To be frank, the assumption for me this year was that the competition was not going to be very tough at all, and that the only schools really worth watching would probably be St. John's Institution and of course, the fan favorite, SMK Sultanah Asma. In fact, this notion was reinforced in the early prelim rounds, with no bands catching my eye except for SASBand. With a gap of 10 points separating Asma and 2nd placed St. John, it seemed a foregone conclusion that this year's NATCOMP Finals would be a waste of time to attend.
But attend I did, and I'm glad that I came to watch after all.
As much a pity it is to not be able to see my own school (Nan Hwa), Keat Hwa, St. Joseph, Chung Hwa Wei Sin, or Catholic High compete, it was encouraging to see the new schools that participated in the competition, in particular, Chung Ling, Pasir Gudang, and Seri Garing, whereby from scratch, they made enough improvements to their show to perform passably for the audience.
Then again, this IS a review of NATCOMP 2011, and from here on out, I will be critiquing what I liked, what I disliked about each show. As usual, these are all OPINIONS, and feel free to respond and debate in any form you like ;)
To many, there will be arguments as to who should have gotten no.10, no.9, no.8 and so forth. But the way I see it, if your bands are making basic mistakes that should not be present at a National Level Competition, why would you be proud in who is the "less bad" band in Malaysia? And so it is with a rather harsh tone that I must say the last 4 bands (no.10-7) performance were 'less than satisfactory'.
A suprise for me though, is that Chung Ling (which got last), in my opinion should have gotten no.9. Pasir Gudang (sorry girls) was ...horrific. Body positioning, drill design, footwork, near clashes of instruments, are all just too obvious to be of an acceptable standard for me. Perhaps Chung Ling, with its safer, simpler drills lost out just because it LOOKED too simple. Also, Pasir Gudang was on the way to reinforcing the stereotype (for me) that Johor colorguards are THE dullest things ever to grace a field. In all, no.10 and no.9 were too close to call, and I would advise the bands to not focus so much on the results, but in improving their endless potential ;)
Then Klang High (no.8) performed. Remembering the mess of a drill they had from last year, I was quite curious how they would fare this year. And luckily, they had improved. A bit lacking in imagination perhaps, but at least there were SHAPES *gasp!*. It was, as usual, an energetic Klang High performance, but still messy, still pitchy in parts, but better than last year.
Jit Sin came in, and I predicted there and then they had the potential to leapfrog to top 5. Their show started with a static (I HATE HATE HATE THAT STATIC), but after that was out of the way, the show picked up pace. "Moods" was an apt description of their show, as the relatively fast paced drills combined with an effective usage of pit percussion (although it was a bit concert-ish for me) meant the audience was pumped up until the end.
Seri Garing (no.6) came in after Jit Sin, and I dont know if it was a lull from the Penang's school's show or a lack of energy and experience from Seri Garing, but the show felt...meh. Solid marching, solid shapes, solid songs choices..it was...solid. But totally unmemorable. BUT, I have to say, I would be proud to have a new start up band qualify for NATCOMP with such a solid foundation of basics. Things can only go up from here. ;)
After a 25 minute break for intermission, the second half of NATCOMP2011 commenced, and it was here I started getting excited.
MGS! The mighty girl's school that usually lies low under the radar of publicity. I admit, I am totally unfamiliar with their show and style, but I expected something great (after all, they were once Nat Champions). This would be my first time seeing them live.
First thought when I saw the band though was, "How tiny." Then they blew me away with their blowing. I would like to state that for me, one of the biggest differences between the top 5 and back 5 bands would definitely be in their BLOWING. Clear, bright, strongly articulated musical performances. And MGS was the first band that night to showcase this to me.
But the more I watched, the more bored I got. Yes, the formula was there. Strong proud postures, decent colorguards, dramatic music. But I wasnt connected. There was no flow, no mood. I wasnt pumped. I was dissapointed. 'Sorry MGS', i thought, but there wont be a top 3 slot for you tonight.
Top 4 now. SMK Tun Fatimah marched into the stadium, mighty and proud. And oh boy do you girls have your fans. For me, when I saw STF's prelim show, I was exasperated. I remember thinking, 'How do you pick a theme of Lady Gaga who performs highly sexual songs and showcases loads of skin and turn it into the most dullest of performaces ever?' I was pissed, and wrote off STF on the spot.
Well, somebody close to STF must have thought the same thing, because STF on Grand Finals night was a HUGE improvement. Newly designed CG outfits somewhat matched the theme, and newly choregraphed CG moves was a BIG help. It didnt IMPROVE the show, but it definitely didnt weaken it anymore. I was very very suprised. Remember when I said Johor bands in my mind had the stereotype of dullest CG ever? Well, here, STF hid it, so I wasn't as irritated by them as I might have been ;)
So what left when you hide the biggest weaknesses of STF's show? Well, you're left with CRAZY INSANELY AWESOME sharp footwork and body postures from the band members themselves! Superbly coordinated dance routines and poses, combined with a huge injection of attitude into their (annual) dance routine made the show 10 times better than prelims. But for me, music was a problem as they were constantly on LOUD, and a usual STF problem, the drill was not moving. Girls, if you ever want to be top 3, move MORE. You have the athletic capability to blow and run more im sure ;)
Kolej Sultan Hamid (no.3) now. Their first time in the top 3 after prelims, I could sense there was immense pressure on them to try to challenge St John, and it showed in their innovative and creative concept of a show. Utilizing billboards to highlight specific themes, KSAH (though limited by the song choices they have), created a show that made SENSE. There was mood, a flow, a sense of drama. It was also adorable how they created their costumes (in particular, the Incredibles costume). Ultimately though, as much as an improvement it was, it just FELT like good old KSAH. Not bad, not super duper awesome, but a good show for the audience.
And then it was St. John's Institution (no.2). With a very supportive and loud cast of fans seated directly in the middle, one could be forgiven if you got lost in all the hype and cheers. SJI also dimmed KSAH's chances of overtaking them with an obviously expensive and impressive array of props. In fact, I would say props wise, SJI probably spent the most among all the bands. KSAH's billboards at that moment looked like cheap cardboard cutouts compared to St John's beautifully printed works of art.
St. John's show though, wasnt..anything to me. The colorguards (whom were much better coordinated last year) was not as synchronized as I would like, ESPECIALLY when they had such eye catching flags that tended to pull your eyes towards them. The drills for St. John was also lacking. I have a new theory. If a cameraman who tries to take pictures of your formation cant even get more than 3-4 shots of a nice clear shape, you have a drill design problem. Squares werent really squres, spacing issues were rampant, and I felt that among the top 5, St. John's brass were the weakest of the bunch. Only pit percussion, with its extra usage of traditional instruments, was effective in conveying the mood of the music.
I DID like St. John's Hang Tuah piece though. That was performed with quite a soulful level of skill, and kudos to that. Its the one melody i remember clearly besides tunes from SASBand. But in the end, St. John for me was more flair than content, and was rather dissapointing. Drill, again was not enough for me, and CG didnt quite bring the show up to insane heights this year. Also, I'm rather curious what St. John will do for the next future shows, seeing as they've done Malaysia-ish/patriotic shows for the past 2 years. Time for a change perhaps?
SMK Sultanah Asma (no.1). Ah Asma. The show I can with quite a large degree of certainly say that most people came to NATCOMP for. As expected, Asma came into the field with full applause from a majority of the audience, and the aura they brought with them was intimidating indeed.
As I've watched Asma's prelim show already (as im sure many people have as well), I had set quite high expectations for the girls. And I was not dissapointed. A strong presence on field, good spacial awareness of postitions, adjustments of instrumentations and manipulation of musical dynamics were all present and expected of the champion team they were. But by far (and as Ive said in earlier reviews), the highlight of Asma's show belonged to their CG.
Wearing appropriate attires that looked eerily similar to the Disney movie its based on, the CG danced with a grace and aggression not seen in the 9 bands preceeding them. Excellent choreography to match the well composed musical score made Asma seem invincible, and I was left smiling by the end of their show. But from a design standpoint, I felt that Asma's show went downhill a little bit towards the end, and the drill got a bit messy at times, but of course, recovered towards the end. If St. John was more flair than content, Asma was THE band with plenty of flair, plenty of content. We had a clear outright winner on our hands. Asma's style of strong music, short, but sharp and quick drill movements, and with the added boost of pit percussion and great CG made their show work well.
Looking at the final results, I cant say its suprising. It was almost exactly the way I expected it to be, with the exception of Jit Sin overtaking MGS. Perhaps ths scores are not consistent with what has been given throught the many years in Malaysia, BUT, I feel if you viewed Malaysian shows agaisnt the standard of INTERNATIONAL competitions, then yes, its quite a good reflection of our level. Think Asma VS DCI's Cavaliers and Blue Devils. Would you grant Asma 90++ when competing agaisnt them? Of course not. Suddenly, 80+ doesnt seem so low anymore ;) But of course, NATCOMP, I'll be watching the allocation of scores next year to see if any semblence of consistency is there.
Overall, a good time to be had at NATCOMP 2011. Fun MC's, good camera coverage and a great attempt at publicity from the organizers made me feel more hopeful for our band industry. Till next year then. I cant wait ;)
by
Justin Yeo
