Ames Field is a venue that seems hand-tailored for drum corps. Steep stands, a field that comes right up to the spectators, and a friendly, small-town feel made it a perfect host stadium for the first ever Open Class World Championship Quarterfinals. Twenty-three Open Class corps took the stage at Ames to qualify for the Open Class Semifinals, to be held Friday, Aug. 8 in Bloomington, Ind. Ultimately, it was Blue Devils B who rose to the top of the Open Class, taking the gold medal with a score of 95.150. West and East clashed for second and third, as the Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets (2nd, 93.800) edged out the Jersey Surf (3rd, 93.550).
Blue Devils B’s 2008 production “Flight” took off at the Quarterfinals, propelled by a powerful drum line and nuanced by solo work from the horns. When finally airborne, the corps encouraged the audience to sit back and relax to some jazzy strains and smooth percussive grooves, while the color guard dazzled spectators with dual flag work. The corps climbed even higher, buoyed by trumpet soloists who explored their upper registers, and then rattled the stadium with clashing turbulence and high-flying guard equipment. It was a safe landing for BDB, who took first place overall finishes in all three captions (General Effect, Music and Visual). The Vanguard Cadets presented a program steeped in contrasts. At times lyrical, at other times primal and powerful, their “Perspectives” production is symphonic and often subtle. Vanguard Cadets certainly capitalized on sudden shifts of perspective, with jerking body movements and shifts of mood keeping fans in the audience guessing what would come next. But the powerful ending and signature cymbal “V” left no doubts about the identity of the corps on the field. Identity was also the topic of the Jersey Surf’s production, “The Jersey Surf: So Far.” The top color guard of the evening added bright costuming and exciting tosses, while the horn line from the Surf took top honors in their sub-caption, unleashing on the audience in “park and blow” segments that filled the stadium. Detail is the name of the game in Surf’s program, with blink-and-you’ll-miss-it stick tricks from the percussion, divided note runs in the horns and a bevy of featured tosses from the color guard. Teal Sound (4th, 92.400), Oregon Crusaders (5th, 92.025), Spokane Thunder (6th, 89.400), Citations (7th, 89.300), Revolution (8th, 86.225), Raiders (9th, 84.950), Dutch Boy (10th, 84.750), Memphis Sound (11th, 84.200), Yamato (12th, 83.600), Velvet Knights (13th, 81.700), Spartans (14th, 81.625), Legends (15th, 81.575), 7th Regiment (16th, 78.025) and Impulse (17th, 77.500) all qualified to move on to the next competition in Bloomington, Ind. In the International Class, Beatrix (86.200) also qualified for the Open Class Semifinals.
Colt Cadets
Spirit of Newark/New Jersey
Sydonia Daniels is a third-year member of the brass section with Spirit of Newark/New Jersey (22nd, 67.450). When asked about marching with her corps, said, “It’s just been wonderful. The staff is great. The environment we work in is wonderful. It’s just a good motivator, because in Newark, there’s not a lot of positive stuff going on, so we try to show other kids, other generations how we can rule the world.” Their program, “The Urgency of Now/The Human Experience” stresses making the most of your time in the world. The 17 qualifying Open Class corps and Beatrix from the International Class will take the field at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Ind. on Friday, Aug. 8. The top 12 corps from that event will move onto the first-ever Open Class Finals on Saturday.
With assistance from Christina Mavroudis Dempsey. Photos by Johnny Gilbert.
