2017 DCI Eastern Classic

Santa Clara Vanguard Lights Up Allentown On Saturday

Santa Clara Vanguard Lights Up Allentown On Saturday

Follow along all the performances from the 2017 DCI Eastern Classic in Allentown, PA, as corps compete for seeding positions heading into the 2017 DCI World Championships.

Aug 5, 2017 by Michael Gilley
Santa Clara Vanguard Lights Up Allentown On Saturday
We are back again for the second night of competitions at the 2017 DCI Eastern Classic! Make sure you got your evening clear to watch some amazing drum corps in one of the most historic venues, J. Birney Crum Stadium. Tonight is the final competition that plays a factor in seeding for DCI World Championships. Average scores from the events in San Antonio, Atlanta/Winston-Salem, and Allentown are what determines the order of performance at prelims.

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All times are EDT and subject to change

6:30 p.m. National Anthem

6:40 p.m. Jersey Surf -- Camden County, NJ

Ok Jersey Surf, let's get things started with a bang! What a way to set the mood and environment with the drill, voice-overs, and body moves. Nice! Not every day do you see a snare feature mixed with the tubas. Impressive balancing between the different voices in the front ensemble. Hello color guard! A lot of color with simple blue fabric attached to the prop. Plum change, bass guitar feature, and so much fun! Big color change with the props flipping around. Talk about a fun ending to get the night started! Well done Jersey surf.

6:57 p.m. Seattle Cascades -- Seattle, WA

Love the opening build to the first impact. Great use of the color guard moving throughout the hornline that leads to framing. Very well done from the trio in the cage. Level of difficulty rises when you're taking away the support hand of the horn. Nice solo rifle toss following the drum solo. Beautiful colors from the guard with the double swing flags that are modified to look like wings. These large wing flags at the end of this show may be one of the most impressive flag designs this year! Gorgeous.

7:14 p.m. Oregon Crusaders -- Portland, OR

What a power impact moment. Simple but effective shape design in the drill to mimic the directional needles of a compass. Appreciate the spacing the rhythms from the battery during their drum solo. Fantastic runs from the pit immediately following. Very musical choreography from the flags during the mellophone feature. This hornline is having a great night. Great work by the rifles with the groups of 4 tossing around the props in the battery feature. Great transition to the yellow flags in the circle. It's a sudden impact of a new color. Powerful horns, tasty percussion writing, and a great run by the color guard tonight!

7:31 p.m. Genesis -- Austin, TX

Welcome to the Eastern Classic in World Class for the first time ever Genesis! Well if that opening doesn't wake you up, not certain what will. Love the velocity of the hornline drill during the drum break. This pit is really beautiful to listen too. Great writing and well executed. Talk about some bright colors from the guard uniforms. Very powerful show from Genesis tonight. Love seeing the advancements in the show over the season. Very in-depth show. Creative and intriguing.

7:48 p.m. The Academy -- Tempe, AZ

So many props! The playful banter between the color guard is absolutely hilarious. Noticing a change in orientation of the front ensemble. Great ensemble timing for that rifle catch! Flying chicken following a very musical front ensemble feature. Appreciate the designers' willingness to let time and silence play a roll throughout Academy's performance. So intriguing to go from hunted to love interest. Seeing more and more corps on the move during their ballad impact movement with body work underneath. Great job rifles! Well done for that ensemble catch before the halftime. Such an entertaining show with great musical selections.

8:05 p.m. Crossmen -- San Antonio, TX

Notice the question mark to begin their show. High energy right from the opening note. Great shaping from the brass that opens windows for the front ensemble. The writing of the snares when they are featured with the trumpets is beautiful. Great use of the props to frame where the audience's eyes should look. Well done trumpet soloists. The ribbons create a mesmerizing texture of three-dimensional shape and color. Great timing from the rifles and the end of that drum break. Catching in the dead space was well executed. Appreciate the different uses of those props throughout the show and especially the ending with the ribbons of fabric.

8:22 p.m. Madison Scouts -- Madison, WI

The Madison Scouts uniforms have to be one of the most original in DCI history. Such a departure from the norm. Nice ensemble rifle toss on the 50 yard line. Such dark and ominous sounds from this show. Not for the faint of the heart. Appreciate the musicality of the battery writing in the drum feature. Great work with the body choreography and the end of the drum solo. The breathing patch is really effect in conjunction. The tension created by that timpani solo is creepy. Followed by high velocity drill and a primal scream! Great run tonight from the Scouts.

8:39 p.m. Intermission (17 minutes)

8:56 p.m. Blue Knights -- Denver, CO

The opening baritone soloist is beautiful. Very interesting start for the drum majors in this show. This battery is one of the best in DCI this year. Great phrasing and power. Plus they sing the Campfire Song from Spongebob in their show. Interesting to see the different variations of an iris throughout the drill. The musicality and electronics behind this snare solo is unreal. Very clever uses of different shaped props to recreate portions of an eye. Hornline laying down to spell out words sees, me, and hide. Beautiful gradient colors across the flags at the end of their show.

9:13 p.m. The Cadets -- Allentown, PA

Watch for a new beginning to this show and a new prop! Wow. So much movement and chaos in the beginning of that show. It takes a lot of great individual performers to sell the emotional connection of that moment. Such a quick uniform change for the battery. The ensemble timing demands when the battery is in the back of the field is really difficult. The power of the trombones on the left side of the field is unbelievable. Bass line is on fire with that break tonight! Appreciate the snake drill in between the church pews. It takes a lot of brave souls to march backwards through those props. Holy prop change! Massive flags and a giant cross. This ending is classic Cadets.

9:30 p.m. Boston Crusaders -- Boston, MA

The beginning of this show is beautiful and creepy. The voice-overs are haunting. The staging and migration of the color guard throughout the opener is brilliant. So much to soak in during that drum break. The writing, transitions in the back of the field, and culmination with the snare player and guard member. The ensemble timing between the percussion hits, horn stabs, and voice patches is very tight tonight. Bravo! Beautiful sabre toss! Watch for the sabres to simulate executing the female performers lying down on side 2 right at the end of the vocalist solo. Wow trumpets. The baritone solo mixed with the judge handing down the sentencing is haunting followed by a "GUILTY" in the drill. So smart! This has to be one of the greatest endings in Boston's history. Unbelievable!

9:47 p.m. The Cavaliers -- Rosemont, IL

Love the pit writing here. Beautifully complex. The opening flag hit is so well staged and written. The integration of the guard throughout the opener is really smart and difficult. Such tight quarters for the work they have makes executing even more crucial. This is where the Cavies really start to have fun performing this show. So much personality. Mars + The Cavaliers = A whole lot of yes. This pit is having an incredible run tonight. Look for the male symbol formed by the guard at the end of the show. Such a raw emotional outpouring from The Cavaliers at the end of this program.

10:04 p.m. Santa Clara Vanguard -- Santa Clara, CA

Such a challenging opening. Rifles with an amazing ensemble toss at the impact of the opening statement. The writing of the front ensemble is so beautiful. These props never seem to stay in one place for more than thirty seconds. SCV welcomes back the theremin from 2015. Love the horn drill during this drum feature. So much raw power in their brass this year. The colors from the flags during the ballad are so beautiful. Baritone soloist is amazingly musical. Wonderful double from the flags in the large circle. That flag feature is unreal. So much layering and velocity.

10:21 p.m. Carolina Crown -- Ft. Mill, SC

That wall of sound from the brass in that opening hitting is deafening. Rifles are looking very crips so far. This percussion section from snares all the way through the front ensemble is having a magnificent year. Bravo! Love the company front that gets broken and bent. You may miss the volume of props on the field that break and disassemble the yard lines through out this show. So much velocity from the tempo and drill. The difficulty of playing a horn one-handed and playing a percussion instrument with the other. Simultaneous responsibility achieved. Whoah...new ending....

10:45 p.m. Scores Announced