Fusion Dennie Hirsch, director of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada’s Fusion, said that his corps’ performance this evening was “The most solid performance we’ve ever had. You were amazing,” Hirsch said to Fusion in a huddle after the corps’ show tonight. Andrew Parker, 19, of Calgary, Alberta, Fusion’s drum major, also cited tonight’s show as being exceptional. “This was the best show of the year,” Parker said, noting that the section of the show where the horn line executes two “360s” was the definitive point of the show.
Marion Glory Cadets Lizzi Buening, 13, a Columbus, Ohio native and a member of the Marion Glory Cadets’ front ensemble, said her corps performed “great” tonight. “I think that because this may have been our last show, they were giving out a lot of energy, and having fun with it” Buening said. According to Buening, the end portion of the Marion Glory Cadets’ show is the most audience-pleasing. “That’s where we give out the fattest sound.”
Raiders Jason Williams, 16, of Elizabeth, N.J., a rookie snare drummer, has enjoyed his first season with the Raiders. “I really like marching,” Williams explained, adding that he will return to the Raiders in 2005. Williams suggested that the entire Raiders show, as opposed to one single segment, is most enjoyable to the audience.
Americanos Christopher “Shorty McShort Short”, the Americanos’ conductor, 18, of Detroit, said his corps’ season has been “unbelievable.” According to Young, the Americanos demanded that their staff treat them as if they were a Divison I corps. “We told our staff that we wanted to be treated no less than the best. And they’ve treated us just as that. They’ve always held us to a higher standard. We’ve raised the bar (as a result), to always be better and better, every day.” Tonight, the Americanos performed their best show of the entire season. “We’ve always been pushing to improve our show, and we’ve always been pushing for the best show possible, and I think tonight we just did it.”
Lehigh Valley Knights Joshua Blake, 21, of Woodbridge, Va., characterized his corps’ season as being “incredible.”
“This is my third season with LVK and these members are just incredible,” Blake said. “They work harder than I’ve seen any other corps work, and people are saying (that despite injuries) they (the members) work harder than anyone.” The season’s had its ups and downs, but everyone’s had their ups and downs. This past week, coming into finals week, we had a little bit of a low point, but we turned it around, had an incredible recovery, and we had the show of our lives. We had a recovery, and everyone is ecstatic.”
Teal Sound Kelly Thomas, 16, of Jacksonville, Fla., a Teal Sound guard member, said audiences should react most strongest to Teal Sound’s closer this year. We get to get really angry, we throw our sabers down and we act crazy,” Thomas said. Regarding her corps’ performance tonight, Thomas asserts it was a strong one. “I had a really good show. Everybody just had all their emotions out on the field. Everyone was just so worried about the technical stuff, it was just like ‘Put all your emotions out there.’ I think everybody had fun, I was just about to cry during the ballad.”
Court of Honor “We had a really good performance – it was really powerful and really exciting. We had a lot of energy tonight,” said Stephen Arline, 18, of Atlanta, Court of Honor’s drum major. According to Arline, the ending segment of the show, where the entire corps charges up to the front, (“They just put a lot of sound out there,” Arline said of the ending sequence) is an audience favorite. Despite his corps’ strong show tonight, however, Arline cites Court of Honor’s home show as being the best of the season. “The crowd was really into it,” Arline said.
Yamato David Hollis, 19, of San Gabriel, Calif., is Yamato’sdrum major. “It was a really good show – the best we’ve ever done. There was a lot of energy – everyone got all hyped up,” Hollis said of Yamato’s performance tonight. “The summer’s going really well. It’s hard, but it’s so fun when you get out there and perform,” Hollis said, adding that he plans on returning to Yamato in 2005.
Oregon Crusaders Josh Smultzer, 14, of Hillsborough, Ore., said that Crusaders turned in a memorable show at All-City tonight. “Overall, it was one of our best shows ever,” Smultzer said. “I really think the closer was awesome,” Smultzer specified. Smultzer believes the summer has been a productive one. “It’s been really good – it’s been really productive,” Smultzer said. Although he’s just a rookie, Smultzer plans on returning to the Crusaders in 2005. “Definitely,” Smultzer asserted.
Memphis Sound Matt Souther, 20, of Acworth, Ga., Memphis Sound’s drum major, says his corps’ performance tonight was the high point of his season. “Everything we’ve worked on this season just kind of clicked in this one,” Souther said. “We’ve been going through and fixing some minor integral problems,” Souther said of what Memphis Sound has worked on this week. The audience reacts most strongly to the “Very end of part four,” Souther said, adding, “Thanks for your applause!” as a message to fans.
Jersey Surf Austin Vallies, 20, of South Jersey, says Jersey Surf’s lounge-themed show has been a hit with audiences all summer. “I think it’s a very popular show,” Vallies said, adding, “It’s very entertaining, and we have a lot of fun on the field.” Vallies also asserted that his corps’ performance this evening has been the high point of the summer, while recognizing the vocal Denver crowd tonight. “It’s a great audience,” Vallies said of the crowd this evening.
Blue Devils “B” Jason Humphrey, 15, of the Blue Devils B corps’ front ensemble, said the corps has been working on the tradeoff sequence of the opener of late, as well as “The whole show, really – and marching, lots of marching.” “We’ve done very well in terms of our performances,” said the Concord, Calif., native. “Pretty much the whole summer’s been great.” Humphrey cites a laundry day “somewhere in Oklahoma” as being a memorable off day this past summer.
Impulse Since Tuesday, Impulse has run through its show “a bunch of times,” according to front ensemble member Sean Gordon, 17, of Chino Hills, Calif. The corps also worked on the drum solo quite a bit over the past two days. As a result, the corps turned in a strong performance tonight. “It was a really good show – we were really tight. A lot better than Tuesday. We were a lot more consistent,” Gordon said. Many of Gordon’s Ayola High School buddies have enlisted in Impulse’s pit this year. “That’s where we got a couple of these guys to come out from, and a whole bunch of people I’ve met through WGI and other drum line activities,” Gordon said.
Blue Stars Connor McRae, 19, of St. Paul, Minn., says his summer with the Blue Stars has been “Excellent. The people are great – I couldn’t ask for a better instructional staff. It’s been too much fun.” Tonight’s Blue Stars show went “Very well. It was a very high-energy show. Basically, (it was) no holds barred – the corps was kinda throwin’ down like there was no tomorrow – whether or not there’s gonna be a tomorrow – we really left it on the field tonight. It was real high-energy. Over the past two days the Blue Stars have completed ensemble work, among other practice items, according to McRae.
Fever Fever’s first touring season has been a fun one, according to front ensemble member Clara Hull, 17, of Modesto. “It’s been awesome. For many people this has been the first year that they’ve done anything like this, because last year we stayed at home. It’s been phenomenal,” Hull said. “I think we did really well tonight. I think we about brought down the house, and that we can continue onto grand finals,” Hull said. “We’ve been sectionalizing, and getting stuff together so that there’s more tears and whatnot,” Hull said of Fever’s rehearsals this week.
Vanguard Cadets Nicole Secula, drum major of the Vanguard Cadets, says her corps has been sweating the small stuff this week – including how corps members are holding their hands, and intonation. Secula said the Vanguard Cadets turned in a great show. “(It was) Awesome! We were more comfortable at the stadium and being at finals. We didn’t go to finals last year, so this is new to half the corps. Secula noted that the corps has bonded especially this year. “We’re all very comfortable with each other – even with the big age range of 13 to 20. We’ve all kind of jelled together to form a corps that is one of the best ones that the Cadets have had,” Secula said.
East Coast Jazz Lisa Vieiera, 18, a native of New Bedford, Mass., and a two-year East Coast Jazz veteran, says the 2004 season has been a lot of fun. “I’ve learned a lot of stuff, I’ve actually improved, an I really like it,” Vieiera said. “Everyone seems a lot more focused (this year), everyone seems more prepared to get out there and do what they need to do,” Vieiera said. This week the East Coast Jazz has worked on “Just making sure everything was formed really good, musically, dynamics and stuff,” Vieiera said.
Spartans Samantha Wade, 22, of Lowell, Mass., said the Spartans turned in “one of the best shows all year,” after spending the last two days discussing how to inject more emotion into the show. “Our corps director talked to us about letting go, and realizing that although it’s not our last show, tonight is the only show that matters. Wade, the oldest member of the Spartans, says that her age-out year has been “amazing.”
