a fan at least five or six viewings of a show (maybe more) to experience everything that was going on in the span of 13 minutes. I, for one -- who covered a number of shows for Drum Corps World this summer and carefully studied each storyline and repertoire -- was still picking up nuances on finals night. I conducted an unscientific, ad hoc statistical analysis which concluded with a correlation between competitive placement and the degree to which the design team ventured into the third dimension. It seems that the taller and more plentiful the props upon which to perform, the higher the placement (all other factors being equal). Shakos or any form of headgear have become a thing of the past, except when enhancing the costume, or where tall, puffy plumes are used as props when coordinated with synchronous head movements. Hoods and face masks (Phantom Regiment and Santa Clara Vanguard) replaced conventional marching headgear, if any at all.There was much, much more running from place to place and dancing by the on-field musicians than in years past and a lot more performance without movement as musicians were positioned on props and/or placed in stationary, contorted body positions while playing. Without headgear, facial expressions were much more integrated with show themes. We saw lots of smiles, grimaces, beastly expressions of dominance (Crown), uplifting exhilaration, despair, elation and more. More facial makeup was applied (CrownGUARD, Boston Crusaders’ guard) than ever before to support the 19-year drought ends with Santa Clara Vanguard victory at 46th DCI Championship showdownby Gary Dickelman, Drum Corps World staff (gdickelman@epsscentral.net)stage production. Noteworthy is a question written to me by a 1960s drum corps contemporary: “If the visual judges are so far away and the summer weather so hot that makeup often runs and smears in the first minute of a show, why bother?” I don’t have an answer. The practice is perhaps a crossover from WGI, as so many from that activity have found their way into DCI and perhaps overlooked the difference between a basketball court and a football field.Without exception, soloists and small ensembles were microphoned (“miked”) and amplified via larger and more sophisticated audio systems. To the utter frustration of many fans, it was almost impossible to locate miked soloists and small ensembles, as the huge speakers from which the sound emanated bore no positional relationship to where these musicians were performing. The nature of the amplified sound of soloists suggests that it might be recorded or synthesized in many cases. Amplified or recorded voice continued to be applied this year, although thankfully much more balanced and less distracting than we’ve sometime experienced in the past. Unless one was sitting in the first few rows at field level and in front of a speaker, it was impossible to understand the recorded spoken word, as the acoustics of an indoor stadium such as Lucas Oil -- and the vast distances from speaker to fan -- render comprehension hopeless. Designers: Lucas Oil stadium has a footprint of about 170,000 square meters and is almost 100 meters tall; the speed of sound is 343 meters/second. Just sayin’. Sound tracks that are designed to supplement and enhance the productions were much more persistent and dominant this year. Many fans were astonished to experience a standstill performances of productions when bad weather rendered a field too dangerous for performing, or during a post-show encore. Just brass and battery (no front ensemble, audio track or amplification), exposed remarkable arrangements and musicianship on the one hand, while on the other hand communicated just how much a field production depends on recorded and synthesized elements. In some cases, recorded accompaniment does not merely enhance, but is the sole audio experience. This was telegraphed several times during standstills when the drum major conducted many measures of silence before the brass and battery resumed.DCI World Championship Finals included Crossmen, Phantom Regiment, Mandarins (for the first time -- congrats!), Blue Knights, Blue Stars, The Cadets, The Cavaliers, Boston Crusaders, Carolina Crown, Bluecoats, Blue Devils and Santa Clara Vanguard. Yes, that was both the performance order and the reverse order of placement. Congratulations to the Santa Clara Vanguard!The level of musicianship and general performance excellence of the top 12 has risen dramatically over the years, reaching a peak this year. Thankfully, many of the visceral human emotions that result from the magic of certain brass and percussion themes were evoked as such vignettes played out from time to time. But there were also many sagging moments where excitement was lost to the nouveau art of contemporary DCI. The crowd nonetheless expressed gratitude with standing ovations for many blow-the-hair-back finales, impossible double- and triple-tonguing licks, ionospheric trumpet screams, loud mellophone riffs, high-velocity tuba runs and very, very, very, very, long, sustained mellophone notes (. . . by you-know-who). There were battery breaks of rudiment-crammed measures executed precisely at tempos exceeding 200 bpm, front ensemble arpeggios where you could not see the hands or mallets for their excessive speed, equipment tosses that defied gravity and flag work of such speed and color to assault the visual senses. And The Cadets brought back the “Z-pull” which rubber-bands the brass such that it unfolds and stretches from end zone to end zone, a signature move first introduced in 1983.Finals night began with a performance by “The Commandant’s Own,” the United States Marine Corps Drum and Bugle Corps, a fixture of DCI Championship Finals night. The corps’ 2018 “Music in Motion” show is titled “Furia,” which commemorates 26 days in June 1918 when the 5th and 6th Marine Regiments defended Paris from the Germans at the Battle of Belleau Wood and earned the U.S. marines the nickname “Devil Dog” (hellhound). At this, the 100th anniversary of the battle, the show honors fierce courage and tenacity, including sights and sounds of battle, as composed by Hans Zimmer for the movie “Angels & Demons,” arranged by Sergeant Jonathon Davis. Following a conclusion of Stars and Stripes Forever to which the audience clapped along, the Marine Drum and Bugle Corps followed its field show with a performance of our National Anthem.The first corps to compete was the Crossmen (left, Chris Maher), performing their 2018 production, “In Between,” where they “explore the space between the no-longer and the not-yet.” There is magic in finals night, as each corps exerts the full measure of its talents and passion into this, the final performance of the year. The Crossmen evoked expressions of disbelief, that a show performed with such precision and emotional appeal could be followed by anything better. For sure, all 12 finalists were remarkable this evening, with placement determined mostly by nuance that only adjudicators understand.Broken hourglass props that represent souls are placed around the field, surrounding one large, unbroken one from which emanates that peculiar light that exists after passing from the mortal world. Musical selections are spot-on in support of the theme: Funeral for a Friend by Elton John, Upside Down by corps arranger Andrew Markworth, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony #6 and Sweetness Follows by REM. A proper mood is set through haunting, recorded audio that includes an organ, suggesting death -- as a dead woman is being carried mid-field to introduce the Soul of Lux and bring meaning to the large hourglass of Lux. The senses are then assaulted (and, of course, delighted) by a solid opening that conveys the talent and determination of the San Antonio corps. The Grim Reaper greets the soul of Lux and sets the dance theme. 2018 was the year of the costume and color contrast. Musicians were dressed in costumes bearing sufficient clues that this was the Crossmen, albeit with short sleeves, a cavalier headpiece with white and grey plume, and a pattern of gold and silver on the chest. By contrast, the guard was in purple tights, with a similar silver and gold breast pattern and bare midriff. Black and gold umbrella props that appear to be embroidered are applied, including by one flugel horn soloist early in the show on the Tchaikovsky piece. Purple and cream flags provide a pleasing backdrop to the action around Lux, the Grim Reaper and the musicians. Great drill work occurs around an impressive battery break, with an outstanding front ensemble adding texture to the piece. There is a guitar player in the front ensemble.The REM piece was gorgeous in this final performance, which began with a vocal track that morphed nicely to solid brass, replete with skilled triple tonguing. The finale of this show was solid, emotional and had the crowd on its feet. Great performance and a terrific season for Crossmen! This organization continues to improve each year and promises to move further into the finals pack in years to come. Wonderful!Next was Phantom Regiment (below, Chris Maher) performing “This New World.” I closed my eyes as I listened to the powerful opening phrases of Dvorák by this talented horn line and saw the classic Regiment. Wonderful! Phantom was completely charged this evening, a quantum leap above when I saw in them just a couple of weeks ago in Winston-Salem, NC, and in Chester, PA. Improvement over the past two nights were obvious as well, culminating in this outstanding final performance of 2018. Those great brass licks traded from mellophones to trumpets to low brass were spot-on this night. The huge multi-tenor line (where snares temporary join the tenor line) was super clean and the trombone and tuba feature was stronger and more entertaining, evoking great applause by the fans. With its eight large props formed by rolling rectangular platforms and ladders, gateway configurations were established and then redefined several times throughout the show, as the music supported the many emotions we experience around space and time. There were impressive solo and ensemble features throughout the show. Prior to the performance, I was fortunate to meet the parents of Phantom Regiment trumpet Miwa Morita -- one of several members who hail from Japan-- who is featured in one of the ensemble performances. It is such a delight to witness the faces of proud parents as the crowd cheers for their daughter and her amazing corps! Indeed, making the trek from Takasaki in which they had to weather a typhoon and a number of delay,s shows infinite commitment to their daughter’s performance education through drum corps. And like many other drum corps members, she’ll return home following the DCI season, switch uniforms and repertoire to embark on the next competitive marching music adventure that commences directly. Phantom’s was a well-chosen repertoire with respect to underscoring the corps’ identity and evoking those special emotions intended to complement the visuals (and vice-versa). They included Finale from “Mr. Magarium’s Wonder Emporium” by Zigman and Desplat, Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3, A Child’s Garden of Dreams by David Maslanka, Picture Studies by Adam Schoenberg and The New World Symphony by Anton Dvorák. The crowd was on its feet through Phantom’s finale, which included a signature, classical stance (crouched, with one leg extended), then a charge to the sideline to blow the hair back. Great job and terrific season, Phantom Regiment!Mandarins’ (above and left, Russell Tanakaya) “Life Rite After” was performed next, imagining what occurs with The Chosen One following the conclusion of Igor Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” and her Sacrificial Dance. The show traversed four movements beginning with Dimitri Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 8 in C Minor and proceeding through Thomas Doss’ Spiriti and Kelly and Steinberg’s True Colors. 2018 marks the first year Mandarins broke into DCI Finals and at 10th place. Congratulations!The musicians’ costumes were Mandarin-themed, although black and purple. The guard, by contrast, wore black and red, with an interesting headdress reminiscent of a court jester. The main prop was a huge, round, rotating platform upon which a number of vignettes took place. Again, color contrast was visceral, with bright orange flags against the costume purples and reds.This brass line excelled as we’ve not heard before. From big, long notes, to muted triple-tonguing features, to complex textures throughout the sections, the crowd was in awe. Trombones are introduced early, adding their uniqueness to the familiar drum corps sound. Remarkable visuals were emphasized by this amazing brass section and further punctuated by the expert battery and front ensemble. This is one corps that excels in both content and achievement in all aspects of music performance and truly moves the fans. Opening with a solo dancer literally soaring by herself on the center platform (above), one later sequence in the storyline revealed several guard members walking on stilts around the huge platform. As the stage for this performance was to be a place where “anything and everything can happen” to awaken the imagination, this sequence surely delivered. Imagery was built with a squad of illuminated rifles spinning effortlessly in unison and sequentially, plus a sensual assault as flags were switched to a blue and pink pallet. Oh, and don’t forget the signature drum corps long mellophone note that was sustained through the powerful brass and percussion sequence. What a great show, an amazing corps and a wonderful achievement to perform in Finals. Kudos!Next >