On Thursday, October 6^th, 2005, the theatrical performing ensemble Blast! came to Emens Auditorium. Comprised of 68 percussionists, brass players, and color guard members, Blast! amounts to a drum corps on stage with lights, sounds, and other elements of theater. It is an amazing spectacle, and it achieves high musical accomplishment, as well.

All of the brass instruments used by Blast! are silver/nickel-plated. Therefore, the sound produced tends to be somewhat bright. This is not all bad, because, after all, this groups has its origins in drum corps. If it were a symphonic ensemble, I would say that the tone, overall, would need to be much darker. At times, I did feel this way, especially in reference to the trombone section, which sometimes just felt a little too in-your-face for a trombone. But overall, the blend was quite good. Of course, the players could all play quite loudly, and that caused a very neat effect.

Speaking of effect, Blast! used several things. For example, they had a portion of the show where the mellophones used mutes. This created a very cool sound, partially because they were playing fairly light and staccato, thus creating a ping-like sound. Very cool. Also, they used lights, sound effects, and amazing dance and body moves to enhance the music. These are not inherently musical concepts, so I will not discuss them. But they added a lot to the experience.

To speak of the technical ability of these players is to convey awe. It was quite obvious that most all of the players in Blast! are very, very accomplished players. There were several solos, some long and some short, that showed off these abilities. Most notably, of course, was the trumpet soloist on Everybody Loves the Blues. His range was amazing. Incredibly, it wasn’t his range that most impressed me; I had heard that solo before, played by someone else, and was expecting that. His ability to lip-trill and his control of the trill was absolutely astounding. Sure, it was superfluous, but in a setting like that, I think he can get away with showing off. Thus, it was very enjoyable.

To make one negative comment, the girl who had essentially all the other trumpet solos (including a couple on flugelhorn), had a couple problems. Most notably, she did not have the breath support that she needed. Sure, she has the technical ability to circular breathe; however, she did not have the breath support she needed to make it sound good (the circular breathing that I’m referring to is during Malagueña). Also, at the beginning of Loss, she did not have enough support to even make a couple of notes speak; nothing severe, but it was not quite right. This just goes to show that amazing players are still human and are imperfect.

Overall, Blast! was a fantastic display of brass playing abilities. I know for a fact that it inspires many current and future brass players (okay, and percussionists) to become better players and, for some, to audition for ensemble such as Blast! and DCI corps. I thoroughly enjoyed Blast!

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