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DCI Show PTR- University of Akron - 6/21/14


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What's DCI you might ask? Drum Corps International. The best of the best. Indescribable music, powerful themes, and overall incredible talent. And these are only high school and college aged kids. Basically starting in the fall, there are music sessions and tryouts, and all winter and spring involves learning and mastering the music and drill. Then all summer long, the corps tour across the country and compete against other corps. Then in early August, nearly a year's worth of dedication and work comes down to the wire at Finals (that is, if the corps even advanced to finals). Learn more about DCI here: http://www.dci.org/about/

This past Saturday my high school offered a field trip (I guess you could call it that) for any band student interested in going together as a group to the DCi show at the University of Akron. I immediately knew I wanted to go, since I'm basically in love with DCI and many of the corps. I had never gone to a show before so had never experienced DCI other than having my speakers turned way up and watching videos on YouTube. $30 and an hour long bus ride later, we had arrived at the stadium.

We arrived early so a couple of my friends and I decided to go across the street to grab dinner at Taco Bell. Well, it turns out that a lot of other people had the same idea. Combine this with a poorly staffed restaurant and we ended up waiting in line for about 45 minutes. We had plenty of time, so we weren't concerned with it. I got each of the 3 types of loaded grillers plus a Dr. Pepper Vanilla Float Freeze.

Then it was time to go back to the stadium. All of the corps had booths or trailers selling shirts and souvenirs, so I bought a shirt from my favorite corps, Carolina Crown. We then found out seats with the rest of the group and got ready for the show.

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What I consider to be basically the introduction to the main show was a group called Rhythm in Blue, a Bluecoats alumni band. Bluecoats is a corps based from Canton, so this is their home field, per say. They just stood still on the field and played a medley of songs and did great, considering some of them haven't done this in a while.

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Then the start of the actual show began, with one of my favorite corps, The Cavaliers. Their show was called "Immortal" and included very theatrical elements in it. I really enjoyed it, and their sound blew me away.

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Waiting to enter the field.

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The color guard was ready to go.

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The show was interesting before it even began.

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These guys were really jamming and made the show even better than it already was.

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Awesome bass drums.

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Next corps: Madison Scouts. Their show was called "Time Trip." They had a great, powerful sounds but I wasn't a big fan of the theme, at least in the way they portrayed it. It didn't seem very cohesive or like it had a good story line. But they still did a really good job.

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Their field commander:

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10492475_640106726084920_865504655456117orps don't have trombones, this one had a tr

Corps don't have trombones but Madison Scouts had a trombone feature in their show. They didn't march but stood still on the field and they did a great job.

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This guy did nothing but slowly walk across the field for the entire show. I guess it was supposed to represent him walking through time, the theme of the show, but it was very odd.

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The bright flags nicely stand out against the black and white of the uniforms.

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The front ensemble was having fun.

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Epic trumpet solos and trios!

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Next up were the Boston Crusaders. Their show, "Animal Farm," was very interesting. I wasn't a big fan of it, but it was definitely unique. Just by looking at the masks worn by the color guard, you could tell this show would stand out. Unfortunately, many color guard members dropped their rifles, flags, and other equipment which detracted from the show. They still sounded good, but this was probably my least favorite show and corps of the night.

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Time for more: up next was Phantom Regiment. Their show was "Swan Lake" was was a great interpretation of it. Powerful music, moving storytelling, and a dramatic uniform change halfway through. I do like some of their previous shows better since this one didn't quite have the "in your face" sound to it, but instead I enjoyed it due to its theatrical elements and how the story was presented.

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The swans are in the lake. :)

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After the start of the uniform change:

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After that were The Cadets. I love this corp's strong, crisp sound. Last year I got to watch them rehearse at a nearby high school but this was the first time I've seen them actually perform. Their show, "Promise: An American Portrait," had a mix or narratives and song, which sort of reminded me of my band's competition show 2 years ago. It was very well done and I enjoyed it.

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More to come!

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Then came my all time favorite, and also the 2013 DCI World Champion, Carolina Crown. Their show, "Out of This World" combined incredible music, a drum feature involving items such as car mufflers for drums, the use of trampolines, frisbees, and an amazing overall effect. I was wowed and didn't want their show to end!

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They looked impressive just lining up to come onto the field to set up, between the sharp uniforms and the props (yes, the trampolines!).

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Just like in last year's show, this year's started with a vocal portion that added a nice effect.

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The field setup was very unique. Not only were there trampolines, but surrounding the trampolines were various percussion equipment. Usually all of this kind of stuff in front of the field.

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Is that a game of Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes? Nah. Just the #spacepantsband doing their thing. And yes, that hashtag is actually promoted by Carolina Crown.

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This was so cool.

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To end the night, the Bluecoats were last. I had heard a lot of hype about their show, "Tilt," and was really looking forward to seeing it. I had high expectations but it really blew me away. Enough so that it's tie with Carolina Crown's "Out of This World" for my favorite show of the night. The show's theme presented itself immediately. They basically tilted the field they marched on, using bright orange to outline the new field. Then there were many angular teeter-totter like props spread across the field that would be moved and utilized in cool ways throughout the show. Then the ending was the best. At one point, everyone is on their knees, and a synthesizer slowly lowered the pitch of the note while the members leaned and tilted. Then a series of impressive visuals and notes followed, before the synthesizer started to raise the pitch back up to where it was and the members basically un-tilted. It was one of the coolest things ever, both visually and musically. Then the show ended with people running up the ramps and jumping off. I'm still speechless about the show and is one of my favorite DCI shows ever.

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Waiting to set up the field:

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You can see how the field is "tilted."

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Tilt!

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A nice splash of color with the color guard.

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This was right before my favorite part with the synthesizer.

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Mid jump.

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This is how the very end of the show looked.

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Then afterwards, the Bluecoats got ready to stand still for an encore music performance, but unfortunately we had to get back on the buses to make it back to the school in time. But overall it was such an amazing night.

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Before we left I quickly grabbed a Tilt shirt since I loved the show so much!

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Not all of the corps have videos online yet of this year's shows, but I've tried to find at least some videos so you can actually watch and listen to some of these awesome corps perform. Oh, and be sure to turn up the volume when you watch these videos to experience what DCI music is like. :)

For the Cavaliers, I couldn't find any good 2014 videos yet, so here is a short clip from last year's show, Secret Society:

For Madison Scouts, again I didn't see any good videos from this year so here's the ending of last year's show, Corps of Brothers - 75 Years of Survival:

Same problem for Boston Crusaders, so here's part of Ride, their show from last year:

Again with Phantom Regiment, part of last year's show, Triumphant Journey.

I actually found a video of the closer for this year's show by The Cadets:

And here's a full length 2014 show rehearsal run through from Carolina Crown! (sorry for the poor quality, it's either this or no video from this year!)

I did find a full length rehearsal run through video of Tilt by the Bluecoats, but since yesterday the video has been removed due to apparent copyright issues. Oh well. This show has really made this corps amazing, since none of their other shows have been this good. I did find a short video with the very beginning of this year's show, but unfortunately it isn't very long.

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Ah, the Bluecoats. After listening to them for what seemed like them playing the same thing, over and over again, for three months, it's amazing that it sounds so amazing put together. To be honest, listening to either the xylophones or marimba's (I don't know which one) for awhile can get quite annoying. They play the same scale, over, and over, and over again!

Anyways, nice PTR, enjoyed reading/looking at it.

EDIT: After looking through your pictures with the ramps for the Bluecoats, did any of the people on the ramps ever have rifles? I remember seeing them practice and there were people standing on the ramps with rifles.

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DCI is awesome went and saw some of the same corps compete in Charleston, WV a few years back when I was in band, awesome shows. Idk what you play but if you happen to be a Percussionist or just enjoy Percussion only music I suggest going to see WGI in Dayton it's awesome pretty much professional Drum Lines and Color Guards It's really cool.

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