DCI N'at

Long time no update, wow. I've fallen off the diet wagon for the past two weeks or whatever and I feel like crap, but after tomorrow it should be a breeze to get back on. I'm going to a Japanese steakhouse in the South Side of Pittsburgh tomorrow with some friends from Ohio visiting, but I NEED to get back into running and watching what I eat. This whole "oh, don't worry about it for now" thing isn't cutting it. I feel worse. The trip through the Strip District (by "trip" I mean "eating at every place along the way under the guise of taking my out-of-state friends on a tour of Pittsburgh") didn't help today.

My Ohioan peeps are in town this weekend for what I witnessed tonight: a DRUM CORPS SHOOOOOOOOW. My high school almost every year hosts a DCI show. It had been an entire year since I made it out to Allentown, PA, for the Eastern Classic. I'll be attending again THIS year, and I am more than psyched since I saw no shows in 2008 and two last year.

The Cavaliers beat Phantom Regiment for first place, and rightfully so. I hate to say it - I hate to say it so much, but Phantom's show does absolutely nothing for me this year. "Out of the Light" apparently features some excerpts from Band of Brothers' music, which I thought would be epic and a nice change from PR's sometimes stagnant choices in classical music, but I was nearly falling asleep in the bleachers. Unfortunately, it was not as entertaining, nor even as musically impressive, as years past. Of course everything was executed beautifully, but it couldn't hold my attention compared to shows like Rhapsody, Faust, and Spartacus.

Quite a few "lesser" corps really shined, namely the Madison Scouts and the Boston Crusaders. Crusaders aren't really a "lesser corps," perhaps, but they aren't always up in the tops. "Thy Kingdom Come," I think the name is, blew Phantom's show out of the water in terms of overall entertainment, and - somehow - horn power. At one point they went from a mezzo piano to a sharp fortissimo note and I actually jumped in my seat. Crusaders' control tonight was outstanding. I thought they deserved second place.

The Scouts, thank god, are on the way up again. It hasn't been since, what, maybe their '01 show, that the Scouts have really shown their prowess in terms of power and technical skill? The show doesn't have a name, but it's very similar (in my opinion) to Phantom Regiment's '05 masterpiece, Rhapsody. The Scouts' colorguard is all dressed in 1920's era gray, flowing clothing, and they gallivant around industrial props. Somehow they manage to make it look manly.

I shit you not, this show turned me on.

It was that awesome, and that classy. The hunter green + ties combination really kicked it up a notch. The music was incredible (various iterations of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue), well-performed, and the drill was stunning. I love when they pull out the fleur-de-lis in the middle of the show. Way to go, Madison Scouts. I'm really gonna be pulling for them in Allentown, along with my Crown. ;)

Lastly, the Cavaliers. SO glad they're back. I never saw Samurai in 2008, and The Great Divide from 2009 didn't impress me too much. However, 2010's "Mad World" really was somethin'... my friends informed me that the narration/amp they included was a clip from the movie Full Metal Jacket.

It starts off with almost three minutes of intro - the announcer introduces the corps that far in - which is mostly the colorguard acting like they're insane. The motions are jerky, the men dance around in circles, and the corps revolves around them. Plus, their outfits are bitchin'. All I could compare them to was the outfits the Crossmen had last year which made them look like Batman, or Castlevania. And yet, they still looked manly. I dunno, but something about the theatrics was mind-blowing. I actually felt a little disturbed watching them twist and writhe in their bouts of madness... think of the jerky, precise motions of the colorguard "robots" in 2006's "Machine." It won the Cavies a championship ring, and for good reason. :)

From there, little bits of that crazy song, "Mad World," the song by Gary Jules from Donnie Darko, creep in on a piano. I thought they honestly could have drawn out this one a lot longer, since it has a recognizable melody and shares the show's name. Later, the guard adds masks, and there are more hints at rifles and violence... the Full Metal Jacket lines say something like "This is my rifle." over and over again. At one point, the corps forms a long line and the guard is a sniper crosshairs... then the gock hits really hard in a gunshot.

Sweetest thing since Blue Devils' Godfather "dagger" drill in 2006. The drill was very impressive, as is to be expected with the Cavaliers, as was the music. Finally the show reaches a climax in how the corps as a whole is now "sane." The movements are relaxed, and they even change the flags from a hazardous orange to a less dangerous looking yellow with empowering upraised fists on them (kind of weird, but it works).

So, I "got" the show, and greatly enjoyed it, unlike Phantom's. Seems their conceptualization has been lost on me this year. Maybe I'm missing something? Until then, I'm going to be incredibly satisfied with how the Bluecoats and Carolina Crown are FINALLY, at long last, dominating the other more well-known/respected corps. Giving Blue Devils' "1930" the championship last year was a crime.

Carolina Crown needs redemption.