The Academy Takes the Stage in Tempe

Last night The Academy Drum and Bugle Corps took it indoors for a performance in the Tempe Center for the Arts. This was their first event ever of this type, which was a cross between a Blast! show and a concert featuring guest tuba soloists Sam Pilafian and Patrick Sheridan, who also served as hosts for the event.

Proving yet again that I have very eclectic musical tastes, I attended the opening night concert with my son. One first, positive note: they rarely passed the threshold of pain! I did not see more than 36 or so of their 60 plus brass line at any one point in the show; I was told that they rotated the group. All members did play, but not all at the same time. I am glad they never overloaded the hall, which was an excellent venue for hearing the new instruments.

Those that follow drum corps will first be wondering how the new Jupiter Quantum horn line sounded. I would say really they sounded quite good. I was particularly impressed by the trumpets and lower brass, which did not at all sound like student model instruments. Maybe it is a function of my ears being tuned to the range of the horn; I would say the mellophones were very good but not quite as “there” as the rest. What I hear is related to the instrument and mouthpiece, and I understand that the new Jupiter mellophone mouthpieces still have not arrived. In one of the numbers it was easy to pick out that the mellophones were not well in tune. But still they did very well overall and the new instruments work well in the show music.

Music wise I liked the music that will be their 2008 show a lot. My pet peeve about drum corps show music is it tends to either be unmemorable newly composed music or orchestral classics that are re-orchestrated oddly, at least to my orchestral player ear. Their music this year hits a great middle ground; if you are into drum corps, be watching for this show.

As to the performance tonight, it was entertaining and I am sure that the audience enjoyed it. My son liked the large percussion ensemble music the best, I enjoyed the guard work (especially when they got going with the rifles), and when we got home my son had to find the Dos Amigos CD of which Sam and Pat played one number from (beautifully) with an Academy percussionist on the concert.

I know the group has been working very intensely these few weeks, I am sure well beyond what I ever experienced in the one-week boot camp that I attended twice as a member of the Kansas Lions International band. I will be following The Academy this summer; it should be a great year for them.